Our plans to get the nursery into order were put on hold in order to allow some friends to stay with us for a few weeks while they got their own place. They just signed a lease next door, which means we finally have the extra bedroom back and were able to start getting the nursery all set up for Arbor. So we went ahead and started on the biggest part of setting up the nursery: assembling the furniture. We only have a crib and changing table that needed to be put together, but it still needed to be done. Today we went ahead and tackled that feat, as a team, so I could begin the work of decorating and …
When you get into the third trimester, you get the pleasure of having to undergo a one hour gestational diabetes test. This involves a finger prick to test the sugar levels in your blood, drinking a disgusting, sweet, syrupy drink, and then another finger prick an hour later. Most women pass the one hour test, and continue on with the pregnancy as usual. But some fail it, and then have to move on to the dreaded three hour glucose test. Most women pass the three hour test, too, but if you fail that one, you’re diagnosed with gestational diabetes.
I failed the one hour test when I was pregnant with …
I am so thankful that my husband and I were able to attend the baby budget class offered on base. It really opened our eyes about how much we spend and where we are spending most of our money. I can proudly say that we have curbed our spending habits, but there are still some areas we can improve on. My son’s savings account has grown so much since I have started working again. We have started saving for our emergency fund and vacation/family time fund.
I am kicking myself for not having opened my daughter’s savings account yet. Since it doesn’t exist I have not been proactively saving for …
Ready or not this baby is coming! We are well into the third trimester with less than two months to go and I am not ready. I felt so much more prepared for Elli’s arrival; by this point I had her nursery completely ready to go, clothes cleaned, and all equipment sanitized and put together.
This time around, things are not quite so put together. Just like my blogs on trying to get my final shopping done, I am trying to think through what I would like to have done before he arrives. Now this is not an exhaustive gathering of things that could be done, rather a short …
The Bradley Method gave me a lot of tools and resources to continue studying and preparing for childbirth.
Back in January, my husband and I started taking The Bradley Method of natural childbirth. It meant driving to New Bern every Thursday for two hours (sometimes more if we got caught up in a really good topic) for twelve weeks until the series was finished. Okay, so it was really 8 weeks because we started the class late, but it was a pretty big commitment for travel, homework and other class related responsibilities.
I was really excited that my husband agreed to take the class with me, as The Bradley …
My baby girl just turned two months and is doing so wonderfully. Wow time is really flying by! She is super healthy and I couldn’t be happier. Breastfeeding is going well, but sometimes I feel like a soda machine. Just when I think I’m producing enough for little mama it feels like it isn’t enough. Of course when I start to complain or feel frustrated many people tell, “Just give her some formula.” I called the lactation nurse who helped me in the hospital. I even have her number on speed dial!
I have been pumping milk and nursing around the clock so much lately. No matter how much I pump …
Elli's first nap...looking back I realize just how tiny she really was!
When Elli was born, the nursery in our house was huge. It was large enough to hold her dresser, crib, glider, and even an extra twin bed. Since we had a twin bed, we decided that she could sleep in her crib and I would sleep in the twin bed for the first while, instead of putting her in our room.
I did sleep in her room for about two weeks and then transitioned back to my bedroom. So from nap #1 when we came home from the hospital, she slept in her crib. …
I don't know about you, but this picture inspires confidence that he's got everything under control.
With labor and delivery right around the corner, it’s really easy for me to forget to count my blessings about this pregnancy and my life as a whole. This pregnancy was planned with the love of my life and I really couldn’t be more grateful that we had such an easy time conceiving. I’ve experienced pregnancy loss before, which affects each person differently, but to me, it made me even more thankful that we conceived on our second cycle trying, made it into the second trimester without complication and are now …
This week, I have to get a fetal echocardiogram done. Because my son has been diagnosed with having Down syndrome, this means there’s a good chance he’ll have a heart defect. Around half of all babies with Down syndrome have a heart defect of some kind, and so, getting a fetal echocardiogram done is a necessity.
A fetal echocardiogram is basically an ultrasound, but focused on the heart. A pediatric cardiologist or a maternal-fetal medicine specialist will look at the images of the heart and try to determine if there are any heart defects present. I’m still not entirely sure what they’ll be looking …
Since having the baby I have been trying to get back into yoga. I was a huge yoga fan before I got pregnant and I recently found a class that I liked so I decided to make it part of my weekly routine. I literally cleared my schedule around this one class. I figure it is one of those essentials just for mommy that no one can take from me.
The first time I took the class I was so excited. This was my first class in a long time. I knew I would not be able to do a lot of movements, but I would modify as needed. I was …
