Melinda's Paul Mitchell Relaxer

So, on Tuesday, May 5, 2009, my sister-in-law, Melinda came in as a semi-willing volunteer for a relaxing. She has wavy hair and never blow-drys, which is plain to see.

We started by putting protectant on her hairline.







Next, we parted her hair into four quadrants.

We started at the back left quarter, applying the mild formula of The Relaxer a half inch from the scalp, through the ends. Since she does nothing to her hair EVER, I wasn't concerned about pulling it throught the ends.

I finished the back and moved onto the front 2 quarters,

leaving the hairline out for the last part. At which point,

I combed thru with a wide toother!

We left it on for 10 minutes, I checked it and it wasn't ready. I check by putting a knot in the hair and if there is any spring left, the turkey isn't done. I basically couldn't stand to watch the wincing on her face any longer and I decided to rinse, although it was 20 minutes and that was the maximum. I am a sadist.

I rinsed for 5 minutes and then went a little extra. I shampooed with Lavender Mint and conditioned with it, as well.

I blowdryed and was very pleased with the job it did.

I do quite a bit of Japanese straightening and I would argue that the result was comparable with 2 advantages...

1. The Relaxer took less than an hour and a Japanese Straightening can take 4 hours. 2. There was no neutralizing step. Doing this in ONE step is pretty amazing!

Downfalls...Melinda and her mom don't like it. My mother in law said, "I hate it! It doesn't look like Melinda!" You know how mothers always want you to look like you did when you were 3! What a pain in the ass!

The Big Delivery!

Well, I fell behind in blogging. Sorry. This was the last time I walked - right before the epidural. Heidi followed me and took pictures of me peeing, which, had I been more spry, I would have jumped up and knocked her out with her own camera.

I dilated really quickly after the magical epidural. Roxanne was our nurse and she asked me to "practice push". I did and she said it was great and we would have an easy delivery.

Dr. Fraser came down an hour later and I pushed once. It was great! That was all it took for us to have Flora Louise Ilima Dollarhide. She is sweet and snuggly and looks a lot like Georgia, with the exception of hair color. Flora has brownish hair. She weighs 7 pounds 5 ounces. It was the best delivery and I had so much fun with my friends from Rose. The nurses were all coming in to visit and helping out. We were so lucky to have such a great experience and new baby!

Oct 1rst 1:30 PM

At noon the water was broken and I was dilated at 5 cm. I got the epidural and am now dilated at 6cm and am very happy. Oh! epidural you make everything better. I'm thinking about our third child now.

Oct 1rst

The call at 10: 30 came @ 5:00 am. We got to the room at 6:00 am, and got settled. At 8:20 Erin finally let the nurse put an IV into her arm, so now they can start the various drips. Dr. Fraiser says expect good news at around supper time. Roxxanne says we should see he/she at around noon. Any takers! We will keep you posted. posted at 8:10

September 30 - 9 p.m.

Ok - so we got the call around 6pm that they were taking us for an induction tonite. It was going to be tomorrow night, but we were pretty excited! We made our calls and told everyone! Georgia is in bed and they next time she sees us, she'll be a big sister!

We just have to wait for the call from Rose Medical Center to tell us when to get in the car and go down there. They will induce me at midnight! This could be the last time you see me smiling for the next couple of hours!

We are so excited to find out what we are having!

There is enough hair - sort of - for pony tails. She puts up a mean fight, but I keep trying to explain that people pay me good money for these styles!

She just wants her afro to be free and wild.

This is me on my first day back to work! It was a miracle to make it through the day, but I was really glad to have done it . Every day gets easier.

It looks as though I will find a new place to call "work" upon my return after the baby is born. I will be back to work on October 25, so at that point I'll be in a new spot! I have nothing better to do than to move right now. What could make my life easier?!

I am so looking forward to seeing the baby's face! I wish my water would break and we could start the process! The induction will be on October 2, but if you want to send wishes for tonite, that would be ok with me!

In the big clean for the baby, I managed to reorganize my makeup drawer. For anyone who has seen my makeup drawer of the past, you will view this as a GD miracle!

I had to save the picture, though because I didn't realize that my belly was in the frame. It just gets in the way and I don't even notice!

This is Georgia in her dress from Kelly and trying to wear her rain boots from Rachel! The boots are 2 sizes too big, but she loves putting them on her feet!

Georgia played with her magic castle until she passed out! It's exhausting being a princess! There is so much to do!