Our sweet girl, Hannah Maxine, arrived yesterday on July 22nd. She was so ready to be born she arrived two and a half weeks early. She’s absolutely perfect and we’re smitten. We are adjusting to life at home with two kiddos and I think we’re going to love being a family of four!
I’ll post Hannah’s birth story shortly!
My priority right now is enjoying our last days as a family of three. I have no idea how baby girl will change the dynamic of our little family, but I know she’s bound to shake things up a bit. I’m all about savoring all of the sweet moments with our only child. This last weekend’s focus was all about Ben and having fun together, just the three of us.
Even before this weekend I’ve been really trying to stop and be even more present with Ben. The dishes can wait. Picking up can wait. I’ve found myself sitting down on the floor with him much more often and pushing out bedtime a few extra minutes just to keep having fun together.
The weekend was perfect. It was everything I hoped it would be. No one was sick {hurrah!} and we didn’t really have anywhere we needed to be. We could just relax and be together, and that’s just what we did. Sometimes those are the best days.
It’s not like we did anything out of the ordinary or extra special last weekend. Alex and I were so in-the-moment and so focused on enjoying our time together, knowing this could potentially be our last weekend home just the three of us, and I think that’s what made it extra special.
Ben and I started the weekend with our weekly trip down to our neighborhood Farmers Market on Friday afternoon. It’s often a highlight of my week, or at least something I look forward to all week. The produce is really starting to get good now that we’re into the middle of July! If only I could get Ben to enjoy fruit in its natural form. Oh well.
The rest of the weekend was a nice combo of strolling the neighborhood, playing at the park, going to the zoo and turning our backyard into a water park.
Alex and I have been making it a point to get out for dinner just the two of us pretty much every week for about the last month and we opted to try somewhere different this week and finished off the evening with a stop at Molly Moon’s ice cream shop.
We were able to get a few things accomplished over the weekend too, so that made it feel extra good and productive. More on that in another post.
At the end of the day on Sunday both Alex and I felt like the weekend was so long in the best possible way. We so enjoyed our family time, and if it happens to be the last weekend we’re a family of three, I’m so, so happy with how our time was spent together.
It was perfect.
During my pregnancy with Ben I really didn’t get to “nest” much at all – it was more of a mad scramble once we realized things were going to get crazy. Once he was born, but still in the NICU, I managed to find a little extra time to do some meal prep for after he came home, but otherwise, his nursery was finished without me while I was stuck in the hospital.
Honestly, I really didn’t expect to make it to 36 weeks with baby girl, but at the same time, I wanted to wait until 36 weeks to do things like pack my hospital bag, buy the last few things for her, install the car seat and pull out the baby bottles. So – we made it and now I can happily start “nesting” a bit more.
Baby girl will sleep in Alex’s/my room in a pack & play for as long as we can make it work, then she’ll move in with her big brother. We’re trying to figure out when a good time to transition Ben out of his crib might be… I have a feeling that is soon on the horizon! I really have been feeling badly about taking away his independence by confining him to a crib. Stay tuned!
We mostly finished off the “kids” closet and figured out storage solutions in Ben’s/the kids’ room. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out – everything fits somehow and it doesn’t seem overly crowded yet. I’m sure we’ll get there soon after she’s born, though.
You’re not going to find this closet on Pinterest, but it works for us for now. Though I will admit I can hardly squeeze in there right now with my giant belly.
I love, love, love these little mountain hooks I found on Etsy.
I got some over-the-door storage which has been SO helpful – Ben only has a few pairs of shoes and even as itty bitty as they are, they still take up a lot of space, so now they get to hang out on the back of the door.
I also found some big pocket storage for behind the door to keep things like baby wipes, Ben’s art supplies and swim diapers. These have been a HUGE help in the storage department.
Baby girl is more than set on clothes and blankets and by golly she’s got her brother to thank for a whole slew of fun baby toys. I’m waiting to see if any of our last minute bigger items are going to be on sale on Prime Day and, naturally, I found a few tons of great things at the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. Otherwise, in terms of tangible things, I think we’re about ready!
A few things I would still like to do are:
My food prep list includes:
I’ll probably sign up for a prepared meal service for a few days a week during the beginning just to take the stress out of cooking. We had some friends who generously gifted us a Maven gift card when Ben was born and I’ll probably mix and match that with Munchery, which I’ve never tried before. I remember loving having Whole Foods’ quiches {SO GOOD!} on hand and making a whole bunch of oatmeal in the early days. It’s nice to have easy-to-grab food since I’m expecting to be ravenous for a while.
Things are coming together for this baby girl! Alex and I are enjoying our last days as a family of three, {trying to} get some extra sleep in and imagining how dramatically our lives are about to change. We are getting so excited to meet this baby girl and see Ben become a big brother.
Since I only made it to 33 weeks and 2 days during my pregnancy with Ben it feels a little surreal to have actually made it to 34 weeks with baby girl. We’re officially in uncharted territory!
{33w3d – one day farther than I got with Ben!}
Last weekend Alex and I took a one-day labor and delivery class since we never made it to that point with Ben and ultimately knew it would end with a c-section. This time around I’m hoping I’ll be able to spontaneously go into labor and avoid a repeat cesarean. Fingers crossed!
We’re a lot more prepared with the labor and delivery basics, as well as what happens after a low-risk delivery. I was surprised to find myself getting emotional thinking about how differently Ben arrived from how the arrival of a new baby was portrayed in the class. Our experience with his arrival was a stark contrast to a “regular” delivery. We missed out on so much and are hoping to have a very different delivery this time around. In any case, though, we know it’s completely out of our hands.
Another preparation we’re working on right now is hiring a birth and postpartum doula to support us through the labor and delivery process, as well as offer lactation and postpartum support once we are home with baby girl.
{32w6d}
We still have a few basic things to do to get ready for her arrival – we’ve got to pull out the infant car seat, wash bottles and pumping parts, buy and set up the pack & play in our room {closet?}, do some freezer cooking/meal prep and finish the “kids” closet in Ben’s room. There’s probably a thousand other little things we’ll realize we forgot we need to do this time around…
Otherwise, all is well here with preggo me and growing baby girl. She’s getting big, therefore I am too! I’m shocked to report that I’m still feeling really, really well these last few weeks – better than the first 30 weeks of my pregnancy. I could do without the heartburn and middle-of-the-night leg cramps, but I’d happily take that over the back pain I had earlier on. In all honesty, all that matters is this baby girl stays healthy and content on the inside for several more weeks and continues to grow and develop. We’re very, very excited to meet her and introduce her to her older brother, but we’re happy to hold off for a little while longer.
I’m officially two months away from my due date with baby #2. It sure came up quickly! I’m over the moon to report that all is well with this little girl and that I really have nothing to report. It is a very refreshing feeling to have a boring, standard pregnancy and I hope that keeps up.
Baby girl is a mover and a grower! At my ultrasound early this week she weighed in at 4 pounds – already at almost 31 weeks, she’s nearly a pound heavier than Ben was when he was born at 33 weeks.
The ultrasound confirmed that she’s head down – head way down – and just hanging out, practicing breathing and doing a lot of moving. From about 28-30 weeks I was pretty uncomfortable while she settled in and then it seems like she re-positioned herself and since then, I’ve been feeling really well. Since she flipped to be head down I’ve hardly even had any heartburn, which has been so, so very appreciated!
Now that we’re getting to the homestretch we are starting to prepare our house for having a baby and get our ducks in a row with logistics. We just found out that our au pair will be staying with us for an additional nine months past her original contract date {until September 2019} so we’ve got childcare squared away for the next year.
We’re all set for the initial round of clothes for her and I’ve started the big task of organizing Ben’s closet, which will become the “kids closet” very shortly. I guess we just need some diapers and a place for her to sleep and we’ll be all set for her to arrive?!
Well that went by fast! I cannot believe I only have 12 weeks until my August 8th due date. {Alex, did you realize that!?} That really snuck up on me, and we’re so very happy to be starting the third trimester of my pregnancy.
So far the third trimester has come in like a lion. Does that mean it’s going to go out like a lamb with a super easy delivery!? I hope so!
Now that we’ve hit the last trimester I’ll be spending a lot more time at the doctor – my visits are up to biweekly. I have my next growth ultrasound in 2 weeks and that will help dictate the frequency from there on out.
I had an ultrasound two weeks ago, at 26 weeks, and all is well. Our doctor even went as far as saying the ultrasound was “perfect” – I looked at her like she was crazy. I’m just not used to having such short, boring, drama-free appointments! Alex and I were both waiting for the “but…….” and then it never happened.
So far in this pregnancy I’ve had 6 ultrasounds plus an echo cardiogram. Alex and I counted a while ago and by the end of my pregnancy with Ben I had more than 30 ultrasounds! Unbelievable. Here’s hoping that we’ve only got a handful more and that they’re all normal.
It was fun to read back on the start of my third trimester with my pregnancy with Ben. At that point we hadn’t quite found out yet about my complication and I was physically feeling really well. In both pregnancies by this time I’d begun to tire very easily. It’s a little different chasing around an almost 2-year old though! The biggest differences right now with this pregnancy are general discomfort and the fact that this baby is on the opposite end of the size spectrum. I’ll take the discomfort over the lengthy stay in antepartum and preemie baby!
In my most recent doctor’s appointment I learned that my due date is essentially the latest I would go in this pregnancy. If I don’t spontaneously go into labor or have an unforeseen complication earlier on they would schedule a c-section between weeks 39-40. Everyone is hoping for a VBAC though! Since I had a c-section previously, induction is not an option, they’d jump right to c-section if the time comes and she doesn’t arrive on her own. It’s nice to have an end point, though, and know that they won’t let it go much past my due date.
At this point we’re really trying to wrap our heads around what’s on the horizon. It cracks me up how different prep for baby #1 and baby #2 is. Until last week I had yet to buy a single thing for this little girl. I’m not sure what inspired me, but last week I ordered a ton of clothes for her. It’s fun to envision a style for a little girl and get excited for a girl. I’m definitely into pink but not at all into frilly anything. It’s fun to think back on the first few months with Ben and what we did and how we dressed him to try and imagine how those first few months will look like with our little girl. I’m definitely in favor of pink! 🙂
{I had fun opening this box from Burt’s Bees Baby and the one that followed it from Baby Gap. I hadn’t realized how sweet it is shopping for your baby girl. Alex got excited to see all the pink, too!}
I know now, too, not to take all of the tags off and wash everything right away because I have no idea how big she’ll be. Same with diapers – I’m not stocking up on one brand right away because who knows if she’ll fit into that brand well. Babies sizes are so all over the place you just never know!
Thankfully we barely need anything for this little girl, so we’re working on going through Ben’s old stuff and coming up with a good list. A lot is different this time around!
Like many pregnancies, this one has been filled with ups and downs. I officially reached and passed the “halfway” point and am currently 22 weeks {or 5 months} pregnant.
So far, there have been a lot of similarities with my pregnancy with Ben and some definite differences. Neither pregnancy has involved food cravings, oddly enough. Both were filled with food aversions, particularly in the first trimester, some nausea and a whole lot of heartburn. This one includes some significant lower back pain {darn!!!!} and so far, especially in the second trimester, a “normal” amount of energy.
I remember loving the second trimester in my pregnancy with Ben. I felt almost normal, and that’s sort of the case with this one, aside from the back pain. I’ve been sleeping really well almost my whole pregnancy so far and surprisingly have had less sheer exhaustion than I remember having with Ben. I’m staying up until a reasonable adult time in the evenings and waking up feeling well-rested, which is a joyous feeling, especially since I know what’s coming once this baby girl arrives.
This pregnancy, though, is a little different. I’m more experienced and less naive. While I realized quickly in my first pregnancy that once you see that “yes” on the pregnancy test, you’re never “out of the woods” so to speak, on anything, forever, in the rest of your life.
Experiencing a serious pregnancy complication, as I did with Ben, and living through a month in the NICU is enough to change anyone’s perception of future pregnancies. My worries with the second pregnancy have nothing to do with the color of the walls, whether the theme for our nursery will be woodland creatures or airplanes, nor finding the best “organic, all-natural crib mattress” on the market.
My concerns with my second pregnancy include the hope of a healthy baby at the end of a full-term pregnancy, wondering what labor is like {I never labored before delivering Ben via c-section}, how we’ll adjust to life with two, whether I’ll still get my morning and evening cuddles with Ben, if I’ll be able to breastfeed this time, and hope hope hoping this baby will adjust to napping on-the-go so I can keep up with my toddler. And let’s be real, baby #2 is probably sleeping in a pack & play in our closet.
{19 weeks pregnant}
During the first half of the pregnancy my doctor’s appointments were fairly regular, though because it’s a high-risk pregnancy they included additional ultrasounds. In my mid-point ultrasound this week we got a big scare. The doctor told us after the ultrasound that the baby had a heart defect, which in it of itself could be just fine, but it could be an indicator of something more serious. Fast-forward two nail-biting days to our echocardiogram where the pediatric cardiologist tells us there is absolutely nothing wrong with our girl’s heart and that it’s perfectly normal. It seems as though the ultrasound was mis-read.
In any case, our babe’s little heart is not the only thing developing normally – she is too! We got a confirmation that she is indeed a she {a little doubt in the last ultrasound} – and she’s huge! According to the ultrasound she is in the 85th percentile for size {so that means if she was compared against 100 babies, she’d be bigger than 85 of them!}. Wowza! Our fingers are crossed that she keeps on growing normally and that we get to meet her in late July or early August.
~
Looking back on my pregnancy with Ben:
Well it’s probably a girl!
Apparently wiggle worm #2 is on her way and made it difficult for the ultrasound tech to get some good views. As far as she can tell, though, it’s a girl!
We are so excited that Ben will have a little sister to pal around with. It’s encouraging that she’s starting out wiggly and rambunctious so she can keep up with her big brother. It looks like Ben was right all along – he’s been saying he’s having a sister for a while now.
Otherwise, all is well with the pregnancy. The size of the baby is totally normal. Boring is good!
In case you missed it – we just shared some big news: Ben is going to be a big brother this summer! His little brother or sister is due to arrive on August 8th. We are so excited to have another little one around and for Ben to have a sibling! If baby #2 arrives on time, Ben and his brother/sister will be 26 months apart.
Life has been a liiiiittle crazy lately – it turns out it’s rather exhausting being pregnant with a very active toddler, especially when it’s coupled with hosting the holidays and going through a major childcare transition.
I found out I was pregnant pretty early on and very quickly the pregnancy symptoms started to appear. I was probably only 5 or 5 and a half weeks before the nausea set in and by 8 weeks it was full-blown morning sickness combined with sheer exhaustion. There was about a week where I was completely out of commission, couldn’t eat and felt absolutely miserable. A quick call to the doctor turned it around, though. It seemed like all of the pregnancy symptoms peaked around 8-9 weeks and have sloooooowly subsided since then. This week {15} I feel almost normal – thank you second trimester!!
So far my food preferences have been all over the place. They were pretty regular until around 7 or 8 weeks and thankfully I made it through our prime rib feast on Christmas without feeling averse to anything I prepared. I didn’t have chicken for about two months because it grossed me out. Ice cream is heavenly. I’ve been really excited about feta cheese and plain sparkling water, as opposed to flavored. Coffee has been hit-or-miss {I went almost 2 weeks without having coffee during the rough part!}, and sweet things have been sounding very good. Cereal is great – I wake up in the morning and first thing, have a bowl of cereal with my vitamin B6 {anti-nausea}. Thanks to my new blender I’ve been making smoothies every morning – such a great way to start the day! No crazy cravings or anything like that {yet?}.
{Definitely showing a bit more at 14 weeks than I was with Ben! This photo also makes me look quite a bit more pregnant than I normally look…}
This pregnancy is still considered high-risk because of the complications I had with my pregnancy with Ben. I’m under the care of a group of perinatologists {high-risk pregnancy doctors}, and conveniently, their clinic is very close to our house. This is the same group that I received care from in the end of my pregnancy with Ben. I will have an ultrasound at least every 4 weeks for the whole pregnancy and it seems like an appointment with a doctor at least every 2 weeks. Per the recommendations of the doctors, I started taking baby Aspirin at 12 weeks, as it can help with the blood flow to the placenta.
{15 weeks – again this makes me look way more pregnant than I think I actually look. At 15 weeks I can still fit into my pre-pregnancy pants, though we’re definitely nearing the end of that. I’ve started wearing some maternity tops, mostly because they’re more flattering at this point than non-maternity fitted tops.}
I’ve had two great ultrasounds so far {8 and 12 weeks} and the baby looks great and even looks a little big! It would be so funny to have two kids on opposite ends of the size spectrum. My next ultrasound is at the end of the month and we expect we’ll be able to find out the gender of the baby.
We are very excited about the pregnancy and can’t wait to see Ben as a big brother. He is just the sweetest. Our fingers are crossed that the pregnancy goes full-term and is free of complications and without NICU time. Stay tuned for more updates along the way!
We are so excited to announce that our Valentine’s Day is filled with a little extra love this year… Ben is going to be a big brother this summer! Baby #2 is due to arrive in early August. xoxoxo
Happy Valentine’s Day!
