Sorry for being late on this post! Before I get into all the pregnancy updates from the week I wanted to share with y’all about some exciting news! My long-time awesome, amazing friend Rachael has opened up an Etsy shop! She is selling these super cute pillows! To celebrate the big kick-off of the store she’s hosting a giveaway on her Facebook page! Be sure to go like Buy MACdesigns and share the picture to win this beautiful pillow!!!
Okay! Back to pregnancy stuff 🙂
Baby Growth: This week Leo is measuring about 6 inches from head to bottom and weighs about 8 ½ ounces (weight of an heirloom tomato). At our appointment Monday he or she was weighing right at 8 and they said that’s perfect for this age 🙂 It’s cool to see that ALL the senses are developing! It’s a good reminder for Zach and I to be mindful about what we say and how we say it b/c Leo can ALWAYS hear us now 🙂 This picture creeps me out…I’m SO glad Leo looked nothing like this pretzel baby at our ultrasound!!!
My Symptoms:
Hormones are def in full swing. I can cry at the drop of a hat. And I can’t make myself stop crying either once I start. I am more short-tempered than usual (which I HATE). And just feel an overall sad feeling. Maybe it’s a Disney hangover? Too much wonderful perfection for that whole week so I crashed this week? 😉
I truly just wish I could live in a little bubble and not have to deal with anything or anyone at all except my little family. Disney week was pretty much that way and it was just Heaven. Real life isn’t as wonderful! Stress of life sucks. Other people can be hurtful. Decision making isn’t all that great. Blah! Vacation mode is THE BEST.
Even though my “Emilyness” isn’t so great…and I don’t like where I am emotionally with several things, I am LOVING being pregnant. Like loving. And I can cry just thinking about possibly only getting to go through this experience one more time!!! I will be a MESS when it’s my last baby for sure!
I’ve had a good bit of cramping in my lower stomach this week and def think it’s the round ligament pains starting. If I stand up or move suddenly I’ll get occasional stabbing/sharp pains that only last for a second.
I’ve only had headaches when I cry too much, and even then they aren’t too bad and I can manage them pretty well. The Spark + Mountain Dew + Tylenol trick works well! Dry eyes are another mega crying side effect and that’s harder to fix. The area ALL around my eyes gets red? And they hurt SO bad. I load up on eye drops but the only real solution I’ve found is sleep!
Weight: I didn’t weigh last week and I forgot to weigh yesterday so I did it this morning and have gained 2 lbs. So I’m officially in the baby weight adding phase! I can tell I’ve gained too. My stomach is def starting to be more obvious! And I just FEEL bigger!
Gender: Well…I actually have the answer to that question in this envelop sitting right here in front of me on my desk!!!!
Zero percent tempted to open it! Y’all NOTHING beats that moment when the baby is born and hearing that news. Nothing! Why would I want to ruin that?!?! I can see if it was my first baby maybe being tempted to know…but I’m not!
The plan is to finalize baby bedding choices with the designer this week and then send the envelop to my Top Secret Friend who will let the designer know which set to mail me 🙂 I’m excited about this! Something new for Leo that we’ve never done before 🙂
I wasn’t feeling one way or the other about the gender, even after the appointment, but because Leo and Kye shared the EXACT same stats at the 18 week ultrasound, I now think BOY again! That may change though for sure 🙂
Maternity Clothes: Old Navy had a big sale awhile back on their maternity jeans (and y’all they have THE BEST maternity jeans!) so I did buy a pair b/c I don’t have any skinny type ones. They arrived and I tried them on…and they are a little too big still. My jeggings that have been WAY too big are now fitting me better though. I still think maternity clothes are awhile off, but regular clothes are trickier!
Movement: Seriously y’all it brings my heart so so so much joy. I wish this feeling could never end. When everything else may seem to be falling apart around me, I feel those precious kicks and I’m just thankful and overwhelmed with reminders of how truly blessed I am. I love this baby SO much already!!!
Sleep: I’ve been going to bed earlier this week and it helps. I’ve had a lot on my mind and heart and that makes sleeping more difficult. I toss and turn a lot. And being back home I’m not sleeping as well. I just don’t like our bed? And the cat always ends up sleeping like right on top of my head, which I don’t mind, but when I go to move him or I turn over or something he will BITE me! Um, not cool!!! No dreams or anything this week to report.
Cravings: While it may not have been the best week in a lot of areas…it was pretty awesome in the food one 😉 I treated myself to Subway for lunch and enjoyed EVERY bite! The kids even tried my sandwich and Kye asked for seconds of it! And they both liked my salt and vinegar chips (I didn’t let them try the root beer haha).
I wanted to do something nice for Zach when we got back from Disney so I got some orange soda and vanilla ice cream from Publix! We LOVE the orange floats at Disney but the day we planned to get them it ended up being SUPER cold out so we skipped it this trip! I thought this treat would make up for it 😉 It was funny though b/c we had these and Zach had eaten some chips for his dinner that night prior to us making them and had left the chips sitting out. Well guess what? I devoured the chips but barely drank the float! This pregnancy is alllll about the salty cravings!!!
Another big food love this week has been Kraft Mac and Cheese. I grew up eating it quite often and have just been craving it hardcore lately. I made it two nights for dinner this week and then, ironically, Mrs. Charlotte had us over to eat and she happened to make it too! In honor of my mega craving I posted this pic on Instagram 🙂 Btw…the best combo is to mix half a box of the original noodles with a half a box of the spirals. Then for a “side dish” have an open faced sandwich (which is a piece of bread with peanut butter on it). YUM. Kye and Britt both LOVED it too 🙂
What I Miss: Disney Week Bliss!
Best Moments of the Week: Pretty hard to top this beautiful picture of our sweet baby! By far the best pregnancy moment was our amazing appointment Monday!!!
Kye has been beyond precious about Leo this week. He rubs my tummy and “tickles the baby” and always asks if the baby is kicking. He loves talking about it and loves making plans for when we go to the hospital to get the baby. He is SO excited to be a big brother again, and it’s so sweet! He’s also had an extra fun week with it being his birthday week 🙂 I think this transition to him turning 5 hasn’t been as tough emotionally for me b/c I know I have another little baby coming to love on!!!
We went to eat at Mrs. Charlotte’s Thursday night and Big Daddy and Little Mama stopped by to see us. I showed them the picture of Leo and Big Daddy was so, so adorable. He started crying!!! Like had to leave the room and get a tissue!!! It melted my heart and made me feel so good that he’s so excited about our little baby 🙂 It also made me feel good that Zach said he couldn’t stop looking at Leo’s ultrasound picture and that seeing Leo has made him much more excited too.
I went to get my hair done this week (which is always a favorite thing!) and it was hilarious how everyone reacted when they saw me. I just don’t look pregnant at all in real life. I do my best to TRY to look pregnant in pictures but when my hair stylist saw me she about died b/c she was like “where is that belly?!?!” Later that same day I ran an errand and had someone tell me I don’t look pregnant either and same thing at church! I def don’t look almost halfway through pregnancy, but I feel like the day is coming soon when it’s just gonna be BAM! pregnant!!!
Questions/Concerns: Totally unrelated to pregnancy but I forgot to ask at my foot appointment about this! I have this random shooting pain in my big toe. I wonder if it’s a side effect of the shot? Zach said it could be my toe getting feeling back in it?
I need to probably print off my birth plan to take to my next appointment and have Stacy go over it with me! I want to know if there are things they have eased up on now 🙂
I need registry help!!!! What high chair do you have and do you like it? My old high chair was a BEAST to clean. So my #1 priority in a new one is being easy to clean!!! So any baby led weaning mamas…I especially wanna hear from you!!! I do want a legit high chair (not one that goes in a seat) because we often have company and need all of our chairs available! I’ve done a little research and have actually seen several baby led weaning mamas say they own this high chair from Ikea…I mean I LOVE the fact that it’s only $20 but it’s hard to imagine that being a truly great chair??!?! Anyone own it and have any insight?
I’m also on the hunt for a new baby monitor. Our video monitor is close to 5 years old now and it’s time for a new one. Plus we need something to be able to see all three kid’s rooms (with Kye moving upstairs I WILL continue to have a video monitor in his room!!!) I really have been happy with the Summer Infant brand we have and found this one that allows for four cameras with a split screen to see them all at once! Anyone own it? Or own another video monitor with ability to see multiple rooms at once that you recommend???
With this being my third child I obviously don’t need as much stuff as a first time mom…but I also want to hear from more new moms on what new stuff is out now!!! SO much changes in the world of baby and I want to make sure I know about the latest and greatest things! What are YOUR recommendations???? Your favorites? Must haves? Let me know!
Goals for the Week: We do our taxes (duh…duh…duhhhhhh) Monday so I’m praying that goes well. I have put the van hunt on the back burner for now. I just can’t worry with it yet. We’ll see how taxes go and then maybe talk about it then. We’ll see.
I’d love to get on it with more Bradley stuff. It’s hard to do it alone though and it’s hard to remember to get Zach to do it with me. We’ve yet to have a single night of working on Bradley together 🙁
Nothing major planned for this week which is a nice breather as this past week was filled with appointments! I need to start hardcore shoe hunting as it’s def warming up outside! And I need to get rolling more with the registry stuff!
I do want to update my blog sidebar and add Leo’s picture to it too!!!
Belly Pictures: I tried SO HARD this week to find an outfit to make me look more pregnant for y’all haha. I legit am wearing leggings as pants (I know, rule breaker!) just to try to make the bump look more obvious 🙂
Notes from Past Pregnancies: You can read about my week 19 with Britt here! Very similar to my week with the same weight gain. Which is a good sign to me as I really don’t wanna gain too much and thought I did well with Britt 🙂 Also pretty similar symptoms too! At the bottom of Britt’s post it compares to Kye’s pregnancy so that makes this easier 🙂 I’m thankful Kye is more into my pregnancy this time than he was last time. He WANTS to feel the baby kick so badly now and didn’t care one bit then 🙂 Britt isn’t super interested but that’s okay 🙂 Let her be the baby while she still can be 😉
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We don't have that high chair, but a number of the places we've visited do. It's super easy to clean. You can buy a tray to go with it, too. The only issue I have with it is you can't get the tray really close to the child to prevent (some) messes. If you have a small child who's a messy eater, food will drop in the child's lap because there's a lot of space between the tray and the seat. Otherwise, it's great!
We have the Antilop high chair and do BLW and I LOVE it. I started out with a nice, expensive Chicco high chair that was cute, but a nightmare to clean. Now that I have switched to the IKEA one? I would never go back. It takes one second to clean and looks good as new.
Have you ever done a post on your current must have baby items? Like what you will reuse with Leo, what your getting new, etc?
We have the Lorex LW2401 monitor. Like the Summer Infant monitor, you can add up to 4 cameras for the one monitor and you can see them all at once. The only downfall we have had with the monitor is that the battery life doesn't last long, so we end up having to plug it in and charger it after about 2 hours.
We have the IKEA high chair and used it for 2.5 years. It is lightweight, super easy to clean and the legs pop off so it's great to take camping and on any trips. The only downside is that the tray is very far away from child's tummy so there is a lot of space for food to drop onto their lap. This was still and issue with my 2.5 year old. You can buy the cushion, but that is a pain to clean. We decided to splurge on a new high chair for baby#2 and bought the oxo tot sprout high chair. I LOVE this chair, but it is quite expensive.