Four Weeks (and One Day) In....

I haven't been blogging... it's so hard with a newborn. I have been mostly spending my time with this little one in my arms...

The Little Peanut, 13 days old

I had forgotten how time consuming it is to have a newborn in the house. So when I do get a few free minutes it's hard to think about blogging when I have laundry, dishes or gazillion other things to do.

Aside from all that, I also had a kidney stone. It started hurting on a Sunday night and I ended up having to go to the ER. I was freaking out about feeding the peanut because I didn't even have any milk set aside from her. I had to pump some at the hospital and my mom brought it home for her. After a CAT scan they told me the stone was really huge and that I would need to set up an appointment with a urologist to have it removed.  I finally got an appointment set up the following Thursday. He told me there was no way I was going to pass it on my own and he set a date (10 days later!) for me to have a procedure done where they send ultra sonic waves through it to break it up into smaller pieces. I would also have to be under anesthesia and was told I couldn't nurse for 24 hours and would have to pump and dump. With everything that was going on, and on top of my hormones going crazy, it all seemed a little overwhelming. Not gonna lie, I had several meltdowns.

Right away I started pumping milk and setting it aside. That weekend, the pain went away and I was hoping that the stone had moved into my bladder. Finally, this past Wednesday, the stone came out! I was so happy and so relieved!! I really didn't want to have to have that procedure done and I definitely didn't want to have to pump and dump for 24 hours either (although from everything I read it was actually safe to still nurse after anesthesia, so I wasn't going to wait the full 24 hrs)

Being home by myself with a very painful kidney stone and taking care of a newborn was not easy, but we figured it out. It's definitely much easier though now without it!  So here's the little effer...

Isn't that ridiculous?! I couldn't believe how big it was when it came out! It was 8mm!! Oh and apparently I also have 6 more stones in one kidney and 7 in the other. The urologist wants to wait until after a year or so (when the peanut is a little older), break them up and get them moved out. Awesome.

So now that the stone has passed I don't have to worry about all that any more and we can move on.

The munchkin loves being a big sister...

The first week or two, she was definitely a little jealous and confused. She was looking for alot of extra attention and wasn't really sure what to think of things. Now that she has gotten a little more used to her new little sister and has realized that she isn't going anywhere, she has come around and is doing really well.  She is always wanting to kiss and sing to her and "pet" her. It's really sweet.

Now that the Peanut is closer to a month old she has started getting pretty fussy in the late evenings. It really sucked for the first few nights she was like that. I didn't get to sleep until about 3:00 am or so with her crying and fussing for the few hours before that.  I did a little research online and came across this stuff called Colic Calm. It's pretty much a homeopathic gripe water with all natural ingredients and it got really good reviews. I was still hesitant to use it, but I just wanted to make her feel better. You could order from Amazon, but I wanted it faster. The closest place that I could find that carried it was about 25 minutes from our house. I sent Joe out to get it and it has been totally worth it. Within 20 minutes, she is totally calm and seems so much happier. It also helps her to sleep better. If you have a baby that gets a little fussy in the evening with some gas or tummy troubles, this stuff might be just what you need!

Colic Calm

I can't believe that she is already going to be a month old on Tuesday! Time is just flying by. Hopefully I can write a post and give a better update of how things have been going with us. Alright, I better get back to snuggling up with this little angel....

The Peanut's Birth Story

First off, please excuse any typos or grammer mistakes. I am typing this quickly. I don't have alot of time for blogging right now, but I really wanted to get this done before I forgot anything important.


I still can't believe she's finally here. She's no longer moving around in my belly, she's now officially an outside baby. I also can't believe how amazing everything went with her birth. It was such an overall wonderful experience. So much better then I could have hoped for.

Things started overnight and early Friday morning, July 6th. My contractions were strong, but nothing consistent. They were coming every hour, sometimes more, sometimes less, but they were pretty strong and definitely different then the contractions I had been having before. They came and went throughout the day on Friday. I would sometimes have to stop what I was doing and hold on to something nearby, focusing my breath and trying to relax as they came and went. They would never get any where near a consistent five minutes apart, so I just kept going about my day and getting through each one.

Throughout that night and into the next morning, the contractions started to become extremely intense and much more painful. The came almost exactly one hour apart throughout the entire night. Each one seemed to last a really long time and each one seemed to be stronger and more painful then the last. I just laid in bed, on my side, trying to stay calm and focused and breathing through each one. It was a very long night and somehow I still managed to get some sleep between each contraction.

I got up early Saturday morning and told Joe that I had a feeling we were going to have a baby that day. My mom texted me around 9:00 am asking the peanut to come out and meet us. I told her what a horrible night it had been. She said she would get the little pool in her back yard ready so I could sit in it. I told her that this was the day. It had to be.

I started getting some things packed. They started becoming about 10 minutes apart consistently. About 10:00am, I decided to lay down for a while and see if I could get any rest. The contractions kept coming, getting closer and closer together. I laid in bed wondering if we should maybe head to the hospital soon. I just didn't feel it was time quite yet.

I really really wanted to have an unmedicated, natural birth. This isn't always easy in a hospital setting and I knew the longer I could hold out at home, the better chance I would have. I knew as soon as I got to the hospital and they started trying to poke me with things and make me sit in the bed while they monitored me, that it would be so much more difficult to handle the pain and make it without any assistance. I was afraid I would cave as soon as I was stuck in that bed, the contractions getting stronger and stronger and more and more painful and the nurses saying, "Are you sure you don't want an epidural? Are you sure we can't give you anything for the pain?" I just didn't want the temptation. I also knew that dealing with the contractions in my own home would be so much more bearable. I could lay in my bed, take a shower, sit on a ball, walk around the house, or lean up against my wall, all in a familiar setting. I could have the help of my husband and the distraction of the munchkin.

I got out of bed once I realized the contractions were started to get closer and closer together. I started to time them and realized they were around 2 to 3 minutes apart. Looking back, I am surprised I didn't just drop everything and head in at that moment.  I didn't really have a master plan or think really hard about what I was doing. I just kept going with my gut and doing whatever felt right. We started bringing everything into the kitchen to get ready to load in the car. I told Joe to grab the cooler so I could pack up all my food in it for our stay. He asked if we really needed to, he could always come back for it. I told him that we were definitely going to have this baby when we got there and I was going to be starving afterwards! After an hour of the contractions being 2 to 3 minutes apart, I called my mom and told her that we were dropping off the munchkin and heading to the hospital.

The ride to the hospital was the worst. Every bump and sharp turn felt like I was being stabbed somewhere down below. The contractions were getting so strong and close together I could barely see straight. By the time Joe pulled up to the emergency door exit, I knew there was no way I could even get out of the car by myself. Joe helped me out and walked me in. He parked the car, while an employee put me in a wheelchair and brought me up to the maternity floor. We had called my OB on the way there and told her it was time.

As soon as I arrived in the maternity ward, they could see how much pain I was in. I told them my contractions were only a couple minutes apart and they started working really quickly. It was a whirlwind of nurses and technicians all bringing equipment into my room.

They asked me if I wanted an epidural and I told her no and that I didn't want any pain killers of any kind. They put me into the bed, hooked up the little monitors to track the baby's heartbeat and my contractions and then went to check my cervix.

"She's at a 9 and 100% effaced!"

"Call her doctor, this baby is coming!"

I think I timed that one pretty good if you ask me!

Suddenly my legs were up on the racks and my doctors partner, who was already at the hospital came into the room. There was no way my doctor could make it there on time.  My water had not broken and was still in place. The doctor told me to let her know when I was ready and she was going to break my water. She said that things were going to move very quickly after that. My mom still wasn't there and I didn't want her to miss it, but I was in so much pain and I needed to move forward. The doctor broke my water and right after, my mom flew into the room.

With Joe on my right leg and my mom on my left, we were ready. Atleast as ready as I would ever be. The doctor told me to let her know when I felt ready to push and to start pushing with the contractions. For each contraction I would bear down and push as hard as I could as Joe and my mom would help pull up my legs. I was pushing so hard and at one point the doctor told me to relax my face as much as I could and try to push only through my bottom.

Joe told me later that my face had been so red and all of my veins were popping out, so that was probably why she offered that suggestion.  Also afterwards, I had tiny red dots, little blood vessels, that were all over my face and shoulders. They faded after a day, but if the doctor hadn't suggested that to me and I hadn't followed her advice, I probably could have done some real damage there.

Through each contraction, I pushed as hard as I could. They kept telling what a good job I was doing and I tried believing them, even though it hurt like hell and I couldn't tell if I was really making any progress or not. At one point I remember saying that I didn't know what to do, it just hurt so bad and then I asked if anything I was doing was even helping.

I had read about the "Ring of Fire", but nothing could have ever prepared me for it. I knew as soon as I felt it that it was exactly that. It was crazy intense, a burning feeling that really felt like a ring of fire. Everyone was telling me to push as hard as I could, to push right where the pain was. The doctor said that she could see her hair and her head was coming out. Joe and my mom were taking peeks, getting excited and telling me that she was coming, to just keep pushing. I took a deep breath, let it out and pushed as hard as I could, then pushed a little harder.

Suddenly I felt the intense pressure and I knew her head was coming out. I also felt a huge sense of relief as soon as it passed through, them more pressure as her shoulders came through. I could actually feel it all, each part as it passed through. It was crazy painful, but so wonderful at the same time. I can't describe that feeling... but even as the pain was hitting me, I was somehow grateful I could feel it.

Later Joe told me that right before her head came out, as it was pushing it's way out and stretching things, that my vagina looked like homer simpson's mouth, but with the slit going in the other direction. Ewe.

Finally her shoulders passed and a huge feeling of relief passed over my body. The doctor pulled her the rest of the way out. I was able to stop pushing and let me body relax.

Holy crap, what a relief.

We arrived at the hospital right around 1:00pm and she was born at 1:52pm!

Joe cut the cord, and she was handed to me. She was covered in the thickest layer of vernix you could imagine. My cheesy little baby! I was so happy she was finally here and that I could love on her and hold her.

 

The doctor finished everything up below as they checked the baby over and made sure everything was okay.

It was weird passing the placenta and feeling everything. I had a small tear, so the doc stitched that up as well.  I told them I wanted to start nursing right away and once the doc was finished up with everything else down below, they handed her over to me. She latched on right away and nursed for 15 minutes on each side!

Her first bath took forever. The nurse had to work really hard to remove all of the vernix from her skin. Joe asked her if we could collect it in a bottle and use it to moisturize our skin. She laughed, but also looked at him like he was crazy.

 

I couldn't believe how great I felt. I was able to get up and use the restroom and there was nothing constraining me to the bed. I had zero swelling anywhere on my body and other then feeling pretty sore down below, I felt completely normal.  After my first birth experience with the munchkin, I was stuck in the bed for hours afterwards waiting for any feeling to come back to my legs from the epidural. I hated it. What a different experience this was!

I was overwhelmed with so many emotions. I was so inlove with this new baby. So happy she had arrived safely and healthy. I was so grateful. I was also so happy that everything had happened the way that it did. That this birth experience was everything I had hoped for.  I felt incredibly lucky.

40 Weeks!! Still no baby....

Today is the day! You know, the day I marked on my calendar as the DUE DATE! The day we have been counting down to and waiting for and planning for....

The munchkin was late. Early on, I assumed little Peanut would be late too. But as we got into the last couple of months, I was having so many contractions and false labor I thought for sure my body was gearing up and she would arrive early.

June 15th was our first false alarm. I started having contractions and they continued to get closer together and lasting longer. They were not extremely painful though so I hesitated to go into the hospital. It was a Friday night though, so I couldn't go in to see my doctor the next day and it just seemed like something wasn't right. So we headed in, and instead of coming home with a baby, I returned with a diagnosis for a urinary tract infection and dehydration. Apparantly that is what was causing all of the contractions. I was a little confused about the dehydration, since all I really drink is water, but I vowed to try to drink more. As far as the UTI, this was my 2nd one while being pregnant. They assured me this was normal and that being pregnant can cause them very easily with the weight of the baby and all of the pressure sometimes pushing down on things and causing infections. Ugh.

The following weeks, the contractions continued. Nothing that had a pattern or that made me think anything major was happening. Definitely enough to be annoying and make a good night's sleep very hard to come by.

Wednesday, June 27th, was our 2nd false alarm. I started having contractions around 6:00pm. I didn't think much of them at first, evening contractions were pretty normal for me at this point, but over the next few hours they started getting extremely strong and painful and much closer together. Between 9 and 10 they were less then 5 minutes apart and were lasting about a minute each. We decided we better head in. We packed everything up, dropped the munchkin off at my parents and headed in about 10:30. I was literally yelling out in pain and stopping during contractions to catch my breath and hold on to something. The drive there was awful. They were coming in so strongly and painfully, I was afraid we weren't even going to make it there on time. Once we arrived, parked and headed up to the maternity floor, the contractions started to slow down.  Right then I had a feeling we were not having a baby that night and I was soooooo upset! Not upset that she wasn't ready, but upset that we had waited and waited and made sure before we took another unecessary trip to the hospital (which was also a 30-40 minute drive from our home). I really really really didn't want to head in again, just to come home empty handed.

But ofcourse, that is exactly what happened. After hooking me up to the monitors to check everything out and see how my contractions were going, they suggested I walk around a little to see if things would get started again. I walked for a little bit, but then decided to just head home. It just seemed to me that if something was going to happen, it would be happening... and I didn't want to just hang out at the hospital on a Friday night when I could be at home in bed sleeping (or trying to anyway). We headed home around 1:00am. Atleast I now I had two giant water mugs with straws as souvenirs from each trip. I guess that is something. 

After discussing my schedule and daily activities at the hospital, they did suggest I might want to try and take it much easier and that I was probably trying to do too much at this stage in my pregnancy. It seemed everyone else was telling me the same thing (including my husband), so I decided to go ahead and start my maternity leave and try to slow down and relax more before the little Peanut's arrival.  That was a little over a week ago, and I guess it was a good idea, because I haven't had near as many contractions and have been feeling much better. I am going stir crazy though!

So obviously, she will be arriving late. Just like the munchkin. I have absolutely no desire to be induced or force anything along, so it will just be a waiting game until she decides she is ready. I hope it doesn't come to it, but my doctor will only let me go 2 weeks over. That will put us around the 19th for an induction date if it comes to that point (oh how I hope it doesn't go that long!). I have a doc appt today and I guess she will set a date for us just incase. I haven't been having my cervix checked or anything like that, but now that we are at my due date, she will want to check it and see what is going on.

I am definitely ready for her arrival. I have been nesting like a mad woman and I don't think I could find another cabinet or drawer to clean out. I have cleaned and organized every square inch of this house and have cooked, frozen and packed away enough food to feed us all for months. Joe keeps calling me a doomsday prepper. I might have gone a little bit overboard... but it definitely isn't going to hurt anything.  I won't have to worry about any cooking for a while, I can just concentrate on this little baby once she finally decides to grace us with her presence.

It is so strange how different things feel anticipating our 2nd baby, as opposed to our first. I feel so much more calm and at peace with things. I am ready. I just wish she was!

Until then, we will be anxiously waiting her arrival!!

Here's a few pics we took earlier in the week. I am 39 weeks and 4 days along...

The munchkin loves giving little peanut hugs and kisses.

The munchkin gets pretty upset when we tell her that her little sister isn't ready to come out and play yet.

The munchkin will put a hand on each side of my belly and with a very serious look on her face, tell little peanut that it's time to come out and meet us and that we are waiting for her. She will hug and kiss my belly and tell me that she loves her and that we are all family. It's the cutest and sweetest stuff and it just melts my heart.

Look at the size of this belly!!

Me and my sis :)

I am hoping my next post will include some good news about this baby's entry into the world!!

Update: I just got home from my doctor's appt and there really isn't much new going on. I am still dilated at about a 3 and "very thick". Looks like she is hanging in there a while longer. I have an appointment set for next Thursday. They want to do a stress test and make sure everything is going well. I guess if we make it to that appointment, they will then make plans and set a date to have me induced. Hopefully we won't have to go there. She still has two more weeks to come out on her own. I am not too worried about it, I think she will come on her own just fine. That's what I am telling myself for now anyway.

35 Week Ultrasound and Our Memorial Day Weekend

This morning we had our final ultrasound. I will be 35 weeks along tomorrow. 35 WEEKS! Holy Crap! Little Peanut is gonna be here sooooooo soon. We took the munchkin with us so she could get a little peek of her baby sister as well. She was so excited and was so good the whole time we were there. 

Everything went really well at the ultrasound. I am measuring right on schedule, all of our fluids are looking great.... the tech kept saying, “your fluids are looking so good!” Once in the regular room with our nurse practitioner, she repeated this excitedly as well. So apparently my fluids are looking really good... and it’s even something to be pretty excited about. Too bad I am not entirely sure why that is so exciting.

Baby girl is LOW. Like so low, the tech asked if I had been in alot of pain in my pelvic area. I actually have been pretty uncomfortable the past week, so I guess this helps explain that. Apparently her head is so far down she might be trying to escape already. Her little fist was also down there covering up her face as well, so under these circumstances we couldn’t even get a little peek of her. Nothin! The tech kept having me roll over and she kept wiggling my belly around trying to get her to move, but she wasn’t having any of it. I guess she wants to be a total surprise as far as what she is going to look like. At one point towards the end I was about to sit up and she started kicking and squirming and moving around alot, so the tech tried to take another look. After one more attempt, she says, “Looks like she somehow managed to move down even more, this baby isn’t giving us anything!”  Although we were very happy and thankful that everything else was looking so great, we were a little bummed to not even get a peek of little baby girl’s face.

This is what we did come away with. The first picture is of her arm. The second picture.... well I am not so sure to be honest. I think it might be her arm with her hand covering her face. It just looks all blobby to me.

We did come away with something I thought was very positive. The munchkin’s head had measured in the 90th percentile right before she was born. She definitely had a big noggin! But this little peanut’s head is in the 70th percentile. So I am hoping that this means labor might be a tad bit easier with a smaller head to squeeze out. One can hope at least! Right?

* * * *

This past weekend was Memorial Weekend. Normally, this would mean camping, going off to the lake or fun BBQ’s at friends’ houses. This year, we had nothing planned. Both of my sister’s went camping and took all their little kiddos with them. I camped before during my first pregnancy and I vowed to never do it again.  Plus the temps were in the high 90’s, so I had no interest in spending much time sitting outside in the heat at this stage in my pregnancy. It actually ended up being a really nice and relaxing weekend, with us not really making any plans and just hanging out. 

We spent Saturday morning hanging around the house. We baked some cookies and Joe and I both took a nap when the munchkin did. Afterwards we went to my parents house for dinner and my mom had a little pool set up for the munchkin to play in.  Sunday morning, I had a photoshoot at the house. We had set the studio up the night before, so I pretty much woke up that morning, ate some breakfast and my clients arrived for their session. They also happened to be friends of ours, so afterwards her little girl (only a few months younger then mine) played with the munchkin for a while before they left. After the munchkin’s nap, we headed out to run some errands and grabbed some dinner.  That evening we just hung out around the house and watched a movie. 

Monday, I pretty much slept in until noon. We had been up for quite a while during the night with a weird random puking at 1:00am by the munchkin. It was everywhere. We gave her a bath and had to wash all of her sheets and wipe down her headboard and everything. It was so gross and I felt so bad for her. This left her very upset and she couldn’t get back to sleep until around 4:00am. I still have no idea why she puked. She didn’t have a fever and has been totally fine ever since. It’s only the 2nd time she has really puked since she was a baby and had all her reflux issues, so the whole thing was really strange. I also had braxton hicks contractions all night long, so I didn’t actual start getting any real sleep until about 5 or 6am.  I finally rolled out of bed and Joe made breakfast for me and lunch for him and the munchkin. He whipped up some scrambled eggs with onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, cheese and bacon. It was soo good! 

During the munchkin’s nap, I made an apple crisp to take to my parents house with us. We were heading to their house for dinner again. I felt so lucky that my parents made dinner for us two evenings over the weekend. This was really awesome, especially since I was having braxton hicks contractions ALL WEEKEND LONG. My mom had set up another, somewhat deeper pool (about 2 feet, lol) so I dug up a maternity suit and plopped myself down into the pool. It felt pretty good being somewhat weightless while sitting there. And afterwards my pelvic area felt alot better too for a while. Sitting around and relaxing was exactly what I needed, cuz dealing with those contractions was pretty exhausting in itself. I had planned on finishing up the little peanut’s nursery, but that obviously never happened. I am really glad we hadn’t made any real plans and attempted to really go anywhere. It was also really nice getting in some extra time with my parents as well. I love that we live less then a mile from them now.

* * * *

I was supposed to be done taking pictures until after my maternity leave and things settled down with the new baby’s arrival, but it looks like I will have one more shoot still this Saturday evening. When I got a message from a family I had taken pictures for in the fall, asking if I could possibly have another session with them before my baby comes, I just couldn’t say no. I had so much fun with them and their two little girls and knew that it would be a really fun shoot. So I will be lugging this big ole belly out once more out for an outdoor shoot. Hopefully it won’t be too hot. I am actually planning on having my husband and the munchkin go with me so they can hang out at the playground while we are taking pictures at the old farmhouse. This park is about 40 minutes from my house and with all these crazy contractions I have been having, it’s probably better to play it safe just incase. 

This is my 5th family to hire me again for a second session since I launched my photography business in the fall. I think that is so awesome and makes me feel really good!

* * * *

So we are counting down the days, I feel like we are in that final stretch and she will be here so soon. I can not wait to meet her and love on her and introduce her to her big sister! I am also really looking forward to no longer being pregnant. It’s kinda bittersweet too... we are not planning on having any more children, so these last few weeks may be the last time I will ever feel a little baby growing inside of me. As uncomfortable as I am, I am also trying to remember that, and relish in the joy of it all as much as I can.

Mother's Day... Best One Ever!!

Me and My Sisters' Girls... Cousins!

Mother's Day this year was absolutely amazing.  First off I got to sleep in until 11:00am! That NEVER happens. I think I really needed it too. I don't sleep that well anyway, considering I am 32 weeks preggo and sleeping through the night just isn't something I can enjoy these days. Getting to sleep in those extra hours in the morning to make up for said sleep... wonderful! Ofcourse staying in bed that long has it's downfalls as well, like making me super sore!


When I did finally roll out of bed, I was greeted by a very excited little girl, shouting "Happy Mother's Day! Happy Mother's Day!" She was so excited to show me the flowers that she picked out all by herself at the store with daddy. It pretty much melted my heart. Last year she was way too young to really get anything like Mother's Day, so this was really my very first year that she could be excited about it and wanted to give me extra lovins. It was pretty awesome.

I had a card from the munchkin and the hubs and the flowers she picked out for me. We are on a super strict budget getting ready for the new baby, so I actually wasn't really expecting anything at all... but what I got was perfect.



The first half of the day was actually pretty lazy (especially since I slept in so late). I was bringing a Key Lime Pie and a fruit tray with dip to my mother's house that evening. I had already made the pie the day before, so all I had to do was run to the store for some fresh fruit and cut it all up for the tray and make the dip. I took care of all that during the munchkin's nap. Once she woke up and we all got ready, we headed over to my parents house around 4:30pm.

We decided to have a really easy menu this year so we wouldn't have to do much work in the kitchen. We grilled filet mignon, choice of sweet potato or white and some grilled veggies. I also made some steak butter for the filets. It was delicious!

The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out in the back yard and visiting. The weather was absolutely perfect.

My mom's parents were there. Below is a pic of them with the munchkin. I am pretty lucky to have such awesome grandparents. My grandma's birthday is always right around mother's day, so we celebrate that too.

My mom is one of the munchkin's most very favorite people. She absolutely adores her.  I think it's because she knows she can count on her to always act really silly and have lots of fun with her.  She's always been a pretty amazing mother, now she gets to be a pretty amazing grandma.

Getting all the cousins to line up and take a good picture is not an easy task.

Adding their mother's to the mix, made it pretty much impossible.

Throw in a grandma, and we are lucky to just get everyone's faces in the same direction.

It's kinda crazy now that me and my sisters are all moms.  Mother's Day this year definitely had a little bit more of a special meaning, with our girls being a little older and me being pregnant with another little baby girl.

I felt especially lucky to have such awesome sisters. I really love these bitches.

But ofcourse my most very favorite person in the whole wide world really is the one that made things extra special for me. I can't believe how lucky I am sometimes, to get to be the little munchkin's mommy. She really is such a blessing.

She really makes me feel like she feels the same way too!

I hope everyone else enjoyed their Mother's Day, whether with their mommies, with their kiddos or both.  And to all the mommies out there in bloggy world... HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

32 Weeks!! Other Updates and Finally, Some Belly Pics

I am officially 32 weeks along in my pregnancy as of today. Wow! I can't believe how close it is getting. I only have about 8 weeks left. I know it's going to go by so fast and be here before I know it... that's how this whole pregnancy has already been so far. 

All things considered, I am still feeling pretty good. I definitely have been having a few issues though. This pelvic pain thing (symphysis pubis disfunction) is a total bitch. I have been to a chiropractor twice, I just started going this past weekend, it seems it might be helping a little bit, but it's really too early to tell. He confirmed that I was definitely suffering from SPD and that he was sure it would clear up right after the baby was born. It was worse with this pregnancy because I already have had a baby and there wasn't as much support down below because of that. He also told me that although we could relieve some of my symptoms, they probably couldn't be alleviated completely until after I deliver.  I do some stretches that he showed me right when I wake up in the morning and that definitely helps me to get out of bed and move around with less discomfort. I have still been trying to walk at least a mile or two on the evenings I don't have a photo shoot and that really seems to help a lot. I am so grateful that the weather has been so nice.

I have been getting the worst leg cramps in the middle of the night, mostly in my right calf but a little in my left too. They actually get really bad early in the morning around 5 or 6 am. I woke up yesterday morning and it was the worst one yet. I was actually yelling out and crying really hard. It was awful! I knew it was a deficiency of some kind, as your body can leach things from places and use up a lot of your reserves to help with growing a baby, but I just wasn't sure what the problem was. I had the same issue while pregnant before, but this seemed much worse. I talked to a chiropractor friend who is sure that it is a magnesium deficiency. He recommended a supplement for it.  I started doing some research on that particular one and I am actually really excited to start using it. I have been reading a lot about magnesium lately anyway and how so many people are deficient in it and how many problems it can cause. I ordered it on Amazon and it should be arriving today. I can't wait to start using it and get some relief from these cramps! I really hope it helps.

Between the leg cramps, having to get up to pee every one to two hours and the little peanut moving around like crazy and waking me up all the time as well, I haven't really been getting very good sleep. I keep telling myself it is all to help me to prepare for her arrival. Since most likely, sleep will be even less then. Ahhh the joys of pregnancy....

So other then those things, I have actually been feeling really pretty amazing. I still have roughly 8 weeks or so left, so I know it's mostly likely down hill from here, but each day brings me closer to meeting this new baby girl and I am so excited about that! The munchkin has been talking about her a lot more too. She now refers to the nursery as the baby's room (calling her by her name) and she is constantly hugging and kissing my belly and talking to her. She will even tickle her... it's so funny! I tell her what a good big sister she is going to be and what an important job she will have. I am sure there will be some initial jealousy and I can't help but be a bit worried about that, but I am hopeful she will do okay.

Oh how I love this little girl. It's hard to imagine I am going to have to share all this love with another baby girl. I guess you just have more love to spread around. Cuz I definitely couldn't ever love her any less!

She really is growing into such a sweet and wonderful little person.  She has more and more personality every day and continually amazes me with all of her antics and views of the world. I think what I love most about her is how sweet and loving she is. I am excited to see what a loving big sis she will be!

My weight gain has completely stopped in the last few weeks. I think I have actually been losing some regular weight and gaining baby, so it has been averaging out. My pants have actually been fitting looser, while my shirts around my belly area have been getting tighter. I haven't been trying to, but once I realized this was happening, I have noticed a few things I have been doing differently. I haven't been eating as much honey or syrup in my baked goods (I have been using more stevia as my sweetener) and I have been snacking less in the evening before I go to bed. Nothing I was doing on purpose, but now that I can tell that is what was making me gain more weight then I had hoped, I will probably try to stick with it some. I am definitely still eating plenty of food and this baby is getting lots of nourishment! I just know how hard it was gaining so much weight the first time around and how much easier it would have been to deliver if I hadn't gained so much. I'll do anything to make labor easier!


This belly sure is getting big though huh?

So it feels like I am in the final stretch! I have picked up a few more things for the nursery, but we are waiting for Joe to start his school break before we really get in there and start hanging stuff on the wall and putting everything together. His finals are next week and then we can start getting some things done. I am so excited to finish things up in there and have everything all ready!

My friend Anna and my sis Amy are having a "Sprinkle" for me in a few weeks. We are going out to dinner with some of my girlfriends and really just have a night out. I am really looking forward to it!! It will be nice to have a girls night out before I become a temporary hermit for a while.


It's hard to believe I am going to have a newborn in the house again really really soon. I am excited for sure, but I am not gonna lie, I am also freaking out just a little!!

The Little Peanut Moving Around in My Belly!

So I haven't gotten around to taking some good belly pics recently like I had hoped. I know... shame on me! I have just been so damn busy. Last night I was laying in bed though and the little Peanut was going nuts in my belly like she usually does right when I am trying to fall asleep. So I grabbed my phone and decided to take a little video.

The munchkin moved in my belly too, but nothing like this one. I would see a bump push out and move across and I even caught that on video a few times and posted it on my blog. But this is a little different. My entire belly will move around and jiggle. It will cave in and push out and start jostling around like crazy! It will almost knock me off my feet sometimes with how much more I can feel the pressure and movement from this little gal. Not sure what that means... but I am sure I'm in trouble somehow!

Anyway, I caught a little of it on video last night. Ofcourse she slows down as soon as I try to capture it, but you will still get the idea.....



I WILL take some good belly pics this week. I PROMISE!!

30 Weeks! Eek! Things are Moving Right Along...

Today I am officially 30 Weeks!!!! Only 10 more weeks to go! 3/4 of the way there! Holy Crap!

I am definitely starting to feel very very pregnant. The pelvic pain I had when pregnant with the munchkin is back in full force. I think the official name for it is SPD (symphysis pubis dysfuntion), or as I like to call it, lots of pain in my effing crotch area! Here are the symptoms listed on Baby Center:

• Back pain, pelvic girdle pain or hip pain.
• A grinding or clicking sensation in your pubic area.
• Pain down the inside of your thighs or between your legs. It can be made worse by parting your legs, walking, going up or down stairs or moving around in bed.
• Worse pain at night. It can stop you sleeping well and getting up to go to the toilet in the middle of the night can be especially painful.

Yep I can pretty much check all of those off. It sucks big time. It went away before, pretty much right after the munchkin was born, so hopefully the same will happen this time around. I notice that it feels better after doing a lot of walking so I am trying to get in as much as I can of that. There are special therapists you can see to help with the discomfort as well, but that just isn't in the cards with my schedule.

I have pretty much stopped booking photo shoots. It was a hard decision and I originally planned on continuing closer to my due date, but physically it's just gotten to be too much for me and I didn't want it to start to show in my work. I didn't think it would really be a big deal, but I just didn't realize how much I move around, jumping up and down, laying on the ground and all the crazy angles I sometimes get into to get the shot I want. And as I got further along and my belly grew bigger and bigger, I could definitely tell it was affecting me during a photo shoot. I still have several sessions booked in the coming weeks to complete and I will probably do a few more here and there under certain circumstances, but for the most part, I am going to slow things down until probably the fall.

I sold off the last stuff this morning from all the cloth diapering items I had bought when preggo with the munchkin. I just can't believe the resale value on cloth diapers! It's crazy. I am going with completely different diapers for my new little peanut and we just got our first two in the mail a couple of days ago. My grandma bought us these:

How cute is that? She got us a black one and a light blue one. Getting them in the mail and seeing them in person and imagining them on my little girl's bottom got me so excited!  After checking them out and seeing how they were going to work, Joe even seemed to be getting excited about them. I showed him how they were really going to work just like disposable diapers (for the most part, but with some extra laundry). He said they seemed like they were going to be really easy to use, especially compared to the ones we had bought for the munchkin, which he thought were way too complicated. He was also really excited about all of the money we were going to save. That is one of my favorite parts too! We still plan on using disposables for the first month or so.

I found this cute little owl set online....

I had to have them for the nursery. BUT they were way too expensive for something that was just going to sit on a shelf and collect dust.  The cheapest I could find them was about $45 with the shipping costs.  No one would even notice them or love them as much as me, I'm sure, so I gave up on them.  BUT then my dear, sweet friend Brooke, called me one evening and told me she had found them at a local trading co. store for super cheap (I had shown her a pic when chatting on IM one day). They didn't have one there they could sell (they just had a display left), but I tracked one down at another location and went out and picked them up the next evening! They are now perched up on the shelf in the nursery looking so stinking adorable, and I didn't have to pay a ridiculous price for them. It's funny how the littlest things can be so much fun sometimes. Thank you Brooke!!

I have a few more things I need to get still for the nursery, like a crib skirt, curtains and this huge wall applique I want to go above her crib, but then I should be about done with the decorating. I am pretty proud of myself for getting things done on such a tight budget. With some creativity and bit of shopping around, I think I did a pretty good job. Now I just need to go through all of the munchkins clothes and get them ready to wear again!

The munchkin seems like such a big girl lately. She is so funny and cracks me up every day. I have so much fun with her and am trying really hard to savor as much of it as I can before the new baby arrives and everything is disrupted for a while. She has become quite the helpful assistant in the kitchen and loves to cook and bake with me. She loves to dump each ingredient into the bowl after I measure stuff out for her and of course she feels very important when she gets to stir everything together. I think being a part of the preparation and talking about food with her has really made eating dinner more fun for her too.

I can't help but worry about how the arrival of the new baby is going to effect her. It really could go either way. She is such a sensitive and sweet little girl and I am just not sure how she is going to react. I know it will probably be difficult for her at first, especially not getting as much one-on-one time with me, but hopefully things will come around and we will all adjust well. I know this is a common concern with families with a second child on the way, and things always work themselves out eventually, but I still can't help worrying about it probably more then I should. She is my first born and will always hold that special place in my heart. I almost feel guilty, but I know that is silly.

Tonight I am going to take a pic of my 30 week belly. I seriously intend to anyway... so we will see how that goes.  Hopefully I will post that pic tomorrow! I am getting large fo sho!

The Beginnings of a Nursery and a Little Update

Nesting mode has started full force. I have been going through all of the munchkin's baby clothes and items to move to the little peanut's room. It has still been so white and stark in the nursery. I have been having such a hard time finding stuff I wanted to use to decorate with.  I knew I wanted to do a vintage floral type theme, and kinda had an idea in my head, but I wasn't finding anything online that I wanted and knew I just needed to get out to some stores and start poking around. So last night, Joe was at a work dinner thingy and I decided to pack up the munchkin and start our treasure hunt. I was so happy with what I found!

First of all I found the perfect rug. It was exactly the style I had been looking for and had so many wonderful colors in it. It's kinda hard to tell from my cell phone pic how great these colors are, but the rug had the main colors I was hoping to find... green, mustard yellow, light blue and burnt orange. I couldn't believe how perfect it was. Starting with the rug and all it's colors, I could now build the rest of the room around it. Yay!!

Then I came across this great lamp. The orange matched some of the colors in the rug and it lets off a soft warm glow when lit that is perfect for cuddling up and nursing or reading a book.

I found these two round wooden pieces of art with vintage flower patterns on it.  They are about a foot wide. These babies are going up on the back wall on either side of the inset where the window is.

I just love the next piece. It looks like it was painted on an old piece of wood and framed with darker wood. It picks up more of the colors from the rug and I just love the little blue butterfly. The frame is deep and it sits far out from the wall. Love it!

Some random picture frames I grabbed....

Here's a pic of the rug in the room. I am also on the hunt for new curtains, so the ones you see here will not be sticking around.

I will take some better pics later with my camera. The cell phone pics are crappy, but you get the idea...

It's so great to finally get some color in here and to see where things are going. Now that I have some of the big ticket items down, I can focus on some of the little accents and the bedding. Learning my lesson from the first go around, I have no intention of purchasing a bedding set. I just felt like it was such a waste of money last time. We spent alot on it considering all we really used was the sheet (in rotation with other ones I had bought) and the crib skirt. The quilt and bumper pads that came with it were never even touched and the valance was just kinda cheesy so I never really used that either. I did use the diaper stacker but having it so matchy matchy with everything else wasn't really necessary. I am just going to try to find a simple sheet and skirt that matches the rest of the theme and leave it at that. I will use the mesh breathable bumper (brown) that I still have from the munchkin's baby room.

I am started to get crazy excited. And restless. And nervous. And bigger. Much bigger. Today is my 29 week appt. Eek! Only about 11 more weeks to go! This baby is constantly moving around in my belly. Sometimes she will kick my so hard, I almost double over. She really starts moving alot when I turn on some music. Her biggest active times are in the morning on my way to work, in the car leaving work heading out to pick up the munchkin and when I am laying in bed at the end of the night and reading a book or watching tv.

The munchkin felt her moving for the first time. She was especially active one evening last week when we were sitting in the living room. I took the munchkin's hand and put it on my belly. The little peanut moved so hard that you could see a rise in my belly and it moved all the way across it right under the munchkin's little hand. Her eyes grew so wide and she looked up at my in amazement and said, "The baby is moving around!" It was one of the neatest moments. Ever.

Things have been kinda crazy around here lately. I've been really busy at work, editing pics from photo shoots and getting things ready at home for this little girl's arrival. I have also been making tons of extra meals to freeze for after she arrives. My goal is 60 meals... I've got about 25 so far and just really started making them, so I don't see meeting that goal being a problem. It's a bit of extra work now, but I just know that it will help me out alot after she gets here, especially with Joe working and going to school and being gone so much.

I have also been going through the munchkin's things to sell stuff we won't be using and earning some money for some new stuff we need. We are selling her bedding set. Since I didn't use much of it and purchased lots of the matching accessories, it's gonna be a great deal for someone. I still have all of the original packaging too. I was actually planning on cloth diapering the munchkin. I bought everything I needed but never actually did it. The diapering system I chose just didn't work well for us and with how hard things were on us all when she first arrived with her extreme acid reflux and digestive issues, I just didn't want to mess with it. We have decided to cloth diaper this time for sure (hopefully) with the peanut and I am very excited about it. We are selling all of our old diapers (I just posted an ad on Craig's List yesterday and someone is coming out to see them tomorrow already!) and will be purchasing all new ones.

I have done much more research and am going into it with a much better idea of what I am doing. I am also very excited about the new diapers I have chosen to use and am going to be testing some out on the munchkin before the peanut arrives. The money we will be saving is my biggest motivation, to be honest, although the impact to the environment and the my little girls bum is a wonderful bonus.

I am hoping to get a new belly pic and post it soon. I am getting so big!!

As far as the nursery.... any thoughts? Opinions? Anyone have any good tips or tricks or suggestions on where you go online to get great deals on stuff like this??

26 Weeks!

Yesterday, I officially 26 weeks along!  I had my sister take some 25 week belly pics for me on Saturday and I am just getting around to posting them.  It was only 6 days ago, so you get the drift, my belly looks pretty much the same.

I am so absolutely in love with the picture below. It is the only picture I have ever been able to get of me and the munchkin both looking at the camera and smiling at the same time.

Overall, I have been feeling pretty good. I have definitely been feeling the weight of my growing belly and am not getting around quite so easily, but I am hanging in there and doing well considering. I can't believe I am almost in my 3rd trimester (2 more weeks) and coming to the last third of my pregnancy. Things have really been going by so much faster this time around and I can't complain too much about that. As I get closer to the end I am getting more excited about meeting this little girl! I am also getting more nervous about not sleeping much for a while and how everything else is gonna go.

I am at that stage in my pregnancy when it is time for the dreaded glucose test, which tests for gestational diabetes. I failed the first round when I was pregnant with the munchkin and had to go back again for the three hour one, which I did pass. It's also very common for woman that eat the way I do to get false positives on the first test because when you don't have that much sugar in your diet, drinking so much of it all at once can be hard for your body to handle. Not to mention how sick it can make someone feel that isn't used to that much sugar. I have heard so many stories of people throwing it up and I felt close to it when pregnant before. The test has been looming over my head and I have really been dreading it. I just really didn't want to take it, most likely fail, then have to take the three hour test again. 

I talked to the nurses at the office about it and they said that I could just come in one morning and test my blood sugar levels an hour after a meal. Apparently, there was some miscommunication and I was under the impression I was supposed to eat a large meal and even include some extra sugar, which I did with some pancakes I had made with honey as the sweetener. I headed in after breakfast yesterday, they pricked my finger, tested my blood sugar levels and I got a number of 148! That is high! The cut off for passing is 130. After discussing my confusion over what I was supposed to eat, the nurse concluded that might have had something to do with it and we decided I would come back again after eating a regular (more normal for me) meal.

I called up there after I got to work and asked if I could just come back in after I ate lunch. The nurse told me that after talking to the nurse practitioner, they felt that regardless of what I had eaten for breakfast that number seemed really high and they wanted me to come in the this morning, having eaten nothing, and take my blood sugar level, then send me off with a monitoring kit and have me test my blood in the morning upon waking and then after each meal (4x a day) for a week. 

Ugh. 

So, starting this morning, I will be pricking my finger and testing my blood 4x a day. My first reading before I ate any breakfast was 81. They would like it below 90 after fasting overnight before I eat anything, so far so good there. I just finished eating breakfast and will be taking my first after meal reading in about an hour.

Not gonna lie, I am concerned the original number of 148 was so high. It really surprised me. I remember that my youngest sister had gestational diabetes when she was pregnant and we were all surprised. The funny thing is, if I did have it, they would put me on a diet that consisted of me eating pretty much the way I currently eat anyway to keep my levels low. I am just hoping that I get better readings in the next week and I am not diagnosed with it. We shall see.

We have officially decided on a name for the baby! It wasn't easy for us either. We couldn't agree on anything. We both really love this name and it felt right to both of us, so it has stuck and now we refer to her by her name more often then "the baby". We have been calling her by her name to the munchkin too, and she is starting to as well. It's all so exciting!

Soccer Practice, Lots of Outdoor Fun and Tons of Pictures!

I don’t typically do weekend recaps. Hell, who I am I kidding, that would be too organized and dependable as far as my blogging goes lately. This weekend though, the weather was perfect and we had so much fun doing things outdoors and hanging out with my sister and her family. I had my camera with me all weekend and I wanted to share some of the pictures. I have been so busy taking pictures for other families lately, I have been really slacking on taking pics of my own.

Saturday morning was the munchkin’s first day of Soccer! We enrolled her in a little Kickeroo class for ages 2-3. To be honest, we probably wouldn’t have enrolled her in any type of sport so soon, but we had three other couples (including my sister) that were going to put their child in the class as well, so we figured it would be a great play and socialization time for all of us. Plus it was at 10:20am on Saturday morning, which with our schedule, couldn’t be a more perfect time. It is indoors at a big sports facility only two miles from our house.

We told the munchkin we were going to a soccer field to play soccer. She was so excited! Then when we pulled into the parking lot, she took one look at the building and started crying. “I wanna play soccer”, she sobbed. We had to assure her that the soccer field was indoors and that she really was going to be playing soccer, we just had to go inside. Once she realized she was infact still going to be playing soccer, she cheered up again. Only my child.

Soccer “practice”, was about 45 minutes long. Pretty much the husbands ran around the field with the kids, while the moms hung back, took pictures and talked (atleast in our group). There were some great photo ops and I took way too many pictures. Here’s some of my favorites...

Crustless Cheesy Bacon and Avocado Quiche (sugar Free • gluten free • low carb)

The other night, I realized I forgot to thaw out anything for dinner and had no plan really for what we were going to eat. That seems to happen more then I would like lately. Pregnancy brain is no joke. I will actually be getting ready in the morning and will say to myself, "Don't forget to get the chicken out to thaw"... Then in my car on the way to work, I will realize that I totally dropped the ball on that one. Again. Lucky I do keep some things on hand just for this reason. In a pinch, there are usually some leftovers hanging out in the fridge somewhere, or some cottage cheese or lunch meat to just make some sandwiches. 

My favorite quickie dinner though, is making breakfast food. I could eat breakfast food for all three of my meals for the day. On this particular night though, I didn't want to go with the usual. I wanted to try to come up with something a little out of the norm for us. So I did a quick inventory of what we had on hand and thought, "Why not throw a bunch of this crap together and make a quiche"?  The result ended up being something delicious that I will definitely be making again!

I loved the creaminess of the avocados and the cream cheese. The bacon added some great flavor to the inside, but next time, I will definitely add some more bacon to the top for some crunch and will include that in the recipe. Adding some sausage to the inside would be super yummy too or trying different cheeses or herbs. The options are endless!

Without further ado, I give you...

 

Crustless Cheesy Bacon and Avocado Quiche

(sugar Free • gluten free • low carb)

Ingredients:

• 8 Eggs
• 1/2 C Heavy Cream
• 1/2 White Onion, Chopped
• 1/2 Tb Marjoram
• 1/2 Tb French Tarragon
• 1/4 tsp Sea Salt
• 1/4 tsp Pepper
• 1/4 tsp Onion Powder
• 2 Avocados
• 5 oz Cream Cheese
• 3/4 C Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 15 Strips Cooked Bacon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Grease an 8x8 glass cooking dish.
3. Crumble 10 strips of bacon and layer the bottom of the dish (reserve the rest for the topping).
4. Cut avocados in half, remove seed and slice lines vertically and horizontally, then scoop out of skin with a spoon. Layer on top of the bacon. 
5. Cut up cream cheese into little cubes and layer on top of avocados.
6. Scramble eggs and whisk in the heavy cream, chopped onion and seasonings. Pour on top of everything else already layered in the baking dish. 
7. Sprinkle half the shredded cheese all over the top.
8. Crumble the rest of the bacon and add to the top of the dish.
9. Sprinkle the rest of the shredded cheese over the bacon.
10. Bake in the oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until the quiche is set in the middle.
11. Enjoy!

This post is part of Food Renegade's Fight Back Friday and the Healthy Home Economist's Monday Mania.