Two Week Update

Week two went by even more quickly than week one! I don't know how that's even possible. I guess time flies when you're having fun. Life has definitely changed since Zane came in this world and I can't even begin to describe how amazing it's been.

{Our little piano man.}

This week began with Zane going to the doctor for his one week checkup, a weigh in, and his circumcison. We were thrilled to discover that his growth was right on track. After the scare that he was losing weight, it was a huge sigh of relief to discover that everything was okay. We are still weaning Zane off of his formula supplements and are thankfully almost done with formula all together. Our little guy is down to one bottle feeding a day which is his 11pm feeding. This has actually been working out pretty perfectly the last few days. I feed him at 9pm and then head straight to bed, leaving Zac to feed him a bottle at 11pm. His next feeding isn't until 2am which gives me about four and a half hours to sleep. (Since Zac is already back to work I let him sleep during the middle of the night feedings.)That chunk of time is so wonderful! I try to nap with Zane throughout the day but it doesn't happen often so being able to catch up on sleep a little bit is incredibly important.

{Our Little Tough Guy}

Zane's circumcision went very well. The doctor and nurse were surprised that he slept right through it. The rest of that afternoon and the days to follow, he slept pretty well. Zac and I had prepared ourselves for a miserable little man and were all set to hear some screaming, but Zane took it like a little champ. Diaper changes were the only time that we heard a peep out of him. Putting Vaseline on his wound was less than fun the first few days but once it started to heal a bit, he didn't mind that either. We think that we got pretty lucky with the way that Zane handled the whole thing. From what we had heard from other people, those few days following the procedure could have really been miserable.

{Big Yawn}

Just a few days ago, Zane's umbilical stump fell off. (Looks like our boy has an innie.) Since his little mister seemed to be healed pretty well from his procedure, we were all set to start cloth diapering full time again. It came just in time, too because we were just about to use the last disposable diaper we had left from the hospital. The pack of 40 diapers that we were given only lasted about three and a half days. At that rate we'd be buying two packs of diapers a week. We decided to check the price of the diapers while we were picking up some items at Target and found that they wer $10 a pack. Needless to say, the cost of those diapers were going to add up pretty quickly if we had decided to use disposable diapers exclusively.

For the last few days we've been able to try out all of the diapers in our newborn stash. The prefolds are, surprisingly, much easier to use than we had anticipated and are quite absorbant. For anyone who is considering cloth diapering and is on a tight budget, I highly recommend starting out with prefolds. For just under $70 we purchased 24 newborn prefolds and 3 covers. Considering that you'd easily spend more than this in four weeks of disposable diapering, it's probably the most economical cloth diapering option.

{My sleeping boys.}

Zane found his voice this week and started to get a bit fussy. Before this he had been quite content and we didn't hear much out of him (with the exception of outfit change time). We quickly discovered that Zane was going through his first little growth spurt and just needed to be fed more often. I was feeding our little guy every two hours after the time that he finished eating. Now I feed him every two hours from the time he starts eating. Zane nurses for about 30-45 minutes, so by the time he's done I have just over an hour until I feed him again. I'd be lying if I said that this feeding routine hasn't left me feeling a bit exhausted, but our Zaney boy is content and well fed and that's all that matters. Plus I love the time that I get to spend with my boy. The way he holds his hands while he eats melts my heart.

Zac has today off from work and we will be spending it together. Our morning started out with a walk to a nearby park. The day has been absolutely beautiful! Zane got his first bath in his bath sling, got all lotioned up, and is looking quite handsome. As you can see from the picture below, our tiny baby is still swimming in a lot of his 'newborn' sized clothes. We took a trip to Target today to pick up a few more outfits for him. They are still a little big but he'll grow into them soon.

As for my postpartum week two, things are still going great. (Read about postpartum week one here.) I'm feeling better and better with each passing day. The walks around the neighborhood and today's walk to the park have helped. I get my circulation going and the vitamin D is a plus. I'm down 18lbs now since giving birth to Zane. From what I've heard from my mama friends, the first 20lbs seem to just melt off but everything after that takes a bit of work. I've started to use an app called My Fitness Pal again. It was the app that I used a while back when I was working out and trying to get in shape. Back then I used it to count calories and make sure that I wasn't overeating. This time around I'm using it to make sure that I'm taking in enough calories. I know that breastfeeding can burn anywhere from 300-500 calories a day which is something that I can track using the My Fitness Pal app. By taking note of this I can be sure to make up for those calories later. Breastfeeding requires you to eat a little more and definitely drink a lot more liquids (which is something I've always had a hard time with). I feel better being able to keep track of my daily intake. I'll focus more on losing the baby weight once I get the okay from my doctor to work out again.

So what does week three have in store for us? Well, this weekend Zac's family will be coming into town for Sarah's baby shower. This will be the first time that Zac's parents, his sister Sarah as well as her husband Donnie and her son Grayson will be seeing Zane. It should be an exciting weekend!

Cloth Diapering Part 3: Week One

It's been a over a week since we brought home Baby Zane and I have had a few people ask me how our cloth diapering has been going. So, to answer a few questions, here is our cloth diapering experience so far.

We'll start at the beginning...right when Zane was born. Before I started pushing, Zac had gotten Zane's diaper (a Rumparooz Lil' Joey) ready along with a flushable liner and a small tub of Vaseline so that the nurses would have it when the time came. We informed the labor nurses that we had a cloth diaper ready and didn't want to Zane to be put into a disposable. The two nurses gave each other a look and then told us that they would let the nursery nurse take care of it once Zane was born.

After our little man arrived, the nursery nurse started to clean him up and Zac presented her with a Lil Joey diaper and the Vaseline. She admitted that she hadn't seen a diaper like that one and asked if Zac wouldn't mind putting it on Zane. Zac put the diaper on our little guy (minus the Vaseline as the nurse said that they didn't like to put anything on baby's bottom right away) and all of the nurses ooh'd and ahh'd over how cute he looked.

By the time we were taken to a recovery room it was after midnight. Having been up since 4:30 the previous morning and of course going through the process of delivering our baby boy, I was beyond exhausted. The recovery nurse who brought us to our room checked on Zane and saw that he needed a diaper change. Zac went to grab the diaper bag to pull out another diaper, but he had a hard time finding one. The lights in the room were dimmed, the bag was packed pretty full with items, and poor Zac was also pretty tired. By the time he was able to find one we realized that the nurse already had Zane diapered in a disposable and swaddled in a blanket. Though I wasn't happy about him being in a disposable, I was far too tired to put up a fight.

After this, Zane became a cloth diapered little boy. The only diapers that we've used are the Lil' Joey diapers by Rumparooz. The main reason for this is because this is the only newborn diaper we have that has a snap down for the umbilical stump. We didn't want anything rubbing up against him and causing bleeding. (A few of his onesies already had a little blood on them from rubbing up against him.)

Zac really likes the Lil' Joey diapers. Since they are all in one diapers that don't require any adding or removing of inserts, he can put them on Zane just like a disposable. The size range on these diapers is 4-12lbs so we were able to find a great fit for Zane and he should be able to fit in these diapers for a while. We have had no leaks or blowouts in these diapers which is probably due to the inner gusset.

The inner gusset is both one of my favorite things about this diaper and my only complaint. The gusset is raised slightly and leaves a red mark on Zane's bum. It doesn't seem to bother or hurt him and I'm sure that the marks are only there because his skin is still so sensitive. His clothes sometimes leave red marks on his skin as well so while this is my only complaint about the diapers, it is by no means a deal breaker. We'll still be using them exclusively until his umbilical stump falls off (and it did today).

The question that follows "How is cloth diapering going?" seems to be "How do you clean them?". The beginning process of washing cloth diapers and wipes involves some trial and error. At least that's what I got from all of the articles I've read and Youtube videos I've watched. It's quite true. Everyone has different washing machines and different types of water so finding a washing routine that works for your household can take some time.

Our cleaning process starts as soon as Zane has a clean diaper on. The pee diapers get thrown into the diaper pail right away but the poopie diapers take a trip the guest bathroom to be sprayed down. The BumGenius diaper sprayer that Zac installed is fantastic. The diapers are mostly clean by the time we're done spraying them and they then get thrown into the diaper pail with the other diapers and the wipes.

As far as a wash routine goes, I'm using the most simple method that I have found. Every 'how to' video suggests that the diapers go through a cold rinse, followed by a hot/cold wash, and finished up with another cold rinse. The pee diapers have come out of the wash looking brand new. Unfortunately, a few of the soiled diapers have had some lingering stains which have left me wondering what I'm doing wrong. (My guess is that I am not using enough detergent or perhaps the wrong detergent.) I have noticed that the diapers that have been soiled after breastfeeding come much cleaner than those that follow a formula feeding.

Sunning the diapers can naturally bleach out stains so Zac and I have hung them to dry on the line outside. For the most part it has helped to get rid of staining, however there is one stubborn diaper that has a little coloration left. I'll continue to do some research and try out different things to find the best wash routine.

After Zane got circumcised the doctor told us that we would need to make sure to coat the wound with Vaseline to help with healing. As far as we know, Vaseline is not cloth diaper safe. Though we could use the flushable diaper liners to keep the Vaseline from sticking to the diaper, we were afraid that the Vaseline would make the liner stick to Zane and cause irritation and pain. Rather than dealing with that mess, we decided to go ahead and use up the rest of the disposable diapers that the hospital gave us until we were done with the Vaseline.

Now having done both cloth and disposable diapering we are definitely glad that we made the decision to cloth diaper in the long run. While we haven't experienced any leaks or blowouts in the Lil' Joey diapers, we have had a few occasions where the disposables have leaked out on to Zane's clothes. With the amount of diapers that Zane goes through on a daily basis the garbage created from the disposable diapers is incredible. Also, we're going through the diapers pretty quickly and can see already that they would be on our shopping list quite frequently. It's clear that the cost of disposable diapers would surpass the cost of our cloth diapers pretty quickly.

We're looking forward to seeing our little guy heal pretty soon and getting his cute little tush back into cloth diapers. Since his umbilical stump fell off this afternoon, we'll be trying out the other options in our newborn stash as soon as we can. As he grows and we try out different diapers styles and brands, we're sure that our preferences will change so look for more cloth diaper posts in the future.

One Week Postpartum

Zane's been here a week. (Read all about his first week here.) On my last pregnancy update I looked like this....

That was just a few days before Zane came into this world. At one week postpartum I'm now looking like this...

....and feeling GREAT! It's so nice to be back to a size that doesn't make me feel like a moose. (Though yes I still have quite the booty!)

I think I am probably about the size that I was at week 20 or 21.

Total Weight Gain: 33lbs (8lbs more than I wanted to. I really packed them on at the end.)

Postpartum Weight Loss: 15lbs  

Clothing: Still rocking the pregnancy jeans. They fit so comfortably over my belly which is still trying to firm up. (The first few days it felt like a waterbed!) I haven't tried on too many of my old clothes but I'm guessing that they probably fit like they did at 21 weeks. This week I'm cycling through three different nursing tanks until I decide to stop being lazy and look through my closet for clothes that will make breastfeeding easy.

Stretch Marks: Got away stretch mark free. :)

Sleep: Trying to get sleep when I can. Getting rest when Zane does isn't always an option as I try often find myself unable to sleep. At night I wake up pretty easily with Zane for feedings and tend to get to sleep again quickly.

Best moment of the week: Meeting my son. Seeing his face and hearing him cry for the first time changed me forever. He's so perfect!

Missing Anything?: I miss feeling Zane kick and get the hiccups.

Happy or Moody: Happy! With the exception of Zane's weight concerns, I've been a very happy lady. I'm definitely paying attention to my moods. I think being aware of how I'm feeling will help me catch signs of postpartum depression if they should arise.

Wedding Rings On or Off: Off. My hands are still a bit swollen, and the extra weight I'm still carrying doesn't help. My right hand is starting to get feeling again so the carpel tunnel seems to be fading. My joints and knuckles are still sore and achy.

Recovery: After seven days I'm feeling wonderful. (The human body is seriously amazing.) The first few days after having Zane I was obviously sore, achy, and tired. Thanks to Zac, I was able to stay in bed and rest. Walking around was difficult and our stairs were no fun. After 5 days I was back to walking around and feeling very close to "normal". The last two days I've run errands with Zac and have been able to keep up rather than waddling slowly behind him. Chores don't wear me out, though I don't have to worry about them because Zac is always two steps ahead of me. All cramping has ceased and I feel good. The only lingering pain is a sore back.

Postpartum week one has been pretty good to me. I'm definitely looking forward to getting my body back, not just to what it was right before I got pregnant, but what it was when I was actually in shape.

Before I got pregnant I looked like this....

I felt good at this size but there has been a time when I have felt better. Two years before that picture was taken, I was working out regularly, eating very well, and just taking care of myself. I felt amazing and I was super happy and proud. I'd love to get back to that....

It's not going to happen quickly. It's going to take a lot of hard work and dedication to get back to that but the work is worth it. Thankfully I have a great support system. Back when I was working out all the time and keeping up a well balanced diet, Zac was, too. We challenged each other, motivated one another, and held each other accountable. I miss our jogging dates in the park. Throughout my pregnancy our mini dates have consisted of vegging out on the couch and munching on junk food. I'm definitely looking forward to having fun healthy dates again.

One Week Update

Today Zane is one week old. It's a little crazy for us to think that it's already been a whole week since we went to the hospital but it has. It's definitely been an exciting and surreal week for us having Zane at home.

Zane was born on Wednesday night at 9:24pm. Since the hospital doesn't like to discharge newborns until they are 24 hours old and Zane was born so late in the day, we were told that we could probably anticipate staying two nights in the hospital. Zac and I weren't thrilled at the idea of being in the hospital for two days but having a private room where the three of us could all stay together made things a little better.

On Thursday we had a few visitors including some friends, my parents, the newborn photographer, and of course several nurses. We were happy to see that Zane's pediatrician was also on the list of visitors for the day. The doctor came by to see how Zane was doing and to fill us in on some things that we could anticipate in the first few days with our little guy. He also told us that our first appointment to see him would be on Saturday. Our first impression of the pediatrician was fantastic and we were happy with our choice of care. My OB also stopped by to check on me. He was happy to hear that I only had mild cramping and no serious pain to report.

Things must have looked great because he told me that I could be discharged as soon as the pediatrician gave word that Zane was fine to go. We were excited to hear a few minutes later that the pediatrician had already given permission for Zane's discharge. This meant that we didn't have to stay another night in the hospital! Taking Zane home and sleeping in our own bed sounded amazing! The nursing staff told us that there were a few more tests that Zane had to go through (a hearing assessment, check for risk of jaundice, etc.) before they could let him go. As long as we were able to leave that evening, Zac and I didn't care if we had to wait a few more hours to head home. 

We were discharged from the hospital at 9:00pm and were just about home when Zane officially reached 24 hours on this earth. My older brother Michael was staying at our house so that our dog Jim wasn't alone and Zane was able to meet his uncle for the first time. 

We came home to find that my mother had spent Wednesday cleaning our house, doing our laundry, and making things comfortable for our return home. My dad had created this welcome home sign for Zane which we proudly displayed in the yard so that our neighbors could see our good news.

Our Thursday was spent at home. I stayed in bed for the entire day resting up, feeding Zane, and staring at his adorable face every waking moment. My sweet Zac waited on me the whole day. I seriously couldn't ask for a better husband. He is just....amazing. 

Zane had the chance to meet the final member of our family, Mr. Jim. Our beloved pup wasn't sure what to make of our newest addition. He sniffed at Zane without getting too close and kept looking at Zac and I with questioning eyes. 

Throughout the week Jim has become more accustomed to Zane. He comes running when he hears Zane cry and has been spotted several times perched on furniture looking over our munchkin.

Our week has been pretty good. It's a surreal feeling to look at Zane and remember that he's not just some baby....he's mine. I can't believe that this beautiful little creature is who I've been carrying around for the last nine months.

Little man got to meet some of my coworkers yesterday when I went in to add him to my health insurance. I haven't been to work in three weeks and it was great to see familiar faces. Zane got so much love. All of my coworkers were excited to see him. I have a really amazing work family. Yesterday was also the day that we took Zane to get his pictures taken by Tess. I am seriously excited to see how they turned out. She was able to get him in some cute positions and had some really awesome set ups.

We did have a bit of a scare this week. When we took Zane in for his three day checkup with the pediatrician on Saturday, he weighed in at 6lbs even. Since he was born at 6lbs 11oz, the doctor thought that he was getting close to losing more than the typically acceptable percentage of weight that babies lose in the first week of life. He asked that we come in again two days later so that Zane could be weighed. We discussed Zane's eating habits thus far and thought that perhaps my milk had not fully come in yet. The doctor thought that by Monday (at 5 days old) Zane should have stopped losing weight and be on the road to getting back up to his birth weight.

On Monday, Zac and I took Zane back in to the doctor to be weighed and were devastated to hear that he had dropped down to 5lb 12oz. He had lost another 4oz in two days. The doctor was of course concerned by the weight loss and started to go over our options to remedy the situation. Because of Zane's loss of weight and lack of peeing it was clear that he was not getting sufficient feeding with breastfeeding and the doctor told us that we would need to start supplementing every other feeding with formula. He said that it was possible that my milk was taking just a little longer to come in or perhaps I was one of those women who just doesn't produce enough milk to sustain an infant. Zane's next appointment was his one week checkup on Wednesday (today) and if his weight didn't increase by then we would have more serious measures to take.

I held myself together in the examination room, and even at the grocery store where we stopped right after Zane's appointment, but by the time we got home I was bawling. Post partum hormones combined with a lack of sleep and the news that Zane had lost almost a pound in five days left me exhausted with emotion. I felt like I was failing my son. My one job was to keep him healthy and happy and I was starving my poor boy. Not wanting to ever give Zane formula, I was crushed that we had to supplement his feedings. On the bright side, it was nice that Zac was able to have some bonding time while feeding Zane and allowing me a little extra time to sleep but I was still disappointed. Zac was so sweet and supportive and most of all reassuring. He reminded me that there were worse things that could be wrong and that if our pediatrician really thought that Zane was in any danger he would have been hooked up to an IV. Zac and I also got a lot of support from an old friend of ours who is a new mama herself. Kaitlen sent me the sweetest messages that made me feel so much better about the situation. Her words really made a difference and I hope she knows that. Her kindess didn't stop there though. She even dropped off dinner and dessert to our home. Seriously such a sweetheart.

So for a day and a half, Zac and I have been supplementing Zane's feeding with formula. We've noticed a great improvement in his eating and he's peeing much more frequently. Also, I think it's safe to say that my milk has now come in completely and I am so thankful.

Today we headed to the doctor's office because Zane was scheduled for his circumcision. (Poor guy!) We were led to a different examination room and Zac and I waited anxiously to see Zane's weight.....6lb 6oz! Zac and I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief. We were hoping that Zane would be at least 6lbs so to see the additional 6oz was incredible...too incredible....impossible really. The nurse thought it was a little crazy, too. Ten ounces in two days? The nurse was pretty skeptical so she decided to take Zane back to the examination room where he weighed in at 5lb 12oz. She re-weighed him on that scale and wouldn't you know it, the scale was not calibrated correctly. It turned out that Zane hadn't lost any weight when the scale showed that he was 5lb 12oz. Though we had worried and stressed for nothing, we were relieved that his growth was right on track. The doctor told us that we could start weaning Zane off of the formula feedings and get back to our plan of only breastfeeding. I could have cried with happiness. (Again...hormones!)

Zac and I accepted the situation as a small test for us and in our eyes we had passed. Yes we were both upset. I cried about it and Zac beat himself up for not recognizing that Zane wasn't peeing as much as he should, but we didn't lose focus. We talked to each other about it instead of getting frustrated with one another. We accepted advice and reassurance. Most importantly, we were flexible when our plans changed because it was necessary (or so we thought) to make sure that our son was healthy and growing.

The rest of today's appointment went pretty well. Both the nurse and pediatrician laughed because Zane slept through his circumcision. I fed him right before we left for the doctor in hopes that he would be calm and sleepy. Thankfully it worked out. Not only did he sleep during the procedure but he slept for most of the afternoon as well. I had to wake him each time feeding came around and he promptly went back to sleep when he was done eating.

This evening he woke up and became alert long enough for our first family walk. The weather was beautiful today. Instead of the heat we've had the last week, today was breezy and cool. We bundled up our little lovebug and tried out our stroller for the first time on a small walk around the block.

It's been quite a week. We can't wait to see what week 2 brings us!

Newborn Photography

Today Zac and I took our little Zane on an outing to get newborn pictures taken. Before Zane's arrival we had decided that we were going to have our wedding photographer, Tess of Van's Studio of Photography, take Zane's newborn pictures.

We loved the work she did for our engagement photos:

Our wedding photos....

And our maternity pictures....

So it was no question that we would set up an appointment for her to take pictures of our little guy during his first week of life. Today we headed into the studio and were very excited to see what Tess had in store for us. We brought a few props, inlcuding some books, a stuffed animal, our wedding rings, and a few of his cloth diapers. Tess also had a bunch of props and we were happy to see her go to work.

Just sitting back and watching Tess position Zane, Zac and I could see that the pictures were going to turn out amazing! We're excited to see the images very soon. After our session was over we set up appointments for Zane's 3 month, 6 month, 9 month, and 1 year photoshoots. We can already tell that this year is going to go by way too fast. We'll be happy to have a document of his growth.

When we returned home from our appointment. we checked the mail and found that we had already received some of Zane's newborn photos. The photos were taken at our hospital about 17 hours after Zane was born. The photographer had caught me in a somewhat vunerable state. I mean, really! I had just given birth to this baby whom I was becoming obsessed with and now she was showing me pictures of his cute little face! I couldn't resist.

It was probably against our better judgment, but we purchased the disc of pictures. While we think that there are a few cute shots here we aren't in love with the photos. Perhaps it's because we just got back from being giddy over the photos that Tess had captured.

At any rate...here are little Zane's hospital pictures, taken before he was even 24 hours old. It's funny how he's changed already. We think he kind of looks like my dad in these pictures.

Our favorite one....

More newborn pictures to come!

Due Date

Today is Zane's due date. Let me just say how happy I am that we didn't have to wait until today to meet our handsome little man. Instead we have a happy and healthy five day old. I am so thankful to have him here. 

                         

Since today was the anticipated day for Zane's arrival, I thought it only appropriate to write about the day he was born. Unfortunately, there just weren't enough hours in the day to make that happen today. My little family has a busy couple of days ahead. Though it might take me some time, regular posts are coming. 

For now I'm just focusing on this beautiful little guy. Can you blame me?!

                         

He's Here!

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook then you've already seen the picture and know our news!

Our Zane has arrived and we couldn't be happier!

Our little man made his grand entrance on Wednesday May 15th at 9:24pm after 8 hours of labor and 2 hours of pushing. He weighed 6 lbs. 11oz. and measured 20 in. long. We were discharged from the hospital last night just before Zane turned 24 hours old and are now all happily at home.  

Keep an eye out for posts about Zane's birth story, our experience cloth diapering a newborn in the hospital, and Zane's first weekly postpartum update. For now, Zac and I are soaking up everything baby and learning our little guy's likes and dislikes. I can't get enough of his little face.

A HUGE thank you to everyone for all of the "congratulations" messages, phone calls, and texts. Your love, support, and excitement has meant so much to us. We appreciate all of you and can't wait for Zane to meet the wonderful people we have in our lives.

I feel so blessed for my little family and am unbelievably grateful for my amazing husband. who took such great care of me during my labor and delivery and who is so incredible with Zane....but more on all of that later.

Baby-Eve

Yesterday I officially hit 39 weeks. I had cramps the night before and felt a few in the morning when I woke up. By 9:30am they had gone away and Zac and I decided it was time to call the doctor's office to set up induction. (Read about our decision to induce here.) Our next weekly appointment was scheduled for tomorrow, May 15th. Now this will be our little Zane's birthday.

The receptionist at the office spoke with our doctor to confirm that we were able to be induced. Once she got the okay, she asked us to come in on Tuesday (today) to sign a consent form. We also received a call from our doctor a little later letting us know when to head to the hospital. Though we are scheduled for an early arrival time we are actually the last appointment on the books for the morning. For that reason, the doctor warned us that it might be possible that the hospital won't have a room ready at our appointed time. He told us not to be surprised if we get a call early on pushing our appointment to a later hour. Even if this happens he assured us that Wednesday will be our day.

So today is our last day without baby. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that tomorrow we'll be parents and that our family and lives will be forever changed. It doesn't seem that long ago that we had just found out about baby, seen a little profile image on the ultrasound screen for the first time, and discovered that we were going to have a son.

After hearing from the doctor yesterday, Zac and I spent the afternoon going over our list of last minute to-dos. There were a few things that we needed to pick up for Zane (a few newborn onesies, some hand mittens, a travel size spray bottle for his wipes solution, etc.), I needed a few things to make postpartum recovery a little more comfortable, and I wanted to get the house as clean as I could.

Today, Zac and I are enjoying our "Baby Eve" by having a chill day at home together. This Sunday Zac pulled out a "game night" slip from his Sunday jar and he opted to use it today. We're turning on the air conditioner, grabbing a bunch of goodies for lunch, pulling out the games, and throwing on some tv show for a marathon day. Nothing fancy, just the two of us at home together, being unproductive.

So unless Zane decides to come today or our appointment gets pushed back, at this time tomorrow we'll be in the hospital getting ready to meet our son.

 

Wish us luck!

Sister, Sister

As I've said several times, when I married Zac, I married into a wonderful family. Sarah is my partner in crime, my silly buddy, my sister. We've had MANY adventures together and created some fun traditions as well (here). I love this girl and I can't imagine my life without her.

I was thrilled when she said yes to being my maid of honor (here). She threw me an amazing cocktail themed bridal shower and made everyone laugh during her fantastic speech at the wedding.

Our newest adventure together? Being prego buddies! Sarah is pregnant with baby number two and we couldn't be more excited for her and her family. Our due dates are just 6 short weeks apart (May 20 for me and July 4 for Miss Sarah). Being pregnant at the same time as my sister is something that I've hoped for over the years. In October, when she revealed that she was expecting, I got giddy. I've enjoyed sharing our experiences together over the last several months. More than anything I love that all of the little boys in our family (including Scott and Amy's little Tyler) will be very close in age. They are sure to have many adventures, traditions, and crazy stories of their own. I only wished that we lived closer to one another.

Congratulations to Sarah on becoming a mommy of two little boys!

39 Weeks

This post is a day early but as you can see from the board, I'm pretty impatient these days.

How far along? 39 Weeks

Total weight gain: 32lbs (Eek!)

Maternity clothes? Still only have maternity jeans. At this point I won't be buying any other maternity clothing though I am definitely running out of shirts to wear.   

Stretch marks? none yet! We're in the home stretch!! Hoping I'll miss this all together!

Sleep: Up until last night I was only waking up a few times a night to use the restroom. Last night was a different story. I could not sleep. Crazy dreams were keeping me awake. On top of that I got too hot which made my hands and feet swell and it's impossible to sleep when you're overheated, puffy, and uncomfortable.

Best moment this week: Realizing that this will be our last weekly update! We'll get to meet our Zane very soon.

Miss Anything? Still missing a lot of things! I've been feeling so big lately, I miss being able to sit up in bed without needing a little assistance.  

Movement: Little man is moving all the time. There are times when my belly is lopsided because he gets settled in a weird position. 

Food cravings: Still loving watermelon which apparently helps with my swelling. (Bonus!) The last few days I've wanted a hot dog and macaroni and cheese. I'll have to wait on the hot dog but Zac delivered on the mac and cheese last night. :) Happy lady.  

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing really.

Gender: Boy
Labor Signs: Menstrual like cramps on and off throughout the week. Thursday night I had some cramps that turned into sharp pains but eventually went away. Last night the cramps came back. Things are definitely shifting and getting ready.  

Symptoms: Still have swollen hands and feet. My feet are pretty puffy and sore making it uncomfortable to walk around.Is a runny/stuffy nose a pregnancy symptom? I don't have allergies and I'm not sick but I have to blow my nose all the time! Achey back this week, too. It's almost over.  

Belly Button in or out? In but flattening out.

Wedding rings on or off? The rings have been gone since week 29. Still dealing with carpel tunnel.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!...when I'm not tired and sleeping.

Looking forward to: Meeting our little man, finally! .... wearing my wedding rings again, and having more clothing options!!!  (White is not my color these days!)