Bumpdate || Week 38

38w0d

How far along: 38 weeks - 10 days to go until her due date! 

Due Date: November 7, 2015

Baby is the size of: a pumpkin! She's anywhere from 18-21 inches long and weighing somewhere between 6.2 and 9.2 pounds. My family usually produces big babies, so I'm predicting at least an 8 pounder when she's born. Yikes! 

Symptoms: Lots of pressure in my back, hips, and lower abdomen and your other typical 9+ month pregnancy aches and pains. I really can't complain. I've been so blessed with such an easy pregnancy.

Gender: Our sweet baby GIRL!

Name: Charlie Elizabeth

Movement: She is officially out of room. She's always been a "lazy baby," but her movements have slowed down over the past week. Every night around 7:00 she gets a burst of energy and goes wild for about 30 minutes. Otherwise, she's pretty quiet in there. She looked great on the NST at my appointment on Monday, so that was comforting. 

Nursery: DONE and it's my most favorite room ever! You can see her nursery reveal here.

Labor Signs: Contractions have started, but unfortunately they remain inconsistent. They usually start up in the evenings and stay anywhere from 7-10 minutes apart until I fall asleep and then they taper off sometime in the middle of the night. I found out at my appointment on Monday that I am 1 cm dilated. It's not much, but it's progress from last week!

Sleep: I'm usually up every couple of hours attempting to roll over, but I'm actually sleeping pretty good considering this big ole' belly I'm carrying around.

Best moment this week: Starting my "new job" at home. It's been nice to have a few days at home to rest and relax before little miss arrives.

Missing anything: Nothing that can't wait a another week or two.

Cravings/Aversions: Nothing to note. I've noticed that my appetite is decreasing and nothing ever sounds good. I am, however, still a sucker for anything sweet!

Mood: Anxious, excited, and ready to meet our baby!

Looking forward to: BABY! 

Husband is: Anxious, excited, and ready to meet our baby!

New mommy question: Nothing new this week.

A New Chapter

Tomorrow is somewhat of a bittersweet day for me. Like a lot of us, I spent four long years getting a college education in preparation for my career in marketing. I was blessed to find a great job right out of college. I have learned an enormous amount about my industry and have been lucky to work with a wonderful group of professional colleagues. However, tomorrow afternoon I will pack up my office and start a new job, a job that I've been waiting for my entire life. I will trade in my title as Director of Marketing and Communication for the title of Mommy. 

The decision for me to stay home with Charlie Beth after she is born is one that Steven and I (mostly I) stressed over for weeks if not months. After weighing all of our options we came to the conclusion that the best thing for our family would be for me to stay at home with our baby girl instead of returning to work after she is born. There were so many factors that went into making our decision, but at the end of the day, we know that this is the best decision for our family.

Honestly, it's a dream come true to have the opportunity to stay home with our little girl. Becoming a stay at home mom is something that I imagined myself doing one day, but once the reality of adulthood hit and the bills continued to pile in I pretty much gave up on that idea. When I got pregnant the idea of staying at home with our baby really didn't cross my mind. I assumed I would take the maximum allotted maternity leave, find the best possible childcare option, and continue working my full time position. The further I got into pregnancy, however, the more I started to question and stress over our "plan."

I started researching child care options early on in my pregnancy. Being a former Nanny myself, I strongly considered the idea of hiring a Nanny while Steven and I worked. I knew how much I love and adore the baby I was a Nanny for and I wanted nothing more than to find someone like that to care for our daughter. Unfortunately there are very limited options out there, and the cost of a full time Nanny is pretty astronomical. Our next option was daycare. I called around to several different daycare centers in our area and found a few that we considered a possibility. When we realized the cost of daycare wasn't that much different than the cost of a nanny, we began to question our entire plan.

I came across this article the other day on Faceboook, and found myself nodding in agreement while reading. When Steven and I started crunching numbers we realized that at the end of the month, our daycare bill would be more than our mortgage payment. What?! That's absolutely insane to me!

The breaking point for me came one day while driving to work. I was talking to Steven on the phone about our childcare options and literally broke down in tears. I didn't want to leave my baby with anyone. I want to be the one to teach her, cuddle her, feed her, and watch her take in the world around her. I want to be there. It was then and there that we made our decision. Steven calmly told me to take a deep breath and stop stressing. We both realized that for our family, it just isn't economically reasonable for me to go back to work after the baby is born. It isn't worth giving up that time with her. It isn't worth shelling over the majority of my paycheck to a childcare provider. It isn't worth all the stress and tears.

I am incredibly blessed. Not only is my dream of becoming a mommy coming true, but my dream of staying home and raising her is also becoming a reality. On top of that, my company has agreed to keep me on board working a few hours a week from home. It's definitely a win, win situation for our family.

However, what's best for one family isn't always best for another. We are all working hard to provide for our family. For some families it is necessary for the mother and father to work outside of the home. There are simply no other options. I also have friends that couldn't imagine not getting up everyday and going into work. It is what makes them tick and it's their passion and I completely understand where they are coming from. It is a very personal decision for each and every family. For our family, we believe it best that I stay home with Charlie Beth while my husband, who works harder than anyone I've ever met, continues to provide for us. Transitioning down to one income is going to be a challenge, but it is a challenge that we are ready to face head on.

At the end of the day we all have to do what works best for our families and what makes each of us the happiest. No two families are alike and no two situations are the same. Most importantly, I think we all must support and respect whatever decisions a Mother and Father make for their family regarding the decision for one parent to stay home after the birth of a baby.

For me, I am more than ready to turn off my office lights tomorrow afternoon and begin my new role as Mommy. I can't wait to see what this new chapter in our lives will bring!

Bumpdate || Week 37

37w3d

How far along: 37 weeks! I can't believe I only have (hopefully!!!) no more than three more of these bumpdates to write before little miss makes her arrival.

Due Date: November 7, 2015

Baby is the size of: a winter melon. She's anywhere from 19-22 inches long and weighing around 6.5 pounds or so. I asked my doctor at my appointment yesterday if she could tell by feeling around how big baby girl was, and the doctor told me from my measurements she would say about 6.5 pounds, but take that with a grain of salt because shorter women like me are notorious for hiding big babies. I was nearly 9 pounds at birth and Steven was 23 inches long, so I'm predicting a big baby! 

Symptoms: I can tell that baby girl is starting to drop because of all the pressure I'm feeling. Other than that, I'm just having your typical symptoms for being nine months pregnant - aches, swelling (although I was able to slip my wedding rings back on and am still wearing them during the day!), heartburn, and SPD that bothers me mainly at night. Also, my belly button has officially popped!

Gender: Our sweet baby GIRL!

Name: Charlie Elizabeth

Movement: She is definitely running out of room in there! I'm still feeling her moving around, but instead of getting the usual kicks and punches I've been getting rolls and body parts stretching. I keep trying to tell her that if she would just come out there is much more room for her to stretch and move as she please. She doesn't seem to be listening to me though...

Nursery: DONE and it's my most favorite room ever! I have already spent so much time in this little room, and I can't wait to bring our daughter home to it. You can see her nursery reveal here.

Labor Signs: As of yesterday at my doctor's appointment I wasn't dilated at all. Boo!! The NST did, however, show that I was having a few contractions. Hopefully those start to pick up soon so we can get this show on the road! I can also tell that she has started to drop. My bump is definitely lower and the pressure down low is much more intense these days.

I've also reached the point in pregnancy where anytime I call someone they think I've gone into labor. I called my mom one morning last week to tell her I was dropping something off at her house on my way to work and she answered the phone in a very concerned tone. The same thing happened last week when we called Steven's grandmother to thank her for a sweet baby outfit she made and sent to us.

Sleep: Not great, but not terrible either. I wake up every couple of hours to switch from one side to the other because of the hip and leg pain, but I usually fall back asleep pretty easily. Surprisingly enough, I can still make it through most nights without getting up for a potty break! 

Best moment this week: This year for my birthday I asked my parents to send a cleaning service out to my house to give it a good deep clean before the baby came. The cleaning crew came out Monday and cleaned our house from top to bottom. We live in a really old house, so no matter how often I clean I still find dust. The dust combined with the endless amount of dog hair leads to one messy home! The crew was there for several hours on Monday, and I was so pleased with the way my house looked when they left. Hopefully everything stays this sparkling clean until after baby is born so we can bring her home to a clean house! Thanks again mom and dad for the awesome birthday gift!! 

Missing anything: Fitting into normal clothes. At this point, even my maternity clothes are starting to get too small. I have maybe three or four things that still fit, so I'm pretty much rocking the same outfit everyday. If I could get away with wearing Steven's tshirts to work for these last few days, I totally would.

Cravings/Aversions: The sweet tooth is still at an all time high. I'm using the excuse that I only have a couple more weeks to indulge before getting this baby weight off.

Mood: Anxious and ready to meet my girl!! Her due date is 17 days away, and I am counting down every minute! How in the world am I going to keep myself occupied for the next two and a half (or so) weeks?! 

Looking forward to: My last day of work is on Friday (more on that tomorrow) and then we are officially on baby watch! 

Husband is: Ready for this nesting phase of mine to be over and done with! I know I'm driving him crazy with my endless "honey do list," but he is taking it like a champ! He's also more than ready to meet his baby girl. Thinking about him holding her for the first time seriously brings me to tears. I can't wait to witness that moment!

New mommy question: What are your favorite freezer meals and crockpot recipes? I want to go ahead and stock up next week since I'll be off work and looking for ways to keep myself occupied while waiting on this little girl to make her arrival.

Charlie Beth's Nursery Reveal

Oh, the nursery. This is without a doubt my most favorite room in the house. I've already spent so much time in this precious little room organizing baby clothes, putting final touches on decor, and rocking away in the glider picturing what our life is going to look like in just a few weeks. 

As soon as we found out we were expecting a baby girl I got to work on creating this little space. I had a vision in my head of what I wanted her room to look like, and I'm ecstatic to see that vision come to life. This room is everything I could have dreamed of and more. It's perfect. I can't wait to bring our daughter home to this beautiful nursery! 

Wall color || Olympic Flagstone

Curtains || Pottery Barn Kids

Glider || Gifted

Foot Stool || Hobby Lobby

Side Table || Pier One

Armoire || Passed down from family

Crib || Amazon

Monogram || Etsy

Crib Skirt || Carousel Designs

Crib Sheet || Pottery Barn

Changing Table || Amazon

Changing Table Pad Cover || Carousel Designs

Rug || Target

Picture Frames || Hobby Lobby

Canvas Wall Art || Hobby Lobby

Vintage Lamb Art || Gifted from antique store

Vase and Flowers || Target

Light Switch Cover || Etsy

Bumpdate || Week 36

36w1d

How far along: 36 weeks and officially nine months pregnant! 

Due Date: November 7, 2015

Baby is the size of: a large cantaloupe. She's somewhere between 19 and 22 inches long and weighing around 6 to 6.5 pounds. Her liver, kidneys, circulation and immune system are all good to go by this point! 

Symptoms: Just your typical nine month pregnant aches and pains. I'm definitely starting to get uncomfortable, and even the most simple tasks wear me out.

Gender: Our sweet baby GIRL!

Name: Charlie Elizabeth

Movement: She is definitely starting to run out of room in there! She looked great on my weekly non-stress test yesterday though.

Nursery: It is DONE! I'm so happy with the way this little space turned out. I absolutely love and adore every part of her nursery. I'm planning to do full nursery reveal tomorrow, so be sure to check back then! You can see her nursery inspiration here. 

Labor Signs: I've been having pretty consistent braxton hicks contractions since last week. It's nothing painful, but I can definitely feel the tightening and release. I had a NST at my doctor's appointment on Tuesday, and a few contractions were showing up on there. I was looking forward to getting checked again at my appointment yesterday, so I was disappointed when the doctor came in and told me she wasn't going to check me until next week. Boo!

Sleep: Sleep is about as good as you could expect at nine months pregnant. 

Best moment this week: Celebrating my birthday over the weekend! It was a low key birthday full of organizing the house for baby and relaxing with my husband. It was the perfect birthday for this nesting mama! 

Missing anything: I missed celebrating my birthday with a glass of wine (or two!), but I made up for it with lots of birthday cake!

Cravings/Aversions: I'm still all about the sweets, but I still don't have much of an appetite for anything of real substance. This makes deciding on meals nearly impossible!

Mood: Anxious! I'm analyzing every little twinge and pain hoping that it means my body is prepping for labor. 

Looking forward to: Having a cleaning service come out and do a deep clean of my house next week. I can't tell you how excited this makes me! Thanks mom and dad for the awesome birthday gift!! 

Husband is: Getting more anxious by the day to meet his little girl. She's already wrapped around his finger, and I can't wait to see their daddy and daughter relationship blossom. 

New mommy question: What are some things you did to keep yourself (and your mind!) occupied while waiting for baby? I have a feeling these next three and a half weeks are going to draggggg by.