Lahja Dressing Gown in Liberty Lawn with Minerva – the L&D Robe that wasn’t!

While I certainly didn’t expect to feel like a beautiful, perfectly styled princess while at the hospital for labor and delivery, I wanted to put together a few things that would feel pretty and meaningful – and keep me out of the hospital gown throughout my admission! When I was offered an opportunity to sew up the Named Lahja Dressing Gown in this beautiful Liberty cotton lawn, I knew it was exactly what I was looking for.  

This was the third Minerva curated kit that I’ve worked with this year, and just as before, it was a lovely process. The kit arrived with a cut of fabric sufficient for the longer or shorter length of the pattern, a set of Prym sewing machine needles, fusible interfacing, color-matched thread, and a copy of the printed pattern. I love the convenience of pdf patterns, but I was enamored with the packaging of this printed pattern. There is something luxurious about the beautiful presentation – I couldn’t resist taking a photo of all of the items together, ready to go!

My due date was in late August, so I felt that the shorter length of the pattern would be the most appropriate option for me. I loved the idea of a breezy, lighter weight robe pattern for the hot summer months – especially as I switched from someone who is ALWAYS cold to someone who is ALWAYS hot somewhere during this pregnancy! I thought this would be a great layering piece to keep me covered (in luxurious fabric!) over the top of my nightgowns during my inpatient stay.

At the beginning of August, I made sure my hospital bag was packed and ready to go. I work at the hospital I planned to deliver at, about an hour drive from our house, so I kept the bag in my trunk just in case I went into labor while at work. I was prepared! We’d been given a due date of August 24th, but I’d gotten it in my head that August 17th would be the perfect birth date for our baby boy. August is a big month for our family – my birthday is August 10th, my cousin’s birthday is 2 weeks later on August 24th, and my husband and I celebrate our wedding anniversary one week later on August 31st. All of these events line up perfectly, with only a week gap in between on August 17th. My brain loves clean lines and organization on my calendar, so I thought it would be so special if our boy came on August 17th and closed the gap in that line!

I was in labor for about 27 hours with my daughter, so I’d been joking that if we labored for 24 hours or less this time, I’d be thrilled!  When 8:00 pm on August 17th rolled around and I was still hanging out on the front porch watching the rain with my girl, I figured the August 17th dream had passed. I tucked my daughter into bed, and noted that the contractions I’d been having on and off for the last week were definitely stronger tonight. I came downstairs and told my husband that I felt different, and I couldn’t explain it much further than that, but I thought maybe we should get things ready in case we went into labor later that night or early the next morning. He went about cleaning up the house while I went to finish up a couple of things and wash my face before getting a little bit of sleep, anticipating a middle of the night wake up to head into the hospital. This was about 8:45 pm, and although my contractions were certainly stronger, they weren’t close together – still about 15 minutes apart. We called my brother-in-law to make plans to drop my daughter off at his house should things get more serious, and I did a last minute check to make sure we had all we needed in the car.

At 9:29 pm, my water broke and contractions became non-stop. My husband came into our room to check in on me, and I told him we needed to get moving. When he came back about 10 minutes later to help me to the car, I had to tell him I didn’t think that we were going to make it to our hospital. He called 911 and paramedics arrived at 9:55, just before our eager little man made his way into the world at 9:56. While a 27 hour labor with my daughter was unexpected, a 27 minute labor with this guy was a completely different type of unexpected! Our baby boy was perfectly healthy, just eager to meet his family, and we were transported to the local hospital to be monitored for the next couple of days.

My fancy Liberty robe never made it out of my bag during our stay! I had been very prepared for a long labor, but hadn’t at all been prepared to arrive at the hospital with a baby already in my arms! We spent the next day and a half admiring our speedy little guy, repeating our story to every healthcare professional who came to our room, and sleeping whenever we could. The robe remained nicely folded until I returned home and unpacked.

Maternity leave, though, has been the perfect opportunity to get some wear out of this lovely robe! While I have really made an effort to get myself dressed every day to keep some semblance of normalcy in my routine, there are certainly still days that I choose to wear something comfy and throw this robe on over to make it a bit more special. It is also perfect for weekend mornings, drinking coffee and having breakfast with my family when we are all home together.

Robe: handmade by me using a KIT!
Pattern: Named Clothing – Lahja Unisex Dressing Gown
Fabric: Minerva – Liberty London Archive Tana Lawn – Jade

Key Ingredients: 
Brother XR9500PRW Sewing Machine 
Brother 1034D Overlocker 
Dahle 36×48 Self-healing Cutting Mat
Prym Sewing Machine Needles
Gutermann Sew All Polyester Sewing Thread in 189

Thanks for reading my thoughts on this pattern! The fabric, notions, and pattern used for this post were provided to me as a kit by Minerva in exchange for photos of my finished garments and a review of my experience with the kit, to be posted on their website. All words and opinions expressed throughout this post are my own, as always. Links provided throughout this post may be affiliate links – if you choose to purchase any products through these links, I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you. This simply helps me justify the costs of my sewing habit and the time it takes to share it with you!! Happy Sewing!

• XX Elizabeth