If you are an Elf on the Shelf mom like I am, we can actually make this year a whole lot easier. For the first 14 days you do not have to run around like a crazy lady at 4 a.m. trying to figure something out because you forgot to move that damn elf. Last year was my first time doing it and it was rough. Even with Pinterest, I was on a major struggle bus a week into it.
This year I have done some research on different easy ways to set up the Elf on the Shelf. I am sharing them with you on here and if you have any other ideas, I would love to read about them in the comments.
The arrival of the Elf
So since COVID is still here and rising once again, I saw this going through Instagram one day and thought it was amazing and had to share with all of my mom friends. Since the Elf had to travel, he has to quarantine for 14 day!
Can you say “BRILLIANT!”
So if you are like me and bring the Elf on the Shelf out on December 1st, you will not have to move it for two weeks!
10 Days left!
You can’t go wrong when the Elf brings treats for the kids! This is simple and easy, and you can even enjoy some of those kisses if you like.
Who doesn’t like a little hide and seek game? I would do this one on a weekend day so you have more time in the morning and not rushed to make it out the door on time.
This is such a neat experiment! I have been wanting to do it with my son but I am waiting until the Elf brings it now. This is a good one for toddlers and older kids.
This one is so simple! just grab a washcloth that you have already, wrap him up and put him in the fridge. Your kids will think this is so funny that he is hanging out in the fridge. Just make sure he is out of little fingers reach.
If you have a little one that loves this game like I do, then they will surely get a kick out of their Elf playing the game also.
If you want to do this or the flower one, using a baking sheet will make the clean up 100 times easier for you for the next days set up.
Who doesn’t love it when the Elf is a little mischievous? I think this is just too funny and I am definitely doing this one this year. It is so simple with things you already have around the house anyways.
If you have a little one that you know wont touch the Elf, then this is such a cute and simple idea.
If you are not doing laundry one day, this is so simple! Just get some of your kids’ other toys and have them going for a ride in the dryer.
When it is the last day, this is a cute and simple idea to say goodbye, you can even have a letter from the Elf saying bye.
Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read my blog posts, I greatly appreciate it! I hope that everyone has a fun and safe holiday this year!
Her birth story is completely different than with my first. I learned many other techniques to help from the first and I pretty much knew what to expect. It went so much smoother than before. My pregnancy and birth were both much easier this time around.
I was late this time around, my oldest came at 37 weeks and Quaytn came at 40 weeks and two days and I had to be induced.
Knowing this is the last time I will be pregnant and giving birth made me very emotional, but I am happy with her being the baby forever.
I was incredibly nervous about birth again because my first experience was not all rainbows and unicorns. The extreme pain and commotion in the birthing room is something I will never forget.
With COVID being around with this birth, my husband was the only person I could have in the room with me. In the end I am happy about that because it made the whole process a lot less stressful with less people in the room.
I think I am in labor.
Once I hit 37 weeks, I really thought she would come any day after that since by son came early.
BUTTTTT…..
Quaytn decided to be stubborn and not show any signs of entering the world early at all.
On July 20th, 2020 I was exactly 40 weeks to the day. I have done anything I could possibly think of to try to put myself into labor. That night I was having what I thought were contractions (I did not go through labor first with my son, my water broke first so I wasn’t sure what it really felt like)
I was timing them, and they got down to 5-8 minutes apart. I really did not want to have to wake my husband up and call my grandma to watch my son if it was just a false alarm, so I waited as long as I could until I could not take it anymore and I was nervous since the hospital is a 30 minute drive from our house. It was around 3 A.M when I finally decided to wake my husband up and call my grandma.
With it being the time COVID is around, we had to bring everything with us and in the hospital with us because once we got in, we were not allowed to leave and come right back inside for any reason.
Once we got there, they checked me in and monitored me for about three hours. I was having contractions and they said I was in early labor but since I was not dilating fast, they sent me home. I did tell them I did not dilate with my son on my own, but they said it did not matter and still sent me on my way. They did give me an incredibly low dose of Ambien to help me sleep for a couple hours once I got home since the contractions were keeping me up all night.
Back at home
It was around 7 in the morning or so when we got back home. We called my grandma to see if Kendyn could just hangout with her for a little longer so we could take a nap and she was fine with that. So, we had the air mattress in the living room, put on a movie and crashed hard for about 3 hours. My husband woke me up because my phone was ringing, and it was the hospital calling to schedule me to come in for an induction!
We scheduled it for that Wednesday morning which was less than two days away! We were so excited and nervous because we finally had a date that we would be meeting our baby girl.
We made sure that we spent all the time we could with Kendyn and took him to Scene 75 just us three for our last outing without a baby.
It is Induction Day!
July 22nd, 2020
The day is finally here! My induction was scheduled for 8:00 A.M. and I had planned to get up early, make a nice breakfast for everyone, and enjoy my last moments with Kendyn being the baby.
BUTTTT…..
We didn’t get up with our alarm and had about 30 minutes to get up and ready. So I warmed up a breakfast sandwich, got our things, gave Kendyn lots of love and he made sure to give us juice and snacks in case we got hungry (my heart exploded).
We made it to the hospital around 7:40 A.M. Checked in and was greeted by our nurse that would be with us the whole time, and let me just say, she was AMAZING!
Once we were in the room, I put the beautiful hospital gown on and I had to get tested for COVID before she could start any meds or my iv. While we waited for my results to come back, we all three sat in the room talking about life and laughing, it was so nice.
It took my results about an hour to come back and it was negative. As soon as those came back my nurse started my iv and started the Pitocin around 9:50 A.M. My nurse was so amazing, she made sure I was comfortable the entire time and sat with us and just talked. She told us that her shift was over at 7 P.M. and we are going to have a baby before that.
She told us to try to take a nap and relax and she would be back around 11:30 A.M. to check how far along I am.
Well taking a nap and relax is easier said than done while in labor and in the hospital. So I just laid there, put headphones in and listened to calming music.
My contractions started getting bigger around 11:00 A.M. and the nurse came back in to check me, I was not dilating very quickly so she upped the Pitocin dosage. We then planned for my midwife to come in and break my water and then get the epidural. She had me sit up while we waited for my midwife to come in so we can move Quaytn down farther in the birth canal.
My midwife broke my water around noon, and I got my epidural after thar around 12:30 P.M. so I could try to relax more. After my epidural, I laid on my right side for a while, and I started to worry because I could still feel my contractions on my left side. I told my nurse I was feeling them, so she had me sit up to try to get the medicine to equal out on both sides. Before I sat up, she checked how far dilated I was, and I was between a 7 and 8.
Around 3 P.M. I told her I still felt my contractions on my left side, being the amazing nurse she is she called a doctor to come in and give me a half dose of lidocaine to help. Man let me tell you, it worked very well and fast!
I received the lidocaine around 3:10 P.M. and my nurse helped me lay on my left side. Once I laid down, I started having the constant feeling of having to push, even between contractions. I told my nurse about it and so she checked me again and I was fully dilated and ready to push!
She let my midwife know and had me do a couple practice pushes. Once my midwife got there, I started pushing around 3:46 P.M.
It was the most relaxing time. I know that sounds weird but my experience from my first one to this one, I would say this one was way better. It was only my husband, my nurse, my midwife, and one other nurse to help. In between contractions we were just talking and laughing, I know I said it a million times before but it was such an amazing experience.
I pushed for 17 minutes and we had our beautiful baby girl at 4:02 P.M. on July 22, 2020!
She was 8lbs. 3oz. and 20.75 inches long with a full head of hair!
We were only supposed to stay 24 hours after birth but she had higher levels of jaundice, so we had to stay an extra day until it leveled out.
We were able to leave the morning of the 24th around 9:30 A.M. and we were so excited for her to meet her big brother that has been anxiously waiting for her to come!
Her great grandma (Gigi) and Kendyn were the first two to meet her and they just could not get enough of her.
