Time Flies

I am now double digits away from my due date!  I remember when I was waiting for my wedding day, when it finally got down below 100 the days just flew off the calendar.  Adam and I are so excited and can’t wait for the baby to arrive.  As it gets closer and closer it starts to feel more and more real.  Sometimes it still catches us off guard and we’ll say to each other, “Can you believe there’s a baby in there?” or “Can you believe that we’ll have a baby?”  It still seems surreal, but the days are passing by quickly and we are so excited!  We are so lucky to be so busy and that the holidays are coming up so that we have many benchmarks to make the days pass by even quicker.  Here’s a glimpse at what’s to come.

We have 97 days until my due date.

In 1 day it will be November.

In 28 days it will be Thanksgiving.

In 55 days it will be Christmas!

In 62 days it will be 2015!

And in 93 days it will be February!

I know that these next few months are going to fly by and that’s great because I cannot wait to meet this little baby, but there is still plenty to do.  I’m going to do my best to cherish these last months of pregnancy and prepare for our first child.  There’s so much to do! And plenty of days left to do it in.

Watching the Scale

When I first found out I was pregnant everything I read said to track your weight gain.  I knew the general amount of weight that I was supposed to be putting on each trimester and not seeing the dial increase was stressing me out.

Before becoming pregnant I weighed 130 pounds.  After the first trimester I weighed about 123 pounds.  Yes, I was just that sick.  My midwife said that it would be good to see me put on a little weight, but not to stress about it, and most importantly to just stay healthy.  She told me to just keep eating healthy and don’t worry about the weight.  She also said, like we’ve all heard already, every pregnancy is different and she has had some people not gain any weight and be perfectly healthy and she’s seen some people gain way too much, so it’s just something to be aware of but not stress about.  Health is the goal more than anything.

As of today, the first day of week 26, I weigh 138 pounds.  I eat when I’m hungry, and until I’m full.  I drink tons of water, and I try to stay healthy, and I feel great.  Not worrying about the weight has been freeing.  And I know that as these last few months pass I’ll get even bigger and heavier, but I’m not stressed about it.  Just do what feels right to your body and if something needs to change your doctor or midwife will tell you, until then, don’t stress!

Perfect Pregnancy Pillow

This pillow saved me, well my sanity that is.  Before this pillow, I could not sleep through the night.  I would toss and turn all night and constantly be adjusting the mountain of pillows on the bed that just wouldn’t lay right.  I would get the pillow under my knees adjusted, then the pillow under my neck would be out of wack, then I would fix that and the pillow under my belly would shift.  And not to mention the constant struggle against the back pain!  Well, I am here to tell you that this pillow changed all that.  I am not getting paid in any way to write these things, the pillow just blew me away that much.  I didn’t even buy it.  One of my recently pregnant friends had given me hers that she had hardly used.  Once I slept on this pillow my pregnancy changed.  I’m not even kidding or being overly dramatic.  My back pain eased up, I could sleep through the night (aside from the bathroom breaks) and I only had one pillow to deal with.  And a happy husband because this pillow “corralled” me on my side of the bed.

Here is a link to the Snoogle pillow on Amazon so you can see what I’m talking about.  And here is a photo of me enjoying my Snoogle pillow.  I rest the top part under my neck and the bottom between my knees and the straight part provides really good back support and keeps me from rolling onto my back.

 

And husbands love it too.  I went into the bedroom the other day and found Adam enjoying my pillow, and also demonstrating the other way to use it.  If you need more belly support you can put the straight side in front of you.  This way is also very comfortable.

And then this position has helped me get comfortable when I read in bed.  It provides good back support and stability.   All I do is fold it on top of itself.  It's so easy!

 

All in all this pillow has been amazing, and I highly recommend it!

What my days look like now

I know that I set myself up for failure last week when I told you about all the awesome stuff I was going to be writing about last week.  Obviously only one of those posts happened because I found myself sick and with absolutely no energy to do anything but sleep and watch Gilmore Girls.  But thankfully I am feeling much better now after a great weekend spending time with lots of people.

Adam and I have been very busy lately.  And we are going to stay busy.  These next few months we have something every weekend, which I am so excited about because that means the weeks until baby will go quicker.

I have a lot more energy now and have found that I do not need my afternoon nap so much anymore unless I really didn't sleep well.  This week my center of gravity changed.  It's hard to get up off the couch, it's hard to tie my shoes, and it's just hard to bend in general.

Adam and I have set into a pretty comfortable routine with our weekdays and I'm finally able to keep up with some of the housework regularly.  But I know that this is all about to end, or so I've heard, as I go into the third trimester.  I can't believe that I only have 3 more months until the baby is born!  What an adventure!

Best Book I've Read so Far!

Heading Home with your Newborn: From Birth to Reality—by Laura Jana and Jennifer Shu

I just finished this book last night and it is the best parenting book that I have read so far.  This book was written by two pediatricians and they take you through everything you need to know about your baby.  I learned so much!  As soon as I was finished I put it in Adam’s hands.  The topics that this book covers include:

-Feeding

-Sleeping

-Crying

-A “What goes in must come out” chapter

-Bathing

-Fevers

And so much more!!

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is pregnant or has recently had a baby.  It was so helpful and encouraging.  Check it out!

Halfway through 24 weeks

It’s been a few days since I’ve blogged, and actually it is not because I haven’t been feeling well.  I have actually been super busy and have had tons of energy!  It has been amazing—yay for the second trimester!

Adam and I keep thinking about how quickly the rest of our pre-baby time will go.  In about one month it will be Thanksgiving, then a month from then it will be Christmas, and then a month from then it will be pretty darn close to baby time!

We just registered for our child birthing classes, there is a baby shower date on the calendar, and my belly continues to grow.

A funny thing happened to me last night—the baby kicked so hard that it actually scared me and took my breath away!  It’s pretty amazing what God can do!

I have some exciting posts coming up this week for you to watch out for:
--An awesome pregnancy sleep aid

--An awesome pregnancy book
--An awesome maternity store

Yes, many awesome things are coming this week and I’m so excited to tell you about them!

Nursery Status

For the last week I have been working really hard in the nursery.  Adam and I have been going through things and getting rid of some, combining storage, and de-cluttering the nursery.  I showed  you a picture last week of the current status of the nursery and I thought I would show you an update of our progress.  We are really happy with it and never thought it would get to be this spacious. 

There's not a lot in it, but we are happy with the progress so far.

Another Nursery DIY Project

Adam and I knew that we needed another dresser or bookshelf for the nursery, but we didn't want to buy one.  So, here is how I repurposed a piece of furniture for the nursery for only $10.

This is our old entertainment center

 

We have been keeping it in the nursery and storing some things in it, but I thought it would make a good bookshelf or toy chest for the babies things.  So the first thing I did was paint it all one color.  You can't tell very well in the picture, but it is a soft green.

 

Then I sketched out some painting that I wanted to do on it, keeping with the forest thing and I painted it using acrylic paints.  This is the finished product.  I am really happy with it.  I also covered the glass much like I did with my plastic storage DIY.

 

And here it is in it's place in the nursery

 

Later today check out the pictures of our nursery progress!

 



Week 23 Update

One of my books that I am reading says I only have 1-2 more weeks in the second trimester and then I will be in the home stretch!

My belly—is getting bigger and bigger!  I had an appointment yesterday and the midwife said I am the perfect size!My baby—11.5 inches long and weighs 1 lb.
I’m reading—Clockwork Princess--Cassandra Clare
I’m getting ready to watch—All the episodes of my shows that I have missed.
I’m thinking about—my projects for the nursery
Something exciting—We are starting to get baby gifts in the mail!

 I love my belly!  And I love to take pictures of it!

Wonderful Weekends

Weekends are wonderful things.  And I seem to enjoy them even more now that I'm pregnant.  On the weekends, I get to sleep in as late as I want, I get to spend whole days with my husband, and recently I have a bunch of energy.

During the week I work and have other commitments and so I'm usually worn out in the evenings and do not want to do housework or anything else that needs to be done.  Needless to say, recently the housework has gotten away from me--big time.  During the weekend though, I'm on my own schedule and that gives me a surge of energy.  I can finally get things done!

So far this weekend Adam and I have:
-done all the dishes
-cleaned the kitchen and bathroom
-de-cluttered and straightened the whole house
-finally have some clean laundry
-watched a movie together
-finished Arrow season 2 together
-put our bed on risers, which allowed for the purchase and filling of 3 under the bed containers
-cleaned and organized the nursery
-wrote thank you notes for the baby gifts we have received so far
-enjoyed a refreshing Sunday morning at church

This afternoon I plan to complete the first step on a project for the nursery.  And then going to volunteer at the youth group party.

Sounds like a great weekend to me!  And even though I have done a lot and am a little tired from it, getting things done on the weekend energizes me.  So I may have gone to bed sore last night, but I was happy about it because I had worked for it.

What about you?  Are weekends when you get things done, or when you rest from everything you did during the week?

Counting down the Days

I’m starting to get more and more excited.  The baby is kicking and moving around a lot, there is a baby shower in the works, I’ve been organizing the nursery, a lot of my pre-pregnancy clothes don’t fit anymore, I’ve been stocking up on diapers and buying some clothes, and we got our first gift in the mail.

With all of these exciting things happening I can’t help but count the days until Baby Tomlinson will show up.  As of today, I have roughly 120 days left.  Is it too soon to start counting down the days?

I think not, so I made this countdown chain and hung it in the nursery.  I am a very visual person, so this way, if I am particularly stressed and feeling like there is no time left, then I can go look in the nursery and visual just how many days are left.  So here’s today.  (And of course this is all assuming the baby will come somewhere around the due date).

And since we’re talking about today, one thing that I have been particularly stressed about recently is the state of the nursery.  Here is its current state.

Yeah, I know it needs work, but now I can look at the wall and take a deep breath and realize that I have lots of time.  Lots of time to clean and organize.

So the next time you start to feel stressed, take a deep breath and do something to help you visualize how much time you have left.  Buy some candy and put that number of days worth of candy in a jar and each day you get a candy, then you can see how much is left, or find some other fun way for you to keep track.  Or just sit back, relax, and enjoy the adventure.

Dreaming

Things I think and dream about that I can’t wait to find out about our child:

Is it a boy or a girl?

Will they have red hair?

Who will they look like?

What is their personality like?

What will they like to do?

Will they be athletic? Musical?

Will they be calm or energetic?

What will be their favorite food?

 

I want to know all these things and more!  I cannot wait to get to know our child over their years growing up.  I dream about a different version of our child almost every night, which one will be the closest?  Maybe I’m not even close with any of my dreams, but it’s still fun to think about.

Preparing for Parenthood

If you asked me how I'm preparing to be a parent, I would tell you that I'm doing several things.  I’m reading.  I’m asking questions.  I’m fellowshipping with other mom’s and parents.  But that actually sounds like I'm making progress.

I’m not going to be able to learn everything, or even close to that, about parenting before the baby comes.  I know that a lot of it will be trial and error for our family to find out what works, and that’s a little scary.  Sure, there are general things that when talking with people we can plan to do, but it’s largely going to be about our family and our baby.  So there’s not a lot I can do right now to prepare, and that’s scary.  But I’m filling my head with as much information as I can, and I’m hoping that will pay off in the end.

What is the best parenting advice you have ever gotten?

What's that smell?

I have always heard that pregnant women can be bothered by certain smells, but I never expected this to affect me like it has.  It’s like I have a bionic nose and can smell everything, especially everything that bothers me. 

Adam has used the same shampoo ever since we were dating, and now I can’t stand it.  Now, it is way too strong and I just hate the smell.  If he puts is head on my shoulder, I have to turn my nose away from his hair because I just can’t take the smell.

I can’t stand the smell of garbage bags.  It’s like the worst smell in the world.  It could even be a clean, unfilled garbage bag, I still cannot stand it.

I can’t stand anything that smells old or like it has gone bad.  I want to throw up just thinking about those smells. 

Anything with a strong scent overwhelms me. 

Will my sense of smell get less sensitive after pregnancy?  Or is it here to stay?  If it is, I’ll have to buy Adam some new shampoo.

The two sides

To find out, or not to find out, that is the question, and the argument.  Adam and I both had differing views on finding out or not.  I wanted to find out because I wanted to be able to plan the nursery and register for gender specific clothes and things.  Adam didn’t want to find out because he wanted it to be a surprise. 

 

Many people told us that not finding out just makes everything more exciting, but in my mind it makes everything more stressful!  But I caved, we are not finding out.  We registered for gender neutral things, and we’re just going to wait and see.  I’m already growing antsy with anticipation!  I can see the logic to both sides, but that doesn’t make it any easier.  I wish I knew what to call my baby, besides baby. 

 

The funniest advice on this topic came from my midwife.  She said that when people decide to be surprised it gives them the extra incentive to push when you just don’t want to anymore.  You keep pushing because you want to find out if it’s a boy or girl.  If you already know, then you don’t have as much incentive to push.  So, there you have it, on the day I give birth to our baby, I’ll have the extra incentive of finding out if I have a son or daughter, even though I think the pain will be incentive enough.

I'm Losing Control

I realized this morning that pregnancy is preparing me to be a parent.  I am the kind of person who likes to be in control.  I like to have a plan and stick as close to that plan as possible.  I can be flexible and change my plan, even though it frustrates me, but I like to be the one in control of that.

With pregnancy, I have no control.  I have no control over how I feel day to day, I have no control over what foods I’m actually going to want to eat.  I have no control over how tired I am.  I have no control over growing my child, at this point.  Sure I can eat well and exercise, but in general I have no control over what my body is doing. 

For example, I plan to sleep 9 hours so I can get a lot of work done the next day.  I end up waking up twice to go to the bathroom and a countless number of times to get comfortable, and then I wake up with a migraine that lasts the rest of the day.  See?  No control.

I think this is one way that pregnancy is preparing me to be a parent.  When this baby is born, I will have no control.  I will literally have no control over when my water breaks and I go into labor.  I will have no control over when the baby starts crying.  I will have no control over when the baby wants to eat. 

 

Pregnancy is preparing me for a very long season of not being in control.  It will be an adventure, that I am sure of, so I guess my plan will have to be “go with the flow because it’s out of your control”.