Life @ 35 weeks

Hey guess what? I'm growing a human.  It's 7:30 in the morning on an average Wednesday in the life of a 35 week preggo lady. I've been up for an hour feeling baby kicks and trying to figure out what position he's in, deciding that he's just moving all over the place. I've also been catching up on Facebook and Instagram, blog posts I follow, and playing a game of Bejeweled. I then debated about what to have for breakfast for about 10 minutes. Life cereal and bananas for the win.

Sounds like the sweet life. I'm not going to lie. It's pretty great. Though I did sleep really well last night and that has a lot to do with it. Most nights I toss and turn and wake up sweating and then sometimes can't fall asleep. Most mornings (like today), I wake up when E is getting ready for work and then once he leaves, no matter how tired I am, I can't fall back asleep. So most mornings lately, start off like this...usually with some variation in breakfast. I'm enjoying the rest and relaxation while I can.

I stopped working two weeks ago due to a lot of back and pelvic pain. My shoes weren't fitting anymore, and frankly I'm pretty sure my IQ has plummeted. It's hard to stay focused on things for too long, and when I do, my sentences start to get jumbled and talking becomes a big task. Since stopping work, my back and pelvic pain has almost completely resolved, there's still pressure, but it doesn't hurt to stand up any more. My shoes still don't fit. I'm left with my trusty new Birkenstock sandals as that's all that fits my swollen, puffy, empanada feet. Some days I have ankles.

Now that I'm home things are started to get exciting. Yesterday I hit the 35 week mark with 35 days to go... now 34 days. It's so hard to believe. Sometimes it seems like it's flown by, but when I think back to first finding out, it all seems like so long ago. Now our baby's room is nearly ready (just a few hundred more loads of laundry to go....and he's not even here yet!), and walking by it makes me smile.  His book collection is growing and we're enjoying reading to him already!

My days stretch out in front of me. I don't have a lot to do, but I have a lot to do. And most of the time I only have enough energy to do a little bit of it. I'm prepping for the biggest thing that's ever happened to me, to us. It's a lot of work this baby growing business!  He's also decided on an acrobatic career in the last few days. Or Karate Stunt Double. I'm not sure which. I just hope he judo-chops his way into the right position before he decides to make his grand-entrance. I still can't tell what body parts are poking out where and when. They all just feel round like heads...or butts. But I love when he wiggles around to make his presence known. Little reminders throughout my day of just how much I love him.

35 weeks down. Just about 5 to go. So far the consensus is that he's going to come a little early. I'm not too sure about that, but who knows?  As long as he's ready, we'll be waiting!

XO

Mid-Pregnancy Must-Haves

Being past the half way point is blowing my mind. There is a little baby boy inside me. I have been tracking his growth in sizes of fruit since it was only a mere poppy seed. Now you are a cantaloupe and becoming an eggplant next week! Pretty soon you'll be getting a driver's license and finding a prom date (yikes!).

But seriously, I can't believe the time has flown by so quickly. 21 weeks down, and there are a few things that were super necessary these last 4 1/2 months that I thought I would share with you!

1. Nature Made Prenatal Vitamins with DHA - I debated putting this one up there because it make me burp up a fish taste if I don't take it with enough food. In the early weeks I was taking it with my "breakfast" (usually something small on the way to work) and all morning I would be burping a nasty fish taste. But once I decided to switch it over to taking them with dinner, all is well and I haven't had an issue. I love them because while they're pretty large, they're smooth capsules that make them easy to swallow and don't leave a taste in your mouth. I thought about the chewable gummy kind but figured I would probably end up eating them all as a sweet snack.

2. My Snoogle - We bought this when I was about 15 weeks pregnant, sleeping with about 4-5 pillows and feeling super uncomfortable. I am so thankful that I did! Now I just use this and gave the rest of the pillow to my hubby. It helps me sleep on my sides more comfortably now that baby is bigger, and sleeping with the pillow between my legs has reduced lower back pain exponentially! Definitely a must!

3. Your Pregnancy Week by Week -  My mom bought me this book shortly after we broke the news to them and I love reading it every week. Similar to "What to Expect..." it goes through body changes and changes in your baby, but it's actually written by doctors. I love that it's simple to skim through and each section in labeled simply so if it doesn't apply to you you can skim over it, or if you're looking to read about a certain thing, it's easy to find. It tells it to you straight to keep you informed without freaking you out unnecessarily. I definitely recommend this to all my first time mama friends out there.

4. Earth Mama Angel Baby Natural Stretch Oil - I love this stuff. I started the pregnancy off using Cocoa Butter lotion on my belly and hips and while it was super moisturizing it left me feeling like I was covered in chocolate and the smell was really nauseating to me (causing the closest thing I felt to morning sickness...which is fortunate). My  mom bought this oil for me at Sprouts and I've been using it daily on my belly. No stretch marks yet (knock on wood!). They say oils and lotions don't help, but hey, I'll give it a shot! This oil is hydrating and smells light and lovely. 

5. Bump Start Shirts - These shirts are so comfy and just the right fit. One of the things I really love about maternity clothes is that you're still the size you were before you were pregnant, the shirt just fits you better. I wear these shirts out and about, lounging at home, even with my scrubs at work. 

6. Eos Lip Balm - I was using this before too, but it seems like chapped and dry lips have been a big symptom of this pregnancy. Random, I know. I have one of these in my work bag, one in my purse, and one on my night stand (in pomegranate berry, summer fruit, and honeydew) and my lips would be so much worse off without them. Plus they come in fabulous flavors which is a plus. 

Not pictured must haves include lots of lemons and oranges. I love a tall glass with one whole lemon squeezed into it, water, and ice. Nothing else. Also came up with a drink of orange and lemon juice with sparkling water - perfect on the warm afternoons we have been having. Just writing this out is making my mouth water. I love that tartness. 

So those are my must-haves so far. I'm hoping to share a bit more in the third trimester too if there are a bunch of new ones! What are your pregnancy must-haves? I would love to hear about them!

XO

It's a...

BOY!

Everything has been non-stop. Work, work, work, and when we weren't at work we were making it to doctor's appointments and finding out some incredible news. We had our anatomy scan and were so delighted to see our baby moving around on the screen (I am still not feeling much movement, so seeing baby move was super reassuring!). But even more exciting than that is that we found out that our gut feelings were.... absolutely....WRONG!  We were so convinced that baby was a girl, so when the nurse said.... "you're having a boy".... our jaws dropped and we were like, "WHAT?!"  

Despite the surprise we are so extremely excited and blessed to have a healthy little guy on the way. Now we can stop referring to him as "it" or "he or she"  HE is really in there and he is super awesome. We didn't want to share the news with our family just over the phone or text, so we decided to have a gender reveal party on Saturday to make it a bit more exciting for them - after all this is their first grand child! (Side bar to my co-workers: if you're reading this, and piecing it together...yes, I really did know it was a boy on Thursday and Friday, I just knew that if you knew I was keeping it a secret I would so seriously blow it! Sorry!!)

It was so much fun to see everyone's anticipation. We had everyone tally their vote and wear a color-coordinating baby pin with their guess. I also wanted something for the baby's room as a reminder of the day and everyone who was there.  We had each person leave a fingerprint in pink or blue - whatever their guess was - and sign their name. The fingerprints turned into a bunch of balloons on some art the E and I both made together for our little guy's room. I was getting worried that he was going to have a bunch of pink balloons in his room, but it worked out OK in the end! 

We're so excited to share the news and so happy that we can really start getting ready now!

XO

Baby's First Blanket

A few weeks back I posted here about my latest sewing adventure. It's been a whirlwind of thread and needles, and learning of course, but it's finally finished in all it's glory (well, my glory, since I'm super thrilled about it!).

I can't believe it's finally finished.  The basic idea for this quilt pattern and method came from Elise Blaha Cripe's Get Quilty E-Course that I purchased last October. While I made the table runner to start, this blanket was really the reason I bought the course. And while I really couldn't say anything in my last post about sewing it, this blanket was made 100% with baby in mind.

Now, since we don't know yet if we're expecting a baby boy or a baby girl, I *tried* to be gender neutral in the color selection. Some of the patterns are a bit more floral and "girly" but hey, whatevs.  My intention with this blanket was not to make a "bed quilt" (SAFE SLEEP people - babies shouldn't sleep with blankets over them!). What I wanted this quilt to be is really, well, an "adventure quilt."  I want it to be something we can lay out on the floor to play on, something we can take to the back yard, or the park and play on. Something to build forts with and to hide under, and then cuddle up in bed with a good book and our quilt. Sure, newborn baby isn't going to care much about it, but this blanket will be with us for many years.

I followed the E-Course for the majority of the steps to make this quilt with a few exceptions. After having a lot of trouble with the binding on the table runner, I did some research and decided to invest in a "walking foot" for my Singer sewing machine. This foot allows the layers of fabric to feed through the machine together to avoid pulling of the material, and uneven fabric in the end.  I also read up more on bias tape because I didn't feel like I cut it well for the table runner.  I found this awesome tutorial on you-tube on making a continuous bias tape and made it happen. It took a few tries - the video has you cutting 2.5" bias tape, which I found to be too narrow for my imperfect stitching technique. So I tried again with 3.5" lines and loved the way it turned out (though with 3.5" you need more than 1/2 yard, probably about 3/4).

With the walking foot I still had some issues with my binding, but much of that stems from my own impatience. I'm really the only one staring at the flaws on the blanket, and I'm learning to love them.  To be really cheesy about it, I look at this blanket as a metaphor for what I imagine parenting to be like in the first few months: you try different techniques, you mess up, you fix it, you try your best, you get impatient, you want to cry, but you put your blood sweat and tears into it (literally because I cut my finger on a pin...) and in the end it may not be perfect but you made it with all your love and baby's going to love it because of that.

I can't wait for this quilt to become a part of our daily routine somewhere down the line. It's already full of memories of this pregnancy for me, and I can't wait for our little family to grow and keep making memories with it.

XO

Exciting News!

Surprise! We're expecting! And we're over the moon about it!  I've been wanting to post something about it online but we've been waiting until the right time. And since we finally went public with our friends on Facebook last week, we wanted to include you in on the secret too! E and I talked about this a lot and we decided that while we'll share bits and pieces here and there about the baby, we do want to keep some things private. What we do decide to share, we will post here for you.

But really, if you didn't know about this, you would never know that the quilt I am making is actually a crib quilt, and when I said it would be used for picnics and adventures I meant that because we'll be using it when our little one wants to play on the floor or outside. I expect we'll be getting a lot of use out of it.  We're also hoping to do some fun DIY projects as we start to get baby's room ready, and we wanted to be able to share those with you as they come up. 

Sooooo... In August our lives will be so completely different, and we're ready to take it on. I can't wait to meet our little one but for now I am happy carrying him/her around in my growing belly!  We hope you keep reading about our adventures!