Author Archives: Larissa Sevenhuysen

About Larissa Sevenhuysen

Born and raised on the West Coast, I went from a single working girl there to a stay-at-home mom on the Prairies in 2.5 years. Life comes at you fast, and you just gotta go with it!

A Bit of a New Look

Did you look up? I made myself a new header! I was getting a little bit bored of the photo one I had so I decided to tackle a little project.

At first I tried making it in photoshop because that’s what my other one was put together in. But after a couple hours of not getting anything done, and not figuring out how to use all the tools, I decided to scrap it and fall back on good old Microsoft Office Publisher. Office is quite near and dear to my heart.

So after I opened Publisher, it took about 10 minutes to throw this together! I quite like it and might do a few more tweaks here and there to give this blog a different feel.

Hope you like it!

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Pregnancy #2: 23 Weeks

I am 23 weeks. A reasonable chunk past halfway. Nearing my third trimester. It’s going by so fast! Which also means that summer is going to go by fast and we will soon be back to winter. But at least I get to stay inside and get cozy with a newborn this winter!

I had my first appointment with my OBGYN this morning. According to my ultrasound, I am due October 23, but she is still going to go by the original date of 21. She went through the enormous list of questions for me, and after I said “6 hours” in reply to how long I was in labour for last time, she replied “okay, so at your 36 week check up when I give you the speech about when you should go in to the hospital, ignore the part when I say ‘wait an hour after you are having regular contractions’ because second deliveries are always faster.” Sooo, yay! According to a professional, I will most likely have a fairly quick labour!

She also informed me that my placenta is in the front of my uterus which doesn’t mean anything except explains the fact why I thought I couldn’t feel this baby move as early as I felt Calvin move.

What else has changed since I last updated? Hmmm…

I started using my second pillow as my support pillow again. And I have relearned that when I turn over in bed, I can’t keep both my legs curled up. I have to straighten one of them, or else there is too much pressure somewhere. I’m not sure exactly where because I am always half asleep, but I know how to avoid it! I also always wake up in the morning with sore hips and tailbone that feel loose and clicky.

At my last appointment with my family doctor, she said my blood tests came back showing pretty low hemoglobin, so she put me on prescription vitamins. It explains why I have had blood pressure on the low side, so hopefully these will help!

And that’s all for this update!

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Calvin Quickie: Huh?

I don’t even know what this is all about. He just took my shoe then laid down on top of it. Weirdo!

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Garden Update

It’s been raining pretty much every day this week, so I haven’t done anything with the garden in a long while, until today. It was getting pretty ugly. I don’t mind weeding, but it’s the “grassing” I don’t like. This garden has a lot of grass which has long, stubborn roots. In most cases, I end up just ripping the top off. At least it looks better for a couple days. In the picture below you can see a good chunk of it between the lettuce and pea rows. Tim and I were out there weeding together for 40 minutes and we didn’t finish.

I’m excited that the lettuce is almost big enough that I can take some for a salad without leaving an obvious hole. I think the pea buds are almost coming. I’m interested to see what they taste like because I accidentally grabbed the wrong pack. You can barely see the carrots, but there are a few there! They are quite sparse though. Don’t know how many more will pop up. Based on this experience alone, I probably wouldn’t do the seed strips again. And how much taller can those onions get? How do you know when they are big enough to pick?

I’m glad I kept it fairly small and simple for my first time planting, and am happy with the results so far.

Calvin Quickie: Curtains

Curtains are just so much fun!

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Calvin’s Birth Story

Who doesn’t love a good birth story? I know I love hearing and reading about them!

Expecting my second child, I find myself thinking about Calvin’s delivery fairly often. Will it be similar? Will it be completely different? I never wrote anything down, so this is all from a 14 month old memory. And if you are looking for mushy gushy statements of how I felt so emotionally and spiritually connected to my birthing experience and how it was so beautiful, you won’t find those here. That’s not the way I roll.

—–

My due date based on my 18 week ultrasound was April 3, 2012. Up until that point (and beyond), I had zero signs of going into labour. No Braxton Hicks, no leakage, no nothing. I felt completely normal, except for the fact that it took me far too long to get up off the couch, and rolling over in bed was a chore and a half.

Here I am in my 40 week glory.

As April 3 came and went, my doctor sent me for a non-stress test and an ultrasound to make sure the baby was still doing fine in there. Everything was just dandy, and a week later they sent me for another. I think it was a Wednesday. This time they found that my fluids were getting fairly low, so they told me they would put me on the waiting list to be induced over the weekend. Throughout the pregnancy, I was fairly certain I did not want to be induced, but after a week past my due date, I changed my mind.

Friday morning, around 11:30, I got a call from the hospital telling me to come in. They had a bed available for me in an hour and a half! At the time, Tim was doing contract research projects, working from home, so he didn’t need to rush home from work to bring me in or anything like that. In the next hour I made sure I had what I needed in our bags, did a few dishes so I wouldn’t have to come home to a dirty kitchen, threw some leftovers in a bag for lunch, grabbed my pillow off my bed (seriously, bring your own pillow), and called my mom to tell her she better jump on a ferry. We had a nice 20 minute drive to the hospital, and got settled into my room.

By 1:30, I was hooked up to the oxytocin, and sometime soon after, or maybe a couple hours after, I don’t remember, they broke my water. I wasn’t allowed to leave the bed, so Tim and I played card games and Ticket to Ride on the iPhone. I also remembered that I never ate my lunch, so I asked my nurse if I could. She originally said no, but finally gave in. This was her demeanor the whole time she attended me. At some point my mom showed up, popped her head in the room to let me know she arrived and see how I was doing, then she left to get settled at the hotel.

Sometime between 4:00 and 4:30, my contractions started. I don’t know how far apart they were, since I was hooked up to a machine that kept track of that sort of thing, but they were probably about 5 minutes apart or something like that. I don’t think I knew at the time, but now have heard, that inductions make contractions come on stronger and closer together. So I suppose I was experiencing normal labour at this point, for being induced.

My back started feeling sore, and my nurse reluctantly let me flip onto my side. I also managed to get her to let me get up and walk around the halls a couple times. She was probably in her 50s and probably used to the idea that women should labour on their backs the whole time. So this happened for a few hours until 7:00, which means shift change time!

My new nurse was awesome. She was my age or a couple years older and right away brought in an exercise ball for me, and asked me frequently if I wanted to walk around. The contractions were feeling a bit stronger and closer. I was just sitting on the ball, and there wasn’t much I found that Tim could do for me, so I let him watch the Canucks playoff game (they lost), as long as he kept me in the loop of what the score was. I think he also massaged my back a couple times, but it didn’t do much for me. And my inlaws got into town from upisland, so they came by to say “hi” as well.

Around 8:00 or 9:00 (I really have no clue), I went to stand in the shower. I did not find that nice for me at all. It was at this point that I spoke the only words I remember speaking (more like whimpered) while in labour, “I don’t want to do this anymore”, talking about labour in general, not just the shower. I think I was only in there for a few minutes before returning to my ball beside the bed. When I got back, I also asked for the gas.

Tim asked the nurse if she thought I had gone through transition yet, and she replied that she didn’t think so and that we would probably be there past midnight. Then we got in a good routine. I was still on the ball with my elbows on the bed. During a contraction, I would take the gas mask and breathe in it. Afterward, Tim would hand me a cool wet cloth that I kept on my face until the next contraction started. I thought it was a good system that worked quite well.

I guess my breathing changed or something, because the nurse asked me if I felt like I needed to push. I realized that yes, in fact, I did feel like I needed to push. So she got the bed ready for me, and helped me onto it. I think she must have read my mind, because she prepped it for a squatting delivery. I don’t think I told her I wanted to try it, but because she was such a great nurse, she just knew! I’m positive that if the other nurse had stayed with me, I would have been stuck on my back the whole time.

Looking back, I think the shower was not so much fun because I probably had my biggest contractions in there, so I had actually gone through transition when the nurse didn’t think I had yet.

I pushed for about 20 minutes, then got to meet Calvin at 10:15! All I remember from those first couple moments is seeing his squinty, newborn eyes, then watching as they weighed him. I also remember them all putting in the weight guesses, then counting “10, 10, 2!” (I don’t think they count the “2” if you have a girl, in case you were wondering what that was about.)

Then I got to feed him. He took to it right away, and I remember it taking forever! It was probably like, an hour, and I was anxious for our family to get to see him. I knew they were all outside and I felt bad making them have to wait. Of course my mom came in at some point to take a peek, so that was nice. And everybody else waited patiently.

Half a day old. He got the cutest hat from the hospital.

Next came the most welcome shower ever! I wish I could have stayed in there all night. Then we got settled in my new room where I would stay until Sunday morning, getting to know my little boy and letting others snuggle him.

—–

And that’s how it went for me.

I don’t know if I want to be induced again. There were good parts, like getting to drive to the hospital without having contractions at the same time. But there were also negative parts, like being stuck to an IV throughout the entire labour. That made going for walks and the shower a little bit more difficult than it would have been otherwise. We will see if I go that far overdue again.

I’m a little bit afraid of actually going into labour. I have no clue what it’s like. I didn’t experience my water breaking or having to time contractions and figure out the best time to go in to the hospital. Just because I have delivered one child does not mean that I know exactly what the whole process is like. It could be a whole new experience for me.

I have also been told that for my first delivery, and for being induced, I had quite a short labour at only about 6 hours. Often times the second child comes quicker than the first. If that is that case for me, and if I also don’t have the oxytocin slowing me down, could my labour go super quickly? I wouldn’t mind! But it could also be longer. I may feel the need to ask for stronger drugs (I hope I don’t). Maybe I will require a C-section.

I have only about 4 more months to wonder!

Update: I have written about my second birth here!

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The Kitchen

I think about my dream home a lot. Really, who doesn’t? Since being a renter for 6 or so years, in 3 very different types of homes (both Tim and I have been blessed enough to not have ever had to live in an apartment building), I feel like I have a really good grasp on the difference between what makes a space livable, and what makes it perfect.

Here is the first kitchen I had on my own:

I was renting a suit that was half of the upper floor of a 1905 Victorian house. I loved the suite, but since it was a small space, the kitchen was left a little lacking.

What I liked:
– I could stand in one place and do everything I needed to do
– the fridge was short enough to use as storage for things, like cutlery and drying dishes
– small amount of floor to keep clean
– new, white appliances, even if they were apartment sized
– there was a sort of pantry, in the hallway (could have also served as a linen closet)

What I did not like:
– lack of cupboard space (those puppies were crammed with the trickiest of all cupboard jigsaw puzzles after we got married)
– small drawers; drawer space should never be underestimated
– the corner cupboard set up; the corner drawer to the left of the sink opened to a cavernous space that led to the back corner, walled off from the rest of the cupboards, making the back corner unusable for things you needed to get at often
– single sink (especially since there was no space on the right to put dishes once cleaned, hence the rack on the fridge)
– boring “landlord’s special” cabinets
– open to the living space

What I would change:
I would probably stick a custom IKEA kitchen in that little corner! There are tons of ways to be a lot smarter with this space. Maybe some shelving above the fridge. I might even go as far as making it a U-shaped kitchen with a little breakfast bar. It would take up some of the living room space, but it would nix the need for a dining table.

It served me well enough for 2 years, and Tim and I for an additional year. And as much as I may miss that suite, I am glad I don’t have such a tiny kitchen anymore!

Next we moved to a ground level suite in a 1980s house, and this is the kitchen we had for about 6 months:

It was an odd space smack in the middle of the suite. There were four entries/exits from it: the dining room/entrance (to the right), hallway to the bedrooms (where photo is taken from), bathroom (straight ahead), and living room (in the back left). Behind the wall that is blocking the view on the left in the full sized fridge and two full upper cabinets, or four doors, however you count them.

What I liked:
– white cabinets
– double sink
– decent amount of counter space
– tasteful laminate counters
– the corner cupboard were the normal kind with the bent door (easier access to the back)
– lots of cupboards
– “closed” floor plan
– big drawers
– you can’t see it, but around the side of the cupboard by the door to the living room are a couple open shelves
– counter space on the opening side of the fridge

What I did not like:
– no natural light
– no pantry
– bathroom coming right off the kitchen
– the cupboards were actually too shallow by about 0.5cm to hold my dinner plates

What I would change:
I think whoever put this suite together did the best that they could, given the space. However, in the hallway to the bedrooms, which was more of an strangely shaped room than a hallway, I would build some shelving to serve as extra storage, not only for the kitchen but for the rest of the house which only had one two foot closet (one bedroom didn’t have a closet, and there was no linen closet).

So besides the general layout of this room, there really wasn’t much I didn’t like. Not my dream kitchen, but not a whole lot to complain about.

And now, for the first time since living at home, we have a kitchen that is actually built as a kitchen in the original home layout!

This house was built in 1967 and these cupboards are definitely original. It’s a little bit funny to look at since there are no upper cupboards above the lowers, and no lowers under the uppers. Although there probably once were some where the dishwasher is.

What I like:
– huge window above the sink, also meaning lots of natural light
– pantry; however it only has two shelves in it, so it is used only for my appliances and brooms; the rest of the pantry stuff is stored on a shelf, as I’ve posted about before.
– double sink
– lever faucet (so much better than two separate knobs!)
– counter space on the opening side of the fridge
– the shelves in the lower cabinets are actually half sized, making access to the bottom back super easy; I had never seen it before, but it makes perfect sense, especially in the corner cupboard!
– dishwasher; such a bonus for a renter
– the white counter top; it may be really old and falling apart, but i like white counters
– the stove vent vents right back into the room so the entire upper cabinet is useful

What I do not like:
– black appliances
– bulk heads; what is the purpose of those, anyway?
– the pantry isn’t functional enough for pantry items
– tile floor
– sparkly back splash (this is the least “me” feature in this entire house)
– no cupboard above the fridge
– the drawers are too narrow to hold modern day utensil holders

What I would change:
First of all, I think the layout could be better. I would move the dishwasher to beside the sink, left or right, doesn’t really matter, then center the stove on the long wall so there is counter on both sides. I would also add a small island since there is so much dead space in the middle of the room. And I would make the pantry a part of the cabinetry instead of a closet style. And as I’ve mentioned in at least a couple posts, I would paint paint paint!

Being the one kitchen that is in a space that is actually for a kitchen, I think it has the most I could change, strangely. It’s very functional, but it could be a lot better, and a lot better looking, too.

So those are my reality kitchens. My dream kitchen has a list that looks something like this:

– a casual feel (I’m not partial to dark woods and granite counter tops)
– closed floor plan
– light coloured cabinets
– white or butcher block counters
– white is my first colour choice for appliances
– counter space beside the open side of the fridge (so no french door fridge)
– farmhouse style sink under a big window
– a place for everything
– a great pantry
– lots of drawers and smaller cubbies/open shelving
– floor that is not tile or laminate wood

You may wonder why I want a closed floor plan. Most people like the open feel for when they are entertaining so they don’t have to be in a separate room, or so they can keep an eye on their kids. I like having the kitchen as a separate room because when I am entertaining, I like having the kitchen to escape to. Not because I don’t like you, just because I’m not an extrovert. Plus that way, you don’t have to keep it clean all the time! And I’m not concerned about not seeing the kids every minute.

Here are some photos I grabbed off of Better Homes and Gardens of kitchens that caught my eye:

I love the lived-in look of these kitchens, and how bright they are. I love the idea of being able to display some dishes and things. And I love that it doesn’t feel like a show room.

What’s on your kitchen wish list?

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