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!!
 

 

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?

2 Days Until Christmas!

I had a rough night last night.  It’s actually been a rough couple weeks.  I go to the midwife today for my 34 week appointment.  I cannot believe that my due date is only 6 weeks away!  I have developed carpal tunnel, heartburn, and general soreness.  The baby likes to play in my ribs, and I get up around four times a night.  I am ready for this baby to come!  In terms of discomfort I know that I don’t really have it that bad.  I know it could be worse.  And all together I am really enjoying being pregnant.  I’m just so excited to see our baby!  I am pretty worn out and while I am thankful to not have the stress of traveling for the holidays, I kinda wish we were.  This is going to be our first Christmas without seeing our families.  They have sent gifts for us to put under our little Christmas tree, but it’s not the same.  And knowing they’re all together makes me sad

because I just want to be part of that party.  I’m really going to focus on relaxing and enjoying the holidays with Adam.  We are pretty busy these next couple nights with responsibilities at church, and the house is a wreck and needs to be cleaned but after that, I just want to rest.  I am going to take the rest of the year off from blogging.  Just so I can focus on spending time with my husband and friends in the area.  I will start writing again in January for the home stretch!  I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Blessed

I am so incredibly blessed.  This pregnancy has taught me to wait patiently for God because he has a plan and he is taking care of us.  I had been having a lot of stress and anxiety about all the things that the baby was going to need right away.  Whenever I saw a sale on something we needed, I wanted to run right out and get it so I could be sure we got a good deal on it, even though it was something on our registry and I hadn't had a shower yet.

Adam one day just looked at me and said, you are not allowed to buy anything for the baby until after the shower.  Good advice, but stressful for me.  What if we didn't get something we really needed and then there were no good deals on it and we had to pay an arm and a leg for it.  I should have just taken a deep breath and waited on God.  He had a plan to provide and I just didn't see it.

In the last few weeks, gifts from family and friends started showing up at our door, and then last weekend one of my best friends threw me an amazing shower.  (You can see photos from the shower here on her blog).  It was an amazing event and I was so incredibly blessed by all the ladies who came from church and gave me such generous gifts.  I was overwhelmed by their love, affection, and advice.  God provided a loving and giving church family to shower me with gifts and support.  I am so blessed that we moved here to be a part of the CrossWay family.  It has been such a blessing already and God is providing a loving family for us to be a part of right here in Nashua.  How amazing!

After the shower, I got in super planning mode.  God provided someone who had a crib, almost brand new, that they were giving away!  He also provided a cheap changing table on craigslist.  I was just in awe as I saw God take care of everything.  We were able to get lots of things the baby would need with the gift cards that we were given and we only have one thing to purchase.  We are so blessed.  Sometimes it is hard to wait on God, but when you do, he will show you his amazing provisions.

Advent should be another season of sitting and waiting.  Adam and I have been doing an advent devotional (by Ann Voskamp) and these ideas of advent really stood out to me.

•  Advent comes from the Latin which means "coming".  Throughout the month of advent we are waiting for God to come. 
• An infinite God becomes infant.
• The Giver becomes the Gift.
• Wait for the coming of the God in the manger who makes Himself bread for us near starved.

We should be actively waiting for God to show up during advent.  Oftentimes my waiting becomes saturated in the gifts and the flash of Christmas.  But Christ coming to Earth was a simple, beautiful gift. 

During this month I have been thinking a lot about Christmas and how to focus on the gift that it is.  I'm taking a deep breath, and I am waiting to see what God is going to do.  I am being intentional in waiting for the baby in the manger.  And I know that in my waiting I will see God show up in amazing ways and with beautiful blessings.

Here is a link to a song that has been on my mind during this season.  I hope you enjoy it.

Things I Need to Remember

This is a list of things that I am learning about being pregnant that I need to remember for the remainder of my pregnancy.

1. I'm pregnant.  I can't do things the way that my non-pregnant 24 year old self would do things.

2. I am slower than I want to realize.  Yesterday I decided to run errands in the afternoon before picking up Adam.  I went 6 places and it took me three and a half hours.  Non-pregnant 24 year old me could have done it in 2.  But now I'm slower and have to find the bathrooms more frequently.

3. I need to go to the bathroom when a bathroom is available, not when I have to go.  It can be hard to find a bathroom when you are running errands.

4. I can't sit on the ground crafting all evening.  Well, I can, but the next day I will feel it (like today).

5. I can't trust my brain.  I need to write things down.

6. I can't be the sleeper I once was.  I used to never have any trouble sleeping unless something was wrong.  Now when I lay down, I never know what I am going to get, except for multiple trips to the bathroom.

7. I can't bend and lift as I once did.  I need to ask for help.

8. I can take a deep breath and not get everything done.

9. I can just sit and enjoy the baby moving.

10. I can cherish these days because there aren't many left.

11. I can eat whatever I want.

12. I can wait excitedly for a little baby to arrive.

Sleepless night for new reasons

I've talked about sleepless nights before, but now I have new things plaguing me that are keeping me from sleeping.  Fatigue has come back at me full force, but now I cannot get a good night's sleep.  And this time, it's not because I'm uncomfortable.

I had been sleeping great ever since getting that awesome pillow, but now, even though I am comfortable I cannot sleep! I'm so tired and yet I wake up every few hours in the night to roll over, go to the bathroom, rub my hands (because of carpal tunnel), or just lay there wide awake.  Is my body just preparing me for sleepless nights?

I'm always so tired when I wake up.  The only time I can get some good sleep is with the return of my afternoon nap.  I think I'm going to have to start scheduling 2 naps a day into my routine just to try and get me back to a good amount of sleep.

Do you have any tricks for sleeping at night during these last few weeks?

The Quest for Comfortable

Daily I am on a mission to achieve "comfortable".  When I am sitting, standing, sleeping, really doing anything it is so much better for me if I am comfortable, but I am finding that right now that is easier said than done.  There are several things that hinder my ability to become comfortable.

1-Back pain
2-I don't bend as well as I used to
3-I'm hot...no cold...no hot
4-Leg cramps
5-Carpal tunnel in my hands
6-Not enough pillows
7-Too many pillows
8-The baby is laying funny

Now you can see my problem.  On top of that, once I achieve a few seconds of a comfortable position I undoubtedly need to:


1-Go to the bathroom
2-Get something to eat
3-Get something to drink
4-The baby moves and pinches something

And then I start the whole shifting and situating fun all over again. 

If I find a few minutes of total comfort every day than I am a happy camper, however long it takes me to get there.