Thursday, November 10, 2011

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."


Wednesday, November 09, 2011

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...


Tuesday, November 08, 2011

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!!

Saturday, November 05, 2011

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

Friday, November 04, 2011

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.