32 Weeks

32 weeks has come (and almost gone). Crazy to think that the countdown can being soon. I must say, it is getting harder and harder to forget that I've got a little person growing inside of me.

Stats thus far:

-Feeling (physically): good! But tired. I really have to think if doing certain things are "worth it" anymore. For example, when I drop something, I usually look at it on the floor for a minute and think to myself, "Hmmm is it really worth bending over and picking that up?" Or when we go to the gas station and Kyle asks me if I want to go in with him to get a drink... I think, "Hmmm is it really worth getting out of the car, and back in for such a short period of time." -the answer is usually no. I also get this weird sharp shooting pain right below my chest, and get out of breath doing minimal things, like talking for too long. Sounds fun, right?

-Working out: which brings me to this lovely topic, working out. I was doing so good during my second trimester when I was feeling great. But I have to admit, I have rarely found the motivation to get up and bust a move. We put the treadmill up when family came to stay (3 weeks ago) and have yet to put it back :-/ Kyle and I have been taking advantage of the nice weather recently though and going for long walks around downtown. I always feel so much better after them, so that has been my new form of "working out".

-Sleeping: Ok. I got a new pillow to help me sleep, not a huge body pillow, but a more reasonably sized pillow. Looks like this:

It is kind of annoying though, having to keep up with it during the night. I am always "aware" of where it is and when I want to turn it over I have to heave it over to the other side of the bed with me. Laying on my back is out of the question so I turn over about every 2 hours (like a good nurse should do) =)

-Dreams: Weird crazy pregnancy dreams! Most recently last night, I dreamt that baby Regal stuck her hand out of my belly so I could hold it. So I was just walking around, holding her teeny tiny hand. Also, in the same dream, she kept laughing and I could hear it. Like a cute little baby laugh. It made me happy.

-Clothes: Definitely all maternity, with a few pieces of my original wardrobe here and there. I am at that point now though that I don't want to buy any more maternity clothes though. 1-They are so expensive! 2-They aren't very cute :( Every time I go somewhere I see a dress or shirt that is super cute and want to stop and look at it. Then I suddenly think, what the heck am I doing, I can't wear this! It is all the more motivation to get my booty back in shape after baby girl comes though, so I can wear all of these cute clothes I see!

-Feeling (emotionally): I can tell my body is preparing me more and more for the baby not only physically, but emotionally too. I find myself just laying there feeling her move and become overwhelmed with a sense of excitement to meet her. My hormones are naturally releasing a "mommy sense" I think. For the first time, I feel ready emotionally for this baby to come. I obviously want her to stay in as long as possible so she can as healthy as possible, but my heart is ready for her to be here.

-Checklists: getting done! We have the nursery (almost) put together... that post is coming soon! We have picked out our pediatrician and we have childcare lined up! It feels good to have those bigger items on the list checked off. I still need get all of her stuff organized, and see what we need still. Wash her clothes, get more diapers. That kind of stuff. I am counting on that "nesting bug" to bite me soon and give the motivation to knock that stuff out of the way asap.

Last but not least, here is a pic of what 32 weeks is looking like:

The Baby Shower

This past weekend we were blessed with a day to celebrate baby Regal! Family came from all over the country (literally) to Indianapolis to help us prepare for our sweet princess. It was so fun to have family here and to show them nursery progress, my growing belly, and we were also blessed with amazing weather!

My girlfriends Cassy, Lindy and Lauren hosted the shower for me. We meet each week for a informal "girlfriend's bible study" and they have been with me through out this whole experience. It so encouraging have good girlfriends to talk to, cry to, and who you know are praying for you! They are also very much like me and knew they could go "all-out" when it came to planning the shower. All I know was it was going to be girly, full of animal prints, and not a detail would be over looked.

First of all... check out these invites!! So. Freaking. Cute.

My Lovely hostesses... Lindy and Cassy...

and Lauren! Who, by the way, is an event planner at Butler University! She is a professional party-thrower and it was so evident at my shower! From the set up, to the flow of the party, everything was perfect =)

Some of the decor: Leopard print and pink!And you can't forget zebra print!

My cake also fell into the fun animal print theme:

How cute is this! And yes, our baby girl's name is Macy Jane. <3

We got so much stuff! We were shocked at the amount of gifts.. and how thoughtful they were! My maternal grandma (Meme) and both my step-grandmas all made handmade blankets. Something that we will cherish forever! Kyle's sister had such a sweet gift idea: she had an outfit for every holiday spanning an entire year. The first outfit was for Father's Day (MJ's first holiday she will be here for) all the way through to next year's Mother's Day. If I could have taken a picture of everything we got I would, but that would take forever :)

Let's just say she got a lot of clothes....

And has her own tu-tu collection started!! We are definitely planning on doing the newborn pics in the pink and grey one.. and the blue one in the back is for football season! Go Colts!

My little baby sis made her niece a bow holder. Came up with the idea on her own, made it her self, and I am so proud of her! I have never seen anything like it, I can't wait to get it hung on the wall!A cute and hilarious gift we got was a stuffed bunny. Growing up I had my bunny, whom I lovingly named, "Bunny". She went everywhere with me, including cheerleading camps and sleepovers (all the way through highschool). My good family friend Teresa knew of Bunny, and decided that Macy girl would need her own bunny. So cute!

There a few things I can take away from our shower weekend. First and foremost, we are so lucky to have such a great support system! Between our friends and family, we just felt so loved! Friends from out of town mailed gifts and cards and family traveled thousands of miles just to be a part of our day. I haven't felt this over pouring of love and support since our wedding!

The other take away is... our baby is going to one little fashionista! Between the outfits and bows, she is going to be DECKED out! No, I will not be one of those crazy moms who wants to wear matching outfits, and I will NOT spend boo-coo bucks on outfits that she will wear, maybe once. My baby will be decked out in Marshall's, TJ Maxx, and sale rack items... just like her momma!

We have another baby shower coming up that two women from our church are throwing. I can't wait for that either! It is so fun getting together with good friends and celebrating the life of our future little girl. Have I mentioned how blessed we feel???

Week 29: What I'm reading

As a first time mom I am all about getting advice. I have zero experience raising children, and quite frankly, I didn't even enjoy babysitting that much growing up. My two little siblings (now ages 12 and 13) are the closest experience I have to really being around kids... but I love them so much, all my time around them is just spent cuddling and spoiling them. -A technique I know won't work raising well-rounded children, but is great for building a special bond between them that I wouldn't trade for the world.

I have been reading books to help prepare myself, reading the occasional article, asking lots of questions to experienced moms, and doing a lot of OBSERVING. There are times I see parents out in public yelling and screaming at their kids, or completely ignoring them while they wreak havoc, and quietly say a prayer -Please Lord, do not let me be a parent like that! I believe having a strong faith in God and installing Christian values in your home from the beginning is what is most important when starting a family.

The first book I got was the famous, "What to Expect when You're Expecting". A month to month guide to pregnancy. Honestly I haven't actually read the book that much, because I have the app on my phone and I get weekly emails from their website. The information is great though and literally I will be feeling some weird symptom, then that day get an email from them telling me it's completely normal! I don't know what I would do with out. I am pretty sure I would be going crazy thinking that every thing I am experiencing was a bad thing if I didn't have this resource.

The next book I got, "Baby Wise" is actually quite controversial. After reading it though, I honestly don't understand why. There are literally groups called "Mom's Against Baby Wise" -but what I really think they should be called is, "Mom's Against Getting Good Rest and That are FOR Letting Your Baby Run Your Lives". Basically the book suggests that you feed and nurture your baby in a "Parent Directed" manner. And that the baby is a PART of the existing family... not the CENTER of it. The mom does not drop down and nurse the baby every time she cries, but rather offers to nurse the baby according a schedule set by mom. -I am TOTALLY for this, especially as a full time working mom that has a husband, friends, and personal interests to attend to as well. Following this book usually gets babies sleeping through the night by 6 weeks- and I personally know people who have used this and swear by it. Kyle has also read it so we can be on the same page. Obviously I am not expecting a perfect schedule right away and know that it will be a learning curve, but having a game plan going in makes me feel better.



Another book I am reading is called"Dr. Denmark Said It". Dr Denmark practiced as a pediatrician until she was 103 years old... 103! She has some very strong opinions or raising children, some of which kind of shocked me. For one, she believes even newborns should sleep through the night with out being offered a feeding between 10pm-6am. What?! How is this even possible? She also says absolutely NO pacifiers ever, the baby should always sleep on their STOMACH, no juice or milk -just breast milk/formula and water when appropriate, and no table food until they are at least 2 years old (only "mush" -pureed baby food). She is also a big advocate for setting a schedule, but hers doesn't allow for much grace. She expects the baby's room to be quite, dark and eliminate any visitors, pets or anything else that may wake the baby. -These were all shocking, and while I'm sure there is a good reason for all of these suggestions, I really don't want our lives revolving around our baby. Rather, our baby to be integrated in to our life. I haven't finished it yet, but I am looking forward to what else she has to say. What I do know, is that the book was suggested by a couple who have raised great kids -so it's at least worth my time to finish it!

So pregnant/new moms- What have you read that helped? I know each baby is individual and all you can do is take a little bit of advice from each place and develop a system that works for you. So that is what I am trying to do -for some reason, I guess the Type A side of me, feels better having a "plan" going in to this whole being a mommy thing!

28 weeks later...

28 Weeks later... and I find myself in my third trimester already. It is all starting to feel so real. The baby has some patterns of movement I can recognize, and Kyle and I talk about her a lot more now, like she is already here. I have learned a few things about my future daughter -like how she loves sweets as much as her mommy! Every time I eat chocolate or have some ice cream, I can feel her quickly after doing a little dance there. She also likes to make her most prominent appearance every night before bed. As soon as I lay down I can feel whole body parts sticking out. It is fun though, because Kyle and I lay there feeling around, guessing what it may be that we are feeling. A head, a butt -who knows!

I had my 28 week appointment on Wednesday and everything checked out great. I passed my glucose test (which was yucky!), baby's HR was nice and strong, and I gained just the right amount of weight -wahoo!

I am also now realizing what it meant when I read "the second trimester is the easiest". I had someone say recently... "How do you make being pregnant look so easy?" -And I thought.. because it is easy! And then I swear, as soon as the third trimester officially started I felt different. I have weird pains all through my torso, mostly my back and ribs. I can't bend over forward anymore. And after working 12 hour shifts my ankles are starting to swell :-/ Sleep for the most part is still OK though. Every day I think... how much bigger am I going to get? And what will THAT feel like?! But every day that passes is just one day closer to meeting our sweet baby girl!

28 Week Picture:

Our crib came in and Kyle surprised me by putting it together one night before I got home from work. It is absolutely PERFECT for the room. I can't wait to put her bedding in there. I walk by her room sometimes and can't believe there will actually be a baby in there before we know it!

I am absolutely ECSTATIC that my first baby shower is coming up. I have family coming in from Texas, Utah, Illinois, North Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama! I feel so blessed that we have such a strong support system from our family, even if we are so spread apart. Our baby girl is going to have an abundance of aunties, uncles, and great-aunts/uncles/cousins to love on her!

Having out of town guests has also motivated us to get some house projects down that we need to do. So in between nesting and preparing for the baby we have been super busy doing other things around the house. Most notably, our kitchen floors. For some reason, the people who lived in our house before us decided the "diner" look was a good one. Not for us. We have been talking about changing the floors since we moved in and FINALLY go to them!

The finished product:

We also got a new dining room table which is another thing I have been wanting forever. It is so hard hosting with only a 4 top table. We finally have a 6 top and one that fits in perfectly with our place!

New Dining table:

With all of these changes going on between our house and my body/baby, sometimes I have to just stop and take it all in. God has been pouring his blessings on us and I try to remember that everything we have comes directly from Him. I literally get the doxology stuck in my head sometimes and can't stop singing.. "Praise God, from whom all blessings flow!"

Week 27: 3D Ultrasound and Nursery furniture

Week 27 is here and it is fabulous! One week closer to meeting our precious little girl. One week bigger (both her and me!). I am definitely starting to experience some new pregnancy symptoms. Most notably: every time, every single time, I stand up after sitting down for more than 5 minutes I have to pee. It never fails. Which is terribly inconvenient at work. I am constantly having to ask another nurse to watch my patient so I can run to the bathroom. I have also been struggling to get comfortable at night. I am a back or stomach sleeper. Which happens to be terrible positions for pregnant women. Awesome. I know there is an option for a body pillow, but I don't see how that would even fit in our bed! Between my husband and my cat, I am already pushed for space in our queen bed. Oh the joys of getting bigger!

Here is baby Regal at exactly 27 weeks. She has her right hand up by her face but you can see her full cheeks and massive lips. I'm in love already!

Another exciting milestone at week 27 is that the nursery furniture has been purchased! My step dad Kevin offered to buy our furniture for us, which was SUCH a huge blessing! He even picked out the crib himself, I was impressed! We decided to go with all white furniture, I think it will look great against those pretty blue walls.

The crib:

We also got this changing table/organizer:
And this tall dresser:

I can't wait for it to come in so we (Kyle) can put it together! It is only a matter time before a sweet baby girl will be sleeping in that crib!

26 Week Happenings

26 weeks seems like another milestone! According to my updates I get from whattoexpect.com, baby Regal is about 2 pounds and viable outside of the womb (meaning her lungs are developed enough that she could survive if I had her today). This is reassuring, but I am in no way ready for that. I would like her to cook as long as possible! I have been doing a lot better about what I'm eating (OK, that is probably a lie. Not a LOT better, but maybe a little). The scale has reflected that and I have not gained any weight in the last 2 weeks. As I'm sure most pregnant women feel, there are not a lot of times when I feel "hot" anymore. But I have had some opportunities to go out with friends and take some extra time getting ready. There is something to be said about how getting dressed up makes you feel better not only on the outside, but the inside too!

These shots are from weeks 25 and 26:

So, I jokingly told Kyle that it is customary to get the wife a "push gift" once the baby is born. I am not sure where I even heard that before, but I totally agree with it! I told him some ideas of what I would like and not only did he listen, he delivered (no pun intended), Early! The first thing I talked about getting was a Garmin running watch, for a couple reasons. Obviously right now I do not plan on doing a ton of running between now and when the baby comes, but it is one of my favorite pastimes. I have done 2 half marathons before and plan on signing up for the Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon in November. I figured that would be perfect motivation for me to get back in shape.

Kyle did a ton of research and got me this:

It is perfect for me, I can track my mileage, pace, calories, etc. And right now I am using it to watch my heart rate. My doctor has advised me to keep heart rate below 150 when I am working out during my pregnancy. This has actually been harder to do than I thought. I love blaring music, doing cardio and getting my SWEAT ON. The first time I got on the treadmill I quickly realized that wasn't going to be as easy anymore. I kept pulling back but my heart rate would sky rocket quickly. I assumed this had something to do with all the extra blood needed to supply both me and the baby. Since I have been more consistent with my work outs, I have noticed I can tolerate doing more cardio for longer periods of time with out going over 150bpm. Love my first push gift, and can't wait to actually RUN with it!

My second "push gift" was all Kyle. He was thinking about my needs as I would be up late with the baby feeding, pumping, doing whatever moms do (haven't figured that out yet) and that I would need some entertainment. I already read a lot on my Nook app on my iphone (people think I am crazy for reading on such a small screen) so Kyle got me the Nook tablet! He once again did his research, and liked the Nook over the Kindle. I really didn't have an opinion either way, but now that I have it I love it! I have already read 2 books and really think it is going to be so nice to have during those feeding/pumping times.

Love my new toy, and looking for more books to stock up on!

I really have to say, so far pregnancy has been a very enjoyable experience. No sickness, tiredness, or other crazy things have happened. I feel very blessed! Next Monday is our 3D ultrasound.. I can't wait to see what our little peanut is starting to look like!!

24 Week Updates

Wow, I am 6 months pregnant. 6 months! Have I really been going through this for HALF OF A YEAR? It is insane. And what is even crazier is the fact that I only have 3 more months to go. Whoa.

Yesterday was my 24 week appointment and everything looked great! We got the full reading of our ultrasound that was done at 20 weeks, and there was nothing significant to report (a good thing!) The baby is approximately a little over a pound and about 12 inches long... No wonder this belly of mine is really sticking out! I did gain more weight this month than my doctor would have liked. ((which by the way, I got weighed the DAY after the Super Bowl, give me a break!) I have to admit though, I was bummed. It is hard to hear when you are doing something wrong. She wanted me to cut out carbs at night and stay away from juice or soda. I don't really drink either of those things but the carbs.. that will be tough! Especially since I work until 9:30 at night three days a week. By the time I get home, I'm starving and quite frankly don't care what it is I'm eating. But, I will do what I can and I realize that it is only for the best, especially after the baby comes out. After feeling sorry for myself, I got my tennis shoes on and my new workout shirt courtesy of my sister in law (Erin). Tank says, "Body By Baby" =)
Then I went downstairs and had a great workout on our treadmill. I have been using it about 2 days a week, but I am going to make more of an effort to use it 3-4 days a week. It is hard though, because all I can do it walk up hill. But it sure is pretty :)

In other news, we painted our nursery! (twice!) We got a color, and of course as soon as Kyle was done slaving away at it, I saw it.. and didn't like it. Don't get me wrong, it was a beautiful color, just not the one I was envisioning in my mind. So being the awesome, loving husband he is, he did not make me feel bad for not liking it. Instead he went and got the lighter version of the color and painted it again. Here is the color now:

I am so happy with it! I can't wait to fill the room with sweet furniture and goodies. I have a strong belief that babies need to sleep in their own cribs, in their own rooms, so she will get good use out of this nursery.

And last but not least, another funny thing I have gotten lately.... The stupid things people say to pregnant women. Apparently a filter is no longer needed and I guess there is some unwritten rule somewhere that states that you can say whatever you want to a pregnant woman, even if you preface it with, "no offense but..."

The two times that have stood out to me the most were:

1) At work, a respiratory therapist asked me how far along I was. I happily told her, "23 weeks". To which she quickly responded, "No offense, but you are HUGE!" I just stared at her and had no idea how to respond.

2) The second time was also at work (maybe its the scrubs?) I was taking care of a patient when his mom asked me when I was due. I once again, very excitedly told her, "The end of May". Her mouth dropped open and she exclaimed, "Whoa! I thought you were going to say the end of FEBRUARY!". -No ma'am, I am not 9 months pregnant. :-/

From what I hear though, it seems to be a common occurrence. (People saying dumb things to pregnant women). And honestly, I don't take offense to it at all. Sometimes I wonder, "Is my baby too big?" But I know that everyone carries differently. I know that I have a healthy baby and I am doing my best to keep myself healthy too.

Last but not least, here is a pic of Baby Regal enjoying her fabulous city during Super Bowl week!