Please Don't Tell Me

Encouragement and advice can be great things.  I know that people care, but please stop telling me:

1. That most first babies come late.
That’s not what I want to hear right now.  I’m hoping every day that the baby comes.

2. That I need to stock pile my sleep now.
I’m having trouble sleeping, so telling me to sleep more just makes me frustrated.

3. That my life is about to change forever. 
I know and I’m excited about that!

4. All the crazy labor stories that you’ve heard or have had happen to you.
I don’t need to be thinking about everything that can go wrong!  And every pregnancy and labor is different.

5. It’s all worth it.
It’s great to hear this, but I’m excited to figure this out for myself.

6. That I look great.
That’s very nice to hear, but I don’t feel great.  I feel huge and uncomfortable

If you have said any of these things to me, don't worry, I'm not mad at you, but Adam says I'm starting to get snippy, so this is advice for the future ;)


Coming Soon:  Final Pictures of the Completed Nursery!!
 

 

My Tricky Husband



Garza Photography

My husband spent the first 2.5 years of our marriage tricking me.  All along I have never thought that Adam liked babies.  He would never really hold one and didn’t really seem to like them all that much, which is fine.  Some people just aren’t baby people, and I thought that Adam was one of those people.  Come to find out, since being pregnant, that my husband loves babies. 

 

I have found it funny that since being pregnant Adam smiles at all the babies at church and small group and holds them and plays with them.  I thought it was just because I was pregnant and he was getting excited, but no, he actually loves babies!  I mentioned this to him the other day and he said, “I always have loved babies I just couldn’t let you know that because then you would have wanted one even more.”  I was shocked!  He’s pretty tricky. 

 

To be honest, seeing how he loves babies has really shown me a different side of him and it is so sweet.  Adam is an amazing, loving guy, but I have gotten to see a sweet and tender side that I hadn’t seen very much before.  He’s so excited to be a dad and he talks to my belly almost every day.  I am so excited to see what fatherhood will bring out of him.

Big Belly

 My belly is so big.  I've actually been bumping it on things because I forget that I have this big belly sticking out.  My winter coat, which I bought 3 sizes too big, doesn't hardly zip any more.  I think my big belly is beautiful but I'll be happy to give it up at any time.  Check out this photo:

 

Now that's what I call growth.  Now you can see the whole owl.  Lately I have had this feeling that the baby just does not have enough room in my already big belly.  It's like my skin isn't stretchy enough.  And sometimes the baby will stretch and it hurts so bad.  It feels like the baby is going to punch through my skin.  This is what I'm visualizing:

 

Only three weeks to go!  Here's a funny video that's getting me through (caution: one bad word at the very beginning).  Enjoy!

Public Puddle

One of my biggest fear is my water breaking and going into labor in public.  I mean, how embarrassing! 

 

Adam and I had our first scare yesterday at the mall.  We were walking around the mall and suddenly I had this severe pain in my lower back.  It caused me to keel over.  Currently our baby is positioned face up and I was warned that this means I could have a lot of back labor.  So suddenly Adam and I were wondering if I was in labor.  The pain was coming every few minutes, but then would be further apart.  It was very irregular, but we decided to time them anyway.  They were everywhere from 2 minutes apart to 9 minutes apart.  We put in a call to the midwife and waited for her to call back.  The pain started to shoot down my leg.  We decided to go home because we didn’t know what was going on and Adam was afraid that I was going to start scaring people in the mall.  I mean, here is a pregnant woman, walking around the mall, keeling over and gasping in pain every so often.  We got home and eventually got a call back from the midwife, and it was only the baby sitting on my sciatic nerve, not labor.  It was a relief, but still not fun.  I am definitely ready for this baby to come, but I’m really hoping I’m not in public for the next time I think I’m in labor.  It is stressful.  Here is a link from The Bump of some of the craziest places women have gone into labor.  Enjoy the laugh, and please hope with me that I’m not in any of these situations.

Wide Load

Beep..Beep..Beep..wide load coming through.

This is one of the biggest things about being at the end of my pregnancy.  I feel, and I am, huge. 

 

 

The elastic on my maternity pants no longer fits over my belly, so now I rely on leggings, yoga pants, and sweatpants.

Rolling over in bed is not so simple anymore, and neither is getting out of bed.

I cannot bend over.  Drop something?  It stays on the ground.  Shoelaces untied? Beg husband to tie them, or switch to slip-ons.

Trying to squeeze through a space that would have been no problem before?  Problem now.

Only getting my winter coat zipped if I don’t have a lot of layers on and can stretch it just far enough.

Wearing husbands t-shirts so that I don’t show my mid-drift in public.

For a few more weeks, until baby Tomlinson arrives, this will be my daily struggle, but at the end there will be a beautiful baby and I’m sure it will all be worth it!

One more month!

My due date is exactly one month from today.  I cannot believe that it is finally here, but at the same time, I am ready for this baby to be here.  Adam and I are so excited we cannot wait for our baby to arrive.  We are pretty well prepared.  We have everything that we need and almost all of it is washed and ready to go.  We just need to get the crib and get it set up and then everything will be ready for the baby.  The hospital bags need to be packed, and the car seat needs to be installed, but I feel pretty good with the fact that those are the only two things that I have to do.  I’m just so excited that I almost don’t know what to do with myself.  Everything is organized.  The nursery is decorated.  There is nothing left to do but sit around and wait.  And I’m not good at waiting or being patient so this could be a long month.  I’m selfishly hoping that the baby doesn’t make it to the due date because I’m impatient and because I’m ready for him or her to stop kicking me in the ribs!

 

 Any suggestions of what I can do to keep myself from going crazy this month?

The Times are a Changin'

Well it is the start of a brand new year.  Usually I would be using this time to think of some goals for the next year, but I think that my goal for this year is just going to be: survive.

Things are going to change dramatically for Adam and I in the next month and we don't really know what that will look like.  So I do not want to set goals that are going to be impossible in a month. 

In a month we will be parents.
In a month our parents will be grandparents.  Our siblings will be aunts and uncles.  When we go to a restaurant we will need an extra seat.  When we travel we'll have extra luggage.  A helpless baby will be relying on us to take care of them, feed them, and give up sleep for them.

The year may be changing, but there are even bigger changes to come!