My little boy turned six months old this month!
The past 6+ months have been some of the most hardest of my entire life! Despite being a stay at home mom I’m busier than ever…I don’t know how anyone could possibly be bored on maternity leave. They require so much care, and there’s always something to do! I guess it doesn’t help I have a Velcro baby that wants to be held all the time and can’t bear to have me out of his sight, so getting stuff done around the house is very challenging.
Last summer my husband and I had our offer accepted on a house we really liked (after searching for 2+ years). Then about two weeks later (right after the last inspection was completed) I was in the hospital getting induced at 38 weeks due to gestational hypertension. I had actually left my job a month before my due date, thinking it would give me time to rest and deal with home buying…joke was on me! I wasn’t too happy about the sudden need for an induction, but I also realized that my swelling and blood pressure weren’t getting any better, my medical team was getting increasingly worried, and it was the best way to avoid an emergency situation. We ended up closing on the house when my son was about six weeks old.
While we were working on some house repairs/renovations prior to moving in, we were also dealing with breastfeeding issues. My son had a lip and tongue tie that made nursing very painful for me and inefficient for him. But I was determined to not give up breastfeeding without a fight. So I was pumping around the clock while we were working with a lactation consultant on getting that resolved. The good news is that the lactation consultant was amazing, and after her oversight and a lot of care on our end (pediatric dentist, round the clock post-op tongue tie release stretches and training exercises, weekly pediatric occupational therapy sessions plus home exercises, etc) he was nursing much, much better. It helped a LOT that my husband had a full twelve weeks paid paternity leave. But immediately after resolving the tongue tie issue we discovered he had all sorts of food intolerances. It started off with dairy, but along the way I also discovered his intolerances extended to beef, wheat, soy, coconut, sweet potato, bananas, legumes (peanuts, beans, guar gum, etc), pumpkin, corn, and grapes. I can’t eat any of those foods now. And since food labels are often not 100% transparent, I have to make all my food from scratch now. I live on pork, chicken, potatoes, rice, some vegetables, garden salads, almonds, oats, berries, apples, and pears. I also have a limited selection of homemade cassava flour baked goods recipes that seem to work. It was very, very difficult (especially around the holidays) but now I’m kind of used to it. It is worth it when I see how he’s sleeping so much better, not crying as much, not in pain, smiles a lot, and is generally thriving. Everyone always remarks on how alert he is and how bright his eyes are.
In the meantime we were also dealing with moving. I had hoped to use the time after leaving my job before my due date to work on packing, but with suddenly getting induced two weeks early I had no time for that. So with the help of my dad and some family friends and lots of trips with my vehicle back and forth between the old and new residence, we moved everything into our new home bit by bit. It was a huge pain in the butt (I seriously considered just giving up sewing and throwing all of my fabric and supplies into a dumpster rather than move it all) but we eventually got it all moved to our new home. 0/10 do not recommend moving with a young infant though!
After closing on the house of course we found all sorts of expensive issues with the house the rather sketchy seller had covered up. I have no regrets about buying though, we are finally settled and the house is in an excellent location and neighborhood with a decent lot. It is roomy enough for our growing family, and for the first time ever I have a dedicated sewing room. We did the best we could considering the extremely low inventory in my state. But between caring for the baby, trying to unpack, and trying to fix all the things wrong with the house I’ve been way too busy to even think about using said sewing room! The last time I sewed was June, when I made my final Style Arc Richie tunic dress. The photo below is the only one I have of it – I ran out of time for photos before giving birth. It did make a great summer maternity dress though. I used a modal rayon/Lycra jersey.
I also made a couple of Burda 6/2010 #132 maternity dresses. I made this one out of a cotton/lycra jersey from Gorgeous Fabrics. Unfortunately these are the only two photos I have of it.
Now that our family has settled into a routine, I’m more recovered from the pregnancy and birth (and getting used to the sleep deprivation), and we have addressed the most urgent issues with the house, I’ve finally started thinking about sewing again. My son is getting baptized in the spring and will need a christening outfit, so I’m hoping to start working on that soon.
By some miracle I managed to find a white Irish linen I bought back in 2020 from Fabric Mart. Still not sure how fancy I want to get with it, but I’ve started cracking open some books I have about heirloom sewing machine techniques.
Clothing Engineer 
Congratulations on your beautiful baby boy! My daughter was also “tongue-tied” but we didn’t know it. She was a champ at breastfeeding, though I had to supplement because I didn’t make enough. I also don’t know if she was a Velcro baby because I loved carrying her everywhere. I had the best toned arms back then!
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Yeah I would never recommend doing anything about tongue ties unless it affects nursing – and not all of them do. In my case the release was a lot of work but ultimately was successful and I have no regrets. I took a breastfeeding class offered by my hospital before the birth and that’s how I knew to start pumping in order to build and maintain my supply when he was still struggling. I have to say that if you’re having a hard time with breastfeeding nowadays there are SO many resources available to help you. I was very determined and was going to give it all I had before giving up!
It isn’t convenient when trying to cook, vacuum, etc but my little guy is so snuggly, and we get the best contact naps ever!
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Congratulations! I always enjoy your sewing creations and reading about your life.
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Congratulations on surviving all that and still smiling! I am looking forward to reading about what you do next. What a darling baby you have. Congratulations again.
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Congratulations! I have followed you for years. So excited for your little one
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Congratulations Anne and hubby, love this adorable baby boy! And so happy to see you back and know that your new sewing room awaits. Great stories, thanks for sharing!
Anne Kendall
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Thanks Anne! I look forward to life not being quite so “exciting”. In the span of a year my husband and I got married, moved in together, got pregnant and had a baby, and started the process of buying our house.
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Oh wow, that does sound like a difficult start! Great that his medical challenges are manageable (with work), and that you are starting to get your head above water.
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Yes, fortunately he’s otherwise healthy. The food allergy/intolerance condition is not really bad in the grand scheme. About half of babies outgrow by age one, and the vast majority of the other half outgrow by age five. It is unfortunately quite common but can usually be managed through elimination diets or special formulas. They actually recommend trialing the problematic foods every so often to see if they still react rather than avoiding them forever.
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The first six months are hard ! Especially when you come out of the hospital and all your hormones are in flux. Congrats on your little one. My first one was a velcro baby and my second wasn’t. It is really a personality thing from birth. Trust your instincts and your relationship with him.
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Yes both my husband and I are first time parents and neither had a ton of experience with babies before (neither one of us had even changed a diaper before) and don’t have much of a “village” to help out, so we found the transition was a lot. The baby snuggles help smooth the way though!
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Congratulations! I love how mom’s (and dad’s) always persevere. You are doing great! I am excited to hear from you again, you are such a great seamstress. All the best!
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Thank you! I viewed it as we had to make it work, it was just a matter of figuring out how. With the internet now there’s so many resources, both formal and informal.
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He’s gorgeous! Congratulations! I’m so sorry to hear about all of the hardships, but am glad for you and your family that it seems to have settled down now. Thanks for sharing your bundle of joy with us. All the best!
PS What do you think of the linen? Is it as nice as advertised? I was looking at their site just uesterday.
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Yes and I didn’t get into further detail but we had a lot of expensive issues with some of our renovations, I slipped when walking down the stairs and sprained my ankle, etc…it just felt like one thing after another.
The linen is silky and a nice light to medium weight. Not sure how their current selection compares to it but I’ve had good luck more often than not with Fabric Mart.
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Beautiful e-mail!
I am an occupational therapist and passionate breastfeeding advocate. I’m glad you got good help from an OT.
Remember your priority is always to care for you so you can care for your gorgeous bubba
Bronwyn’
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The lactation consultant actually recommended craniosacral therapy as part of the treatment plan. I had to pay out of pocket and was doubtful it was really necessary, but I would notice a big difference after the session. I still have videos on my phone of them showing me exercises to do at home with him. They were actually the ones that suggested I look at my diet when I talked to them about some of the symptoms he was having. It was well worth the money.
I’m lucky I have a really good husband that loves being a dad. It is harder now with him working but if I really need to get something done with cooking, take a shower, etc he just takes the baby so I can focus and do whatever I need to do.
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That’s so good to hear! was it an OT who did the craniosacral treatment?
One of the known best supports for prolonged breastfeeding is a supportive dad 🙂
Take care Bronwyn
>
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Yes. They also did exercises with him using a stability ball (he favored one side and this also helped improve his neck/head control) and showed me how to do them myself at home. My husband is totally into all of this baby stuff – he even went to a lot of these appointments with us!
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Wonderful! He is beautiful. You get to make all of those inspiring and beautifully made children’s clothes from Ottobre now. They were some of my favourites.
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I have the children’s Ottobre subscription now! Now that life is calming down a little bit I actually feel like I can look at them.
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Congratulation to your child and your family. I am really glad to hear from you, even I understand that you survived a really exhausting time.
And now I am looking forward to admire your following creations from your sewing room.
Simone
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Wow, what a past few months you’ve had. Congratulations on the birth, he’s gorgeous.
It’s good to read you again
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What a lovely surprise to receive your email and enjoy your beautiful boy’s smile. What a journey you have been on, such a rollercoaster. Wishing You and Your family calmer and fun times together.
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I’ve always enjoyed your posts and this one was no different. So wonderful to see your darling son and to know that all is working out! With many others, I’ll look forward to your future creations. Good luck!!
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What a happy smiley face he has! Good to hear that you and your baby are doing well, and it sounds as though you’ve had some challenges to overcome. It can be really tough just keeping going with a little one at times. Fingers crossed for you for a smoother ride through weaning and beyond.
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Yes, all of this would have been so much easier if I didn’t have to take care of the baby too! A lot of people say “just focus on the baby and don’t worry about the other stuff” but part of taking care of him means having a functional and clean home for him to live in too! If I didn’t poke around the house I wouldn’t have noticed the oil tank leaking, the water that needed to be vacuumed up in the basement after a really bad rainstorm, etc. A lot of people say the first year in a house is the most expensive because you discover all the stuff the previous owner hid and neglected, and ain’t that the truth!
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I have missed reading your sewing posts, you do such a beautiful job with your creations. But, congratulations on all your wonderful life changes! Marriage, a new house, and your beautiful, happy baby boy! He certainly looks joyful in his picture. May he always be this happy!
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It took a long time for it to all come together but once it happened it all happened very quickly! As long as I stick to this restricted diet and maintain lots of interaction with him he’s a pretty happy little guy.
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Anne, congratulations on your sweet baby boy (and new house). I love that you write detailed posts whether about sewing or life. How fortunate that your husband had 12 weeks maternity leave. That must have made all the difference. Nice to hear that life has settled down into more of a routine. Wishing you and your husband fun and joyful times with your son. Oh, I really like the Burda floral dress. Very pretty.
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Yes we were very lucky. He really pitched in and embraced fatherhood! I had left my job at that point but for all of my former employer’s patting themselves on the back for being oh so progressive, they only offered an eight week paid maternity leave and no paternity leave at all. And you had to completely exhaust your accumulated paid time off before they would pay out anything for the maternity leave. My husband was able to get a fully paid twelve week paternity leave AND keep his accumulated PTO, which came in handy the end of the year when he spent a lot of time working on settling his parents estate as well (another time consuming source of endless stress for us!)
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Congratulations on a new baby! Looking forward to your new posting and projects.
Wishing your family the health , the wealth and everything good.
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Wow, congratulations! Wishing you and your family every joy and good health.
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Congratulations! Your son is beautiful!
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Congratulations on your beautiful little boy, he is absolutely delightful!
Thanks for your entertaining post, the dresses look great. All the best for the future.
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Congratulations to you and your husband on your beautiful baby boy (and the new house)! I was so glad to read that you are all well and thriving. I love reading about your sewing adventures and I’m glad you are allowing us this look into your life. Wishing you all the best!
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