Lets train

Let's get these weekly pregnancy posts rolling, shall we? I'm not sure I want to do a 'form' style post or not, so we will just go with it and switch later if needed. Love being sneaky and drafting a few posts before the internet world can read them.

I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M WRITING THESE AGAIN!!!!

Ten Weeks: 12.10.13



Photo thoughts: I'm not sure I can keep this belly a secret much longer. Holy early bump! Definitely showing earlier with each pregnancy, I guess.

Size of baby: going off memory alone, I remember week ten being the prune week.

Cravings/Aversions: Two things come to mind for aversions, and both are slightly devastating to admit. I HATE sugar so much right now. It makes the back of my throat feel really puke-y and this is so far from my normal sweet tooth, it has me worried. I hope I can eat desserts for Christmas. I want to love sugary cereals and never even tried a single Royal Iced cookie that I made the other day. This.Is.Insane. Another really sad part of my daily menu? Coffee is disgusting. I know, this really is Julia typing here---but I cannot handle the acid taste of any coffee. Regular, decaff...it's all horrible. Again, praying my love for a hot cup of joe returns soon or my sense of identity might be at risk. I don't even love downing my usual crazy amounts of water anymore---it just takes effort and tastes gross. I don't know who I am anymore.

I'm loving cheese, though, and can't get enough salt. Port wine cheese is my new best friend and Nate's buffalo chicken dip is also extremely satisfying for me. Which is odd since I HATE anything spicy---this flavor is just amazing, though. You can often find me slicing off pieces of colby jack cheese and combining that with potato chips. My ideal lunch for now consists of cheese, salty chips, a pickle, and a diet soda. Weird. But I will take it because a week ago I was still dry heaving at the thought of most any food.

What I'm loving: Feeling a little more energetic and less like ralphing this week!

What I'm anticipating the most: Hitting 12 weeks, moving onto the second trimester, announcing the big news to the internets, and Christmas;)

Missing anything?: Red wine. Like, woah. I dream about it sometimes.

Also I feel like I'm experiencing true 'pregnancy brain' or maybe I'm just losing my marbles in general. For instance, I spaced on a hair appointment being at 3:00 and my brain told me it was at 3:30 (without double checking the clearly marked calendars in my phone). I HATE being late to appointments, let alone being a 'no show'! I think my IQ is gradually fading into the distance this time around, so excuse me if I seem a little flaky.

Worries: Miscarriage thoughts still hover in my brain at all times, even though we had a great ultrasound and I've been hearing the heartbeat on the doppler. It's just a hard reality to shake, especially when this all seems too good to be true.

Differences between pregnancies: I honestly think I've been a lot sicker this pregnancy, and pretty sure I've never turned up my nose towards desserts before. Then again, maybe I just forgot how awful the first trimester was and having two kids makes it just a liiiiiittle bit harder, too. At week ten with Truman we announced our news to everyone. At week ten with Cecelia we were finishing up our weekly ultrasounds to check on my giant bleed, and I remember that last 'little baby' ultrasound being so cute since we could see her moving.

How I'm feeling: Like a different person compared to last week, that's for sure. Still a little queasy at times, tired but I haven't needed a nap in a solid few days, and emotional. I'm glad that food is semi-tolerable again and that I don't crash on the couch every chance I can get. My boobs aren't as sore, I'm not dizzy or crampy anymore, and I'm not so short of breath.

Sleep: Love it, can't get enough. I did have a few weeks when I couldn't fall asleep at night but that has changed. I make it through the night without peeing but have to book it as soon as I wake up. Not too shabby. Having two kids that seemingly learned how to sleep well is certainly helping.

Movement: Maybe, but I realize that makes me seem a little crazy to claim this early. But truly I feel flutters sometimes and I don't think it's always gas. It probably is gas, but whatever.

The Bump: Present. Undeniable. I know it's not HUGE or anything, and it struck me tonight that I will be much bigger than this post-partum anyway, so this is still relatively 'flat' for now.

Milestones: Heard baby's heartbeat on my home doppler last week, right at 9w0d. AMAZING. Trying not to check every day but it's pretty close;) Heart rate is in the upper 170s-180s and there truly is no better sound in the entire world right now. Also, home doppler = life saver for my anxiety. Fantastic purchase, if you ask me.

Video of one of the first times with the doppler:


Best Moment of the Week: When Nate, Truman, and Cecelia all heard the baby's heartbeat on the doppler. Truman was amazed and kept saying, 'You found it! You found it!' and Cecelia wanted to hold the probe. Nate and I both agreed it's freaking insane to think about another little PERSON being inside there! I think we are still in denial a little bit and can't wait until it seems real (probably after the birth).

Other belly shots I've taken so far:

5--after I took the test but I didn't have a clue that I was five weeks pregnant here.


7--still didn't know how far along at the time


9--bump?


Double digits, baby!

January 15, 2017 | 15w1d

Baby is the size of a navel orange now, and I'm pretty sure he or she had a major growth spurt this week. Either that, or my uterus suddenly gave in and I've popped. For those that scoff at my bump, just refer back to my four week picture to understand why this seems LEGIT to me. I forgot about how most people are always 'you are so small' to me when pregnant. I don't feel 'small' but I guess it's all relative!



I'm feeling really good overall. I'm hungry and can eat pretty much whatever. I have decent energy and have been walking on the treadmill a little bit. I'm wearing maternity pants for pure comfort but regular pants are 'fine', too. For now. I'll feel the baby kick here and there, nothing consistent yet. Especially in the evening hours, it's 'for sure, not just gas' taps!

My first OB appointment at 14w3d needs recapping here.

Fifteen Weeks: 12.7.11 {all caught up to real time now!}








Size of baby: an orange according to The Bump, or an apple according to Baby Center. Tough choice for me but I like the bold color of oranges better:)

Cravings: mostly sweets (ie Jo-Jo's in excess) but at the movie theater last weekend, I had some salty/buttered popcorn that was divine. I never eat popcorn but it just sounded too amazing to pass up and it did not disappoint.

What I love: embracing this pregnancy to it's fullest.

What I'm looking forward to the most: I scheduled the anatomy scan for Thursday, January 12, so I will be 20 weeks (plus one day)! Really excited about that big event and a twinge nervous about all that could be discovered to be wrong at that scan, too. But trying to hang onto the excitement of seeing our baby move around for a full hour. And yes, we will find out the sex but we are doing it a little differently than last time. Details to come in January.

Worries: I thought I had the faintest, teeniest speck of a brown spot in my undies on Monday. All of my familiar worries came crashing down on me and it was hard to sleep that night. But nothing else has appeared since so I'm trying to go with the 'push the worries out of your mind' idea.

What is different this time around: The incredible bump.

Symptoms: Headaches were better this week, but a glimpse of The Fatigue came back to haunt me a bit. Probably because we had a totally hectic weekend that left me exhausted---I needed naps and still felt tired most mornings this week.

Sleep: Yes, please. Can't get enough again.

Movement: Still with the little jabs a couple times last week. Really can't wait for daily BIG kicks---one of my favorite parts of pregnancy, for sure.

The belly: Still fluctuating over the course of a day but not ever 'flat' even in the mornings anymore. Only have one pair of work pants that fit now but I'm trying to use my Bella Band for the other pair that nearly fit. I really dislike the Bella Band though and have decided it's time to buy 'real' maternity pants for my job. Again, I wasn't in maternity clothes until after 20 weeks last time. Insane.

Boy or Girl: I still catch myself saying 'he' and 'him' a lot for this baby but I'm not sure that's really intuition or just what I know. We'll find out NEXT MONTH!! :)

Milestones: Baby is 4 inches long, 2.5 ounces, and is breathing amniotic fluid now. This is the week that baby can sense light which is great to know for when I'm jamming a flashlight onto my belly (?).

Best moment of the week: My OB appointment last Friday went very well. I am in love with my OB and she is sort of in love with this champion baby, I think. No ultrasound this time but she did clear me for light exercise (ie zen-like yoga or something to that effect) but she doesn't really think I need to be running and stressing my body too much. Also, I wasn't going to talk about weight gain but I was really surprised to see I've only gained 3 pounds so far without any exercise in the past 9 weeks. A nice surprise indeed. We scheduled the blood work for the 16 week Quad Screening, scheduled my anatomy scan, and I have another appointment with her at 18 weeks. Moving right along now, aren't we?

My baby boy is 8 weeks old today and this is also my last day being 28 years old. Tomorrow is my big 2-9 and I'm planning on holding steady in my twenties for a few more years after that somehow:) I'm pretty sure having a baby has accelerated the aging process for me and I think I found a few gray hairs already and he's not even a teenager yet. Oy.

So baby Truman is a big boy now and SO mature it's sickening. One night I randomly thought out loud about when it would be appropriate to start using our play yard and Nate thought we should just try it out right then. Sure enough, Truman is OBSESSED with it. Like, he can stay under there for almost a full hour at his best and at least 20 minutes even when he's on the verge of a nap. It's so cute to see him staring up at his new animal friends and at that cute baby in the mirror. I swear this boy is getting happier by the day and I just love it.







Also, this week I noticed that his hair is falling out in very odd spots. Like the top of his head and a strip on the side. I have a feeling we are going to have a bald baby on our hands soon with a few patches of long hair in the back like a mullet. Can't wait for his redneck side to emerge!

Little redneck had his first cold this week and it was much harder on me than him. He was all congested and had red watery eyes and poor baby could barely breathe through his thick boogies lodged in his nose. The doctor's office felt confident that it was just a cold since he didn't have a fever or any other symptoms, so they suggested saline drops in the nose with the booger-sucker. Let me just tell you that Mr. T is mortal enemies with anything shot into his nose. He HATED it but it worked and he's doing much better now. Poor thing--I hated to see him sick, and in fact I even came down with a sympathy cold myself. Fun times, I tell you!

(with the red, watery eyes...poor Truman!)


He's smiling a ton now and I don't have to work quite as hard to produce that gummy grin I love so much. There is nothing like seeing his face light up with a huge smile. It makes my day every time and I can't wait for his giggle to appear next. Oh, what fun days we are in right now....I promise I'm not taking a second for granted and I'm still forcing myself to stop and breathe in the moment before it passes. Being present for each day is allowing my maternity leave to pass by at an acceptable pace instead of vanishing before my eyes and I'm not letting myself think too far ahead to the future when these magical days are done, and I return to work. Nope, not gonna think about that just yet (but it will be on May 21 if you are interested).


As far as sleeping and a routine goes, well it's still all over the place. For every time that he puts himself to sleep without any help from me there is at least one time that I have to pull out the entire bag of tricks just to get the boy some shut-eye. For every awesome 2-3 hour daytime nap there is at least one time where he'll sleep for 10 minutes and wake up totally cranky. For every night when he goes an awesome stretch of 5 hours (5.5 is his record right now), there are the nights when he's up after 2 hours ready to rip. So basically, he's still just 8 weeks old and although we have a few general patterns we are nowhere near a solid routine. And honestly I'm totally fine with that right now and I'm enjoying figuring out what works and doesn't work for little man.



I am considering the dreaded move into his crib, however. I mean, he's going to bed a little earlier than Nate and I lately---around 9 or so---and he's making it for at least 4 hours that first stretch of the night. It would be really nice to plop him into his crib in his room then have the first part of the night with it just being Nate and I before I wake up and feed him. We'll see how this week goes but I'm thinking about trialing it this upcoming weekend for at least the first half of the night. He really despises naps in his crib, though, so I'm worried he won't dig it one bit.



Overall, T-man is still a happy little baby. He used to hate baths and diaper changes but he loves both now. He is content just staring out his favorite window in our family room or looking up at my photo gallery wall above the couch. Lots of times he'll just be talking to himself and smiling up a storm for no reason at all. And this boy likes to cuddle with mom in his Moby or Bjorn during the day so I'm soaking it in as much as I can:) Oh, and of course his favorite hobby is still nursing which continues to go well for us and it's even taking him less time to finish a session compared to his old ways of sucking for seriously an hour total. I'm really liking these 'quick' 30 minute sessions at night now and I'm told it continues to get more efficient and quick. We are very blessed with a relatively calm baby and I hope it all continues to go this well!



Of course, I have a few worries despite how well things are going. For instance, whenever Truman is crying and we can't calm him down with our bag of tricks I always resort to nursing him which ALWAYS works (thank goodness). But I worry that when I return to work he's going to really miss nursing during the day and will be inconsolable. Nate watched T for 2 hours one morning while I visited with friends and I guess T was totally out of sorts and sobbed most of the time, which breaks my heart. Nate pulled out all the stops and nothing worked, not even a nice 3 ounce bottle. I really think T just wanted the comfort of nursing and I wasn't there so he freaked. I hope and pray he is able to hang for a whole day without his favorite boobies or else he might be screaming his head off more than he has in his entire life that first day. I guess only time will tell and maybe by then he will be more independent and perhaps he'll finally take a pacifier at that point, to help with the soothing. We shall see.

(cool new hat from Kim, straight out of South Korea! Our guy is so well traveled and worldly, isn't he?)


(I love this face and his fatness here)


(maybe my new favorite pic, even though it's out of focus. He was laughing at Nate here)



So other than my birthday tomorrow and some dinner plans with hubby the whole week is pretty much wide open, prime for Truman and Mommy time. Just how I like it. Cannot believe he's almost two months old in some ways, and in others it was like a lifetime ago when I had him. What did we do with ourselves before this little dude was here? :)

Full term! WOAH!

Dressed up for our date night this past weekend, otherwise you know my hair would not be down/makeup on/black dress worn on a weekend. No way.


I'm going to make this pretty short and sweet, and will likely forget a lot of extremely important information in the process. ;)

OB appointment went well, and I'm dilated 1cm and 50% effaced. So literally exactly where I was with Porter's pregnancy at this time and he was overdue and induced (means nothing). My OB still said, 'You can have this baby tomorrow now, you're full term!' She also noted my varicose veins in my groin and legs and assured me they should go away after the 'tumor' comes out. ;) Baby is head down, HR was 150, he's moving like a mad man and my bladder is barely hanging on these days. The pressure down there is insane and I've had several zingers to the cervix/groin that make my legs feel like they might collapse. Still with Braxton Hicks and I even downloaded a contraction timer app this week, when they were coming every 5 minutes for a solid hour. I stopped timing them because they were not painful and I feel like I'm not actually going to go early this time, and sure enough---they must have stopped because I'm still pregnant.



I'm up 30 pounds but food is not my favorite anymore. I get full so freaking fast, but am craving all fruits and popsicles. I've been drinking a lot of water, La Croix, and even root beer this week to beat the heat and stay hydrated. Plus, I've been taking a daily nap whenever possible and I'm not mad about it. Reading back through old 37 week posts with the other kids makes me chuckle--I was all bent out of shape about NEEDING to nap 'three times per week' and still feeling tired. This time? Give me all of the naps, I do not care about losing productive time. It's the only option many days, even if it's just a 30 minute power nap!

Getting off the couch is becoming rather comical and if I drop something on the floor I prefer to pick it up with my monkey toes if at all possible. I'm not sleeping the best because I just can't seem to get comfortable, definitely have to pee at least once in the middle of the night, and because Porter still likes to wake up and screams for me for fun. I don't know anymore, I just cannot with him.

Non-materity tankini is probably going to be forever ruined but I don't have a lot of options for pool wear. I did wear a regular bikini once but the amount of veins on my very-white belly seemed offensive.


Biggest accomplishment of the week is that we finally moved all of the bins and storage items from the attic to the basement, to get ready for the house renovation! This thrills me like nothing else because it's something I've wanted to do for about four months now but I just cannot carry all of the heavy items myself. Don't get me wrong, I've been putting in plenty of hours in the attic, organizing and purging and taking things to Goodwill. I even carried down four giant hanging wardrobes from the attic to the basement before proclaiming, 'THAT'S IT, NO MORE HEAVY LIFTING!' Nate and his dad made approximately 20304 trips up and down alllllllll of the flights of stairs in our house to help with this project, and now I just have a little more organizing to do in our storage area of the basement. YES.

Ugly pictures but must commemorate:
The attic now, basically empty compared to before!


And the unfinished side of the basement now, busting at the seams but still organized. These are all kids' clothing bins. Absurd.


Also, my mom and Memaw bought the baby quite a few new items on Amazon--diapers, sleepers, swaddles, a pacifier. He is SET and it's so much fun to wash and hang all of his stuff in Porter's closet! I even pulled out a bag and started throwing a few things into it as a 'hospital bag', creating a real list for items that need to be in there this week. I faxed the order for a new breast pump to a company and we have the co-sleeper folded up, but ready to go in our bedroom. All of this means one thing: we are having a baby SOON and we are almost ready for him to arrive. GAH!!!!



Supposedly we are breaking ground on the house tomorrow, which is why we did the whole attic to basement purge this weekend. But also, we have a matter of weeks before this child comes no matter what and it's time to really focus on the to-do list, right? I've also decided that when we have a nursery to decorate in about six-ish months, I want to do a black and white and geometric print theme for our cool dude. My mom is requesting a theme so she can make him a quilt, like she's done for the other kids, and it's all going to come together so nicely....when we can actually decorate the new bedroom! I'm nesting in a big way over here and loving every second of it.

Also, we've just been having an awesome summer thus far. Splash pads...


Ice cream dates...




Water balloons...


Sweetness between siblings...


These two dudes went to the US Open and had a freaking ball;)


The pool! .... we love it all!


I kind of cannot believe I have a few weeks left at work. The more I think about it, the more I'm thinking I might just be done after my due date even if I haven't had the baby yet. My due date is a Saturday and I don't know that I'll really want to be at work that Monday morning if he's still cooking away. I'm doing great at work right now and am very thankful for the air conditioning, real bathroom, and comfy desk chair compared to treating patients out in the field. I'm feeling like I'm really hitting my groove with my new job, which is unfortunate since I'll be gone for 12 weeks. We will see if I can jump right back into it when I return, or what! My mom just bought plane tickets to arrive on my due date and leave on Porter's birthday, hoping to catch the birth and meet this little man as soon as he comes out...but of course we know that might not happen. I'm so excited for her to come though and hope the timing works out.

My focus this week has been on visualizing the birth, positive affirmations, and listening to my Hypnobabies tracks without falling asleep. It's so hard to stay awake but I managed to do it a few times. I'm really excited about this birth although it feels very abstract, like it's not actually going to happen in a few more weeks. But it is. I know it will. But it seems impossible.



Favorite comment: "What is this, baby number one? Two? Three?" (Me: 'Keep going'). "OH WOW, number four? You look great for having four kids." What a back handed compliment, right? Like, 'I expected you to look very haggard and tired but you don't look too horrible, I guess.' I mean, I haven't birthed the fourth yet, so my haggard-ness is bound to come. I've had a few people say that I'm finally getting 'big' but most still say 'you are SO SMALL'. I'm really glad my uterus measures right on track at each appointment so that I can be assured other people's opinions on my belly don't mean a whole lot.

Nate and I celebrated our tenth anniversary a few weeks late this year. Tony and Lois took the kids for a sleepover while we went out to dinner, walked around downtown, and woke to a quiet house the next morning. We ate breakfast here, did some organizing, and then went out for coffee. An excellent way to spent our tenth anniversary, even if it wasn't fancy or wild. Plus, Fathers Day weekend with Nate and Tony, and texting my dad was also successful.

TEN YEARS, baby!! My how things have changed and truly, how much happier we are right now compared to our wedding day.


So I'm full term, feeling quite pregnant but happy and content to keep him cooking awhile longer, and I'm in disbelief that I will have this baby in my arms really freaking soon. I'm going to miss pregnancy when it's over, guys. It's just so special to have him all to myself, to marvel at how my body knows how to grow this child, to feel (and watch!) him kicking from the inside, imaging who this little character will be on the outside. The anticipation is still quite magical at this point, and watching all three kids get so excited to meet their brother is something I'll never forget. I know I'm incredibly lucky to feel good at 37 weeks pregnant and I certainly hope that continues until the end!

And with that, I'll head into the week with a clear mind and gratefulness for all that we have in this life. Yes, end of pregnancy emotions are all over the place, it's true.