2nd Time Around - 39 Weeks

To quote my Dr. this week, "Another week and you're still pregnant!" YEP. That's right. 39 weeks, due a week from last Monday and I'm "still pregnant". I'm huge and really uncomfortable at this point. These pictures are awful but true to life! I really look this tired.

Representing the Cardinals!

 I did have some practice contractions/cramping this weekend. I thought it was the real thing but it went away. It did leave me almost unable to walk Sunday morning so that's awesome.



Holy baby bump!

I really expected to have this baby by now. So did my Dr. He said he was surprised I haven't gone into labor yet because most people go earlier with their 2nd one. Thanks for the encouragement, doc! I've really tried to maintain a positive attitude with this pregnancy but I am just D-O-N-E. Ready to be done being pregnant. There's just so much I can't do this big and uncomfortable. It's really hard trying to take care of Steven like this. But Hubby Steve has been really great lately letting me nap and trying to do things for me so I'm really appreciative of that.

Today, I heard the story today of a blogger that I follow who had her baby at only 26 weeks. The picture of the baby is SO sad. He is only 1lb 9oz. I don't know the situation or what happened but that is terrifying. So I'm really grateful to have a healthy, full term baby. Also, this weekend I had a really sweet moment with Steven. He woke up from his nap from a bad dream or something and was crying for me. I just held him for a bit and he asked me to "rock him in the chair". Which he never asks me to do anymore. I used to rock him to sleep in that chair all the time when he was a baby and it was just a really sweet moment. I rocked him back to sleep and then just held him for like 20 minutes thinking about how much I love him and how lucky I am to be his mom and have this sweet moment with him that I probably couldn't have had if I had a newborn right now. So those are two positive thoughts for the week. :)

In other happy news, my cousin, Kris had her baby last week. I'm so happy for her and Zach. They had a baby girl, Emelia Grace and she's beautiful.



Such a cutie!

I can't wait to go see her. They live about 2 hours away so I think I'll wait till I have Logan to go out there. (Won't that make for some super cute pictures?)

So I'm trying to maintain a positive attitude this week but hoping we will get to meet our little guy very soon! 

2nd Time Around - 37 Weeks

Full term! Woot!! Its so awesome to have gotten to full term. I'm so glad that the baby could safely come any time now without any major developmental complications. So that is a huge blessing. I've heard about people going early with their second babies so I'm glad to have made it to this point!

I'm still feeling pretty good. Having the usual aches and pains that go along with carrying a full term belly around but mostly feeling good. I'm tired most of the time and have to pee every 5 minutes but considering all that I think I'm doing pretty well! The worst complaint I have is its so uncomfortable to lay down. My belly is so heavy and its impossible to move around in a bed normally. Its like having a huge bowling ball attached to the front of you that you can't move with any of your muscles. Its so weird. So that's made sleeping really difficult.

Excited big bro to be!

I have been really emotional lately too. I have been happy/upset/worried/angry all in the same day recently. I've been feeling overwhelmed with some things and that's not fun. I have been stressing about stupid things and I know its the hormones. But its still hard to manage those feelings. I got myself all worked up about things not being ready for the baby. Steve has been super supportive though and understanding. I'm really lucky. But I am happy to report that we've gotten most everything accomplished so I've been feeling much better lately. So that's good!

Steve and I have been getting really excited to meet Logan. Steven is getting excited too. He definitely knows where the baby is and loves to read his big brother books. He's been talking about about big brothers and I hear him using those words in his imaginative play. So those are all positive things! I think the transition will probably be tough but I hope we all can figure it out quickly!

In great news, I went to the Dr. Friday to get checked and was dilated to 1.5 so yay!! That never happened last time so I'm pretty excited. I hope that means things are moving in the right direction because momma's ready!!

2nd Time Around - 35 Weeks

Starting to feel like the homestretch of this pregnancy at 35 weeks. Although at the same time I've got over a month to my due date! I've started in on the last stage of planning for labor and when the baby comes. We made a plan with our parents for Steven when I go into labor, I've started getting out the newborn clothes and washing/organizing them in the baby's room, I've been getting all the baby stuff from storage (car seat, etc.). So its really starting to feel like this could happen soon! At the same time 5 weeks is a long way away so I'm really trying to not be in the mindset of "I'm almost done." I think its still probably too early to think like that. I don't want to be miserable thinking everyday that I could go into labor and being disappointed like I was last time.

Pretty sure big bro is shooting the camera here.

So I'm really trying to have a positive attitude but at the same time am pretty uncomfortable. Lots of new symptoms have popped up recently so that's really fun (Not!). The favorites of the 3rd trimester: heartburn, feeling bloated and full all the time, pain in my ribs making it hard to bend over. Good times. I've also started having these stabbing/shooting pains in my legs. Everything says its normal and just a result of the baby sitting on a nerve the wrong way. I dunno what it is but its super painful and I didn't have those with Steven.

Aw! He's getting excited to be a big bro!

 

Also, its been incredibly hot these last couple of weeks. I know I shouldn't complain because we usually have more 90+ degree weather than we've had this year but still its hot now and it sucks.  Ok I'm done complaining.

One cool thing that happened this week was I got to go shopping with my mom. They opened up 2 new outlet malls in Chesterfield and we went to check one out on my day off. Its so nice to spend some girl time with my mom. And, of course, I love shopping. Since I'm nearing the end of my pregnancy and am HUGE, my clothes are starting to not fit, especially my pants. My mom and I were able to pick out a few tunics to wear with leggings (so comfortable) and a new pair of shorts. It seems silly to buy new clothes when I've only got a month left but at least I got them at the outlet.

This week I start going to the Dr. for weekly appointments. I can't believe it! It's really getting close. Can't wait to meet you Logan!

2nd Time Around - 32 Weeks

Cutie photo bomb!

32 weeks you guys! That means its officially only single digits (8 weeks) till my due date. Can you believe it? People keep saying that this pregnancy has "flown by" and I want to smack them! ha ha! No really, I'm sure its flown by for you on the outside looking in but I've been pregnant every.single.day. It hasn't been horrible but I'm just definitely ready to not be pregnant anymore. Notice I didn't say ready for the baby to come because I'm not sure I'm completely ready for that yet but being pregnant is just draining (especially with a toddler).

Holy baby bump!

These past few weeks I have just felt really tired all the time and am getting to the "I feel huge" stage. I can't bend down to pick things up like I used to, its a strain. I can't move around as quickly or get up off the floor quickly. UGH. See what I mean about ready to not be pregnant!? Even though I'm sick of not being able to do what I used to do I'm kind of freaking out about adding this baby to our family. I'm worried about all kinds of things. I'm worried how Steven will react. I think initially he will love the baby because that's how he has reacted to our friend's baby and his new cousin. But how will it affect him long term? Will he eventually get sick of having the baby around? Will he be aggressive towards him (we are still dealing with some hitting/biting/throwing things issues)? Will he think we love him less? Along with that, how will I react? I LOVE Steven so much its hard to imagine my heart being any fuller with love than it already is. Everyone says its possible but its just definitely hard to imagine.

Another thing I'm freaking out about is taking care of the new baby. Last time I felt (at least I think I felt) really prepared to handle a newborn. I had read a lot of books and talked to a lot of people. This time I haven't really read anything (because, hey I've done this before) but now I'm starting to feel really nervous about remembering everything about a newborn. And also the idea of what I did before might not work this time as well as handling a newborn AND a toddler. I feel very unprepared and clueless!

Well that was a big brain dump, wasn't it? Sorry. On the bright side I went to the Dr last week and everything is looking great with the baby. He's healthy and measuring right where he should be. We have a follow up anatomy ultrasound on Friday to double check some things but the OB said everything looks great.
So that's a blessing. Baby still is kicking like crazy and all the fun 3rd trimester symptoms are kicking in, heartburn, hard to get comfortable in bed, peeing every 5 seconds, etc. Good times!

I think we finally decided on a baby name for real. We are naming him Logan Garrett. We both like Logan, Steve has liked it for a long time and it grew on me. Garrett is after my dad, who's name is Gary. I think it would be neat if Logan was born on my dad's birthday, Oct. 4th. We shall see! That's all for now. I'll keep you guys updated (or try really hard to do so).

2nd Time Around - 22 Weeks

It's been a while since I did one of these updates. Life has been crazy! So I hit the halfway mark last week, that's something! Baby bump is in effect!

Nothing really too exciting going on with the pregnancy. We had the anatomy scan a few weeks ago and everything is looking good with the baby. He is definitely a boy! The tech said he was very, um generous about showing her those parts. ha ha! They were slightly concerned about the position of my cervix and placenta but said nothing to worry about yet, just to watch. I go back for a follow up ultrasound at 32 weeks so hopefully that problem is corrected by then.

I got to debut my maternity swimsuit on our trip. I really loved it. It fit great and still had plenty of room to grow for this summer. It was super comfy too.

I'm feeling really good. I'm getting bigger, so that's never fun. Definitely in maternity pants all the time now. Some regular shirts I can get away with still but for the most part I'm wearing maternity. I'm not uncomfortably big yet though so that's good. (have that to look forward to still.)

I have been more tired lately. Steven was really clingy on the trip and he was a bit sick after, which made him even more clingy. I got really worn out trying to carry him around. He's 30lbs now! That surprised me getting tired carrying him around. I'm used to being able to do it no problem!

 

I did have some lower stomach pain during the trip and after. My OB said it's probably round ligament pain which is just from my body stretching out to accommodate the growing baby. He said its nothing to worry about unless it comes with back pain (no) and spotting (no). So we are good! Still having itchiness, though ugh! That's annoying but luckily the rash from hell hasn't returned (cross your fingers).

Baby has been kicking like crazy! He started really kicking on our trip and has been kicking consistently since we got back. Steve has even gotten to feel it a few times, which is awesome. He's a strong kicker and I feel like this is going to hurt later, when he's bigger.

So overall I'm already over halfway there and still doing well!



2nd Time Around - 16 Weeks

Four months of pregnancy down already! This was a good week. My rash is gone, I'm still on steroids and other various drugs but at least I don't have that horrible rash anymore. I hope I won't have to be on these drugs the rest of my pregnancy. So cross your fingers for that!

This week my good friend Julie had her baby! She had a boy, Nicholas Anthony last Monday night. He is SOOOO precious! Steven and I went to see him in the hospital last Tuesday. That was so great! It was so sweet to get to love on a brand new baby like that. Just look!

What a precious baby! Steven was really excited to get to see the new baby. He wanted to hold him and kiss him the entire time we were there. It was really sweet. Look at how good Julie looks too! So happy for them!

So that was a great start to our week. Then on Friday, Steve and I had an appointment with the OB. We got to find out the sex of the baby! If anyone knows us at all you've heard by now its a BOY for baby #2! We are really excited, Steve more than me initially but I'm coming around. It really will be awesome for Steven to have a brother so close in age. I'm looking forward to that for sure. And the baby is looking very healthy so that's great too!

After the appointment, I went up to Springfield (ish) with my mom to have lunch and shop with my Aunt and cousin. My cousin, Kris, is actually pregnant too and she is due only a week before me! Isn't that crazy? I was WAAAAY more excited about this than she is but oh well. Maybe I'm excited enough for the both of us! I should have taken a picture but she's really not looking pregnant yet. (Bia :)

We had a really fun Saturday too. We had family over to reveal the gender. I'll put up a separate post about that. So overall it was a really good week!

2nd Time Around - 15 Weeks

Well updates are going to be sporadic looks like. I have some stuff to say at 15 week so here we go. I almost can't believe that I'm 4 months pregnant already. It's crazy how fast its going this time.

I finally got some relief from that horrible rash I've had. Thank GOD. It went away with the steroids and now I just have normal dry skin going on. I had that last pregnancy too so I just make sure to put extra lotion on, it can get itchy but its not horrible. Poor Steve has to do my back in the mornings. I tell him, "It's just another day at the beach!". ha ha!

In other good news I got a chance to play volleyball this week for my old team I played with last summer. It was actually on their indoor league and it was a double header! I had a lot of fun! I was nervous I wouldn't be able to keep up or would get too tired but I had no problems. I just sat down between games and drank water and I was totally fine. I had so much fun doing it too. It felt good to play again! They asked if I'd play a sand league starting in a few weeks and I think I'm going to try to play. It will be on Thursday nights, which means I can sleep in sometimes the day after so that will help. It would put me up to about 7 months pregnant when the league is over so we will see how that goes. Hopefully it will be fine!

In other good news I found a maternity swimsuit that I really like. I got one at Target, actually my awesome dad got it for me. He's so sweet. I got this one:

It's really cute on and its very comfy with room to grow. Its got that maternity panel underneath so that will stretch. The swimsuit overlay is loose too which is good. I tried on some tankinis but I was just worried that my belly would start to stick out the bottom as it gets bigger and I wasn't down with that. I signed Steven up for swim lessons later this summer and the parents have to swim too so I'll need it for that. I'm glad to have found something that wasn't skin tight and will hopefully work all summer. (yay Target!)

Speaking of summer, man that is a sucky time to be pregnant. I thought about it when we were trying to get pregnant but I just thought it would be sucky because of the heat and I'd get through it (like my mom did, love you) and be ok. But really summer is like such a fun time and I'm realizing all the fun stuff I will miss out on being pregnant. Like baseball games (ok I could go but drinking is half the fun), happy hours on patios with friends (again drinking makes it much more fun), BBQs with friends (again more drinking). Wait I'm sensing a theme here...I miss drinking, specifically summer drinking! Wah. ha ha! I know I'm whining but I really don't remember missing drinking that much last time. Last weekend we had some gorgeous weather and we were outside on our porch and I really could have used a cold beer. Sigh. Oh well. The only consolation is that my wonderful hubby is not drinking either. Strength in numbers!

I got out my old maternity clothes this week to go through them. Well bad news...they are HUGE, like way too big for me since I've lost weight. I guess that's also good news but now I have to buy new clothes (yay for shopping, boo for spending money). I kept most of them because I don't know how big I will get this time (hopefully not THAT big) but I thought it was smart to keep them. In other good news, I got out my regular summer clothes from last year and those actually fit due to the weight I lost. So yay?! ha ha! I'm going shopping with my mom, aunt and cousin in a few weeks so that should be really fun and hopefully I can pick up some things.

In related news I haven't gained any weight yet...I think that's a good thing. Everything online says I should have gained 5lbs by now but I think my OB only wants me to gain 15-20 lbs total this time so the longer I can put off gaining the better probably!

We got back for another ultrasound next Friday and we may be able to find out the sex at that appointment. I.cannot.wait!! Stay tuned!!

2nd Time Around - 14 Weeks

I think posting every week was a bit ambitious so I'm going to try for every 2 weeks. The past two weeks have been overall really good. I was feeling a lot better energy-wise and didn't have much nausea at all. I had some energy back to exercise and actually cook dinners and make better food choices. So that's been nice. I think the belly is definitely growing....

Steven has been amazing too. He has been doing the cutest things lately and I've just been really enjoying my time with him. We went through a rough patch a few weeks ago so it's been really nice to have my sweet, cuddly, silly buddy back.

The only bummer was last week I started to develop a rash. It was really weird because I don't get rashes really and I moisturize and use moisturizing body washes, etc. Steven had a rash for a while that they gave him some cream for and basically said it was really dry skin. I wondered if that was what I had too so I just kept putting more moisturizer on it and didn't think anything of it. After about a week it started spreading and getting like unbearably itchy. I didn't know what to do so I went to the DR. She saw me before it really was bad so she said it was probably an allergic reaction to something. Well the next day it broke out like crazy all over my body and was horribly uncomfortable and itchy. I couldn't even wear jeans because they hurt so much. So I called my OB (who is wonderful) and he called me in a round of steroids to knock it out. They helped but not right away. It was pretty bad. I finally went to a dermatologist a week later who said I have Pupps. Its a disgusting rash you can get when you're pregnant. (Don't google that, its so gross). I was really surprised she said that because my OB said it definitely wasn't Pupps. Everything I read online said women who get Pupps get it late in their pregnancy and it doesn't show up on their arms or legs (mine was def on my arms and legs). So weird...but either way its going away finally so THAT is great!

As far as the baby goes, things are going great! We had our 12 week appt. and everything looks perfect. We should be able to find out the sex at the next appointment so that's VERY exciting! I cannot wait to find out. I think I'm feeling baby flutters. It seems so early but I'm definitely feeling something. That's very exciting. I can't wait till Steve and Steven can feel them too!

Steven is being super cute about the baby. We put a picture of the ultrasound on the fridge and he knows that's the baby. He will give the picture kisses if I ask him to. One night we were reading books laying in bed and he lifted up my shirt and yelled at my belly, "I love you baby!!". I about melted!

So except for crazy rashes things are going great the past 2 weeks. Can't wait to find out the sex. Steve wants to find a creative way to tell our family so we are thinking about that. Stay tuned! We are also getting really excited for our first family vacation in a month. We are going with my parents to Gulf Shores, Alabama. BEACH!! I'm so excited! I can't wait. Next priority is to find a maternity swimsuit (that isn't hideous). Wish me luck!

2nd Time Around - 12 Weeks

Twelve weeks down and feeling pretty good! My nausea has gone way down this week which is so nice. I still get some in the morning before I eat and sometimes my stomach hurts when I haven't eaten in a while but other than that I've been feeling pretty good. I'm still really tired in the evenings but that's to be expected. I've been trying to keep up with workouts a few evenings a week as well which really wears me out. But I really want to try to keep up with that so hopefully the 2nd trimester energy boost kicks in soon!

I think I'm officially showing. I can definitely tell a difference in my tummy. They say that you show earlier with the 2nd one but I think this is about on target for how I was last time. My size 10s are still fitting fine so that's good. They are not as loose as they were 2 weeks ago though so I think I can officially call it that I'm showing now.

I told my boss this week and that went over really well. She was very excited for me! She's really sweet. I told a few coworkers as well and they were all super excited. So yay! I think we are officially "out" with the news. It feels pretty good to be able to be honest with people if they ask or notice. Everyone's been really happy for us so that's great too.

We started cleaning out the spare bedroom this weekend to convert it to Steven's big boy room. That wasn't too bad to do since I had recently cleaned it out. That led to cleaning out the basement office so some of the spare bedroom stuff could go down there. Now that is a project (mostly for my hoarder, I mean husband ;). I am trying to sell my old furniture that's in the spare bedroom but no one is wanting to buy it so far. Now I'm thinking it won't be the worst thing in the world to keep it in there because if Steven messes it up I won't be mad about it. The walls are also a lovely lavender color so that has to go!

We let Steven play around in the spare bedroom and asked him if he would want to have his bedroom in there. He was pretty excited to have a big bed to jump around on. Hopefully that transition will go well once we decide he's ready. In other transition news we had some #2s in the potty this weekend so I'm hoping there's potty training progress in our near future! (Cross your fingers!) I told him there's no diapers in the big boy room. He paused like he was thinking about it...Smart kid.

So 12 weeks down! Showing a bit more and we've told pretty much everyone. Planning to make some progress on Steven's big boy room. Getting excited!

2nd Time Around - 11 Weeks

*Catch up post from 2 weeks ago*

Already 11 weeks in! It seems like its going fast and slow all at the same time. We told our family and some friends last weekend and that was great. But its still counting the days till we can tell everyone. I hate secrets, probably because I suck at keeping them. I'm also counting down the days till we are out of the woods so to speak and I'm at 12 weeks. That will be a nice little relief. :)

*Excuse the no makeup in these pics. It was a work from home day ;)

This week I actually feel much better than I have been. The past 2 weeks or so I've just been SO tired and rundown. I'm exhausted just taking a shower in the morning. And I was really nauseous. Like all day long. Yuck! With Steven it was like a sour tummy feeling all day but this time its like that barfy feeling in the back of your throat (you know the one). Yuck. Ok that's more than you wanted to know.

But luckily this week that feeling and my over tiredness have subsided a bit. I still feel pretty tired at the end of the day but not extremely exhausted like I was. I even had energy to deep clean my house this weekend so that's a good thing! Of course I took a 3 hour nap on Sunday but whatever.

Another thing that's been really strong this time around is cravings! I had some cravings with Steven but this time it seems like more. At first I really wanted orange juice. I went through 2 containers of OJ in like a week. Then I was craving cherry sprite. How random is that? I never drink that but it just tasted so good. I was also craving brownies so I made them when we had family over this weekend. Delicious.

So all that eating hasn't been good. I really want to try not to gain too much this time around. With Steven I gained way too much weight and I was just so miserable and huge by the end of it. It was also really hard to lose afterwards. I've built up my endurance and strength in the past few months and I really want to have a healthy pregnancy this time. Luckily so far it seems that I'm not gaining weight yet. I've continued to workout at the gym, although not as intensely as I was. So that is a good thing. My clothes are still fitting and actually a bit big still so that's a good thing!

So that's 11 weeks for you! Can't wait to tell everyone and feel a bit better.

Exciting News!!

Secrets are hard to keep! Especially if its a happy secret! If you haven't heard already...Steve and I are expecting baby #2 this September! We are so excited!! I wanted to keep it quiet for a little while longer but it seems that silly cat just won't stay in the bag and a few more people than I thought knew (I'm guilty of spilling it a few people too...oops). I haven't told my work yet and I plan do to that soon.

Its crazy the amount of people having babies this year. I already know 4 people just in my family having babies within 3 months of me! Isn't that nuts? Must be something in the water!

Steven is really excited to become a big brother. He loves babies. If we see babies when we are out, he loves to play with them and talk to them. I think its probably my fault as I'm guilty of freaking out everytime I see a baby. But its pretty super cute when he does it. When we found out for sure we asked Steven if he wanted a little brother or sister and he said "Yeah". When we asked him if he would share his toys with the baby his eyes got really wide and it took him a minute but he said "Yeah." ha ha! We'll see on that one!

So we had our first ultrasound on February 18th where we actually saw the heartbeat so that was a great relief! I was worried we might be too early to see it but we weren't. I was about 8 weeks then and the doctor calculated the due date of September 30th. Which puts me super preggers in the summer...yay!

So how am I feeling? Pretty ok. I wasn't feeling pregnant at all for the first month to 6 weeks which was sort of weird for me because I was so sick with Steven. Big Steve even started doubting if I was pregnant, and wanted me to take another test. No thank you! I'm too cheap for that! ha ha!

Right around 7 weeks I started feeling yucky though. Just super duper tired and worn out and nausceous all day. So that's been fun. A few weeks after that we had a stomach bug in our house which did NOT help at all.

But since about 10 weeks I've been feeling better. I've got some energy back which is nice. I'm looking forward to the last few weeks of the first trimester so I can really start feeling better.

Well that's my news! We are excited and I'll be sure to keep you posted!

38 Weeks...Still Prego

38 weeks of pregnancy done...and I'm still prego. I kind of can't believe that I'm still pregnant. I think its partially because everyone told me I was going to go early and we had that pre-term labor scare. So I guess I expected in my mind that I would go early. So now that I'm not showing any signs of having this baby soon, I'm getting very irritated with still being pregnant! Plus, I am super duper uncomfortable at this point. The baby is pushing on my ribs all the time now and even leaning over is painful. Not only is he doing that, but he's pushing on my bladder too! I can't sleep or sit comfortably. Ugh. I'm ready to have this baby. Don't get me wrong, I'm really glad the baby is healthy and doing great in there. And I can't wait to meet him for sure, but I'm just ready to be done!

This week I've just been trying to hang in there. I'm still working my normal schedule. That is getting really hard. I'm so tired all the time and just walking around enough to do my job is pretty painful. I had to stand up for an hour or so the other day at work and it sucked. I'm still super tired and taking cat naps most evenings. I went to the doctor and he said no movement towards labor. He said we can induce at any time after 39 weeks but it really is better for me and the baby to wait. So we will wait...

This week the baby is continuing to plump up. He has developed his ability to grasp and will be able to grasp a finger placed in his palm right after birth. His organs are fully matured and ready for life outside the womb. (So Come Out Baby!!) Here is what our baby is looking like now:


He's still pretty darn cute. Hopefully we will get to meet the little guy very soon! This weekend was Easter. So that was nice for Steve and me to get to spend some time with our families. I really didn't think I would make it to Easter being still pregnant but here we are! Oh well.


Exciting Moment of the Week: Nothing too exciting that is baby related going on this week. We are ready to go, everything is packed for the hospital, the nursery is totally ready, I'm ready! So not much to do there. It was nice to spend Easter with our families this week so that was exciting!

What I am Missing this Week: Mostly I am missing just being able to get comfortable. I don't need to complain any more about that!


Symptoms this Week: Besides all the lovely complaining I did above...ha! The biggest symptom this week, and this has been going on a while, is major pregnancy brain. I am forgetting everything! I am also making silly mistakes that I know I wouldn't make if the baby wasn't sucking all my brain cells out!


Obsessions this Week: I've started to read up on baby care this week. Might as make good use of this extra time being pregnant! There's a lot to know regarding newborn and baby care. It makes me nervous, but hopefully Steve and I will be able to figure it out!


Message to Our Baby: Baby Steven, mommy is so ready to meet you! We are glad you are enjoying yourself in my belly but I bet you will really like the nursery and all the other cute thing we have for you out here. :) Lots of people want to meet you and love you too, so whenever you are ready to come out you just let us know!

Can't Believe I Almost Forgot

Can't believe I almost forgot to rep this super sweet diaper bag my in laws got us! It is awesome! They are so sweet for buying it for us!
Doesn't it sort of look like a purse? I love that about it. I was worried Steve wouldn't want to carry it but he said he was fine with it and even chose the color! Doesn't it look so spacious? I can't wait to fill it with baby things!! Thanks so much Gabby and Steve!

37 Weeks...Full Term

Well we made it through 37 weeks of pregnancy. That is really a long time to be pregnant, people! But I'm super glad to have made it this far. This week marks what is considered "full term" for our baby boy. That means he can be born anytime now and his organs including his lungs will be pretty much fully developed. Yay! I'm really glad to have been able to make it this far in the pregnancy.

This week was pretty tough in general. Its really hard to be comfortable at all now a days including sitting, standing, sleeping, etc, etc. Just walking around is tough to do too. Of course I have to pee all the time now, even more than I did before. This baby boy must be right on my bladder for sure! A new symptom developed this week, heartburn. Yay...not! I haven't really had it up to this point but its in full effect now. So that is gross. Another new thing this week is pain in my ribs. I guess the baby is up in there now too? Its pretty painful especially if I don't sit up straight for a long time. Can you see why I'm ready to be done with this pregnancy?!

This week I had Friday off and decided to have a spa day since I'm still prego and who knows when I'll be un-prego or able to have a spa day for that matter. I went with my mom to get a manicure and pedicure. That was very nice. We had lunch and had a great time! Then I went to get my hair done one last time before the baby. It was a good day! Also, my very sweet husband took me out to dinner that night. :) I'm feeling very lucky to have such a great hubby these days!

Friday I also went to the doctor but he had no news. :( He said the baby is doing great. His heart beat is great and he's even practicing breathing in there still. He is right on track at about 6 and 1/2 lbs. I'm doing great too, my blood pressure is good. I'm measuring right on track as far as growth. But the bad news is the baby's not making any moves towards coming out anytime soon. So I guess I'll keep waiting!

This week the baby is looking something like this:

Exciting Moment of the Week: Well I thought the doctor's appointment this week would be more exciting, but nope. I was really hoping for some progression. Oh well, glad the baby is healthy and so am I. I guess we are just going to be hanging out together for a little longer.

What I am Missing this Week: My energy level is still pretty low so I'm missing being able to do the things I used to be able to do with no problem. This weekend I cleaned the house and that took all day and pretty much all my energy for the rest of the day and night! Its tough I tell you!

Symptoms this Week: I mentioned earlier a few new symptoms that have started recently. One of the most disgusting being heartburn. That is so gross. I'm so glad I didn't get it earlier in pregnancy. I've also been feeling lots of aches and pains from carrying this baby all the time. Then of course there's the typical itchiness, needing to pee every 5 seconds and tiredness, but that's just being pregnant!

Obsessions this Week: This week I've been trying to get everything finished in the nursery as far as the sheets all washed and the clothes all sorted and put away, etc. Little things like that. Steve and I picked out a diaper pail on our date night....ha! How lame is that?! But I was actually pretty excited to find one that I think will work for us. So now the nursery is about 99.9% finished!

Message to Our Baby: Baby Steven we are so excited to meet you! Mommy has been so happy to have you in her belly for the past 9 months but she's ready to meet you, little guy! Your dad and I can't wait to see you soon!

The Cloth Diapering Post

Cloth diapering is a decision Steve and I made a long time ago. I know that seems like kind of a weird decision to some people. We don't really consider ourselves particularly "hippy" like many people think you have to be to cloth diaper. I mean we recycle but we don't buy all organic food or compost or anything that takes effort like that! ha ha! But, for us, cloth diapering makes a lot of sense. I thought I would give some insight into that decision and the plan we have. Later I hope to give updates after the baby comes and we start to use the diapers. I hope it will be a success story! :)

First here are some pictures of adorable babies in cloth diapers just to start the post. So cute!

So where did this idea to cloth diaper come from? Well cloth diapers have been around forever. I think I was actually raised in cloth...things have changed but the basic idea is the same. I found out too that a lot of my friends who are having babies are using cloth diapers now. Which is really neat! Also, when I was a nanny several of the families I worked for used cloth including the one I worked for over a year. So I'm somewhat familiar and experienced with using cloth although I would not consider myself an expert at all and I am still very nervous about it! So based on this experience, Steve and I decided to use cloth with our new baby. We made this decision for a lot of reasons. First, the cost. Cloth diapers are a higher initial investment but pay off in the long run way more than disposables. And we are cheap people! ha ha. After all, money doesn't grow on trees!! :) Here's a good website that breaks down the costs. http://www.diaperdecisions.com/pages/cost_of_cloth_diapers.php According to that website, the diapers we are using are the All in One (AIO) diapers. We actually will only have to buy one size since they are made to grow with the baby. So the initial cost for the diapers is about $538. (Actually it was $0 for us thanks to our super generous family and friends.) The cost of washing the diapers at home is estimated to be $36-$122 per year depending on your washer. So the total cost of cloth diapers on the high end is about $660 for the first year and $122 for every year afterwards. On that same website they list the cost of using disposable diapers for just one year is approximately $2577.35! And that's just for the first year!! You'd have to rebuy them for every additional kid, whereas you can use your same cloth diapers for all children you have in the future. So really, once the initial investment is made in the cloth diapers all you really have to pay for is laundering them which really isn't much more than adding 2 to 3 loads of laundry a week to your normal schedule. So, for us, the money savings was a big factor!! The second reason we wanted to do cloth was the benefits to the environment. Now we aren't necessarily tree huggers but...We just both feel like if we can decrease the amount of diapers that sit in landfills, that's a good thing. Here is some info about the effects on the environment:

Based on a report from the Women's Environmental Network, The Real Diaper Association reports:

• Disposable diapers are the third most common consumer product in landfills today.


• A disposable diaper may take up to 500 years to decompose.


• One baby in disposable diapers will contribute at least 1 ton of waste to your local landfill.

Those statistics are pretty scary! Not that using disposables is a bad thing, but Steve and I just feel if we can reduce the waste in the landfills and save money that's a double win for us! Here are some more articles about the effects on the environment. here here Another reason was just the amount of chemicals and not natural things in diapers these days just was not sitting well with us. Thinking about all those things on my newborn baby's bum was not a happy thought. Here's some info on that: A baby can be sensitive to the ingredients used in diapers. From Kimberly Clark's 2005 Annual Report: "Superabsorbent materials are important components in disposable diapers, training and youth pants and incontinence care products. Polypropylene and other synthetics and chemicals are the primary raw materials for manufacturing nonwoven fabrics, which are used in disposable diapers, training and youth pants, wet wipes, feminine pads, incontinence and health care products, and away-from-home wipers."

Those chemicals on my new baby's sensitive skin just don't sit well with me either. Not that we won't ever use disposables. We will probably have to use them for our newborn for a few weeks depending on how big he is at birth. But if we can decrease the amount of time he spends in them, that is great!

Another reason are the benefits to the baby. Cloth diapered babies have less diaper rash than babies in only disposables. Also in cloth babies will feel wet whenever they use the bathroom as opposed to disposables that use chemicals to take away the moisture. That way the baby will be more likely to want to potty train sooner due to not wanting to be sitting in we diapers all the time. We have seen this is the case for our friends using cloth diapers and I hope it will work for us as well!

So those are some of the main reasons Steve and I have decided to take the plunge into cloth diapering. Even though I have experience using cloth, I am still nervous about how it will work for us. We have made a plan to hopefully help us adjust to using cloth but this post is already too long so I will have to write another one about our cloth diapering plan.

Here are some of the adorable cloth diapers we have received at our showers: So cute! Can't wait to get our new baby's bum in those!! :)

36 Weeks...Homestretch!

So who's ready to have this baby? (Raises hand). ha ha! After making through 36 weeks I feel pretty great about this pregnancy. From everything we heard in classes and read a full term pregnancy is considered 37 weeks and the baby is pretty much fully developed at that point. So that number kind of became my goal. Since this is the end of my 36th week I feel pretty darn accomplished for making it there. Steve and I really feel blessed to have made it this far with not really any major problems in this pregnancy. But honestly I am feeling like I am ready to be done! I think its also that I cannot wait to meet our son...Could have something to do with that! I also went to the doctor this week for my first internal exam. Yuck! Everything looks great with the baby though. He is measuring right on track. His heartbeat is great and he's in the right position to be born! Yay, Baby Steven! Also, I'm doing well according to the doctor with great blood pressure and all that stuff. Unfortunately nothing going on to indicate labor is coming anytime soon. My Dr. said I will probably go to my due date. Kind of disappointing but I guess that's fine as long as the baby is happy and healthy I can wait 3 more weeks to meet him. :)

This week my wonderful co-workers threw me a surprise baby shower! It was so incredibly thoughtful and sweet of them. They are the best! Tons of people came from our work. There was so much food and so many gifts I was just overwhelmed with the support I received from the folks I work with. It makes me so happy to see so many people are excited for this baby! :) This week the baby is gaining about an ounce a day! He is getting big, that little bean! He is also getting rid of the little hairs that have been covering his body and his waxy vernix covering this week. They say the baby is swallowing both of these things...and they will form the meconium he will "remove" after birth...ew. Here's how the little guy is looking this week: Exciting Moment of the Week: The surprise shower at work was so exciting! They were very sneaky and I didn't know it was coming at all. It was so much fun and I'm so glad that everyone was able to make it. Another exciting thing this week was going to the doctor. I was nervous and hopeful that something was happening, but nope. Although it is really good news the baby is healthy and head down. So I guess we will have to wait a little longer to meet you, little man.

What I am Missing This Week: I am missing having energy. I was tired during the first trimester but lately I have been just exhausted after work everyday. I can make it through the workday usually no problem, but this week around 2pm everyday I've been just crashing and exhausted by the time I get home. Its so bad that I usually take a nap now from 4 to 6pm and then go to bed again around 9pm! This baby is wearing me out!

Symptoms this Week: Besides the general low energy level this week, I feel like I'm moving slower than ever. Sometimes it feels like I'm moving through jello! ha! Just walking around is exhausting. Also, my huge baby belly is getting so heavy. It feels really heavy when I stand up or walk around now.

Obsessions this Week: This week I've been trying to get our hospital bag completely packed. That has been a bigger project than I thought. I searched around for different lists of what to pack and ended up making my own list of what I thought I would actually need/use. Getting that bag packed has really been kind of emotional because I know it is something we will be using when we got to the hospital! Exciting!

Message to the Baby: Baby Steven we CANNOT WAIT to meet you! Daddy wants you to stay in for a little longer so he can finish the semester, but Mommy is so ready for you to come out. We love you so much already and are praying for a safe delivery into this world!

Nursery Reveal & A Treat for Blog Readers

The nursery is finished! Finally!!!! I can't believe how awesome it turned out. We have been working on it forever. For a long time it seemed like it was never going to get finished but it really came together. I think the best part is that lots of people in the family worked on it and that makes it really special. My mom made the curtains, Steve's mom made the banner and octopus decorations, Steve painted the walls and I did some of the art and the clock! How cool is that? I think its really exciting for everyone to have worked on the nursery together! The baby is going to feel so loved. Honestly, this is the nicest room in the house now. ha! But enough talking, lets get to the pictures!!

This is the changing table/dresser area. I painted some fish and other sea creature pictures for above it. Even though I am not artist, I think they turned out pretty nice.

Here's an up close picture of the cloth diapers on the dresser. Aren't they just so cute?

On the other side of the room is the bookshelf and those awesome curtains my mom made for the room. Don't they look great in there?

Here's a better picture of those curtains. Aren't they great?

Hanging over the bookshelf is this adorable stuffed animal octopus that Steve's mom made. Its so awesome. Can you believe she made that? We also hung a few pictures on the wall of us from our cruise. One is us snorkeling and a few with the dolphins.

This is the baby's closet. We left it the color we originally painted the room because we liked the contrast with the blue. We just didn't like all the walls being this green color...The clock and fish on the wall I painted. Pretty cool, eh?

Here is the crib with the super cool banner, Steve's mom embroidered for us. It is so awesome. I need to take a closer up picture so you can see the awesome details in it. Here is a treat for blog readers only: If you look close you can see the baby's name! Shhh! Its a secret!! :)

So overall I would say the nursery pretty much rocks. Its amazing how it came together. It was a mess at first and then piece by piece everything came together and I am super happy with how it turned out. I hope Baby Steven loves it!!! :) :)

35 Weeks...Nesting Mania

Only 5 more weeks till the baby comes...actually 4 because I already done with 35 weeks. Can you believe that? Some people keep telling me I'm going to go early, some people are saying I'm going to be on time or late. But really, who knows?! I kind of feel like a ticking time bomb...could go off at any minute!! Eeek! This week I have been nesting like crazy. I don't know what happened to me but I've been organizing, cleaning, reorganizing pretty much everything in our house! I've been attaching the closets, giving away old clothes and other things we don't use. I've even organized our storage space! I think I am starting to drive Steve crazy!!

This weekend we got to spend time with family and friends and that was nice. We got to attend our good friends Julie and Matt's son, Jacob's 2nd birthday party. That was so much fun! It was nice to see all of their family and also that super cute kiddo. I cannot believe he is 2 already! It seems like just the other day, Julie was prego. Now we are prego and Jakey is 2! Crazy.

This week the baby is filling up the space in the womb. He won't be able to flip around much after this week. We are hoping he has rested in the correct position to be born and stays there! His kidneys are fully developed and his liver is now able to process waste. Here's how he's looking now:

Exciting Moment of the Week: Its been really nice getting so many things done this week. I've been cleaning/organizing/nesting like crazy and even though it drives Steve crazy it really helps with my anxiety. I am so nervous that things won't be ready when the baby comes and getting things done has really been helping with that. On that note, Steve and I have gotten most things from our registry that we still needed with the gift cards we got. We also were able to return some things to Cotton Babies and get some other things we needed. So that was very exciting!

What I am Missing this Week: My center of gravity? Ha! I've been a lot more lopsided now with this growing belly really throwing me off. It is a big adjustment to make now in the later part of the 3rd trimester. I really can't do anything without being conscious of the belly.

Symptoms this Week: Same types of things going on this week. I'm still getting tired very easily after walking around for a short period of time. I'm a lot slower than I used to be too! Besides that the itchy skin has come back with a vengence. It cooled down for a while, but now its back and worse than ever! I don't know if this counts as a symptom but my worrying and anxiety about having the baby/raising the baby/everything in general has seemed to spike this week too.

Obsessions this Week: Like I mentioned before, I've become obsessed with cleaning and organizing everything this week. Not such an awful obsession...

Message to Our Baby: Baby, we are so excited to meet you. It seems like you could be here at any minute! Even though you are making mommy worry a lot we are both so excited to have you in our lives and cannot wait till you are born!

34 Weeks

Seems crazy to be done with our 34th week of pregnancy. People are now telling me I look like I could pop! Ha ha! That is funny. They also started telling me all their labor/delivery stories and that has been interesting. Everyone seems to want to tell me their story. Most of them involve babies coming early and that is scary!! So in that spirit, I've been trying to get everything ready in case this baby does come early! I've been organizing all the clothes and things we got for the baby. I've been trying to get the bag packed for the hospital (just in case). I've even been working on transitioning my projects at work in case I go early! Its craziness!!

Steve and I have also been taking care of any last minute stuff we need to do for the baby. This week we interviewed a pediatrician, Dr. McKinney. Steve was supposed to go with me but of course he had to work, so I went alone. Steve had actually recommended Dr. McKinney from when he worked on the answer line at Children's Hospital. Steve said this doctor was always very nice and hands-on with his patients. He also said the nurses spoke highly of him so we thought we would start there. Well we ended there too because he is great! I really liked him! He was very soft spoken, gentle and really caring. He has been in practice for 25 years!! He was very sweet and answered all of my questions. The things I liked the most about him was that he was talking about how he wants to have a partnership with us and that he wants us to feel comfortable as parents and ask any and all questions we have. He said he wants us all to learn together including himself. I thought that was really nice. The office also has Saturday hours and same day sick visits. They even stay late if they have more sick kids to see that day! I thought that was amazing. So anyways, we found our pediatrician! Yay! Dr. McKinney is associated with St. Luke's, where we are delivering, so that is very convenient. It feels really good to get that checked off our "to do" list!

Another fun thing I did this week was attend a La Leche League meeting with my friend, Tiffany. That was very interesting. I wasn't sure what to expect but it was just a bunch of mom's discussing their questions, concerns and sharing advice. It was really great. I felt like I learned a lot but also gained a lot of confidence just listening to their struggles and how they overcame them and now their babies are nursing great! It was also really nice to see how supportive they are of each other, and the moms offered me tons and tons of advice and support. I was really glad I went!

This week the baby is still getting bigger and bigger. They say he is gaining about a half pound a week at this point. Maybe that's why people keep telling me I look bigger!! The baby is gaining weight in the form of protective fat layers that will help him regulate his body temperture outside the womb. His lungs and central nervous system are continuing to mature as well. Our baby is looking something like this:

Exciting Moment of the Week: There were lots of exciting things this week. Getting to meet with the pediatrician was pretty exciting. It may sound lame but being able to talk to him and feel comfortable and get all my questions answered is a huge relief. Another exciting thing was dividing up my programs at work. That really makes my maternity leave seem soon!

What I am Missing this Week: My sanity seems to be missing sometimes this week. I am going between feeling completely overwhelmed at everything I still have to do before the baby comes to super excited to meet him. I have had times where I wanted to cry and times when I'm so happy. Its a crazy feeling!

Symptoms this Week: Not too many symptoms going on now. The having to pee every 5 minutes has really increased as far as severity. Its not like you can put it off and wait anymore now that I have a huge baby in my belly. Its a feeling like I have to go...right now!! ha ha!

Obsessions this Week: For a few weeks now but especially this week I have been absolutely obsessed with the baby's clothes. It has really been stressing me out trying to figure out what sizes to get, what season, what kind of layette, how many, etc, etc, etc. It seems like there is so much to figure out and its all guessing! Its driving me crazy. This week we got a ton of awesome hand me downs from Julie and Jake and I spent hours organizing and reorganizing them. It was such a blessing to get them though and we really appreciate it!

Message to our Baby: Baby, you are getting so big in there and its crazy to think you could really come anytime now. We are not ready for you just yet and you have some more growing to do so stay in there as long as you can!

Gooden Baby Shower

I had so much fun this weekend at our last baby shower thrown by my mom. She is amazing! Everything was so nice!! The food was great, the decorations were awesome and of course the cake was delicious! Steve was lucky I let him eat the leftovers ha ha! Doesn't it look delicious???

Me and my mom. She is so wonderful! I think she's pretty excited to be a Grandma again.

My Aunt Jan came to help. She's pretty great too. :)

My adorable nieces came. Can you believe how big they are getting? Its crazy!

Some of my friends came too! Julie, Tiffany, Jenny and Baby Ellie are here. Jenny also brought George. Those kids are so cute!

We played the dirty diaper sniffing game. It was gross. It was only melted chocolate but still.

Jake is helping Julie figure out what kind of candy bar that is. He looks pretty intrigued.

It was pretty yucky.

We got so many wonderful presents. We were so blessed with generous friends and family. It was amazing!

Steve's mom made some custom burb cloths for us. She also brought the mobile she has been making. It was really awesome!!

So overall it was a great, great shower!! I had so much fun and got to spend time with friends and family. Everyone was more than generous with their gifts. This baby is really going to be spoiled!! Thanks Mom for a wonderful shower!!!