The Crafty Work At Home Momma

Felt Crafts For Kids

2012-01-22T20:08:00.000-08:00

I love working with felt! It's probably the easiest fabric to work with. I remember making Barbie clothes and mini pillows as a little girl and now my little girl is asking for needle and thread to sew her very own creations. It's a lot of fun to work with and there's tons of cool projects out there. I came across Better Home and Garden's website and saw this darling little post on kids crafts using felt.

Valentine's Day Letters

2012-01-22T19:34:00.000-08:00

FaveCraft's has been lovely enough to share over 50 Valentine's Day ideas for accessories, home decor, gifts, cards and kids crafts all spread out in THREE FREE downloadable ebooks. One of the ebooks is a compilation of favorite tutorials from 14 talented bloggers. Visit their FaveCraft.com to download your free copies!

Pretend Passports from Little Passports

2011-12-13T09:49:00.000-08:00

A while back, I posted about the pretend passports I made, but also featured a deal from Mamapedia.

I came across a fun Geography kit that also uses pretend passports. The website is Little Passports and I thought many of you with kids who are between the ages of 5-10 might be interested in this product as well.

The deal I purchased was 50% off a 3-Month Little Passports Subscription ($47 value for $23) Now if you order by December 18th, they'll guarantee Christmas Delivery!

Each month, your child will receive a package from fictional characters Sofia and Sam as they “travel” to a new country. As he reads the adventure letter and discovers exciting souvenirs and activities, he’ll learn about what it’s like to live in Japan, Brazil, and other locales. As each country is visited, your child will receive a personalized package via postal mail that includes an adventure letter, fun souvenirs, activities and access to Little Passport’s online Boarding Zone full of games and activities. The souvenirs and stickers are such a fun treat for the kids, such as an amethyst gemstone from Brazil, an origami kit from Japan. In addition the kids receive stamps for their passport and stickers to stick on the outside of their suitcase! Oh! and you get a world map too!

Here's an updated link to the deal (Purchase by December 18th, 2011):

Personalized Santa Letters!

2011-12-01T13:56:00.000-08:00

It's December 1, 2011! The countdown begins! What better way to get your kids excited and involved with Christmas, with a Personalized Christmas Letter from Santa!

This deal is good for their Elf Package only, which includes:

Letter Personalized with your child’s name and wish list items
Includes North Pole envelope and “nice list” certificate

If you redeem by December 9th, 2011, The Original Santa Letter company guarantees delivery by Christmas! Through this link receive your letter 50% off the price ($10 instead of $20). Hurry up! Deal ends in 5 days!

Our week with Lentil!

2011-11-16T17:13:00.000-08:00

This week we rowed through the book "Lentil" by Robert McCloskey. We had a lot of fun with this book. Besides following the pages in the FIAR guide for Lentil, there's so many great additional activities you can follow. I guess that applies to all the stories in the Five In A Row Curriculum!

I had so much fun recreating the cover of Lentil.

McCloskey is the writer and illustrator of "Lentil". In this story his illustrations are made with charcoal. I introduced charcoal to the kids with a drawing I made of the harmonica featured in the story.

My Daughter's Pictures: First one is like my harmonica but white charcoal pencil against black paper. The second is black, brown, blue and green charcoal against white paper

My Son's Picture

We also discussed taste since there's a part in the book where everyone puckers their lips at the sight of someone eating a lemon. We looked at a diagram of the tongues taste buds and taste tested lemon juice to identify sour, unsweetened cocoa powder for bitter, sugar for sweet, and salt for salty. The kids enjoyed it. They each drew food that represented the 4 taste buds and we pasted them under the corresponding taste bud word. Template can be found at Homeschool Share.

For a scrapbook, we glued a plastic sleeve to hold the kids charcoal drawings... They're quite messy! The kids each chose what they wanted to color. The book took place in Ohio. So my daughter colored the Ohio bird and flower (Cardinal and Scarlet Carnation). My son colored the US and Ohio flag and they both practiced their writing by writing vocabulary words and their definitions. I'll post pictures soon.

The best activity we did was soap whittling. A character in the book (Old Sneep) is whittling wood and I wanted to give the kids an idea of how it's done. My good friend from Snoopy Girl from Eclectic Musings also rowed Lentil and wanted to do it but didn't get the chance. So she was kind enough to give me the idea of soap whittling. So here's what we came up with...

We used popsicle sticks to slowly whittle down the soap...

Sometimes we would use a plastic knife to carve out bigger chunks. Even though it's a plastic knife, I still helped my son carve it out

The popsicle stick was perfect for smoothing out their sculptures. I have to learn to let go and let them do it themselves, but I spent an hour on each one smoothing it out. They would come back from time to time and help me out. It was very therapeutic! lol

Here's their finished sculptures! My son wanted a mushroom and my daughter a dog bone.

Who Owns The Sun?

2011-11-09T23:24:00.000-08:00

Who Owns The Sun? is such a great book and I just found out the author of the book wrote it when she was 14 years old! I can only hope my children find a love for writing and are able to come up with their very own stories.

The subject of slavery is the main topic of the story and I was unsure how my kids would react. Surprisingly they did well learning about slavery. I gave them a general idea on how they were captured, how they were sold and treated by their owners.

We also read two other books on the topic of slavery:

Here's my book cover for our mini book scrapbook:

Benjamin chose to draw the starry night scene in the book and they learned what a simile is:

Here's my daughters drawing and we pasted a plastic sleeve for their copywork:

We also learned about simple machines such as levers, wheel and axel, pulley, wedge, screw and inclined plane. I set up a few simple machine examples to demonstrate how they work. We made a vocabulary pocket to put all the words and definitions the kids wrote.

We discussed how slavery ended and even read some books on Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. My favorite was Abe Lincoln, The Boy Who Loved Books. Homeschool Share has their own unit study page that has great templates on Abraham Lincoln. We printed out a few of them and added them to our mini book.

The Giraffe That Walked To Paris

2011-11-09T09:28:00.000-08:00

Three weeks ago, we rowed "The Giraffe That Walked To Paris". I'm scrambling to post what we did for the past few weeks!

This book gave us the opportunity to learn so many new vocabulary words including "Pasha" (Egypt's high military official. This is also based on true events, which made things even more interesting for the kids. I printed out a few templates from Homeschool Share and we constructed the mini book together. In addition to reading the book, they completed these small assignments throughout the week. Here's what we came up with:

The kids wrote some vocabulary words from the book and wrote the definitions. They also practiced their writing and did some copywork from a sentence in the book:

I drew the cover

The kids wanted to draw their own giraffes and my daughter wanted to write a story under hers. My son also wrote a small sentence to practice his penmanship.

Our geography lesson was on Egypt, Mediterranean Sea, and France (Marseilles and Paris)

The kids each colored the flag of their choice

My daughter made a hand print giraffe and we all learned some interesting facts about giraffes. I wanted to take them to the zoo to see the giraffes, but the week got crazy!

I used a yard stick and applied tape to the end and measured out 11 feet. We read somewhere that a small giraffe is about 11 feet tall. I used blue tape to show how tall it would be in the house!

How To Make An Apple Pie and See The World

2011-11-09T00:35:00.000-08:00

I finally have had the chance to catch up with my posts on my FIAR adventures with my kids. After our first week of FIAR, we continued on a wonderful journey around the world with one of my favorite books How To Make An Apple Pie and See The World by Marjorie Priceman.

The kids had a great time learning about evaporation (we conducted an experiment on salt evaporating), tasted some cinnamon from a cinnamon stick, colored flags from the countries the main character in the book visited for a geography lesson and learned about the seasons and the apple tree.
(Not pictured: minibook page with cinnamon stick attached)

Best of all, we finished the week with a small math lesson on measurement and made a delicious apple pie! I've made it several times since then. My kids are allergic to dairy, so I had to modify the recipe in the back of the book and use vegan butter. I've recently discovered Xylitol as a natural sweetener (good for the teeth too!), so instead of the 3/4 cup listed in the back of the book, I used a little less than 1/2 cup of xylitol instead of butter. If you want to make a vegan Apple Pie, omit the egg wash.

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The kids also drew pictures and did some copywork from the book. Another successful and fun lesson!

I love these mini books that we've been making... not only do we showcase the kids art, but it has opened up a great creative outlet for me! I studied art and drew my entire life. Shortly after two years of college, I lost the love I had for drawing/illustration and completely dropped it. My interests changed and then I had children and never found the time to draw. It wasn't until a few weeks ago, when I started to draw the cover for our Make Way For Duckling minibook that I fell in love with drawing again. So now it's my job to draw the covers and the kids do the rest. :)

Apple Tree Facts and Vocabulary Words From Book:

All these templates can be found at Homeschool Share

Eclectic Musings: Some homeschool Laughs!

2011-11-01T20:32:00.000-07:00

I had to post this. My good friend Lisa from Snoopygirlmusings posted this on her blog.

Eclectic Musings: Some homeschool Laughs!: Whoever said there isn't pressure to make a good impression even within the Homeschool community? LOL!

Make Way For Ducklings FIAR Unit Study

2011-10-12T20:56:00.000-07:00

Last week was our first week back with our FIAR (Five In A Row) studies.

So far it was our best week with FIAR (Five In A Row Curriculum). The kids were very much involved and have learned so much about Geography and Mallard Ducks. We decided to start our FIAR studies with the book Make Way For Ducklings.

The great things about FIAR is that I'm learning a lot of things I don't remember learning in school! Male mallard ducks are "Drakes" while females are "Hens". Although it's probably one of the most common ducks, I don't ever remember learning about them when I was in school.

Male mallards, or drakes, are more distinctively colored than females.

The female mallard, or hen, has mottled brown feathers and not as striking as the drake.

We wanted to showcase what we leaned from the FIAR lessons. We created a lapbook based on "The Clown of God", however I had no folders to make a lapbook for "Make Way For Ducklings", so I improvised. I folded a couple of sheets of thick paper and stapled them to make a book.

After reading the book, they drew and colored their own mallard ducks. I drew the cover and the came up with a few questions for the kids to answer. We pasted them into the book and tried to keep the lapbook feel throughout.

Here's some detailed pictures of what we came up with so far... I want to add more color and photos:

This book was constructed throughout the whole week... In between our lessons, we went to the zoo and Chicago Botanic Gardens to visit the mallard ducks up close in person.

On the left page, I had my son write down a few vocabulary words from the book. When you lift the flaps up, they can see the definition. Behind the flap labeled "The Duckling" are the ducklings names... the kids had to put the names in alphabetical order.

Geography lesson: Massachusetts and bordering states. The worksheets above can be found at Homeschool Share and Enchanted Learning websites.

Little Pretend Passports

2011-05-22T22:01:00.000-07:00

Some deals are too good not to share... especially with those of you who have kids between the ages of 5-10.

I made my kids pretend passports to use with our Five In a Row Curriculum Lessons and they turned out beautiful. I used the free templates at FIARcircle.com and made some of my own passport stamps for each country we "visited" and printed out the flags of each country as well.

Luckily I have Photoshop where I'm able to edit the stamps with the dates we traveled to another country. The kids love when they get their stamps.

Unfortunately my 2 year old got a hold of them and wrote all over them... so I want to make them again for this year. Here's the photos of my sons before she marked them up.

Even though I plan on using the ones we made, I came across a fun Geography kit that also uses pretend passports. The website is Little Passports and I thought many of you with kids who are between the ages of 5-10 might be interested in this product as well.

I came across a Mamapedia deal for Little Passports that I couldn't pass up. Plus I had a $10 credit and jumped on the opportunity. :)
So this deal is 50% off a 3-Month Little Passports Subscription ($47 value for $23)

Each month, your child will receive a package from fictional characters Sofia and Sam as they “travel” to a new country. As he reads the adventure letter and discovers exciting souvenirs and activities, he’ll learn about what it’s like to live in Japan, Brazil, and other locales. As each country is visited, your child will receive a personalized package via postal mail that includes an adventure letter, fun souvenirs, activities and access to Little Passport’s online Boarding Zone full of games and activities. The souvenirs and stickers are such a fun treat for the kids, such as an amethyst gemstone from Brazil, an origami kit from Japan. In addition the kids receive stamps for their passport and stickers to stick on the outside of their suitcase! Oh! and you get a world map too!

Here's an updated link to the deal (Purchase by December 18th, 2011):

I should probably receive mine some time next week. Feel free to ask me for my review once I receive it in the mail. :)

My Son's First Tooth Fairy Experience

2011-05-21T15:40:00.000-07:00

So my son's tooth fell out yesterday! I first noticed his crooked loose tooth about a week and a half ago and I was like such a kid about it! I jumped up and down and it was only till then that my son was just as excited.

So fast forward to yesterday, he was eating and he ran to me with his tooth in his hand! He almost swallowed it... luckily it fell in between his gums and bottom lip.

It was the cutest little tooth I ever seen. Right before we went to bed, I sewed a small felt pocket into his pillow and placed the tooth in a small tooth shaped container we received at a party a few years ago.

He fell asleep and I knew being the wild sleeper he is, that dollar bill would fall under the bed.

Yesterday night, after he fell asleep, my husband and I started watching a movie. While watching, I made a quick tooth fairy pouch to put a dollar bill in and a small note. It didn't take too long. I used embroidery floss and a large needle. I didn't have any velcro on me, so I sewed a button closure instead.

I also typed out a note from the tooth fairy and rolled it up into a small scroll.

My son woke up rather early to show me what the tooth fairy left him for his first tooth! I think my son is more excited about the tooth fairy than Santa Claus! :)

Here's a quick tutorial on how I made it:

Oatmeal Dough Snowman

2011-01-23T10:57:00.000-08:00

My mom made some oatmeal dough snowmen/snowgirl with the kids. I took it a step further and helped them decorate with accessories. My daughter wanted a princess snowgirl and my son wanted a superhero.

For my daughter, we used barbie accessories. She wanted a crown and gold shoes. I happen to find gold shoes in the Barbie bag.

For my son, I cut out some blue fabric for a mini cape. :) His was much easier.

Here's a simple dough recipe, as I'm unsure what my mom used.

OATMEAL DOUGH

* 1 part flour
* 2 parts oatmeal
* 1 part water

Mix ingredients together, form into shapes and let dry. Pieces can be painted when dry.

Nothing Beats Play-Doh?

2011-01-23T10:31:00.000-08:00

I was watching "A Goofy Movie" with the kiddies today and thought these were the coolest things. Of course, I haven't played with them yet, but I'm thinking of getting the clay as a gift for my daughters birthday.

The thing I like about this deal is the accessories. They even include a wind up device to place their creations on so they can make their own robots! Nothing beats Play-Doh, but I love these accessories/body parts. They're much smaller than the ones Play-Doh makes and take up less room. I'm all about less clutter! :)

Wooden Salt & Pepper Shakers

2010-02-11T21:20:00.001-08:00

Eliminate plastic toys and make your kids these cute salt and pepper shakers! This quick, easy and fun tutorial can be found at Crafty Chic Mommy!

Fleece Elf Slippers

2010-02-11T20:51:00.000-08:00

Awesome tutorial from Maya Made on creating fuzzy fleece elf slippers. Perfect to keep your little ones feet nice and toasty! :)

Chalkboard Tags & More!

2010-02-11T19:57:00.000-08:00

Do you have tons of cereal boxes itchin to be used? Not So Idle Hands has got the solution. All you need is some chalkboard paint, cereal boxes or thin cardboard and you'll have yourself some greatc chalkboard tags write notes on or even as bookmarks.

City Play Mat from a Shower Curtain

2010-02-11T19:07:00.000-08:00

Another cool tutorial from My Little Gems Check out her full tutorial by clicking here

Using a shower curtain, from the Dollar Store, Sharla from My Little Gems made a city play mat of the places her family often goes to in their city. It did not take long to make at all- a few hours tops. Plus, this play mat cost ONE DOLLAR! Talk about affordable fun! ;)

Have your kids draw in parking spaces or suggest stores/places to add to the mat!

Enjoy your new play mat! Visit all the places you love to go around town, without ever leaving your home! ;)

Car Cozie Tutorial

2010-02-11T17:35:00.000-08:00

Check out this cool car cozy tutorial by Sharla from My Little Gems. It holds all your little guys matchbox cars. I'm sure you can modify the pattern to fit larger or smaller cars.

Lavender Laundry Sachel

2010-02-06T09:55:00.000-08:00

This is a great tutorial from Craft Tutorials on how to make a laundry sachet filled with lavender. It leaves your laundry smelling so good. They also make a unique and inexpensive gift for those friends and family that might be hard to buy for. Plus it is a great way to use the baby’s socks that she has grown out of.

Materials Needed:

· Clean socks of any size.
· Dried lavender
· Sewing needle and thread
· Scissors
· Ribbon (optional)

Instructions:

1. Find the socks you will use for your sachets. Baby socks work well because they come in cute patterns but any sock will do. If you have lost one of a pair of socks it makes sense to put the remaining sock to good use. Make sure the socks are clean and have a tight enough weave to hold the dried lavender.

2. Fill the sock with the desired amount of lavender. Don’t pack it too tightly because you want the lavender to be able to move around a bit inside the sachet while the dryer is running. This helps to release the fragrance.

3. Using the needle and thread, sew the sock closed, preferably just above the enclosed lavender.

4. Add a loop of ribbon if you want to be able to hang the sachet up in the laundry room between loads. Just make a loop of ribbon the desired length and secure it to the sock using the needle and thread.

5. Just before adding the sachet to a load of laundry, squeeze it several times to make the fragrance more pronounced.

A Little Early, But Guess What I'll Be For Halloween This Year?

2010-02-04T20:19:00.000-08:00

I came across this awesome costume idea from Networked Blogs. I've always been a fan of comic book art and immediately knew this would be an awesome costume. The only thing I'm worried about is getting the clothing to have the comic book art look. Not sure if I can pull that off. Any ideas? :)

How To Make A Tutu

2009-11-22T00:25:00.000-08:00

Check out Detailed My Full Color Tutu Guide...

How To Make A Tutu EbookIt comes in a Non-Sew And Easy Sew Versions.

If you just want the basics, then look no further!

Step 1:

Measure childs' waist and cut elastic 2" smaller than measurement to allow for stretch. Sew both ends of elastic together by hand or with sewing machine.

tutu,how to make a tutu,make a poofy tutu" border="0">

Save Time & Learn How To Make An Inexpensive No-Sew Waistband... can be found in

How To Make A Tutu Ebook

Step 2:

You will need 4-6 yards of tulle for baby/toddler tutu if cutting from the bolt. Cut into 6" strips. Purchase 6" by 25 yard rolls to make it easier for you. The spool is already 6" wide, so all you have to do is cut down the length.

Let's say you want the tutu to be 14" long. Double that length to 28" and cut each strip to 28" long. You determine length.:)

If using tulle from the bolt, the best way to cut strips is to leave the tulle folded as it came from the store and cut it down to 6"strips so you're cutting though multiple layers. Saves you time. Or purchase 6" by 25 yard spools to bypass cutting the tulle into strips. You will need between 1-3 rolls. Average toddler tutu will use between 1.5 to 2.5 rolls.

Some strips might not come out completely even, but it really is okay once all strips are tied on. Any mistakes can be hidden.

Step 3:

Fold your strip in half and bring it behind the elastic waistband to form a loop.

Step 4:

Bring the ends of the tulle strip through the loop. Pull down to tighten. Make sure not to pull it too tight.

Step 5:

Slipknot should look like picture above.

Step 6:

Continue tying slipknots or regular knots around the entire waistband. You will probably use between 40-60 strips of tulle. All depends on waist size. And there you have a finished tutu!

Size chart and more accurate sizing tips can be found at

How To Make A Tutu

For additional info on making easy sew tutu variations and hairbows, please visit CraftyGuides.com

No More Cookie Cutter Holiday Greetings!

2009-11-07T16:23:00.001-08:00

Shutterfly, snapfish and other online photo developers have some pretty nice photo greetings for a lot of different occasions, however all you get is a premade template and your photo is dropped into the frame. Not much customization involved.

Visit Misspictureperfect.com for unique design this year that will blow friends and family away.

All designs are on one page to view.

Most designs can be modified to fit a different occasion... Let's say you see a birth announcement you absolutely love, but you're looking for a holiday greeting; I would be happy to modify colors and wording to fit the Holidays! :)

At only $29.95 (limited time only) you get the master file to print up as many as you need. Or save on printing and shipping and just send as an email or post to your Facebook/Myspace Profile.

Be sure to Order By November 30th to allow enough time for you to ship your greetings in time.

Can't Decide On A Birth Announcement...

2009-08-16T22:26:00.000-07:00

This is what I have so far. I need to take more pictures of Olivia, however I can't seem to get her in a nice position long enough to snap a picture without my kids smothering her. :) I'm pretty sure I'll probably come up with something else.

I Wish They Had These Webinars For My Second Pregnancy

2009-08-16T18:21:00.000-07:00

http://ican-online.org/the-truth-about-vbac

This Would've Been My Story If We Didn't Have A Hospital Nearby!

2009-08-16T18:14:00.000-07:00

Women gives birth vaginally in her car after three cesareans (VBA3C)

I love this! I meet women all the time whose confidence in their bodies has been dashed by the “failure to progress” diagnosis they received in past labors. This woman had three cesareans, all with that same diagnosis, because, as she says, she got to the hospital to early. And look what happens when she is permitted to labor in the peace, privacy, and safety of her own home – she gives birth vaginally!!

Baby born on I-43 during the morning rush

By Erica Perez and Sharif Durhams of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: July 27, 2009

The baby’s name was supposed to be Cecilia Violet Marie Schulte.

But "supposed to be" doesn’t work for a child born in the front passenger seat of a 1998 Toyota Corolla driving through rush hour on I-43.

Her mother, Annmarie Schulte, delivered the baby herself at 7:28 a.m. Monday, moments after she reached down and felt the little head in her hands.

One contraction later, the baby slid out into her mother’s arms: pink, still sleeping and – her mother knew instinctively – healthy."She’s here!" Annmarie exclaimed to her husband, Matthew, who still sat behind the wheel.

By the time they got to the hospital, they would christen their daughter with a new middle name befitting her special birth. But the story of how the newborn got her name began months ago.

Annmarie, 34, a stay-at-home mom, and Matthew, 39, a teacher who is looking for work, have three older daughters – Megan, almost 7; Millie, 5; and Libby, 2.

For each of her three previous childbirths, Annmarie had gone to the hospital too early and had to have a Caesarean section because of failure to progress. This time, Annmarie wanted a natural childbirth. Some doctors told her it shouldn’t be done. Vaginal births after two C-sections are considered risky because they can cause uterine rupture.

She was due Aug. 4. Two doulas – Wendy Kogler and LaNette McQuitty – worked with her during pregnancy, and a physician and a midwife worked with her at Aurora Sinai Medical Center, where she planned to give birth. Wait until you know for sure the baby is coming before you go to the hospital, Annmarie was told.

At about 1 a.m. Monday at the Schultes’ Muskego home, Annmarie woke up Matthew. Her labor pains had become more intense.

By 3:30 a.m., contractions came about two minutes apart. She and Matthew called the doulas.

They came over and monitored Annmarie’s progress. She got in the bathtub. She changed positions. Around 7 a.m., she was fully dilated. They called the midwife. It was time to go to the hospital – now.

Leaving their other girls with neighbors, Annmarie and Matthew rushed to the car. In their hurry, they grabbed towels but forgot everything else at home – a change of clothes for them, the baby’s clothes, the car seat.

They drove toward Aurora Sinai, Annmarie still in her black-and-white striped nightgown and Kogler and McQuitty following behind in separate cars. Matthew remained calm, driving below the speed limit and soothing his wife when she felt a contraction.

Kneeling on the passenger seat, Annmarie felt between her legs and cupped her baby’s head. "She’s coming!" Annmarie screamed. "Do you want me to stop?" Matthew asked. "No! Keep going!" With the very next push, the baby entered the world. She didn’t cry; she slept peacefully. "She’s here!" Annmarie said.

Annmarie looked at the baby and experienced a deep feeling that everything was all right. Unconventional, but all right. Matthew was not so sure. He looked at the baby and felt the deepest sense of terror he has ever known. He let out a primal scream. He pulled over into the distress lane at the Plainfield Curve on I-94/43. The doulas pulled over after him. He ran from the car, still screaming. Words finally came. He frantically waved and yelled for the doulas to come out of their cars.

Kogler called 911. McQuitty checked on the infant. The baby turned a bit purple. McQuitty gave her a breath and rubbed her back. The newborn turned pink again, letting out a tiny mewl. Everyone cried. Annmarie wrapped her daughter in a towel and held the 7-pound, 4.8-ounce baby to her chest.

Emergency responders arrived, giving the baby a clean bill of health. Matthew clamped the umbilical cord and cut it. People driving by on their morning commute, having heard about the freeway birth on news radio, rolled down their windows and yelled: "Happy Birthday!" The emergency medical technicians joked: "You should name the baby ‘Plainfield’ or ‘Freeway’ or ‘Shoulder.’ " "Her name is Cecilia," Annmarie said.

Matthew and the doulas followed behind Annmarie and the baby in the ambulance to the hospital. "We freakin’ did it!" Matthew yelled when they got to Aurora Sinai. "I think we really should make her middle name ‘Freeway,’ " he said. Well, Annmarie thought, this child has a free spirit. And the name certainly fit the occasion. So it was agreed. Cecilia Violet Marie Schulte would be Cecilia Freeway Schulte.

"Each one of my kids is an amazing blessing, but this baby, I delivered – not only vaginally but on my own," Annmarie said. "With the help of my husband and the doulas, I did it. I feel awesome."

A little background info on my VBA2C journey...

2009-08-13T21:55:00.000-07:00

My C-Section Births:

For my first pregnancy, I basically trusted the medical doctors in all my prenatal care and never imagined that I would end up with a c-section. Late one night I heard a "pop" and felt a gush of liquid only to realize that it wasnn't my water breaking, but blood. I was admitted into the hospital and induced with pitocin. Because I didn't know any better about the risks involved, I surrendered all my trust and felt that I was in good hands. I asked for an epidural right away. I was checked and found to be 6 centimeters and later told that they made a mistake and I was only a 4. They also felt that I wasn't progressing and my baby was in distress, so they decided a c-section was best.

It took them well over an hour to prepare the OR. If it was so important to get my baby out, why such a long time to prepare the room? After I was cut and my son was born, they found a 15% tear in my placenta... the cause of my bleeding. Still plenty of oxygen going to my son.

I didn't see my son come out and caught a small glimpse of him. 4 hours later, I was able to finally see him. Extremely hard to bond with him. Took me days to get him to latch on. Was that c-section really necessary? I will never know.

My second pregnancy, I started my care thinking VBAC all the way. I did a little research and found what seemed like zero to no positive VBAC stories/research. Everything out there just pointed at the risks. I naturally was scared and when I asked my doctor if a VBAC was allowed, she said yes. I asked her how risky it was, and she said I can have a VBAC, but didn't calm any of my fears and therefore I decided a csection was best. Her scheduled csection on February 23, 2006 went well. I was able to breastfeed right away and was able to bond much sooner than I did with my son Benjamin.

I was actually ok with having csections. It wasn't until my naturopathic doctor kinda insulted me when she said that I didn't give "birth" to my children. I started thinking about it and although I completely disagree with her approach, I realized that she was right. I didn't stress out about it... but I was bummed thinking that I probably would never experience a natural birth.

Successful VBAC Birth: Shorter Version

2009-08-13T20:36:00.000-07:00

I had my last appointment with the residents on Friday, July 31st in which they scheduled c-section at 41 weeks (August 5th, 2009). I naturally panicked and tried a lot of natural induction techniques that day. Something worked... Pressure waves (contractions) started at 1 am Saturday. They were pretty intense but spaced apart every 10 minutes. My doula Becky, arrived at 7:30 am. I had my headphones on listening to my hypnobabies tracks while I sat on a birthing ball and leaned against the bed.

We had some breakfast... eggs and toast. Then my husband went to take a nap...lucky him. Becky and I started a walk around the block at 2pm to try to get things moving. The pressure waves were still spaced 10 min apart and within minutes of starting our walk, the pressure waves were coming every 3-4 minutes. I had to lean on her or the fence. We walked around the block about 5 times. I asked her how far along I might be and she sid she believed I was still in early labor. When I heard that, I thought to myself, "What?!!!" How can I still be in early labor when everything felt sooo intense? How was active labor going to feel?!!!

When we got back home I managed to heat up some veggie burgers. I went upstairs and the pressure waves were still every 3-4 minutes, however they were really intense. After an hour or so, I went in the hot shower and lost my mucus plug almost immediately. I called Becky over and she had a surprised look on her face and said something like, "Wow, that hot water seemed to get things started." Again I thought to myself, "What?!!" Could I barely be entering Active Labor?"
I reached down again and something told me to self examine myself... I did and felt her head! I told Becky and she decided to check me as well. She turned to me and said,"We have to go now!" I freaked out and lost complete focus. There was no way I could make it to my hospital that was 30 min away. We had to go to the VBACbanned hospital a few minutes away.

Whole ride there I was involunterily pushing and then holding her in. We finally got there and they were ready for me. I started pushing and it felt good to push. On the fourth push, I let out a primal scream that my husband still imitates and reenacts, and my daughter Olivia Grace was born. We arrived there at 5:00pm and I had her at 5:30. She weighed 8lbs 3oz, much larger than my first two.

The greatest experience ever. I still can't believe it happened. Well I can... I prepared so much and was completely confident. I think that was key. If only I started that walk earlier on. 16 hours total from the time the first pressure wave started. But maybe that was only early labor the first couple of hours. The walk is what got things started. From the time of my walk to the time she was born was 3.5 hours.

Couldn't have done it without the help of my doula, hypnobabies, ICAN and my family. Thanks to you all!

Mariana
Mommy to Benjamin (9-11-04)c-section, Amelia (2-23-06) c-section, and Olivia (8-1-09) VBA2C

My Successful Hypbobabies VBA2C At A VBAC Banned Hospital

2009-08-13T18:56:00.000-07:00

Scroll Down To The Section Labeled As "40 Weeks Pregnant" & "My Birthing Time"

For the Meat & Potatoes of my VBAC

How Olivia Came Into This World:

We decided to have another baby soon after moving into our first home. I became pregnant right away and I started doing TONS of research on having a VBAC. I came across videos of women having VBACS and Homebirths after cesareans and knew that it was possible after all.

I also came across I-CAN and found so many resources. Little did I know, I would be facing tons of resistance.

The search was very overwhelming. I cried so much the first month thinking I would have to either give up or travel out of state to have my baby. After countless interviews and consults with different hospitals, I found UIC to be the only hospital willing to let me try.

I was with the midwives the entire time and knew going in it that I would have to transfer over to the doctors after 35 weeks because I had more than one cesarean. Kathleen Harmon, my midwife, said it would be ok and that most likely the midwives would be able to co-manage the labor/delivery.

35 weeks came and my first appointment with one of the residents was terrible and she stated that most of the doctors would not feel comfortable letting me VBAC and I would have to get a repeat cesarean. She wasn't a very good people person. The second resident I saw was much better. She said it would depend on the attending on whether or not they would let me VBAC, but she was a lot more supportive.

4o Weeks Pregnant:

The day before my 40 week appointment, I was even feeling intense braxton hicks. When I went to my 40 week appointment on July 31st, they checked me and I was 1 cm 60% effaced. The resident then scheduled a c-section and told me if I didn't go into labor by 41 weeks, chances are I would never go into labor on my own... hmmmmm...I never knew you could be pregnant forever! :)

So the c-section was scheduled for Wednesday, August 5th at 7:30 in the morning. I tried buying some time by telling them I knew the date of conception and it didn't match up with my due date, tried getting them to do a Non-stress test or bio-physical profile, just so they could have piece of mind that my baby is fine. But she didn't want to budge. As I was exiting the door, she shook my hand and smiled and exitedly said, "See you next week for your section!" I looked at her and then she said, "or see you if you go into labor on your own."

Even after scheduling me, I felt completely confident in my VBAC. I would have one no matter what, and I truly believed I was going to have a successful VBAC. I believe that played a major part in having a successful VBAC, amongst other things. I also prepared for this birth using the home study hypnobabies course, which is childbirth hypnosis. I worked hard for the last two months of my pregnancy and I really felt hypnobabies would help me have a fast and comfortable birthing experience.

After my appointment on Friday, I did various natural induction techniques in hopes to get something started. While I was in the car I was pressing on various acupressure points and I even sang at the top of my lungs and cried a bit to relieve some of my pent up frustration with the doctors.

My Birthing Time:

At about 1 AM Saturday, I started to feel strong pressure waves (hypnobabies term for contractions). Things started progressing and I was having continuous pressure waves every 10 minutes for about 45 seconds. At one point I had pressure waves every 5 minutes for about 1 hour. I decided to call my mom around 3 to tell her I think she should come down to watch my children.

During all of this, I honestly forgot to listen to my hypnobabies tracks. But I was using the fingerdrop technique and was on "center" the entire time. (FIngerdrop and Center is another hypnobabies term and technique.) I was much too excited that this might be my birthing time and couldn't stop talking to my husband about different things we needed to do.

I didn't want to call my doula right away, but my pressure waves were feeling pretty intense. The pressure waves were still between 5-10 minutes apart, but I decided to call Becky, my doula, around 5:00 a.m. She arrived around 7:30 a.m in which I was finally listening to my hypnobabies tracks. I sat on my birthing ball as I laid against the bed with pillows supporting my chest and belly. I was alternating between Easy First Stage, Deepening and I think Hypnotic Childbirth #2.

A little background on my doula... I hired her as my doula because she had a lot of experience and assisted in a lot of homebirths... She was perfect for my situation... I wanted to stay home as long as possible and felt I needed someone here to monitor.

She didn't have any experience with hypnobabies or any other childbirth hypnosis program, but I was able to explain the process and passed on some good info for her to study. I also explained that the emotional signposts of a hypnomom are very different from most laboring women. Little did I know how important that info really was...
:)
B.O.P Needed:

I must admit, I felt these pressure waves to be pretty intense/p-word, however hypnobabies helped me tremendously in relaxing through each one and breathing efficiently through the discomfort. There were times when I would actually dose off and feel like I was dreaming. The entire birthing time, my pressure waves felt like strong menstrual like cramps and tightening in my lower part of the belly. If at any time I started to lose focus, I would use the "peace" cue and breathe deeply and completely go limp.

The pressure waves continued every 6-10 minutes for 30-60 seconds for several hours after Becky arrived. She sat next to me on the floor. We would either talk for a bit or she would read as I concentrated on my pressure waves. After each pressure wave, I would look over to her for any feedback or suggestions on what to do, but I guess I was doing beautifully and I was only in the early stages. It appeared to be early labor, but I definitely felt like I was further along, even though the pressure waves were far apart.

At about 10:30 or so, we went downstairs to have some breakfast. My husband made me some eggs and toast. Soon after, my husband went to my daughters room to nap for a bit. I didn't feel like I needed him there at the time and was completely ok with him resting.

The pressure waves seemed to get stronger, but still between 6-10 minutes apart. At about 2 pm, Becky suggested we change the scenery and take a walk around the block. I really didn't want to as the pressure waves seemed to intensify when I was standing up or walking around. But wasn't that the point I asked myself? I finally agreed and we started our walk around the block. Within 5 minutes, my pressure waves intensified and I was feeling them every 3-4 minutes for close to 60 seconds long.

I've never been in true labor before, so these sensations I was feeling were all new, however I really felt like I was pretty far along. My doula, Becky, told me I was probably still in early labor. When I heard that, I thought to myself, "What?!!!" How can I still be in early labor when everything felt sooo intense? How was active labor going to feel?!!! :)

We continued walking for about 30 minutes all the while I was leaning against her or on fences through each pressure wave. This is when I felt I needed my husband, but I forgot my phone at home and couldn't call him. I'm glad that Becky was there for me to lean on. :) My knees/legs would turn inwards as I tried to relax through the waves.

Since Becky said I was still in early labor, I felt like I would be in labor for many more hours. We headed back home...
Food seemed like the best thing for the long night ahead. Little did I know, I was probably in transformation (transition...7-8 cm dilated) at that point. I managed to make Becky and myself some veggie burgers. This was at about 3:00pm. As I prepared our burgers, I had a few intense pressure waves where I was gripping the edges of the counter top. Burgers were done and I was able to sit down and take one bite before the next pressure wave. They were more intense sitting down. I managed to put everything away and told her I wanted to go upstairs in the shower or tub.

When I got upstairs, I resumed the position of sitting on the birthing ball while leaning against the bed. At this point, I was moaning loudly as I gripped the sheets on the bed. I had to remind myself to use the "peace" cue which helped me relax my body. I had the headphones on for about an hour and Becky told me later on that she thought I was sleeping the whole time. This was around 4:00. As I write this birth story, I now realize how fast things flew for me. An hour seems like a long time when it comes to feeling pressure waves, but when you're listening to the tracks and you're focused, time sure flies by.

It was probably around 4:30 when things got really intense and I asked her if she thought it was ok to go in the bathtub or shower. She said that it should be ok. She left the bathroom after I got into the shower... I didn't want to wait for the tub to fill up. I had a pressure wave in the shower and I had the hot water run on the lowest part of my belly. Almost immediately, I felt a different sensation below and some warmth. I reached below and found that my mucus plug came out! I called Becky and told her. She had a surprised look on her face and said something like, "Wow, that hot water seemed to get things started." I thought to myself, "What?!!" Could I barely be entering Active Labor?"

When I first met Becky, I mentioned my strong desire to have a homebirth but couldn't find a midwife and probably could not afford it. At one point I really believed I was further along and she was going to "accidentally" let me have my homebirth. I felt comfortable with that idea as she had experience and attended many homebirths and assisted in "catching" tons of babies. I was getting excited at this point.

I started to run the hot water to clean most of the mucus plug...more came out with the next pressure wave. I reached down and something told me I should perform a self internal exam. I inserted two inches of my fingers and felt my baby daughter's head! I called Becky over again and told her and she looked at me like it wasn't possible! She told me to get out so she can check me. It took me awhile to get to the bed because I had what seemed like pressure wave after pressure wave. I slowly got on the bed and Becky checked me. She wasn't too sure at first, but then a look of panic came across her face and she said,"We have to go, NOW!" She said I was complete and that's when I started to freak out. There was no way we would be able to make it to my hospital (UIC). I moaned loudly through the next few pressure waves as she tried to get me to get dressed. I told her I felt like pushing and I honestly couldn't move as I felt like my baby would slip out. I started imagining the paramedics and fireman surrounding us in the bedroom.

UIC was close to 30 minutes away. There was no way I could hold my baby in for another 30 minutes. I would start to push a little and then close my legs and tense up. She ran into my daughters room to wake up my husband..."Jason, we have to go now!" What a way to wake up. He ran into the room with a frantic look on his face. They helped me get dressed. Between pressure waves, I managed to tell him to get my bag and to get my birth plan papers. Out of all things, I forgot to tell him to bring our cameras. :(

I managed to walk downstairs between one of my pressure waves. We got to the car and I kept yelling, "I have to push!!!" Becky told me to look at her eyes and listen to her through the next pressure wave. I sure was glad that she was there in the back seat with me because I would have pushed my baby out right there. At this point, I wasn't listening to the tracks, but Becky kept me focused on my breathing and told me I was doing beautifully. We decided to go to the nearest hospital. We left my house at 5:00 and arrived at Resurrection Hospital which was less than 5 minutes away.

My husband brought me to the Emergency Room Entrance. He asked for a wheel chair and the security guard wheeled it over slowly. When he saw I was clearly in labor, he ran over and wheeled me in. All the while, I kept yelling, "I'm pushing!" The ER nurse wheeled me through and told me to breathe and not to have my baby in the elevator.

We finally got to the delivery room where a ton of nurses and a resident and doctor were ready and waiting. They immediately got me on the bed and strapped a monitor on me and hooked me up to an IV. Since this was not my hospital, they started asking me all these questions about my pregnancy and medical history. I held my hands near my csection scar and even when my hands were not near it, they never once seen the scar. At this point I was kinda delirious and actually felt like I had drugs in me. My husband was still parking the car and I was yelling for him. I looked over to Becky and I told her I could not hold it any longer. She told me, "I know, it's ok to push." So I did. I immediately felt something warm and smooth slowly slip out. I actually thought it was my baby, but it was my water bag. Finally Jason got there and they told me to push. I remembered hypnobabies at this point and completely focused and breathed out as I pushed.

Even though I was delirious at times, I still managed to vocally express my birth plan wishes in which I was ignored. I wanted to push on my side or on all fours, but I was on my back already and with my feet in the stirrups. I don't remember this, but my husband says even after they told me "no", I was still trying to change positions. I also kept repeating, "Don't cut me, I want to tear if it comes down to it." I'm usually not outspoken, but this was my birthing time and everyone looked at me like I was My husband also said I kept asking what they were doing, in between pressure waves. He told me they're preparing their tools, and I yelled out, "No tools! No tools!" I thought that was kinda funny.

But I completely surrendered after the first push and realized that this baby was going to come out easily, even if I was on my back. Pushing felt so good to do. On the fourth push, I let out a primal scream that my husband keeps imitating and reenacting for friends and family... On that fourth push, my daughter Olivia Grace was born. I couldn't believe how fast she came. We got there a little after 5 and she was born at 5:30 pm. They had no idea that I had 2 cesareans. Becky kept whispering in my ear, "I can't believe they didn't see your scar!" I had my successful VBAC after 2 unnecessary csections and it was beautiful. Even more amazing was that she came out weighing 8lbs 3 oz. My first two were both right under 7 lbs.

Becky just kept telling me she has such respect for hypnobabies and that I completely fooled her. She couldn't understand how calm I was during my pressure waves and that is why she thought I was still in early labor. She raved about it for a few hours. Go Hypnobabies!!!

A few hours later my nurse came in to ask me all the registration questions that should have been asked before the birth. Had me sign consent forms, etc. Then the dreaded question came, "Have you had any surgeries?" I knew they would have to get my medical records transferred from UIC, so I didn't want to lie... I said, "I've had er, um... 2 c-sections." My nurse stopped writing and looked up and said, "What!" She was visibly upset and asked why I didn't say anything and said they had the right to know. I told her that UIC was ok with me trying and everything went so fast and I couldn't think. She dropped it and didn't bring it up the rest of the time. The doctor came in the following day and said everything went well despite me keeping the fact that I had 2 csections. He didn't seem too upset about it, but told me that it would've been helpful for them to know I had two previous c-sections in the event of an emergency. I'm planning on sending them a nice thank you letter in hopes to bring some light to the possibility of VBAC's.

Things I Would Change About My Birthing Time:
I wouldn't change very much of my birthing experience except for maybe paying attention and speaking up when I felt like I was further along than Becky thought I was. I would have also started walking a lot sooner to get things moving along. Becky tried getting me to walk a few times, but I admit I was scared of progressing.

There's no doubt in my mind that if I didn't have hypnobabies, I would've been completely tense. I felt completely in control with hypnobabies. If I ever have any more children, I will definitely use hypnobabies again and will have a homebirth. :)

Thanks to all the hypnomoms and ICAN members who have posted their stories. It definitely helped keep me positive during my pregnancy. I couldn't have done it without your help. :) Thanks!!

-Mariana
Mommy to Benjamin c-section (9-11-04), Amelia c-section(2-23-06)
& Olivia VBAC Hypnobaby!!! (8-1-09)