Birth of Betsey Jane Contente

Miss Betsey joined our world 5/23/11 at 5:41 am weighing in at 7 pounds 10 ounces 18 1/2 inches long. I went into a short labor with her at 1 am came to the hospital around 4 am and was taken to cesarean at 5. She had some serious breathing issues being that she was born at 37 weeks, she had fluid in her lungs that she was having difficulty expelling and she turned a grayish white color, it was terrifying. But with the prayer of all of our friends and family and some great nurses and our pediatrician, she pulled through like a champ and her pediatrician was amazed by how quickly she improved. I am so in love with her, completely head over heels. She looks just like her big sister, but with jet black hair. She is nursing every hour, really hoping my milk comes in soon. I am still at the hospital and will come home tomorrow. Here are photos from our first 2 days together.

moo.

It's getting close to that time.
I am 35 weeks, and I am beginning to make "lists".
This particular list that I am working on, is my grocery list.
All 3 of my children have had some form of a lactose allergy.
With Mason he had severe acid reflux, and I was never advised to cut out diary from my diet even though he was pretty much exclusively breastfed until 6 months. And we were unaware of the allergy until he was 12 months old and had his first bottle of cow's milk. He outgrew the allergy by 18 months old.
London's I became aware of at 5 months old when we switched her to formula when she refuse to breastfeed due to me getting pregnant with Rowan. I don't really eat a ton of dairy, so she didn't have much of a reaction to it when I was nursing her. Rowan, it was evident right after he was born.
Cutting out dairy is easy, if you cut out meat with it.
I am a "fair-weather" vegan, and I only eat that way when it is convenient to me, or for a purpose such as this. I know, it's dumb to be like that, but that's me take it or leave it. I'll get on a 3 month soap box about it, and then go and eat a whopper. But when it comes to breastfeeding, I take it seriously, and I cut all of it out. This time I am starting it this week, well cutting out the meat first for a week then slowly incorporating milk subs so that way when our baby girl gets here I am prepared and in full non-dairy swing. She may not have milk allergies, but I am just going to play it safe for the few first months to be so sure of it because I don't want to make her sick so I can have a glass a milk, pretty darn selfish.
Some of our favorite cookbooks are :

Veganomicon, literally the bible of vegan cooking. It has everything in it. EVERYTHING.
by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Romero

Vegan with a Vengeance, same authors as the one above. It's a smaller cookbook with great breakfast and brunch options plus out weekly still favorite, Brooklyn Pad Thai.

The Conscious Cook- Tal Ronnen
Tal Ronnen loves meat, he is a manly meat eater but he has  moral conviction to not eat animal products so all of his vegan meals revolve around satisfying the meat eaters of America. Some of the dishes are "fancy smancy" but easy. Husband really likes his stuff, and have you seen Joe? He's a manly man.


I do not take dairy away from my kids, they love it. My daughter hates meat, so she is a self made vegetarian. Meat free meals are easy and after I do my shopping this week I will try and do a nightly photo post of what we have made.

in the third grade...

This morning I was reading a magazine and it was talking about how to do the birds & the bees conversation with your kids. And then on facebook today, I read someone's post about awful that conversation was with their mother. I started thinking about my "talk" and it is a funny funny story, one full of confusion, lies, and pure humiliation that even after all these years later my best friend Hayley likes to remind me of. I'm the type of person who has no problem laughing at myself, or making fun of myself especially for things that I did as a child. So I thought that I would share the story with you......

It all started in the third grade.

I knew that babies came from sex. I knew it was something that mom's and dad's did, but I didn't know what it was. As I have mentioned before on this blog, I was raised by my grandmother since the age of 6. And when I was 7, on a Sunday while she was in front of her vanity getting ready for church, I asked my Grandma Sharon, "how do you make sex?" Yup, how do you make it.

I remember sitting on side of the bathtub when I asked her, I'm not sure why I was thinking about it? I don't remember if someone's mom was pregnant or something. But she didn't tell me right away, she told that evening. And what she told me was something along these lines:

When a man and woman get married, they kiss. And when they kiss an egg comes out of the woman's ovaries, through her fallopian tubes, and lands in her uterus where a baby grows. Then the baby stays in there until it is done growing and comes out of her vagina. 

I was so confused about all of these body parts that I had no idea what they were, and where they were located that I didn't even realize that she had completely surpassed answering my "sex" question. I was 7, I didn't know what a vagina was, I had "privates" so how could I possibly know that I had ovaries filled with eggs? I thought platypuses were the only warm blooded creatures who laid eggs.....right? So a few weeks later, I went to a BBQ with my other grandmother, Kathy at her friend Marie's house. Marie had an 8 year old grandson, Jimmy, and Jimmy  kissed me. A plain peck on the lips because his older brother Mikey told him to do it. And then our loud obnoxious Italian grandparents who thought it "cute" started in on how we were going to get married when we were older. But I was so horrified because I knew that because of that stupid kiss, I was now pregnant, at the age of 7, in the third grade. I went to school the next day, and on the playground told my friends that I was pregnant. And I told them how it happened.  I remember this girl named Monet telling me that she didn't think I was right about the whole thing. Well later on that day during recess, I did a cartwheel during and my egg fell out of my uterus and died. My grandma received so many phone calls from parents in my class wanting to know what the hell was going on and why their daughters were telling them that "Nichole Homburg was pregnant and her egg baby died on the playground today." So after that happened, I got the real sex talk. And if I had only just had the truth handed to me at first, I would have never wanted to repeat what disgusting things my grandma said happens to you when you get married to anyone, and I most certainly wouldn't have thought I was pregnant at 7 years old, in the third grade. 

the stash.

I saw this photo via pinterest today and I fell in love with it! Totally reminds me of my grandma's turquoise jewelry stash I used to play with as a little girl. In 2007, my great grandma passed away and my aunt, my grandma and I were sitting down finishing planning her funeral services and my aunt started talking about things of my grandma's (her mom) that she would love to have when that day comes (we are so morbid, I know) and I said "all I want is the turquoise jewelry". My aunt went on to say that all jewelry will be going to her and so you can totally imagine how that conversation went. See my grandma raised me, so my aunt is really like an older sister to me and we were arguing like sisters when my grandma finally broke up the argument and was like uh hello? I'm still alive, and I'm not giving my stash to either one of you, I'm leaving it to Joey (my husband) and Joey looked at Renee then at me and left the room so fast before we jumped him. So the joke still stands, Joe will inherit the stash, he feel so privileged haha. But anyways after seeing that photo of the turquoise wedding ring, I was like wow I wish I would have picked something like that out for my wedding ring. I love my ring, but that one is so pretty to me. So I googled a bit and found a few others that I really liked too. Maybe for an anniversary present *hint*

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so fast.

everything. So so so fast.

I am 34 weeks and 4 days.
Can you believe that?
I had my last baby at 37 weeks.
I think this baby will come then too. Lots and lots of painful contractions, lots of pressure, lots of complaining, let me tell ya!
In 2 weeks, I will have a baby shower. I know, I know, it's very strange, some may say tacky to have a shower for your 4th child especially since we already have a girl. But my very generous mother in law really has been aching to throw one and she has never had to opportunity to throw one and I am her only daughter. So we will be having a "last baby shower". I'm excited to hang out with family at their adorable country farm and sip on ice tea and eat red velvet cup cakes and I'm really hoping to get some BumGenius cloth diapers as a gift *hint*hint* I will be 36 weeks, and I have been putting off getting anything and all things ready for Betsey's arrival until after the shower. And it's been tough! Then the week after that I will be 37 weeks! Full term. yikes. The following week after that, my husband will be leaving for Monterrey for work, so I am really really praying very hard every day that God will let this baby come the week before that, it would be obviously ideal. I still have not finished our nursery, in fact I sold our crib! One of the screws was warped, and a lady said she didn't care she would fix it and bought it. But we just use the pack n play for the first couple of months anyways. I am trying to not stress on the girls room, because I'd rather just take my time because I am like that......a procrastinator.
Totally random, but am I the only one who is going to wake up in the middle of the night to watch the Royal Wedding? I'm crazy.

one day....

after I have this baby, after I lose this baby weight, I will wear cute clothes again......I just know it.

window shopping:

ASOS

ASOS

ASOS

ASOS

ModCloth

ModCloth

ModCloth

Forever21

Forever 21

ModCloth

oh glucose test.

I was told by my midwife that I failed my last glucose test that I took at 28 weeks. I was a 133 and the highest you should be is 130 so I am having to take a 3 hours test now and fast before hand....yay me!
I'm thinking it was a false positive, however, I have been pretty shaky if I do not get enough protein to eat, and headaches with being light headed so I am taking the test this thursday. I am officially 32 weeks! crazy. 5 weeks till Betsey is considered full term, 7 weeks until I have my cesarean. I do not have an official date, I will get that at my next appointment on the 20th but they do them at 39 weeks. I have been having braxton hicks contractions like crazy, with a ton of cramping. I'm like why is my stupid body doing this? this is not how we do things so there is no point in "prepping" my body for labor, because it doesn't work that way!! some are not painful, just major tightening of my stomach muscles then some are pretty intense but don't last long, either way....annoying.

I colored my hair red, I like it. I don't know how long I will keep it, it fades so quickly.
London and I painted our nails a fun mint color this weekend as we laid out in the backyard soaking up some 70 degree sunshine and drinking lemonade while the boys watched the Angels game and played catch in the yard next to us.

Mason showing his little sis how to smash the egg and squish the bug aka batting stance 

some lovely photobooth photos showing off our minty nails

london wanted a photo with the tummy, and rowan did too

a 32 week Betsey in tummy with a 3 year old excited soon to be big sister 

red!