DIY: Large Wooden Letter Gets A Glam Makeover For The Nursery

When putting together Sienna's nursery I knew I wanted to DIY a beautiful frame I had for over the crib so I painted it white and mounted it in the perfect spot.

I had every intention to add our baby girls initial inside the frame but since we really only settled on a name right before she arrived I only had time to place the order on Etsy.com for the 16" unfinished wooden letter.

Now that I have gotten into somewhat of a new mommy routine I found some time to finish it.

The Before

A coat of silver paint and some jewels complete the look.

Because I need hubbys help to hang it I placed it in the frame just to see how it would look and call me crazy but I kinda like it on the crazy angle!

The silver paint matched our wall colour almost exactly which wasn't my intended look but I actually don't mind the subtleness of it. The bling pops even more!

This was a quick and easy DIY that added a really nice personal touch to our nursery. I'm so happy with the outcome.... now onto the DIY baby headbands I'm working on ;)

What do you think?

Mommy Talk: Presidents Choice Supreme VS Pampers Swaddlers Diapers

Baby Sienna is now 8 weeks old and since her birth I've tried 3 different brands of diapers. Since we got a few packs of Huggies newborns at a great deal ($5 per pack) from the hospital we only used these during the newborn stage and really liked them.

Since our princess has gained weight and we have had to move into size 1 diapers I've been between Pampers Swaddlers which seemed to be the standard for some of the moms I know and a new discovery, Presidents Choice Supreme Comfort Diapers which baby and I were introduced to thanks to the amazing PR people for the brand.

I don't feel there is much of need for me to go into detail about Pampers because we know it's been tried, tested and approved and I really have nothing bad to say about the brand, it's diapers or it's performance.

That being said I do want to open more mommies eyes to other comparable brands such as the Presidents Choice brand. After having used both Huggies and Pampers by the time I opened my pack of PC diapers I was beginning to think how any mom dealt with diapers that didn't have a wetness strip indicator because it was making my job of knowing when baby needed a change a lot easier. I was kind of worried that the PC brand wouldn't have this feature (being a most cost effective brand) but I was happy and I'll be honest totally relieved to see it did!

Shown below are two size 1 diapers, on the left the Pampers brand and on the right the PC diaper. The Pampers has the yellow line that turns blue when baby is wet and the PC has little blue images in circles that totally disappear when baby is wet. Both make it VERY easy and obvious to see when baby is wet.

My thoughts on PC Supreme Diapers:
These diapers were super soft and stretchy, fit Sienna really well and in fact were more snug on her than other brands. There were no leaks and it contained all blowouts well. I like that they are hypoallergenic, fragrance free and that It's infused with aloe and vitamin E so it kept her skin balanced and rash free.

My only issue with these diapers is that I found they ran a bit small, so while they fit my then 9lbs baby well and the package stated they would fit up to 14lbs I'm just not sure they would. I like the fact that they were snug a lot so my solution to this would be to move up a size a bit faster.

PC Supreme Comfort Diapers come in sizes 1-6 in packs of between 84-136 at approx. $24.99 which can save you a few bucks each time you purchase diapers which I'm starting to find out is a lot!

Mommies next time you are at Superstore/Loblaws doing groceries or getting your fashion fix in the Joe Fresh section head on over to the baby area and check out all the PC baby products such as their wipes and these true, tried and now tested Stretchy Fit diapers!

Mom Approved!!

Baby Talk: My Birth Story.....

(Photo was taken in Sienna's nursery as part of our maternity shoot by Strokes Photography)

I've been meaning to share my birth story but baby Sienna has been keeping me busy so it's been a bit delayed but here it is....

Late October at 38 weeks I went in for what would be my final Dr's appointment where I was told that I would be getting induced the following week. After checking my Dr's schedule we decided on Tuesday November 6th for the induction but I was told that I would need to go in on Monday to have the induction gel put in.

Monday I arrived at the hospital at 10am for my first dose of gel at 1cm dilated. I was monitored for about 30mins and sent home but told to come back around 4-5pm for another dose. I went about my day not feeling any different so I assumed it didn't work and I'd need the second dose for sure. Well I was right! I went back to the hospital and was reassessed at 5pm at still 1-2cm so they gave me the second dose and sent me home with instructions to come back at 8am the next morning for my scheduled induction.

We went home made sure our hospital bags were ready and then went to bed. Well I could hardly sleep because I started getting mild contractions. Nothing too unbearable, more like mild cramps which lasted all night. At 5:30am I was again woken up by a contraction but this time it hurt way more than the other ones so we called the hospital and they told us to come in.

When we arrived at 6:30am they agreed to keep me only because I was scheduled that morning anyways. I later found out that I got the last birthing room and all other ladies coming in after me would be sent to another hospital (I got lucky!). I was 4cm at this point and in a lot of pain so even though my birth plan was to go without an epidural I couldn't take it anymore and asked for one.

Around 9am the anesthesiologist came in and administered the epidural which hurt but not as much as I thought it would, probably because the contractions hurt more. After 20 minutes I could still feel intense pain and it was determined that the epidural would have to be reset. Lucky me! So I had the first epidural removed and another one put in. Thank god this one worked and I was feeling a lot better however this is when I started feeling nauseous... My poor husband, mom and doula Kristin really took care of me.

Around 4:45pm I began feeling a lot of pressure that began to get painful so I asked to be checked. The nurses words were "no wonder it's hurting the head is right there!" it was time to push.  Any thoughts of wanting just the Dr and my husband in the room went out the window as I didn't care at that point. I had my OB, the resident DR, my midwife, my doula, my husband and a few NICU nurses on standby in the corner.

I began pushing and felt the "ring of fire" (google it) for pretty much the entire time it was so painful and the worse part was the nurses couldn't tell me when I was having a contraction because the monitor wasn't picking them up so I had to tell them when they were coming. Anyway after 1 hour and 45 mins of pushing my baby was born!

She let out 1 yelp and was placed on my chest for me to see. I bawled like never before and was instantly in love. They cleaned her up and as I talked she stared up at me so awake and alert with her big grey eyes as if she knew my voice. It was such a surreal moment to go from feeling her in my tummy to seeing and feeling her.

(At the hospital)

Nothing can ever prepare a woman for what childbirth feels like. Since everyone's experience is so different there is no normal and though I felt prepared having heard stories from all my friends and having taken the prenatal classes I felt like that all went out the window once my labour started.

(Wide awake with daddy)

Looking back I wouldn't say my experience was horrible or even bad. Was it painful? Hell yes! Did it go as planned? No, but how can you really plan childbirth?! Would I do things differently? nope, I have no regrets!

(In daddy's arms)

My baby girl Sienna is now 5 weeks old, changing and growing every day into her own little cute personality. Ive had the same challenges as any new mom but we are getting through them together day by day.

(Happy 1 month to me!!)

It doesn't hurt that my mom helped out for 4 weeks though! Plus my husband has been really great with her and in helping to give me a break when I need it. I feel so very blessed :)

Baby Talk: Welcome Our Newest Family Member...

Sienna Noor born November 6th at 6:43pm weighing 7lbs 1oz

Its been over a week now and we are finally getting into a groove. Both Sienna and I are doing great! We could not be more in love with our little princess :)

Birth story to come but in the meantime I will be taking a short blogging break to fulfil my new role as a mommy!!

Thank you for all the well wishes I have never felt more blessed or been any happier :)