40 Weeks In...40 Weeks Out

Do you notice a new look AND name around here?  Well, I LOVE the new name, design, and everything!  A huge thanks to Erin for taking my ideas and turning them into my new blog.


Welcome to this Mama's Happy Hour!!

technically taken 38 weeks in and 39 weeks out

I think it is truly amazing what the female body can do.  After carrying and delivering a child, I will forever be indebted to my body...seriously!

I keep saying it, but it is amazing what a {almost} year difference can make.  To think back to when this picture was taken, it was just Derek and I and our little pup.  We had all of our time to ourselves and were planning for our first child.  We just wanted her to come as soon as possible and yet we had no idea what to expect when she got here.  For all you soon-to-be mothers out there- have no worries.   All of us first time moms start in the same boat (believe me, we had 0 experience with children) and you just learn.  Plus, every single child is different, so even if you do have experience, your own child will like and require a whole set of different things.  So, relax and just know that you will do great.

Ok, I'm going to be completely honest with you....I played a complete mind game with myself when I was pregnant and it was all centered around weight.  Looking back on it now, I wished I would have given myself a break and just went with it.  I didn't know it at the time, but your body knows exactly what it is doing.

In the beginning, I gained 0 weight.  I didn't have any morning sickness (luckily!) so I did not have an excuse.  I just was not putting on any extra weight.  During this time, I worried that my body wasn't doing what it was supposed to be doing.  All I could think was, how come the weight is not coming.  Then, I started rapidly gaining, except I had no pregnant belly to show for it.  Instead, EVERYTHING expanded (from my rib cage, to my butt and thighs) but I had nothing to show for my weight gain.  I knew that it was all worth it but at the time it was extremely hard for me to deal with.

By 20 weeks, I had gained 20 pounds (I gained TEN in one month).  But, my midwife assured me that every single body is different and it was doing what it needed to do to support a baby.  This did not make me feel ANY better.  When I finally had a pregnant stomach, I was so incredibly happy.  I had 2 short months to dress that stomach; and, I loved every second.  Towards the end, I did not gain much at all (not even an extra pound the last two weeks).  People commented the entire time how small I was, and I agree, my stomach was.  However, I gained about 38 pounds overall and I knew it had to be somewhere!

I know now that if I ever get pregnant again, I will just stop stressing and enjoy it.  As long as you are eating well and not too indulgent (hey, every pregnant girl needs that Dairy Queen blizzard), your body is doing what it needs to do.  And every single body is different.  And no matter what, you are making a freaking baby so you are a rockstar.  The end :)

Naming our Little Lady

***Mom fail already….she was born at 9:33am.  I added this picture for the last page in the “bump book” and it has the wrong information on it :(  I blame it on sleep deprivation! 

We had Miss Charlotte’s name picked out for three or four years.  We had a boy and a girl name and were pretty much set on these.  After my father passed away, I knew I wanted to honor him in some way with our first child….since we already had our names picked out, I assumed we would do this with a middle name.  His name was Charles, and went by Charlie…Derek and I decided that if we had a girl, we would just call her Charlie.  Easy enough.  Well, the second we found out it was a girl, I knew it was meant to be!  We would have a little Charlie on our hands.  And her middle name, well that was an easy one.  My middle name is Mae. 

After we found out we were pregnant, I thought for sure that naming a child shouldn’t be this easy.  So, I bought this book.  We both read it through on our road trips and by the time we got to the very end, we ended up with our original names.  PLUS, there is a very cool section of the book that give suggestions of brother or sister names….our boy name was a suggested brother name to Charlotte. 
We knew it was meant to be!

So there you have it, Charlotte (Charlie) Mae.

Hospital Bag Essentials

I thought I would finish up my birth story recap with a hospital bag essential post.  There are a ton of these out on the blog world and Pinterest…but, when doing my research while I was pregnant, I found each idea helpful.  Keep in mind, the items below are the essentials I would suggest bringing….not necessary what I actually brought to the hospital.  We brought a ton of things not needed.  Hopefully this will assist some of you ladies out there packing for the hospital.  If you have any questions, just ask!



For Mom & Baby, I used one of those $15 carry on roller luggage bags found at Target/Walmart.  I thought it would be better organized in a roller bag.  Plus, I knew we would be carrying a ton of stuff out of the hospital, so I wanted a mixture of bags that Derek could carry all at one time.

1) Extra bag.  Believe me, you will leave the hospital with more than you came with.  I guarantee it!!  So, I stuffed one of the thousand Victoria Secret bags that I had in the top portion of the bag.

2) Old Navy flip flops.  SERIOUSLY BRING THESE!!  Out of everything, this was my most useful item.  I wore them from the time I entered triage to the second I put on my shoes to go home.  Nasty stuff hit that hospital floor every day, so I was glad I had on “shoes” at all times.

3) Baby- 1-2 outfits.  The first outfit we had, was a little personalized sack and headband.  We had this for pictures.  Honestly, I wanted to throw it on for when we had visitors…but I was too exhausted so we waited until the next day to put this outfit on Charlie.  Since we couldn’t put her in a sack in the car seat, we needed a second “going home” outfit.  I purchased an adorable pink velour Ralph Lauren onesie.  It was perfect and warm!

4) Going home outfit for yourself.  Realistically, you could probably wear what you wore into the hospital; however, it was nice to put on a nice clean pair of clothes.  I chose some maternity leggings, nursing tank top, long cardigan, and scarf to wear home.  Thankfully it was semi-warm outside so I didn’t need a jacket.

5) Toiletries and makeup.  Even though I didn’t take a shower at the hospital, having my face wash/lotion, and toothbrush/toothpaste was pretty life changing.  Also, I was glad I had my makeup to throw on for pictures when going home.

****Disclaimer- I had bought two pairs of Victoria Secret pjs to wear in the hospital.  I didn’t get them out of the bag.  I thought for sure I would be that girl that was out of the hospital gown as soon as the baby was born…boy, was I wrong!  I was way too exhausted that day.  And the next day, we were in a huge rush to get home so we left as soon as our 24 hour period came.  I’m so glad I didn’t because I doubt I would ever want to wear those bad boys again.  Things in the hospital are kind of gross….I leave it at that ;)

Also, I brought a hair dryer and things to do my hair…thinking I would take a shower.  As I said, we couldn’t wait to get home to take a shower, so these were unnecessary for us. 



For a Dad bag, we used a handy dandy book bag.

1) Snacks!  This is something we did not bring thinking Derek would be ok.  However, the whole event gets quite long, so they really are needed.  Derek ended up going down to the cafeteria when it opened back up at 1:00am.  But it would have been nice to have some snacks for him.

2) Lounge clothes/change of clothes for the Dad.

3) Chargers- cell phone, iPad, laptop, camera, etc.

4) Gift for nurses- I guess this isn’t “essential”, but we had the best nurses ever!  I would say 8-10 treats should suffice.

5) Camera- pretty self explanatory!

***We also brought a laptop to keep us/Derek occupied but we didn’t use it.  Our phones were good enough!

Welcoming Little Charlotte

Well, let’s just say Charlotte’s birth story was a bit traumatic.  Not that anybody walks out of labor and says, "that was a piece of cake; let’s do it again tomorrow.”  However, my body has never been so exhausted before in it’s life!  Thankfully, we have our precious little girl to make me forget about everything that happened (yeah right…that will be forever ingrained in my head!)

So let’s start at the beginning…I went into work on Friday, November 1st.  Keep in mind this was our original due date.  But ever since our first ultrasound, she measured to be due on November 8th.  No big deal because my cycles were never 28 days, so it was no surprise.  Anyway, with everything that happened with my family, I was planning on taking Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday off of work for bereavement days.  Thus, my next day back to work would be the day before I was due, November 7th.  I worked my butt of on Friday as if it was my last day there before maternity leave in the event something would to happen in that next week.  Thank goodness I did…

I got home from work that Friday a little early, and started doing things on our to-do list.  Derek was upstairs hanging some picture frames in the nursery and I was downstairs steam vacuuming our carpet.  I had a question so I yelled at Derek to come help.  All of the sudden, around 5:00, my water broke.  Not like a gush or anything…but almost as if I had peed a little.  I ran to the bathroom (thinking what the heck!).  I started just leaking every couple of seconds.  I told Derek I thought my water broke.  We just stared at each other for minutes and kinda giggled.  No way was this happening!!

Derek went into a frenzy and I just sat there (yes, on the toilet) thinking, oh my gosh, I’m having a baby SOON!  Derek wanted me to spring into action with him, but I just needed a few moments (ok, a good 10 minutes) of quiet time.  After that, I had Derek finish steam vacuum while I took a shower and got ready.  It was always my plan to eat and shower before heading to the hospital as I heard many moms say they wished they would have done these things.  About an hour later, we were heading to the hospital to have a baby!

Right before leaving for the hospital!

By the time we got to the hospital, I wasn’t feeling any contractions.  I was 3cm dilated and there were some contractions that I felt pressure, but other than that, I walked into labor and delivery feeling like a joke because I could calmly say, “I’m in labor.”  I always imagined it to be a bit more dramatic.

By the time we got into our room around 7:30pm, I was feeling every contraction.  I requested to be monitored every 20 minutes, so I wouldn’t be stuck in a bed.  Derek and I walked the unit around until about 9:30pm.  It was then that the contractions were starting to get a bit (ok, a lot) uncomfortable. 

Around 11:00pm and 6cm dilated, I decided to request my epidural.  Honestly, it was probably the best thing I’ve ever asked for in my life!  After midnight, I was ready to rock and roll.  We were really happy with how naturally and fast my body was progressing.

2:00am came and I was 10cm dilated.  The nurse came in and checked me and said, “Well, you’re at 10.”  Derek and I both asked at the same time, what does that mean?!  LOL, we didn’t know what was coming…

Seconds before starting to push (aka the hardest experience of my life!)

I started to push and it was at this moment the team realized our baby was in a weird position.  Throughout that whole morning, I had several doctors/health professionals try and turn her.  However, she wasn’t moving a bit.  After about 4 hours, things became a bit frustrating.  Our midwife was at a loss of what to do because she wasn’t moving.  She called in one of the on-call doctors from our practice and he delivered some bad news.  He gave me 2 options: 1) turn off my epidural or 2) have a c-section. Basically, I didn’t say anything for about 5 minutes because I was trying to collect my thoughts.  I was terrified of feeling those contractions again and I really wanted to avoid a c-section.  Basically, my worst case scenario was coming true…

I chose the turning off the epidural.  My attitude was still very positive at this point and I wasn’t ready to give up trying to do this birth naturally.  However, turning off the epidural was the biggest mistake I made that morning.  Their thought was if I felt the contractions, it would cause me to push harder.  Not only did it not make me push harder, it caused my body to become severely exhausted, and of course, I was in a lot of pain.

About 2 hours later around 8am, I stopped everything.  I literally couldn’t go on and there had to be an alternative.  At this point, I had been up for 26+ hours and my body was starting to run a temperature, my blood pressure was high, and I felt like I was having an out of body experience.  I would be talking and once I stopped, I would realize I just carried on a conversation with somebody but had no idea what was said.  I was d.o.n.e!  Thankfully, little Charlotte was unphased by the whole labor process.  She was quite content.

Our midwife said she would request for another physician to come in (from home, bless his heart!) for another opinion of what to do.  There was a mention of using forceps, and honestly, I didn’t care what they had to do to get her out of there!  An hour later, 9:00am, he walked in and assessed everything.  He said he could use the vacuum as long as I could give him 2 more pushes.  I didn’t believe him at this point and swore that I was going to be the first pregnant girl in the world to be pregnant forever.  However, after 2 contractions, Charlotte Mae was out and wailing.  She was born at 9:33am.  I couldn’t believe my ears and eyes that she was here and I had delivered our daughter!



I ended up with a "nice little" episiotomy involving 50 stitches; but hey, at that point I didn't care and just wanted her out!  Surprisingly, recovery has been pretty doable and I started feeling better about 5 days after delivery.  I'm just so thankful she is here and everybody is healthy!!  I'm trying to soak in every single moment I can.

She’s Here!!!

Charlotte Mae

November 2nd, 2013

7lbs 13 oz.

21 inches

At 39 weeks exactly, I went into labor!  We welcomed our little Charlie the next day.  She is an absolute blessing and we could not be more excited that she is here.  Our days have been filled with staring at her little face and giving tons of kisses.  I’ll be sure to be back with how Brutus is coping, my labor story, how we chose her name, and what we’ve been up to!

*PS- thank you so very much for all your comments on my previous post.  I wanted to respond to everybody but didn’t get a chance to…your comments were so thoughtful and I appreciate them all!

Reality Check

Well, I’m still pregnant in case you were wondering.  39 weeks and definitely counting.  Unfortunately, these past 3 weeks of been sort of a whirlwind.  Three weeks ago, my Grandma past away.  She was the last living grandparent that Derek and I had.  She was my absolute favorite and I’m so thankful she came to live in Ohio the past 3 years…it gave me a lot more time with her that I wouldn’t have otherwise gotten.  Unfortunately, the funeral was in South Dakota so I was unable to fly back.  Something about airlines being scared of accepting a 36 week pregnant woman that could go into labor at any second or something like that…I would have loved to be there but instead I stayed home and kept my little daughter safely on the ground.


And then this little cutie pie had surgery 2 weeks ago.  He had one of his dewclaws improperly removed when he was a puppy and the past few years it had created a growth of some sort on his little leg.  It was on our to-do list to get this removed before our daughter made her debut.  He made it through everything just fine; just needed some extra love and attention for the two weeks.  Oh, and he needed to wear his OSU hooded sweatshirt at all times because he had a hard time keeping up his body temperature.  Seriously any time he wears this, he gets more and more attention because it is just so darn adorable.  His sutures were removed a couple of days ago and everything looked great.  I have to say, I wasn’t sad when I threw away that e-collar that he had to wear…

Now, today is when tragedy struck my family again.  My Step Dad had a cardiac event last week…and passed away after being in the ICU.  To say that I feel awful for my Mom is a complete understatement.  After handling everything with my Grandma just 3 weeks ago, she is experiencing another loss.  Joe has been a HUGE part of my life.  They’ve been married for 17 years, so I owe so much to him and feel like a lot of my characteristics were developed through growing up around him.

You know the funny part…4 weeks ago, I started showing progress with this pregnancy.  Every week we would go, a little more, and a little more.  The last doctor’s appointment I had nothing, notta.  It was the same from the previous week.  It is almost like our little girl has delayed her arrival because of these circumstances.  Before, I had the attitude of when is she going to come already.  Now, I’m just hoping she will stay in there a little longer so I can attend the funeral and be there as much as possible for my Mom.  In the end, I’m just so thankful that we have our little girl coming because this will be the first good news my family has heard for a while.  I cannot wait until she decides to come and add a little joy into everybody’s lives.

37 Week Update!

Due Date: November 8, 2013

Gender: Baby Girl!

Movement: As of last week, she has definitely dropped.  She is so much lower now which has lead to me feeling so much more comfortable in regards to my rib pain and heartburn.  Wahooo!

Feeling: Overall, I feel really good.  Like I said, my heartburn is a world of difference now.  For the past 4 nights, I’ve gone to bed without the feeling of acid creeping up my throat.  It is seriously the most glorious thing ever!  Doing things have gotten a bit more tricky because I have to think about the movement of my body before I do it.  Example- bending down…do you realize how many times you bend over a day?  Seriously, just try counting for one day.  It blows my mind!!  I think twice before doing it….is it really worth picking up that q-tip that didn’t quite make the trash can?!

Food Cravings: Nothing new here….
Food Aversions: None

Clothes: Honestly, this is probably the most fun stage to dress the bump.  People clearly know I’m pregnant and it is a mixture between stares and strangers going out of their way for me (opening up doors, etc.). 

Stretch Marks: Fingers crossed…none!  Although, I have been putting more cream/oil on during the day.  I’ve noticed my skin gets a little itchy after a while, so I then reapply.  Hopefully this keeps those bad boys away!

Sleep: Sleep is just ok…I wake up every time I need to change position.  However, now that I don’t have the rib pain, I’m able to sleep on my left side again, yay!!  I’m still waking up in the middle of the night for periods of time.  Getting me ready for this little girl!

Symptoms: Tired, heartburn, and some swelling in my feet at night if I’ve been on my feet for too long.  I’ve had some feeling of nausea this week too…not sure if that is normal.
What I Miss: Bending over without expending so much energy and walking up flights of stairs without major breathing

Best Moment: Probably getting so many things done and crossed off our to-do list!  Not much more to do! 

Memorable Moments:

• Blogger meet-up
• Having the energy to take a few (slow!) walks with Brutus

What I’m Looking Forward To:

• Interviewing with our #1 nanny candidate
• Another check to see if anything has progressed
• Making some final updates to the nursery
• Derek has this weekend off!  Looking forward to what we have planned!

Oh, Derek…

Seriously, the way guys think, blows.my.mind!  Let’s start with a conversation that happened last week between Derek and Derek’s Mom on the phone:

Derek: So, Katie had her doctor’s appointment today
Me (yelling from the other side of the house): Tell your mom about the appointment
Derek: (kinda stuttering) Are, are you sure?
Me: Yes, I’m sure
Derek: Well, Katie had her vagina and anal swabbed….
Katie (screaming now): ….WHAT ARE YOU DOING?  WHY ARE YOU TELLING YOUR MOM THIS?!
Derek: Wait, sorry Mom, I guess that is not what she wanted me to tell you
Katie (still screaming): Why would you think that’s what I wanted you to tell your Mom?????  Oh my goodness I’m so embarrassed


Ok, so lets start with the first part of the story.  At my 36 week appointment, I had my Group Strep B test.  According to Baby Center,

“Between 35 and 37 weeks, your practitioner will swab your vagina and rectum to check for a common infection called group B strep. If your test is positive, you'll be given antibiotics during labor to help keep you from passing it on to your baby.”

Completely routine and no biggie.  Anyway, I also had my first cervical check.  While I know there is nothing to get excited about yet, I was 50% effaced and 1cm dilated.  I was excited just to know that my body was starting the process of having this baby girl.  So, of course, this is the news I wanted him to share with his Mom. 

Why in the world would he think to share the other information lol?!  Oh, Derek!

36 Week Update!

Due Date: November 8, 2013 (We only have weeks left to count now!)
 
Gender: Pink, pink, and more pink!
 
Movement: Movement is so different these past few weeks.  I have to concentrate pretty hard to feel her move.  She doesn’t have much more room in there, that’s for sure!
 
Feeling: Pretty good; can’t complain.  Over the past 2 weeks, the exhaustion is back.  I’m pretty good in the mornings, but by 3:00, I feel like I could go to bed and sleep through the night.  I’ve definitely started putting myself to bed earlier and earlier each night.
 
Food Cravings: I am finding that I have to force myself to eat.  Don’t get me wrong, I still feel hungry.  But after about half of what I usually eat, I feel full.  

Food Aversions: None
 
Clothes: Clothes are getting very interesting.  With the growing bump, a lot of the maternity shirts I have are too short.  I still have about 3 or 4 tops that can work for every day.  But, I had to order 2 more for work.  I’m going to try and make due with what I have.
 
Stretch Marks: Thankfully none.  I’m so amazed with my body and how my stomach keeps getting larger and larger.  My belly button is still inward…I really thought it would pop considering how flat it got around 25 weeks.
 
Sleep: I feel like I cannot complain too much, but sleep has gotten more and more interesting.  I wake up all the time with my uncomfortable rib pain, to pee, and now waking up for minutes/an hour at a time and cannot get back to sleep.  Not too bad though. 
 
Symptoms: Tired, acid/heartburn all the time, and some swelling in my feet at night if I’ve been on my feet for too long.  However, my rings are still on so I consider this pretty minor.
 
What I Miss: Laying down without the feeling of acid coming up my throat…yeah, cannot wait for that to be over!
 
Best Moment: Hearing my body is making some progress at our last doctor’s appointment.  Not that I’m getting myself excited or anything, but I’m just so thankful my body is starting to do it’s thing!


Memorable Moments:

• Week 34: Last baby shower with Derek’s family
• Week 35: Ordering everything we needed off of our registry.  Babies R Us shipped every single thing in separate boxes so we had a thousand boxes show up at our door.  I’m not going to lie, this completely overwhelmed me.  But, we are slowly getting things put away and set up.
• Week 35: Started interviewing for our nanny…keep your fingers crossed
• Week 35: Finished washing all the teeny tiny clothes and organized her closet

What I’m Looking Forward To:

• Weekly doctor’s appointments- we have our NST next week and I’m excited to be able to listen to the heartbeat for 20 minutes instead of 20 seconds!
• Getting our to-do list finished.  We are making progress!  Derek installed the car seat (so crazy driving around with a pink car seat in the back) and I started my hospital bag.
• Birthing class / hospital tour this weekend.

Brutie Man rests so easily on my stomach now ;)  Derek really wants it to reach a point where he can balance a beer bottle on it like Lily did in How I Met Your Mother….not going to happen my dear!

Oh Baby!

Get ready for an entire post devoted to all things baby.  Seriously, this is all that has been going on in my life lately!  Just to catch you guys up, I’ll be 36 weeks this week.  In fact it's exactly one month away from our due date today…I’m feeling a bit of heck-ya / yikes, it’s go time!  So as you can imagine, the baby is on the brain every second of my days!

A couple weekends ago, we traveled down to Athens and spent time with Derek’s family.  This is definitely our last road trip before baby girl comes.  Traveling in a car (especially Derek’s car for some reason) is pretty torturous for me.  Saturday night we enjoyed a pre-shower dinner celebration with Derek’s parents.  Sunday was the big shower with Derek’s side of the family.



The theme of the shower was ribbons and buttons…an extension of my gender reveal party.  Basically, it was adorable!!  A lot of the décor that was used was made especially for our daughter’s nursery.  It was so nice and thoughtful to have all these decorations to take home to fill up the nursery!









Our little girl got her first pair of pink Uggs and to say I was excited would be an understatement!!  Oh ya, and Derek came….how adorable is that?!  He’s such a trooper.  And so helpful to have him there to write down the gifts we received and carry everything out to the car.  The shower was right next to the local pizza place we would always go to after football games in high school.

After the shower when I was getting in the car, Derek surprised me with a large pizza from there.  Seriously best.idea.ever!

A huge thank you to Derek’s family for such a great shower.  Every detail was perfect!!  Plus, now the little girl is set so she can come any time now, ha!


Basically, every week night is filled to the brim.  We are either doing some type of date night (trying to get in as many of these as possible before she comes) or I/we are working on our to-do list.  I have been feeling a major sense of anxiousness of getting everything crossed off of our list.  So, Derek and I sat down and made a priority list and stuck it on the refrigerator.  This made me feel better for for about 2 seconds.  For some reason, Derek doesn’t have the sense of urgency that I do.  On one hand, I keep saying that our little girl is welcome to come early.  On the other hand, there is so much to get done before she gets here!  Eeeek!




I continue to work on my “bump book.”  This is something that I’ve worked on since we found out we were pregnant!  I have included things such as how I told Derek, ultrasounds, weekly bump pictures, thoughts about each trimester, baby showers, decorating the nursery, maternity pictures, etc.  I think it will be a great way for me to remember this pregnancy and look back it!




And lastly, everybody wants an update on Brutus…am I right?  Well, he doing great.  He absolutely knows something is going on…I’m sure he has no idea though!  We have started putting all the little lady’s stuff out in the house so he is able to get used to it…



He is extremely skittish around these things.  He really doesn’t want to check them out and if he has to go around them, he is very unsure.  For example, I set up the pack n’ play the other day and put it in our dining room.  Well, his dishes are in the kitchen right next to the dining room door frame.  He became very frustrated after I poured his food because he wanted to eat but thought the pack n’ play was going to attack him or something.  Once I plopped down beside him, he went to town on his food.  Thank goodness I was there to protect him ; )


That’s about all going on in our lives.  Hope everything is fabulous with you ladies!

How to Dress a Bump

First, let me just say that I’m not the most stylish pregnant lady out there.  Nor, do I consider myself an expert, by any means, on how to dress a baby bump.  But, I had some requests to put together a post of how I am using my current wardrobe and what pieces I have purchased during this pregnancy.  I am more than happy to share. 

So, I guess we start at the basics.  I needed to plan for work & fun when thinking about adding pieces to my closet.  See, at work, I have to dress very conservatively.  I’m talking about a suite, closed toe shoes, and knee highs (yes, I know….).  Anyway, I knew I wasn’t going to purchase any maternity suits, so I wanted something I could incorporate into my work and everyday attire.  Also, staying affordable and cheap were key to me.  I used to think of how exciting it would be to buy a whole new wardrobe when I got pregnant.  As soon as I got pregnant, my mindset totally changed and I wanted to purchase as little as possible for me because there were all these things I wanted for our new child!

First, I would highly suggest looking at what you have in your own closet.  Especially the first 6 months.  Any longer top or dress could take you through your first two trimesters.  Obviously, I was dressing this bump during the warmer months, so it could be different if you are doing the same thing during the winter.  Next, I purchased the basics when it came to tops and bottoms.



1) Long cardigans.  I stocked up on mine from the clearance section at Old Navy.  These were great to replace my suit jackets on most days and also when I needed some extra length.  Extra bonus- can wear afterwards!

2) Long Tank Tops. These are from Target and are $12.99.  I really wish I had them in every single color.  But, I purchased white and black.  During the warmer months, these were great to wear by themselves.  Also, any regular top that is getting too short, just throw one of these underneath.  Extra bonus- can wear afterwards!

3) Long T-Shirts.  These are also from Target and are only $9.99.  These were perfect for the whole pregnancy…up until now.  Honestly, because they do not have the ruching, they are getting a little short.  However, I will definitely make them last the whole time.  They are perfect for wearing under the suit jacket with a statement necklace, with jeans, or for lounging.  I have 3 of them!  Extra bonus- can wear afterwards!




First suggestion when it comes to bottoms, buy maternity asap.  I waited too long to buy them and was uncomfortable for a while.  Even though I wasn’t showing, my {everything} was expanding.  I did the whole hair tie trick for a while, which was fine, but honestly, maternity pants fit so much better!  I didn’t try the band, but some people have good luck with that.  Second suggestion is to buy what you normally wear.  Seems like a no brainer, right?  Well, I found some major steals & deals at my local gap and clearance store gap over the summer. 

Things like (1) jean shorts (most affordable and best I found was at Old Navy), (2) work pants (gap clearance center), and (3) jeans (love H&M fit) were what I bought.  And again, if you wear skinny jeans normally, buy yourself skinny maternity jeans.  I felt so much better when I was dressed like I “normally” would.

For everything else, I shopped at my favorite stores and sized up one.  This worked for a lot of tops and dresses.  All the dresses I wore for my showers/special occasions (here, here, and here) were from either The Limited or Kohls, just a little bigger.

These are the things I’ve found that have worked well throughout pregnancy.  Now that I have a serious baby bump to contend with, things are a little bit different.  I’m trying not to buy anything else since there is only about 6 weeks left.  I’ve added a couple of long sleeved shirts and hoping my winter clothes can help with the transition!

Let me know if you have any questions!

32 Week Update!

Due Date: November 8, 2013 (Less than 2 months!!)  

Gender: It’s a girl!  It’s a girl!


Movement: I have finally figured out her schedule (which usually revolves around food).  I can feel her moving when I’m on my way to work in the mornings, after my 10:00am snack, and then again when I get home and usually lay down for a few minutes.  At night, she is full-go and I even feel her each and every time I get up and use the restroom at night.  I always have a couple of minutes when I return to bed that I have to stop concentrating on her moving so I can fall back to sleep. 

Feeling: Wow, the third trimester really comes in with a bang!  As I’ve mentioned, the energy levels have come and gone and then will return again for a day or two.  It seems like I will have two good days in a row and then several exhausting days.  I’m definitely getting back in the routine of getting to sleep earlier and earlier each night.

I had a few really rough weeks.  My heartburn got so bad that I was throwing up acid multiple times a night.  It was possibly the worst feeling ever….laying down going to sleep just knowing that you will be waking up and chocking on your own acid.  Then it would take forever to get back to sleep because I had to get rid of that acid taste that had coated my entire throat.  Absolutely nasty, I know.  At one point (after multiple nights not sleeping in a row), I broke down because I didn’t know how many more nights I could take.  Derek convinced me I had to start taking something.  As recommended by my amazing pharmacist/husband, I’m finally taking prescription strength Prevacid and making sure I do not eat past 7:30 at night and watch my water intake in the evenings.

Lastly, the pain that I’ve had on my right side has not gone away.  In fact, it’s been present for about 3 months now.  Car rides really bother me because of this.  My doctor assures me it is just muscle pain that cannot get a chance to heal.  In the past two weeks, I’ve gotten two or three kicks right to the sore spot and I swear it feels like a knife going right through me.  It happened at work when I was in a meeting, and the pen I was holding literally fell out of my hand from the pain.  I had to excuse myself because tears instantly flooded my eyes.
Besides these couple of “memorable” weeks, I really cannot complain.  Everything else is pretty much manageable.

Food Cravings: Still no cravings.  Although, Derek mentioned having a sucker at night could help with the acid…so he picked me up some blow pops.  I have to say, I’ve become quite addicted.  I really look forward to having one a night.

Food Aversions: None, in fact I finally had soup!  I couldn’t bring myself to do it, but when the weather cooled down it finally sounded good.

Clothes: Pretty much a mix of maternity and non-maternity still.  I’m loving that the weather is cooling down so I can have some new choices from my winter/fall selection.  I’m really looking forward to wearing leggings a lot.

Stretch Marks: None (yet!).  I swear my stomach cannot stretch anymore, ha!  Hoping it can take whats coming it’s way.

Sleep: Overall, my sleep is good.  Besides those couple of weeks and waking up multiple times to pee, I’m so thankful I’m still able to sleep.

Symptoms: Tired, belly button becoming more and more flat, and heartburn/acid

What I Miss: Nothing!

Best Moment: Definitely the past weekend was the best.  I felt like Derek and I got so much quality time together.  We had a romantic dinner and reminisced all about our Italy trip…we were preparing to go on it at this exact time last year.  I’m seriously so thankful for how great Derek has been throughout this whole pregnancy.

Memorable Moments:

• Week 31: Baby Shower my Mom had for me!
• Week 31: aka, Hell Week.  I have a feeling I will always remember this week…
• 32 Week appointment- found out our daughter has flipped and is head down ready to go!
• 32 weeks 4 days- the ladies at work threw me a super nice baby shower.  We got our rock and play which I’m super excited about!!! Now she will have a place to sleep right beside our bed
• Week 32: maternity pictures and romantic date night 
• Now switching to every-other-week doctor's appointments.  Getting exciting! 

Weekend Recap!

First, thank you all for your sweet comments about our nursery!  We are thrilled with how it turned out and cannot wait for the arrival of our daughter! 

Well, this weekend flew by for us!!  We had a super great weekend with amazing weather….so excited to have a preview of fall weather.

Friday, we had our maternity pictures with Michelle.  She is good friends with our neighbor, who was nice enough to give us a gift card at our Gender Reveal party for her services.  I had been hoping for some cooler weather because I wanted to rock some fall clothes.  Well, we got our wish!  The high for that day was 60 some degrees.  PEFECT!  We were shocked to get home from dinner that night to see some sneak peeks up on facebook and I have to say, I am so excited to see the rest of these photos!  They are exactly the look-and-feel I was hoping for!







After our pictures, we had dinner at a local wine bar/restaurant.  It has been a year or so since we have been there, so we were very excited to be back.  They have seasonal menus, so it is always a question mark what the options will be. 




I had the Tanglewood Farms Fried Chicken & Waffle and Derek had the Monkfish special.  It was such a great and romantic dinner.  We are so thankful to have such a great restaurant so close to us.  It really was a perfect date night.


Saturday, our friends Kristin and Vince came down from Columbus to visit.



I rocked my Nora and Jac Ohio State headband while watching the game.  We grilled out and had a lot of fun catching up with them!  Amazing dessert recipe coming later this week.


I also got my adorable polka dot camera strap that I ordered from Very Jane.  I’ve always wanted a cute camera strap to replace the original Nikon one.  Love this one!




Sunday, we took our dogs to Wags Park.  It was Brutus’ first time and I was so impressed!



They have a couple of huge ponds for the dogs.  To our surprise, Brutus got right in and enjoyed himself.  Not only do they have the normal dog park amenities (large open spaces, ponds, agility training equipment, etc.), but they also have a huge screen tv and bar for the humans.  We will definitely be going back!

Hope you had a great weekend.

Nursery Reveal

I apologize for annoyingly mentioning the nursery 1,356 times over the past few months and not showing any previews!  I just wanted to wait until it was completely finished.  Well…it’s not all the way done, but almost!  And we could not be more in love with how it turned out!

The inspiration for the nursery came from our gender reveal party.  Whether it was a boy or girl, I knew I wanted to keep with the rustic theme that Derek and I love.  Once we found out we were having a girl, I was thrown for a loop.  I was unsure of how to keep it girly and feminine.  THEN, I saw this lamp at Hobby Lobby…


…and I was convinced I could make it happen.


We did the pink accent wall with flat and glossy paint in the same color.  I am obsessed with how it turned out!  Subtle but noticeable.  It is exactly how I was imagining it.


The ladder I found with my mom from an antique store is perfect for storing blankets.  I also lucked out with the crib skirt/bumper from Target (of all places!).  The burlap and ruffles were just what I was looking for!


Speaking of ruffles, I found these amazing black out curtains from Pottery Barn kids.  The tie-backs are from the Christmas section at Land of Nod.


I knew I wanted to use as many things from our gender reveal as possible in the nursery.  The “cute as a button” banner went above the changing table/dresser.  I also reused the gold polka dotted burlap underneath the glass top on the dresser.

We actually purchased this dresser from Ikea.  Derek was amazing and painted the molding gold.  We attached the molding and changed out the hardware to the gold ring pulls.  Here’s a closer look…






The chair we cannot wait to rock our little girl in :)


A huge shout out to Derek for hanging this chandelier and medallion.  This may be my favorite piece in the whole room!


I used one of the rustic frames we had at the gender reveal to hang all her little hair bows/bands.  Also, below are the spice racks from Ikea that I refinished.  Obviously, she needs some books, but for now she has “Buckeyes A to Z” displayed up there.  They are fairly low so she is able to go and pick out books herself when she gets a little older.  Here is how they look refinished….

We love how distressed they look.  I plan on doing the same method for a pallet project that will go above her crib.  Except, I’m not planning on starting this project until October because it will display her name.  We aren’t announcing her name until she is born so I want to make sure this is one of the last things to be done in her room.  Other than that, Derek just needs to hang an extra shelf in the closet.

So, what do you think?