Chunky Braid and Bump

 

11/22/2014

This sweet baby girl of mine sure has gotten herself nice and comfy inside mama's belly. She must love listening to my heart and snuggling mommy...because she is refusing to evacuate the premises. I was 38 1/2 weeks here already and SO ready to meet her. She has her own plans apparently. Week 38 was full of many false alarms. Many times we contacted family to line up a babysitter for Eliana. Kept us anxious all week thinking that every time we had contractions and extra pressure, that was it. Every morning I wake up and my sisters and mom text me asking if there's any news, any progress. Waiting honestly is the worst!

I know that its best for the baby to stay in as long as she needs. But, this last week has been chalk full of contractions, stretching and major aches and pains. There were several days where I had contractions that got pretty close together, but never stayed consistent enough or got stronger. She has been stretching like crazy, my stomach being pushed and prodded every which way. My doctor was just amazed and shocked that she hasn't broken my water yet. We were sure she would be here by now. If not for the discomfort, we would just wait patiently. Although honestly at this point, we have given in. We decided to just take it easy and let her decide when its time.

My body is definitely ready to have her though. She's already measuring in at 40 weeks. I continue dilating and now at 4cm. Cervix still fully thinned and head engaged and very low. Everything is ready for her arrival, accept her. I am even emotionally more settled and ready for whenever she decides to come. A week ago I was so anxious, felt so much nervousness. But after waiting for two weeks now, with no success, I am just ready to hold her already. Ready to get this birth over with and ready to enjoy her warm and sweet little body snuggled up against me.

She is growing by the day, and my curiosity with her. How big will she be...how will she look? I love her so much already. Every day I just sit looking down at my belly, as it rolls around with her movements, and I try to guess if its her knees pushing at me or her little booty, or maybe a foot stretched out to the far recesses of my belly (always the right side). She is such an active little one. I want to meet this little wiggle bug already! And at the rate she's growing, I hope I'll be able to deliver her. Seems shes getting pretty big, and because we had Eliana early, we don't even know what size our full term babies can be. Eek! Pray for my delivery, I sense the end is near and I hope all this pre-labor will make me have her very quickly. 

Sunset at Linder Farms

 I shall call her Squishy and she shall be mine and she shall be my Squishy...

 My man, never failing to sweep me off my feet, literally and figuratively. Even when I'm 8 months preggo with a big 'ol belly.

 This is my amazing sister and our husbands are brothers.

 Cozy Blue and Grey Slouchy Beanies: Etsy: NatalkaShop

 10/29/2014

 This stunning beauty in the plaid shirt and blue hat is my husbands little sister. And it was her 17th birthday. And shes never been to a corn maze, nor has she ever enjoyed a hayride or any of the fun stuff you can do there. So, we took her to our local Linder Farms Corn Maze. Naturally we went with all their siblings and mama. It sure was fun!

We strolled around enjoying the chilly fall day, bundled up in our knits, coats and mittens for some. We got to see the most magnificent sunset while strolling through the corn maze. As you can tell, the sky was just glorious! There's something about nature that makes me so extremely happy. My daughter Eliana and her favorite cousin, Nate, loved the hay, but not so much the corn pit...maybe next year they will enjoy sinking in and getting buried inside the corn kernels. We enjoyed caramel apples, hot apple cider and relaxed on a long hay ride to finish off our little adventure.  What an incredible way to close out one of my favorite months of the year...October.

Geeky Chic

 

 Boots: BCBGeneration / Dress: Shabby Apple  / Jacket: Forever 21 / Scarf: Forever 21

Being a mommy, and preggo at that, my normal day to day look is with my hair up and my geek glasses on. If my hair is down at the beginning of the day it ends up wrapped up in a topknot at some point throughout the day. So, naturally I look for comfort in all I wear. Which, at this point in my pregnancy, is pretty much dresses...ALL THE TIME.

Being 6 feet tall, finding dresses that fit this long torso of mine is quite the challenge. You can imagine my joy and happiness when I came across this website, called Shabby Apple. They have a very large selection of beautiful dresses practically sewn with me in mind (happy dance). Simple, comfortable, elegant, beautiful and most importantly long. They carry dresses that come down to my knees or even my ankles if I so choose. This my friends, rarely (if ever) happens and is a cause for celebration when it does :) I ordered this wrap dress several sizes too large, trying to compensate for this growing bump. Next time I will be ordering my exact size.

Today's weather was perfectly chilly and breezy. I paired this dress with my favorite suede boots, a super soft, over-sized scarf and a light jacket. Absolutely perfect for me. I get hot so easily during pregnancy. I love wearing plenty of layers I could take off if I feel overheated or put on as needed. I was so comfy and you can be sure I will be wearing this dress on repeat this last month of my pregnancy and afterwards as well.

PREGNANCY UPDATE:

We are nearing 35 weeks and feeling so strong. We have officially made it past 34 1/2 weeks this time around, praise God! This is my second pregnancy, yet everything is so new to me at this point. We are starting our weekly checkups with the doctor and boy are we growing! At our last checkup, few days shy of 34 weeks, we were measuring at 36 weeks! That's over 2 weeks ahead...This little girl is growing so well; will be big and strong, like her mama. She is already a little character, pushed back at every touch the doctor made. Even when we simply listened to her heart beat. :) She started sleeping for larger periods of time in recent weeks and whenever she is awake she never stops moving. Always stretching/pushing with her legs and bum or tapping with her little hands. We just have 1 month to go, give or take, and I am so extremely in love with her already! 

I've been feeling the nesting bug taking over me recently. I can think of so many things I want to get done before we meet this little one. We have slowly started working on moving our eldest, Eliana, out of the nursery and into the room next door. I am hoping they will be great sleeping next door to each other, not waking one another. That is one thing I have been extremely nervous about. I expect to be lacking a lot of sleep myself, feeding around the clock. But I am REALLY hoping Eliana will continue sleeping well. In the last year and a half, I can count maybe a total of 30-50 days where she slept through the night. These last few weeks being the majority of it. She is finishing up getting all her teeth, just 4 back molars to go. And this mama has been enjoying SO many cuddles, hugs and kisses; Eliana recently learned to give kisses. Its the sweetest thing!!! For now, I will be enjoying my opportunity to sleep and will be giving our eldest all the attention I can as we prepare for the arrival of her little sister some time around Thanksgiving.

If anyone has any experience or advise they can share on how its been introducing a second sibling, I would love any tips or comments you may have to give :) Thanks for stopping by!