Nursery News!

We have made so many updates to the nursery! All furniture has been purchased...although we don't actually have the Glider yet and it technically could get here after the baby but fingers crossed. We have window treatments and bedding and many baby needs thanks to three (one more to go) wonderful Baby Showers! Little by little I am working on wall decorations and personalizing the room! Here is what we have done so far!

Eric's Grandma Ruth Beck came to visit over Labor Day weekend and was kind enough to make beautiful curtains for the nursery and the baby bathroom. (although I forgot to take a pic of the bathroom so you will have to see that later!)

Eric spray painted our chandelier to match the nursery colors!

After much searching we decided to have our bedding made. We picked out the fabrics and the wonderful Nancy Cleland made them into something incredible! They look perfect! I am still tweaking the ties as our crib is a little differently shaped than most but we will figure it out!

I'm currently working on the layout for a picture frame wall collage...no pics added yet, just deciding where each frame will go! What do you think?

Lastly, as I mentioned above we finally purchased a Glider after much frustration! First we couldn't decide on a Glider or Glider/Recliner, then we couldn't decide if we needed the ottoman, then we couldn't find the right color, then when we finally resolved all of these issues the lady tells us it will take 8-12 weeks for delivery....um...I only had 10 weeks to go at that point so needless to say this stressed me out a bit. The same brand of chair at a different store said 4-6 weeks so I was NOT expecting this at all! Needless to say we are VERY hopeful it will come in earlier but we wont know until it does. We actually got a call on Friday from Buy Buy Baby telling us it was in...and we were shocked...and we should have been because when we called Sunday to tell them we were coming to get it they let us know it was a mistake and our chair was not in. Of course...thanks for getting my hopes up! Here is a pic of the store model of the chair we picked. I have also included a pic of the fabric swatches, our chair will be the oatmeal color with a the purple piping!

(second color from the left is the main fabric and the purple is the piping!)

32 Weeks

How the baby is growing:

This week Baby Girl W weighs about 3.75 pounds, the weight of a large jicama, and measures about 16.7 inches long! Apparently half of every pound I gain goes right to Baby Girl so she should gain about half a pound a week from now on!



How I am changing:

Unfortunately the morning sickness has returned. I have had several morning visits to worship at the porcelain gods...for lack of a better word. I had heard rumors that it could return in the third trimester and it looks like I am just one of the lucky ones! Heartburn and indigestion are still raging! My belly is growing more and more, some days I feel huge and other days I feel small for how far along we are. I can't believe I have been pregnant for 32 weeks. That's most of this year! I am really excited for this Saturday because it is October 1st, the day I will be able to say that my daughter will be born next month! (hopefully!)

We have so many nursery updates to share and had two WONDERFUL baby showers this past weekend so stay tuned for posts on those to come! I'm also working on a post about what I'm reading to prepare for Baby Girl W!



31 Weeks

How the baby is growing: 

This week Baby Girl W weighs about 3.3 pounds, about the size of 4 naval oranges, and measures over 16 inches long! Babycenter tells me that she is headed for a growth spurt which is just crazy to me because I already feel so big! I guess these last 9(ish) weeks will be a marathon, not a sprint!

How I am changing: 

My belly is bigger than ever! (duh!) People tell me I am not that big but I sure do feel big! I am thankful for my long torso as baby girl has plenty of room to grow and move without smashing my lungs and ribs! She has seemed to discover my ribs with a few swift kicks but nothing too bad! It is incredible how often I am feeling her move! She has hiccups now and then and just does acrobatics all over my belly. Eric and I like to lay in bed and watch my belly move. Elle likes to lay on my belly and feel it. Hopefully she will still like it when Baby Girl is outside the belly...

I am still dealing with heartburn...If I never eat another Tums after this pregnancy it will be too soon! I had a random sick day this week...not very fun. I lost breakfast...then lunch...no idea where that came from but hopefully it wont be reoccurring often during these last weeks. Other than that I'm just tired...my many commitments are starting to catch up with me and I have had to bail on a few meetings. I feel bad but its just too much at this stage! I will have to really cut back on my future commitments, its not like I'm going to have more time or energy when she gets here! 

We started Prepared Childbirth classes this week! Between my books and research I feel like I already know some of the stuff they cover but I have for sure learned some new things as well. Plus I figure you can never be too prepared! I'm sure birth will not exactly go as I expect (My Birth Hopes post to come soon...) but at least I can have an idea of what will happen! I know Baby Girl will be in charge that day! 

We also had another checkup this week. Baby Girl's heartbeat is going strong at 148! We FINALLY met the last doctor in the practice so now I will officially not be totally surprised at the birth, LOL! We really like everyone in the practice so I feel pretty comfortable with the whole 1 out of 5 chance for D (delivery) Day. 

I am really just ready for her to get here...9(ish) weeks to go! 

Sleep and Pregnancy

Sleep is not usually a problem for me. I sleep 8+ hours a night because my husband gets up really early for work so we go to bed at a decent time even though I don't have to get up until 7 now that we live 5 minutes from my office. I used to have sleep issues but when we moved into our new house we got an INCREDIBLE Stearns and Foster mattress and I slept like a baby (interesting saying...that I will undoubtedly soon learn is false). Then I got pregnant. At first it didn't really disturb my sleep. I learned that apparently I LOVE to sleep on my back, which is not ideal for pregnancy, even in the beginning. Apparently when you sleep on your back, or right side for that matter, it can cause problems with backaches, breathing, digestive system, hemorrhoids, low blood pressure and decrease in circulation to your heart and your baby as a result of your abdomen resting on your intestines and major blood vessels. (Awesome) This news of course lead me to freak out a bit because every night I would try to go to sleep on my left side and I would wake up on my back. I told me doctor and she said it was no big deal and my body wouldn't do something that would hurt the baby and just to roll back over when I woke up. OK. Then the lovely Kelly Harvey lent me her pregnancy pillow, The Boppy Prenatal Cuddle Pillow. 

The large part of this pillow wedges under your belly while the small part goes between your legs to make (left)side sleeping a little more comfortable. It pretty much did the trick but as I started to get bigger sleep got more and more uncomfortable and even the beloved Boppy wasn't helping. Then another lovely friend Sara Theisen lent me her pregnancy pillow, The Snoogle. 

The Snoogle is a total body pillow. The hook end goes under your head and the other end goes between your legs. You can either face the long edge or let it line your back. I find it more useful to face the long edge. 

So my nightly routine to get the best sleep I can...which still isn't all that great. I start out on my left side, body facing the long edge of the Snoogle in "running" position (thank you Bradley book...at least you were good for something...this means with your upper leg bent) and I typically fall asleep. After waking up two or three times and willing myself back to sleep instead of going to the bathroom (I'm not sure how much longer I will be able to do this as I get larger I will probably have to potty more than once a night) I get up, go to the bathroom and return to bed. I switch the Snoogle to face the other way, lay on my right side (I know left is better but my neck KILLS in the morning if I lay on one side all night) facing the long edge of the Snoogle. Its the best system I've got for now! I still wake up on my back from time to time but I just force myself to move back to my side. The things I do for this Baby Girl! ;)

29 Weeks

How the baby is growing:

This week Baby Girl W weighs about 2 and 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and measures a tad over 15 inches from head to heel (the size of the front wheel on the original big wheel!)!

How I am changing:

Well I am getting bigger that's for sure! Unfortunately I seem to no longer comfortably fit in my first pair of maternity jeans...I'm so glad I invested in an expensive pair thinking they would last the whole time...grrr. (Not to mention the seam split on my designer jeans that I hardly wear and have washed once...the Gap pants I wear to work every week and wash all the time are in perfect shape....lesson learned)  Thankfully Gap Maternity is awesome, had a great sale and I had some rewards cash so I pretty much got a pair for free...of course I had to order then so who knows if I will like them but Gap Maternity hasn't disappointed me yet! Fingers crossed! I also finally found a pair of khakis (also Gap but found on eBay...I hope I like them). Assuming these two things fit I have decided I will no longer purchase any maternity clothes...so please don't make fun of me for wearing the same things all the time...Its just too close to the end to spend any more money. I have certainly learned a lot this pregnancy when it comes to maternity clothes and I will do things a tad differently next time!

The belly is growing everyday and getting rounder! In general the public can not decide if I am huge or tiny but who cares...lol! It has gotten very difficult to bend over that's for sure. I'm sure that will only get worse.



Baby girl is moving like crazy these days! I think she is head down because when I feel hiccups they are typically in the lower abdomen area and unfortunately I'm pretty sure she has discovered my ribs as I think I have received a few swift kicks! She is getting big enough now that I can feel what must be an elbow or a knee from time to time on the surface of the belly and I think it is the coolest thing! I poke it and rub it, not because it hurts but because I can't get enough of it. I am amazed everyday at the miracle inside me, with everyday that passes I am more and more excited for her to be here. Labor is going to be tough but I do not even care and oddly enough (and I know this may be naive) I'm not even stressed out about it because I just want to meet her!

Fun Stuff:

Eric's grandma Ruth came to visit us this weekend all the way from Iowa. It was such a good weekend! We typically get to see Ruth every Christmas but we have never really had an opportunity to just spend time with her and we were blessed with that this past weekend. Although I joke she only came down to work (she made some INCREDIBLE Nursery curtains which you will see in the Nursery update post coming up) we had a lot of fun. We made roll dough that we turned into delicious doughnuts, yummy Pigs in a Blanket and sinful Pecan Rolls, we went to see The Help (which was amazing!), and we just hung out and talked. Ruth told us stories of her babies when they were little and of her birth experiences and it was just such an incredible time. I am so glad she could come and I know that Eric really enjoyed it to. Its hard living so far away from most of our family so we really appreciate when someone comes all the way down South for a visit!

Yummy!

      Eric helped!



Sinfull!