Slowly...

Am currently in the process of making some more of these little guys. As you can imagine, things are moving along very slowly! Should be ready by 2011, give or take a few months! I am trying to rest when Emma is asleep, but as you crafty folk out there know, it's incredibly frustrating to not feel 'productive'. So many projects in my head, but so little time and energy. I'm sure things will settle into a nice routine soon, I hope...

Emma's favorite things...Wee gallery

Emma is quite taken by these beautiful high contrast art cards by Wee Gallery. She stares at them quietly for ages. Her favorite is the worm and the ladybug (I think?).

I have a few available at the shop, they make great baby shower gifts and look lovely hanging as a mobile.

Papier Mache

Check out this new aussie online mag - Papier Mache, click here to read and subscribe

Three Little Trees...

So excited to receive the winter range from new Australian kids label Three Little Trees. Looks great in the window and soon to be on Poppet in the Post. The fabric has been exclusively designed by UK illustrator Sandra Isaksson of ISAK.

I particularly like the kimono top, it's fully reversible so can be worn print side or white side out.

Happy Mother’s Day…Emma’s Birth Story

Two weeks on and it’s Mother’s day. What an apt time to share the story about how Emma came into the world. Well here it is…(I’ll keep the gory details to a minimum)

As I mentioned previously it was all very fast. She was very considerate and decided to arrive on a Sunday morning. It was all very civilized – until the contractions started!
Sunday morning 7.30 am, while on the loo, a small stabbing pain – my waters broke. Quite convenient as there was no mess to clean up. Woke Mr Cinti, called our Doula, called the hospital, hospital asked us to come in for a check up.
Being my first, I thought we had plenty of time. Mr Cinti had a shower then decided it was a good time to trim his beard. Then BANG! Contraction! Big painful one, nausea = Vomiting.
Yelling at Mr Cinti to forget about the beard and get the bags ready. I struggle to have a shower as my contractions are 2 minutes apart from the get go.
Mr Cinti in ‘man’ panic mode.
Heading to the hospital at great (illegal) speed.
(Lucky for us it was a Sunday, as 24hrs latter we would have been sitting in an hours worth of gridlocked peak hour traffic on Queens rd.)
At the hospital, they were waiting for us, although not expecting a woman with 2 min contractions!
I was barely lucid, the midwife told me I was only 2cm dilated! I started to panic now, the pain was already unbearable and I potentially had hours to go. Apparently too early for major pain relief, she suggested going home and waiting as one of my options. Well, you can imagine how I reacted to that! I wonder if she thought I was just carrying on?
Luck for her she came to her senses and quickly wheeled me up to a delivery suite. The Doula was on her way in a taxi.
Upstairs, the midwife was a star! I stripped off and jumped in the shower, she hooked me up with some gas, Yay! The Doula arrived and coached me through the contractions, Mr Cinti was massaging my back, I felt relatively in control again. I can’t tell you how grateful I was to have a supportive partner and the Doula with me at that time. The Midwife was lovely but not very ‘hands on’.
I have no idea how long I was in the shower for, water restrictions were the last thing on my mind!
The contractions were getting more and more intense with no relief in between. Just more pain and slightly less pain in between. I felt I was coping ok and was happy to carry on without extra pain management.
Contractions changed and I was having the urge to push. Everyone assumed I wasn’t dilated so they were telling me not to. I did what felt right and just PUSSSHHED! I felt Emma’s head crown, what a relief. I asked the midwife to check because I thought the baby was ‘coming out’. “Too soon” she said until she saw some hair.
All of a sudden 3 midwives appeared from nowhere. A mat was rolled out on the bathroom floor, on my hands and knees, one push and out came her head, one more push and Emma was delivered. 11.18am , about 3hrs and 45min altogether.
Mr Cinti cut the cord and I felt euphoric. Emma looked beautiful and calm, she didn’t even cry.
Up onto the bed, waited to deliver placenta, a doctor with electric blue hair stitched up a small tear, and the rest is history.
Apparently I was a minor celebrity in the labour ward that morning, very unusual to have such a fast and drug free labour with no complications. The admitting midwife even came to visit to see it with her own eyes. She was looking a bit sheepish, imagine if I’d gone home, Emma might have been born in an ambulance!
Looking back I think my labour started the night before, I’d felt some minor stomach cramps through the night, I thought I’d eaten too much dinner so I just slept through them! I’m sure I was in established labour when I arrived at the hospital, 2cm dilated? I think not.
Anyway, all’s well that ends well. Now the next challenge, how to get Emma to sleep at 3am?

Happy Mother’s day
Xx Cintia & Emma

1 week...

Well, one week on and, Oh boy, the sleepless nights are really a challenge. Why do babies sleep happily during the day and scream the roof of at 4am? One of life's little cruel jokes I guess.

Anyway, I'm sure you can all relate, I'm clinging to the hope that things get better with time.

Apart from the not sleeping at night, little Emma is really a joy. I can't imagine what my life now would be without her.

Takes alot longer to get anything done, thank goodness I have a supportive partner and a great team looking after the shop at the moment.

Jo and Estelle have been brilliant, and the shop is looking a million bucks! Drop in and say hi, if you haven't met them already.

Some new Monstar stock has arrived in store for those of you that are interested, Estelle tells me customers were buying items straight out of the box, talk about keen!

You can check out the full range on their website, call the girls at the shop if you would like anything put aside.