Weeks 29 through 32
Crazy to think that we’re getting close to the home stretch. About 40’ish days until our little girl comes into this world and I’m so excited! I think one of the best parts of pregnancy and welcoming a new baby into the world is the ‘unknown’. I literally can’t stop thinking – how I’ll go into labor, will it be like Henry’s, who will be the doctor on call, how will Henry react, what will she look like?! The anticipation is fun and exciting.
I’m so excited for this little girl to join our family! Part of me wants her to arrive a bit early before Christmas so that we can share that festive time together (and mommy can have a glass of vino), but part of me wants to enjoy one last Christmas with just Henry… this age that he’s at is so much fun and everything he does and says melt my heart. I am thankful that he’s equally in love with his Daddy now, we’re currently growing out of the ‘mommy phase’… which is heartbreaking for me, but I know in the long run it will be a good thing!
When I think I’ll go into labor: December 15th if I had to pick a date. It’s been a date that has been in my mind for a long time and I’ll be a little over 37-1/2 weeks. My last bridal client was scheduled for that date as well and I’ve been a little nervous about her appointment being so late in my pregnancy. With Henry, I did a wedding at 39-1/2 weeks and didn’t give it a second thought. Something tells me I’m going to go early. Anyways, my December 15th bride emailed me two weeks ago and asked if she could move her bridal session to November. I took it as a sign!
Nesting: Getting better! 😉 Still have to pack a hospital bag, wash/ fold baby laundry and blankets, sterilize bottles and pacis, organize a cabinet for the bottles. Also, wash the carseat fabric and other items we’re reusing from Henry.
Looking Forward To: My sprinkle this upcoming weekend and having John’s family in town for it. Also, looking forward to Henry’s 3rd birthday, birthday party and having my mom in town for that. Anxiously awaiting Thanksgiving so that we can put up Christmas decorations. I love this time of year and I’ve proudly been listening to Christmas music since November 1st. I mean, I really-really-really love the holidays!
Best Moment of the Last Month: That happened this past weekend when Henry ran in his first race – the Novant Health Charlotte Marathon (kids fun run 1 miler). It was also one of our first races that John and I ever ran together years ago (first half-marathon that I broke 2 hours in). I need to do an entire post on this, it was too cute… John and I ran with him (along with our friend Nicola and her 3 year old daughter). Feels like yesterday when running molded our relationship, it’s a hobby that we’ve always shared from day one, it was the one way that I was able to get away from the world of infertility during our fight. You might recall my post from 5 years ago where I shared my heart, my marriage, our infertility diagnosis and how running completely shifted our mindsets.
Now, here we are, cheering on our son and encouraging him to be active. How did we get here?! He smiled and laughed the entire way. Watching him cross his fist finish line and then receive his first medal – brings all the tears.
Post Delivery Goals: This is a long one…
1.) Continue to pick Henry up around 3pm everyday so that we can have some good family time together.
2.) Enroll Henry in swim + gymnastics. I love having an activity with him during the week in a new environment, new instructor, new group of kiddos to get acquainted with.
3.) Run the Charlotte Corporate Cup Half-Marathon on March 5th! Yikes, this might be a stretch, but even if I walk/ run, I’m doing it! I haven’t ran since a few weeks prior to my IVF transfer (1st of April). God-willing, I should have 6 weeks post-delivery to train. This will be the first race in 2-1/2 years that John and I will finish together! Just like the old days! If there is one thing I miss the most during pregnancy, it’s running – since moving to Charlotte in 2001, it’s something that’s been close to my heart. There’s nothing like a runners high!
4.) START and finish photo album books of Henry… I never did a baby book for him!
Nursery: Making progress! It’s looking cute and I’m excited to share the wallpaper project that I’ve been working on with Kristin Dills (artist) of Honeycomb Design and ANE Wall. We decided to turn the wallpaper design into a large mural, which will cover one wall in the nursery… so need to paint the other walls in there.
Weight Gain: Up 30lbs (I know!!!) since post IVF meds/ transfer. I did 2 rounds of IVF with 1 loss at 6-1/2ish weeks, then immediately went back on the meds. That being said, I started the pregnancy off about 12lbs up from my normal weight. If you do the math, we’ll call it 40ish lbs! But who is counting?!
Health Update: I’m not sure if you remember my last update, but during my 27 week appointment, I found out that my low blood pressure was causing me to feel lightheaded, dizzy and on the verge of passing out. With this pregnancy I’m also anemic, low platelets and (what I call) extreme swelling. If you follow me on Snapchat then I’m sure you’ve seen my swelling issues (and spider veins). I’ve been on some meds to help improve my blood pressure and anemia. I’m also doing a ‘morning fast’, where I don’t eat or drink any sugar before 10am (mainly protein). I’m still thirsty all the time and drink water by the gallons… which results in middle-of-the-night wake up calls – laying on my left side for 3-5 minutes before getting out of bed has really helped and I no longer feel dizzy. Crazy how one little trick can make you feel so much better.
Movement: She’s so active, more active than I remember Henry being. Her due date is only a few weeks after Henry’s birthday. I’m reminded daily, with the Timehop posts of him moving in my belly, but when I compare those videos to what is currently going on… I’m blown away by the amount of moves this girl has.
Workouts: Just a few power walks here and there. Not putting too much pressure on myself, but trying to stay somewhat active. My goal is to get 10k steps in when I walk (about 4x per week)… equals out to be about 4 miles per walk.
How is Henry: He’s doing great and so sweet. He doesn’t talk about his baby sister as much as he did, but I’ll occasionally find him in her room – of course, riding her llama like a wild man. I’ve been trying to spend a good amount of quality time with him. Just want to soak up as much one-on-one time as I possibly can. We keep our time together simple – art projects, reading books, playing with legos, walking, tonight we cooked fake dinner in his kitchen together… he even loves going to Home Goods. I’m making sure instead of doing dishes while he eats that I sit down next to him (on nights that we don’t eat dinner together as a family). Lately, we do “make-up story time”, where mommy makes up stories. They’re typically about Henry and his best buddy James as super heroes. He’s a very loving, protective, independent, curious, adventurous little boy. I think he’s going to transition into brotherhood great.
Favorite Henry Behavior: Grabs both of my cheeks when he gives me a kiss. And if the kiss isn’t right on the lips, he has to redo it… also, he holds the kiss for several seconds. I love it when you ask him a question, he’ll respond with a high-pitched-positive, “sure”. Or if he’ll ask a question twice and I remind him that we already discussed the question, he’ll respond with a, “oh-yeah-yeah that’s right, that’s right”. The other morning around 2am, I heard a big thud and 3 minutes later he was standing in our room fully dressed, mask and all, in Spiderman and wearing his big Captain America boot slippers… “mommy and daddy, I slept through the night”.
What Do I Want To Have Done Before Baby: Nursery, bottles and clothes washed, hospital bag packed, finish Christmas shopping and wrapped… and have a clean house and car. I better get busy!
I’ve linked up a few of my favorite mommy and baby items!
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Just love your updates and SO excited for you!!! x