Pregnancy Diary 2: Week 1 Postpartum

One week old already! Charlie has been a great baby so far just doing the typical baby thing. Nurse, sleep, nurse, awake, nurse, sleep, nurse, poop, nurse and repeat. He takes a binky already too which is awesome.

I am feeling rested enough, although my body is still healing, so I am trying to take it easy. My mom has been great all week helping with the boys and housework. I am positive things would be a lot more stressful if it weren't for her help.

I've only had one emotional meltdown so far, which, surprise, surprise, happened at 4am a couple nights after Charlie was born. My milk had come in and I was so sore, but Charlie would barely nurse for 2 min and then pass out, giving me no relief. I convinced myself that something was wrong with his latch. My wonderful midwife sent over a lactation consultant the next day who gave me back the confidence that he was doing just fine. I can't wait to be feeling 100% again, so I can go out and show him off!

Here we are one week postpartum! Here I am with Sam one week postpartum.

My sister came over this morning to help do a newborn photo shoot, but it was a complete fail. How do real photographers do it?!? Between it being an overcast day leaving us with poor lighting to a baby who wouldn't stop squirming or crying unless he had a binky or was nursing, this is all we got:

I did manage to get these the other day though.

Pregnancy Diary 2: Week 39

Every day I have to remind myself that Charlie will be here in no time at all! Even if he is a few days late like his brothers, it is still only 1.5 weeks away! I feel mostly ready for him to come. I have a few things here and there I would like to get done beforehand like clean out the coat/shoe closet, completely catch up on laundry, and wash my dirty hand printed windows. But I don't feel like it would be holding me back if I didn't. I would like to finish the blanket I am crocheting for Charlie before he comes though, so I've been trying to work on it as much as I can. Dean is super busy with work today, and tomorrow is Sea Breeze day and Dean has to be out of town until late afternoon. So, we're just hoping to get through Wednesday, and then Charlie has full permission to come whenever!

Knowing that this pregnancy is almost over is super bittersweet. Of course, I am above all, anxious to meet my 3rd son. The day he decides to come will be a joyous one for sure. But it is still very fresh in my mind how sick I was in the beginning of this pregnancy, and knowing that I will most likely have to go through that again to get to this hard to fathom. I do try and be grateful though. As hard as it was being so sick, I was at least able to get through it by 18 weeks and was able to enjoy the rest of the pregnancy feeling pretty darn great. In fact, this is the best I have felt at 39 weeks with any of my pregnancies so far!

Everything looked good at my last midwife appointment. I got a negative on the GBS test, and the labs we did looked great as well. Other than the discomfort of having a baby's head deep in my pelvis, and the occasional lower back pain I am feeling awesome! With both Will and Sam I had pretty bad round ligament pain for at least the last few weeks, but now I don't have any! I have been doing yoga twice a week for about 12 weeks now, and I am certain that is why I am feeling so great. I am definitely an advocate now for prenatal yoga!

Here I am at 39 weeks! I carry pretty low as it is, but I definitely feel like my belly is hanging super low now.

Here I am at 39 weeks pregnant with Sam!

Pregnancy Diary 2: Week 38

Today is a busy day, so this will have to be kept nice and short! I am feeling rather well these days, considering. Waddling is how I walk now, and getting up from being down is always quite a sight to behold. 

It's always about this time when it hits me that I am actually having a baby. That he will be here. I am always so focused on getting all of these things accomplished before the baby comes, that I forget that life goes on after he is here as well. 

I have been told so many times that going from 2 to 3 children is quite a jump. Something about having one more child than you do arms. I am hoping it is one of those situations like when you hear over and over how great a movie was. That it was SO funny. You have to see it. And then you see it, and you're like...really? That was it? 

A mom can dream, right?

So here we are at 38 weeks, and here I am at 38 weeks with Sam.

Pregnancy Diary 2: Week 36

We're coming into the home stretch now. 4 weeks and counting. Baby will be here in no time! Birthing supplies are bought, and ity bity baby boy clothes are washed and waiting for their dresser to be painted still. The nursery is still very incomplete. Not that he will need it right away, since he will spend the first few months in mommy and daddy's room, but I would love to have it mostly put together beforehand.

The lovely pelvic aches and pains of pregnancy have finally decided to make an appearance. Lot's of gruntin', groanin' and waddlin' going on over here. Baby's head is definitely down, and ready for launching day. I am so thankful I am not going to be super pregnant all throughout summer. I am packin' so much extra heat it's crazy. On nights where I would typically still be wearing socks up to my knees, sweatpants and a long sleeved shirt to bed with a blow dryer to warm up the sheets, I am now sleeping with no pants, the sheet barely on me and a fan in the window blowing 40 something degree air right on me. I was such a hot mess, minus the hot, on the days where it's been in the 80's.

Everything looked good at my last midwife appointment. No swelling. Measuring a little small, but I always do. Weight gain is a little under what I was for both Will and Sam at this point, although goodness does my belly seem bigger this time around. Next week will be the dreaded GBS test, and then one last look at my blood to make sure everything's all in good order.

I am totally running out of clothes that fit me/cover my belly, but I am so close to the end, that it seems silly to buy anything more. I pulled out all of my normal, summery, empire waisted style dresses I thought would still fit me....I was wrong. So wrong. I am feeling a bit under the weather today with a lovely sore throat, cough and nose all stuffy, so today is being spent at home in my sweats and trying to take it easy. Here is the belly at 36 weeks! Here I am at 36 weeks with Sam.

Pregnancy Diary 2: Week 34

Wasn't I just sitting here writing for my 32 week post? Not much has changed since then. I could probably just copy and paste what I wrote last time, and it would all be true. I do feel like the baby has dropped a bit though, since the past couple of days I have been feeling a little more discomfort in my pelvis. The pillow between the legs while sleeping is definitely a must these days.

My biggest concern is just trying to eat enough. My appetite is so bad! Nothing sounds good, except for sweet things, and it is quite frustrating. Now, it's not like I am eating ice cream and chocolate all the time (very rarely actually), but all I want to eat is peanut butter toast, english muffins with LOTS of butter, yogurt w/ granola, baked sweet potatoes and fruit! So much fruit! I know my body typically doesn't do the greatest when I over do it on sweets or carbs, but I am trying not to worry about what I am eating and just make sure I eat something.

Here is the big ol' belly at 34 weeks. Here I am at 34 weeks with Sam.

Pregnancy Diary 2: Week 32

Well, here we are again! The past two weeks have flown by. I am still feeling great, and everything looked good at my midwife appointment last week. I am definitely getting more anxious about meeting Charlie. Curious to see what he will look like. Will he be big like Will or a bit smaller like Sam? Will he have brown eyes or blue? Will he actually have hair?!? Oh, who am I kidding. I'm pretty sure I only make bald babies. BUT, as much as I would love to see him, I am perfectly fine with him staying in there as long as he'd like. I have way to much stuff I would like to get accomplished before he comes. 

It has been fun collecting some new baby boy items for Charlie. Although I do have a plethora of boy clothes already, Will and Sam were born in the fall/winter, so I have needed to stock up on newborn summer clothes. I have been able to find a bunch of onesies, teeny little shorts and cute rompers at thrift stores. I haven't started putting together his nursery, but am hoping to start tackling that soon! I have a bunch of ideas for decorating it, and am excited to see how it all comes together. 

One thing that is bound to happen when you are pregnant, is to receive comments from strangers. Negative or positive. But really it doesn't bother me at all. I get asked quite often if I know what I am having. The responses when I say "another boy" always make me smile. I get everything from bulging eyes to, God bless ya. That's wonderful," and "Oh girl, keep having them boys. Have ten of em. Because girls man..." 

The best one so far has been from this sweet older lady as we were leaving the YMCA. When I told her I was having another boy, her friend chimed in first saying, "Oh I was going to say, I hope you are having a girl!" But the other one said that she had 3 boys before having a girl,

"And you know what?" she says, shaking her head.

"It was weird, right?" I said. 

"Yes." she says, "Every time I changed her diaper....I thought I pulled something off!"  Ha! 

I do admit to have been a little bit disappointed when we found out we were having a 3rd boy. That I wasn't "getting my girl." But I am so in love with this 3rd son of mine already, I can't imagine it being a girl!

Charlie is definitely a mover and a shaker. I don't know if he really is more active than his brothers were or if I have just forgotten what they were like. He is head down, so let's hope he stays that way!

Here is the belly at 32 weeks! (Here I am at 32 weeks with Sam).

Pregnancy Diary 2: Week 30

Between having a puking kid, and still wanting to be productive on this beautifully warm and sunny day, this will be another short and sweet post. I am feeling great! When I was pregnant with Sam I was pretty achy off and on from 28 weeks til then end. It was super bad at timeS. I was worried going into this pregnancy that with each kid it would just get worse, but then I remembered Will was in his cast at this point in my pregnancy last time. Carrying around a *big* almost 2 year old in a half body cast will make anyone achy, let alone a pregnant lady! I have also been doing yoga twice a week for almost 4 weeks now, so maybe that is helping too! I am really enjoying it. I feel like I get a good workout, gettin' sweaty and all, without feeling extra achy the next day.

Here's the belly at 30 weeks! (Here I am at 30 weeks with Sam.)

Pregnancy Diary 2: Week 28

I'm starting off week 28 feeling pretty darn good. A few round ligament pains here and there and some occasional heartburn, but other than that I can't complain! Baby is moving a bunch. Gone are the light little kicks and flutters. It is now a full on limb fest in there. Elbows, knees, and feet jabbing me every which way. As far as I can tell his head is down, and Braxton hicks are in full swing. Not at all out the the norm for me.

When I think about how big I am feeling already, still having 12 weeks to go seems like a lot. But when I think about only having 12 weeks left to get everything done on my before-baby-to-do-list it's a little overwhelming. I cannot wait for some more consistent warm weather. I have a bunch of painting projects I want to get done, and being able to open up some windows or take things outside is a must for that. My ideas for decorating the nursery are slowly coming together. In my mind at least. In real life nothing has happened in that department. The nursery to be is still full of way to many toys I need to downsize and some boxes of random stuff.

The baby bump is definitely growing! Here it is at 28 weeks, (and here I am at 28 weeks with Sam!). And yes, I am aware that these pants I am wearing should have been packed away about 1 month ago.