Best customer email EVER!

I have to share this with you... it gave me goosebumps. And its emails like this that keep me going on little sleep & late nights... stress etc. THIS STUFF RIGHT HERE - makes it all worth it :)

"Hello, Amber! I know you're a busy lady but I just have to share this story with you.

This past August I was searching your site just for fun. That's when I saw it. The Pink Japanese Kawaii Blanket deer cherries skulls with fuchsia minky swirl. It was love at first site. I had fallen for other fabrics in the past but none had taken my breath away like this. I instantly posted it to my Facebook page with the caption, "This site makes me want another baby and all the disposable income in the world". I thought about buying it right then but thought I had better sleep on it. My daughter did already have a rockin' blanket by you.

The next morning I went to my mother's house. She asked me what I had posted to Facebook, "What the hell is a pink Japanese blah blah something something?". I pulled up my Facebook to show her the link to the blanket. That's when my heart broke a little. It had been sold. I hadn't noticed the red sold tag the night before. I spent the next few days searching the internet for the fabric. Nothing.

November 5th was my daughter's first birthday. My mother handed me a gift to help my daughter open. I pulled out the tissue paper to see the Pink Japanese Kawaii blanket sitting in the gift bag. "But? How? Did she make another one? Oh my god!!!!". My mother had bought it the night I posted it to Facebook and then played dumb the next day. She kept it a secret for months. The most beautiful blanket in the world is now mine, um, I mean my daughter's. Thank you so much! You're products are amazing and I cannot wait to collect more."

Movember - Join team RockerByeDaddy!! Check out this stache update!

Wow... its been 9 days since my husband has shaved his sweet stache... by sweet I mean hardly there... he looks like a 14 year old boy who forgot to wash his face... sorry baby... but lets be real, this is gunna take awhile... now with that being said, it is coming in quite nicely... if you are a 14 year old boy that is... though, if you actually ARE a 14 year old boy, look out for my husband...

because he looks like a child molester. PSSSH. haha. I can proudly say the jokes having been laid on pretty thick around here... and Im taking some good jabs at him any chance I get... I figure its kind of like a reward for me... since i have to look at him *and kiss him* with that thing on his face... its so pokey! Zaq says: "It's official... I'm coining the term "zrustache"... Sure there's the "cowboy" the "handlebar" but this is so sad others struggling as I need a name to their own...." Anyways - there is a purpose to this whole mustache thing if you remember... its actually NOT just to poke fun at Zaq... its to raise money for testicular/colon/prostate/man cancers... It seems like its always about the boobs (lets face it, those are way more fun than balls) and then men kinda get shafted. haha. get it? Sorry.... So the whole month of november you can find both Zaq... and the RockerByeBaby logo sporting mustaches... in hopes to raise some funds and make a difference... So far - members of Team RockerByeDaddy have raised $75!! And we are dang proud of it... So PLEASE! Stop by the Team RockerByeDaddy page and click: Donate to Team... and send anything you can. Even if its just $1... every single bit counts and makes a difference. If every person on the RockerByeBaby fan page donated just $1 - we will have raised over $4,500 ... and THAT my friends, is something to really be proud of...

PLUSH RIOT!!

My girl Mandy surprised us with one of the most awesome baby gifts thus far for Ms. Rozz, a Punk Chick from Plush Riot. She is perfect size for squishing... matches Rozzlyns room PERFECTLY and is filled to the brim with plushie awesomeness... If you havn't yet had the pleasure of finding Plush Riot - I suggest checking them out...  And stop by and fan their facebook page, too! Mandy gifted us with this adorable chick you see in the top left...  Such a lucky girl... this basket is filled with oodles of handmade awesomeness!! Thanks again Mandy!!

Movember - Join team RockerByeDaddy!!

MOVEMBER!! Join team RockerByeDaddy to help us raise money for mens cancer... my husband is on day 5 of growing a disgusting mustache... and we would love your support!

The best part about this - is he literally is like a 12 year old when it comes to growing facial hair... so never EVER has a mustache even been considered... let alone attempted... so he really could use some support... He is sacrificing his pretty little baby butt smooth face to raise money for testicular/prostate/colon, etc. Cancer... focused towards mens health.  Even if you just donate $1 its appreciated. Follow this link - http://us.movember.com/mospace/1612546/ and under the photo, choose DONATE TO MY TEAM... and spare anything you can. If we get over $150 raised Ill give everyone a 10% off coupon... if we get over $500 raised - Ill do a 20% off coupon. Ready set GO! TELL YOUR FRIENDS! Oh, and after you donate... PLEASE join the team!! We would love to have you a part of RockerByeDaddy and for you to help us raise money and spread the word. <3

The beautiful natural birth story... or something like that.

Looking back - Im pretty sure the only thing natural about my birthing experience was that I had no pain management... no drugs... no tub... I did however get some ice chips... that was nice... and then I threw it up. Beautiful right? *sigh* something like that... 
Before all this Best Buy nonsense happened, we had planned for a totally natural water birth. I had every intention of waiting for the spontaneous labor like the movies... where my water breaks in a crowd full of people... and we have to fight our way to a cab and rush to the hospital... just in time to hop in a warm birthing tub, relax, and bring my baby girl into this world. Ok - maybe thats a little dramatic, but you get the picture. I was in no hurry, and though I was READY for her to be here... I have had pitocin before and wanted nothing to do with that this time around. Well, plans all changed when Zaq was fired and out insurance ended on October 31st. We had to be in and out of the hospital by midnight that night. So to avoid thousands and thousands of dollars in medical bills, we induced on Sunday morning.

Bright and early... well - I think it was still dark... 6:30am I popped out of bed (couldn't sleep that night) to call into the hospital. My midwife was already there and we were clear to be there by 7:30. When we got there, I slipped into my Hot Mama Gown... climbed into the bed... and waited on word from my midwife. Around 10:15 she finally came in... She had been up for about 30 hours at this point she said, and had two other moms delivering the same time as me. Well, I knew pitocin takes a bit so I wasn't worried. She "checked" me... and I was at a 3 and high. Totally different from the 4 and low she had said 3 days before... *discouraged* I asked her if there was any chance we could break my water first before the pitocin because I have a history of going FAST after my water breaks... and she said no... so the nurse came in and started my IV and the dreaded pitocin. *shivers* It started out slow... they upp'd it every 30 minutes... pain was manageable... I did lots of walking, rocking, bouncing on the birthing ball... By 2:00 I was at the max amount of pitocin they can give (remember this for later)... and the nurse said if my contractions didn't start getting closer (4 minutes at that point) that we wouldn't have to have a plan B. I did NOT want a plan B...  At 2:08 my midwife came back in... asked me if I had been checked and I told her that my nurse was waiting for her to come in. She seemed confused... and went ahead and checked. Now keep in mind - when I switched from my regular OB clinic to the midwife I was assured a better experience... and told that a midwife is by my side at all times... keep that in the back of your head for later... At this point, she said I was at a 4 and low - and that if I wanted we could break my water now. I said absolutely. She was going to go take a nap and be refreshed and totally devoted to us... great. So at 2:19pm she broke my water. IMMEDIATELY my contractions went from about an intensity of 34-40 (on those stupid fetal monitors) Up to 80... and they were coming about 2 minutes apart. Naturally - the pain kicked in SO FAST AND HARD that I got to throw up my snack of chips the second some ice chips hit my mouth. Not my finest moment, as Zaq chased after me with my IV so I didn't rip it out. There I was hunched over the bathroom sink as the contractions hit me one after another. Zaq was pushing into my lower back while my nurse tried to help me focus on my breathing. Both we're nice. But lets be real... it came on so fast that I had no prep time... no get focused time... The only thing I could think was holy shit this hurts... and Jen says keep your mouth open... so I did.

After about 15 minutes of this, almost dropping to my knees with every contraction and tears rolling down my cheeks - I looked at Zaq and said there is no way I can do this for HOURS! Its too much... I can't do it... well  - super hubby that he is talked me off the ledge every time I was ready to cave to ANYTHING they would have given me to help... He assured me I could do it... He knew I could do it more that I did... so I kept going... I asked the nurse if I could get into the tub now... and she said wait 15 minutes and we will check you again and see where we are at... in the mean time... to get onto the bed on all fours and rock into a pillow. This helped... though I caught myself looking over at my monitors during an intense contraction... and through tear filled eyes - saw 109 on the scale...

by the time it had gotten down to 50 (where they were pretty intense earlier in the day) it was almost like they weren't even there in comparison. Zaq continued pushing into my back while I contracted... butt in the air, probably not my finest moment... but whatever, it helped. He even started counting down the monitor so I could focus on it going away. And the pillow gave me a nice muffling tool to moan into... all of a sudden... I was sure I could feel her head coming. Assuming it wasn't possible, they had me flip over and check... I was 7 CM... so in under 15 minutes, I had gone from 4 CM to 7CM... They put me back on my knees while she prepped for labor and called my midwife... *who had been gone the whole time* Id say it was about 5-10 minutes, and much more supportive super husband later...  I felt my body taking over... my contractions were coming in waves of 1 minute apart... meaning by the time it was ending, I literally got to take one breath and it started again. I could feel her coming... I had done this before, I knew what was happening and demanded they check me again. When she did, she said wow, you're 10 and she's right there. I wined "but Im supposed to be doing this in the tub" and my sweet nurse said "honey, you're going to do this right here in just a couple pushes." And she was right... they didn't even have time to pull the end of the bed off... they slipped a paper pad underneath me and a couple towels. Pushed my feet up on their hips... and in about 3 or 4 contractions... she was out.

... ... ... 3:08pm ... ... ... 

and that was it... So those of you tuning in hoping to hear about the beautiful water birth... peaceful... empowering... etc... you're at the wrong blog. It was the opposite of everything I wanted.. everything we "planned" for... but I guess thats what I get. We Zrust's aren't very good at planning... we just roll with it.  I ended up with a drug induced labor... intensified 10 fold with pitocin. Going through the most excruciating pain of my entire life... a labor that made Zavery's seem like an uncomfortable doctors visit in comparison... and Izzaq's seem more like a movie maraton at a hotel with my hubby rather than a birth. And I gave birth in the worst position... for pain... and for gravity to help do its job, on my back with my feet up in the air... 

3:10pm... midwife walked in... "Wow, what did I miss?" *crickets* "Everything"... I said.

She pushed on my tummy... delivered the placenta... checked for tears, and headed home for the night. 

Am I complaining? eh, I don't know. It was chaos... it was more that I ever imagined... Max dose of Pitocin? Likely reason... no midwife help with pain? Breathing? Etc? Maybe... but hubby did the best he could. But for now - my baby is here... she is healthy. She is BEAUTIFUL... so for now... right now - that all I care about. And of course I can wear my "natural birth badge" with pride... haha. And hope for all the other natural births out there, that their experience is much more calm and peaceful than mine ;) But, sk me again when we get a giant bill from the Midwives office... for a delivery that she didn't deliver... then there may be a few phonecalls to be had. 

Here we go!

So its saturday night... but if you're reading this, its Sunday morning and we're at the hospital! Induction scheduled for 7am... bright and early. Hoping they will break my water first and see how that goes... if no luck - pitocin... either way Ms. Rozzlyn is getting evicted ... We're out of waiting time (see previous posts) and she needs to get out. Im sitting here staring at the empty MamaRoo... feeling her kicking around inside me... and its insanely surreal to think that by this time tomorrow night if all goes as planned...  Ill be in this same spot, blogging about my amazing water birth experience... looking at a beautiful baby girl in that chair. (if I can handle the idea of putting her down that is ;) wow... Its all happening so fast. Yet I feel like its been weeks of trying to coax her out! So - think of me! I need all the awesome pain free water birth vibes I can get!!!

Favorite Japanese Fabrics...

Most people know by now - I have a crazy obsession with Japanese fabrics... and people are always asking me where I get all my fabrics in the shop. Well, I can't tell you all my secrets of course. But I thought it would be fun to point out one of the more obvious sources - Etsy. There are some GREAT Prints available on etsy... my favorite way to shop for them are via the Supplies Section... just choose Supples, then enter the keywords into the bar & click search.

I chose "skull Japanese fabric" to see the new ones out there :) but there are OHHHHH so many great things to search so have fun with it! Click the pictures to be taken to the shop it is sold from.

Here are some of my favorites :)

GLITTER!! $7.00/half yard

Unicorns: $18.00 /yard

My all time favorite skully print...

I made Ms. Rozzlyn a blanket out of this one... $4.50/ FQ

CUTE ABC print!! $7.50/half yard

Also - i LOVE seersucker Japanese fabrics... such a fun texture. 

I might have to snag this one up :)

$8.50/Meter (just over a yard)

So that is how its done! Search around and see what you can find - share your favorites with us! I would love to see what inspires you :)

A peek into the new clothes coming after baby.

I did a sneak peek of these on the fan page the other day, so I figured I should sneak peek them here too. This is our new exclusive RockerByeBaby print - seen ONLY in our shop... custom designed by my amazing designer friend Mandy... basically we're replacing everything that we made that WAS in the Regent Skulls print with our new design. There is a girls & boys version of the polo on black... and a girls and boys version of the hoodie on Gray... Notice how awesome the gray is with the sketching in the bones & the skull... LOVE!!! This is definitely a new favorite in the RockerByeBaby house. Samples are headed out to the photographers, and by the time we are ready to reopen full force after baby, we will have awesome modeled pictures ready to put this guys up for sale. Can't wait!

Sigh... here we go again.

Sorry for my lack of posting - its just been chaotic around here... between working like a crazy woman, juggling toddlers, calling lawyers, organizing paperwork for insurance, trying to keep up my house, etc... its just been crazy. So many things have happened this week... and yet, I feel like we're no closer to having this baby girl.. and the pressure is officially on. So here is the update:

Zaq's unemployment went through, YAY! One HUGE thing off the panic list... it buys us some time (literally) to adjust to life with baby #3 without having to totally panic about how we will pay out mortgage. So I am very thankful for that. He has already been looking for another job, but at least we're not in a total rush now.

As soon as he was notified of the unemployment, I rushed down to the office to put together my state insurance packet... this took me about 3 hours start to finish. Wow, between bank statements, check stubs, birth certificates, and much more... it was insane! So the next morning after having it all together... I went down to the office at 8:30 am... was person number 4 in line, and ready to meet with someone to get an answer. Only to find out that I was mis-informed and wouldn't not get an immediate answer. I had to wait 10-15 days... and there was no way to get a (you should get it) because we are right on the border of the maximums. When I explained to the woman, "but I don't have 15 days... my due date was October 21st, she could come any day..." She looked at me like the stupidest person on earth and said "you're telling me you're already past your due date and you're just now bringing in your packet?" I swear I wanted to punch her... as if I had planned for my family to be in this situation... as if I was just sitting around being lazy and thought, oh hey, maybe I should have insurance for this delivery. I didn't have a choice... I HAD to wait until we had an answer from unemployment to give accurate income information or they would have just sent it back... Ugh. How rude...

Which now brings be to stress point #3: Baby.
Now that I have no guarantee about insurance... and can't risk thousands of dollars in medical bills, we have to have this baby & be out of the hospital by the night of October 31st. Today is October 27th - do the math... My birth plan is pretty much out the window... thanks Best Buy. This situation has taken control of so many aspects of my life... its just unfair... lawsuit, charges, whatever - nothing changes this experience... nothing will bring back this child birth... I don't get a do-over. I got one shot... and now its rushed. Im supposed to be waiting for my baby girl to make her arrival... going through all the natural steps to get a natural child birth... I had my membranes stripped again today with minimal results. The best news was that Im about 4 cm dilated... sadly, its not where I need to be. I need to be in full on labor to avoid the Sunday induction that has now been scheduled... Apparently the lawyer thinks we can add this to our case. Because of the emotional aspect of it all... and because of the fact that my safer natural water birth will now be one full of hospital intervention, monitors and pitocin. Great - but it still doesn't get me what I want.

SO yeah, thats where we are right now... in a whirlwind of chaos... baby Rozzlyn will be here Monday at the latest... that's about the best news I have to share right now.. I want to thank everyone for their support while we go through all of this... There have been so many kind words, thoughts & prayers sent our way... it means a lot. I know everything happens for a reason... and Im trying to stay oh so positive... Im just kinda hitting a wall with the optimism... physically and emotionally exhausted and starting to break down a bit. *just keep swimming... just keep swimming*

Some Favorite Finds this week on Etsy.

When you spend as much time on Etsy as I do... it can be hard to find new drool-worthy duds... but this week proved to be nothing short of awesomeness... I went on a hunt for some daddy stuff... Christmas is coming quick and this year we will be on a big time budget... so I have to start planning ahead... and getting some awesomeness little bits at a time...

   

Give a little... get a little...

Hey everyone!
Im here today to ask for a little help... A good friend of my hubby's, Tommy - is headed out on one of the most SELFLESS trips I have ever known anyone to take... in January, he is going "the garbage dumps and leper colonies of Hyderabad, India"

From Tommy:
"it's pretty simple, really: my friends and i will pour out our hearts to the lepers and children living in the garbage dumps of hyderabad, india. we are friends with a church right in the middle of a garbage dump and we love to do things like: throw feasts for the village, give blankets to the widows, play games with the kids, sing songs to everyone, pray with people, and meet the needs of beautiful people who are shamefully tossed aside like trash as a result of a cultural caste system that doesn't value them as humans. we will hug widows whose own sons won't even touch them, people who have not been hugged in like 20 years. we honor and value them. You and I might believe some different things, maybe we don't, but one thing that I really value is that when Jesus said to love the least of people, I take it seriously. Now, not everyone is able to just drop what they're doing and do stuff like this because of families, jobs, etc. but I've been placed in the unique position to. Maybe you're not sure about this "Jesus business" but you feel your heart strings tugged when you hear about this. Together, we can live out this vision."

Its people like Tommy that make this world a better place... doing selfless acts to help the people around him... to no benefit of himself. No matter how much he raises, he is taking this trip... either with the help of us, or out of his own pocket... but I know we can put a huge dent into the outrageous cost of his ticket to India.

Now, we have raised money for people before and had pretty huge turn outs - so I know we can make a difference for Tommy too... So with Halloween right around the corner - Ill make you a deal... Anyone that donates $5 will get entered into a giveaway to win a pack of Halloween Booger Bashers...  Donate $10 and be entered to win a Halloween Pacifier Clip & Halloween Booger Bashers... And if you donate $20 - you will be entered in to win a special one of a kind (unisex) Halloween Cotton/Minky blanket.

Here is how you do it...
Go to this website... Choose either the $20 option... or below it you can enter your own amount... it says over $20 but you can do less than that as well... so enter in either $5 or $10 in that box... then Check out with Paypal... (you can either use your paypal account for that, or just enter in your credit card info) Then check your email... you will have a receipt that is titled:

Then just forward it to me at rockerbyebaby@me.com with your name... 

I will then total up all the entries/donations... and on Monday we will pick a winner... so PLEASE give what you can... and PLEASE share and tell your friends... I know we can make a difference... 

My custom Hot Mama Gown...

OMG OMG OMG - Love. For years now - I have daydreamed about having my own awesome custom Hot Mama Gown... as soon as I got pregnant I immediately contacted the mama behind the magic and we worked out a plan to get it rolling... Deidrea is super mom in my eyes... juggling her business, family, interviews, TV spots like Shark Tank... whatever she does, she rocks it... and when it came to my custom gown... *maybe Im biased* but its easily the coolest one she has ever made :)

 I can't even begin to describe the excitement of the doorbell ringing and getting handed this box by Mr. UPS man... I swear my heart skipped a beat as soon as I realized what it was... I tore the box opened... drooled over the amazing packaging... and ripped open the sparkly hot pink tissue to find this <------- purely... awesomely... punky perfection... and in the perfect print... why? Because Ms. Rozzlyn has a matching blanket, onesie, and pacifier clip that I made her in this print... so of course we will be perfectly coordinating, and I can't be more excited about it...
Each Hot Mama Gown has some truly amazing features:

• Hospital / Birthing Center friendly with short sleeves and a full coverage snap-open back
• Two ribbon-tied panels allow for quick and easy access for discreet nursing

Plenty of room for a growing belly... and perfectly comfy & cozy for both before & after pregnancy. Saying I am excited to show it off in the delivery room is a total understatement... so be sure to check back soon, as of COURSE I will have to take a bajillion pictures actually wearing it :)

Also - if you're interested in your own custom Hot Mama Gown - all the info is here :)
"The custom order process goes a little something like this: Send us an email Sales@HotMamaGowns.com and tell us all about your idea. We’ll then discuss the final design and try our best to meet all your requests!"

The last one standing - congrats ladies!!

*sigh* So, I lost the race... me and these 3 awesome mama's were all due within a week of each other and we joked about who would go first. Well, Im the last one still standing... Ms. Rozzlyn is just hanging out... cookin' away... I just wanted to take a second to introduce the 3 cutest baby girls on earth :)

Allison Paige 8.2lbs 21inches

Izlyn Grey 20 1/2 inches long and 8.6 ibs

LOOK AT ALL THAT HAIR!!!

Izzabelle Imogen 7 lbs .8oz.
Snuggled up on her boppy cover we made her :)

And a shameless plug - I made her crib bedding too :)

So congrats again to all these super mama's... you're all amazing... and all recovering from c-sections... I don't know how you do it!! Hopefully I will join you in the new baby world soon!  Kiss all those baby cheeks for me... and enjoy every second... it goes by so, so, so, fast... my "baby" is 4 now... wow.