Sign, sign, everywhere a sign!

 Today we are 40 weeks and 5 days pregnant. In my last post I mentioned that at the last Dr. appointment he said I was 2cm dilated, 80% effaced, and Eli's head was in the perfect position. I know this doesn't mean much but it is nice to hear of some progress. It is enough to keep a positive attitude and know he won't stay in forever.

4 days overdue!

4 days overdue!

About 2 days after my appointment, for the first time, I really got my hopes up and thought that "tonight might be the night". I had a very busy day at work and did way more physical activity and lifting than I probably should have but in my head I was thinking "the worst thing that could happen is it brings on a baby, and really, that would be great". Mark was closing that night so after work I picked up some Chinese food, got home, and sat down on the couch. 

I had been having some pretty strong contractions at work but I am so used to the braxton hicks contractions I didn't think much of it. Sitting on the couch was not very comfortable so I sat on my exercise ball and watched TV and finished eating. Contractions continued and so I thought I might, just for the fun of it, start timing them. They were coming and going between 5 & 15 minutes apart lasting a minute or more. I went to the rest room and (TMI alert) lost my mucus plug. Timeout...could they come up with a nastier name for that thing. Can't we just call it a plug?! I got all excited because it was another sign but thought "Who will I share this information with? No one wants to hear about a mucus plug. GROSS."

Anyways...so that happened and I couldn't help but start to get my hopes up even though I also knew losing the plug does not mean immediate labor. I continued to time my contractions and for 45 minutes they came and went with no more than 5 minutes between them and all of them lasting a minute or more. I started getting anxious and excited. Mark called and I shared with him all these signs and he too got excited. I didn't pull him from work because I was still trying to tell myself it was nothing even though all the signs seemed to point in the right direction and I was secretly thrilled!

Shortly after our phone conversation I had a 10 minute lapse between contractions....then a 12 minute lapse...3 min...15 min...8 min...and then....then I gave up. I don't know what happened to the 5 min apart contractions but they left me. I decided to stop timing, perhaps I was jinxing myself.

Mark came home a little bit later and was very excited. He thought that night would be the night as well. I woke up several times that night, a couple of times with a strong contraction and Mark was awake asking how I was feeling each time.

The next morning we were both off work and I didn't have one single contraction all morning. I couldn't help but feel really disappointed all day. We made the most of our day and our time together. We tried to give each other positive words of wisdom but I know we were both really disappointed.

From that experience of "false labor" I can tell you that I will not be doing any more timing of contractions "just for fun" until those suckers are on top of each other! I have since gotten over it and am back to just waiting and knowing he'll come when he will come. Also I know we only have a short amount of time with just Mark, Giedo, and me so we might as well enjoy it while we can.

Our Nursery!

Did you think with my lapse of posting that Eli had joined us??? Well, he hasn't yet but we are patiently waiting his arrival. At my last doctors appointment some progress was made. I was 2cm dilated and 80% effaced which really means nothing but at this point in the game it is nice to hear of some progress going on. 

Anyways...I'll save all that for another post. The real reason you probably clicked open this post is to see our nursery and so here ya go!

Red Dresser! Remember we almost lost it while bringing it home. 

It wasn't easy to find Cat in the Hat accessories but when we came across one we bought it! 

I love looking at his crib! 

Rocker area between his little bookshelf and changing table. 

Fames waiting on his pictures. 

This toy is super cute. It has a rattle, crinkle noise, a mirror. It came from Amazon. 

It took forever to find the right yellow curtains and these are a little stiffer than I would like but they are still cute and the right color. 

Marks godmother painted one of these stools for him and each of his brothers ...then Eli got one too!!! 

This child has SO many books!

We bought him a little bank but we can't figure out how to open it! Haha!

We ordered a set of 3 Cat in the Hat bins, this is the smallest one....

and this is the largest one! We are using this one as his toy bin. 

I love the quote wall! 

I painted this with my friend Jenny at a ceramics place. It's cute. 

His mobile. (Amazon purchase) 

His sheets, which also match his lamp. (Amazon) 

All together view! 

We decided against bumpers and most of the crib accessories.  I've heard mixed reports on those things and we thought simpler was better for our little man. 

All together....The empty wall space between his dresser and crib is waiting on a big canvas print of  Eli when he gets his first little photo shoot. 

All together...

You'll have to excuse the slight distortion on these. I was using a very wide angle lens to try to get the whole room in the shot. 

One of my friends painted these for Eli. They turned out GREAT! 

We are so happy with our nursery and it is complete except the few places we will put some of his newborn photos after his first photo shoot. Last night Mark and I just sat in his nursery talking about how much we liked it and how ready we are for Eli to be here. We looked through all his drawers, his closet, and his changing table for like the 100th time and just got excited. We also got his little bag ready for the hospital. If he only knew what he had to look forward too I feel confident he would be here by now!

Thanks!
Danielle

39 Weeks Pregnant!

Technically at the time of this post I am 39 weeks plus 3 days but the pictures were taken at exactly 39 weeks. As I had mentioned in another post "how I am feeling" is surely dependent on the hour of the day. For the most part I am able to tell askers that I feel great and say it with a straight face. I've gotten a little more emotional in this last week but nothing too crazy and I'm pleased to be this far along and feel in such a chipper mood.

I think having my mind set on Eli being a February baby has helped me not get too discouraged that at this point, 4 days from my due date, I have had ZERO signs of impending labor. I have also constantly reminded myself of my Bradley teachers words that at this point you can have no signs and have your baby the next day or be dilated for weeks before having your baby. I ALSO have an employee out of town so this week would not be ideal anyways....Have I convinced YOU that I'm content not having our little Eli yet??? Haha.....sigh...

Anyways, it has been quite sometime since I have posted some preggo photos and I don't know why. I guess I've been wrapped up in other things but here you go at 39 weeks! Since I don't expect too much to change in the next week...or two...or three...the next photos you see of me might be postpartum ones! YAY!!!

Can I talk our little man out!?! "PLEASE, don't let us wait much longer!"

My WTE app has had our little man being a watermelon for about 3 weeks now and it's not that I think he needs to be bigger than that but the same fruit for 3 weeks has been a little boring. Supposedly at 40 weeks he turns into a pumpkin. Fun times!!!

 I have a long week at work this week so maybe that will encourage Eli to come join us as well. I will surely let you know!

Thanks!
Danielle

Postpartum prep!

Today was a really good day. I met with a friend for brunch at one of my favorite brunch places and then I  wonderful pre-natal massage. I've been putting it off and Mark finally booked it for me. He is a sweetheart but I think that he was mostly tired of hearing me complain about my discomforts. After that I had two options...go to work or go postpartum shopping. I decided to continue my good day with postpartum shopping. I have also been putting that off and there was a couple of things I wanted to get to prepare. 

Oh...by the way....this is postpartum talk here so no boys allowed!!!! ;) It seems like you prep for the birth so much that many people forget the healing process that takes place afterwards. Obviously I am not fully aware of what this will be like, but I did a little bit of research and collected the items I felt I would appreciate in the days/weeks after birth.

I don't think I've ever had so much fun shopping for bras and pads before in my life! Haha! At this stage in the game, it is indeed these kind of things that make a girl smile. My postpartum bag is sort of my light at the end of the tunnel. Well, Eli is really the light a the end of the tunnel BUT these things come after that so I know the end is near.

I completed my shopping at target and here is the list of items I got:

• Pads, extra incredibly large, medium, and small
• 6 pack of Hanes "granny panties" 
• 4 pairs of not as granny "granny panties
• 2 nursing bras
• 1 nursing tank
• 1 tummy support tank
• 1 pack disposable nursing pads
• Witch hazel
• Dermoplast
• Bio Oil
• Lanolin

One thing I am really looking forward to is wearing pads bigger than my sons diapers. NOT, but it's all part of it. I have plans for these pads before they grace my delicate lady parts. You may have heard of the "postpartum padsicle" but if not...don't you worry. I will tell you all about it. 

I'm also looking forward to the granny panties. Especially since I have worn nothing more than thongs for the last 5 years! I have even stayed true to my pantie of choice throughout my pregnancy with no problems but, I have accepted that postpartum will be a different story. Plus that, no thong I own is going to hold those monster pads in place so to the "six pack o panties" I go. There is a lot of things I like to buy in bulk but panties...yikes...what is my life turning into. 

The Witch hazel is a part of my padsicle plan but I've heard it's also soothing for minor cuts and safe for the downstairs region. In fact, you can even make your own hemorrhoid treatment from witch hazel, so if that becomes a problem I should be able to find some relief with this stuff. 

I have also read on multiple blogs that Dermoplast is amazing to spray your damaged goods with postpartum. I heard that the hospital will give you some (or something along those lines) but just to be safe I bought my own. I will most likely double check with my Dr. first before spraying this stuff downstairs but it sounds like a winner so far. 

This stuff is supposed to be very impressive for stretch marks and while I have my doubts, I had an extra $10 to spend on a supposed amazing product so I'll give it a try. I heard first hand from a couple of people that it drastically improved the appearance of their stretch marks or scars. I am one to think that once you've got 'em they are there for good but like I said...for $10 I will give it a try. 

This "Basics" brand was definitely the most comfortable of all the nursing products I tried on. Also the more expensive brand but I figured I'd do the less is more approach so instead of getting several bras and tanks I just got two of each and will wear these suckers out until I need them no more. I am also not sure how much I will use products like this so I figured I could add to my collection later. The nursing tank has a compression belly so I am excited about that. I am not looking forward to the postpartum jello tummy. 

Now I have shared with you some of my postpartum products and I am always open to suggestions. I look forward to seeing which items become my "Postpartum Must Haves" and which ones I wasted my  money on. 

Walking up the register with the combo of items was fun! In a failed attempt to make it not so obvious I was doing major postpartum preparation I also bought these items... 

Or...maybe I just bought them because I wanted to. You know Target has a way of doing that. 

Thanks for checking in!

Danielle 

When do you lose your rationality?

When do you lose your rationality? 38 weeks pregnant. That is when you no longer think clearly about your previous decisions and decide it might not be so bad to take any action necessary to get your baby to go ahead and come into this world. I have read people on my WTE app for over a month on people trying all these silly and ridiculous things to get their baby to come. Drink castor oil, take herbs, eat weird foods, try strange positions, stair climbing, walking ridiculous amounts...I don't even know what else. You name it and it seems like many girls have tried in all in a, pretty much futile, attempt to get their baby to come. I sat there and laughed...and made fun.

SOURCE

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Jokes on me! At 38 weeks I've found myself googling "how to induce labor naturally", researching the weird herbs, and making plans to walk/workout several times a day. In my reasonable head I know that none of these things will work and that they will only induce labor if my body is ready anyways but like I said, 38 weeks is when you lose your rationality.

Today I had a visit with my Dr. and I asked him about some aches and pains that I knew were all part of it but just curious if he had any suggestions for relief. (he didn't) I also asked him what he recommends to get labor started in a timely manor and he said "naturally?" "Sex and staying active." BUT...he also threw in there "I have prescriptions that could put you into labor if you're ready." What the hell!?!?! Now I'm convinced my Dr. is evil.....just kidding. I know he is not but ugh...such temptation that in my moment of weakness he just had to throw that in there. 

My rationality and maybe my sanity is still around, it just goes out the door randomly depending on the hour and I can only see it getting worse until this little bundle of joy decides to arrive, perhaps by then it will be completely gone.

Oh and as an update, at my Dr. appointment today there was still no change. Everything's the same and nothing has progressed. Also, I know in my rational mind that means nothing. I could be dilated for weeks and not have a baby or not dilated at one apt. and have our baby by the next. But...I'm not rational.

Thanks for stopping by,
Danielle

DIY: First we had each other sign

I had an empty wall in our living room and right before Christmas we put up a shelf and filled it with...Christmas stuff. Since Christmas has been over my shelf has been empty and the wall has been bare. I was so excited to finally get a shelf up in our house because I love to fill up shelves. Since having our house I have kept the decor to a minimum and kind of started to appreciate the simplicity of what we did have. With Eli on the way however, I knew I needed more room for pictures or other sentimental items. I am still trying to be sure I don't cross the line of well decorated and cluttered though. I know as soon as Eli gets scooting around the house will have plenty of that without my help. 

Anyways, moving on to what this post is really about. I have been looking at ETSY and Pintrest for different decor ideas and someone pinned this adorable wall decal that read "First we had each other, then we had you, now we have everything". It was super cute and almost brought a little tear to my eye (darn hormones). The thing was it was featured in the nursery and it doesn't really go with our theme. I thought about incorporating it to my shelf but didn't want it to be a huge focal point, as cute as it is, it is borderline cheesy especially for guests. I googled the quote and found some great ideas and decided to go with a framed, personalized version.

I spent about an hour collecting items to fill my shelf with. I was in heaven. I also found a couple of great frame options for my quote sign. Once arriving home I unwrapped all my new goodies like it was Christmas morning and jumped straight on the computer to create my sign.

I didn't have to play with the fonts too much to get something I was happy with. I did have to play with the coloring though. I wanted to quote to stand out and our personalized stuff to be sort of background. I started with a light beige color at 50% opacity but in the end it worked best 100% opacity. It showed up much lighter on paper. 

Next I had chosen several pieces of scrapbook paper and trimmed them down to standard paper size so I didn't have to fight with my printer. 

After printing out on a few different sheets, I actually liked the brown, almost cardboard looking sheet the best. The fonts and colors looked great on it and it also looked really nice in the frame.

You couldn't see our personlized stuff on this paper but it would be nice if it was just the quote.

This one was the winner for sure.  

I just love the way this turned out. 

So after cutting to size I took the paper and stuck it in the frame just like a photo. I taped around it to be sure it wouldn't slide around and then nailed it to the perfect spot about our shelf. It was deserving of a spot on the wall not just sitting on the shelf. As a side note, hanging pictures or wall hangings just above a shelf is a great way to add depth/height to your decor without having big tall items.

 

Entire shelf in action. I do have some empty frames waiting on Eli's arrival.

So there we go. I love it! Mark was closing last night and that can either go one of two ways...I become a lazy bum or I go crazy with mega house cleaning and redecorating. He came home and loved our newly full shelf along with my sign. AND all the other cleaning and organizing I did yesterday but that's all for another time. In other shelf news....

I got this really cute "All because..." sign for $2!!! It looks adorable with Eli's little ultrasound picture on it. I also really like my chicken wire frame too. It will be a good spot to change things out seasonally too.

Have a great weekend!

Danielle