I know this post is meaningless to some but I wanted to get Maisie’s birth story down on “paper” so it’s there to remember and available to whomever so they can take what they want from it.

Before I even gave birth, I had developed a birth plan with some assistance from my doula, Amanda, and my own research. I reviewed it with one of the doctors in my OB office and was happy with the birth I had planned for myself. I am sharing it here.

As you can see, I was not opposed to medicine, but I wanted the least intervention as possible until I was ready. I wanted to see how far I could go on my own. I also had strong feelings about being with my baby right after she was born. Thankfully, the doctor I reviewed my birth plan with is the doctor who delivered Maisie, so she was up to speed and we had already come to agreement on anything she wasn’t comfortable with.

So, on with the story.

The week of June 8 my OB said that she believed I wouldn’t make my due date of June 28, this is because at my appointment I was already 4cm dilated and 80 percent effaced. To put it in perspective, many first time moms go past their due date and are induced at 0/0, so basically I was halfway to where I needed to be to push out a baby.

That following weekend I thought I should finally get all my stuff in order. The bag was packed, we washed and cleaned the car and cleaned the house. I am sure going up and down the stairs in my house helped things along. I was also drinking Red Raspberry tea, and trying anything natural to move things along. By this point I was over being pregnant.

Sunday, June 14, Daniel and I just laid around until he needed to get ready to go to the Orlando City Soccer Game. As he got up to change I felt a pop in my belly. It was very different from the kicks I had been feeling so I got up to use the restroom. When I hit the restroom I knew my water had broke because water came gushing out. I yelled to Daniel, “Come here, I don’t think you’re going to the game!”

I started shaking because I was both terrified and excited. It was finally time to meet the baby girl, but what was ahead of me was all foreign so I was nervous at what the future held. I called Amanda and let her know what happened. She was great at talking me through the next steps and what I needed to do at home before I went to the hospital. At this point it was 3 p.m. and I didn’t have any contractions. Daniel and I sat down at the kitchen table while he had a quick drink to calm his nerves and me to collect my thoughts.  We left for the hospital around 4 p.m.

I hung out in triage for a while, not sure the timing here, but Amanda and my parents started showing up. As I am sitting in triage, my water just kept gushing. At one point I had to change my pants because I had soaked through them, even though I had taken every precaution not to.  I started to feel small contractions as I was sitting in triage waiting to be taken back. Once I was taken back, Daniel joined me and that is when the process started for taking vitals, and seeing where we were. I was 5cm and 100 percent effaced. So moving along nicely.

I think by 7 p.m. I was finally taken to labor and delivery to continue the birth process. I had an AWESOME nurse named Natalie and found out my favorite OB (there are seven doctors in my OB office) was on call. She came and chatted with me and we talked through the next steps. I was also her only delivery that night so she could spend her time with me, a nice thing to know, as the contractions got stronger.

Contractions were coming more frequent and I was waiting to get a wireless monitor so I could continue the process out of the bed. However, things were moving really fast and the wireless monitor wasn’t received by the time the pain got really bad.

Not sure of the time here, but by the time I was 8cm and trying other birthing positions, I said the magic word and got an epidural. The pain was really severe and I was screaming, something I didn’t really want to do. But I am happy I did get the epidural because I was able to “enjoy” the process more. I didn’t get the “walking” epidural but for some reason I was still able to feel my legs and use them throughout the process. It did take the edge off the pain so then I felt better. Soon after however, it was time to start pushing. Basically, I felt like my body was making me push so the doctor and nurse decided it was time to push. This was at a little before midnight.

Amanda was amazing because she talked me through pushes, and reminded me where to push and kept me calm. She never tried to change my mind about any decisions and was a great liaison between the nurse and doctor if I was unsure. She also was a help to remind me to have a popsicle or ice so I wouldn’t get dehydrated. Daniel was also great just being there for support. He was a champ through the whole thing and tried to keep my mind off the pain by giving me updates to the Orlando City Soccer score – they won! And talking about other things that were not birth related.

I tried four pushing positions until I found the one I liked the best and that was most effective. It was a piece of stretchy cloth over a bar and I would pull myself into the crunch position using the cloth and then push. After about an hour and a half, Maisie Lucille made her appearance. But that wasn’t before she wanted to come out with her hands up and the doctor had to rearrange her. Talk about pain!

Little Miss was a healthy 7 pounds 4 ounces and 21.5 inches long at 1:32 a.m. on June 15. She has a cute little angel kiss birth mark on her leg and a nice head of hair, surprising since I didn’t have nay hair when I was born.

All in all I was very happy with my experience, as I went with my birth plan, and it was fairly quick and the pain was manageable. Not that I had ever gone through that much pain in my life, but it was over before I knew it.

Daniel and I stayed in the hospital two nights and then asked to go home if it was possible. They said yes, so we were home by Tuesday, June 16 and then we were on our own!

I’ll post more about being on our own, our challenges, triumphs, what works and doesn’t work for us and anything else I am finding to talk about.

I am using this blog as a way to share my feelings, not only for someone else to read, but also as therapy for myself. I normally am writing everyday for a living, so having this outlet really helps.

Any ladies wear men's fragrance?

I posed this question on my Facebook page and got a lot of surprising feedback from friends who wear men’s cologne on a daily basis or for special occasions. I had never thought about it nor did it, so I was excited to try it when Influenster sent me a sample of Calvin Klein’s REVEAL for Men.

I received the sample in the mail and it included a nice, slim card holder. I am totally going to use it for those times we go out and I only want to take my driver’s license and credit card. It will prevent them from just floating in whatever small bag I have. So thanks for the extra gift on top of the sample.

I don’t like to wear heavy fragrance or new fragrance to the office because you never know how it will effect someone, so I tried wearing it Saturday morning while Daniel and I were running around. I put it on and wasn’t sure of the smell for me right off the bat. It was a little woodsy to me and I usually wear pretty girlie and light scents. The REVEAL for Men was light, but I felt like it definitely screamed, “She’s wearing men’s cologne.” I asked Daniel what he thought and he said it smelled great on me. As the day pressed on it wasn’t as strong, which I am thankful for, but I'm still not sure if I would ever wear it out again.

The sample did get me interested in trying out REVEAL for Women since I liked the REVEAL for Men, just not for me. Next time I am in Macy’s I’ll make sure to stop and give it a smell.

Here’s the somewhat racy advertisement for REVEAL for Men.

If you are interested in Influenster, leave a comment and I will send you a code to get started.

Very excited to talk about another Vox Box I received from Influenster at the end of 2014.

This #FrostyVoxBox had a lot of fun and great products in it -- some I was already familiar with and some I was only introduced through this box.

Here’s what I got:

The Rimmel stuff I loved. A few Vox Boxes back I was introduced to the Rimmel Scandaleyes mascara and that is now my go-to mascara. So, the Makeup Remover and Eyeliner are a perfect compliment to something I was already wearing. The eyeliner goes on smooth, easy and strong. No longer do I have to go over the same area several times just to get the eyeliner darker. The makeup remover is also great because it doesn’t take much, maybe one swipe and the makeup is gone. Love it and will continue to purchase these products.

What could be better during the holidays than candy canes? Well Celestial Seasonings Candy Cane tea was perfect, and it was like they knew I was with baby, because it’s decaf! The taste was great and not overbearing! Very happy with it and drank it out of my holiday Magic 107.7 mug. Had to give a shout out to my old stomping grounds.

I love, love to cook, so receiving the McCormick Thyme was a blessing. Days before the hubby had told me he wanted our special mushroom and rice soup and it called for Thyme – what a perfect chance to try it. It made the recipe delicious and hearty. Highly recommend.

I rarely brush or do anything with my long, wavy hair, so I was a little nervous at first about testing a brush. Yet, I can say, I was pleasantly surprised by the EcoTools Sleep and Shine Finisher. This brush helped brush out the waves before I went to straighten it. A lot of times I would take the time to just use the straightener to do the job, but using the brush helped cut down on that time, and didn’t break my hair.  Will continue to use this!

Admittedly I am not a huge lip color girl. I will make my face up with everything else but I always stop at lipstick. I am not sure why, I should cover my lips because they are always peeling. Anyway, the NYC Expert Last Lip Color wasn’t my favorite. Yes, the color lasted a long time and was nice to put on, however I thought the color I was sent was a little too dark for me. I am pale and this color was for someone with a darker complexion or lived in a colder climate. It stays sunny and mild here, so why make my makeup so dark.

The only thing I didn’t like about the Boots Protect and Perfect was how small the sample was. I don’t think I could accurately test this product because I only got two uses out of it. The directions say use morning and night daily.. well I only got morning and night. Not enough to really tell you what I thought. It was nice when it went on, just don’t have enough to tell you more.

I took the Fruit Vines Cherry Bites on a small road trip so I had a snack when I got hungry and while they came in handy for that, I wouldn’t buy them again. It wasn’t that they tasted bad – because they had a good cherry flavor, I just am not a fan of the long vine-type candy.

Overall a good Vox Box, and like I said some products I will continue to use regularly. Thanks again to Influenster for including me on this round. If you are interested in Influenster, leave a comment and I will send you a code to get started.

Note: This is a sponsored blog post. Influenster provided me with complimentary with the Vox Box and all the products to test and review as part of a contest.