Mom Life in the PNW

Rockabye Plush Rockers: A Great 1st Birthday Gift

Rockabye Plush Rockers: A Great 1st Birthday Gift

“This post is brought to you by Rockabye Plush Rockers. All opinions are 100% my own and were not influenced in any way.”

I remember as a child having one of those wood rocking horses that hurt your bum if you sat on it for too long. But, boy oh boy were they fun! This new modern day Rockabye Plush Rockers have a little more cushion to make your wee one as comfortable as possible.

I was actually surprised at how heavy duty and durable these Rockabye rockers are. They are heavy and solid, unlike the rocking horse my mom got for my daughter last year at TJMaxx.

And how cute are my daughter and niece on the Petals the fawn and the bitsy bird rocker? I have never seen such cute rocking animals; it’s usually just your basic horse or zoo animals, but Rockabye has unique rockers for every child to love. There’s owls, dragons, unicorns, firetrucks, butterflies, trains, plains, motorcycles, pirate ships, kangaroos, turtles and so much more! They’re all adorable, it was pretty hard just choosing 2!

I love how detailed Bitsy Bird is with its cute little birdhouse backing on the seat to make it feel more like a chair for little ones who can’t really support themselves that great yet, and a crinkly pouch inside the door where itsy bitsy bird comes out.

Rockabye Rockers Play Music

All of their rockers have 4 stitched buttons on the back of the rockers heads or dashboard of the vehicles that activate original songs that teach ABC’s, 1-10, colors, shapes and more. The songs to me are a little cheesy and outdated, but my daughter really likes them when she’s rocking on the rockers. Luckily, there is a battery pack where you can disable the sound (or change the batteries) if these songs end up driving you nuts. LOL

I feel like the Rockabye plush rockers that have the backing of a seat are more for the 9 month age group since those rockers are a little smaller it seems. As you can see from the photos, my 23-month-old daughter and 17-month-old niece both fit in bitsy the bird, but I do notice when my tall toddler is on her, the birdhouse backing kind of bends to the side. It doesn’t end up staying like that and will go back to its original shape; that’s just my reasoning for the 9-month-old and up use.

I must say though, my daughter is practically the size of a 3 or 4-year-old. People are shocked when I tell them she’s not even 2 yet. Next month she will be!

The Rockabye plush rockers are made of high-quality North American maple hardwood, which is handcrafted and put together in their USA factory. Fabric skins and music boxes are sourced from China.

The rockers average 24”L x 12”W x 17”H in their shipping box, so the actual size is slightly smaller than that to fit in their box.

Rockabye rockers are built to last decades, not just years. They are sponge washable and easy to maintain.

I feel like the handles for little hands to hold onto could be a little longer, but other than that, we love our Rockabye Rockers and will get many years of use out of them by passing them down to nieces, and/or perhaps future children.

Go check them out, they’re adorable!

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My D&C Experience: For a Miscarriage at 10 Weeks

My D&C Experience: For a Miscarriage at 10 Weeks

The main goal of treatment during or after a miscarriage is to prevent hemorrhaging and/or infection. The earlier you are in your pregnancy, the more likely your body will expel all the fetal tissue but 10 weeks and on is not recommended to do naturally according to my doctor.

Let me just say, the D&C was the best option for me mentally and physically. There’s no way I’d be okay birthing my dead baby at home.

My surgery was set up for noon on Friday, March 24th, 2017.

That dreaded day had come…

I arrive at the surgery center at 10:30 am to check-in. They call me back, get me undressed and in bed right away. Take my vitals and plug a fluid IV in me. At least this nurse knew how to work with veins, unlike the one I had when I was giving birth to my first who ended up blowing my veins out with her unnecessary prodding.

Then my husband and daughter get to come back into the curtain room with me and visit before I go in. Even though it was a few hours, I needed her there to give her love and kisses beforehand.

Honestly, I freaked myself out more than I should have worrying about anesthesia, but for this procedure, they can give you as little or as much as you’d like and I opted for light twilight. Essentially I was still asleep and don’t remember anything but you come out of it feeling less groggy and not nauseous. The last thing I needed on top of my worries was to feel more sick to my stomach.

The anesthesiologist was kind of funny, so he lightened the mood a bit. I explained my concerns about anesthesia and how I wanted to not be in a deep, deep sleep.  I told him I was nervous about it so he ended up bringing me anxiety meds for my IV, which made me feel calmer and better about the procedure.

I had about a half an hour to go…

Dr. then came in and introduced himself and then the nurse came back and started wheeling me to the operating room.

They switched me to a different bed and then put an oxygen mask on me and then about a minute later, I was asleep because that’s all I remember.

I didn’t wake up during the procedure, nor did I hear them talking and I didn’t feel anything. I woke up shortly after they were finished with them trying to put mesh panties on me.

From the time I went in, to the time I got wheeled out, it was about 40 minutes.

I immediately felt light period type cramping and had light bleeding which is to be expected.

The Dr. came out and told me everything went well and was sorry we had to meet under such circumstances. He’s not my normal Dr. but he is a decent one around here. I checked out reviews beforehand and everyone loves him. Definitely look into Dr. James Calvert if you’re in the area and need an OB/GYN.

Also, I wanted to state that they never did another ultrasound, so make sure if you’re still feeling uneasy about the results you received to get another one. It may end up making the pain more real but at least you now know and can have a peace of mind that you’re doing the right thing and won’t be lingering with “what if”.

I hope everyone who has gone through this heals both mentally and physically and goes on to have happy, healthy babies.

Now I need some much-needed rest because this has me all kinds of exhausted.

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Not the Announcement I Wanted to Make

I was saving up a post to talk about our new pregnancy, but after having my first prenatal visit at 11 weeks on Monday, we got unexpected and unfortunate news. Our babies heart beat could not be found on the sonogram, but she told us not to worry and that we’d try the trans vaginal ultrasound, which unfortunately gave the same results. Now they were treating it as a serious matter and had me go do an ultrasound in the radiology department.

I was completely shocked and saddened to hear this news. In a way, almost guilty feeling because I’ve been feeling so sick with this one for the past 10 weeks and I haven’t felt too excited about it. Now I wished I had nausea, the bloat and the crazy bowel movements just so I know that my little one is alright.

Unfortunately, the ultrasound yielded the same results, and she showed us where the heart should be flickering. Baby measured at 10 weeks and I was 11.

miscarriage quote

You never really expect anything like this to happen to you after having a healthy first pregnancy, but miscarriages are so unpredictable that it happens to 1 in 4 people who are under 12 weeks pregnant, which I didn’t realize. That’s way too many. I feel for all who have gone through this.

Now I get to somehow mentally prepare myself for a D&C Friday afternoon since I can’t bare to sit and wait for my baby to come out naturally and see it. That would be too heartbreaking to deal with right now.

I am sad that we don’t get 2 babies to love on, but I am at least grateful for the one I do have. If I didn’t have her, I am sure I’d be going a little crazy right now.

I quit breastfeeding my 1st at 23 Months and I don’t think I’ll breastfeed the 2nd

I quit breastfeeding my 1st at 23 Months and I don’t think I’ll breastfeed the 2nd

If you want a little back story, here’s my first post on breastfeeding.

Although I was intent on making it work for as long as possible, that doesn’t mean I was thrilled or happy about it. I wanted to do what was best for baby, but this time around I think I want to do what is best for my mental health and well being and just enjoy the 2nd baby and my other child as much as possible.

I was tied to the couch pretty much 24/7 for the first 6 months either pumping or having my baby girl latched to the boob. There’s just no way possible that I am going to be able to do that with a now needy toddler running around.

I was also so angry at my husband for being able to do the things that I used to be able to do, like play video games, go out to bars for a drink or bite to eat with friends, concerts, etc. I just became permanently annoyed with him. I call it angry wife post partum. This wasn’t ALL the time, but it was frequent enough to bother me since I felt alone.

Breastfeeding is seriously one of the most stressful things I have done. Not just because I never had my boobs free, but the constant pain, the low supply issues and never getting a good nights rest. After she started eating solids steadily, it became better. I wasn’t always needing to constantly whip out the boob even though she would have prefered it. I could go to the store for an hour without having to find a place to sit down and feed her.

I know I shouldn’t have to explain my reasoning, but I know I will get “why’s?” since I breastfed my first for so long.

Those are my why’s, so please don’t judge. Yes, breast is best, but so is a happy, sane mother.

Dizzy Castle: A great indoor play establishment in Vancouver, WA.

Dizzy Castle: A great indoor play establishment in Vancouver, WA.

Since I had my nieces while my sister was in town, I figured taking them to Dizzy Castle would help them run off some energy.

Prices are $5 for ages 0-2, and $10 for ages 3+ which is relatively reasonable considering it’s rainy here 9 months out of the year and they stay dry.

They have tons of tubes, fast-bumpy slides and an area in the middle where you can shoot plastic balls out of air guns, which is fun for the older kids. Tots won’t be able to reach them.

They also have a little area for the 3 and under tots who can’t necessarily roam free around the other play structures. It has a door that prevents them from escaping, which is nice so you don’t have to keep chasing after them. This doesn’t prevent older kids running in there and being rowdy though. I have noticed bigger kids going in there and having no regard for the little’s. This area needs more supervision from the staff.

It would also be nice if they updated some of the ride on play toys in there since they look a little worn out. Surely, they should be able to afford something for that small area.

There’s also rooms you can reserve for birthdays or other events, but they come at a hefty price tag from what I have gathered. It may be worth it if you have a bunch of kids to accommodate, but for the few that I have in my family, we don’t even reach the 12 kids for the group pricing, so I’d essentially be overpaying.

I do like this place though since adults can climb around with their little ones without worrying about them getting stuck or scared at the top. I will be back with my little one for some much needed fun.