A New Year, A New Chapter

Hello! It seems like forever since I've gotten on here. I didn't intend to stop writing so quickly, but I was induced just five days after my last post. And it has been a whirlwind ever since! I'm quickly typing this up as my son is taking a nap. 

We got through Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year in one piece. However, I'd be straight-up lying if I said things have been easy. But more on that in a different post. For now, I just wanted to quickly pop on here and let you know that we are good. My son is here. We are officially a family of four. But sadly, my maternity leave is quickly coming to an end - this is my last week at home. So, I'm trying to soak up all of the contact naps, and baby coos, and enjoy the last few days I have at home with him. I plan to get back to writing regularly soon too. Until then...💙

Pregnancy // The Home Stretch

We had our Family & Friend's baby shower a few weekends ago! I am so grateful to everyone who helped. My sisters planned most of it with the help of the moms. Corey cooked the meats, and everyone else threw in for sides and desserts. I've never been a fan of huge gatherings or being the center of attention, but this day was pretty special. Our baby is coming into a very large village filled with love, and I'm very thankful for that.

I have an upcoming appointment to ensure everything is going well with the baby. Then we get to discuss a birth plan and start prepping for the home stretch. The possibility of induction has been brought up, though I’m unsure if that’s the route we will take. Corey and I finally made some big decisions regarding a few things we wanted and some that we didn’t while at the hospital. We have a few more to consider and I’m hoping that the birth plan I have printed out will help us narrow things down. Still no full name though and I’m not sure we’ll know until the baby arrives.

This week I have a “Work Friends Baby Shower” that I’m looking forward to. Then my run group is throwing a diaper shower for me later in November. I’ve been trying to hold off purchasing baby stuff in case we get them as gifts, but there are still quite a few things we need to purchase. Not just for the baby but for myself too. Next weekend we’ll be getting a car seat and hopefully a dresser. Right now, the baby’s stuff is just sitting on the couch. I plan on buying a good labor & delivery kit from Kindred Bravely. And then, I’m grabbing some extra nursing pieces from Wal-Mart. Once I have those things ordered I’ll buy some essentials to start packing my hospital bag. I didn't pack very much the last time I had a baby. And honestly, that seems to be the same plan this time around. I don’t need a lot, and once we get home I have no plans to do much the first 2 weeks other than live in PJs, get Emery to/from school, and try to adjust to our new normal. So, I’m keeping it simple.

I also need to make arrangements for Emery while we’re at the hospital and possibly a few days after we get home. Thankfully, in November and December, her schedule drastically slows down. But in the newborn haze, I don’t want to drop the ball, so I need to make sure plans are in place for her. With all that said, I’ve realized I need to start making checklists. We’ve got a lot going on from now until the end of November and with pregnancy brain, I may just forget some things if I don’t write them down. So, here’s to getting to the other side with as much ready as possible. And here’s to finally entering the home stretch.

p.s. In case you missed it...it's a boy! 🍼

Wordless Wednesday

Figured it's about time I gave you a bump picture. 

October Happenings

When I say we’ve been busy, I mean it. We had a homecoming game, where Emery was on Homecoming Court. Obviously, I’m biased, but my little girl was beautiful. And while hormones played a big part, I felt both happy and sad because she looked so grown up. I blinked, y’all. Our school is small, but their 6-man football team is currently undefeated, so we’ve been attending games to show support. Emery and her school’s cross-country team have made it to regionals. She hoped they wouldn’t go past the district meet but even her slow pace isn’t slow enough to bring her team points down. And just know that the rest of the team felt the same way. I think the only person excited about this accomplishment is the coach. So, I’m headed to the city next week to watch them run. The school also has a Fall Fest next week, and a few different events in between so we'll be off to those. 

I officially entered my third trimester a few weeks ago. It’s been…rough? Not sure that’s the best word for it. I’m super grateful for my body and its ability to grow this little life. I can feel all of the kicks, rolls, and on occasion a little butt that pokes out of my side. It’s such a wild feeling and even more of a trip to see. But when I say that December can’t come soon enough, I mean it. I feel stretched beyond capacity, and I still have some time to go. I don’t get enough sleep and nothing feels comfortable. I want to throw out the bed, couch, pregnancy pillow, and glider because not a single one brings me any relief. My belly is heavy and it hurts. My lower back hurts. My legs, they hurt. And if I could have it my way I would just stay in bed. BUT life doesn’t stop when you’re pregnant so, we carry on.

We finally replaced the flooring in the living room! Now, we have to paint and replace all of the trim. And while I am in the beginning stages of “nesting” I am also very lazy right now. That “nesting energy” hasn’t quite hit. I’m currently just making lists of all the things that need to get done. While also quietly (sometimes not so quietly) panicking because I feel like they won’t be done before the baby gets here. And if you know me, you know that I get anxious when things are cluttered and super messy in my home. Recently, I let things get bad again while dealing with some exhaustion, and one afternoon my wonderful husband took it upon himself to clean the house. This was after a 12-hour shift at work too. He cleaned the restroom, put up the laundry, swept the entire house, cleaned the kitchen, took out the trash, and washed the dishes. I came home and cried. Again, hormones, but also I felt very loved. He said he knew I was having a hard time right now and he just wanted me to feel good when I walked into the house rather than like I had so much work to do.

Speaking of work, it has been chaotic lately. While I normally enjoy being busy and things moving quickly, there are some things I'm not entirely comfortable with at the moment. Things that are negatively impacting my mental health. I recently had lunch with a co-worker and they expressed the same concerns. The past six months things have slowly taken a turn for the worse, and in the past few weeks, some situations have turned toxic. We talked about the importance of boundaries and disconnecting. However, we both agreed that there has been one major factor contributing to all of this, and that is not going away anytime soon. So, I've just been keeping my head down. I'll hopefully be getting a bit of a break from all of the drama soon, and then here's to returning to some calm waters. 

And that about wraps things up for now. It's been a busy week and it's only Tuesday. I'm ready for some food and a nap. Only one of those is in my foreseeable future though. I hope October has been treating you well! Only a little over two weeks until Halloween! Until the next post...✌

Pregnancy // Why We Wanted Privacy

📷: Credit

“Why are you hiding your pregnancy?” “Why are you not announcing it?” “Aren’t you happy about this baby? Why won't you tell anyone?” These are just a few questions that have been asked. As I wrote in my last post, we requested privacy but it didn’t go as planned. Today, I wanted to shed some light on our reasons for this request. But first, let me say that we are NOT ashamed of this pregnancy. Nor are we disappointed. If you’ve been here for a while you know that a baby is something we have wanted for a few years now. We’ve prayed and begged for this blessing. So, we are beyond thrilled and excited for this new addition. And behind closed doors, we celebrate this little gift that God has sent us. Our desire for privacy and the decision to not disclose the news of my pregnancy for as long as possible came from a different place entirely.

Pregnancy // What’s Best for Us

Corey and I desired privacy about our pregnancy for as long as we could have it. We had our reasons, which I’ll go over in another post, but we agreed to share the news when we both felt ready. In the meantime, the plan was to inform our immediate family after we hit 12 weeks. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen and we ended up telling our parents and siblings much earlier. We asked that everyone keep this information private until we felt it was okay for extended family to know. While most of our family was respectful of this, our news was disclosed to several people (including strangers outside of our family) when I was 12 weeks along. This left me feeling angry, and upset. And it caused some family conflict.

Now, I know that pregnancy hormones heavily influenced my initial reaction. However, I still believe I had a valid reason to be upset. From one day to the next, it was as if our news was no longer ours to share. Instead of having ample time to process upcoming changes, it felt like we were now doing things on someone else’s timeline. This person was sharing our news while we were still trying to find answers for certain things that were happening with my body, and while we were waiting on results for our testing. To top it off, I had also been experiencing some depression due to the drastic hormone changes. This does happen to some women, especially those who have a history of depression. So, not only was I dealing with pregnancy symptoms, and my mental health, but I was also having to deal with our news being disclosed before we were ready for others to know about it. This added stress caused me to experience a good amount of anxiety for a few weeks. I stayed at home a lot. I wore compression wear anytime I went out. And if the subject of pregnancy was brought up, I would either talk around it or straight up deny being pregnant if it was asked.

Thankfully, I limited communication with the person I felt had betrayed our trust. Even if just temporarily. That break allowed me to focus on myself, my mental health, and the information that I was receiving at my appointments. I was able to rest and prioritize movement. I also focused on my home and my family. Stepping away also allowed me to avoid stressful situations with this person I didn’t feel I was ready to handle. Most importantly, I took this time to let go. I spent a lot of time praying for guidance and help to move on from what was being done. Because, in the end, I can’t stop people from going against our wishes. I can’t stop people from disregarding our requests. However, I can set boundaries and limit communication with them. I can control how I react to them, and the information I give them. And I can limit the amount of time they spend with me or my family. People don’t have to like this, and I’m sure some will think I’m being dramatic. But I intend to make decisions based on what’s best for my family, this baby, and myself.

📷: Credit

A Little Surprise

This announcement comes a lot sooner than I had planned. We originally requested privacy from those we told. For personal reasons, we wanted to keep the news under wraps until we were ready to share it. However, one of our family members went against our wishes and the news was shared much earlier than we were prepared for. So, to regain some of my power, I'm officially announcing that Baby G is on the way!