Welcome Penelope!

Penelope Elizabeth Ringia Was born this past Monday, July 25th.

I have another beautiful amazing daughter, Autumn, who is about 2 1/2, and I am absolutely amazed by how different the birth of Penelope was.

Sunday evening, or in reality, very early Monday morning, I woke up to go to the bathroom and my water broke.

I wasn't really sure what had happened, because I was under the impression that when your water breaks it is pretty obvious. It was almost more like I peed myself, and then continued to expel fluid for about an hour.

I had not had any noticeable contractions before my water broke in this pregnancy, and they did not start immediately after it broke, so I was not really sure what to do... so I called my mom, who just happened to be at the airport waiting to fly back to her home in Savannah.

My husband called the hospital, and they told me to come in within 6 hours or when I started having contractions.

I had an order that needed to be rushed, so I went ahead and printed that while I was waiting to start having contractions, and before I got it packaged I started having contractions. I quickly finished packaging the order and called my dad. I dropped the package off in the mailbox and my husband and I drove my daughter to my dad's house.

My mom decided to stay in Albuquerque a few more days to meet my new daughter and I was lucky enough to have my mom at the hospital with me. Only my husband and the hospital staff were in the room for delivery because that is what I was comfortable with, but it was really wonderful to have my mom there for so much of the process.

She was at the hospital for the entire labor and delivery process and kept us company for various parts of Penelope's birth. She was in the room when I called for the epidural and left when they administered the epidural. A few hours later, after a nap she came back and she was really impressed with the difference the epidural made :)

The delivery was easy and fast, and I had a successful VBAC.

I had my other daughter Autumn Via emergency C-Section and it was much more stressful. I never actually went into labor with Autumn, and I was really worried I wouldn't know when I went into labor with Penelope. When Autumn was two weeks past due I went to the hospital to be induced. I was 8cm dilated when I had the epidural and it was only starting to become painful at that time, but the contractions never felt anything like what they felt like with Penelope. Autumn was not positioned correctly and after 17 hours of labor I was whisked away for an emergency cesarean. The recovery for Autumn didn't really feel that hard, but in comparison I feel really great after this pregnancy. Recovery is MUCH easier after a vaginal birth.

I also am having much better luck breast feeding this time around. I know it is much harder to breastfeed after a cesarean, but I am sure that the hours spent with lactation consultants when I had Autumn probably helped a lot this time around.

I was surprised to have to stay in the hospital for 24 hours after Penelope was born, I guess I felt so great that I thought I should be able to go home right away.

I was released from the hospital in the afternoon on the 26th, and it was really wonderful to come home to my mom and my beautiful daughter Autumn. I have spent the past few days relaxing and recovering with my family and finally started production again for Caustic Threads. I have several orders that I will be slowly catching up on, and will reopen shop when I have all of my current orders (including my wholesale orders) complete.

I don't expect to be finished and back in full swing especially quickly, as I have more important things to tend to.










(The beautiful blanket in many pictures was made by Angela, her etsy store is http://www.etsy.com/shop/allthingsgranny )

Thank goodness for netflix instant play!

Since I have been recovering from surgery I have spent a great deal of time resting. We don't have a TV so I have been very glad to have netflix.

I have watched the following movies recently(and they are still available on instant play):



I thought This movie was really adorable. Even Adam thought it was totally cute and better than he had expected. I can see it coming across as slightly sappy for some but I highly recommend this fantastical light romance. You probably know the premise, but if you don't, it is about a girl who is cursed with a pig nose and has to over come this and accept herself to live happily ever after.



I loved this movie, it was a little sad, as the main character never really allowed herself to be happy. She was played by Gene Tierney who was really just a stunning woman. The movie was about a woman who lost her husband and decided to leave her controlling in-laws and take care of herself. She finds a beautiful seaside house that she can afford, but it comes with the ghost of a sea captain.



This is surely one of my all time favorite movies. I loved this movie when I was a little girl and I was so excited when it was available to watch instantly that I watched it right away. I did not like the remake very much. As much as I like Johnny Depp, Gene Wilder was an amazing Willy Wonka. I also love Tim Burton, that is, I love Tim Burton WHEN I love Tim Burton, but I did not love his remake of this movie.

and at that, I will leave you with a favorite quote:
"If god had intended us to walk, he wouldn't have invented roller skates"-Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder)