Friday, June 24, 2016

25 Week Update

This week has been a whole lot of not sleeping. I'm not sure if will get better. I've been trying everything possible to sleep. It seems like my mind just won't turn off even though my body is tired.

Since the weather is slowly getting more "summer like" I have noticed the beginning of feet swelling. More like my ankles get huge and hurt. I try to sit and elevate them but that doesn't always seem to help.

My hot flashes have gone from at night only to daytime too. I usually love hot weather, I would rather be warm then cold. Now I'm starting to hate it! I live in minimal, comfy clothing to stay comfortable. The blower motor (what blows the AC) went out in my Jeep, so my amazing husband is replacing that for me this weekend!

My skin seems to be more dry and itchy then before. I just keep slathering on lotion and drinking lots of water. I know hormones aren't helping, but it's sure annoying!


We spent Father's Day at a car show and I had to get a picture with my Baby Daddy. You can even see my belly starting to poke out!


Zero, our husky mix, has always been all about David. He really doesn't care for me unless David is gone and he wants something. Now, he's starting to get super excited when I come home and follow me around the house more. I've read that dogs can sense you body changing and the baby, so I'm starting to think thats whats going on. 

He's even cuddled with my belly and been super confused when he gets kicked. He keeps coming back for more kicks in the face, so I just hope he falls in love with Jack like we are.



Until next time,
Kandi

Monday, June 20, 2016

Our Baby Shower

I choose to have my baby shower earlier than the norm. It seems most have their show around 32 weeks pregnant and I'm almost 25 weeks. 

I choose to have my shower early mainly because I have been told to prepare for bed rest and how for the best. This is all because of my hip, yes the one I always reference. I have been told since I was about 19 years old that I would be on bedrest quite a bit through pregnancy and have a c-section. So, I wanted to have my shower to be able to enjoy it! I am slowly having issues with my hip, but nothing to stop me from having fun any time soon!

Second reason I choose to have my shower early, to have time to finish preparing for little man's arrival and not feel stressed with a time crunch. Remember, I like to be prepared!

So, now that we have that out of the way, here's how I did my shower!

I did plan most of this my self but had lots of help from my best friend, Katey! 

I choose to keep it very simple. I wanted this so there wasn't a rush, it was fun and relaxing, people got to visit, and I didn't stress over things.

We had the shower at my parents house since they have lots of room. It ended up being almost 90*F! A lot warmer than planned but at least it was nice!

I did ask for books over cards in the invitation. I loved the idea that our family and close friends could pick their favorite book and we could read it Jack (name post coming soon!) as he grew up. 

In keeping things simple, I kept the "games" simple too! We had more stations of things to do instead of lots of games:
  • Sign the onesie - just like a guestbook
  • Guess the due date
  • How many M&M's in the bottle?
  • Decorate the bibs
  • Don't say baby!
  • Advice cards
  • Prediction of size cards
  • Guess the side of mom's belly




For food, I once again kept things simple. I forgot to get a picture of the table covered in food, so just imagine! We did water and lemonade for drinks. I had chips, pretzels, and some different dips out first. We then got three trays of sandwiches from our local grocery store to save us time and the mess of making them. And after, I had cupcakes from my favorite bakery and a variety of different cookies.


At the very end of the day, I finally remembered to snap a few more pictures! I was able to get a good photo of David and I from our big day. He's not a picture fan, so I take what I can get!


And of course a belly shot! I found my dress at Target on sale! I was planning to get this dress anyway, it's cotton, comfy, and can be used after being pregnant. And my Birkenstocks, not that glamours but what are comfortable to wear now.


And I couldn't forget a picture with Katey! I couldn't have done this without her!


The only thing I would have done differently: taken more photos! I forgot to get one with my parents and even my roommates from college! But I'm thankful for what we do have!

I haven't shared what I got as far as presents so I don't brag. I will be showing more photos of the nursery here soon and show off a bit of what we got!

Until next time,
Kandi



Thursday, June 16, 2016

24 Week Update!

I think it's finally happened. My belly is finally looking like it has popped out! I still carry him low, or at least it seems low to me, he's finally being noticeable!

Now that we are 24 weeks, we have about 16 weeks or 112 days till our son makes his way into the world.


My biggest issue continues to be the lack of sleep I get. I had perfected my schedule to get around 9 hours of sleep a night before getting pregnant. I'm lucky to get 7 hours now. And let me tell you, I'm feeling it! After about a week or more of no sleep, I can finally pass out hard from exhaustion. I try everything to have a good bedtime routine, but between nighttime heart burn and baby dance classes, I just can't fall asleep until midnight to 1am-ish. I'm up around 7am to keep with my daily schedule. There are days I could sleep in but when I do, I feel like I've wasted so much time.

When I do get to sleep, I'm so hot! Like sweating and gross. I know it's the hormone changes, but I've never had this issue in my life. I love, love the feeling of heavy blankets. But between the heat I put off, the obstacle of pillows, and the amount I move around, the favorite blankets don't cut it any more. We currently use a top sheet and (one of my all time favorite) thin handmade blanket.

My second sleep issue: if I nap, I have a super hard time falling asleep at night. I've never been a napper. I've always been better at pushing through my day and passing out early. When I nap, I wake up groggy and take forever to fully wake up. This happens to me if I take a cat-nap or one of those coma-naps. And I keep napping more! It's such a vicious circle!

Now, my boobs. I still don't know how so many friends have neglected to pass the information about how much your chest can change during pregnancy. Mine are currently itchy and hurt all the time. I have completely grown out of pre-baby bras. I have bought some nursing bras (to save money since I plan on using them post-birth) and some sleep type bras. I have fallen in love with how comfortable the nursing bras are! I almost never want to go back to an underwire bra! Granted, they aren't that pretty or sexy but they are practical and still offer support. I have searched around for affordable bras to save some money. So far Burlington Coat Factory has been the best for selection and price!

What's comfy and whats not? The dress I'm wearing in the photos from the week is from Target's Maternity section. I have it in three different prints and would live in them all the time if I could. I have found that my jean material pants and capris are getting more and more uncomfortable as time goes on. I have invested in some thin capri leggings (that might not be actual pants but I've using them as some) and they are amazing. I do notice as time goes on, I get more uncomfortable in my skin so whatever I can get to make these next 16 weeks go by faster, well I buy it!

I have wide hips (thanks to my Mom) but I can tell they are widening more! I started my pregnancy journey wearing small/medium underwear and I'm now wearing large/extra large ones. I haven't gained much weight yet, just the normal pregnancy weight. I can still pull my pre-pregnancy jean up my thighs but they don't fit around my hips. I had read that ligaments loosen and things move around to carry the baby and to prepare for labor, but I didn't realize it would be such a change so fast!

Speaking of weight gain, I'm now at 160. I started at 152 at 9 weeks and was 146 at 13 weeks. I'm not sure if I've gained 8 or 14 pounds, but not much yet. My doctor was a little worried at first with my weight loss from nausea, but says I'm doing good now so not to worry. She would like me to gain around 25 pounds. I found this helpful to explain pregnancy weight gain.

I have fallen in love with baby moccasins. I have found so many small business that make their own little shoes and have to stop myself from buying all the pairs! I'm waiting to see how big little man's feet are when he's born before buying any. I know they aren't practical as a tiny baby, but during the winter I would like something for his feet besides just socks. I like that moccasins are soft and have give unlike so many baby shoes that have hard soles.



Ok, diaper bags... How many are acceptable? My in-laws got us the Jeep backpack diaper bag when we first told them we were pregnant. Without much research it seemed practical. Now that I've been researching baby things in general, I haven't figured out if we have the best diaper bag for us. David is fine with whatever, but likes the idea of a backpack one to be hands free. But my issue is that I have found this other diaper bag at Burlington Coat Factory that is a cross body style. My girl friends have suggested I get it, so that if I want I can swap out between the two. I'm really debating about getting it, but we shall see how much self control I have.

We don't have cable so my main "tv" type of entertainment is YouTube. For the longest time I loved watching beauty videos and planner videos, I've not switched to "mommy" videos. I've been watching tons of "what to take to hospital" and "whats in your diaper bag" videos. I have also watched all of Aaryn William's videos leading up to her delivery. I love being able to watch what other pregnant ladies are going through or what they suggest through their pregnancy.



Until next time,
Kandi

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Lately...

All recently that I can think of lately is planning everything for our little one.

I am such a "planner". I like to have everything organized and and figured out. I know things never go according to plan, but if I make a plan and it all goes to hell, it doesn't bother me. I would rather have a plan in my head so then I can start preparing for plan b when needed...

I'm that kind of person.



Baby Shower Planning
I have been planning my baby shower with my best friend and it's coming up this weekend. I decided to have my shower early for a few reasons:
- Having an early shower allows me to plan what I still need to get after the shower. I'm not expecting friends and family to get my everything off my baby registry. I put more than needed on my registry so I could have plenty of time to research and figure out what I need.
- I also have a bad hip. This has been something of concern for the doctor in general but also something we have to take day by day since pregnancy is unique to each person. Having an early shower allows me to enjoy time with friends and family without the worry of bed rest.
- I honestly didn't want to wait. Once again, as a planner, I wanted to know what all we would get! What mom to be isn't excited!

Cloth Diaper Planning
I've also been researching like crazy cloth diapers. I'm learning and pretty dang dead set to cloth diaper our son and future children as well. My main reason: the amount of money you can save!! Disposable diapers are convenient and easy, but can cost around $2000 from birth to potty training. I'm just not about that! I would rather spend about $500 to cloth diaper my kids to potty training and
reuse them for future kids. I have the ability to wash them at home and my main baby helpers (my husband and mom) are on board!

Moccasin Planning
Also, baby moccasins... I die! I'm so so so in love with them! I'm just trying how to justify needing so many pairs!

Well, until next time,
Kandi