Whole 30 Chicken Thighs and Cream Sauce

What You'll Need:
4-5 Chicken Thighs (I used boneless/skinless)
1 Small Sweet Onion- diced
2 Cloves Garlic- minced
1 Tbsp Ghee
1 Cup Chopped Mushrooms
3/4 Can Coconut Milk
Salt

Pepper 

Thyme

Steps: 
1. Over medium heat add the onion, garlic and ghee to a large pan that has a lid.

2. Once onions are translucent add in mushrooms and cook for a minute or two.




















3. Add in chicken thighs, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and thyme and brown outsides.

4. Lower the heat and add in the coconut milk.




















5. Cover and let simmer for 20-30mins or until chicken thighs are tender.
6. Add some water or more coconut milk if sauce becomes too thick. If it's too thin add some arrowroot powder to thicken. 

7. Enjoy. Can be served over cauliflower rice or by itself with a side of veggies such as Asparagus.

Whole 30 Week 2

Day 8: 

Breakfast: 

1 egg, Italian seasoned ground beef, asparagus, and broccoli. Egg and asparagus cooked in coconut oil. Coffee with coconut milk. 

Lunch: 

Ground beef, pot roast, spaghetti squash, broccoli, and beets with some ghee on top. 

Dinner: 

Chicken thigh, asparagus, and sweet potato with ghee. 

Post workout: 

Shredded chicken and a small banana 

Snacks: 

2 applegate farms hot dogs, saurekraut, and a handful of cashews. Also I splurged before bed and had a coconut pie larabar... It was heavenly! 

Oops... I forgot to take a picture of dinner before I ate... Picture of me after my workout instead... 

Day 9: 

Breakfast: 

1 egg, ground beef, kale, and sweet potato sautéed in ghee. Also my cup of coffee with coconut milk.

Lunch: 

Big salad again! Spring mix, grape tomatoes, red bell pepper, cucumber, and avocado topped with Italian seasoned ground beef. Also had a few carrots and baby bell peppers on the side. 

Dinner: 

Herb rubbed pork loin, spaghetti squash with ghee, and broccoli, cauliflower and carrot mix. Watermelon for dessert! 

Post workout: 

Leftover chicken and a kiwi 

Snacks: 

2 applegate farms hot dogs, sauerkraut and a handful of cashews and macadamia nuts. 

** Working out has for sure upped metabolism... I'm still only eating when I'm really hungry but between high intensity workouts and exclusively breastfeeding my little one I'm burning through calories like crazy!! Adding snacks into my whole 30 is a must I am learning! ** 

Day 10: 

Breakfast:
Herb rubbed pork loin, 1 egg and green beans. All cooked with ghee. My morning coffee, caffeinated today with coconut milk! 
( I have been having smaller breakfasts so I can workout sooner after I eat!) 
Lunch: 
Spaghetti Squash, seasoned ground beef, and muir glen tomato sauce. 
Dinner: 
Homemade meatloaf, roasted asparagus and cauliflower mashed 'potatoes' 
Post workout: 
A few bites of ground beef and a handful of plantain chips
Snacks: 
A can of sardines, a cup of watermelon, a handful of cashews and a small spinach salad. 

Day 11: 

Breakfast: 

2 eggs, seasoned ground beef, leftover cauliflower broccoli and carrots, sautéed kale with ghee. My decaf coffee and coconut milk. 

Lunch: 

Leftover pork loin, sweet potato with ghee, and asparagus (I totally forgot to take a picture!) 

Dinner: 

Leftover pork and pot roast, cauliflower mashed potatoes and ghee, and mixed vegetables. Watermelon for desert 

Snacks: 

A turkey epic bar (it was surprisingly really good!), a handful of macadamia nuts and carrots, also some plantain chips after my workout and later in the night because they are just so good! 

Day 12: 

Breakfast: 

Pot roast, 2 eggs, sweet potato with ghee, mixed vegetables 

Lunch: 

Chipotle!!! Salad bowl, carnita meat, pico de gio, and lots of guac! It was so amazing! Oh and I packed some baby bell peppers so I had 5 of those too. 

Dinner: 

Leftover meatloaf, cauliflower mashed potatoes with ghee, and mixed vegetables. A handful of plantain chips for desert. 

Snacks: 

Trader joes lightly smoked sardines, 4 strawberries, handful of macadamia nuts, a spoonful of almond butter, and a few handfuls of baby carrots 

Day 13:

Breakfast: 

2 amazing eggs, ground chicken, broccoli, 4 strawberries, a few macadamia nuts and my decaf coffee with coconut oil. 

Lunch: 

Leftover meatloaf, broccoli, banana, and a handful of cashews. 

Dinner: 

Cod, Brussel sprouts with ghee

Snacks: 

Cauliflower fried 'rice', handful of plantain chips

Day 14: 

Breakfast:

2 delicious eggs, ground chicken, cauliflower fried rice, regular coffee with coconut milk in it. 

Lunch:

Salad: spinach and baby kale, yellow pepper, grape tomatoes, avocado. Topped with ground chicken and hot sauce 

Dinner: 

Chicken stir fry (chicken breasts and a bag of frozen stir fry vegetables with coconut aminos and ginger) over cauliflower fried rice. 

Snacks: 

Handful of plantain chips, handful of macadamia nuts, handful of cashews, handful of baby carrots and a small bowl of cauliflower fried rice (yes I'm obsessed with it!)

Review of the week:

Overall the week went really well. I no longer really have any cravings and I no longer really have to think about what I'm eating, it's now just how I eat. Hitting this stage makes it a lot less stressful and makes me like this whole thing even more. Also, daily I have more natural energy and I no longer even want coffee, I am sleeping better, and emotionally I'm very balanced. Thank god for foods nourishing my body and naturally balancing my hormones. 

I have noticed that I have been over indulging on nuts/fats but I think it is just because I feel like I need some more calories. This is my body's way of telling me I need it because I always want fats at night. 

My workouts have been really good, I didn't miss a workout and Olivia has been good through every workout so I can finish them without her fussing.  I am doing a bikini babe program that was created by an instagrammer I follow (efitmama) and so far I really like it. Sometimes I feel like it's not enough (workouts between 25-35mins) and I want to do more but I think I'm going to stick to it and pace myself. I have always been one of those people that obsess about exercise and always want to do more so I'm going to try and break that habit. Well, for at least these 8 weeks so I can see this program through. 

I can tell I'm losing weight still which is always good. I'm back in my skinny jeans which is awesome and totally amazed by. I guess sticking to a program (workout and diet) is worth it in the end. 

New things this week: 

I am trying Lush Cosmetic products for the first time. I want to keep all my body care products very natural because I am breastfeeding so Lush is what I decided on. I will keep you guys updated on how it works for me but so far (after 3 days) I absolutely love the products. My skin is so soft and the redness on my face is already decreasing 

Also, Last night I ordered all the things I need to start brewing my own kombucha which I'm super excited about. One of the things I'm making more of a priority is making sure I get enough probiotics in my diet. I take a probiotic daily but I would much rather get them from whole foods. I bought some bubbies brand pickles and sauerkraut which are both amazing… but expensive… same with store bought kombucha… so that's why Im determined to make some of my own Kombucha and maybe eventually venture into making sauerkraut and pickles. 

Well thats all for this week… 
Any Questions? Just ask! 

Whole 30 Sweet Potato Shepards Pie

What you'll need: 

9x11 pan

Filling: 
2lbs ground beef
1 cup chopped green beans
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup kale
1/2 large sweet onion- diced
2 cloves garlic- minced
1 Tbsp Ghee
3 Tbsp Coconut Aminos
Salt
Pepper
Smoked Paprika

Meat Filling

Topping: 
3 Large sweet potatoes (peeled and cubed)
1/2 cup Coconut Milk
1Tbsp Horseradish Mustard

Sweet Potato Mash

Steps: 
1. Heat large pan on medium, add in ghee, garlic and onions and cook until onions are translucent
2. While your onions are cooking add water to a large pot, when it boils add in your sweet potatoes and cook until potatoes are soft and can easily be pierced. Drain and let cool.
3. Once onions are translucent add in ground beef and both the carrots and green beans.
4. Cook meat mixture until the meat is cooked through and both carrots and green beans are starting to become soft.
5. Add in Coconut Aminos and salt, pepper, and smoked paprika to taste. Take off burner and set aside to cool.
6. Preheat oven to 375 F
7. Take the cooked sweet potato and either mash them or put them into a food processor or blender.
8. Add the coconut milk and mustard to the sweet potato mash to help it become creamier. Also, if still very thick you can add a little water or more coconut milk to your liking.
9. Add meat mixture to a 9x11 pan and flatten. Add the sweet potato mash to the top and smooth down evenly.
10. Pop the pan into the oven for 45mins or until the sweet potato top is firm and has a golden brown hue around the edges.
11. ENJOY!!

YUM!! 

Finished Product!

Whole 30 Meatloaf and Plantain Chips

Plantain Chips

Going through my first whole 30 I wanted to make some of my favorite foods! I'm totally obsessed with the Terra vegetable chips so I needed something new to feed my craving for them. I got some trader joe's plantain chips which were heavenly but I couldn't keep buying a ton of those. So…. I decided to make my own! First I tried them in the oven and well… almost all of them came out burnt or partly burnt. So I decided to try them in the dehydrator and it worked amazingly! 

First, I found a great sale on plantains at the store (5 for $2) 

What You'll Need: 
5 or more plantains
Mandolin or sharp knife 
Sea Salt 
Dehydrator

I cut of the ends of each plantain and placed a long slice down one side of the plantain skin and popped the plantain out of the skin! Next, I used my mandolin to evenly cut up the plantains. 

After they were all cut up I placed them in a single layer on the dehydrator plates. Sprinkled them all with salt and I turned the dehydrator on at 155 degrees. It took about 12hrs to completely dry them out.   

Now I have great on the go snacks for the rest of my whole 30! 5 plantains filled a quart size storage bag. It probably would have been more but I have a bad habit of tasting along the way while they dehydrate! oops! 

Whole 30 Meatloaf 

The Loaf: 

2lbs Grassfed Ground Beef

1 Small Sweet Onion 

1/2 Cup Gated Carrots

2 Large Eggs

1Tbsp Ghee 

1/2Tbsp Basil 

1/2Tbsp Thyme 

1/2Tbsp Rosemary 

1/2Tbsp Garlic

1/2Tbsp Pepper 

1tsp Salt 

The Sauce: 

1 Can of Muir Glen Tomato Sauce 

1 1/2Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar 

1/2tsp dry mustard

1/8tsp cayenne pepper 

1/8tsp cinnamon 

I prepped by putting foil over a medium sized baking pan and spread the tablespoon of ghee on the foil then pre heated the oven to 375F. 

First I mixed up the ingredients for the 'ketchup' sauce. Then I took all the ingredients for the loaf and mixed them into a big bowl. Also I added half of the sauce recipe to the mixture. Next I mushed together everything into a log. 

Lastly I spread the rest of the sauce on top of the loaf and popped it into the oven for an hour! 

Before the Oven!

Fresh out of the Oven

I made cauliflower mashed potatoes and asparagus for sides. Can you say comfort food?!?! It was amazing!

Let me know how you guys like it!! 

Week 1 of my Whole 30

Whole 30 Day 1:

Breakfast:
Cube Steak, 2 eggs, sauerkraut, avocado, strawberries
Lunch:
Flank steak, Salad (spring mix, tomato, avocado, bell pepper, and carrot) Tessemae Balsamic Vinegar dressing.
Snack:
Trader joe's sardines, plantain chips, and blueberry larabar
Dinner:
Pork loin, brussels sprouts, and green beans with ghee and a handful of mixed dry roasted nuts.

Day 2:

Breakfast:
diced sweet potato, ground beef, kale, 1 egg cooked in coconut oil, 3 strawberries and a small handful of dry roasted nuts. Also, my morning cup of decaf coffee and bottle of water.

Lunch:

leftovers! Pork, brussels srouts topped with ghee, and baby belly peppers. 

Dinner:

Grilled chicken, cauliflower mashed 'potatoes' with ghee, and collard greens sautéed with onions and mushrooms garlic infused olive oil (seriously soooo delicious!!) 

Snacks: 

watermelon and a handful of dry roasted cashews. Oh and I had a few plantain chips while I was cooking dinner!

Day 3: 

Breakfast: 

(almost the same as yesterday!) cube steak, sautéed kale, sweet potato and mushrooms in coconut oil. 1 large egg, a side of watermelon and of course my cup of decaf coffee! 

Lunch: 

A big ole salad again bell pepper, grape tomato, cucumber, avocado, spring mix and romaine. I put Italian seasoned ground beef on top. 

Dinner: 

Cauliflower mashed potatoes, salmon steak and bagged mixed veggies. 

Snacks: 

banana and almond butter, a handful of carrots, a little bit of pork and leftover brussels sprouts. 

Day 4: 

Breakfast: 

Once again! Sweet potato, mushroom, kale  ground beef sautéed in lard with an egg on top! I had about a cup of watermelon with it as well. With my cup of decaf with some coconut milk in it. 

Lunch: 

2 applegate farms beef hotdogs, sauerkraut, mixed veggies, and half an avocado. 

Dinner: 

Chicken from the whole chicken I made in the crockpot, sweet potato, and collard greens and mushrooms sautéed in garlic olive oil.

Snacks:

 trader joes sardines, some baby carrots, 3 strawberries and a handful of mixed dry roasted nuts. 

Day 5: 

Breakfast: 

cube steak and 1 egg cooked in lard, green beans, sweet potato with cinnamon, and a small gala apple. Also, as always, my cup of coffee with some coconut milk in it.

Lunch: 

(whole 30 fail... The tots I'm pretty sure had some ingredients I shouldn't have) we went out to lunch in Baltimore so I tired my best... A chicken sandwhich with no bun and extra lettuce. Had the chicken topped with old bay seasoning and then a side of sweet potato tots and lastly a side of avocado which isn't pictured.

Dinner: 

Another big salad! Avocado, tomato, bell pepper, spring mix, romaine, and tessemae balsamic vinegarette. A side of chicken with paprika, salt, and pepper. 

Snacks: 

Trader joes sardines, a handful of carrots, a handful of dry roasted cashews 

Day 6: 

Breakfast:

 Cube steak, one egg, sautéed sweet potato, kale, beets in lard. Also had a side of black grapes with my coffee and coconut milk.  

Lunch: 

Homemade salmon cakes, mixed stir fry vegetables cooked with ginger. Snacked on some carrots and a banana with cashews as I did meal prep. 

Dinner: 

Lamb steak, sweet potato with ghee, and roasted asparagus. 

Snacks: 

made some plantain chips and tried a few of those, 3 baby peppers and 3 strawberries and some macadamia nuts.

Day 7: 

Breakfast: 

2 eggs cooked in coconut oil, Italian seasoned ground beef, green beans, half an avocado and strawberries. Also my cup of coffee with coconut milk.

Lunch: 

shredded chicken, spaghetti squash with ghee, and beets roasted with coconut oil. 

Dinner: Beef pot roast, sweet potato, spaghetti squash, broccoli all covered with ghee. 

Snacks: 

Trader joes smoked sardines and a blueberry larabar. Also after my workout I had a handful of homemade plantain chips. 

There were a lot of ups and downs to this week. The first 3 days were for sure the worst. Even the night of day 3 I had dreams about eating dark chocolate and pizza and having wine. It was crazy for sure. I think I have now 'killed the sugar dragon' though which feels amazing. If you read It Starts With Food before you start your whole 30 journey it helps a lot. It helped me get more of an idea of the things I would go through mentally and all the recipes in the book are awesome too!  

I have been sleeping better and for sure have more energy. Also, Olivia no longer spits up at all and has so much less gas. Knowing this it gives me that much more motivation to keep this journey going as long as possible. 

The first 3 days I also felt so hungry and felt like I could never get enough food. At day 7 though I finally feel satisfied and I'm actually eating less. It's crazy how fast your hormones level out when you are eating the right things.

I did have a little bit of a cheat and had sweet potato tots which probably had some kind of starch in them and bad oils but I will make sure not to make that mistake again. You can't obsess about the mess up, just move on and that's just what I'm doing! 

Overall I'm really enjoying this experience and it's really helping me get back into the paleo mindset which I needed. I started my workout plan today as well so next week I will be able to write more about what I'm doing and how I'm feeling.

Troubleshooting Breastfeeding

To say the least breastfeeding has been by far the hardest thing I have EVER done. I thought it would come easy to me and after all the encouraging things my midwife told me I had some high hopes.

The first week was just miserable. We were figuring out her latch and also finding a feeding position that worked for both of us. Through this journey I got blistered nipples and a slight case of mastitis. On top of this we had a really sleepy baby on our hands and I would have to wake her and make her feed which was hard on both of us. Also, I had to pump multiple times a day because I was so engorged it wasn't even funny. With my nipples being so messed up pumping was so uncomfortable and I remember cringing every time I even thought about pumping. In the end we made it through the first week.

Week two was better. Olivia was still having problems with finding a good latch. She started gulping a lot during feedings and swallowing a lot of air. This is when our 'colic' problems started. She would eat, eat, eat like crazy and then cry so hard that her lips would start turning blue. We were blessed with a girl with some lungs on her. The first couple of nights we used gripe water to help her stomach. Within minutes after giving her the medicine she would be fast asleep. We still use the gripe water maybe once a day when she randomly gets a big bubble in her tummy...

Organic Gripe Water We Used

At the same time the gas was happening she started projectile vomiting 2-3 times a day. We both got wardrobe changes multiple times a day because of this. I ended up having to cut out dairy because we found that was part of the problem. We used Nat Phos 6x (a homeopathic remedy) after every other feeding, by day 2 she stopped vomiting and spitting up. Nat Phos was literally a God sent for us and I recommend it to anyone having acid reflux problems both child and adults. Within 6 days we went from giving her the medicine 5-8 times a day to giving it to her only once a day. Since then we haven't had any problems. The great thing about homeopathy is that is cures the problem not just the symptoms which makes it work so well. We bought it from Vitamin Shoppe but you can get it pretty much anywhere, Amazon, Iherb, Swanson, etc.

Nat Phos 6x By Hyland's

Week three I would say was the best/worst week of it all. My nipples were still trashed but not blistering which is sadly a positive. Also, my milk finally regulated so I don't feel engorged all day long. I'm still pumping 1-2 times a day to get a good stash of milk in the freezer though.
We started bottle feeding her the last feeding before we go to bed which has helped her sleep with no extra gas on her stomach. The last thing I wanted to do was introduce the bottle too early. I wanted to make sure she didn't have any nipple confusion problems but that went out the window when the pain of feeding her became pretty much unbearable.
 We went to her check up appointment and I told the doctor about how hard it has been to breastfeed and how I am still really sore all the time. He didn't really lend any advice just told me to call the lactation consultant and get an appointment. He said since she was gaining weight that I shouldn't be concerned and that I was just adjusting to breastfeeding. Him saying that really set me off so when I got home I started doing some research.

This is when I learned about lip ties. I looked at pictures and then checked out Olivia's upper lip. There was no doubt about it… She has a major lip tie. I found out that having one causes a bad latch which causes pain during breastfeeding. Also, this lip tie could cause a million other problems down the road for her. We went and saw the lactation consultant and she helped us so much. She fixed her latch as much as possible and did say that her upper lip for sure had a tie and within a couple months it will get tight and we will have to probably get it clipped.

After getting fixed up by the lactation consultant things got so much better! We were finally feeding without any pain and Olivia's gas problems went away which was awesome. Then around week five is when we once again had a problem. Thrush decided to show up and ruin our now great breastfeeding relationship. I couldn't figure out why my nipples started to hurt again but then I figured it out when Olivia's tongue started to turn white.

Thrush is a form of a yeast which can be passed back and forth between mom and baby. The best way to fix the problem is to treat the mom first. So this is what I did…
I doubled my probiotic intake, started taking more vitamin C and zinc, bought myself some grapefruit seed extract, and started swallowing 2 cloves of raw garlic a day. All of these things boost your immune system to help balance the yeast in your body. Also, I cut out all sugars even down to just one piece of fruit a day and cut out gluten and dairy (which I already did prior) altogether. Yeast feeds on sugar and gluten so cutting those out can help so much. Within 3 days the pain in my nipples was gone so I swear by the home remedies I used.
The doctor gave me Nystatin (the oral form) to give to Olivia 3 times a day after she eats. We used it once… She got horrible gas from it and did not like the taste at all of it. I hated seeing her in pain so I decided it wasn't worth it. It has now been about 2 weeks, I haven't had any problems since day 3 but she still has a small patch of white on her tongue. It doesn't bother her at all so I decided I'm just going to keep treating myself until it totally clears up. Fingers crossed it works!

In the end I have learned breastfeeding can be a crazy journey. I know most people don't have any problems at all and I hope that for all new moms. I was the opposite, whatever could happen did happen. I think it has been all worth it though. I love being able to provide for Olivia and give her what God intended her to get.

I know every mom is different and formula is a great option or the only option for some families. I don't see it as a bad thing to formula feed it all,  it's all personal preference. My personal preference is to breastfeed and I LOVE IT!! Between the bonding during feedings and knowing I'm the one that can provide all she needs just warms my heart!

Birth Story

**This post I wrote more for myself and has all the gross details about what happened during my natural birth experience. If you get grossed out easily then just don't read it.**

- Also, I know women love to hear inspiring birth stories so that is why I chose to share mine. Birth stories helped me so I wanted to do the same for other. It's a long drawn out story but I hope you enjoy! -


It all started when I woke up to some uncomfortable belly pains at 6:30am on Feburuary 26th. The first thing I thought was this isn't anything special our peanut showed no signs the day before of coming. I was one day over my due date and the day prior I was scheduled for an induction on March 10th if she didn't come on her own... I think it scared the peanut and she decided to come the next day. 

So back to the story... I got up and used the bathroom and this is when I knew something was happening. I got more cramps aka baby contractions and realized today was the day! Being my normal self the first thing I thought was that I needed food and I needed it before they wouldn't let me at the hospital! So I made myself a massive breakfast and let my contractions take over. Around 8am I called Ken and told him it was time to come home so he could be ready to take me to the hospital. Once he got here we just hung out because I knew I didn't want to go in too early and be uncomfortable. I took a shower and he drank a beer and watched Top Gear (I told him to do something to help him relax lol).

 My contractions went from being about 5-7mins apart to 2-4mins apart in no time while I was sitting on my birth ball and watching tv with Ken. We decided it was time to go when my contractions were 2mins apart and when one brought me to my knees. We left the house around 10:30am, Ken drove like a maniac to the hospital and I remember yelling at him to slow down because I would like to get there alive to have this child! It was an interesting car ride to say the least. 

We got to the hospital right around 11am and of course the triage room was closed for lunch time clean up so we had to wait 30mins before they took us back. We hung out in the waiting room and Ken would rub my back every time I had a contraction, he did an amazing job supporting me. Once I got admitted is when things went south. 

They had to do a 20min monitor on me before they would get me a room, not being able to move from the bed and laying on my back was the worst ever. It made the contractions feel a million times worse then they were. After a long 20mins (more like 35mins) of waiting the nurse came back and had me change into a hopital gown so she would check my progress. She came back quickly and I was 5cm dilated, she said my water would naturally break at any time. We gave her our brith plan and brought our midwife Brooke to us. She and Brooke were so supportive of our plan and told me she would never ask if I wanted drugs which was awesome for a hospital setting. At 12:40pm my water broke... I have never peed myself before but now I know what I feels like... Disgusting!! 

Water breaking I guess gives you a free pass to your own labor room which is awesome because I never thought they were going to let me leave the monotoringn room! They had Ken pack up our stuff and they took us across the hall to our room. It was like 10 degrees warmer in there and felt really cozy for a hospital. Later I hated how hot it was but at the time it was so nice. Since I still wasn't hooked up to any IV (just has the IV lock in my arm) I was able to move around the room more freely which I loved. I spent most of my contractions either leaning over the side of the bed or sitting at the end of the bed with my legs crossed Indian style so I could sit up really straight. Ken would rub my back or just apply pressure when I needed it but sometimes I just didn't want to be touched. I noticed by this point I didn't care who saw my parts and I think my open hospital gown bugged Ken more then it bothered me. I guess that's just what happens when you are trying to focus. 

The one thing I learned from my childbirth book by Ina May was that you need to find something to focus on or a saying to repeat to encourage yourself. In the moment mine was made. "I'm strong, I'm open, I'm calm." I repeated it over and over through my whole labor. It kept me calm and focused on the goal of meeting our new baby girl! I also kept in mind that my body was made to do this and women have been doing this naturally for millions of years so I could do it too. Truthfully I think as much as labor is a physical challenge it is even more of a mental challenge and once you are centered mentally you can make it happen! 
Things progressed quickly in the labor room, in about an hour and 45 mins I went from 5cm dilated to 9cm dilated. I was in the zone besides the fact that both my monitoring belt and my blood pressure band would not stay on and the nurse seemed pretty annoyed by it I didn't care. I those were the least of my worries. I tried to get rid of my blood pressure band but they wouldn't let me, it gave me the worst blood blisters in the world after it was over with which I was not thrilled about. 
Once I hit the transition phase is when things got rough. I was sitting at the edge of the bed with my legs crossed when I felt another gush of water. I told the nurse that my water felt like it broke again, she didn't say anything aloud but her face looked concerned. She brought the midwife in again and she informed me that the baby had already passed her meconium which isn't a good thing because it can cause meconium aspiration. That is when the baby swallows and inhales meconium and amniotic fluid. The midwife told me that she has to call the NICU staff so they can be there for the birth incase something does go wrong. I went from having 2 people in my room to 10+ people which was not the funniest experience. 
The midwife then checked my progress because I was getting really uncomfortable she said I was at 9cm which was music to my ears! I remember I had 4 really hard contractions and I started repeating over and over to my nurse that I felt like I needed to poop so bad. (I had no shame at this point because things were so intense.) They said thats normal and just means its time to push. She checked me again and I was fully dilated and ready to go. 
They moved my bed around to get me into a good pushing position, my new nurse came in when this was happening. Her name was Caitlin and she was amazing. It was right around 2:30pm when I started pushing. They had me push 3 times for 10 seconds during each contraction. I first started pushing on my back like any normal hospital birth, I was still trying to get the hang of this whole pushing thing so I wasn't very productive. They moved me onto my left side and had me push that way which was much more productive and I felt like I could get some work done. My midwife made sure I tried every position she could think of to see what worked best for me. She brought out the squat bar and hooked it up to my bed. Most women that have natural births say that this is their favorite position and get the most productive pushes this way so I was excited to try. Unfortunately it was the complete opposite for me, I went through 3 contractions and didn't get anywhere. Brooke told me to just lay back down and decide what felt best to me, I did just that. She went and grabbed a long sheet from the closet and wrapped it around the squat bar. This is when things started to get productive. I leaned more onto my left side and anchored my feet on each side of the squat bar and held onto that sheet for dear life. The nurse kept saying that they couldn't get a heart rate on the baby because my monitor kept coming off so they put a monitor on the top of the baby's head which was also a no no in our birth plan but I let them do what they wanted in the moment. (remember birth plans are flexible and things can change in an instant.)  I was able to push twice as hard when I started pulling on the towel. After 2 contractions and some really good pushes I could feel that her head was starting to show. Brooke asked if I wanted to feel the head between contractions but for some reason the idea grossed me out so that never happened! lol I had about 6 more contractions and with every contraction I could feel her getting closer and closer. I buried my head into the sheet as I pulled on it and pushed hard. My last contraction I had I pushed 4 times during the contraction. Her head came out during the first 2 pushes and then her shoulders the next and lastly her legs and butt came out during the last push. Brooke told us that she came out with her eyes wide open and we could hear her crying. Our Olivia Jane Vaillancourt was born. February 26 2014 at 3:25pm is when she made her appearance.

Olivia Jane Vaillancourt <3

They were unable to delay cord clamping like we wanted because they had to rush her over to the NICU staff on the other side of the room because of her passing meconium in utero. Since she cried when she came out they said she was just fine, they checked her out really fast as a precaution and Ken got to cut the cord down which he was so excited about. They wrapped her up and gave her to Ken. He then brought her over to me and unwrapped her and we got to do skin to skin like requested. One of the NICU nurses then came over and helped her latch so she could breastfeed right away. She took to it like a champ, the nurse even commented on her lovely milk mustache she had. 
We got to do 30 minutes of skin to skin while Brooke hooked me up to some pitocin so I could deliver the placenta. It took a little for my placenta to come, I had to push 2 times to get it out. Brooke even commented on how big it was. We told everyone in advance that we wanted to keep the placenta so they put it in a bag for us right away. I then had Ken text the placenta encapsulator letting her know that the placenta was ready for pick up. She by our surprise said she would be there in 20 minutes to come get it. Ken was able to run it down to her and it was easy as that! 

Over the Moon With emotions. She is perfect.

After I delivered the placenta they checked me out for any tears. I ended up having a very small tear inside my vagina which needed one stitch and then I long tear outside that was very minor but they stitched up anyways so "it wouldn't burn when I peed" according to Brooke! I was all numbed up and stitched up when the worst part came. I swear I would go through labor twice if I didn't have to go through it again. The nurse has to push down on your belly to get the extra clots and junk out to help your uterus shrink back down. She did it every 15 minutes for an hour. Having someone put all their weight into pushing down on your belly is the worst experience ever, I even had a bruise to prove it. 
Our nurse Caitlin after the first round of pushing on my stomach commented on how I was losing a lot of blood which wasn't a good thing. This made her have to push harder then she normally would to make sure she could get out all the clots to stop the bleeding. After an hour of torture she told me that if I peed then I would be able to get transferred to the mother baby unit and get to relax. 
Right away I told her I wanted to go pee. We went to the toilet and I was able to pee right away. She helped me into my super awesome depends undies and washed my legs and feet up with some soap and water while I sat on the toilet. She was awesome and even put some grippy fuzzy socks on me. I told her I felt really dizzy and she told the other nurse to go grab me a couple juice boxes. 
I got one of my apple juices down and then things went sideways… Caitlin left the room to get me a water cup and a wet rag for my forehead so it was just Ken with Olivia in his arms and I. Thats when I went down. Totally passed out hard. Ken told me that I started twitching like crazy and then he had to grab the back of my hospital gown to keep me from falling forward off the toilet. Personally I don't remember even passing out. I just remember dropping my juice box and then seeing Brooke in the bathroom with me and Ken was gone. I only passed out for a second but it was because I lost so much blood and I was so little according to Brooke. So she told me she suggests that I get some IV fluids hooked up so I feel better. I agreed to it. They got me back to my bed and I got 2 bags of IV fluids and downed 32oz of coconut water. I hung out in the labor room for about another half hour. During that time they took Olivia over and cleaned her off a little (we requested no bath) and measured and weighed her. She was exactly 7lbs and 20 inches long. We also declined the vitamin K shot, hepatitis B shot, and the eye ointment. We didn't want our little pure peanut filled with those foreign substances. (Just our personal opinion, I know everyone has different views on it.) 
They brought my a boxed lunch and they had me eat it all before I got to move again. I got 2 more juices, an orange, a turkey sandwich and some cookies. As I ate and Brooke joked with me about how I had such a simple and easy labor that something had to go a little wrong in the end. I loved how no matter what she kept my spirits up and made me feel like everything that happened was totally normal. 

Happy New Daddy!!

I called my dad and let him know that he was officially a grandpa while Ken called his mom to let her know too. My mom was on a plane on her way to see us. She thought she was going to make it in time for the birth but not quite. In the end she said she was glad it was just Ken and I there and that she wasn't. 
After all the phone calls we got to go to the mother baby unit which was down the hall. The nurse put me in the wheelchair and Ken got to wheel Olivia. We went so slow, Ken didn't want to hit any bumps in the hallways too hard since he had his brand new package with him. It was the cutest thing ever to see. 
FINALLY we made it to our room and Ken went down to the car to get the rest of our stuff. We got to settle in and let everyone know that Olivia was here and that our nameless baby finally had a name. 
Overall I was so pleased with how things went, I felt things couldn't have gone any more as planned. I felt so lucky and blessed about the experience I had. Our midwife and nurses were amazing, we got so lucky with the people that God had present for us that day. It's a day none of us will forget. Ken and I are so lucky to have such a perfect little girl in our lives. 

 Happy New parents!!

My Beautiful Placenta Print!

Proud Grandma Meeting Her First Grandchild