Oh hi there!So... this post is gonna be a little, um, birthy. Wait! Come back! Don't leave! This is not about actual birth (whew!). I just wanted to tell you guys all about my amazing doulas.My what?My doulas.A doula is a woman you hire to help you during birth. I was a bit skeptical of this need, but my Man is, ah, shall we say, a touch queasy around blood and needles and hospitals, so I thought having an extra hand on deck might be worth it during my labor.Whooooo boy, was I right!And even if my Man was the embracer of all things medical and birth-like, I still would have wanted that doula there. Here's why I loved her and why I think if you are gonna have a baby, you should hire one of these rad ladies asap (btw, I'm not gettin' paid to write this. I'm just tellin' you like it is).First off, I hired someone who I adored. She was a former journalist (ding! ding!), a photographer (yay!) and she loves yoga (hooray!). Plus? She's just sortof a bad ass, and those are the kinds of ladies I like to have around in general, but especially during really life-evolving moments like child birth.But the main reason I would advocate for hiring a doula is that the, um, nurses? And hospital staff? They kinda check in with you here and there throughout labor, but no one is there with you all the time. And there are many, many times during labor where you wonder, "Is this normal? Is it supposed to feel like this? Is this a thing? CAN I GET MORE CRANBERRY JUICE?" And this doula? She's been to dozens and dozens and dozens of births and she can totally tell you what is normal and what is not. And she'll get you more cranberry juice.So how did she help? What did she do? Oh, let's see.She massaged my back during ALL SIXTY HOURS of my labor (maybe not consecutively, but she was there for the whole shebang). She brought me heating pads and ice packs for whatever my body needed at the moment. She brought me ice chips and snuck me food and told me when a nurse was telling me something that she had never ever heard before and that maybe I should push back.She helped me anticipate what the doctors would want next and she helped me ask the right questions. She turned off the lights and had a dance party with me in the labor room when we were trying to GET THAT BABY TO MOVE DOWN AND OUT OF THIS HERE BODY. She took notes on the birth so I wouldn't forget the details and she took photos -- wonderful photos (which you can see above and below).But the absolute most important thing she did for me was assure me that we had tried EVERYTHING before resorting to that c-section and that it was OK and I was not just giving up and this was what needed to happen. I really needed to hear that. I'm not a quitter and it was hard for me to surrender to surgery.And then, she calmed down my husband as I was wheeled off to surgery and she stayed in the OR with us, and she told us what to expect and what was happening and overall just calmed us the fuck down.
Then! Then after the birth, she found the contact information for my favorite masseuse, reached out to her, and let us know she could come to the hospital to work on my back and neck the very next day. She sent us names for post-partum doulas (another magical creature who I'll get to next) and she sent us all sorts of resources for the upcoming weeks should we need them (lactation consultants, c-section counselors etc etc). She was ah-mazing.And let me be honest, I felt a little hoity-toity hiring her. But after that monster labor and delivery, I would say she is worth her weight in gold. My doula was Alisa Blackwood and she was awesome and I would suggest her over and over and over again. And while she was the perfect lady for moi, she might not be an exact fit for you. If you're gonna hire one of these wizards, you should find the doula that is right for you! There are many different women out there who offer all these same services -- I suggest interviewing a few and finding the right match.
(All the b/w photos above were taken by the amazing and wonderful Alisa)
Now, let's talk about my post-partum doula (who is pictured above).I had briefly considered this as a pure luxury before birth just because, meh, I can do my own laundry and make my own food and take care of the baby and the dogs etc etc etc because I am super woman and it will be just fine. (Ha! Hahahaha!)But then, after the c-section, I was speaking with my doctor about how, you know, I wouldn't be able to climb any stairs (laundry is two floors down from the bedroom), I wouldn't be able to drive (and pick up the MANY, MANY prescriptions I had coming in) and I couldn't lift anything larger than my baby (much less chase a Viszla around the house). And then there's the whole food issue since the kitchen is downstairs as well (I opted to maintain my residency on the top floor where I had the nursery, bedroom and bathroom). So once we considered these factors along with the fact that I only had 3 days left with Jamie at home before I would be on my own, we opted to hire a post-partum doula for a few afternoons.TOTALLY. WORTH. IT.I will also note that if I lived in the same town as my family, I suspect they could have jumped in for a bunch of this help. But since I have zero family here, this was the perfect solution.Here's what this amazing lady did for me in those afternoons:• Laundry. So much laundry.• Dishes and kitchen cleanup.• She took all the huge food dishes that friends had dropped off and broke them down into smaller tupperware containers so Jamie could take some to work and bringing me portions upstairs was way easier.• She walked the dogs WITH Ezra so that I could nap.• She talked to me about breastfeeding -- checking in to make sure all was good (she's also an expert at that).• She pulled out all the slings/baby carriers we had been gifted and showed me how they all worked and we figured out which ones were best for each circumstance.• She answered the door and signed for packages (which I would not have been able to do).• She played tug-of-war with Magda (a huge help since I couldn't do it).• She watched Ezra so I could take a long, steamy shower.• She picked up medications and other small errands.• She did not judge me for still being in my pajamas with bed head at 2 pm when she showed up.You can see, this was all a huge, huge help. My post-partum doula was Sarah Bach-Bergs and she was fantastic. But again! There are many fantastic ladies like this out there! Interview a few or research them and just keep them in mind. I promise, I know you think you can do this all on your own. It is so much better if you have help.Also? If you have a knocked up friend? Maybe a gift certificate to a post-partum doula would be nice. Trust me. IT WOULD BE NICE.
Oh man, today was kinda rough. Well, actually, it was last night that was rough.Ezra woke us up to feed, and about 40 minutes after that, Merlin began having serious, um, we'll call it "intestinal distress" in the bedroom. Rugs were taken outside, fans were turned on to circulate air, and then right as we were heading back to bed... Ezra needed feeding again. And then we got him settled in and... Merlin needed to go outside STAT. And then we came back in and ... Ezra needed changing... and feeding... and oh hey, he vomited all over me. And then? Then Merlin needed back outside immediately. Are you understanding the evening? Because you guys I am ZONKED.Luckily, through all that Jamie was able to get a *little bit* of sleep since he had a presentation with his company's CEO today. I made it through the day because Ezra is pretty dang easy, and sweet, sad Merlin got to spend most of the day outside while his intestines tried to work things out. Poor guy.We are hoping this is just a bug. Because that guy up there? In his condition if it's anything more serious, then we are going to have to start having large, tear-inducing discussions around our household. And a household lacking a collie is not one I think I'm ready to face just yet. But at the same time, I want this lover to die with the same grace that he showed throughout his life.So yeah. Today has been hard. We'll be taking samples to the vet tomorrow and seeing doctors later this week. Keep your fingers crossed for us.
Today my amazing and wonderful friend Courtnay came by with homemade soup, a stack of fashion magazines and the equipment for pedicures. WHAT. A. LADY.The timing could not have been more perfect, as I found out that the first infection I was treated for in the hospital is resisting all meds and I am now on my FIFTH prescription of antibiotics. People, this is stupid. I am itching to get out and about and experience this fall and walk to coffee shops and take photos of fall foliage and use that awesome baby stroller I was loaned and you know what? The dogs would love a walk as well.But I don't have the strength or energy, and I'm instead stuck upstairs watching the season from my windows while I try my damnedest to heal. In case you hadn't picked up on this yet, patience is not exactly my strong suit. And I have been a pretty good patient for the last 16 days, but dude, this is getting old.So you can see how giddy I was to get all these pretty magazines! Plus, dreaming about shopping is about seven thousand times more fun when you're not pregnant!So that's the update over here. Some of you might be wanting to see baby photos... I'm taking them (don't worry), but I don't want this to become "The Ezra Blog." So I'll post another roundup soon. In the meantime, I did post one on Instagram last night, so those of you baby lovers can get a fix 
A few mornings ago, I got up to feed Ezra in his room. When I stumbled back to bed, this was what I found. Replaced so soon!But in all seriousness, we are trying to keep things as normal as we can with Magda now that Ezra's in the picture, and that includes bedtime snuggles.She seems to be handling the change pretty well. If anything, she just needs more exercise (which, sadly, I can't give her until I heal up). But overall, she's been fantastic. Just a few pacifiers destroyed here and there. And I suppose that's to be expected. The good news is that she cannot for the life of her figure out the diaper pail (SCORE!).
Well hello all of you good looking blog people! My darling friend Leslie just had her baby, so she asked me to step in and do a guest blog post for her. I was, of course, delighted to be asked, until I realized just how TERRIBLE I would be at taking photos of food. Leslie is basically a champion at this sort of thing, so my photos are going to look a little ridiculous in comparison, but I guarantee you that if you follow along with my recipe, you'll get amazing results.This past winter was, as most of you know, long, cold and miserable. I decided to try to make the best of it by learning to make my own carbohydrate-rich food items...specifically bread and pasta. If you haven't made these yet, get on it. You'll never want to go back to the store-bought kind. Today's post is all about pasta. It's pretty much the easiest thing you can make, and the most rewarding. This recipe is as basic as it gets and all you need is a few ingredients, a mixing bowl and a pasta roller (which you can find online for about $30).
To get started, get your ingredients ready. You ingredients are: eggs, semolina and all purpose flour. That's really it, can you even believe it?
Now, on the day I shot this post, I was making a double batch of pasta because we were having company, so just follow the recipe below to make a single batch.
After the two have been blended, make a well in the flour mixture with your hand.
Mix your eggs with a fork.
Once your eggs are mixed, pour the egg mixture into the well in the flour mixture SLOWLY. Once it's all in there, make sure your hands are nice and clean, and then just get in there and start adding the flour mixture into the egg mixture. Please note that this is a job for both hands, but I had to hold the pesky camera. In the future, I will definitely hire a professional to come shoot my pasta making process.
As you squeeze and squish the dough, two things will happen: 1. Your hands will get really gross and caked with an eggy flour mixture that is, honestly, kind of a pain in the butt to wash off. 2. Your mixture will become crumbly and you'll have a hard time keeping it together. At this point, you'll want to just dump the bowl onto your (clean) counter and start mixing again right on the hard surface.
At this point, you may find that your mixture feels really, super, mega dry. You have wo choices here: you can either add a little bit of warm water to the mixture, like, 1 teaspoon at at time, or you can stop trying to get all of the flour to mix with two eggs, and just let some of the loose mixture not make its way into the dough. I tend to go with the latter option, but if this is your first time making pasta, you might want to add the water. Just remember to add it slowly, or your dough will get sticky and you'll need to add more flour. This can turn into a vicious cycle.As you continue kneading the dough, it will start to feel less crumbly, and more smooth. Keep going.
After about 10 minutes of continual kneading, you should be able to form your pasta dough into a ball.
Once your ball is formed, hold it in your hand and make a cut about half way through it with a paring knife. If you see lots of air bubbles, knead for a few more minutes and then make another cut. You want the dough to feel pretty smooth and look fairly solid on the inside. Air bubbles are not great in pasta, so take the extra minute to knead them out.
When you finally have dough that is mostly free of air bubbles, form a ball and wrap that sucker in cling wrap. Let it sit on the counter for 30 minutes and go do something fun.The 30 minutes are up! Huzzah! Now comes the fun part! (I would like to point out that at this point in the process I had to employ a friend to help me shoot the images in my dark and unattractive kitchen, so they get even less awesome, but YOU GET THE IDEA. In my next life, my kitchen will be all white, full of windows, and perpetually spotless).Clamp your pasta roller to your counter, and unwrap your dough. Cut it into 4 pieces and remove one piece. Wrap the other 3 pieces up again so that they don't dry out.
Set your pasta roller on the HIGHEST number you can before you start rolling. You want to get that fat ball of pasta dough to go from fat to thin, but you have to do it gradually. Use one hand to feed the dough ball though the rollers, while using the other hand to slowly turn the crank. Once the dough is through at the top, use that hand (probably your left hand) to catch the sheet of dough as it comes through the rollers, transformed into an awesome silky sheet.
Once the sheet has come through the roller, lay it flat on the counter and fold it into thirds, and put it through the same roller setting again. After you've done this, move the setting to the next lowest number and repeat, over and over again, until the dough is at a thickness you like.
If your dough sheet gets too long, it's okay to cut it in half and just have shorter pasta. It might take a few times of making this recipe to figure out the sweet spot.Once the dough is where you want it to be in terms of thickness, move the crank to the cutting rollers! Lift the dough up nice and high and place just the end into the rollers, and start cranking SLOWLY. Once your sheet is about 2/3 of the way through, use your left hand to catch the pasta strands as they come out. This step is definitely easier if you have another person around to help you: that way, one person can turn the crank, and you can use your right hand to feed the dough into the roller and your left hand to catch the pasta as it comes out.
Once you've grabbed the pasta, lay it out on a kitchen towel so that the pieces don't overlap. They will absolutely stick together if you lump them on the counter all willy nilly, so take a moment to do this step correctly. At this point, you should also get a large pot of water boiling so that you're ready to cook the pasta when you're doing cutting it.
As soon as you finish the first quarter of dough, start all over again and do pieces 2, 3 and 4. Remember to put your roller setting back on the highest number at the beginning of each piece so that your pasta is consistent.
When all of your pasta is done, put the noodles into boiling water for 3-4 minutes (longer for thicker pasta, shorter for thinner). When the pasta is done cooking, strain and rinse it and then toss it with your favorite sauce.I'll be honest with you, I had hoped to get an amazing sauce made for this post, but it just didn't come together, so you'll just have to invent one of your own (or raid the internet) and come back for my next guest post!Good luck with your carbs and let me know how it goes :)
Ah, remember back when my nightstand was full of journals and novels and such? My, how things change.This infection is requiring quite the medicinal arsenal. I'll be so happy when I'm medication-free again.
Oh you guys, you guys blow me away. I have had *so* much help and good wishes and such since I got home from the hospital. Loads of gorgeous flowers (those up there are from the wonderful people at 
Hi, I'm Liz from 
Here's what you'll need:
DIRECTIONS:
Enjoy!