Category Archives: Kids

39 Week Update

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I hit 39 weeks on Thursday and Lila officially became the fruit equivalent of a watermelon … a WATERMELON is in my stomach. Crazy!

My doctor’s appointment this week was a little disappointing  First, I haven’t progressed at all in the last three weeks. She’s still sitting really low and I’m close to being fully effaced, but no dilation. I’m trying not to dwell on that too much as I’ve heard women can be up to 5 cm dilated for weeks and it makes no difference in when labor starts.

Second, I found out that my doctor is going to be on vacation starting next Monday through the following Tuesday. I knew she was off for Thanksgiving, but didn’t realize it was a week long thing. I feel really comfortable with her, so it’s a little concerning to think a doctor I’ve never met could be delivering Lila. But I guess it’s out of my control and she’s coming out some way or another!

I came down with a bad cold/cough over the weekend and am still struggling to get over it. In general, I’ve just been pretty run down and not sleeping well. Last night I woke up four times to use the bathroom … before 3am! Thankfully, today is my last day coming into the office for work. I am going to work from home next week, which will make it much easier for me to rest up my body and get healthy before labor begins.

My colleagues have been so wonderful throughout my pregnancy, but even more so these last couple weeks. Rachel, the coordinator I work with brought me some beautiful flowers for my last day and a group of us are going to a spicy lunch today. I am seriously so thankful to work with such great people – it makes all the difference in the world!

It’s really hard not to read into every little thing happening with my body as a “sign of labor.” My Braxton Hicks have picked up and yesterday my stomach was rock hard for most the day … but of course as soon as I got home and laid down, it all went away. Sigh. I know I need to avoid Google for now and not read into everything I feel, but it’s hard not to be anxious to get this show on the road.

Luckily I have some distractions … one final pre-baby date night this Saturday with Luke, Thanksgiving and my family arriving from Ohio and San Francisco next Wednesday.

Now come on Lila- Mommy and daddy want to meet you!

 

38 Week Zombie

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I’m 38 weeks today and have officially hit the “ready for this to be over” stage. I can’t even begin to complain about how I feel, because I have had a much easier third trimester than many, but I hope these next two weeks go by quickly.

Out of no where this week I started having to get up about four times a night to use the restroom. Before that it was only once, so I’m thinking it has to do with Lila moving lower and putting pressure on my bladder. Couple that with a mind racing with thoughts of labor & delivery, maternity leave wrap up, Thanksgiving and Christmas plans, and sleep has become a mystery to me.

I’m still working full time, which up until this week was a great distraction. Now though, I find myself asking my colleagues to repeat themselves 2-3 times before my mind actually comprehends what they’re saying (which I’m sure they love!). And my back is usually in a tight knot from sitting all day by 1pm. My coworkers are all being wonderful though- one donated a ball from his office for me to sit on and we have a “what if my water breaks at work” plan in place.

My plan is to continue to work until either I go into labor or my doctor decides I need to stop. I really want my full three months with Lila, so the thought of wasting any of it before she comes doesn’t sit right with me.

November is already an incredibly busy month in my life – the ski season starts, Luke’s birthday, Thanksgiving, my nieces’ first birthday – but I’ve realized this week that I have to just do what I can and then give over control to other people to help. My priority has to be preparing my body, mind and home for this little girl’s arrival.

Luckily we are incredibly blessed to have the support of so many. My sister is “on call” to come from San Francisco whenever I go into Labor. Luke’s brother lives in town, so we can rely on him as well. My parents are coming for Thanksgiving and my mom will stay three weeks to be my right hand with baby-care and recovery. Then Luke’s family is coming for Christmas AND his mom is coming again in February for two weeks when I first go back to work.

On top of that many of our friends in-town have already offered to make us meals and help however they can once Lila is born.

Like I said, we’re so blessed.

I’m trying not to dwell too much on the labor and delivery ahead of me. I have been listening to some birth affirmations and reminding myself that if my body can grow a human with no help from me, it knows how to birth that human too.

We met with our doctor yesterday to go over our birth plan – basically to have as easy and healthy a delivery as possible without any unnecessary medical interventions. She was fully supportive of our plan, which is great. She also confirmed that she has no concerns about me being over-due based on Lila’s position and how effaced I am. Yeah!

So, in an effort to enjoy these last two weeks as best I can, tonight I plan to NOT cook dinner. We’ll order Thai. I’ll take a bath. Maybe read. Do some prenatal stretching. And most certainly will be going to bed no later than 9pm.

Lila’s Finished Nursery – Woodland Themed Nursery

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Yesterday I officially hit the 37 week mark, which means my Lila girl is “full-term!” It also means I snapped into must-get-everything-done mode. We installed the carseat, packed hospital bags, finished our birth plan and finally completed her nursery.

If you remember, we decided on a Woodland themed nursery. Mainly because THIS is the view our little girl will have outside her nursery:

To start with, I really wanted to create a tree in her room. But since we are renting (no painting) and the walls are grooved (no decals), we had to get creative. I had an idea to use those paper poms you see as party decoration. Thankfully my incredibly talented sister in law, Emily, visited us this fall and took charge of my vision to make this awesome tree.

She did it by cutting poster board in the shape of the trunk and branches, then glued fabric around the board. Then she hung the poms from clear string to create a 3D tree. I also have to give a major shout out to Lexi from the Etsy shop LadiesWhoLunchPoms for being so helpful in designing the poms with me so they looked just like tree leaves. In total, this tree cost us just $60 and makes a huge impact in the room!

Next, I filled the room with some key pieces of furniture. After doing a lot of research on cribs, I realized that I really didn’t want to spend a fortune. We landed on this crib and changing table from Ikea, which believe it or not was rated very highly on consumer reports for safety. I love the simple, natural wood look without the ornate design.

We spent more on the rocker/lounger from La-Z-Boy. Both my sister and brother got this same chair for their nursery’s and raved about how comfortable it is. It lays all the way flat, rocks and comes in tons of cool fabrics.

To bring through the woodland theme, I got some custom bedding made from the Etsy shop HappyMae. This was more of a splurge, but well worth it. The crib sheet, changing pad cover and crib skirt are so unique and vibrant. They also came pre-washed and in super-soft fabrics.

The other custom order I made was the letters for her name from Etsy shop TheRuggedPearl. I couldn’t be happier with how they turned out and the little critters that were added go perfectly! We made these girlie letters a little more “woodsy” by hanging them from a branch we found on a hike near our house.

We rounded out the woodland look with a bunch of fun accessories including these woodland prints from Etsy shop MyZoetrope, an “We love you Deerly” embroidered hoop from Etsy shop RedRedCompletelyRed, family photos and a beautiful honeycomb art print my talented collegauge Margo gave me as a baby shower present!

The last piece to the nursery still to come is a special woodland mobile being hand-made by Grandma Batman – Luke’s mom. She saw my blog post about wanting this mobile off Etsy and volunteered to make us one by hand. I can’t wait to add this special touch to the room.

 

This was the first room I’ve ever attempted to do any type of decorating on – we’ve always rented furnished apartments, so I am feeling really happy with how it turned out. I need to take my good camera (all these were taken with my phone) into the room and get some wide-angle photos to show it all together.

I am so excited to spend lots of time in this room with my girl. I hope she loves it as much as I do!

One Month Until D-Day

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Today marks exactly one month until my due date – Nov. 22. It seems surreal to think that my pregnancy is almost over and pretty soon there will be another human living in our house, fully reliant upon us to provide, protect and care for her.

This weekend we spent quite a bit of time preparing for life with a new baby. On Saturday we completed our “labor test run” drive down to our hospital in Carson City … about a 45 minute drive from our house. As we made our way along the two-lane highway that hugs the edge of Lake Tahoe, I was thinking a few things:

A) I really hope it’s not snowing a blizzard when we are going to the hospital

B) if I am having contractions every five minutes (as many women are when they are hospital-bound) I will have about nine contractions in the car (EEP!) and

C) having this baby IN the car is not an option

We arrived at the hospital and after going through pre-registration, went up to labor & deliver to get a tour. One of the nurses took us around the L&D floor and I was amazed at how chill it was up there. So quiet. Dim lights. Laughter in the halls.

Each mom gets her own new room with a tub, shower, bed for her husband, TV, WIFI and fridge. Plus some pretty great mountain views out the big windows.

They do everything in one room – labor, deliver and care for the baby. There is no crowded nursery your baby is sent to for their post-birth checks. It’s all done right next to your bedside. I also really appreciated that the nurse went out of her way to tell me they are big advocates for immediate skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding. I was worried about Lila getting whisked away for unnecessary cleanings and measuring before I could really bond with her.

Walking out of the hospital, I felt at peace and not fearful at all. The facilities were relaxed. The nurses were sweet. And my doctor is incredibly supportive and nurturing. All elements are lined up for us to have the birth we want.

Later that day, after feeling like we had the labor & delivery prep down, I started thinking about what we needed to know once we bring Lila home. Thankfully I’ll have my sister and/or my mom in town depending on when she arrives to help guide us. But still, I really have no clue what goes into caring for a newborn.

So, I parked myself on the couch and watched video after video on YouTube regarding “Infant Care.” I found this baby series from “How Cast” to be pretty good. It covered the basics like swaddling, picking up a newborn, calming a crying baby, bathing and feeding. Basically though I realized it’s a lot of common sense and mommy intuition.

As the sun got lower in the sky that day, I went downstairs and sat in Lila’s nursery to have some quiet time rocking in the chair we have there, re-folding some blankets and thinking about how much our lives are about to change. It’s overwhelming at times to think about the things we’ll be giving up: freedom to come and go as we please, time to spend doing hobbies (like blogging) and the ability to live our lives solely for ourselves.

But truthfully, I am happy to let our current life go if it means getting to experience everything that comes with motherhood. From what I hear, pretty soon after adding a baby to the mix, you can’t even remember (or want to remember) what life was like before they arrived.

And so, the final countdown to baby girl’s arrival begins!