The Nerdy Nursery

At long last, we have completed our Nerdy Nursery and are ready to reveal it to you all.

If you follow my blog you will remember my post Confessions of a Nerdy Girl where I introduce you all to my love for Star Wars. I'm not sure where this love comes from. My mother tells me the first time I watched Star Wars as a kid, I said it was "stupid." Apparently I wasn't very cultured at the time.

Over the last few months we've been collecting pieces of art, working on projects, and implementing a tactful and tasteful Star Wars nursery for our son that arrived only three weeks ago. Being that we live in the city we have a small, one bedroom apartment so baby Roo shares a room with us. This means my husband gets his dream of a Star Wars bedroom... or maybe it was my dream...

Without further to do here is our beautiful Star Wars tribute of a room

Mom and Dad's Corner

Pillows: Saturday Morning Pancakes

Vinyl: Ogvinylgraphics made this custom graphic for us and added it to their store

 Baby Roo's Nerdy Corner

 

Assorted artwork we collected from Friends, Comic Cons, and Gifts. 

Check out my post HERE to see my adventure trying to hang them!

We Purchased a Pack n Play so we can take it where we need to go. 

Check out THIS post to see how we nerdified it. 

The shelf and felt drawers were purchased from Target.

I up-nerded them myself in THIS post. 

We added in a Build a Bear with a Jedi Outfit and a light saber (that makes noise!!) 

and VOILA! 

We have a nerdy nursery.

Up-Nerded Star Wars Shelf

When doing a Star Wars Nursery, you can't just have a standard, boring shelf. I got my original idea from Addicted to DIY but I don't have a vinyl cutter so I had to made my own idea.

I purchased the shelf and the felt boxes from Target (again - I LOVE Target) and got some felt from our local craft store. I pulled a few Star Wars shapes from the internet that I liked and printed them out on some card stock, so they would be sturdy to work with.

I cut out the stencils then traced each one on the felt to cut out.

I tried to make each one a little 3D to add some pop.

 Here's all four finished!

I used Velcro to fix them to the baskets. This way I can change them later if I would like to. 

 Put all together with the shelf makes for a stunning sight! What I love most about this is what when Eric asks "where is..." I can say, "it's in C3P0" or "In Lord Vader!" This makes our conversations way more exciting.

I added Roo's Star Wars Lunch Box, books, and Teddy Bear to the shelf and makes for a nice nerdy centerpiece to the corner. I like that it's tasteful but not overdone.

Check out the rest of my Nerdy Nursery HERE

Pack N' Play the Nerdy Way!

We decided on a Pack N Play for Roo because of our limited space. A full crib wouldn't fit in our one bedroom and using the PnP would allow us to have one less piece of baby gear to store. After much research on the subject, we learned they were safe for long-term use and we found one with a built in changing table (even more room we could save!).

The specific PnP we chose has a small mobile running over the top. Originally it had an Owl and a Bear hanging from it but they were quickly clipped off to be replaced with more nerd-friendly subjects.

The search began and ended at Target (have I mentioned I love target?) with their four inch Star Wars plush toys. I think they've discontinued these as I haven't seen them in stock since. I even drove to the next town over to purchase the few my store didn't have.

My mom and I sat down and sewed some Rick Rack onto the toys and sewed them to the mobile. 

I chose rebel-friendly characters to inspire my son to be a good Jedi! Hopefully we'll grow up to be as wise as Master Yoda, as strong as Wookie Chewie, and as cunning as Droid R2D2.

All assembled - just missing some nerdy sheets that are currently being made. I will update my post when they arrive!

Check out the rest of my Nerdy Nursery HERE

Hanging the Artwork

Shortly after we started assembling our Jedi outfits to join the Rebel Legion, Ra Kura Base, Eric and I discovered we were having a baby. Boy or girl, we knew immediately that we wanted a non-traditional nursery theme.

Once our costumes were approved by the Legion, we headed out on our first troop as Jedi to the Tampa Bay Toy and Comic Con. This is where we found the inspiration pieces for our baby nursery.

Our Nursery Inspiration Pieces

The next piece we acquired was painted by our cousin ART You Glad You Came! 

ART You Glad You Came R2D2 Art

The last set were given to us as a baby gift from our cousins Jason and Melanie.

I then decided how I wanted to line them all up on the wall. I took out the paper liners from each frame and taped them to the wall the way I wanted. This allowed me to measure and nail without making any mistakes. 

I used string to make sure I was lining everything up properly. 

The finished product was better than I could have asked for. I originally wanted a shelf on the wall too for my R2D2 collection, but that will have to be saved for another place. 

Check out the rest of my Nerdy Nursery HERE

A Dramatic Entrance - Roo's Arrival

Our son has arrived... And what a whirlwind! 

At 3:30pm on Sunday I had the dramatic breaking of the water. We had all been out at the pool, and I was sitting in my lazy chair when suddenly I experienced "the gush!" I honestly wasn't certain if it was my water, but looking back I simply didn't want to get my hopes up when in reality I knew what was going on.

Only one slight problem... I hadn't had a single contraction. 

We called my aunt, who is a nurse, and sought her advice. She said to grab a snack and head to the hospital if contractions hadn't started within two hours. So I grabbed a yogurt and a banana and we took our time getting last minute items together and taking a few silly pictures... Just in case this was it! 

Funny because I had no pain at all!

5:30om: We headed out. Upon arrival at the hospital at 5:45pm they ran us through triage for about five minutes. Once she determined it WAS my water that was dripping all over the floor as we traveled from room to room they had us in a delivery room and hooked up to monitors by 6:00pm. The midwife quickly arrived and started to explain I was only 1cm dilated with no contractions, they would have to induce. The induction would be a 12-48 hour process... My heart just dropped.

Triage Room

 

6:30pm: Suspicious about the baby's position, the midwife brought in the sonogram machine and we got to see little Roo again, for the first time since week 18 of pregnancy. After a moment she stopped the picture and turned to me... He was breached (head up and in the wrong direction.) Now, natural birth was no longer an option. Because of the broken water and lack of fluid they could not turn the baby to the proper position and delivering breach was a huge risk to us both. 

The moment we discovered Roo was Breach

6:40pm: The midwife then explained the only option was a c section done as soon as possible. By now it was about 6pm and they were talking about a midnight delivery due to the 4:30 snack I had eaten. We settled into signing all the documents, having my blood tested, answering a billion questions, and calling close family to let them in on the imminent arrival. 

7:30pm: We met with the anesthesiologists and midwives and nurses; we were then informed the surgery was moved up and we would be taken in within the hour. I think God allowed the whole process to speed up so I couldn't have time to panic. We simply had to follow the instructions of the physicians around us.



Gowned up and ready for the OR

9:35pm: I was bent over an OR table receiving my much needed spinal block. I remember the pinch then suddenly a man wrapped me up in his arms and laid me out flat on the table. This is when I started to panic; as my legs went numb and arms were restrained for medical purposes. The separator went up and the anesthesiologist drew some waves on it for me; said it looked like an ocean... I'm pretty sure they gave me something for my anxiety..

9:50pm: They brought Eric in right as they were starting and after lots of tugging and pulling we heard Roo's first cry at 9:59pm. The entire process was only a few minutes from the time I was numbed from the ribs down to the arrival of our son. The nurses took him over to a table and Eric joined them for some immediate vital checks and whatnot.

Soon Eric returned with Roo in his hands and the nurse shot a few "first" family photos!

Once the procedure was done I went to recovery where I fed Roo for the first time and we got all his footprints and such done. Here we spent two hours before going up to our tiny cramped room. Nanny, Eric and I all got to hold Roo and take in everything; Nanny has some funny videos of me as I was on quite the medication!



Nanny Holding Roo for the first time



Mommy holding Roo for the first time



 

I could go on and on with all the details but I'll try and sum up the next three days of recovery for you.

The first night - I hardly remember other than the cramped room and being bothered every hour by nurses.

I told you it was cramped!

Day one - Roo had his ears tested and we were both watched around the clock. Mostly we cuddled and snuggled and tried to learn how to feed. We were upgraded to a MUCH larger room as Eric is on staff with the hospital. They apologized profusely for putting us in a small one.



Daddy learning the art of Diaper Changing - He is great at it

Day two - Gramps arrived all the way from New York. Roo also met his cousin and uncle (my brother Jeremy and his daughter) via Skype. Lots more cuddles as Roo wouldn't sleep without me. Mom brought Donuts!

Roo meeting Gramps!

Day three - I had been up all night with baby. The pediatric nurse even spent an hour in the wee hours of the night trying to calm Roo, to no avail. Skin to Skin was the only solace for our little man. I was more mobile and we were discharged that morning after some final vitals and checks.

Daddy with all the luggage to go home!

So many tears, so many moments of joy, and so little sleep later we were home with our boy. I'm so thankful for a healthy, happy son and a supportive, loving family. Now it's time to recover and, somehow, figure out this entire "mom" thing.

Home Sweet Home with our Plus One

Excuse the Delay - Roo has Arrived!

Hi All!

Sorry for not updating my blog... I've left you all on a ledge of anticipation!

BABY ROO WAS BORN!

Sunday 6/8/14 at 9:59 pm our firstborn son arrived into the world. I look forward to updating you all on the list of events but for now I'm just learning how to be a mommy so bear with me.

Updates will be posted soon!

When the Clock Strikes Midnight - Week 39

Week 39 has come to a close, and come the strike of midnight, I will be officially full term with our first child.

It's amazing how in life we start a new journey and think to ourselves "this is going to be the longest nine months of my life!" But then, somehow, we arrive at the end and wonder where the time has gone. I know there are many more milestones ahead, and I look forward to them all. However, at this present moment, I'd just like this baby to come out!

The entire pregnancy has gone much more smoothly than I had anticipated at the start. When we decided we would begin trying for our first child, I spent a lot of my time researching what pregnancy would be like for someone with my health conditions. My largest concern was spending nine plus months off my seizure medication and what that would do for my migraines and episodes.

Once through the first trimester things went more effortlessly, but not after nightly "morning sickness" and adjusting back to un-medicated life. Thankfully, the migraines and other symptoms did not return until the start of my third trimester. I think God has a way of telling our bodies to put every illness aside while creating a human. At least that's how it felt for me. Suddenly I was able to drive at night, drink milk again, sleep a whole night through, and not suffer from daily headaches!

The second trimester was packed with loads of energy. I was surprised how much I could accomplish working 40ish hours a week and caring for our household. We still went to Star Wars Troop events and made time for all the friends we knew we wouldn't see much of come third trimester and Roo's birth. Cooking my way through eMeals and planning Nerdy Nursery ideas, the second trimester flew by before I knew it.

The third was much better than I anticipated! I read a lot about fatigue, cankles, sore bodies, lack of sleep, and so much more; not to mention all the dozens of people who felt it necessary to tell how miserable pregnancy and parenthood is. I felt like I was judging some "who's pregnancy story is the worst" contest! Maybe one day I'll write a rant about how people are so negative on pregnancy and parenthood, but for now I will spare you all. Just note moms, if you're talking to a preggers, tell her the good and happy things. She needs the encouragement and help to overcome her fears, not more pressure or anxiety to ruin her special time growing a human.

I didn't feel much sickness, like I was told I would, until this past week. Sunday hit me like a rock and since I've been nauseous, tired, have a headache, and all around uncomfortable. I'm thankful for the presence of my husband and my mother as I don't think I could have kept Eric fed much less the house in order. However with their help and teamwork we've been able to accomplish everything on our last minute list.

This week the hospital bags went into the car - this includes my favorite new purse/diaper bag that Eric spoiled me with. I'm so in love with the colors and I think it's the first time I've spent more than 5$ on a purse...

Bags packed and out to the car - Love my new Skip Hop Bag!

We also worked on several nerdy projects to complete the nursery. Don't worry - I'll do a big reveal shortly! Just have to finish one last project.

You'll have to wait and see!

Our evenings around the house have been restless as Eric, mom and I simply wait... It's hard to just sit and wait for something to happen, especially when you know it's soon but don't know when. Oh and lets add into the mix my complete dread and anxiety for labor... We've been trying to fill our time with trips to Target or boring shows we find to stream. But in reality, nothing has helped; except maybe the Ben and Jerry's we had tonight.

So tomorrow's the day, June sixth. Our son is "supposed" to arrive but he's on his own little schedule. Lets hope I'm in the 93 percentile of women who go into natural labor before 41 weeks... but knowing my luck that won't happen.

Okay little man, we've prepared, we've waited... now it's time for you to show up! I love you Roo and can't wait to hold you in my arms...