Past Due

Well goodness where to start... The past couple weeks have only proven how little I know about when a baby is going to come :) Even with an easy pregnancy the last couple weeks have been the longest weeks ever. Patience has worn thin and things that don't really matter started to be a concern. Such as - I am lucky and haven't gotten stretch marks. And now every day I get nervous that I'm going to randomly start getting them in these last few days when the baby is late and he should be out, and not giving me stretch marks haha. I wish I could say such a superficial concern never crossed my mind but these are the things you start to think about when all you are doing is waiting for your baby to come.

Last Sunday I stayed home from church because the whole night before I was having contractions. They were irregular and uncomfortable but not painful. So I knew they were pre-labor contractions, but they kept me up all night and made me think for sure the baby was going to come soon. I did not think I would be making it to church today like I did. I've had them on and off for a couple weeks now but last Sunday they had been so frequent I thought last week was my week. And baby has been head down in perfect position for three weeks now ready to go.

Last Week's Bump-Date

Every old wives' tale solution to kickstart labor has been attempted multiple times. I went up and down the 72 Rocky stairs ten times with my family taking turns walking them with me. We eat a lot of spicy food anyways but I have eaten food without being able to taste it so that it can be spicy enough to make a difference from our regular taste. I've kept working out, I drank a whole jumbo box of raspberry herbal tea in a week and I've gotten pedicures & massages (the hardest task obviously). The list goes on and on...

We Got To Show Off Our City

Obviously I Look Strongest Here

I will say however, I was able to get my house ready and enjoy Christmas with my family who came into town. My Mom sweetly helped me take down Christmas decorations and ready my home so that when he does come I don't have to worry about anything else. And I'm thankful to be healthy. I'm thankful to have a healthy baby. And I'm beyond grateful to have such a supportive and sweet husband. Preston has been such a rockstar and never makes me feel anything other than loved. These are the most important things and I am so blessed.

Christmas Morning

We Loved Showing Off U Penn Campus

Sometimes when I think about him being born and picture how small and sweet he will be I just get so excited and so happy I cannot help but cry. I am overwhelmed with love for our baby boy already it seems incomprehensible to love him more, and yet I know when I am actually holding him my heart will overflow even more than it has already. We are just praying now whether he comes on his own or I need to be induced he comes healthy into this world. He's made us wait so that we are extra anxious to meet him! Such a little man already :)

Xoxo

Week 28 & New York, I Love You!

So I started this thinking I would be so good at posting memories from my pregnancy for our baby's memory book! But {luckily} pregnancy has been pretty uneventful other than I love feeling this little guy move around and kick. I've been super blessed to have an easy go of this. No food or smell aversions. I feel great. I am trying my best to exercise often and eat healthy so I do think that makes a huge difference. Which is not to say I don't feel large, because even working out growth is totally part of this and I am growing for sure haha.

I am big enough that strangers no longer question if I'm pregnant. I am for sure a pregnant lady. This was made obvious in our recent weekend getaway to New York City aka my favorite place in the world. Everyone is super friendly there. I've always felt this. But I seriously did not wait in one line. Not in a bathroom, not even in the TKTS line which is the booth you buy discount Broadway tickets at in Times Square. I got pulled out of line in a manner of a couple minutes and brought up to the front. We usually hit it at a good time and don't have to wait long. But this time around the line was HUGE. It was so nice to get moved up. Checking into our hotel the line dedicated to platinum members pulled me out of our "regular people" line to check us in. And passers by frequently smiled at me and threw a "congrats!" my way as we walked. The weather was glorious and quite frankly my socks were charmed off. What a lovely time we had. New York constantly renews my faith in humanity, and I think most people expect it to do the opposite.

                                 

                                 

                                 

                           

But I am starting to tell the difference between a hand and a foot pressing against me. So he's getting big and strong. Literally the only thing stressing me out is readying the apartment with our limited space. But we will get there!

Xoxo

Half Way There . . .

Well 20 weeks down and 20 to go! I hear the first half flies by for people as a general rule. But we knew so quickly we were going to have a baby that it feels like it has already been FOREVER. Not because I am having a hard time with pregnancy but because I already want my baby! I'm so ready for that tiny newborn to be in my arms. But alas... we have a long way to go. So I wanted to write down some tid-bits on the first half of my pregnancy both good and bad:

I am a planner. I can't even tell you how many hours I have spent on stroller, car seat and even pillow research. I have read hours and hours of blogs, manufacturers sites, product reviews and baby sites learning about things like "is there really a difference in organic cotton/bamboo vs non organic?" Or "exactly how is breast milk different than formula?" And I mean chemically different. I literally read up on protein compounds for about an hour last night fascinated with how it all works. Not to mention polling large number of friends who's opinions I trust on things like which pack'n'play they really thought was easiest to use. I admit a lot of my "nesting" energy is also going into this because with Preston graduating from Wharton and us then moving when baby is just four months old it doesn't make sense to do up a full nursery. Especially when we want the baby in our room for the first couple of months. So it's allllll getting poured into research. I actually really enjoy this. I'm totally someone who wants to know all the information. The more I know the less stressed I am as a general rule to all things. And knowing early what items I want allows me to deal-hunt. Which I totally love doing.

I also got to experience my first bloody nose ever. Just when you think your body couldn't have more potential symptoms, you find out that one possibility is the occasional bloody nose. I did not care for it. At all. I was so worried I would drip on something I just sat there leaning slightly forward over the sink, pinching my nose for ten minutes. This made me late, and I hate to be late. I polled a handful of friends expecting it to be fairly rare and come to find out they had ALL experienced an occasional nose bleed during pregnancy when they don't normally ever get them. What the weird? No one warned me about this. It was very unsettling. I hope that I keep my grand total to one during this process.

But the best part is feeling the baby kick! I felt my first kick at 19 weeks. And now at night when I'm watching TV or going to bed I rest holding my tummy waiting excitedly for the next one. The first kick I felt while eating egg-less cookie dough and watching "Friends." The baby is clearly also a fan of my favorite things :) I was sad Preston wasn't back from his business trip to feel it too but there are plenty of kicks to come in the next 20 weeks.

I've loved keeping track of how big the baby is each week and what is developing as the days go by. What a miracle it is, and how amazing the human body is to be able to grow another human like that. Minus a few weeks at the beginning I have felt great this whole pregnancy. I definitely get tired faster but staying active really helps with that for me.

All in all I feel really blessed. I'll take one nose bleed and some sleepiness over the other possible side effects any day. Now I just need to exercise patience for 4 more days when we get to find out if baby is a boy or girl. I don't know how you Mom's who wait to be surprised at birth do it. I'm seriously impressed with your ability to restrain yourself from finding out.


Xoxo

Baby Thomas

Well we are going to be parents! One of my family's most prized possessions (according to me) is my Mother's journal. I used to LOVE to go through it and read about how she felt during her pregnancy with me and to read her stories as my brother and I grew up. So in an effort to follow her example I want to document our big life events. I've wanted to be a Mom my whole life. When Preston and I decided the time was right for us to start our family I hoped and prayed we wouldn't have to wait long before we got to have our first baby. We were beyond blessed to not have to wait long before I was pregnant.

We had gone to Washington DC to have a weekend staying with our friends and their family. It was a beautiful, perfect weekend right when the cherry blossoms are out and the weather is perfection. But I felt slightly nauseous the whole time we were there. Let me preface this by saying that my stomach is a serious champ. As annoying as this sounds I really can eat whatever I want and my tummy is never upset. Overly full sometimes, but upset, no. So in the back of my mind I kept thinking "I wonder if I'm pregnant!"

We got home on Easter Sunday and Preston had to run to a meeting with a study group for a project due the next morning. He knew I hadn't felt well and had the same suspicions I had, but for some reason I wanted to check on my own. So as soon as he left I busted open a box of at-home tests and took one. It came back positive but one of the pink lines was MUCH darker than the other so I got it in my head that it didn't really confirm anything. So I took another... same. It sounds ridiculous but I could not wait to find out for sure and I just didn't believe these tests so I went out and bought a box of the kind that simply say "yes" or "no" (laugh away at me I know I was being ridiculous) A couple of those "yes" results later I finally believed it. I apologize for this next sentence of TMI but we had only been "trying" for like two weeks so I was a hard sell on the "yes" result. Apparently we started up at the exact right time for my body. I was pregnant! And I could not wait for Preston to get home. The hour I waited for him after that was the longest hour of my life. I was bursting with the news.

I took a photo after the tests for a "before shot"

Every Easter I give Preston an Easter basket. So I put my at-home tests in a zip lock bag and hid them in the bottom of his basket. When he got home I probably seemed over enthusiastic for him to go through and see his basket. I tried to film his reaction but in trying to not actually look like I was filming my finger hit something wrong and I didn't actually get it :( But his reaction was priceless. I remember it going something like this..."Ooo I love this candy. Nice I've been wanting this CD!...yummy treats...Oo let's watch this movie soon, thanks babe! Wait, what is this? Wait. Wait. You're pregnant??? HOLY CRAP YOU'RE PREGNANT??" Fist pump - jump up and make a touch down type motion - "My boys can swim!!!!" - Run over and pick me up and spin me around for a kiss.

The blurry photo I took when I thought I was videoing haha

It was one of the most fun moments of our lives. He really delivered on the reaction front. We weren't able to see my doctor to confirm the news until a couple days before we were leaving for just over a month on our Eastern European adventure. They don't take you for your first appointment until you're at least eight weeks along. So on our anniversary, May 7th, we went to the doctor and got to see our fuzzy peanut looking baby. At that stage it really looks like a little peanut. But inside was a tiny dot flickering away at a perfect heart beat rate. It's amazing that the heart beat is so visible so soon. Preston took me out to Barclay Prime that night for dinner and gave me my sweet anniversary/baby gift. My first little blue box, with a heart for me and a heart for baby.

We left on May 9th to visit 10 countries in a little over four weeks. But that's another entry entirely. I will just say that it was amazing, once in a lifetime, and we came home and slept for two days straight to recover. Which was nice because as I understand it, pretty soon sleep will be a luxury. And we cannot wait.