Nursing Station
March 18, 2013
My 80+ year old home has a good bit of character. Some of this is evidenced in the cute built-ins or the narrow, winding, death-defying staircase to the second floor. Another is the very small room we call a nursery. It’s pretty much perfect for a baby or small child because an adult would go nuts in such a small space. I’ll soon do a post on my before & after of the room (which is so finished!). Because the nursery is so small I can’t fit a rocker in it, and instead have the rocker set up on the landing outside my room and the nursery.
After a long and unfruitful search for an antique dresser for the nursery and a side table for the rocker, I ended up using this rinkydink bookcase that was hiding in shame in the attic. While it’s pretty much falling apart (the back broke off, the nubs for holding the 2nd shelf disappeared) it doesn’t have any major chunks missing and it stands upright which is as basic as it gets. And it’s only about 85% hideous. I’m making do.
My goal was to make the nursing area as comfortable as I could. I’d totally love to have a wonderfully squishy glider which seems like the epitome of nursing comfort, but this rocker with a few pillows and blankets will do (and if it doesn’t, there are plenty of hideous, comfortable and used gliders on Craigslist for cheap). When my mom visited we went antiquing and found an awesome leather pouf in a dreamy warm color. I filled it with fabric scraps so it’s very heavy and not going anywhere fast. I just need to remember that’s also where I stored my leftover batting.
I ended up rearranging my pictures on the wall to accomodate for the uglier than hell bookcase. Oh man, I have so many pretty pictures I’d love to hang but they’re irregular size, need mats and frames and that just hasn’t happened yet.
So to what I think is the best part of my nursing station: the nursing basket. Post-baby is a huge transition for for everyone, especially the mama (ME!). I put together some things I might need to reach for while nursing: unscented chapstick, unscented lotion, homemade nipple cream (equal parts shea butter, cocoa butter, coconut oil), washcloth, hairbands/hairpins, and a small chocolate bar (and I’ll have healthy snacks too but I’ll have them out when the time comes). I wanted to make it a special little basket for ME stuff. I’ll also have my mini ipad and phone, etc., nearby but as far as healing goes, these few things seemed like a good idea.
Preparations: Post Partum Care
March 14, 2013
For the majority of my pregnancy I’ve been focused on The Baby, The Nursery, The BIRTHING. It wasn’t until after reading this helpful blog post and the accompanying terrifying comments that I started thinking more about what was going to happen to my precious body after the baby arrived.
This is a nice little article talking about the care other cultures give to women after they give birth. What is wrong with us, America? Daily massages, somebody to do the laundry and dishes, geez Louise! Heaven. This lead to me researching some things I could do to take care of myself, to make my own care package post-birth. Chris and I live far away from family and have chosen to spend the first few weeks without family visiting. He is a natural helper and I know that he’s going to be so good to have around (thank you, paternity leave!).
These are the things that I either made or purchased for post-baby care. I purchased the herbs locally at Stone Cottage. Mother’s Milk Tea to increase milk flow, Herbal Bath/Rinse, Nipple Cream, Padscicles (large maxi pads sprayed with witch hazel and frozen), Witch Hazel Perineum Spray.
Many of the things I included are for that particular part of anatomy which will forever be changed. I like saying “when the baby arrives” like he is just going to show up on the doorstep with a little suitcase. If only. I know, I know, labor can be beautiful, blah blah blah BUT IT IS PAINFUL and there can be TEARING and STITCHES in the delicates all because a PERSON is coming OUT of a small space never before used as a baby chute.
Cue freakout yelp!
It’s okay. I’m actually a lot calmer about this in person…
Baby Crafts Recap
March 11, 2013I just posted about all the things I knitted for the baby, so I figure I should recap all the things I sewed by hand or machine.
I didn’t do as much sewing because sewing tiny clothes didn’t feel as rewarding to me. I really enjoyed making the toys the best. There’s something wonderful about working with wool felt. I could, and have, crafted with it for hours on end.
Not pictured sewing projects include the crib bumper and nursery curtains. You’ll see those when I give you a nursery tour!
Clothes
Striped harem pants: I traced a pair of leggings and adjusted the pattern to gather at the waist as well as have a dropped crotch. That sounds wrong. Anyway it was pretty fast to make and if they fit the baby I will make some more with my leftover knit fabrics.
Tiny Hats: I serged up these little newborn hats with fabric from old t-shirts and remnants. They took about 10 minutes each, which made for a fun and fast project. I used this easy pattern.
Shoes
Colorful kicks: Two pairs of sweet baby shoes with wool felt, covered buttons and leather loops. I have doubts about their usefulness but they sure are cute.
Quilts & Blankets:
Quilts: These two quilts were pretty quick to make. I say that because I already had a half-finished twin quilt top. I simply cut it in half and then made two quilts out of it by adding the extra fabric on the sides. These are about 45″ square and finished with red & white twine knots instead of being quilted.
Wool Blanket: Don’t hate me but this Pendelton blanket only cost me $11. I found this amazingly thick blanketing fabric in the remnant bin at Pendelton, the perfect size for a baby blanket. The binding is also from Pendleton. All I did was sew the binding (while cursing loudly about how much I hate hate hate sewing bias binding. I also cursed quite a bit while sewing the binding to the quilts).
Baby Bibs:
Kerchief Bibs: I made these out of cotton shirting and flannel fabrics with vintage snaps.
Vintage Style Bibs: I used the pretty embroidered ends I’d saved from vintage pillowcases and added them to these flannel bibs. The embroidered cat bib I made myself, complete with slightly creepy button eyes.
Shirting Bibs: These bibs were made with leftover shirting from shirts I made for Chris and backed with either cotton flannel or terry cloth.
Burp Cloths:
Large burp cloths: These were a cinch to make and I used all scrap fabric I had and backed each with 100% cotton flannel.
Toys
Liberty Grasping Ball: I used this tutorial and scraps of leftover Liberty of London fabric to make this pretty ball. I wasn’t sure at first about the fabric combination because I’d wanted to do two solids but nothing in my stash called out to me. I’d like to make another one with solids but we’ll see when that happens!
Mikkel J. Fox: Foxiest fox around. I created the patterns for the fox & hedgehog but this one is my favorite because it could easily be altered to be a bear or bunny or cat, etc.
Hefe the Hedgehog: He came out a little different than I’d hoped, especially since I forgot the ears! But he’s still pretty cute.