baby bump and weekend update

i'm currently sitting somewhere between 31 and 32 weeks.

and yesterday i had 3 people ask "how much longer" and another ask if i was sure there was just 1 in there.  i thought i was going to cry.  i'm feeling ginormous with 2 more months still to go.

on the bright side - the farmer's markets are in full swing - i was able to get tomatoes at $2 a lb and asparagus for $3 a bunch - all of which have now been consumed - i've noted to buy extra this coming weekend.

bill was kind enough to take care of our patio garden this weekend

bell peppers - which have done really well on our patio in past years - and mint that i love adding to tea

plus

a hanging basket of basil to pair with my tomato obsession.

the fresh fruit and vegetables are welcomed after months of not feeling like cooking.  and since i currently feel like a whale - eating whole foods again at least makes me feel better about my current state.

blt salad found on pinterest : spring mix + cherry tomatoes + corn + feta cheese + bacon + avocado
lime dressing : olive oil + red wine vinegar + fresh squeezed lime juice + sugar


a little nursery update:

i purchased a crib skirt at PB Kids to finish off the crib

and Lucy's great aunt Jennifer got her a lovey

bill and i hung up the kitten prints above the crib

i just can't get over how adorably cute these are

the other side of the room is still a bit in chaos

but we now have a changing pad (and clothes to be put away!)

bill successfully installed the car seat base this weekend - so if lucy were to come early we are prepared!

i still need to organize the diaper situation

we picked up 2 dozen cloth diapers and 4 diaper covers to get us started for the first few months.

these are kind of old school - they are the prefolds - which are just really thick cotton that has been prepped for absorbency and the waterproof covers will go over top of them to hold everything together.  the prefolds are sized for newborns and should be enough for the first two months or three - depending on her size and shape.

my plan (ha) is to buy the fancier insert style reusable diapers and a few all in ones once Lucy gets a bit bigger.  after taking the cloth diapering class and talking with the staff at the diaper fairy it seemed the one-size-fits-all reusable diapers work best once my infant chunks up a bit.

i had thought about using disposables up until that time - but the prefolds can be used later for extra protection in insert style diapers as well as burp cloths - a win win in my book - so i pulled the trigger on the purchase.

i will admit that it took me a few tries to get the hang of wrapping a rectangle shaped cloth around a teddy bear.  there is a learning curve - especially dealing with the snappee (the blue piece that is used instead of safety pins).  but after a few tries i kind of got the hang of it.  and infants and babies lay flat and still like teddy bears, right?  good.  i'll be fine then.

things currently running through my mind:

1. my first baby shower is this weekend and i couldn't be more excited to celebrate
2. my sister in law is due a month before me, but informed me that she could go early based on her last dr visit- which is too much for me to process!
3. we need a plan on what to do with woodford when labor strikes
4. call prospective pediatricians
5. make a list of what to pack for the hospital

and that's only the top 5 things.  ugh.

8.3 more weeks to go!

 

week 30

today i am officially 30 weeks pregnant!!

and i'm beginning to think i'm going to need a chauffeur because i can only scoot my seat so far back and still reach the pedals. 

whenever i hear someone is in their 30-something week i automatically think they're almost done!

and i'm certainly feeling "almost done" despite having 10 good weeks left

eating dinner is difficult - i should probably sit at the actual dining table, but when i get home i need to put my feet up; my ankles are the size of softballs!  leaning over my plate is out of the question as then i can't breath - so eating is often done in the reclined position with my belly sometimes acting as a table.

and i'm serious about my ankle situation

for whatever reason my left ankle is always worse than my right.  the swelling makes getting anything done in the evening near impossible since i feel like i'm waddling or limping to walk across our tiny space.

but i have been trying to do tiny tasks when i can or the mood strikes.  this past weekend bill and i decided to try and organize some items that had been shifted around while laying the new floor.  we had a few baby clothes that had been purchased at consignment sales and my job was to remove the BAJILLION safety pins and tags on the clothes and wash, fold and put them all away.

i also dusted off MY old rocking chair - which has been patiently waiting for my own little girl to rock in one day.

it's also a jenny lind (which matches the crib and cradle) - gah! i love the spindles!  and the little piggy was found over at bill's grandmother's - the whole room is turning into a sentimental collection (really all of my decor through the house is) - which makes walking into the room without crying difficult.

this little guy?  a doorstop i rescued from a yardsale my granny had.  i apparently was obsessed with the thing as a child and couldn't dare see it go - and it has since lived in the house in one spot or another.  it's actually functioning as a doostop now, and since the nursery seems to be a menagerie of animals (kittens on the wall, pig in the rocker, and now peacock on the floor) i thought, what the heck!

i can't wait to show the whole room - but there's still a table saw on the floor and an ottoman underneath the window and i'm lacking some art work.

my other big accomplishment

putting together the jogging stroller and car seat that arrived at our doorstep yesterday!  i was too impatient to let bill help me (he was at work) so i huffed and puffed and dumped everything in the floor.

surprisingly it all went together with a few clicks.  we went with the graco jogging stroller travel system since we knew we wanted a jogging stroller, but definitely didn't have the room to store more than one kind of larger stroller - so one that was compatible with a car seat was a win win.  the graco system had great reviews and was budget friendly - i kept looking at the BOB strollers and couldn't believe the ridiculous price + NONE of the accessories (cup holders, car seat adapters, etc) were included - all sold separately.  so if you invest in the stroller and then decide you want the accessories, you could easily have $700 in...A STROLLER.  i just couldn't.  i'm the least speedy runner anyways - lucy and i will be performing more of a trot once she's big enough to "run" with.


in other baby related news - my baby app is telling me that my digestive process is slowing down,  and i made the mistake of buying fiber one brownies.  i ate like 4 in one afternoon.  don't judge me.  they are 90 calories each and TINY.  great for a small indulgence when dieting - horrible when you're pregnant and eat 4 of them.  i sounded like the little engine that could the other night and was surprised bill didn't go sleep on the couch.  must be love.

Lucy is now the size of a cabbage (wasn't she just the size of a head of lettuce?  aren't those 2 things similar?)- about 15.7 inches long and weighs about 3 lbs.

i'm starting to think she knows when bill is around or can tell the difference when he's touching my belly or i am.  bill got off work early the other night and we were watching tv.  i had him place his hand on my belly and almost immediately she started kicking and thumping his hand - big kicks that moved my belly.  we joked that she knew it was her daddy - but i secretly think she did know - already a daddy's girl!

odds and ends:

•  mother's day is this weekend, and i've reminded bill at least 6 times.  i expect at least a card.
• my mom and aunt are coming in this weekend...they're looking forward to shopping for lucy, i'll just be along for the ride :)
• dr's appointments are now every other week - which makes me excited since i will have something baby related on the calendar almost every week
• i want to pick up some nursing bras but have been warned that things could change significantly.  so my question is when do i pick them up or should i go ahead and buy a couple?
• my breast pump came in, and my heart began racing - another reminder that this is real...also, it looked so medical and weird. 
• i've been knitting diligently as well as working on sewing cradle sheets - can't wait to show them off!

that's about it for the week.  to all the mommas and mommas-to-be  - happy early mother's day!

 

29 weeks

happy last week in the 20's!

week 29 is here and making itself known!

i am constantly oscillating between feeling super on top of things (like i said the other day) to feeling like "oh sh!t - i still have x,y,z to do!" (i probably won't be happy until there's a carseat strapped in, a hospital bag packed, baby clothes and bedding washed, and house scrubbed clean one last time....all things that probably won't happen for another 6-7 weeks.  er, i mean we'll clean in between but probably not a good scrub until closer to go time and obviously the master bathroom should take top priority...ahem...)

after months of claiming a side-effect free pregnancy - my feet are now in a constant state of semi swollen and fat.  no matter how often i prop them up at work or how much water i drink, they kind of just puff up a bit until i get home and lay on my side for about an hour.

probably due to the extra fluid being retained in my feet, i'm now having to get up at least once a night to potty - which makes it really difficult to fall back asleep.

i'm convinced, if old sayings hold any truth, that baby Lucy is going to come out completely bald.  i've not had heartburn once!  BUT i've started to experience some indigestion.  which, is that the same thing?  i've heard of pregnant ladies complain about raging heartburn to the point they thought they were having heart issues.  mine feels like i need to burp or have something stuck in my esophagus - so if that is indeed heartburn, maybe Lucy will have a light fluff of hair?

i'm also starting to feel incredibly slow.  bill and i went to the cherokee triangle art fair last weekend - it wasn't too crowded but i constantly felt like someone was behind me waiting for me to walk faster.  bill usually walks faster than me anyways, but lately i just can't keep up and am constantly reminding him to slow down.  it was nice and warm out too - close to 80 - and in the shade with a breeze it was wonderful.  it wasn't until we got back to the car i realized how hot it actually was.  i had pretty much sweat through the seat of my pants.  very humbling - especially considering we were headed to the diaper class right after.

a few weeks ago i called to start my registration process with short term disability (i don't know how most places of employment do maternity leave, but where i work i get 6 weeks of short term disability paid leave but can take another 6 weeks off through the FMLA act - though it is unpaid unless i use vacation time).  so anyways, i've called and am talking to a representative - giving typical information.  she needed to know when my first prenatal doctor visit was, when i'm due, who my doctor was...etc.  we have clearly established i am pregnant and taking the leave for this reason.  so when she asked her next question i couldn't help but laugh and ask for further clarification.  the lady, very seriously asked, "what are your symptoms?"

...crickets.  and then laughter.  excuse me?- i said...and then laughed again - there's a baby kicking me from the inside?  there's an alien-looking being in my womb according to an ultrasound?

she seemed flustered at that point, never really acknowledging it was kind of a weird question.  i'm sure she was reading off a standard form that is actually used for real disability claims (not pregnancy) so she conceded and moved on.



i'm looking forward to the next 11 weeks - baby showers, my mom and aunt visiting and coming to shop, becoming an aunt, myself, again! in june

trying to get in extra cuddles and lovins with my fur babies, too!  i can't tell if woodford thinks we've created a fun palace for him in the nursery or if he knows something big is about to happen and he's protecting the space.
 
a few last items

• i've bought a whole frozen key lime pie at the grocery the past 2 weeks.  i cannot get enough of the tart flavor.
• sonic's diet cherry limeade. enough said. (this was a pre pregnancy thing too)
• Lucy is now the size of a butternut squash - 15.2 inches long and 2.5 lbs
• i hope to get in one prenatal massage soon..hint...bill...mother's day...hint.
• i'm attempting to sew a couple crib sheets and cradle sheets
• i'm really behind on my knitting and am semi depressed i haven't made Lucy anything yet
• i wake up at least once a night with the panic of where i will change Lucy while she sleeps in our room (it's not even a big deal when i'm awake - but in my sleep i'm concerned?)
• i'm trying to justify paying for an elective ultrasound so i can see Lucy with some fat on her cheeks!

 

transformation tuesday

wait...what?

i'm back after taking a 2 month-ish hiatus.  whoops!  it wasn't planned, but it felt needed.  obviously, i've posted all over instagram, but there's only so much i can share through pictures alone.

i've been incredibly lucky to have such an easy pregnancy thus far, but unfortunately i've also been pretty boring.  i got tired of forcing a narrative that simply wasn't there.  i've also struggled with how much and what i wanted to share on a public blog.  for the most part, at least since becoming pregnant, this has been a way for friends and family who are interested to follow along with my journey; i can also spare those casual FB acquaintances the incessant reminder of my growing uterus. 

so now that the "big wait" has turned into "hurry up and get stuff done" my personal narrative, at least comparatively, is becoming more interesting.

so transformation tuesday - shall we?

my last update i had just found out little baby gummy bear was going to be a girl!  i was right around 19-20 weeks, and i still hadn't felt Lucy kick.  i was also under the impression my belly was ginormous.  and it looks like my bras were still fitting pretty well.

jump ahead to NOW (picture at 26 weeks)

i feel and look like i strapped a beach ball to my front.  and i'm terrified that the real growth is now about to start.

bill and i went to a baseball game last friday night - the louisville bats are a triple A team for the cincinnati reds, and so i wanted to wear my reds t shirt.  it looked obscenely tight when i put it on.  bill kindly offered for me to wear his t shirt. 

which...turned out to be barely long enough itself.  whoops.

so now, in my last week of my 2nd trimester...!!! i am feeling lots of kicks and punches.  i sometimes just sit at my desk and watch my belly move.  i've tried really hard to capture it on camera to show bill since she seems to be most active around lunch, but i think lucy knows i'm filming and promptly stops.

other than my growing belly

there's been a few other transformations happening around the house

bill and his brother worked on putting the crib together

and it has sat in the living room while we get the nursery (bill's former office) together

gong-gong (lucy's grandpa) made sure she had a mattress and i couldn't resist picking up some sheets to see the crib mostly put together (still plan on adding a skirt)

the other side of the living room houses our matching cradle that lucy's great granny got for her - which will soon be moved into our bedroom.

the nursery itself has been a work in progress.

after thinking for weeks i would go with something light and neutral.  i decided i hated all of these colors.

and i just wanted what i liked - a beautiful dark navy. 

it's been a bit hard to photograph because of the time of day i get home, but i think it looks beautiful and relaxing.  i'm a sucker for blues.  ALSO.  the room has since been mostly cleared of all the clutter seen above - and so far, thanks to my aunt, i've made over $200 in selling our excess.

in a mad state of "let's get shit done!" we ripped up the carpet as well.  we knew at some point we would get new floors so there's nothing like impulsively doing so to get things moving.  i hope to share a semi finished room next week - the plan is to put the floors down saturday, however, we are still awaiting a phone call to to come pick up said floors. 

so while waiting on the floors this past weekend, we took on a whole other beast.

she looks harmless enough, doesn't she?  the dresser came from bill's grandmother's estate - which makes me happy to have a little something from her house - she had just found out we were pregnant a month or so before she passed.  i didn't know her very well, but she kept this dresser in her basement to store fabric and sewing projects - a very talented seamstress - she made her own curtains, placemats, could whip up a blazer, and in her younger years could reupholster a sturdy piece of furniture.  so i'm sure she got a big kick out of watching us tackle this dresser, and i hope would be pleased to see that this basement storage piece is going to be used as storage and a changing table in the nursery!

we spent several hours saturday sanding, deglossing, sanding again

chipping off lots of wood veneer and filling in holes with wood putty (also to note - random furniture in the background - my SIL is also pregnant and we've been DIY divas for months now)

we called it a day, and waited until sunday to paint (thanks to my brother and sister in law for letting us use their garage and outdoor space)

i picked up chalk paint - the paint that requires no sanding or priming - only to discover that the veneer was bleeding through in spots (see the drawer with the bleed through?)

after painting everything with 2 coats and still having bleed through - my brother in law came to the rescue with a can of killz primer which THANKFULLY took care of the red ruining my project.

unfortunately that meant i needed to paint ANOTHER coat of chalk paint over this whole dresser again.

pain in my rear.

not to mention, my original plan was to stain the top of the dresser to achieve a butcher block look.  thanks to that tricky veneer - there was zero wood grain and my dreams were out the window.

kind of.

i had picked up dark wax to go over the paint - hoping it would give me my desired look.

 and i'm pretty pleased with the outcome!

the areas we had trouble sanding/puttying which were such an eyesore - ended up being a blessing

the wax took hold in those nooks and crannies - and because chalk paint has a less than smooth texture when painted on with a brush - we were able to get that wood block look 

a project that i was ready to chuck 3 hours into - i'm now quite pleased with.

still not done though- i'm planning on removing the contact paper from the drawers and re-lining with some fun fabric.  

sorry for ramble blog, but i feel like we're caught up now.  i'm crossing my fingers we get a phone call from the flooring place and i can share an almost finished nursery next week!


 

baby O

i am totally

utterly

fantastically

in disbelief.

seriously.

for the past 4.5 months i have daydreamed about having a son.  raising a small boy.  mud puddles and worms.

and i guess the universe thought that was pretty hilarious

because we found out yesterday we are having a GIRL!

everyone had told me, and i believed quite strongly, that since i had zero morning sickness and, in general, pregnancy symptoms were rare - that i was in for a boy. 

don't get me wrong, i am in no way upset or sad. i am just in disbelief.  i had everything planned out in my mind of how it was going to be.

and that, right there, was my wake up call - nothing, from here on out, will be the way i planned :)

bill and i kept uttering to ourselves all night last night that we are indeed, about to embark on raising a child.  i don't know why knowing the sex has now made it all the more real, but it has.  seeing our baby up on the ultrasound, fully formed, is amazing.  and seeing her face and her long legs and feet kicking at us, her brain and the chambers of her heart pumping away- is probably the greatest thing i've ever witnessed.

there's still 21 more weeks to go, and she can stay in there as long as she likes (i say that now before i've felt any good strong kicks or have gotten a much larger bump), but i cannot wait to meet our daughter.

i don't talk about it much, but i grew up with a single mom - my dad was around, but not much, and not because he didn't want to be - he was mentally ill - and i believe i'm fairly well adjusted for having that male influence missing in my life.  but it brings big, hot tears to my face thinking of my future daughter growing up with what will be the greatest dad. i had to fight back the tears as bill and i dreamed of her first daddy-daughter dance and bill walking her down the aisle one day.  she will inevitably have bill wrapped around her finger, and i can already tell how in love and excited bill is to be there and raise a confident daughter.  as much as i cannot wait to hold and love on her - i am even more excited to watch bill become daddy and to hold her for that first time.

i feel so incredibly blessed.

july will be here before we know it

and so will Lucy Frances  !!!

 

15 weeks

i did it

i finally procrastinated so long on writing a weekly update i completely surpassed week 14

oops.

but here we are in week 15 now!

officially 2nd trimester and i am so excited.

why does the 1st trimester drone on and on - especially when you technically get to "skip" a whole month?

also, please excuse my sleepy face and poor lighting.  i keep swearing i will remember to take these pictures on the weekend when there is a bit of natural light shining in.

oh well.

speaking of sleepy face, i've been exhausted lately!

i hadn't felt this tired since weeks 5-7

and supposedly the 2nd trimester is supposed to be all this bounding energy and renewed well being.  maybe it's the cold weather, but i'm ready to go to bed at 9pm every night lately.  i also have been loving a nap on the weekends.

one thing i wish i would have done since finding out i was pregnant was to start a dream journal.  my dreams have been all over the place - from scary and frightening to oddly sensual.  even weirder i haven't remembered a single dream having to do with a baby.  one of the oddest dreams i had recently was a love affair i was starting with superman.  SUPERMAN.  i guess if i'm going to feel like sleeping all the time, it might as well be entertaining?

aside from odd sleep habits, i've been experiencing what i think is a bit of round ligament pain. it's not necessarily painful, but i notice it most at night when i go to change positions and i feel a strong tug near my pelvic area.

bill and i finally went and visited babies r us last weekend as well

we didn't buy anything or register (waiting until we find out the sex) but it was nice to just take in all the STUFF.

bill is convinced we don't need any of it, and while i do think there are a lot of random baby things we can do without, i'm going to have a tough time convincing him of why we need a "breastfriend" and boppy pillow.

all in all i'm feeling pretty great.

i've had a bout of extremely itchy dry skin and stuffy/runny/bloody nose - which can all be pregnancy related but are probably also not helped by the -5 degree temps.

i've got another 2 weeks before my next OB appointment and hopefully just another 3-4 weeks until we will get to find out the gender!