There's Another Baby on the Way: 38 Weeks Update

Unfortunately, my last appointment showed no progress. (Other than another pound of weight gain.) As of this past Friday, I was still at 2 cm dilated, my cervix is still in the posterior position and Emmy is still up pretty high. Basically it was a "you're doing great, but she's not coming this weekend" kind of check-up.

So I'm now 38 weeks pregnant and my biggest complaints are: killer acid reflux, a complete inability to sleep well at night, tons of Braxton Hicks contractions that are super uncomfortable (but still not what you'd consider painful), Emmy constantly pushing up under my ribs (always on my right side), constant peeing & back pain. 

The best thing about 38 weeks? I'm officially on maternity leave! Woohoo! I'm enjoying the chance to be at home and rest a bit, to get things ready around the house for miss Emmy and to spend time with my boys. 

Here's my 38 weeks appearance:

The plan is to have an ultrasound with my check-up this coming Friday (at 38 weeks 4 days) to check my placenta (since I had issues with Fisher) and to check Emmy's size. After that, we can hopefully set up a game plan. If Emmy doesn't decide to come on her own, we will probably go ahead and set up an induction on or around her due date. 

13 days to go!

Until next time...

Simple Gifts: Thank You for the Teachers

Fisher officially had his last day in the Toddler Room at his PDO program. We have next week off and then he will start the Fall semester in the Two Year-Old Room. It's his first transition to a new room and it makes me a little sentimental. He's getting big!

Fisher LOVES his school and his teachers so it's a little sad to think he won't be with them anymore. They adore him too which makes it even harder, but he'll be in the room next door so they can still check in on him. Before moving on to the next class, I wanted to be sure to give his current teachers a little thank you gift. Here's the simple (but cute) gift idea I came up with:

I love these candles I found at Target. They smell amazing and I thought their "Be Grateful" logo on the front was perfect for a thank you gift. I just had to add the perfectly colored blue and green yarn ($0.45 at Target) and the tags which I already had at home. I then added the "thank you" stamp to the tag and wrote our note of appreciation on the back. 

I also added those beautiful floral notebooks (which came in a pack of 3 so I got one too!) as a little extra happy. If these ladies are anything like me, they can always use a notebook for grocery lists, to-dos, etc. And why not use something pretty, right?

I hope they enjoyed the gifts! I know I would have. I might have to head back to Target at some point (as if I'm not there every other day) and grab myself one of those candles. I love the clean smell - cucumbers and sea petals.

Man, I love gift giving! It is definitely my love language. 

Until next time...

There's Another Baby on the Way: 37 Weeks Update

Now that we are in the final stretch, I thought I'd include weekly updates on here so I have a little easier time remember how it all went down. We are now at 37 weeks (+ 1 day) and here's what I look like:

I keep hearing that I look small, but I feel HUGE. I feel a lot of pressure all the time (in my lady bits) which I don't ever remember having with Fisher. I'm beyond uncomfortable and would be thrilled to have Emmy arrive at any point now. (I even got a pedicure done today so I'm ready to go!)

I had my last check up on Friday (at 36 weeks 4 days) with a nurse practitioner and I was at 2 cm and 30% effaced. I'm hoping that we'll continue to have some progression when I'm checked by my again this Friday. 

Unfortunately, my doctor just underwent back surgery and although she'll be back to clinic this week, she won't be up and running for deliveries right away. It's possible that she'll be available to deliver Emmy, but the odds aren't looking good (especially if I go into labor before my due date.) I love my doctor so it's kind of a bummer to imagine her not being there. She was wonderful during my labor and delivery with Fisher, but I'm sure all the doctors from the practice are great. I'll be so happy to have this baby out that I'm pretty sure I'll take whoever shows up. ;)

Alright, before I go, here's the final addition to the kids room: maternity photos!

I'm so glad I was able to get the photos into their bedroom. Fisher's were in our hallway previously, but now that we have two sets, I really wanted to feature them in the kids' room. 

Until next time...

The Kids' Room: Ready for Emmy!

It's basically ready! Other than hanging some maternity photos, adding a hook above the laundry basket for the diaper bag, finalizing the bookcase displays and updating the crib railing cover to the matching crib skirt fabric, the kids' room is all set! I really couldn't be happier with the result. I think it is a perfect fit for my little guy and his sweet baby sister. I even cleaned out the closet which makes me feel even more prepared to fit two kiddos in this adorable room. 

Here's a look at the space. (Keep in mind the orange looking color used throughout is actually a bit more coral-toned...not so crazy orange. For some reason it hasn't been photographing very well.)

After repainting the room pale grey, we decided it remained way too bright at nap time with our existing white curtains so we swapped them for a dark grey version from World Market. Not only did it help with the light issue, it also really helped anchor that side of the room. 

This bookcase amazes me every time I look at it for two reasons. 1.) It was custom built by my dad who only took up woodworking fairly recently and 2.) it is hiding an extra, useless exterior door! Who would ever know there was a door back there?! I just love it and it is wonderful for extra storage in this room. As far as the display goes, I have some of the items placed where I want them, but other shelves still need some love. I'll get it styled sooner or later.  

This horse is from Brent's childhood so I adore having it in the kids' room. Definitely a sentimental item, but Fisher enjoys playing on it from time to time as well. 

I also have some sentimental love for this sign. The "Bushel and a Peck" song is one I remember from my dad growing up. It makes me think of him which I love. (I also absolutely love the photo of Fisher and his bestie, Hannah, on this shelf. It's at a height that Fisher can see it and it's one of my all time favorite photos.)

The crib skirt was created with a twin sheet set I found at Target. It has grey, pink and orange mixed in the pattern which goes perfectly with the room while adding a touch of femininity to the crib. I'll be replacing the crib rail cover (great for protecting the wood when teething starts) with the same material. 

I am OBSESSED with this hot air balloon mobile! I knew I wanted to use the hot air balloons as part of Emmy's decor and my mom spotted this steal (less than $20!) on Amazon so I snatched it up. I was so excited to finally have it hanging above her crib. 

That little rattle is the first baby girl "toy" I've picked out for Emmy. It was just too sweet & girly to skip over. And that precious bear was given to Emmy by our dear friend Katie and her baby boy, Jack. He has a matching one (and they might even end up with the same birthday!)

Again, this dresser is in no way that bright in actuality. I love the color combination of the coral and blue. It's playful, but not overwhelming to the space. 

We added the pegboard as a way to display the kids' artwork, add some extra storage and the layered mirrors help reflect some of the natural light from the window across the room. It was a super easy project and I really love the final result. 

Along with adding the pegboard, I knew I wanted to add a shelf above the changing table to give me another surface to display photos and such. It ended up working perfectly for housing our video monitor which now gives us a view of the entire room rather than just the crib. (I just realized that everything on the shelf, and the shelf itself, is from Target. All of it.)

Well there it is! I hope you love it as much as I do. I can't wait to bring Emmy home to this sweet, shared space. 

(24 days to go.)

Until next time...

There's Another Baby on the Way: 36 Weeks Update

We're one month out! (27 days to be exact.)

I'm now having weekly appointments with cervix checks. I had my last check up this past Friday and was dilated to 1 cm (at 35 1/2 weeks). Seeing as I didn't have any dilation with Fisher until right before our induction, I was very excited to hear that my body was starting to prep for birth on its own. It makes me hopeful that I might actually go into labor on my own this time around. We'll see if I continue to progress in the weeks to come.

Emmy's heartbeat was nice and strong so we're still trucking along. I didn't gain any additional weight this past week so I'm at a weight gain of 24 pounds overall. (My previous appointment, the week prior, I had gained 3 pounds in 2 1/2 weeks and Emmy was estimated to weight 5lbs 6oz.)

I am definitely uncomfortable, more so than I remember with Fisher, and I'm ready to be finished with pregnancy. I've had a lot more discomforts, complaints and issues with this second pregnancy and I had another strange "spell" this past week that was awful and completely confusing. While at work, I started feeling a little dizzy and started sweating like crazy. I figured I was having a blood sugar issue so I ran to the back and grab myself a snack and some water. Normally, that would help resolve my feeling of weakness/dizziness, but in this case it did nothing. I continued to feel terrible and then started having a tingly numbness in my lips that then moved into my tongue. (Yeah, weird. I know.)

After about 2 hours, lots of calls to my mom, a chat with my doctor's office,  a blood pressure check at Kroger (it was completely normal) and lunch, I was back to feeling like myself. We really have no clue what triggered it, but some guesses are that maybe the baby positioned herself on my vena cava or maybe it was the start of some sort of migraine reaction. All we know is it was weird and if it happens again I need to let my doctor know ASAP.

Since then, things have been fine overall. Just some tummy trouble here and there, lots of pressure, back aches, acid reflux...the norm. 

Here's what I'm looking like at 36 weeks:

I can't believe Emmy will be joining us in about a month! I now have her crib completely ready and I finally ordered the Ergo baby carrier with the infant insert to use when she arrives. I didn't use a carrier much with Fisher, but hopefully Emmy will like it because this momma is going to need her hands available for the wild toddler. 

That's it for now. I'll be visiting the doc again on Friday and I'll give another update following that appointment. I'll also be posting photos of the kid's room. It's basically finished! Woohoo!

Until next time...