Pregnancy: week 31

Greetings from all three of us in Rhode Island! And Happy Thanksgiving, a day late.

We are spending Black Friday snuggled in my parents' house. Today we will go see Despicable Me 2 at a local cheap theater. Then we will exchange Christmas gifts together tonight.

Here's the baby bump and here are some stats from this past week:
5.5 hours in the car to Rhode Island
2 stops in said car trip for bathroom breaks
1 cozy winter hat purchased for baby to wear home on her first day of life
8+ outfits received as gifts from family and friends
1 Chewbeads necklace won from an online giveaway (this baby must be good luck!)
2 pairs of tiny leggings purchased on clearance at the Gap
Wayyyyy too much food consumed on Turkey Day
10 hours of sleep last night. Woohoo vacation!

pregnancy: week 30

Our little one is really growing! At this week's midwife appointment, I measured 31 centimeters when I was only just barely 30 weeks along. That's great news, in my opinion. I hope she keeps getting bigger at a nice, steady rate.

Week 30
3 years of marriage under our belt (as of 11/20)!
1 night away in Princeton celebrating our third anniversary
2.5 hours spent reading "The Birth Partner" at a Princeton coffee shop
15+ times I interrupted Joel's reading to share something I'd found completely fascinating about labor, birth, or post-partum recovery
25 Christmas cards arriving in the mail from Tiny Prints
1 maternity dress returned because, sadly, it didn't quite fit
30+ minutes with our midwife, who told us things are progressing perfectly and baby's heartbeat is strong!
5 thank-you notes sent. Only about 30+ still to go.

shower power!

Last weekend we had TWO baby showers in less than 24 hours! That was good planning, dontcha think? ;)

Our house is suddenly overflowing with baby things when it seemed like they'd just been accumulating slowly up until now...

Anyway, Joel and I were humbled and blessed beyond belief by the generosity we experienced. Our little one has gotten so many sweet outfits, many hand-made with love by friends or family members. We've also received countless items from our baby registries that will make our transition into parenthood smoother/ probably more fun.

Item #1: This AMAZING jogging stroller that we are both thrilled to try out. (Actually, it's sitting in our dining room right now and we've both already tried it out by pushing it around the house and into the kitchen...)

maternity clothing, 2

What better time than week 30 of this pregnancy to chat a little about maternity clothing? Am I right?

I wrote a post a while back, when I'd only purchased a couple items and had received a few as gifts. So far it's still been working for me to wear a mix of "maternity" clothes, things I already had, and some new stuff purchased in larger sizes.

Here's the official maternity stuff I now own:
GAP cords, GAP skinny jeans, 3 Target maternity tanks, black maternity leggings, 2 shirts from ASOS, a winter coat from ASOS, 3 shirts from Motherhood maternity.

Some things I wear more now than I ever did pre-pregnancy:
Navy cords from TJMaxx (Tommy Hilfiger brand),  Merrel hiking shoes/sneakers I got on clearance at DSW at least 18 months ago, 2 v-neck Ts from Madewell, long sleeved tissue Ts from Target.

Items that are working great with this bump that I totally didn't expect:
Gray Xhilaration leggings in size large (WAY more comfortable than maternity leggings!), pink hoodie from the men's section at Target, accessories (scarves, hats, necklaces, big earrings, etc. etc. etc.), new black boots I bought with some b-day money, high brown boots Joel got me over a year ago. and my old/raggedy skinny jeans that are not going to fit much longer and actually have multiple holes in the knees. Darn.

And now for some favorite outfit shots:

More nursery progress!!

With two showers this past weekend and our crib's timely arrive on Saturday (thanks, Grandma!), our nursery is looking a lot more finished!

We didn't buy a crib mattress yet, and I haven't hemmed the off-white curtains for the windows or sheer lace panel for the closet, but the furniture is set up and organized. The baby clothes piles are growing, but I have a few drawers laid out by clothing size and there's a pile of stuff to wash first.

My next task, after the curtain hemming, is to nail everything onto the gallery wall. I'm having some trouble deciding how to lay things out in a way that best utilizes the already-existing holes... Ha.

Sometime in the future I'm excited to do a budget breakdown. Since we didn't repaint the room and the previous owners had already redone the closet and ceiling, this has been a fairly cheap room makeover. Not to mention that we have received SO many generous gifts.

P.S. Don't the little books look perfect on those shelves? <3

pregnancy: week 29

Week 29
45 minutes at a local arboretum posing for Christmas card photos
At least 25 outtakes from said Christmas card photo shoot
3 + hours being showered with love and support for Baby Berts
20-ish white onesies in various sizes and sleeve lengths
10+ books received for bedtime stories and endless entertainment
50 minutes spent assembling our new crib (which looks AWESOME!)
20 parent-teacher conferences
1 baby who seems to have changed positions and now has her head bumping into my belly button at all hours of the day (or night!)


This week Joel and I were blown away by the generosity of our family and friends. So many gifts have been given that will help keep little 'Berts more comfortable and ease our transition into parenthood. I can't even find the words to express our gratitude and appreciation. This is one loved little baby.

Pregnancy: week 28

Week 28
28 centimeters of belly which matches being 28 weeks pregnant*
1 adorable onesie arriving from Texas relatives

2 hours at the Academy of Music downtown watching the off-Broadway performance of Once (!!!)
3 evening walks
5 times being told "Oh, now you actually look pregnant!"
2 tiny feet that consistently are kicking way up above my belly button. I can kind of grab her little heels & I love it!
1 crib ordered and on its way to our door (it had gone "out of stock" and I was super nervous about starting my research all over again!)
20 minutes spent organizing all the baby clothing into size
30 minutes spent rocking & snuggling Baby 'Berts friend Lily who lives right down the road #therapeutic

*File this away under "Things I love about my birth place"... My midwife explained that at checkups they measure your belly and the number of centimeters should about match up with the number of weeks pregnant you are. (ie: 28 centimeters for 28 weeks) However, she wisely noted that due to my long torso, I may not always measure that exactly and said she won't be alarmed unless I stop growing in general. I really appreciate her calm, rational perspective, along with the way she patiently explains things I don't already know or understand.

Other great prenatal appointment news:
- Baby is head down! That's why her heels are driving me crazy way up high, which I really don't mind, as long as she stays head down for at the next 11+ weeks.
- Also, I don't have gestational diabetes! My glucose levels are all normal. Yay.
- My iron level is 11.8, which is close to ideal (12.0). I can eat more peas and leafy greens to get it a little higher, but it's hard to get to 12.0, apparently. I had NO idea how important iron is in labor, delivery, post-partum, but I'm so so glad that my iron levels are already high!
- I got a rhogam shot, because my blood type is B- and I'm missing some kind of protein. This could cause a problem in pregnancy if Joel's blood type has that protein and the baby has it, too. My body could view the baby as a foreign object and attack it. Or something. Regardless, I got the shot so we don't need to worry about it until after delivery and the baby's blood type has been recorded.
- Getting a social security card and birth certificate for the baby sounds so easy! The birth center has all the forms, which we complete once she's born and they send out to all the appropriate places. Phew, that's a big relief.

pregnancy: week 27

Week 27
60 minutes waiting to get my blood taken after drinking the sweet orange syrup for the glucose test
1 tiny trick-or-treater stopping by our house. Yes, that's right. One.
0 progress made on the nursery. I'm stuck in a funk there.
4 mornings eating oatmeal for breakfast
3 second graders asking if I'm having a baby... "Miss, are you pregnant?!" :)
5 third graders who mistakenly told their teacher I'm having a boy
7 hours of sleep per night, average. I don't think that's quite enough.
3 middle-of-the-night wake ups to pee or adjust my sore body
0 leg cramps!
4 episodes of "Parenthood" watched. 2 of which made me cry. Doh!