Alesya Bags

Like many of you, my thoughts have been with the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy.  The children, the parents, the families and the town have all been weighing heavily on my mind.  It’s hard to know what to say or what to do in the face of such unimaginable events.

Our community held an event tonight that seemed to strike the right chord.  The PTA sold luminary kits with instructions that everyone our neighborhood was to put them out at the same time.  Besides being a great fundraiser for the school – they sold over 18,000 lights – it brought us all together for a common cause.   People held prayer vigils, sang carols, rode bikes and just generally spent quality time together.

While Connecticut is far away from us here in South Carolina, as the President said “I know there’s not a parent in America who doesn’t feel the same overwhelming grief that I do.”  Families of Newton, we are all with you.

Many of you have sent kind notes asking about how I was feeling, etc.  Thank you!  Here’s an update on the baby front…

As of today I’m 35 weeks along.  Four weeks from today I’ll be having a c-section.  It’s scheduled because I had a c-section with my daughter after 26 hours of labor.  (Good times!)

We don’t know whether it’s a boy or a girl but popular consensus says I’m carrying like it’s a boy.  However, given how ill I was the first three months of this pregnancy others are saying it has to be a girl.  Looks like I’m back to 50/50!   We have names picked out either way.

I’m having all the normal side effects – trouble sleeping, back pain, fatigue etc. – but nothing out of the ordinary.  Like most people we’re hoping for a healthy baby and a uneventful surgery.

As you may have noticed, I’ve decorated the nursery in aqua, khaki and white.  No, I don’t know something you don’t, I just think aqua could be either for a girl or boy.  Call me crazy.  Or perhaps just fashion forward.   If you’d like to see some of the other things I’m considering for the baby you can see them on my Pinterest board.

As my energy level gets lower and lower I’m made the conscious choice to keep Alesya Bags moving at full speed nonetheless.  It would be easier for me to take a step back, but it’s not something I want to do, nor do I think it’s best for the business.  Once the new baby is here I’ll have the task of running a company while not getting much/any sleep and it wasn’t wise to get behind now.

There’s no such thing as maternity leave for an entrepreneur.  It’s just a fact.  Would it be easier if I was male?  Of course!  But I don’t have that choice.  And frankly, I’m not sure I’d want it.

Again, thanks for all your concern and well wishes.  We’re on the official countdown now!  ~A

Four days before Thanksgiving and we’ve started our Christmas preparation.  My daughter has a small tree of her own.  Now that she’s at the ripe old age of 2 1/2 I wanted to let her help decorate this year.

She picked out these painted ornaments in the December 2011 issue of Martha Stewart Living.  Mostly because she is obsessed with paint.

The Martha Stewart Living iPad app (Which I must say is excellent and beautifully done – seriously, even if you’re not the Martha type, you should check out to see what can be done with the medium.) had a helpful How To video.

There was also a fun animated cover –

While Maribelle napped I set up the project.  We went the Michael’s earlier in the day and she picked out the paint colors.

With a 2-year-old we used plastic ornaments rather than glass.   It was a must.

I tried the first three paint jobs on my own.  The most surprising thing was the direction say “tap” on the ornaments to get the paint to disperse.  Um…I’d say “slap” or “pound” would be more accurate.

When Maribelle came downstairs she was very excited to get started.  This is her “thinking” face.  She takes painting quite seriously.

Her favorite part was squeezing the paint into the ornament.

My husband Josh even painted a few. We ended up with a several splattered and solid ornaments in sort of an Easter egg pallet.

We even had one “all-splatter” ornament thanks to Maribelle.

The ornaments need to dry overnight before we can use them.  Once the her tree is done, I’ll share it with you.  It’s certainly going to show more of her personality this year.

I have a lot to tell you.  But let’s start with the big news – I’m pregnant!

The 12 week ultrasound was on Friday and the baby looked great.  Good heart rate, measured three days ahead of schedule and I even saw fingers and toes.  I still find the technology kind of amazing considering the baby is only 2 inches long.

My due date is May 25th.  After having a c-section, I need another one and it will be scheduled at week 39.  (Week 40 is considered your due date for any pregnancy newbies.)  In fact, my doctor said she could schedule the delivery date as soon as my next appointment in four weeks.  After being two weeks late the first time around, this is a revelation.

We won’t find out if it’s a boy or a girl.  For me it’s one of life’s great surprises.  Although I REALLY wanted a girl the first time around, now I can honestly say I’d be happy either way.  The second time around, I also know how important it is to have a healthy baby and that will be my biggest concern.

And now for the not so fun news.

I’ve been sick.  Really, really, debilitating, head in the toilet, can’t look, smell, think, touch or see food sick.  I’d love to tell you “Oh, it hasn’t been that bad!” or “I ate a cracker and then I felt fine!” but frankly, it’s sucked.

I was hospitalized with my daughter because I couldn’t keep water down – or anything else – for 48 hours.  This time I tried to get in front of it and started taking Zofran at the first onset of nausea at 5 weeks.  I was still so sick I thought the medication wasn’t working and at one point stop taking it.  After becoming violently ill again, I went back on the drugs.

For five weeks I didn’t eat any meals.  I survived on saltines, cereal, toast, ginger ale, peppermints, water and Flintstone’s vitamins.  I didn’t go grocery shopping, cook, go out to eat or look at the Internet.  (There is a LOT of food on the Internet.)

Eventually, my doctor added Phenergan to my regiment.  It’s a stronger drug but the side effects aren’t ideal.  You can’t drive on it and it pretty much puts me to sleep every time I take it.

My work suffered.  I haven’t been blogging, tweeting or posting on Facebook.  Behind the scenes I did what was necessary – answering client questions, paying the bills and keeping up with the manufacturing process.  I never was in my office and conducted business from my couch and at times, my bed.

To tell you it was a frustrating time would be an understatement.  I love working.  And to be so ill, for so long and have it keep me from all the things I love to do was depressing.  My family was very concerned, but there was little that could be done other than wait it out.

Thankfully, I’m starting to turn the corner.  The color has returned to my face.  I’m only feeling sick about half the time.  Last night I had a piece of pizza at our local pizza joint – smells and all.  I can’t tell you how nice it feels to return to the land of living.  Amazing!

Now on to make the hard push for the holiday season.  For most retailers it’s do or die time and I’m no exception.  Can’t wait to go through my first official gift season with all of you.  Thank you for your fantastic support.  You have really got me through some rough moments!

Stephanie, our nanny for the past year, had her last day with us on Thursday.  She had a wonderful opportunity to teach English to students in France.   Of course she took it – I would have killed her if she didn’t.

That doesn’t mean I’m wasn’t super sad to see her go.  My daughter loved her and Stephanie made all our lives better.  We loved having her in our home and wish her only the very best in her new journey.  (If you’d like to follow along, Stephanie has promised me she will keep us up to date on her blog.)

Today, the new nanny starts.  I won’t mention her by name, because I don’t think that’s fair to her.  As you may have noticed I didn’t mention Stephanie by name until now either.

Along with the change I’ve adjusted my schedule.  As I’m sure many of you can relate, I’m still trying to figure out my actual work hours.  Before today I officially worked from 9:00 – 5:00 PM (minus commute) Monday – Thursday.  Now I’ve changed my hours to 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM Monday – Thursday and 8:00 AM – Noon on Fridays.

I’m telling you this because I get a lot of questions and have a TON of discussions with other women about “How I Do It.”  I changed my schedule because I work better in the mornings.  We’ll see how it goes, but already today I’m feeling more productive.

Generally, I work from an office.  This is a MUCH better for situation for me as I get easily distracted at home.  I’m still considering working from home on Fridays, but it makes me worried.  I might make it my coffee shop day as well.

Do you have a regular work schedule?  Or have you worked something else out?  I’d love to hear about it.