Baby Growth: Leo is over 18 inches long and weighs now over 5 lbs (about the same as a honeydew melon). Most of his or her physical developments are complete! WHEW! That’s such a blessing!!! Praise the Lord for having a healthy pregnancy and baby!!!
My Symptoms: It’s so amazing to me how different each pregnancy is. I have had NO leg pains like I did last time and also no skin issues (pimples, breakouts etc) and I don’t even think my melasma is as bad as last time either, even with it being summer! Of course I also am experiencing different tough parts of pregnancy…the back pain being probably the worst one.
Keeping up with two kids is no easy task while pregnant. I keep reminding myself that even though it’s super tough to be this far pregnant in the summer time…it’s better for the KIDS than it would be if I’d had the baby in May. This way they will only have one summer of sacrificing (next summer Leo will still have a morning nap so we’ll be at home pretty much all the time) rather than two summers of sacrificing. Being pregnant is hard, but at least I’m able to sacrifice my own comfort to give them a really fun summer and when Leo does come I won’t have as much guilt next summer since they did have this whole summer filled with fun things!
I took the kids this past weekend to Cooper’s birthday party by myself! I was a little nervous about it because it was a pool party at 3:30 in the afternoon but it all went fine! Kye swam with his friends and had fun and Britt stuck to the stairs so I was able to just put my feet in and watch her. It was hilarious though because when I got there everyone was all “omg Emily you look so adorable! look at that bump! so cute!” and by the time the party was over people kept saying “omg Emily are you okay? You look hot. Do you need water?” hahahahaha. It’s doesn’t take much to completely wear me out at this point!
I have really been on a mission to get things accomplished…and part of that was having an entire day of appointments. Mrs. Charlotte kept the kids for me (at our house b/c they are getting a new roof! I can’t imagine hearing that pounding all day!!!) and I got my hair done (I’m doing it one more time during my 38th week in hopes to keep it looking fresh for delivery and newborn pics!), went to a chiropractor, had my foot appointment, and went for my dentist cleaning.
The day started off awesome! I always love getting my hair done as it’s a couple hours of relaxing and getting a fresh look! It was especially exciting this time around because I got to be the very FIRST client at Renika’s new salon!!! I am SO proud and excited for her!!! She is seriously one of the smartest, strong, and talented people I know…if you are local be sure to visit Glam Styles! Renika has done my hair now for over 7 years and she’s amazing 🙂 I had the privilege of not only being her first client, but also giving her the first dollar 🙂
If you read my post earlier this week about my foot appointment then you know the day only went downhill from the hair appointment on…actually the whole week just went downhill. I did go try out a chiropractor. I have been one other time to the chiropractor. It was after I had Britt and was having back pain. Britt has ALWAYS wanted to ride on my hip and I think it honestly is a lot to do with my foot issues. I went to get my back adjusted in hopes of helping the pain I was having and I didn’t like the experience. Not only did I not enjoy the way the adjustment felt, but I didn’t like how the chiropractor I visited told me I needed to come EVERY WEEK for 12 WEEKS b/c I was in a car accident in 2001. Um no. So I’ve been hesitant to try it out again after that experience. After so many of y’all told me you love you some chiropractics I decided to give it another go. I’m hurting SUPER bad so thought it was worth a shot! I went with a different place this time in hopes of a better experience. It was def interesting…to say the least. I got adjusted and had to wear a neck brace for an hour after the appointment (which looked pretty awesome when I ran a quick errand at the mall haha). I was VERY sore after and a couple days later my back pain is back. So I guess I won’t be trying that route again!?!? It hurts in my lower left side and literally hurts with each step I take. Hoping it just goes away once the baby comes!
Another major symptom I’ve experienced this week is something I’ve never had during pregnancy in the past. When I stand and walk I get these sharp pains in my “womanhood.” I did NOT know it was a legit thing but it turns out it is and it’s called lightning crotch. I mean how awesome is that?!?! I also read where people refer to it as vagina knives. I mean I’m SO glad I experienced this so I could learn this new lingo haha. I guess it’s the baby bouncing on my cervix that’s causing the pain. It stops as soon as I sit down and it’s not all that painful but more just annoying than anything else!
I had some headache issues this week as well, but they were directly related to crying. Which is totally unfair. I mean crying already sucks. Then having to have the after effects of crying is just even worse!!!
Emotionally it’s been a difficult week. The foot news was hard. I am also getting to a place emotionally that’s hard to get myself out of. I’ve held it together SUPER well this entire time about my family stuff but as it gets closer and closer to arrival day, it’s getting harder to keep not letting it affect me. I also just feel an overall feeling of loneliness. Zach has a LOT more things he’s involved in than he ever has in the past and it is hard not to be resentful and bitter about that. He goes golfing at least once a week. He plays basketball at least once a week. He goes out to eat for lunch with people. Heck, he gets to SEE adults and interact with them on a DAILY basis! I am feeling very alone and very trapped and like all I do is give give give to the kids and I literally don’t have anything for ME. I know it’s a common stay at home mom feeling and it’s hard to deal with knowing that when the baby comes it’ll only be worse. Nursing is AMAZING and a HUGE blessing but it is also very, very limiting. I think one of the hardest things about having multiple kids is that you DO know what life will be like. And knowing how much life is just alllll about the baby for awhile is tough. I know once the baby arrives I will adjust and it’ll be okay but I wish I could do more now to really savor this time before my life truly will be revolving around the baby. I guess it won’t be that big of a change since my life now pretty much revolves non-stop around my other kids anyway, right? 😉
On the day of all my appointments Casey also brought Carter over to spend the day so she could get a break from home life and visit with her mom some and such. I’m SO glad it all went so well and he slept great over here! Zach and I set up our guest room as “Carter’s room” with a pack and play, black out curtain, a box fan, and our old video monitor. Hopefully they will be spending more time over here in the future! Having him here that day really made the kids and I see how it’ll be when Leo does come. Since that visit Britt has been getting out of bed after nap and nighttime sleep and putting her baby dolls in her bed and turning on the box fan in her room and reminding us that the babies are sleeping. She also named them all Carter 🙂 So sweet.
It was also a big wake up for me though to see what three kids in this house will be. For the first time this pregnancy, I kinda freaked out about it. I mean our baby’s room is downstairs. How the HECK will the other two kids be quiet enough for the baby to actually sleep?!?! How will I keep up with all three of them!?!? Britt and Kye bicker a good bit. I can’t be dealing with that while nursing. Or while trying to get a fussy baby back to sleep mid-nap. I already feel pulled in so many directions…how pulled and overwhelmed will I feel then?!?! Thankfully there is no turning back now and I know it’ll all work itself out. While the whole issue of getting the kids to and from school each day is still my #1 concern about Leo’s arrival…it WILL be a blessing that they will have school so I will only be having all three of them in the afternoons rather than for the full day. I can imagine if we’d had a May baby rather than a late July/early August one that it would have been a lot tougher for me to handle for sure!!!
I am also starting to get nervous about delivery. I want so badly to get there and be 8 cm that I’m nervous I’ll show up and be like 4 cm or something. I hear SO much how EASY this delivery should be and I’m getting nervous that it won’t be as easy as everyone is making it out to be. I’m nervous b/c we haven’t done Bradley stuff like at all that when the time comes I won’t be able to relax like I should and it’ll be hard.
Basically, as you can tell, I’m just a mess of emotions right now!!!
I do want to add a BIG thank you to all of you who have commented about my foot. I’ve gotten some awesome ideas that have given me so, so much more hope about the situation. I’ve also gotten some of the sweetest comments that have made my heart so happy and turned some of my tears to happy ones 🙂 Thank you!
Weight: Forgot to weigh in this morning. Really, who cares? I mean I know I will care a LOT once this baby is born haha
Gender: I truly will be overjoyed either way, but I am SO hardcore thinking boy that I struggled to even choose a girl outfit last weekend to buy if it is a girl. Zach ended up actually choosing both the boy and the girl outfit. And we actually bought two boy outfits because we loved two and just really think it’s a boy. Haha!
Maternity Clothes: It’s worth the extra effort to dress cuter. I feel SO MUCH more confident than I have earlier in pregnancy. Back when my foot issues started I feel like my fashion slowly went downhill. Revolving my choices around my ugly tennis shoes resulted in ugly clothes. I am not allowing myself to do that anymore! I dress cute even if I’m just taking Kye to golf camp 🙂 I change out my shoes when we pull up and none of the strangers I see even know I own these ugly tennis shoes I live in. I’m so thankful for the cute maternity options I have to wear and especially for my jewelry collection. Cute jewelry really makes such a statement!!! 🙂
Movement: It is def starting to slow down. Still having a lot of VERY low hiccups. But less and less kicks. Which is sad b/c Kye really loves to feel it! I know it’s normal at this point for it to slow down some as the baby is just out of space in there!
Sleep: Still nightmares. Mixed in with sweet dreams about the baby. It’s harder to fall asleep and it’s getting MUCH harder to get out of the bed to use the bathroom. I think I lay there debating whether or not it’s worth it to get up and go for like 30 min each night haha.
Cravings: I had some pop tarts this week and they were awesome 🙂
Things Accomplished This Week: It’s been another week of knocking things off the list! The nursery is really, really close to being done. We should meet our goal of a week from today. We still have a good bit to get down from attic. It cracks me up that this is all the clothes my baby has in the closet. Casey’s closet for Carter was jammed packed! I have a couple newborn sleepers (one gender specific one), several sports teams onesies (b/c either boy or girl…it’ll be a Seminole/Blazer!), and a couple holiday ones but that’s it! I mean this is all the kid has from newborn up to size 18 months haha. Once Leo is born I plan to ask Zach to get down the tub of infant clothes for the appropriate sex and it’ll be fun to go through it all and use Kye’s or Britt’s old stuff for the new baby 🙂 Of course if it’s a girl we’ll have to probably buy a good bit more new stuff since Britt was a Dec baby!
Every summer I try to do several things with the kids…this summer I’m trying to cram them all in before Leo arrives and thought it’d be smart to combo them with family time. This past weekend we did several! We went as a family to the airport to watch the airplane land, we went and got donuts for breakfast (which I know other people probably do more often than once a year haha but it’s something I usually do right before school starts back as a special treat), and we went to Carter’s and picked out our one baby boy outfit and one baby girl outfit! We always do this before a new baby is born and then return whichever one we won’t be using 🙂
I also got a few more meals frozen. I’m at 22 meals right now and I think a good goal is 30. Since I won’t be able to really cook until the baby is on the four hour schedule and that doesn’t happen until 12 weeks or so…30 meals would give us a meal every 3 days right? So that’s pretty good! We can do left overs and I plan to buy plenty of pre-made meals as well. They aren’t as healthy, but it’s better than fast food 🙂
I feel like I’m getting to a REALLY good place with having everything done. I’m close to finishing up with my hospital bags. The kids both have plenty of cute outfits for back to school options. I have stocked up on all the essential baby items. I’ve gotten the sibling gifts ready for the kids to give them at the hospital. I’m busting out blog entries like a crazy woman to get caught up. I’ve completely organized everything I can in the nursery. I spent Friday night organizing my craft closet finally (after over 3 years of living in this house!) and I got all the kids clothes organized in storage tubs in the attic (yes, the attic. I was SO sweaty!!!) I even called to all of our service providers and was able to lower our monthly bills by $68 so far! I feel like it might actually be possible to get where I want to be prior to giving birth!!!
What I Miss: Contentment. It’s something I usually am very good at feeling. I have trained myself to find the silver lining in any situation. But it’s been hard to do that this week. And I don’t like being gloomy or unhappy. Hoping this coming week will bring brighter days for me!
Best Moments of the Week: I loved, loved, LOVED the sibling class last night! It really made it all super real for me and I can’t believe we’ll be a family of 5 so soon!!! When I wrote the blog post about it I looked back at when Kye went to the class prior to Britt being born and I simply can’t get over how much he has CHANGED! It doesn’t feel like it’s been all that long ago that he was becoming a big brother for the first time and now he’s a dang pro 🙂 It’s such a reminder that they DO grow up SO quickly and I truly do need to soak up all the sweet baby loving I can!
Questions/Concerns:
- I usually do evening primrose oil…when do I need to start that?!?!
- Debating about going to my return visit to the chiropractor next week or not. I may call and just ask them if it’s going to cost me another $80 b/c if it is I don’t think I’ll be going…
Goals for the Week:
- Have house 100% completely ready for baby
- Work on planning trips we plan to take within the next year (we are thinking of taking the older two kids skiing in Dec…any thoughts???)
- Get out birthing ball and use it
- Have Zach help me with relaxation
- Find time for ME.
Belly Pictures: Y’all! I’m officially on the last sheet of stickers!!! One of my first things I plan to do when this baby is born is order his or her monthly stickers 🙂 Although, to be honest, I do prefer writing these pregnancy posts more than the newborn ones haha!
Notes from Past Pregnancies: My post from my pregnancy with Britt is here! My face was SO MUCH thinner! I hope this puffiness goes down once I give birth! I had completely forgotten about my leg issues last pregnancy and about the hospital visit where I had to check for blood clots! I really think taking the Advocare vitamins I take now has helped so much in that area! And I’m thankful I don’t have to drink those dang banana smoothies every day 🙂
It’s funny how I was also starting to feel very nervous about delivery at this point last pregnancy. I know y’all look at me and my delivery experiences and assume I don’t get nervous about it b/c I do it natural and have been blessed with great experiences…but I’m still nervous! You forget how hard labor is and how much it hurts and there are so many unknowns about it all that it makes it scary!!!
It’s also interesting how this week last pregnancy I was sad about not having my very best friend there for my baby’s birth and how this week is the first time it’s really started to sink in that Mom won’t be there for this baby. I guess this is the point of pregnancy when labor and delivery starts to really become a reality so I’m thinking more about every detail of that? I am very excited about the new friends who will be part of Leo’s arrival who haven’t been in the past and, even though I’m sad about many aspects of it, I feel like God will just bless this delivery. I very strongly feel that He will bless me and Leo with an amazing day and an amazing experience and an amazing start to this new life 🙂 I’m trying hard not to let the fears or emotions cloud that faith because I do feel so, so strongly that God has this and I just gotta trust Him!!!
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Couple of things; I've been praying for you about your foot. I really hope the doctor can find something to relieve the pain. Where do you find all of your cute necklaces? Do y'all have a Charming Charlie's? It took me awhile to find a chiropractor that I liked. I have lower back pain that worsens when I play tennis and do a lot of lifting of the kids. But since I've been seeing this chiro every month for the last year or so, I've been pain free. I pay $40 a visit because we have a high deductible health care plan and the visits aren't covered until I meet my deductible which we never do. P.S. I think you are a great looking pregnant lady! ;- ) I admire anyone that is pregnant during the summer.
Yay – you found a hat! Where'd you end up getting one from? You guys all look super cute in your hats in the airport pic!
Not due until December but totally like the idea of frozen meals. Got any suggestions? My son is so picky and I'm really trying to work on that and get him to eat more and try more. Would love to hear about recipes and meals you do!