Friday, January 30, 2015

Baby Lewis #2 (Weeks 12-14)

Date:
1/21/15
How far along?:
14 weeks, 4 days

My baby is the size of a:
Navel Orange
4.5 inches and about 2-3 ounces

Symptoms:
I'm doing very well! Emotionally I'm doing really well. I'm having trouble with sleep & insomnia, my midwife said that the last little bit of lingering blues may be resolved once I'm able to consistently get sleep on a normal schedule. We also talked about how since I've already struggled with some depression in the pregnancy that I would be more likely to face Postpartum Depression after the baby comes.
Morning sickness wise I'm doing really well! Far better than I ever did in my pregnancy with Coralie. I still occasionally throw up or have a bad day where I throw up several times that day but it looks like a trend is beginning of more good days than bad!

Weight Gain:
At my Midwife appointment a couple of days ago I was down 8.5 pounds over all and according to my home scales, I was actually up 2 pounds from my lowest weight so far in this pregnancy.

Gender:
20 week sono is scheduled for Feburary 25 so we'll know for sure then. John is quite convinced it's a girl after the heartbeat came in at 157 BMP. We were going to have the blood test drawn to learn the gender and test for several other genetic abnormalities etc but turns out that our less-than-delightful insurance won't cover that, so... I have better things to do with my money so we've opted out of that test.

Maternity Clothes:
Yes, and thanks to a very sweet lady in my church MOMs group who was getting rid of all her maternity clothes I actually own winter maternity clothes now! Before this, I only owned one long sleeved shirt and it's not my favorite. I was getting really tired of that dang red shirt!

Movement:
When my Midwife had the Doppler on, baby was thudding and thumping away in there moving all over the place! Since the appointment, I've been pretty confident I've felt baby move a couple of times! Right about 14 weeks and 5 or 6 days when I think I felt the first flutters/movement.

Sleep:
Not fantastic. Midwife has me taking half a Unisom at night. Last night was the first time I did this, it took me a while but I was still asleep two hours before I normally was!

Cravings/Aversions:
Eh. Food is a little icky to me. I'm eating way too much junk/processed food because I'm just not up to standing in the kitchen cooking. I have been eating a small bowl of pickles for the past few nights, but I've always loved pickles, it just isn't usual for me to eat quite so many so frequently.

 I miss:
Wine. I very rarely drink but while pregnant it is the forbidden fruit thing, it's all I want! I've also kind of been craving Monster energy drinks for the same reason. I had this exact thing happen when I was pregnant with Cora.

Best moment this week:
Hearing the heartbeat at the Midwife's appointment.
When we went to the Midwife Cora went along too (John was there to help corral her). She was being fidgety and a little noisy the whole visit up until my Midwife had the heartbeat on the Doppler. Cora was so quiet and interested in listening to her baby brother or sisters heart beat. It was the sweetest thing! She just sat in Johns arms with her mouth open slightly looking very interested in what was going on!  

Goals for the upcoming week:
I don't have any fun baby related goals right now. I'm trying to track down some information on our awful insurance and what it will or won't cover (we learned that it won't cover the blood test but we've already missed the window for some of the alternative tests, which insurance wouldn't have really covered much of either... so we're basically being forced to not do any testing or pay for it out of pocket). We've also decided that we're switching insurance plans in April when John's company offers open enrollment. Not ideal to change insurance over half way through a pregnancy but it's still the right choice for us in the long run. With all the junk that insurance isn't covering (we haven't heard back if they'll at all cover our birthing center, that's my current project) I've decided I'm all for home birth, we'd end up paying less, I'm perfectly happy with the idea of not having to leave home and ride in a bumpy van for 30 minutes while in labor. John however is less enthused at the idea of a home birth.
After we learn the gender, fun baby goals will arise!

Belly Pictures:
Displaying 20150124_170624.jpg

Past Pregnancy:
Here is my week 15 update from pregnancy with Cora.
From what I remember, I'm pretty much right on track with where I was last time.

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Looking Back: Expectations vs Reality of Natural Birth in a Hospital



Looking back at my Natural Birth and Birth Plan, I'm very happy over all with everything and the outcome. When Susan, our Doula, met with me at 2 weeks postpartum she asked if I'd do a natural birth again? Without hesitation I replied "yes!".

Honestly, the day Baby Girl was born I was ready to do it again! Not in that moment, mind you. I was certainly still recovering but the effort was absolutely worth it and having a sweet baby in your arms at the end is the best prize in the world!  (Fair warning - if you're squeemish, this post probably isn't for you.)

Several things about the whole process of birth surprised me. In all honesty I was pretty delusional about what I would be like and what I would want in my labor/birth. Some of the things I packed for my Labor & Delivery bag for the hospital not only went unused, they were downright ridiculous when it came down to it. If I hadn't started the process at 4 cm dilated and had spent those first hours laboring 1-4 cm they may have been useful then, but by the time you're making it to 5-7 cm things like a head massager, gum, sleep eye mask, neck pillow, music & headphones to name a few were totally useless. I was glad however that I had packed multiple bags, I had a bag for L&D, a bag for postpartum that included clothes for John and a separate bag for Cora's things. This cut down on how much junk had to be drug into the hospital in the middle of labor and how much unnecessary stuff had to be in the postpartum hospital room.

I always imagined that we'd have these cute snap shots of us parking and walking into the hospital to deliver our daughter... umm no. The idea of stopping to take a picture on our way in the door of the hospital was idiotic (mind you I was at 7 cm)! My goal was to not have a contraction between the door of the van & making it to L&D. Surprisingly enough I made it! After my last contraction in the parking lot my next one was in front of the nurses asking idiotic questions at the L&D desk.

Speaking of idiotic questions, I have no clue why I had to fill out so much paperwork in pre-registration for the hospital because they ask SO many redundant questions that they should have on file. Annoying yes, but when they're asking questions and looking at you for responses when all your thought process can contain is how to breathe through the contraction and embrace the intensity it officially becomes idiotic! I highly recommend you have your husband in the room for these idiotic questions, despite all the paperwork I filled out they had me down as being RH negative (I'm not, they had the wrong blood type on file!). In the middle of contractions I was trying to tell them that yes I am "positive that my blood type is AB+", I even had John dig my Red Cross blood donation card out of my wallet and show it to them with my blood type. That was the only big mistake in all of that, everything else was small - they thought John's name was Mark or some other wrong name and their file showed that this was my 2nd child.

I'm such a vocal person. Sitting in a room and to not participate in an ongoing conversation is just not me at all. When I was in labor, I would hear the whispers between Susan and John or one of them and my nurse, Jessica. Several times I had some quip or comment that was just ready to come bubbling out of my mouth but each and every time I did speak it took such effort to leave my "quiet place" inside my mind I found myself resisting the instinct to speak more often than not. I was amazed at how unimportant the things outside my quiet place became to me. I was able to let go and simply exist from contraction to contraction. 

When we watched videos of labors I was mortified by the groans & moans I was hearing. I could not imagine sitting there and listening to myself moan through contractions for hours upon hours. I created this fantastic playlist with songs I knew well, uplifting Spiritual songs that I grew up with. I imagined myself thinking through the lyrics so I wouldn't focus on hearing myself moan. Reality - moaning wasn't really a reaction to pain, it was a way to work through the contraction. To emotionally work with my body as it labored. When I was in labor the quiet allowed me to completely concentrate on what was going on and to rest between contractions. Susan suggested music, remembering that I had expressed this concern in one of our prenatal visits, I declined the offer and recessed back into my own little quiet world.

I'm usually a pretty modest person. Everyone told me that by the time I'm about to deliver that I wouldn't care about my modesty anymore. I didn't really believe them and the very small part of me that really considered what they were saying to be true thought that while I may not care about my dignity and modesty at that moment, I would regret it later on and wish I had insisted on it in labor. I was wrong about this too.
I have a story about that...

When I was 34 weeks pregnant I made a trip to L&D for what I thought was preterm labor with Braxton Hicks and broken waters. Turns out I just peed my pants... but I was horribly mortified at the lack of modesty forced on me by the on call doctor which shaped most of my expectations for labor. Making a long story short, nurse came in told me I was good to get dressed again. I changed clothes back into my jeans, OB on call comes in and wants to do a cervical exam just to be sure no dilation etc, I pull my pants off under the covers on the bed assuming she'll just pull them up creating a little tent of sorts protecting my modesty (I mean after all, I went to all that effort to take my pants off under the covers!). Nope, OB yanks the covers off, I'm sitting there stark naked from the waist down with a nurse, head nurse, a random someone I have no clue who she was that wandered into my room during this experience and a sono tech all watching and chatting away during my exam. I was really ticked off and marched myself into my Midwifes office at my next appointment insisting that I would wear my own clothes to labor/deliver & that was that. So now that you have some back story, back to what reality looked like in L&D...

When I arrived at the hospital in labor & the nurse (who hadn't yet read my birth plan) asked me to change into the hospital gown, I considered refusing but then the idea of possibly having to change later (when I was about to push per hospital policy) was so daunting I just agreed. Sure enough, hospital gowns are awful for modesty. My tooshy was showing to the entire world and I couldn't give a darn! My sweet nurse tried to keep it covered for me, but generally (in my mind, never verbalized) I'd rather her leave my toosh exposed because she was distracting me as she'd cover it. I delivered with my toosh hanging out facing the direction of the oh, roughly 20 people that flooded my room to watch "the lady that's doing it without meds" and nursery staff and I just didn't give a darn (and still don't today). In fact, my modesty was gone through that whole hospital stay, I am woefully lacking in pictures that I'm comfortable publishing here on the blog from the hospital stay because in most of them I'm topless! I couldn't figure out how to move my shirt out of the way to breastfeed and I had all these nurses and LC's helping, so shirtless was just easiest when it came time to feed.

Poop. It seems like every pregnant momma worries about pooping in delivery. While pregnant I really didn't give it much thought. On the occasion that it came up I just figured there's nothing you can do about it so why worry, I'd just deal with it if it happened. Well it did! In my quiet mental place I slightly cared, but not all that much. It started as I squatted bedside working to shift Cora's head to fix a lip of cervix that hadn't moved out of the way after they broke my waters. I used the energy to mention that "I feel like I'm going to poop", my nurse was very sweet about it and said that it's baby's head moving down that I was feeling but didn't confirm that yes indeed I was pooping on the floor. From John's account by the time I said this, I had already started (and pooped on his foot as he squatted behind me) and not two minutes later her head crowned & I experienced the ring of fire (about the only time I screamed out in labor, not as much from pain {though it burned like a not-so-nice word!} but from surprise!). (Details of that whole episode are in my Birth Story Part 3) If you're worried about this too, check out this article! They discuss how poop is normal & a good sign in labor - it's item #1 on the list!

Being a first time parent is like walking off a ledge into a pit of darkness... Okay so that's probably a bit dramatic, but you really don't know what to expect. Even though I'd planned out what I thought to be every single detail of my natural hospital birth and what I did and didn't want in newborn procedures etc, we were still completely blind-sided when Cora developed respiratory problems after birth. You never can be 100% prepared for everything. Now that I've done this once there are still things I'm unsure about for our second time around! For our second child we're planning to deliver at a Birth Center and I wonder how the different location will change my experiences in labor. Although we can't predict the future, I hope that this post will help you if you're planning an unmediated birth in a hospital! Please feel free to ask any questions!

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Finish This Week 56

FINISHTHIS2015 

This week's prompt for Finish this with Nicole - My Thoughts on Chocolate

Oh goodness, where to start. Chocolate makes everything better! I'll take chocolate however I can get it, be it in a cookie or a spoonful of chocolate fudge icing straight from the jar in the refrigerator. In college my Aunt M would keep pieces of Dove Dark Chocolate in the freezer. On a bad night or after a busy day that was the perfect pick-me-up treat. 

Some of my favorite holiday treats are things dipped in chocolate. How can you beat chocolate covered strawberries for Valentines day or Chocolate covered popcorn and pretzels for, well any day!?!

Speaking of chocolate, if you have a Costco membership you have to get their chocolate cake for your next celebration or party. It is a chocoholic's heaven!

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Summer Lovin'

All this warm weather we've been having has me thinking about summer! We've made it a point to be outside every day this week just to soak up some sun and warmth.

This summer I'm hoping to mark off a couple of our Texas Bucket List items. 
I don't think we'll make it out of the state as I will either be huge a huge preggo person or have just had a baby and will now have 2 children going everywhere with us.

The thing that will be lacking in our summer fun list is pretty much anything with water. My midwife insists that I don't swim in anything that isn't chlorinated. She doesn't particularly care that I actually now own a maternity swimsuit and would like to actually use it. ;)

This spring the first thing I'd like to do is go back to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens. We went for our Babymoon Staycation while pregnant with Cora. There is a lot of walking involved and I waited too late in the pregnancy to manage that much walking. This time I'd like to plan ahead and go earlier in the pregnancy and earlier in the year. They have a beautiful Rose Garden area, well I assume it's beautiful because you could tell it could be beautiful but in August in Texas heat it was pretty much dead when we were there.



I'd also like to do some camping, maybe if we go before it's terribly warm I'll A) not be miserable and B) not miss swimming as much. Oh and by camping I mean either in a camper or cabin because I really can't imagine sleeping in a tent pregnant.

Right now I'm considering either Inks Lake State Park or Lake Meridian State Park.

Both seem to have pretty nice hiking options and pretty scenic views!

Inks Lake State Park, Burnet, Texas
via
 What are your plans for this summer?

 Today I'm linking up with Amanda and Crystal for Texas Tuesday!
Hall Around Texas

Friday, January 23, 2015

Happy Birthday Bestie!


Meeting Auntie Lauren
 
Happy Birthday to Lauren!

Thank you for being such an awesome friend & wonderful Auntie to Coralie!


 Check out those Auntie skills!


Wednesday, January 21, 2015

The Cost of a Baby in our Experience: The little Things


When we were expecting Cora, there were so many things that were uncertain. I think that's the case for most new parents. Everything in your world is changing and you have no point of reference to compare it to. One of the things we spent lots of time discussing and thinking about was what will this baby cost us? 

Many things contribute to the cost of having a child, from insurance benefits to your particular tastes in baby gear and clothes. Everyone will have different experiences & find different price points depending on your situation & location. Even though I can't guarantee you'll spend xyz, I figure this sure beats those articles you see online that scare the bejeezers out of you suggesting that you could spend upwards of a bazillion dollars in the baby's first year of life. Here are our real life experiences in the cost of having a baby.


Right off the bat, You should know, this won't be what you spend if you want a lot of brand new items for baby. The way I see it is... the baby will use this stuff for less than a year. And in some cases, a month or less! WHY buy new things when there are gently used items that are in perfect shape for 70% off or more???  ( I will also note, that we did make some splurges that in all honesty are totally unnecessary or there was a cheaper way to get what we were buying at full price.)


The first thing we bought was prenatal books. We went to our local second hand book store and loaded up. In the end we compiled a library of 12 great books and the total cost was roughly $60.00 In retrospect - this was a totally unnecessary expense that I wouldn't make again - there is just so much information out there on the internet that I ended up using more than my books. BUT, if you want the books, they're out there & you can find them a lot cheaper than we did!

    Anything & Everything -  I quickly learned about the wonderful world of Just Between Friends sales. If you haven't been to a JBF sale before and you want to have a baby on a budget... GO! Well worth your time and money!! (check it out if you have older children too! They really do have anything & Everything!)

At the first JBF sale I went to, I picked up several items totaling out at $71.00!! (Portable changing table with cover that will fold, Boppy pillow with cover, a baby carrier, a couple of toys, drawer & cabinet latches, space saving high chair, blankets, piddle pad, spoons and other baby kitchen supplies, a few basic onsies in gender neutral colors, passy holder, diaper bag, & a bath ducky that checks water temperature). When I got home, I did a few Google searches and found some of the bigger items I'd purchased - we had saved over $113.54!! And all of this stuff were things I would be buying at some point anyway!!

Before baby girl came we went to two more Just Between Friends sales (in neighboring towns) - for both of those sales, we spent a total of $50.00! (items included Boppy infant positioner with cover, kitchen items for feeding toddlers, table bumpers & child safety items for around the house, various clothing items, a diaper bag - new with tags on it, two more child carriers, Johnny Jump Up & a couple of stuffed animals.) I didn't do the comparison against what it would have been new this shopping trip, but that comes out to roughly $3.50 each if you break it down per item - obviously some were more than others, but killer deals all the same!


Clothes, clothes & more clothes - I know I will sound like a broken record here, but I can't preach it enough! It is so handy knowing people with kiddos, really it is a blessing! We got tons of hand-me-downs!! What we couldn't use (wrong season, etc.) we passed on to others. Cost? Free! If you don't have access to someone for hand-me-downs you should seriously visit your local consignment stores (ie Kid to Kid, Once Upon a Child etc). They always have great deals, but around here they often run deals - as in every single holiday, no matter how insignificant. Even 15% off of already deeply reduced prices makes for an amazing deal!
We bought some clothes for Baby Girl, because how could we resist?!? Other than her Texas Tech gear (which I'm so ashamed at how much we spent, I won't even tell you here - feel free to ask if you're really curious!) everything we personally bought was from second hand stores and a couple of garage sales some friends of friends were having. I didn't do an excellent job of keeping up with those receipts, but looking back at budgets it looks like we spent about $60.00 (keep in mind, that bought us roughly 20 - 30 outfits, coming out to about $2 and $3 each!!).
As time has passed and we've needed to expand Cora's wardrobe with the seasons, I've learned that while these resale shops can offer great deals, I still greatly prefer consignment sales like Just Between Friends! Towards the end of their sale days, they run 1/2 off days on most of their items. This is when we stock up on clothes! We will pop into the sale early on, pick up whatever big baby gear and items we need that will likely be gone by the end of the sale. If I'm looking for a particular item of clothing for her, I'll quickly look through the clothing sections (which are very big!) but we save most of our clothes shopping for half off days!

 Diaper pails! We decided to go with the Diaper Champ rather than the Diaper Genie. Reason? You can use regular trash-bags in the Diaper Champ - the Diaper Genie requires special bags, an added expense once baby comes. They retail for about $30, we bought ours for $10.75 in perfect condition from a local resale shop! {And if I'm being 100% honest, we bought another one for $10 at a garage sale to keep over at my Dad's house, obviously not an essential expense, but my point is - this was not a one time, can't ever find that great of a deal experience!} To save even more? A trashcan with a lid would work just fine! Really the key here with any system is to just take out the trash often!

Cora on the knock off Boppy.
Nursing Pillow - I had gotten a Boppy with a cover at a JBF sale ($10-$15 range), but I knew that I'd like another one to have in our bedroom (and my friend swears it is really handy in postpartum recovery to sit on!). If you're pregnant, I'm sure you get the promotional emails for free Nursing Covers, Nursing Pillows, Carseat Covers etc., you just pay shipping! It is a great deal, but just be warned... their Nursing Pillow is not exactly like a Boppy! It's smaller and not as wide and it's cover doesn't come off to wash. If you have larger hips, like me, then it is a tight fit to use it as it is intended. Was it worth $12.90 (the cost of shipping and handling) to get a nursing pillow? Yes! Just be aware it isn't identical to the Boppy.

Bottles - We picked up a gallon zip lock bag full of the bottles we chose (Platex Drop in System) at a consignment sale much like Just Between Friends for $5.00! There were 10 bottles in the bag, bringing the cost down to $.50 a bottle! We also got some drop in liners in a brand-new, unopened box for $1.00. This only left us needing to buy new nipples for these bottles (they had them at the sale, I would just prefer to buy this item new).


The total we spent on the items besides furniture, pack and plays etc for our first child; Roughly $300.00. Now that we're expecting baby #2, most of those items won't need to be purchased again. We're anticipating that our largest expense for this child (outside the cost of prenatal and birth...) will be clothes!

In the end, I can admit that I'm afraid to think of what the cost of some "smaller" items would have added up to without the generous gifts of friends and family. Crib sheets, blankets, Dreft detergent, bottle sterilizers, Bumpo seat & tray, nursing covers, carseat covers, diapers, wipes, bibs, shoes, clothing accessories, toys, burp rags - all of these are things we didn't have to buy but all of these things are items I see at JBF sales & resale shops all. the. time. My point? Don't buy new until you have to!! 

I have done my best to include all the items I can think of in this category - if you have a question, please feel free to ask! I would love to share any information we may have on finding these items at reasonable prices!

Friday, January 16, 2015

A Birthday 101 in 1001

    ** So, my birthday was actually several days ago (January 4), but I spent the 5 days prior to my birthday sleeping and coping with being sick and the same held true for my actual birthday. So, I've finally gotten around to finishing the post. My birthday post 2 weeks late!**
    I am 26 years old today. It's kind of hard for me to believe that since last year I was so wrapped up in being a new Mommy to Cora it didn't even really register that I had a birthday! (the other mothers in my MOMs group say this is the same for them, some of them couldn't even tell you their age without doing math!)
    In honor of my birthday today... I was torn between writing a new 101 in 1001 post or doing a 30 before 30 list. I decided that since starting today (January 4, 2015), I will finish on October 1, 2017 and then I can do a 30 before 30 list since that will give me 459 days to complete that task list.
    My last 101 in 1001 & how I did completing it. (I'll apparently include links when Blogger decides it wants to work properly...)
    PERSONAL
  1. Participate in the 3 day Breast Cancer Walk
  2. Participate in a CF research/fundraising event.
  3. Complete 10 things on my Texas Bucket List
  4. Take a Cake Decorating Class
  5. Start a batch of Friendship Bread & share
  6. Donate my hair to Locks of Love
  7.  Read through Bible from Start to Finish
  8. Go on a hand-held electronics fast for 1 week (no cell phone {except calls}, tablet, laptop)
  9. Buy a new watch
  10. Be in Graduate School
  11. Treat myself to a Blow Out at the Dry Bar (maybe make it a girls day?!?)
  12. Create/Have a house cleaning schedule and stick to it for one month
  13. Read 10 new books
  14. Read Lord of the Rings series (doesn't count toward completing task above)
  15. Clean out my closet completely - if it is worn out, throw it out! If it doesn't fit, get rid of it!
  16. Buy a hammock
  17. Take flowers to my mothers grave.
  18. Learn to French Braid hair (correctly)
  19. Get pink couch reupholstered
  20. Attend Women of Faith Conference
  21. Try Lobster
  22. Learn how to make good iced coffee at home
  23. Cook for a new mom!
  24. Buy a gun & learn to shoot it
  25. Have a yard sale, clean out our junk & start cleaning out Dad's junk.
  26. Change my passport to my married name.
  27. Visit the thrift stores in Denton & find my favorite stores to meet our needs
  28. Purchase a FitBit or similar device. 
  29. Finish Cora's Baby Book
  30. Do a year calendar for any future kiddos (to heck with this Baby Book thing!)

    RELATIONSHIPS
  31. Celebrate John & my 4 year anniversary...
  32. 5 year anniversary, and...
  33. 6 year anniversary.
  34. Surprise a friend with flowers!
  35. Take John to the driving range

    HEALTH/FITNESS
  36. Go to the dentist (when I'm not pregnant)
  37. Update CPR certification
  38. Buy 10 new Essential Oils and learn how to use them.
  39. Donate blood at least twice
  40. Give up Soda for at least 1 month
  41. 1 month break from all fast food
  42. Be able to do 100 consecutive pushups! 
  43. Run a mile without walking, then...
  44. Run a 5 K

    ENTERTAINING
  45.  Host a party at our house, general dinner party
  46.  Host a wine tasting party
  47. Host a game watching party for Texas Tech (including using all my Tech house decor!)

    FAMILY
  48. Establish a good bedtime routine for Coralie & stick to it! 
  49. Take the family Bowling! 
  50. Take John Ice Skating
  51. Celebrate John's 30th birthday!
  52. Take family to New Mexico or Colorado (to see the mountains)
  53. Go to Vegas!
  54. Host a Family Reunion for my Dad's side of the family
  55. Have another kiddo, be pregnant or start adoption process
    1. Baby #2 Due July 2015
  56. Take Cora & Family to the State Fair (again)
  57. Take Cora & Family to Six Flags
  58. Take a Cruise (5 year anniversary!)
  59.  Lake Day with the Family
  60. Take a Trip to New York to see Johns Grandparents & to NYC
  61.  Go to a Hot Air Balloon Festival
  62. Adopt a dog for Cora/the Kids.
  63. Send cookies to Joshua in Japan
  64. Take family camping at Jellystone Park for a holiday celebration (Halloween or Christmas)
  65.  Take family to Fort Worth Botanical Gardens.
  66. Visit Dallas Arboretum for a fun seasonal event
  67. Purchase bicycles for the rest of the family & go on a family bike ride.
  68. Go camping at least once a year
  69. Take family to Lake Meridian 
  70. John & I tour Llano Estacado Winery in Lubbock
  71. Update Wills, Living Wills and other pertinent documents.
  72. Set up nursery for future children without buying the "nursery in a bag" thing - do it all piece-meal, preferably from Etsy!
  73. Have pictures taken of Cora in my wedding dress
  74. Get a couples massage with John
  75. Keep cousins Rachel & Andrew for a weekend for my Aunt & Uncle
  76. Enroll Cora in a Mothers Day Out Preschool program
  77. Start a childrens Christmas Tree tradition & do 18 year ornament project with each kid.
  78. For at least 1 week, no meals on the couch, eat at the table for all of them.

    FINANCES
  79. Close out Capital One 360 savings account & open account with local Credit Union 
  80. Budget for all 12 months in a row
  81. Be 100% debt free (from student loans, van payment, credit cards & medical debt)
  82. Have a 3 month emergency fund in savings
  83. Contribute $5 for every task I complete on this list to my IRA.

    HOME
  84. Have house plans made for building our house!
  85. Plant at least 5 new trees
  86. Plant garden on our new property
  87. Fence the property & install gates
  88. Build a wooden picnic table
  89. Decorate Master Bedroom
  90. Make cloth napkins & use them regularly
  91. Create a Gallery Wall with things we already have that need a home/frame.

    DIY/PROJECTS
  92. Set up sewing machine & make something!
  93. Make/Buy 5 new Throw Pillows 
  94. Complete 5 DIY Pinterest projects
  95. Learn to knit or crochet
  96. Create/Have someone make t-shirt quilt

    BLOG
  97. Set up a Facebook page for my blog
  98. Do blog redesign (that's been in the works for the better part of a year...)
  99. Attend a blog conference
  100. Blog about 75 of these goals & how I achieved them.
  101. Create a 30 before 30 list to begin on Oct 2, 2017 and complete on my 30th birthday, January 4, 2019.

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Currently

Doing // Sitting in our dark bedroom listening to hubby & Cora bug breathe as they sleep. I love my family.

Reading // I'm finishing up Dead Ever After which is the last book in the Sookie Stackhouse series (the books the HBO series True Blood is based on). There are 12 books in the series (13 if you count an anthology of sorts that I haven't decided if I'll read yet). When I finish I will have read the 12 books in 13 days. I'm seriously useless when I start a new book or series.

Watching // I'm working to catch up on all the shows I'm behind on before they start back from winter break, starting with State of Affairs.

Feeling // Good! I haven't had any more trouble with depression. I'm still having some morning all day sickness, but there are days like today that I haven't thrown up at all (Yay!). Insomnia though, that's an issue - part of the reason I could whip though those books so quickly, I can't sleep!

Eating // Ramen noodles. Don't judge!

Thinking About // Figuring out working with our cruddy health insurance so I can get in to see my Chiropractor!

Looking Forward to // I don't have much going on right now. Next week I have a midwife appointment, so listening to the heartbeat! I'm also glad that it looks like we're all on the mend, so maybe I can have a social life again! John's 30th birthday is next week and while I have nothing planned, it'd be nice to actually celebrate it!

Praying // For continued health for the family and health for our little baby & the pregnancy.

Loving // Getting through my days without being in a funk. Getting to spend time with my daughter in these last few months of her as an only child.

What are you up to currently?

 



Monday, January 12, 2015

Baby Lewis #2 (Week 11 & some catch up)

In week 9 we visited our Midwife, Kathy, and had our first sonogram. Everything looks good! Kathy and her nurse Jan are so very sweet and they're so excited for us! Baby looks good & we were able to find a heartbeat (risk of miscarriage drops significantly after a heartbeat is found)! After confirming the healthy pregnancy we felt confident enough to share the news the next week with family, so we started announcements! It looks like it's one baby, a question we always ask since I have two sets of cousins with twins!

Date:
12/29/14
How far along?:
11 weeks 2 days

My baby is the size of a:Large Plum
Symptoms:
I've been quite sick. I still recognize that I'm not as sick as I was with Cora but I'm still plenty sick & vomiting. I'm incredibly hormonal. I didn't have this problem when I was pregnant with Cora, it's bad. Everything bothers me! I spend a great deal of my day biting my tongue. I haven't done an update since week 7/8 in part because of being sick, also due to my poor attitude. The idea of opening my laptop has just been... well the best word I can come up with is Blah! (see my Bah Hum Bug post from when I was 10 weeks)
Weight Gain:
Down 5.2 pounds overall.

Gender:
I'm still guessing boy, John is still guessing girl.

Maternity Clothes:
Yes! Christmas week I finally gave in and dug out the maternity clothes. I finally lost my patience with the top of my jeans rolling down under my growing belly. I'm much more comfortable now! It was also fun basically digging out a whole new wardrobe, although I really need to add some winter pieces to what I have since I primarily wore maternity clothes in spring and summer last time.

Movement:
None yet.

Sleep:
My sleep has actually gotten better. I'm still struggling with Cora waking about once a night wanting to nurse, but my frustration with that has slightly improved. She's probably temporarily sleeping better due to extreme exhaustion from Christmas activities and my Brothers Wedding festivities last week. We're all still exhausted from it all, so I'm sure she is too! (She actually wanted to go to sleep tonight right at 8! I was more than happy to put her down!)

Cravings/Aversions:
Nothing really sounds good. Last night I was convinced the only thing I'd be able to hold down was a Totinos Cheese Pizza. I begged & John went and got one for me. We got distracted and it burned in the oven. I was desperate enough for one that I drove back to the store for another!
I'm having a weird, I guess maybe symptom? Particularly at night after dinner I can't seem to eat enough. I'm starving! Nothing sounds good, no matter how much protein I push I can't stop the hunger so I go to sleep hungry every single night. I'll often also be eating and suddenly get sick but still be very hungry. It's rather frustrating.

 I miss:
Feeling in better control of my emotions. I didn't suffer from Postpartum Depression but I can imagine this might be what it feels like to some? I'd go into more details but I honestly feel horrible about how I feel and I know there's no reason for it and I'm trying not to dwell on it.

Best moment this week:
Last week was a week of celebrations! On the Sunday before Christmas we told John's Mom & Stepdad when we celebrated Christmas with them. Chip, John's Stepfather is ecstatic, we had actually told him ahead of time and he was still bouncing with Joy when we made the "official" announcement that afternoon. On Christmas Eve we told my Dad and brothers, we even managed to have Joshua on FaceTime in Japan to tell him at the same time too! They're all very excited! Dad suspected (as he'd remarked a couple of times before hand that he thought I was pregnant), Josh's exact words were "Again?!?" (but in a happy way! lol) Jacob and Robert were all jovial and couldn't wait until we could all share the news with extended family.
We worried about stepping on toes with announcing so close to Jacob's wedding but I have just always wanted to announce a pregnancy at Christmas. He checked with his fiancee Stephanie and she was just fine with us announcing to some extended family as long as we didn't make it a big deal at the wedding (which we absolutely weren't going to do!) or rehearsal dinner the day after Christmas. So Christmas Day we were supposed to gather the extended family but because of busy schedules that fell through last minute. We told the Uncle that came over on Christmas Day and he was headed to see the other Aunt, Uncle & cousins, so we sent him with an ornament and a picture of Cora in her new Big Sis shirt to pass along word.

We tried really hard to keep it quiet at the Rehearsal Dinner, we told our Great Aunt & Uncle but asked them to keep it quiet, and they agreed & helped us keep the secret. I blew it a little when I barged into the bathroom as several of Stephanie's sisters and sister-in-laws were getting ready for dinner at the church to throw up. That kind of spilled the beans, but we really made an effort in general that it wasn't out shining their day. I think we found a nice balance! :)
Past Pregnancy:
My updates were a little sporadic with Cora at this point, but from what I remember and can tell - I was so much sicker then than I am now. Hard to believe as miserable as I feel, but I do remember being super sick last time.

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Count down to baby 1 {9 weeks}

For posterity sake I wanted to post this. I wrote out many more bump updates than I actually published for Cora. Usually because I was too busy or tired to take pictures of my growing bump in the first trimester and I usually wouldn't post if I didn't have the picture. It's been fun for me to look back at these posts from my pregnancy with her verses baby #2.

Date:
3/19/13 - I'm combining a couple of weeks here, I just haven't had the energy to keep up with it like I should.

Due Date:
It moved! We're now due 10/22/13

How far along?:
9 weeks!

Weight Gain:
I'm still down a few pounds. Not keeping food down isn't helping this.

My baby is the size of a:
Green Olive!

Maternity Clothes:
I wore my first maternity dress last week. Not because I needed to, but because I had thrown up on all my other clean clothes and I was desperate! 

Stretch Marks:
None. 

Belly Button In or Out:
In.

Wedding Ring on or off:
On & loose.

Symptoms:
Exhaustion and Nausea/Vomiting are my primary ones.

Cravings: 
Food is pretty revolting to me right now.
I'm really enjoying Clementines though!

Aversions:
Food, lunch meat stinks to me. My sense of smell is amazing, and it's incredible how much I think things stink!

Sleep:
Better than it was, but I'm quickly growing accustomed to the fact that it will never be the same.

I am loving:
Telling Our Family & Friends!

I miss:
Dr. Pepper!

I am looking forward to:
Our next appointment next week.

I'm freaking out about:
How much this baby is going to cost us.

Best moment this week:
It was 2 weeks ago, but our first sonogram!! We got to hear the baby's little heartbeat!

Worst moment this week:
All the vomit escapades! 
If driving and throwing up were an actual skill, I'd be a professional! 

Emotions:
Pretty stressed, we had several unexpected expenses pop up in addition to making pre payments on delivery etc. I'm worried about the fact that we still need to buy a car & a house not to mention the nursery...

Milestones:
The baby is now a fetus! We heard the heartbeat, so statistically our chance of miscarriage dropped dramatically! 

Movement:
None that I can feel but my baby can start moving this week!

It's a...:
Fetus!! We're moving up in the world!

Exercise:
Less than fabulous - I'm really lacking in the energy department!

Diet:
It's good when I can eat & keep it down.

Goals for the upcoming week:
Nothing really baby related, we've got some car repairs that need attention though! *eye roll*

Nursery:
We bought a bassinet! 

Friday, January 9, 2015

Baby Lewis #2 (Week 7 & 8)

Date:
November 22 - Dec 5

My baby is the size of a:
Raspberry!

Symptoms:
(Week 7) Nausea has definitely ramped up this week! I've had a couple of bad days where I sit very still and breathe deeply trying really hard not to look pregnant. I still haven't thrown up (counting my blessings!) but at times I wonder if throwing up wouldn't just be a relief to the constant nausea? I've also discovered the wonderful world of Emetrol! I could dedicate this entire post to this amazing drug! I try really hard to be good while I'm pregnant. No caffeine (though I'll choose a coke over pills for a headache I think caffeine will fix, lesser of the evils), better for me foods, no over the counter (or Rx) drugs I can avoid etc. I'm making an exception here for this lovely little bottle of greatness! (The active ingredients are basically a sweet sugary syrup with cherry flavor and red dye). I learned about this med in college when I had an awful tummy bug from my kiddos at the daycare. It works really well for me! I've always bought it as a knock off brand though "Equate Anti Nausea Liquid" I honestly didn't know what the name brand was so last pregnancy and before now I hadn't connected the dots that I was cleared to use this! It has brought me back from the brink of puking so many times. It is amazing! I have been feeling really guilty that when I'm battling extreme nausea, I'm not really giving Cora the attention I'd like to. This mommy guilt has gotten much better since I've found a way to feel better!

I'm also pretty hungry. I feel like I'm eating constantly. I do not remember being this hungry last time, maybe because I'm also nursing? My hormonal raging seems to be under better control this week, I've also made a better effort to nap each day with Cora, so that's sure to be helping that too.
I'm struggling with acne. :( When I was pregnant with Cora my skin was the clearest and my pores were the smallest they've ever been! My face is doing okay, but my poor back hurts so badly!
Weight Gain:
Up 1.5 pounds overall.

Gender:
I'm still predicting boy! Next week we have our first Midwife appointment and Ultrasound, I am going to ask which side the placenta is on to do a gender prediction based on the Ramzi Method.

Maternity Clothes:
None yet but my pants are feeling awfully snug.


Movement:
I've had a couple of false alarms (week 8). I know it's just gas, but there have been a couple of times that I pause and think were those flutters? I remember seeing just how *tiny* baby is at this point when we were pregnant with Cora. I really can't imagine that I can feel anything from something so small yet.

Sleep:
(Week 8) Sleep has been a challenge, not because of pregnancy but because of Cora. I'm really struggling with my patience with her and her desire for attention and nursing during the night. She's using me as a glorified passifier and emotionally I just can't handle it. I'm praying (continually) for peace and patience with this. Next week were starting a clean slate and beginning operation "Mommy's Sanity" and Cora is going to start sleeping in her pack and play beside our bed until I can get her weaned to her own room again. I'm really questioning whether or not we're going to co-sleep at all after 6 months with the new baby. Up until 6 months it was a huge help to me because of all the needed middle of night nursing and attention.

Cravings/Aversions:
I turned my nose up at a perfectly good casserole this week because I didn't like the way it smelled. Chicken has also started bothering me in any form, cooked or uncooked it's smelly either way. Eggs are still pretty nasty to me too.
(week 7) Not as many cravings this week. Really my diet has largely consisted of crackers, Cherry 7up, chicken noodle soup and cream of chicken soup.(Week 8) I'm craving Enchiladas and Pizza. John suggested Pepperoni Enchiladas, that sounds disgusting! But a piece of pizza and a couple of gooey cheese enchiladas sounds fantastic!! I've also been really craving sparkling cider, I just keep forgetting to pick some up when I'm in the big grocery stores and our little local one doesn't carry any. I hardly ate anything at Thanksgiving, honestly everything I ate could have fit on a dessert plate with room to spare. Food is just really revolting.

Best moment this week:
I was a co-host for the Mama Meet and Mingle Instagram hop this week! As soon as I heard I'd been selected as a co-host, I knew what I wanted my question to be; What are your must have items for baby #2? I was nervous about asking it because we haven't announced yet. I decided to go ahead with asking it because it was what I really wanted to know and how often do I get the undivided attention of so many Mama's to ask whatever question my little heart desires? I got some great answers and ideas and no questions from friends and family asking if I'm expecting - so a win in my book!

Belly Pictures:
I've got some pretty impressive pregnancy bloat going on! John reached over to rub my belly the other day and he immediately noticed that my belly button is showing signs that it's ready to pop out after I eat and add to the bloat. It isn't nestled quite so snugly in it's cave anymore. ;) I feel small upside quite a few of the moms in my due date group on Facebook though! Some of these moms that have had multiple pregnancies or this is a subsequent pregnancy quite soon after their last are seriously showing like crazy! It's all bloat and muscles relaxing and pooching out but wow! It makes hiding a first trimester pregnancy hard!

Past Pregnancy:
I didn't document week 7 very well last time but I apparently was dealing with much worse morning sickness.

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Coming out of the Funk

I've been feeling very... funky. Emotionally I've been in a "funk" for several weeks. Physically, both Cora and I have been feeling sick with a cold neither of us can seem to kick (that we're sharing with the whole family now) since December 30, so going on day 9 of feeling puney. 

Emotionally, my funk really started about week 5 of the pregnancy and was in full swing by week 6. I didn't recognize it for what it was until the week of Christmas. I was depressed. 

Christmas week (11 weeks pregnant) I finally recognized and admitted to John that I was suffering from Pregnancy Depression. Part of my hesitance in admitting what was going on was that I didn't know it existed! I'd never heard of someone who hadn't ever struggled with the blues before having trouble with depression in pregnancy. Some quick research online quickly revealed that this wasn't uncommon, after all think about all those hormones I have raging through my body. It also greatly helped me handle my realization emotionally that a couple of the other Mommas in my Facebook due date group opened up and admitted that they were struggling with similar things (they too had never struggled with depression before).

Some of the things I was feeling; the inability to function. The idea of getting dressed & functioning for the day was entirely overwhelming. I'd get up, relocate to the couch or a recliner and aside from trips to the bathroom or kitchen that was where my day was spent. We had Christmas quickly approaching, my brothers wedding was just after Christmas. I had so much to do and emotionally I just couldn't face it. Just thinking about all that I needed to do would be enough to get my blood pressure up and my heart racing. None of the tasks were overwhelming, I just needed to function.
I had no desire to eat. Pregnancy had made food generally revolting anyway, but I just didn't have a desire to eat. (I will mention that I'm attributing this to the blues, but I've also read/heard that it's just my body responding to pregnancy.)
Week 5 and 6 I was very disgruntled, quick to snap and react to things. The following weeks I still had a temper for sure, but generally everything just fell in with the rest of my emotional doldrums. I wasn't excited about anything. I was dreading Christmas and the wedding because I knew that I'd have to see people (and function on something resembling a normal level). It wasn't just events I was dreading, I wasn't excited about the pregnancy. I was truely just blue about everything. Intellectually I knew I was looking forward to these events, eternally grateful for the pregnancy with my child and for the baby God has already blessed us with but emotionally I just wasn't getting on board. (Oh and I should mention that during this time we also had to put our dog Clyde down and that didn't help anything).

At night I'd cry and beg God to "fix my emotions", I would drag myself out in the sun for quick walks on decent weather days. I'd take a shower when I felt like doing anything but that. I also used some essential oils that had been helpful lifting my emotions on bad days before. These things would help but none of them were a cure-all.

After recognizing what was going on, John and I were back and forth discussing what I should do. There are medical options for help with depression in pregnancy but I really don't like to take drugs in pregnancy (though I would if that's what was needed!). We also did some quick research and discovered that I'd have to wean Cora immediately if we chose for me to medicated. We also knew that risks to the new baby were lessened if I could make it to the second trimester before going on medication. So, we decided to wait. I was emotionally a mess but I wasn't thinking harmful thoughts (no self harm, no harm against Cora, the new baby etc. I was just very, very blue) so we decided the wait was worth it. It honestly helped so much just talking to him about how I felt and what was going on. Our fingers were also crossed (and lots of prayers said!) that this would resolve itself with time, several articles we read indicated that while it could last the entire pregnancy, for many women it was isolated to first trimester. 

John also took a few days to work at home and having him around helped a lot, I didn't struggle as badly with guilt at not giving Cora as much undivided attention as I felt I should when she was getting some from him too. (On another note, I am so grateful that I have a daughter who is very good at self-entertaining! She's quite content playing by herself and generally isn't interested in having you play with her. She brings us the toys when she wants attention and we always make the time to play when she asks. I'm sure this skill will be even more valuable to us when the new baby gets here!) 

This past week, ironically while I've been physically sick, my emotional state has gotten so much better! I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders, or like I'm walking out of a deep blanket of fog. There were a rough couple of days, unfortunately including my birthday, when I was just super sick with the cold that I spent the entire day sleeping. To be honest the only reason that the baby updates have been being published on the blog is because they were already written and scheduled for weeks. I didn't finish prepping my birthday post, or New Years posts, either of which would have technically announced the pregnancy. Eh, I'll get around to it later. :)

I know I'm not technically out of the woods yet, just because I feel okay now doesn't mean it's over. John and I are both closely monitoring my emotional state as will my Midwife. I look back at my brothers wedding and feel pride and excitement at it now. I'm excited about this baby, and would endure many more blue days knowing that he or she will be worth it if that is the cost! In a lot of ways, I'm writing this so that if one other pregnant person is out there feeling this way - know you're not alone! I so wish I had realized what was going on sooner! Don't be afraid to admit to someone what's going on and get help if that is what you need!

Count Down to baby 1 {Week 7}

For posterity sake I wanted to post this. I wrote out many more bump updates than I actually published for Cora. Usually because I was too busy or tired to take pictures of my growing bump in the first trimester and I usually wouldn't post if I didn't have the picture. It's been fun for me to look back at these posts from my pregnancy with her verses baby #2.

How far along?:
7 Weeks and 6 days

Weight Gain:
None.

My baby is the size of a:
Blueberry!

Maternity Clothes:
Not yet :)

Stretch Marks:
nada.

Belly Button In or Out:
In.

Wedding Ring on or off:
On.

Symptoms:
Right now the most prominent one is my Morning Sickness.
And whatever moron named it "morning" sickness needs to be kicked in the shin because it's more like "all day sickness".
Cravings: 
Food in general is disgusting to me right now.
Aversions:
Food.

Sleep:
eh, so so. I'm getting lots of it though. I'm sleepy all the time!
I am loving:
Having the secret.

I miss:
Not being sick all the time.

I am looking forward to:
Telling family & close friends.

I'm freaking out about:
Telling my bosses!
Best moment this week:
Going to the doctor.

Worst moment this week:
Nothing really comes to mind...

Emotions:
Pretty stable, I feel kind of overwhelmed by everything going on and all the changes coming.

Milestones:
First Midwife visit!

Movement:
none.

It's a...:
baby.

Exercise:
Some walking.

Diet:
Decent - for what I can keep down...

Goals for the upcoming week:
Make it through another week.

Nursery:
We're going to start looking for a crib soon!


Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Count Down to Baby 1 {week 6}

For posterity sake I wanted to post this. I wrote out many more bump updates than I actually published for Cora. Usually because I was too busy or tired to take pictures of my growing bump in the first trimester and I usually wouldn't post if I didn't have the picture. It's been fun for me to look back at these posts from my pregnancy with her verses baby #2. 

Date: 2/24/13

Due Date:  
Well we're still estimating because our midwife cancelled our appointment... grr.
So we guess 10/14/13

How far along?:
Roughly 6 weeks.

Weight Gain:
It's fluxuating but, overall, I'm down 1.8 lbs.

My baby is the size of a:
Sweet pea!!
And our sweet pea is beginning to develop facial features & it's blood is circulating!!

Maternity Clothes:
None - but my pants are quite uncomfortable.

Stretch Marks:
None yet - I'm holding John to that promise of rubbing coca butter!

Belly Button In or Out:
In.

Wedding Ring on or off:
On.
Symptoms:
I've got them all
The worst is the delightful cramps that like to sneak up from no where and leave me doubled over in pain. Try keeping a pregnancy secret when you're bent over moaning!

Cravings: 
Dr. Pepper - but since I can't have that I've been settling for (and greatly enjoying) Sonic Cherry Limades and Oceanwaters!

Aversions:
When offered food, I either love the idea of that food or absolutly hate it.
I've just been going with my gut on what to eat.

Sleep:
Horrible. And I feel awful for saying that because I know it's going to get worse.
I am exhausted but just can't get comfortable enough to sleep.

I am loving:
That it's all still a secret! I'm not ready for it to be out of our little bubble.

I miss:
Just about everything I can't have!
Ice Cold Dr. Pepper, sleeping under a heated blanket, and for some reason I really want a Monster!

I am looking forward to:
The re-scheduled dr appointment

I'm freaking out about:
The dr. appointment - not a fan of going to the doctor.
And I'm not really fond of the idea of breaking the news to anyone, particularly the grandparents and my bosses.

Best moment this week:
Running a budget and figuring out that we can (kind of) afford this little Sweet Pea!

Worst moment this week:
The dr's visit being cancelled last minute.

Emotions:
So-So. They're hit or miss. I had a complete meltdown Friday night but for the most part I'm pretty okay. I think my grumpy times are closer related to being tired all the time than my hormones.

Milestones:
Another week passed!!

Movement:
None.

It's a...:
Baby!

Exercise:
Not so hot this week - I've got to get better about this!

Diet:
Pretty good. Though I'm hungry all the time!

Goals for the upcoming week:
See the dang doctor!

Nursery:

Not worried about that yet.


Baby Lewis #2 (Week 6)

Date:11/29/14

How far along?:
6 weeks 6 days

My baby is the size of a:
Blueberry!

Symptoms:
I'm tired. And grumpy/irritable/moody/irrational/hormonal... not all the time but it is an on going issue. Nursing is hurting a bit right now because everything is so sensitive. I have passing nausea but I haven't thrown up yet! Constipation is a new issue that I haven't had before, but it isn't awful - I'm just afraid of hemorrhoids! I'm hungry and having cravings, something I specifically remember not having last time around. Really this has been a much easier pregnancy than last!
Weight Gain:
I'm up about 1.2 pounds this week,
Up 3 pounds over all. Really, on a day to day basis I'm all over the place.
Gender:
I'm still leaning towards boy, I think John is worried he'll get his hopes up so he's still saying girl. He's eyeing a bunch of baby boy clothes as we shop though! Either way we will really be happy! We've got names picked for both, it would be handy if we could just have fraternal twins! ;)

Maternity Clothes:
None yet, I plan to get them out of their box this week and sort through what I have/need etc.

Movement:
none yet.

Sleep:
I'm having some insomnia, not awful though. If I get too hot, I'm pretty upset about it in my half awake pregnant state (cue pregnancy hormones). I've had some minor heartburn associated with some of my passing nausea so I've slept partial nights in a recliner here and there over the last week. I have to be careful about my strange sleeping habits etc because we're still at my Dad's house and he's already suspicious of the pregnancy. And by suspicious, I mean that Thanksgiving night he said "the way you're acting you're either really sick or pregnant". I just grunted after having told him I was sleeping in the recliner because I had indigestion. It's the truth, I'd had a few too many jalapeno cheese ball with crackers and fire crackers that day.

Cravings/Aversions:
Eggs = ick. Really it's the smell bothering me. I've craved Chinese food and Tex Mex this week.

 I miss:
Cokes and being in better control of my temper.

Best moment this week:
Thanksgiving was enjoyable, we enjoyed Christmas shopping and decorating for Christmas. John was off work Wednesday, Thursday and Friday he was home sick on Tuesday so we've had lots of good family time!
Goals for the upcoming week:
getting maternity clothes out, we really *truly* think that we're going to be in our home this week so that's exciting! Part of the complications with moving that we can't talk about since we haven't announced, is I'm much more limited on what I can and can't do out there work wise now. I'll lift things up to about Cora's weight because I'm accustomed to that, but I won't do anything (nor will John allow me to) that has me breathing anything that may be mouldy/toxic, lifting anything heavy, doing much strenuous (that triggers round ligament pain).

Belly Pictures:
Excuse the awful picture... it's the only one I took. Better than nothing :)

Past Pregnancy:
Week 6 bumpdate for Coralie


Josh didn't know that I'm expecting in these pictures, but since he's in Japan now (these were taken at the airport) this will really be the only pictures he will have with my "bump". It's bittersweet seeing him leave, we're excited for his adventures with the Marines, but I know that Cora won't know him (though we'll tell her all about him) when he comes home and he likely will be coming back to meet this new niece/nephew when they're a year and a half old.

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Baby Lewis #2 (Week 5)

Date:
11/20/14

How far along?:
5 weeks

My baby is the size of an:Appleseed!
Symptoms:
So far, physically, I'm feeling better than I was last time. This time last pregnancy I was experiencing lots of muscle pain, round ligament pain and cramps. As far as that goes this time, I'm golden. It's like my body said "ah, I know how to do this" and just let my muscles relax and move out making me look bigger/pregnant. It's kinda interesting (to me anyway), I still have some soft loose skin from being pregnant with Cora so when you would push on my belly it was very "fluffy", now it's really firm and hard because those muscles just shifted out taking up space in that stretched out skin.
I had some cramps last week but I can only think of once or twice that I have this week and they seriously weren't a big deal.
I'm having passing nausea, but based on what I described (and recall) from last time, this is a walk in the park! I haven't thrown up yet (yay!) but am having some gag-reflex trouble when brushing my teeth. I'm pretty hungry, but it's like an on/off switch. Either I'm hungry or I'm not and that can suddenly change.
What isn't going well compared to last time is my tired level (I seem to be dead-dog-going-to-fall-over-now tired earlier than I was last time) and my moody hormonal self. These two probably go hand in hand but I spend a lot of energy trying not to snap at anyone and everyone. Even my phone cherping about text messages/facebook etc makes me mad regardless of who it is or what it is. I'm a mess.
Weight Gain:
I'm down 1.8 pounds this week
Up an even 1.8 over all.
Gender:
I'm guessing boy because my nausea symptoms are so much less.

Maternity Clothes:
No, but I did have to go 2 notches out on my belt and my jeans are super tight!

Movement:
not yet

Sleep:
It would be better if I didn't have the sweetest girl wanting to nurse during the night. We're going to get serious about sleep training around here very soon. I'm dreading it but it's gotta happen!

Cravings/Aversions:
Craving sweet tea, dislike the smell of scrambled eggs. Johns body wash is kinda icky smelling too. I'm probably going to make him switch to non-scented again soon.

 I miss:
Not much! I'm off cokes!!!! (I did have one today because it was that or two Tylenol for a headache and I decided the coke was the lesser of the two evils. My midwife is okay with me using them medicinally like that.)

Best moment this week:
Goals for the upcoming week:
I'm trying to decide if I should call and reschedule my Midwife appointment. When I called to schedule it I spoke to ??... not the normal scheduling person. She asked the first day of my last period but I didn't have it handy, I told her that because I'm nursing my periods weren't regular at all anyways and that we knew almost certainly what date we conceived so I gave her that date. She said I could see Kathy at 8 weeks pregnant and we could have a sonogram that same day. I was so excited and flustered that I didn't even think about the fact that December 15 seemed like way further off than being 8 weeks pregnant. December 15 is more like 10 weeks pregnant. Then I realized that she literally counted 8 weeks from conception to schedule the appointment. Never mind that you calculate from the first date of your last period. I realize that she didn't have that info, but I'm still frustrated. It's a midwife/OB office, fertility usually comes 2 weeks after your period, she could have just assumed my period was 2 weeks before that and recognized that she was scheduling me way off. Ugh. End rant. I just want to see my baby! But appointments are hard to come by when you're first getting into their rotations for a new pregnancy, it's a big deal that I could get a midwifery appointment and sono scheduled back to back. Plus my schedule is really crazy in Dec as is Johns with work and the 15th works for both of us so I suppose we'll just wait until 10 weeks and Lord Willing, nothing will go wrong that we need to see Kathy before that point anyway.

Belly Pictures:

Past Pregnancy:
I talked about it throughout the post. Other than my tired/grumpy level I think this one is going much better symptom wise! It's still early, so we'll see what the coming weeks bring.

Pregnancy update with Cora Week 5

Monday, January 5, 2015

Baby Lewis #2! (Week 4)

We're expecting Baby #2!

Date:
11/13/14
How far along?:
We're due in the middle of July so I will have now been pregnant at some point all 12 months of the year! 



We found out at 4 weeks 3 days (assuming I'm due 7/19). Cora and I had just gotten back from Branson and I had a strong suspicion I was pregnant. Before we left for the trip I was having some headaches that nothing seemed to cure (probably Estrogen induced) and I was inexplicably tired. Not the usual first trimester exhausted, just can't seem to function before noon because I'm still just-so-sleepy kind of tired.
Then on the trip I was having some trouble with motion sickness. I never get motion sickness, I am the kind of person that can sit in the car reading for hours and yet I was queasy every time we were in the car, regardless of where I was sitting. There had also been a couple of episodes of queasiness without being in a car.

My baby is the size of a:
Orange Seed!

Symptoms:
I didn't have any morning sickness until about 7 weeks last time and then it hit me like a train. I'm really okay at this point, just having some passing nausea/motion sickness and I'm pretty tired!

I found a Due Date group on facebook and I'm loving getting to chat with these women from all over the world about their pregnancies and symptoms etc. Since we haven't announced yet (but I keep having trouble not letting the news slip...) I love having this secret place to talk about everything. 

Announcements:
We had considered before getting pregnant telling family before we made it out of the first trimester but since week 11 falls so perfectly with Christmas, we figure we'll just wait until then! As of now the only people that know are Mommy, Daddy, Coralie, our Midwife and Doula! We plan to announce here on the blog and other social media on New Years Day as we'll be 12 weeks by then.

Weight Gain:
I honestly feel like my belly has already softened some and there is no denying that I've already put on about 3 pounds. I'm not sure if they're pregnancy related or if it's thanks to the delicious food in Branson, but I'm blaming baby! My jeans that have fit since the spring when my weight loss after having Cora kind of plateaued are feeling awfully snug. I have a feeling maternity or at least larger jeans are in the near future!

I've also broken down and ordered another Bridesmaid Dress for my brothers wedding just after Christmas. I had been working to fit well into the other dress, it fit... just not comfortably. Yeah, no way would that work now - I'll be about 11 weeks by their wedding (about the time we're planning to announce to family too) I'm sure I'll be showing by then!
Gender:
I'm leaning towards boy, John is guessing girl!

Maternity Clothes:
Not yet, but I think it's kind of ironic that I'm wearing a few of my shirts that I got early on in the pregnancy before I could really wear maternity clothes but needed larger/longer clothes. They make great nursing shirts!

Movement:
 None yet. :)

Sleep:
I'm sleeping well, that is when Cora isn't crying. :( We're going to have to explore our sleep training options with this kid because no way can I handle two babies not sleeping. Suggestions? I'm going to break out my Baby Wise book again and re-read it and try some of those techniques. I'm not a huge fan of CIO (cry-it-out) so we're going to have to mix-and-match some ideas.

Cravings/Aversions:
Not much yet, I'm either hungry or absolutely not interested in food. Eggs are smelling a little funny to me when scrambled but boiled is still okay!

 I miss:
Dr. Pepper! I'm weaning myself off of them, I'm down to half a can per day. This is huge progress! Hopefully after the weekend I'll be off of them completly.

Best moment this week:
Positive Pregnancy Tests (!!!!)
&
I love how excited our Doula Susan was when she found out we are expecting! She's one of the sweetest ladies!

Goals for the upcoming week:
- Track down my Baby Wise books and re-read. I haven't applied many of these principles with Cora but I think it's going to be very important to use them with baby #2 and maybe back track and use more of them with Cora too. 
- Get my Birthing From Within book back from a lady I loaned it to - time to start reading up on birth again. I never finished this book last time, but fully intend to this time! I've heard it's great for preparing for a natural birth (it's on the required reading list for Birth Boot Camp).

Past Pregnancy:
In a lot of ways I think I may be more excited about this pregnancy than our first. I know that each pregnancy is different, but with Coralie I was just afraid, there was so much unknown so this time I'm less anxious about things. Like the occasional round ligament pain/cramping I've felt off and on. They're not near as severe as they were with Cora but noticeably there. 


Bump Date 4 weeks for Coralie