Pregnancy Weeks 36 and 37

 35 weeks (I promised a picture of 35 weeks from my last post)

 36 Weeks

37 Weeks

How Far Along: 36-37 weeks {FULL TERM}!! Yay!!
 
Size of Baby: Baby is the size of a swiss chard or a winter melon (approximately 6.5 pounds)

Gender: A sweet baby girl! Madison Ashley!

Maternity Clothes: All maternity with several non-maternity pieces squeezed in there.

Workouts: My gym membership is frozen as of May 1; however, I am still getting in walks around the neighborhood with Bella and Evan in the evenings.

Weight Gain: 29 pounds.

Sleep: Same as the last few weeks. Fairly well,I really cannot complain. Occasionally, I will have nights lately where I do not sleep very well. I now regularly have to get up at 3:30 am on the dot to pee. How weird is that? Also, I definitely toss and turn a good bit more than I used to due to the large belly.

Cravings/Aversions: Still craving more salads and healthy options. Evan made chocolate chip cookies; not a good idea!

Movement: ALL the time.

Nursery: Done!

Symptoms: Still really do not have too much to complain about. I really hope this continues. In addition to having trouble reaching for items on the coffee table due to the huge belly, I now do not particularly look forward to picking things up off the floor, tying my shoes, etc...it is becoming difficult and uncomfortable.

What I Miss: The same as usual...Caesar salads, soft cheeses and red wine....probably the red wine the most. 

Mood: Happy most of the time. Hospital bag is packed (more to come on this soon). We are continuing to freeze meals in preparation for Madison's arrival. I am definitely trying to make sure the house is in complete order as well. 

Best Moment This Week: Our 37 week doctor's appointment. Doctor told me that she estimates Madison is a little under 6 pounds at this point and thinks that she will be approximately 7 pounds by the time she is born. This is wonderful news, considering my mom keeps telling me that big babies run on her side of the family.

Looking Forward To: Of course getting to meet our little one!! I hope May 21st comes quickly; we are so ready!!

Pregnancy Weeks 33-35

 

 33 Weeks

                                                                     34 Weeks

 **I unfortunately do not have a picture for 35 weeks yet, but will include it with my next pregnancy post.

How Far Along: 33-35 weeks
 
Size of Baby: Baby is the size of a honeydew melon (approximately 5.25 pounds)

Gender: A sweet baby girl! Madison Ashley!

Maternity Clothes: All maternity with several non-maternity pieces squeezed in there.

Workouts: My gym membership is frozen as of May 1; however, I am still getting in walks around the neighborhood with Bella and Evan in the evenings. I want to begin a squat regime asap and also some light arm weights. I really need to walk more. Must get motivated...

Weight Gain: 27 pounds.

Sleep: Fairly well,I really cannot complain. Occasionally I will have nights lately where I do not sleep very well. I definitely toss and turn a good bit more than I used to due to the large belly.

Cravings/Aversions: Still craving more salads and healthy options. Also really craving guacamole, but that has been ongoing throughout this pregnancy. Bagels with cream cheese (not so healthy).

Movement: ALL the time. Lately, Madison's movements have become quite intense...to the point where Evan took a video of what we believe to be her knee or leg protruding significantly from my belly moving from one side to another. Her movements are so strong they are sometimes uncomfortable!!

Nursery: Done!

Symptoms: Other than a quickly growing belly, I am starting to have some other less than desirable side effects, but nothing too cumbersome. Specifically, I am finally having some difficulty getting up from a sitting position, getting in and out of bed now takes a good bit more effort, and I definitely cannot reach for things on the coffee table while sitting on the couch without significant discomfort. Probably the most uncomfortable side effect that I am having is mild upper backaches in the afternoons/evenings. I am pretty sure that is not due to the big belly, but ahem...the girls that are ginormous! Please tell me this is temporary, because I am not a fan!  On the plus side, I can still "out walk" most people at work. I am known for being a really fast walker and I am happy to state that so far pregnancy has not slowed me down very much!  I am very thankful though for how easy this pregnancy has been (at least so far).

What I Miss: The same as usual...Caesar salads, soft cheeses and red wine....probably the red wine the most. 

Mood: Happy most of the time. Hospital bag is basically packed (more to come on this soon), we have begun for the past several weeks to make meals to freeze for after Madison comes, and we are in the process of deep cleaning the house.  

Best Moment This Week: Picking out Madison's outfits for the hospital. I got so excited coordinating her hair bows, onsies, and dresses. It makes it so much more real that our little girl will be here in (hopefully) a Month!!

Looking Forward To: Of course getting to meet our little one!! I hope May 21st comes quickly; we are so ready!!

A Difficult Subject

I apologize in advance for the depressing post, but I have wanted to share this for a long time now and for some reason now seems like the right time.

I want to first say, that I have been extremely fortunate with not having many hardships the first thirty or so years of my life. I am grateful for that. I have been blessed with so many wonderful people and events in my life and I am truly thankful. Generally, I try to keep my posts very upbeat, however, today I want to discuss something that has deeply affected me and honestly I don't think I will ever be the same: having a miscarriage.

In May 2014, on a Sunday morning, I will never forget how thrilled/excited/shocked I was to get that positive on a pregnancy test. I had gone off the pill only three weeks before and I really did not think I would get pregnant that quickly. We honestly were not even “trying” yet.  I could not contain my excitement and although we had several family members staying with us that weekend, I quickly put on some clothes and ran out to pull Evan aside and tell him the amazing news. I will never forget the tears of joy in his eyes when I told him that he was going to be a daddy. We cried, hugged, and kept our amazing little secret to ourselves the rest of the weekend. We then proceeded over the next two weeks to tell a select few individuals the joyous news: my parents, his parents, and several close friends. 

On the day of our first doctor's appointment I woke up with some minor cramping. I wasn't terribly concerned until I went to the bathroom and noticed a few drops of blood. Now every pregnant woman knows that any amount of blood is a very scary thing. The bleeding picked up very slightly and I began to panic. Evan and I went to work although all I really wanted to do was sit at home and cry. I kept asking Evan if I should call our OBGYN immediately and that maybe they could do something.  He told me to call at work, but that honestly there was nothing they could do.  I felt so incredibly helpless.  At work, I researched everything I could find about bleeding during pregnancy and it didn't look very good.  I called the nurse at our OBGYN and she told me not to panic and that unless the bleeding was major, it was most likely nothing to worry about and that they would see us at our eight week appointment that afternoon.  I barely got through the day I was so upset and worried.  By the time we got to the doctor's appointment, the bleeding had picked up a good bit and I was starting to suspect the worst.  One of the technicians performed an ultrasound after what seemed like waiting for FOREVER. I kept looking hopefully at the technician's face for any clue as to what she was seeing on the screen, but I got nothing. After the ultrasound, we were taken into a room to wait for the doctor. The doctor came in after what seemed like an ETERNITY and immediately told us that they couldn't see anything on the ultrasound.  I immediately started sobbing.  Although all day I was mentally preparing myself for the worst, I never in a million years thought it would actually happen. I never thought I would miscarry.  It really is one of those things that although is very common, I think every woman thinks it won't happen to them.  I, at least, didn't think it would happen to me. The next twenty-four hours were a blur. I think Evan and I both were in shock.  

After the initial shock and horror wore off came the questions....did I do something to cause this? Am I going to miscarry again? After the first week, came the feelings of anger and resentment.  Why did this happen to us? How are so many other people able to have children without miscarrying? Are we going to be able to have children naturally? The questions and sense of fear of the unknown wouldn't go away.  I would like to say that it got easier to live with what happened.  It did after two months or so...a very little bit.  Every time I found out another acquaintance was pregnant or saw moms with their children, it hurt.  I wanted to have a baby so badly and it was taken away from me. Not to say that I wasn't happy for others, but my pain made it very hard for me to be around others with children, especially babies.  For the most part; the pain really did not lessen until we found out we were pregnant again.  I told Evan the day I miscarried that the only way I would truly be able to move past the miscarriage would be to conceive again and have a healthy baby.  Thankfully, we cried tears of joy when we found out approximately three months after miscarrying that we were expecting again.  I felt so much better once I knew we were on the path to beginning again.  Although it took us only approximately three months after the miscarriage to conceive again, it seemed like an eternity.  It gave me a very small taste of what it would be like to have issues with infertility and it was AWFUL.  I can't even imagine dealing with not getting pregnant for a year or more.  I feel for all those women who have had issues with this.

I would never wish a miscarriage on my worst enemy; it was a pretty traumatic thing to go through; however I learned a great deal from the experience. It made me value life so much more than I did previously and made me so thankful now that I am now having a healthy pregnancy. I think I took it for granted that I would be able to conceive easily and with no issues.  I realize now that there are no guarantees in life.

So why disclose all of this? After I miscarried, I really appreciated reading other blog's where women described their feelings after miscarrying and in many cases ultimately having a healthy pregnancy.  It made me feel better and gave me hope that I would one day have a healthy baby. I want to do the same for others. I know that my experience probably pales in comparison to a lot of others, but for me it was probably one of the most difficult things I have ever had to deal with.

As many of you know, we are expecting our first child, a baby girl, in May. For the past 34 weeks, I have had a very easy and healthy pregnancy and I am so thankful for that.  For those of you who are currently dealing with the grief of a miscarriage, I want you to know that there is hope. There 
is a very good chance that you will go on to have a healthy baby.  You may feel hopeless now, but know that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel and that there is a very good chance that you will experience the joy that we are feeling with the impending birth of our first child. Miscarriage is one of those fluke things that is devastating and unexplainable.  Although it is definitely one of the most difficult things we have dealt with, it has definitely made us stronger and thankful for everything God has given us and especially thankful for our baby girl that will be here in six weeks or less.

Madison's Nursery

Happy Easter! We have been in Wilmington, NC all weekend celebrating a last little weekend getaway before little Madison makes an appearance; however I finally have time to post pictures of Madison's completed nursery!! Without further ado, here is the finished product. I am so excited that it is done! It has honestly been done for awhile, but just haven't shared!! At the very bottom, I have provided links as to where I found items for the nursery as much as possible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shelving {Pottery Barn and Marshall's Home Goods}

 

Dresser {Antique, The Depot at Gibson Mill}

 

Rug {Overstock.com}

 

Crib {Amazon.com} 

 

Bedding {Pottery Barn Kids}

 

Chandelier {Ikea}

 

Chevron Pillow {Ikea} 

 

Pink Curtains {Ikea}

 

Picture Frames {Ikea}

 

Curtain Rods {Lowe's}

 

Misc. Décor {Hobby Lobby} 

 

Baskets/Diaper Caddy {Pottery Barn Kids}

 

Diaper Bag {Kate Spade}

 

Graphics for pictures {via Pinterest for free}

 

Rocker {was Evan's as a baby}

 

Quatrefoil Changing Cover {Etsy} 

 

Apothecary Jars {Marshall's Home Goods}

 

Storage Containers in closet {Ikea and Target}

 

Wooden Monogram above crib {Etsy}