Cadence Quinn. A birth story

     Well I finally gave birth at 41 weeks and one day; on November 5th at 3:15 am. I thought I would share my birth story. On Monday 11/4 I had a midwife appt and had my membranes swept (for the third week in a row). I went and got my haircut which was nice to feel pretty! I had a few contractions and cramping throughout the day, but I did the other times I had my membranes swept so I didn't think anything of it. I was actually scheduled to be induced the next morning, so my mom came on Monday evening to pick up my daughter, Kennedy, for a couple nights. Brad and I watched some TV and it actually stormed a bit at our house, heavy rain and thunder and lightening. 

     We went to bed around 10:00 and as usual Brad fell asleep right away. I started feeling more contractions so I got up and used the medicine ball for some relief. I started timing my contractions at 11:24 pm and the first two were about 8 minutes apart but about 20 minutes later they were already 3-4 minutes apart. I called my sister to come over and give us a ride to the hospital. I woke up Brad and he was very surprised!

     We got to the hospital around 12:30, and had to wait in the waiting room for about ten minutes. Then we got up to triage. My wonderful midwife, Tiffany, came in on her day off just for me! She checked me and I was already dilated between 4 and 5 cm. They were setting up my room and tub. I was definitely moaning loudly through the contractions and was already wavering on wanting an epidural. My last birth was 18 hours long and I did not want that again without an epidural!

     I got to my room and got right in the tub. The contractions seemed only like a minute apart but I have no idea. I was in there for a little bit and finally said that I wanted an epidural. They attached the iv fluids to my hep lock on my hand while I was still in the tub. Then I got out of the tub and into the bed. Then I started pushing a bit. My midwife said that there was no time for the epidural!

     I kept pushing and my water broke on its own. I remember at my last birth, pushing felt like such a relief, this time, not so much. It hurt the whole time no matter what I was doing. I was in the bed and turned to get on my hands and  knees, which felt a little better. I pushed for what felt like only 15 minutes and felt her head coming out. I know it was pretty fast because Tiffany and the nurses were scrambling to set things up and Tiffany even said something like, "Whoa, I better get my gloves on!"

     I pushed out her head, and I think the cord was around her neck once so I was told to push harder to get her out and then I pushed her the rest of the way out. Brad got to see all that, he said it was crazy and he was surprised how much other liquid comes out too, lol. Tiffany handed her to me between my legs and then I turned over. 

     I did need a few stitches. Cadence was born with her hand in front of her face and that tore me up a little bit; and caused some bruising on her face. It is eight days later and I feel pretty good, no more pain really. I only ever used Ibuprofen as pain relief.

     She was born at 3:15 am Tuesday morning, so I was only in labor for FOUR HOURS! It was very painful with a lot of screaming, but I am very thankful for the short labor. 

     Cadence is a pretty easy baby so far. Already at a week old she has one sleep period of about six to seven hours, usually around 9pm - 3am. Then shorter naps and is awake for a few hours in the afternoon. She definitely looks just like Brad right now and I can't wait for a few weeks as she grows into her looks and I get to see more of myself in her. So in love!

Hello there! Long time no update, like over a year! Well some things have changed some have stayed the same 

Kennedy just turned three years old! She wanted a Ninja Turtle birthday party and got great mix of "boy" toys and "girl" toys. She loves her Super Heroes, baby dolls, and tea party toys. 

My hair went short

It went purple

http://instagram.com/p/U4fTWZSuDM/

Now it is getting longer, finally! I am tempted to cut it all the time. And by longer, I mean the shortest bob possible. 

I turned 30 in January and I did accomplish some of the items on my to do list. These are the ones that actually were accomplished:

4. Get pregnant again.  Yes, also right around my 30th birthday, I got pregnant! I am due at the end of October. I have very excited to find out the sex in May sometime.

8. Finish cosmetology school

10. Cut down on sugar intake. Now that I am pregnant, I am definitely eating more sugar, but I did cut it out a lot for a while and lost some weight.

14. Stick to a budget, be realistic. We are doing a bit better at this. We haven't been using our credit cards as much, but they did not get payed off or anything.

16. Go on a vacation (or staycation). Last May for the Phoenix Comicon we stayed at the Hyatt across the street. It was awesome, and we got to see some celebrities who were also staying in the hotel. 

19. Lose at least four dress sizes. Wel this didn't happen, but I have lost 30 lbs. Which is what I attribute to helping me get pregnant! I did not change pant size at all! They are all lose and baggy in the butt and lower stomach area, but not falling off.

21. Try a class at the gym. I did a Zumba class!!!! It was hard and awesome.

25. Potty train Kennedy. She is totally potty trained, except we have to help her take off her pants and wipe her and everything. 

28. Grow something edible and keep it alive. This is in the process. I have a tomato plant, with lots of green tomatoes, waiting for a hint of red!

30. Finish my two year degree (I only need one class!). Done! I actually got two degrees, and AA and a AGEC.

Thanks for reading my update! Hopefully I won't go so long again with no update. 

What Girls Do On The Internet

Maybe NSFW (not safe for work). But this is a completely realistic view of what happens when I get on the internet. My husband, Brad, is always amazed at how many tabs I have open at one time. I am always on facebook, while on the bank website, while balancing our budget, oh and what about that new song I wanted to check out? I barely make time to clean my house, let alone update this blog.

Just wanted to check in, let everyone know how things are. I am now manager (!) at my salon after only six months there. It is pretty awesome. My daughter, Kennedy, is now 20 months old and getting more beautiful every day. We are just starting out trying to have another one so send some baby thoughts our way. I just signed up for this free 30 day challenge for Naturally Balancing my Hormones. If anything it will make me more aware of what I am eating because while at work, I don't eat so good. So hopefully this will give me some good tips for that.

I am also in the process of re-organizing my entire house and craft supplies, so hopefully going through all the unused supplies I have will inspire me to CREATE!

30 Before 30

I am 28 right now. Instead of 29 before 29, I am doing 30 before 30, so that gives me a year and a half to accomplish these goals


30 before 30

1. Get another tattoo
2. Go on a family bike ride (seems like a small thing, but we need another bike and a trailer in order for it to happen!)
3. Maintain a exercise routine
4. Get pregnant again!
5. Do a craft a month AT LEAST!
6. Pay off credit cards
7. Save $1000 emergency fund
8. Finish cosmetology school
9. Get a great job that I love
10. Cut down on sugar intake
11. Make enough things to actually sell at a craft fair.
12. Stop drinking regular soda
13. Take Kennedy on a nature adventure once a week (park, zoo…)
14. Stick to a budget, be realistic.
15. Make house cleaning schedule, stick to it.
16. Go on a vacation (or staycation).
17. Go north (Prescott/Flagstaff) one weekend (or once a month) this summer when it is really hot! 18. Have a date night at least once a month.
19. Lose at least four dress sizes.
20. Blog more, at least once a week.
21. Try a class at the gym
22. Go to a concert
23. Go to a play/musical
24. Go to a sporting event
25. Potty train Kennedy
26. List something on Etsy
27. Spray paint outdoor tables.
28. Grow something edible and keep it alive
29. Make and keep a new friend.
30. Finish my two year degree (I only need one class!).

The hard thing is, is that for most of these, I need money to accomplish them. Which is hard since we do not have a lot of income since Brad is still in school full time and I am just starting my career. But I will work hard to try to accomplish these goals!

Long awaited return

Hello there. Why yes it has been four months since my last post. Kennedy is 16 months old now and a full fledged toddler. She always has scratches and bruises because she is such an active explorer. She loves to dance and starts swaying and stomping her feet to any music that she hears.
She also has some sort of fauxhawk/mullet combo going on with her hair, I love it.

In April I FINALLY graduated cosmetology school and a month later I had my license and a month after that I got a job at Supercuts. I have been there now for two months. It is a great first job, it has really gotten my confidence level up with doing haircuts because on some days I do 12 haircuts in one day! I still need to work on getting through a haircut faster because I am such a perfectionist and I always check and recheck my blending. I would really like to find a job assisting or as a junior stylist somewhere, but I do not want to rent a station since I don't really have a clientele yet.

I am also trying to lose weight right now. I have lost ten pounds so far, within the last few weeks, so wish me luck on continued success.

I hope to post on here more, but we'll see! I am way better at reading blogs that writing on one it seems.

Kennedy's 1st Birthday

Wow, I can't believe Kennedy is one year old today! She is an amazingly sweet and smart little girl. Here are some pictures of her party yesterday.

I made a mix CD for everyone to take home from the party. Here is a playlist of most of the songs on the CD.

Closer

I am excited to go to this! I am so in need of more friends it is not even funny. It is so hard to make and KEEP friends as an adult. Sure you meet people you like, even feel a connection with but then what. It seems so akward to call someone you don't really know and ask to do something. It is like dating, and I have never been a good dater, with guys I was more like, "Oh hi, we just met and made out so now we are together! And now we will spend every moment together until we fizzle out and break up, ok thanks bye."

Even at school, I am about to graduate and I am just now making some closer friends who I hope to actually keep in touch with afterwards. You would think with so many girls I could find someone who I have a lot in common with, but no. I guess I am way weirder than I thought, but I read so many blogs of like minded people I know my interests are not way out there but I just need to find my niche.

A lot of people need time and planning to do something, I only have one friend (Hi Laura!) who if I call and say, "Hey, wanna hang out?" there is a more than 50% chance she will be able to. And usually it is the same when she calls me. Even since having Kennedy, I can still meet for impromptu meetups. Sure, I need a little extra time but I can still be out of my house in like half an hour.

Sorry, rant over.

I am graduating school in about two weeks or so. Finally! I can't believe I have made it. Now I need to decide where to work. I am leaning towards assisting at a mid-high level salon. Yes I could go straight to working at like AZ Hair Co. or Great Clips but I feel like I still have so much to learn and I was taught to work where the clients you want go and I feel I want to work somewhere in like downtown phoenix or something where artsy people go. Not sure. I am definitely excited to start working again and make some money!

Wow

Guess what I signed up for!?



I am very excited. I will be done with cosmetology school in about six weeks (finally!) and yes I want to pursue that as a career, but within the last few years I have really wanted to find a way to make money using my crafting, or at least learn to be a better blogger, which would also allow me to work from home. I think this will help me do that.