Poggles the Hedgehog

Once upon a time, there was a little hedgehog named Poggles.

Poggles was a very frightened little guy.  Every time he got scared, he would put his quills up.

No one wanted to be Poggle's friend.  They were scared of getting poked.

 Poggles tried to put his quills down.

 "Hello! My quills are down! Come and say hi!"

 But no one was around to say hi.  Everyone was having fun somewhere else.

Poggles decided it was no fun putting his quills down.  No one cared anyways.  "I'm going back to sleep now.  If you bother me, I'll hiss at you, " he said.  And that's what he did.

The End

Fresh Christmas Wreath Tutorial

Christmas wreaths get more expensive each year, and they're not even REAL!  Make your own evergreen wreath with boughs from your neighborhood trees for less than $5!  Here's how:

 You will need:

1. Large metal wreath frame.  (I got mine at Michaels with a 50% off coupon, so it was only $2.)
2. Florist wire.  (I got mine at Michaels for under $2.)
3. Evergreen branches from the neighborhood trees. (I gathered about 2 grocery bags' worth, but I had a lot of branches left over, so maybe 1 or 1.5 bags full is enough.)
4. Real red berries or artificial berries. 
5. Optional: Pinecones and ribbon.
6. Pruning shears to cut the branches and the wire.
7. Garden gloves to protect your hands as you work.

Place the metal frame with the rounded side up.

Gather 2-3 stems of your evergreen branches.  Layer them on top of the metal frame. I had two kinds of evergreen available and I put the prettier/denser one on top.  Use a long strip of florist wire to twist-tie the branches securely to the metal frame.

If you have real berry branches, you should include them in each cluster of branches.  I couldn't find any real red berries in my neighborhood, so I added fake berries.

 Gather another three branches together.  Lay them on top of the first cluster, but move down a little.  Tie them to the metal frame with florist wire.

 Here's a close-up of florist wire tied to the metal frame.  Trim the excess wire off with your pruning shears, and tuck it safely away.

 Keep adding clusters of 2-3 branches along the metal frame.  The closer you put the clusters, the rounder and more full your wreath will be.

 Keep adding clusters until you are all the way around the wreath.

 For the last cluster, you will need to lift up the first cluster branches to get underneath.  Tie the last bough down with florist wire.

 Ta da!  You've made it all the way around!

 Now use the pruning shears to snip off any stray branches that make the wreath not-round.  You can snip any super long branches shorter too if they look out of place, and tidy up the center of the wreath too.  If you have any bald spots, tuck an extra branch in and tie it down.

If you had real berry branches worked into the wreath.  It will look amazing and be finished.  If you don't have any real berry branches, you can use fake red berries.  I had a bunch of random red berries left from previous wreaths.  Some of these berries fell off of Christmas tree decorations, I think...

Honestly, you could just leave the wreath without any additions.  It looks really nice with just the evergreen branches.

I wrapped my berries with wire and tied them to branches, weaved them into the branches, etc.  Then I adjusted them so that they were more visible.  

If you have pine cones, you can wrap them with wire and tie them in too.

Now, if you have some big ribbon, you can tie it on and make a bow.  I rather liked mine without any other additions so I left it.  

Here is a second wreath that I made a few days later.  I found some real berries to include with the fake berries, so I tied them down with each cluster of branches.  I also included some other random branches that had small, oval leaves and tiny red berries.

So, there you have it.  For under $5, I have a lovely Christmas wreath to brighten my doorway.  When Christmas is over, I'll snip all the branches and florist wire off and save the metal frame for another year.

I hope you will have fun making your own wreath too!

Don't forget to post photos of your finished work on the Flickr page here.

Cheers!

Poggle Laughs

With exams imminent, here's a funny picture for you!

Poggles was trying to flip himself over when I was blow drying his belly.  Um... he looks ridiculous... poor fellow.  He looks like he's bracing himself from the super blow drying power  :)

Happy studying!

Another Fun Bath With Poggles

 Poggles needed his nails trimmed.  I figured I might as well give him a bath at the same time since his feet were looking a little grubby.

He wasn't as enthusiastic this time about getting a bath.  He tried to run away.

 But you'd never know it from this smile...

 In fact, he looks a lot like he's grinning in this picture.  Hee hee!

I filled the sink with water and let him soak a bit, first with Aveeno body wash.  Then I rinsed him off and let him soak with a couple drops of Aveeno bath oil.  It was easy to trim his nails under water.  Poggles was very cooperative and the water made his nails soft.  There was no loud sound to frighten him.

 He got blown dry after that, and I even flipped him over to blow dry his tummy. Last time it was still wet underneath.  He wasn't too thrilled about being flipped over.

 After all that excitement.  It was nap time.  (If you zoom in really close to his nose, you can see that it kind of flares out on the edges.  Neat! It reminds me of a star-nosed mole.)

Poor fellow. He was all tuckered out.  He looks super cosy in his pouch though.  Now's he's drying/warming under my desk lamp while I study.

I hope you have a great week!

Last Day of Maternity

It was the last day of my maternity rotation today.  I have the radio blasting Christmas music, I'm filling orders for my online shop, and I gave Poggles a proper cleaning.  It's a good day today.  (Of course, Poggles thinks it's a terrible day.  He's afraid of going into his new, clean pouch and he's hiding out under his wheel.)

My sister set up the Christmas tree and I piled the presents I've been hoarding in my room under it.  Sigh.  How lovely  :)  On top of that, I'm munching on the little sandwiches I made for our potluck today at the hospital.

So, what can I say about this maternity rotation now?  Well, I finally got to see a birth.  It's not exactly what I had envisioned.

Labor
There was something like a roll-bar arched over her bed and the mum had her feet on it.  She was pulling on a blanket tied to this row bar so that she could have leverage.  Meanwhile, people were walking in and out of the room - doctors, nurses, family members.  It was a bit confusing, but they were just checking on her progress.

My job was just to watch and to provide encouragement, so I just smiled at the mum, gave her thumbs up, and said encouraging things when she made a good push.  Sometimes I put gloves on and changed the towels under her.  The mum didn't mind.  She was focused on the pushing part.

The nurses were very nice to me and explained what was going on and the different machines.  The mum had a fetal monitor over her tummy so that the nurses could monitor her blood pressure, her heart rate, and the baby's heart rate.

Delivery
At one point, I started to see something dark at the vaginal opening.  The nurses told me it was the baby's hair.  My eyes got really big then and I couldn't stop staring.  The dark part got gradually more visible until it was pretty obvious that it was a little head pushing it's way out.

The doctors were called and they all came bustling in with their various teams.  There were doctors to deliver the baby, doctors to observe the doctor, and doctors specializing in babies to take over when the baby was born.  Everything happened pretty fast after that.  Push, push, push, and SPLOOSH!  The baby was out!  It was amazing.

Newborn Care
The baby's cord was clamped and cut, and the baby was passed to the baby doctors.  They checked the baby over, checked the baby's throat, and did a little bit of suction.  When they had made sure the baby was healthy, they let the nurse take over.  She cleaned the baby off and called me over.  I got to put eye ointment into the baby's eyes to protect it from infection, and she gave it a Vitamin K injection to protect it from bleeding.  I was pretty excited to see a brand new baby.

Placenta
Then I got to examine the placenta.  The nurse showed me the part that was housing the baby in the womb, and the part that connected to the mother.  The part connected to the mother looks a bit like chunks of raw liver.  She showed me how we have to examine it to see if it looks intact with no pieces missing.  If pieces are missing, they have to check the mum to see if some pieces are still inside her.

Stitches
Meanwhile, the doctors were stitching the mum up.  Because the baby came out so fast, she had some tearing.  Poor mum!  She didn't seem to really notice though.  She was in a rather delirious state saying things like, "My baby...".  I think she was a bit wrapped up in what had just taken place and the miracle of having just given birth to a real live baby.

We wrapped the baby up and passed it to mum.  She was overcome with happiness to see her new baby, and it was a very sweet moment.

Mum Amnesia
I took care of the mum for the rest of my shift and checked her studiously.  She did great!  I was happy to be part of her experience, and I hope it was much better from her perspective than from mine, lol!  It's a bit scary to be the observer.  The mums seem to "forget" what they go through though.  One mum said that she knows in her brain how traumatic and painful it was, but that it's fuzzy.  Instead, they glow over their new babes and enthusiastically plan for more children!

It's Growing on Me
So, looking back at these last two weeks, I'd have to say that it got better.  I wasn't as stressed out anymore, and I could see how valuable the teaching was for the parents.  Everything was hands on and applicable.  I would teach the mum to breastfeed, and then I'd watch her actually do it; I'd teach the dad to bathe the baby, and then he'd show me how he could do it alone.  It was really nice.

I think the highlight of my time in maternity was cuddling with the babies.  Sometimes the mums would leave the baby in my arms while they went to the bathroom and I could croon and rock the baby.  It was really sweet. The babies are so cute, so soft skinned, and downright lovable.  They make funny noises and they can sometimes smile.  It warmed my heart.

I think that despite all the scary things that happened in Maternity, I could get used to it based on the fact that I like the babies so much.  Funny how things work.  Well, now to hit the books.  Final exams start next week!  *groan*

Wish me luck!

Have a great week!