baby – All Kinds of Happy

Welcome to the world Baby Girl!

Published on June 5, 2018June 5, 2018 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

I would like to finally share Holly’s birth story and how she made her grand entrance into the world. (warning this is a long post) Our second little miracle Holly Noelle, was born Monday, March 12th at 1:25pm. 8lbs and 20″. After much uncertainty about HOW she would arrive, I’m thrilled to say we were able to have a natural birth and she made her debut fairly fast and furious!

After our version procedure had been successful they had me into the office the following week to make sure she had stayed head down, and as far as they could tell she was. They thought I had a lot of amniotic fluid and that the baby was on the smaller side, so we changed the scheduled c-section on March 13th to an induction. Baby girl decided however that she didn’t want to wait and one day after her Dad’s birthday she decided to surprise us.

Around 4am I woke up to what felt like my water breaking, so I went to the bathroom and sure enough it was a VERY slow leak. So I put some towels on my bed and went back to sleep. How I did that I’ll never know. Around 5am I got up again to check and it was about the same, so I went back to bed again. At 6am Dan’s alarm went off as he was planning to go running with his buddy and I said “You can still go for a run, but I think we might have a baby today”! After I explained what was going on he of course freaked out that I hadn’t called the doctor yet, so finally around 6:30am I called and they told me to head in and get checked out. Dan’s mom arrived around 7am just a few minutes after Ada woke up. We told her what was going on and she was so excited and so happy she got to spend the day with Grandma.

We checked into the hospital at 7:30 and all the scheduled inductions and c-sections were also arriving around then so I spent some time just hanging around waiting. I hadn’t had any contractions yet, so we weren’t even sure we were going to stay. When they finally did come in to check me, she said I was already 5 cm and when she did the check she fully broke my water, and they weren’t kidding when they thought I had a lot, it continued to leak almost all morning.

It was a slow uneventful morning and around 10am they decided we might need to start some pitocin to get my contractions to start up a little more frequently. They started that and the first few contractions I had that really hurt the baby didn’t handle well and her heart rate jumped, so I had to labor on my side figuring she had a pinched cord, that was no fun. We wanted to hold off on the epidural until I couldn’t take the pain since we knew it would slow things down and I was good for about an hour or so suffering through contractions every 5-7 minutes on my side.

They finally got so bad so quickly that I was begging Dan to get someone in the room to give me an epidural. They got me one right away and before that doctor had even left the room, my OB came in to check me and said we were at 10 cm and should start pushing. I panicked a lot because I wasn’t even num yet from the epidural and she said to just relax and give it a few more minutes and then we’ll start pushing.

I don’t remember pushing so hard with Ada. I mean I remember pushing and it was about 25 minutes with her, but I don’t remember it being SOO HARD. I pushed again for about a half hour, but it felt like hours and hours! Each time, it took me the entire time between contractions to catch my breath and relax before we had to go at it again. It was exhausting but at 1:25pm Holly appeared screaming and making a fuss, they laid her on my chest and I stared at my little beauty while they cleaned her up.

She is 8 pounds of the most perfect little being! Ada was able to come up and see us around 3:30-4ish and she did not want to leave us, but we explained that the doctors needed to take Holly and make sure she was nice and healthy and promised she could come back first thing in the morning again.

Here are a bunch of pictures of everyone meeting her for the first time. I don’t know if its possible, but I think Ada loves Holly more then anyone else combined. I cannot get over the love this little girl has for her baby sister. And for me as their mommy I cannot even explain how much my heart explodes to see them together.

I just love so much the way Holly is looking right at Ada in this one!! ❤

I could not have made up a better birth story for our little Holly and I am so thankful and blessed that she was able to come into the world the way she did. Holly is almost 3 months old now and today she experienced her first day at daycare with her big sister. Ada has been waiting for the day her sister could come to school with her, I can’t believe how fast the time is going and that I’m already back to work.

Holly has been a bit more challenging then Ada during the day but she has been an amazing sleeper at night and that’s all I can ask for! She has been sleeping through the night since she was about 5-6 weeks old and right out of the gate she was giving me 4+ hour stretches. I had to wake her up to feed a lot because she took awhile to get back up to her birth weight. We had a few stretches where all she would do was eat, sleep or cry and that was a bit challenging, but we noticed it was mostly during growth spurts and other then that she’s great!

She is such a smiley little girl, if you make eye contact and talk she will babble on and on and on, she sounds like a cat! She is super strong! She’s been standing on her little twig legs for months, she’ll kick my phone right out of my hand (maybe her way of trying to get my attention) and she’ll squeeze your finger until its white. She was also already trying to roll over from her back to her belly, she’s so close, but her big head is to heavy for her.

More then anything though I have loved watching Ada be her sister. She reads to Holly alllll the time and Holly will just lay there and listen, she’s gotten a bit too brave a few times trying to carry her or maneuver her in her arms like I do, but best of all she hasn’t shown a bit a jealousy. She loves her sister and always wants to match her (even though I am having the hardest time finding clothes in girls sizes and baby), she never once has complained about us giving Holly too much attention, she has understood that I cannot help her when I’m breastfeeding and goes to daddy, and she has even attempted to change some diapers with me (backs out halfway through). She is already planning our next baby, she said that one has to be a boy so daddy isn’t outnumbered. (Too soon, but my two amazing girls have made it much easier to want another one).

Here is a photo overload of our last three months together! And I’ll try to get better about staying up to date with these posts again.

Holly’s first day home, snuggling with her Big Sister!

My little Jaundice Budda baby getting some sunshine in the window!

Sister Snuggles -this is how we spent our first few weeks. I think Ada held her more then me.

My three LOVES!! Holly’s first Easter at my parents house.

Some of our very first smiles around 4 weeks old.

Holly loves the Unicorn blankey that Ada got her at the hospital. I love that its big nose helped keep her binky in her mouth.

Holly’s first plane ride at 7 weeks to Florida! (Vacation post coming up next!!)

Vacation. We enjoyed long, quiet walks on the beach together sipping coffee while everyone else was still sleeping.

Holly is just another one of Ada’s dolls. I believe this is her class and its snack time.

Annnnd some days have gone like this, full of screams and tears.

Ada will read to her forever and Holly will listen until she falls asleep.

And of course always needs to be holding her hand when we are out and about.

Every Monday we have cousin time at my parents house. The girls all love playing together.

This was Holly’s first day of Daycare and a proud big sister who was going to “Make sure Holly was okay all day long”.

Stay tuned for more fun family adventures as a new family of four!!

Welcome to the World Holly and Sorry I’ve been MIA!

Published on May 24, 2018 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

I did have a baby and everything went perfectly! I’ve just tried to stay away from work and email and stuff as much as I could while on my maternity leave. I’ve been enjoying long days and long nights with my new baby girl. Here is the first family photo we had taken after Ada got to meet her new baby sister.

We welcomed Holly Noelle into the world on March 12, 2018 at 1:25 pm. It was a short, fast and furious delivery and I’ll recap her birth story in another post. She was 8 pounds, 20 inches of perfection, we are so in love with her. She is actually 2 months old now already, I know I’ve been really MIA from the blog and I do plan to catch up on everything now that I am back to the real world. Ada has been the absolute best big sister in the world, she is such a big helper to me, there has been no jealously or acting out and she’s been perfect as we transitioned from a family of 3 to a family of 4.

We already took our first family vacation which I will also recap later and we had our first family photo shoot when Holly was 10 days old, so I will share those photos now and I’ll catch up on everything else in future posts. I have lots to write about, so expect more posts now that I’m getting back to normal.

Alyissa Landry Photography did the photos for us and she was amazing, she captured everything I wanted out of our newborn session. I didn’t want to dress Holly up in wraps and bows. I wanted our family in our own home enjoying our new baby girl and she did just that! I get all the feels seeing Ada love her baby sister and the pure joy on her face.

And because I didn’t get a chance to post one last update before I had her at 39, weeks, I figured I would share the very last bump picture I took while I was about to explode! Stay tuned for more fun posts about Holly and our new family adventures!

38 Weeks – Waiting

Published on March 6, 2018March 6, 2018 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

So we did the version procedure last Thursday, and let me tell you, I do not wish that on my worst enemy. It was so painful!!! She did not flip on her own as I was suspecting maybe she did, turned out she just slid from my right side to my left, which is why I was feeling everything different. My doctor had me come in Wednesday for a sono and check in and she thought we’d be a good candidate for the version still. The Version was SUCCESSFUL! They did get her to turn, and she managed to stay in a head down position, (some babies flip back).

It was the most awful thing I’ve ever experienced though. First off, its such a tease. You check in to labor and delivery, go through all the questions, get dressed in the gown, the belt and all the monitors just like you would if you were having the baby. Except you have to leave empty handed! I had two doctors from my practice do the procedure and it felt like they were just punching me in the stomach for 3 minutes straight. It was quick but felt like forever. After they got her to turn, I don’t know if it was the pain or anxiety or what, but I felt like I was going to pass out, I couldn’t catch my breath and my hands were going numb, so they had to run an IV for fluids and give me oxygen to calm down. I was finally coming around, and then we had to stick around and be monitored for about an hour before we could leave. Fortunately, baby did fine, her heart rate stayed level and she did what she was supposed to do.

I was incredibly sore for the next two days and had to take it easy. I actually wasn’t ready for her to come those days because I really needed a little time to recover. By Sunday I was feeling back to “normal” (meaning, huge and uncomfortable still, but at least not bruised and beaten). So I was ready to start trying anything to get her out. Sunday morning I binge cleaned the whole house and made sure every stitch of laundry was washed. Nothing. I went and got a mani and pedi, but the foot rub part was sub-par. We went to a friends house for dinner and I tried a glass of wine (It worked for Ada). But nothing. And I tried eating a whole tub of pineapple! Still no baby!

Since I didn’t include a 37 week picture in last weeks post, here is the one I did remember to take after I posted my last update.

And of course as soon as I start taking pictures, Ada wants in on the action, so one of me and my big girl as well…..

Here’s the 38 week update, I eliminated a few questions that are obvious so we could focus on more important things! We just had a doctors appointment this morning so I’ll start with that:

Baby is still head down as far as we can tell by feeling. she said I was about 2 cm dilated, so we’re making some progress. But she said I was only measuring 36 weeks and I had a lot of amniotic fluid still, which makes it more likely that she could still flip back again. So they decided that I’ll have one more check in on Monday the 12th with the Doctor and then if she doesn’t make an appearance on her own by the 13th we’re going to induce. So we’re waiting but the good news is that I won’t go past the 13th. To have a date and to be avoiding the c-section makes me feel much better. I’m so anxious but I’m going to try and cherish this last week of sleep and calm in my house. Its day by day how I am feeling, yesterday was awful and frustrating and uncomfortable and then today I’ve been feeling much better and even did a 1.6 mile walk on the treadmill to try and get something going.

How far along? 38 weeks 3 days

Total weight gain/loss: up 34 pounds, I made a 4 pound jump this past week. I always pack it on in the end!

Stretch marks? Nothing yet.

Sleep: Sleeping ok. Not great. Since we did the flip, I’ve been sleeping with a pillow between my knees to give her a little more room to drop. It feels better but it makes turning from side to side really difficult. I usually wake up several times and sometimes have a hard time getting back to sleep, mostly because my mind races.

Best moment this week: Best and Worst I would say. Getting her to flip. I’m very glad we can try to do this birth natural now as I was very upset that I’d have to go through c-section recovery. Especially since we have a trip to Florida planned in May and I’d like to start getting back to myself sooner then later. I’m also very happy to have a scheduled induction in case she doesn’t come in the week. I at least am back to having an end in sight.

Miss Anything? Same answer as always, just feeling normal. Just so done with this pregnancy!

Movement: Lot’s of movement still, trying to pay close attention to what I feel where so I know what position she is in, but basically I haven’t got a clue how she is jammed in there. I’m glad the doctor today confirmed that she is pretty sure she’s got her head low, a butt on top and the heartbeat was right where she would expect it to be.

Food cravings: Still a lot of sweets. Probably where the 4 pounds in one week came from. I made a special trip out to Dessert Deli the other night because I wanted something good, that wasn’t jelly beans or Hershey kisses. So I found my way to these beauties…

Labor Signs: I had about an hour and half Sunday night when I thought maaaybe. I had some really bad cramps and I timed contractions for about an hour and they started 10 minutes apart, then 11, then 13, then 18…. and then I fell back to sleep because I lost hope as they started getting further apart rather then closer together. I woke up Monday morning feeling worse then any other day and so I was hopeful that maybe something was going on, but that day came and went and now here we are at Tuesday, still waiting again. Fortunately I was feeling better today then I was yesterday, makes waiting a tad easier.

Wedding rings on or off? Rings are still on, I’m pretty happy about that actually despite packing on the pounds recently.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Moody! So over it and ready to meet my new little girl. I’ve waited this long and I’ve gone through hell and back to get her here, so I’m ready, its time to move on.

Looking forward to: Meeting her within the next week! Getting her out and on the road to our new normal. Getting my body back to being just mine again and watching Ada become a big sister. She has waited so long for this and I know how anxious I am and I understand time and what’s going on, this girl is so impatiently waiting for her best friend and she doesn’t even know it yet!

Sunday morning snuggles in her favorite place, with “her baby”.

And here’s a 38 week bump. Another bathroom selfie, no make up, and pjs… its all I’ve gotten around to this week! Getting huge!

36 weeks- We have a date!

Published on February 22, 2018February 22, 2018 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

Staying true to what her sister did to me, this one decided she wanted to be a breech baby as well! I had a doctors appointment last Friday and after getting checked to see if we were making any progress yet, she said the head was still way up high and she wanted to do an ultrasound to see if she was even head down. She was not. Its her head that has been pushing up against my ribs and making it hard to breathe lately. So we wanted to have a plan in place just in case she did not flip on her own, so we set a date for March 13, 2018. The plan is to head to the hospital Tuesday around 11am after dropping Ada off at school and having the most normal morning we can, and then to have the c-section at 1pm. It’s a perfectly organized plan right now (which my Type A personality loves) but I just KNOW its never going to happen like that so in reality I’m ready for anything! Part of me doesn’t like this plan though because I feel like dropping Ada off at school that day will be so emotional knowing that’s the last time she’ll be my only baby! I would almost rather not know that moment is sneaking up on me.

I’m not a fan of the c-section plan either. Last time it was about all I had prepared for but I was so glad we were able to do it naturally, the recovery was so much better and after just having my appendix out last May, I now know what major abdominal surgery entails! I got an infection after my appendix surgery too and had to be on the worst antibiotics ever, so I’m nervous to have to go through something like that again while also trying to take care of a newborn and a 4 year old. Anyone who has c-section tips I would greatly appreciate it. Really hoping she can flip herself around before it comes to that!

That was about all the news we got, which was enough. She said I am all baby and very full. All the movement is a great sign that we have a healthy baby, so I hope that continues even though its uncomfortable.

Here’s a picture of our little babe, who has her head nestled under the placenta like a pillow right up under my ribcage. She only wanted to give us a side profile and not a nice front facing portrait. The tech even tried to switch it over to 3D so we could see her face, but she was not having it.

I guess we have to wait a little longer to see what she looks like! As for everything else, I’ll recap in a quick survey below:

How far along? 36 weeks 4 days

Total weight gain/loss: 30 pounds- hit that round number.

Maternity clothes? Yes, same answer as every week.

Stretch marks? Fearing I have one mark starting to show and my belly button isn’t looking so great, I’m ready to get her out before these turn into anything more.

Sleep: I have more good nights then bad right now. Some nights I toss and turn a lot, but more often I am passing out hard and staying asleep most of the night. Those nights I wake up really stiff though because I don’t think I move around at all.

Best moment this week: Knowing we won’t have to go past March 13th. Don’t love that its a c-section, but I’m ready to do whatever I need to in order to get her out safely. Its nice to have an end in sight without worrying about being overdue. I am nervous that I’m going to go into labor now with a breech baby, and afraid she’ll actually start coming and I will have to deliver that way. I’m going to chat with my doctor about this on Friday when I am back again.

Miss Anything? Feeling like me. I feel like I am 90 years old every time I get up. My whole body is starting to get achy.

Movement: Tons. Now that I’ve seen her on the sono, I can identify all her parts on my belly as she moves around. I feel like I will KNOW exactly if or when she flips because everything will feel different. For now all the movement is in the same places all the time.

Food cravings: Shredded wheat cereal and all.the.sweets!! I’ve been so bad with sugar. Anything at all sweet I want it. Candy, cookies, pop. You name it. And I can’t eat just one. I have to have like 5 cookies. BAD.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope.

Have you started to show yet: I’m starting to get the comments about how big I am. It still always blows my mind that people would say those things. There is no need to point out the obvious characteristics of a person. Just don’t say it.

Gender prediction: Still a girl, our sono confirmed last week.

Labor Signs: Lots of braxton hicks. Timing them in the evenings. I think I just notice them more when I am sitting still at night. I get some other odd pains here and there and every time I think it could be it. We’re in the zone where you just don’t know.

Belly Button in or out? Out. Leave it at that!

Wedding rings on or off? Rings are all still on, some days they feel a little tight. But I have not taken them off yet. Unfortunately they will have to go before we go into the hospital now since we’re doing a c-section.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Moody at night for sure still. Overall I don’t think I’ve been too bad. I complain a lot but, its my right to at the moment. The uncomfortableness and the “pain” I am getting from having her head under my ribs is probably the main factor. I think if she was in the correct position I’d be feeling a bit better. My whole body is achy and my energy levels are running on empty but overall I feel like its just one day at a time and one day closer.

Looking forward to: March 13th or sooner! I’m fairly confident my plan will not go according to plan, I figure that just seems too easy. So being that we are already less then 3 weeks away from that date, we can only be closer to meeting our little lady! I’m not sure if the discomfort I have now is better or worse then what I will be feeling after a c-section (or even a natural birth) since those are both pretty rough on the body too, but I am looking forward to those feelings when you start to feel a little better everyday rather then a little worse.

All I have this week is another bathroom selfie. Sorry, Enjoy!

35 Weeks- We’re getting there….

Published on February 14, 2018February 14, 2018 by stephaniemags2 Comments

I wasn’t going to do a post this week. There hasn’t been a lot of change, still feeling the same super uncomfortableness (is that word??) but I re-read some old posts recapping the very end with Ada and it’s so interesting for me to read back and see that I was feeling the exact same ways with her, even though at this moment in time, I feel like I don’t remember it being so bad last time. I guess this is why we have multiple children, you really do forget the worst parts of growing a human baby once its all said and done.

I also thought it was really cool that I ended my last pregnancy post, literally the day before she was born, so it was super fun to see what I was thinking and feeling right before she arrived, so I decided not to skip a week and document everything!

The good news is that I’m about 6 or 7 pounds down from where I was with Ada. I also said I had ditched my wedding rings by this point and right now I still have some wiggle room with those too. The movements feels wicked bad this time around and reading back I think Ada was just as bad. I was also still finalizing the nursery at 36 weeks last time and I’m happy to report that I am all done with that and in a really good place with everything we need to do. We’re ready for baby, our bags are packed, we have supplies in the house and everyone has instructions!

So what’s going on this week? (I’m gonna skip the boring survey and wing it!!) 35 weeks and 4 days in…..

-Dan and I got new phones this past weekend. I wanted to get the newest iphone (iphoneX) so I had the very best camera when baby girl arrived. Here’s a shot with the new phone of my little beauty who simply cannot get enough of loving on my bump still!

-Braxton hicks are getting really intense. They are actually a lot less frequent this week, but they have been really bad when they do come. Like close my eyes, make a fist and breathe deeply kinda bad! Last night they were really frequent though and I’ve had bad hip pain too. I’ve been having a hard time breathing this week, which makes me suspect maybe she hasn’t quite dropped yet.

-Baby girl is still moving around like crazy, alien like punches from the outside, but I’m noticing that its really bad right before I eat a meal and as soon as I eat and give it a little time, she calms right down. I hope she’s this easy to settle once she arrives. Seems like as soon as I feed her she drifts off to sleep.

-I actually wore a pair of boots that I didn’t think fit my feet anymore this week that fit fine and my weight is up about 2 pounds from last week, so still slow and steady. Up about 29lbs right now. I’ve had a bad sweet tooth this week again though.

-Dan’s Grandmother passed away this past weekend, so he had to fly out to NYC today. I’m a little nervous about him being out of town, but I think we still have a couple weeks. I’m sad I cannot be there with him and his family but I’m almost 36 weeks now and knowing Ada came at the end of 37 weeks it would not be a good idea for me to be traveling.

-I’ve dropped my maternity clothes rotation to like 6 things. I have a couple black and gray leggings, 2 different striped tank tops and a couple different sweaters, that is about all I feel comfortable in right now. My wardrobe goes down a little each week which means I have to do laundry a lot more often.

-My coffee addiction is getting real. I still only have my one cup a day that I’m allowed right now, but it makes such a huge difference in my productivity. Dan and I went out with friends last weekend and I actually stayed out until midnight thanks to an after dinner cappuccino. 2 years ago I never would have thought of myself as a coffee drinker and now I can see my survival relying on it a few weeks from now.

-Doctors appointment in 2 days. They moved me last week from bi-weekly to weekly, (one week earlier then then normally would have) she said since I was so uncomfortable and since Ada was so early, she’d have me come back next week and do my first internal check and the strep B test to get that stuff all outta the way. I was glad we did that, I said in last weeks post that I wanted some good news and that was about as close as we could get I guess. It was a really quick appointment, everything else was right on track, so that’s all good news.

-Today is Valentine’s Day. Ada has had her “countdown to baby” based on holidays, so its crazy this is our very last one. We’ve been counting down to St. Patricks Day which is my actual due date, but I’ve been hopeful all along that we would have her in our arms by that holiday. We’ll see, no other holidays to count now!!

-And because I am a proud mom I have to share another picture of Ada. Last week was school picture day and she melted my heart and made me question where the last 4 years of my life has gone when they took these graduation pictures. Kindergarten, yikes!!

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I suppose that’s all my updates for this week… on to 36 weeks and hopefully the end is very near, we cannot wait to meet this little baby and have her flip our world upside down!!

Here’s our Valentine’s Day bump picture, and of course one of us at the breakfast table with Ada hugging the gigantic bump again, she tells the baby everything in the mornings!

32 Weeks & Nursery pics!

Published on January 25, 2018January 25, 2018 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

32 weeks down and 7 to go, or hopefully less! Doctors appointment this week and nothing exciting! Heart rate was great, measurements great, only gained two pounds which I was happy with. All in all nothing new, and we wait another 2 weeks.

I’ve been walking a lot on the treadmill and doing some light upper body and lower body workouts. I feel good on the days I workout but it also sucks up a lot of my energy, I feel like its helping keep the weight in check though so even though it takes a lot of energy I think its worth it.

I’ve been saying the nursery is “almost done” for awhile and I can finally say its really “done”. All that were missing now is baby girl (and a couple items that my sister still has!) I can also admit that we changed her name again (This is why I don’t like to share). I liked our original name, but I didn’t get all the feels from it and I kept questioning it. We picked a new one and after using it in my head a few times, I immediately knew that it was perfect! Now I smile every time I think of the name and I know it feels right!

So here are a few nursery pictures, I really like how everything turned out, its elegant and feminine, yet practical. I love all those Pinterest Nursery pictures I find, but babies require so much stuff and I don’t understand where they put it all. The nursery has to be realistic, and you have to be able to get to everything conveniently.

The wall art was mostly done by Ada, she did some watercolor paintings and we picked one that matched and she drew a picture of me with a baby in my tummy. There is some extra space in there for her first initial, which I didn’t want to commit to just yet, or give anything away!

I’ll do a short survey here to recap week 32. We’re close to 33 weeks and this was a pretty average week, so I’ll keep it short!

How far along? 32 weeks, 5 days

Total weight gain/loss: up 25 pounds

Maternity clothes? Yes, ordered some more of my favorite leggings from Gap Body. Perfect for during and after pregnancy!

Stretch marks? Nothing yet!

Sleep: Sleeping very well actually. Out cold, I don’t even hear Dan come into bed anymore. Some very weird dreams too.

Best moment this week: Finishing the nursery and selecting a name. A name I feel really good about this time! I walk into her room and get so excited (and a little nervous) about her impending arrival. It feels a lot more real now to have everything in place and its a little shocking that in just 5-7 weeks we’ll have another little baby in our world.

Miss Anything? Same as usual, feeling like myself, but hanging in there. Not missing wine as much anymore.

Movement: Like crazy! This little one is wild and the bigger and stronger she gets the more intense it feels as she rolls around. She is still mostly on my right side but I can’t determine her position. I thought they would check at the doctor this week, but I guess they will give her a little more time to figure herself out!

Food cravings: Always wanting food, but always feeling full. Its been a weird week for eating when I want something but I’m not sure what and I don’t actually feel hungry. I think I just don’t have room for food, but I want it!

Anything making you queasy or sick: No, thankfully we’ve avoided any stomach bugs or flu in this household so far!! (knock on wood)

Gender prediction: Hopefully she is still a girl, because that’s what we’re ready for!

Labor Signs: Still getting braxton hicks, but less intense lately. I can definitely feel them and my whole stomach tightens but they don’t stop me in my tracks or take my breath away like they have in the past. Maybe its her position, maybe I’m getting used to them. We covered all pre-term labor signs at my doctor appointment though just to be safe. Did you know pre-term labor doesn’t generally hurt like normal labor does? It just starts coming in regular intervals. I didn’t know that!

Belly Button in or out? Waaay, waay out. I’ve gotten over even trying to hide it at this point. The belly band is just uncomfortably tight now and I’m so big that I guess I just don’t give a sh*t anymore, yes, I’m at that point!

Wedding rings on or off? Still on

Happy or Moody most of the time: Pretty happy, been a very average week, working from home this week as my team is all traveling at a trade show, so there wasn’t much point of me being at the office. I’m much more comfortable at home and I don’t have to walk 3 blocks downtown in 15 degrees, so its been less stressful getting out of the house and Ada to school.

Looking forward to: We’re taking Ada to Disney’s Frozen on Ice tomorrow night! I can’t believe its here already! I bought those tickets back in October or November and I figured it would be a fun last outing with just the three of us before the Baby. But back at 16-20 weeks (or whatever it was) 33 weeks seemed like “the end” and here we are already! She is so excited for the show and I’m excited to have a little family date night!

And Since I have not been good about getting someone else to take bump pictures for me, another mirror selfie for you! Getting BIG!!

31 Weeks – All downhill!

Published on January 19, 2018January 19, 2018 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

Pregnancy exhaustion hit me real hard last week, I’m actually feeling better now, but for a few days there I could hardly make it through the day without a nap. I don’t know what it was, I was sleeping okay at night, nothing was different that would make me feel any more tired then usual, but for some reason I felt like if I had to go 9 more weeks like that I wouldn’t make it!

We had a doctors appointment last week, and another next week. Still every 2 weeks for now. Everything was good, baby is measuring right on track. She was a little small at my 28 week check up, but we must have caught back up!

Not much else going on, its been a quiet January which I am thankful for, although its definitely making time drag on more then when we are super busy! So I’ll just do a quick survey and a bump picture for this week!

How far along? 31 weeks 5 days

Total weight gain/loss: Up 21 lbs. -Had a stomach thing going on for a couple days and I wasn’t eating a lot. I think I dropped about 2 pounds, but I’ve also been eating a lot better since the holidays are over and I’ve started some easy walks on my new treadmill (my early birthday gift) so I think that has helped as well!

Maternity clothes? Yes, anyone ever done Le Tote?? I’m tempted to sign up for the last couple months of pregnancy so I can get some maternity clothes without having to buy them, but it seems a little pricey for stuff I don’t actually get to keep and I wasn’t impressed with the website, a lot of links wouldn’t work and it made me second guess signing up. Recommendations?

Stretch marks? No

Sleep: Sleeping ok, about the same with tossing and turning all night. I have a hard time falling asleep lately because she decides she wants to play when I lay down. She was moving and jabbing me so bad last night that I was up for nearly 2.5 hours trying to get comfortable.

Best moment this week: A pretty average week. I finished the playroom earlier this week as well as the nursery, I’ve been moving things around in the nursery for weeks and I think I’m finally at a point where I like everything. Its a small room and I was starting to feel like I had too much “Stuff” in there, so I reorganized this past weekend, putting more of that “stuff” into the closet and I think I love everything now. I even pulled the car seat up, cleaned that out, and packed the baby’s bag for the hospital. So we are ready for this girl, even though we still have probably 6-8 weeks left. I

Miss Anything? I miss feeling like my normal self. My whole body feels out of whack and while I see the light at the end of the tunnel I feel like 6-8 weeks is still so long to go.

Movement: Still moving like crazy. I keep trying to remind myself how blessed I am to have this feeling of growing a human inside me, but I can’t help but complain (pretty often) about how uncomfortable it is. (Re-read my sleep comment). She is a strong little one and even though I think she may have flipped she’s still hanging out pretty strong on my right side. Sometimes I can feel her actually hitting my hip bone. Maybe that means she dropping a little lower too!?

Food cravings: No cravings, but I’ll still see something and then want that specific thing. (I guess that’s a craving, haha just not for any one item in particular). I’m hungry almost always but can only eat small amounts at a time. If I over-eat I feel like I can’t move for the next hour.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Exhaustion when it hits me shuts me down. Coffee helps a little, but its just a quick fix once a day. Stomach aches earlier in the week, I stayed home for 2 days just to be safe, I’m suuuuuper paranoid about all this flu going around right now!

Labor Signs: Still braxton hicks which are getting more intense but not any more frequent yet.

Belly Button in or out? Out

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Indifferent I would say. I haven’t been overly one way or the other. Ada has been great lately, she is so excited for the baby that everything I want her to do I just tell her the baby wants her to do it and she’s all over it. Its a pretty great parenting technique, I hope that lasts! But when she is good, I’m so much happier.

Looking forward to: The Olympics!! They start in just over 2 weeks and I love watching and following along with all the sports and athletes! Plus since they are over two weeks long it brings us right up until I’m almost 38 weeks, so I feel like it will be a great distraction for me to get through February!!

And I will leave with a few pictures from our week! The only 31 week bump picture I took this week was a nice bathroom selfie! Not my favorite kind of bump picture, but its all I got! Of course one of Ada loving on my belly some more and laying in her most favorite place (on top of us) and one of my dolly heading off to school. Daddy dropped her off the morning I stayed in sick and we tried telling her to get used to it, since he’d probably be taking her in a lot more once I’m on maternity leave! She was not a fan, but she was a fan of posing for me!

What’s YOUR favorite Olympic Sport to watch???

We love the Speedskating since we both actually were part of the Buffalo Speedskating club (years ago) Dan more then me, but we dabbled in that hobby for awhile, so now its fun to watch when you know how hard it is! We also love the skiing because its insane how fast they go!

Bump Update: 17 Weeks

Published on October 11, 2017October 17, 2017 by stephaniemags2 Comments

17 weeks and counting…. The good news is that I haven’t had a headache in almost a week now, (at least not one bad enough to have to take anything). I’ve been managing them with one cup of coffee a day! Maybe its coincidence and maybe its caffeine, either way, its working, so we’re going to keep this up for a little while. Not to mention I’ve just simply needed the caffeine to function. If I want to get anything done in the evenings after 5pm I need it.

We are only 2 days away from closing on the house!!! I know you are probably just as excited to hear me stop talking about it! The current house is about 90% packed up now, we’ve cancelled all our utilities at the old house effective this weekend and have everything switched to the new place! That was a full time job in and of itself to get accomplished! My patience level right now sits at about a 5 out 10, so it takes very little to send me over the edge. Just ask my husband!

So here’s what else is going on in week 17!

How far along? 17 weeks 4 days

Total weight gain/loss: Not sure, scale is still in a box!

Maternity clothes? Same answer as last week

Stretch marks? No

Sleep: Same as usual, Ada sleeps, I sleep. I feel like I’ve been in a deeper sleep then usual lately. If I do get woken up I’m usually startled, and out cold until my alarm goes off. I haven’t even been hearing Dan come into bed lately, which is so unusual for me.

Best moment this week: We closed on the sale of our house yesterday! We’re renting back from the purchasers for the week until we close on our new place Friday and then we have the weekend to get out. So glad this week is finally here!

Have you told family and friends: Yes, most everyone close to us knows. I’ve told a few more co-workers as it happens to come out. Still not something that comes up all that frequently!

Miss Anything? Wine! (again) With all the stress of moving, It wold be really nice to just sit back and have a glass of wine in the evening. I think it could have helped this past weekend when I went over the edge about a few things!

Movement: Yes! Feeling little flutters more frequently now. Still very subtle and not that often. This past weekend is when I think it picked up a notch and I started noticing it more, not to be mistaken with gas or anything else now.

Food cravings: Still if see something then I want it. Really wanted a coke float yesterday, so I made one. Not much else is on the craving list. I made a ton of precooked meals last week that I could just throw in the oven in toss away baking sheets, and consume on paper plates, so that I could start packing dishes and pots and its seriously been the best thing I’ve ever done! (I might do a post about it!) I’ve had all these meals this week that I could have ready within 10-30 minutes of walking in my house and I don’t have to make a mess or take up time cooking. Plus we’ve had leftovers to take to lunch, so we’re saving money on eating out. My pregnant self and my moving self has loved this!!

Anything making you queasy or sick: I’ve felt really good this week. Tired, but I haven’t felt sick at all. Its been really awesome to wake up everyday feeling like myself again, an anxious to move and a little less patient version of myself, but not a sick one.

Have you started to show yet: Yes, my belly is growing. Looking and feeling pregnant, but I’m not sure a stranger would say anything yet for fear of offending me in case I just put on a little weight. Luckily, I have put on weight but for good reason! 🙂

Gender prediction: Next week!! My sister also turns 30 next week and we’re having a little get together at our new house to celebrate and I promised her a little gender reveal party as well at that time! SO excited!

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out? Both. haven’t had too much pain this week, only once in awhile, but nothing unbearable.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: I’ve been a bit moody, but I’ll blame it on the stress of moving. It doesn’t take much to tick me off, and I had a few moments this weekend where I needed to step away from everything to cool off. I feel bad being short with Ada when its other things stressing me out, she doesn’t understand. I also just feel bad in general that we’re not able to give her as much attention as I normally would. She does a great job playing and entertaining herself while we are busy loading boxes and PODs, but when she says “Mom, can you play with me?” she breaks my heart. I want nothing more then to sit down and play, but the clock is ticking on getting the house packed and I try to keep my perspective and take a few minutes to sit down and color with her, or slow down and sit a little while longer at the table with her while she finishes dinner. She’s only this little for a short time, and I die a little inside when I think about when she won’t want me to play with her, or even in about 5 months when my attention is not solely on her anymore but also a little baby! Another reason why this move cannot come soon enough and we can get back to normal living.

Looking forward to: See my last sentence above! We need a little normalcy for awhile before our world gets flipped upside down again. I am so looking forward to being settled in, we’re so close now I can taste it!

No bump pic this week since I totally forgot and its what delayed me from posting this sooner. But here are just a couple from our chaotic life right now.

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Bump Update: 16 weeks

Published on October 5, 2017October 5, 2017 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

I missed 15 weeks because not much is going on. I am still feeling like crap most days with bad headaches at least every other day, if not more often. They are still making me feel nauseous and I had my first bout of “morning sickness” the day after Ada’s party, I think I just over did it, it was non-stop all day long. I’m killing myself getting ready for the move right now, we close in 1 week, so maybe that has something to do with feeling so terrible, just completely run down and exhausted. I’m in the second trimester now and somehow feeling worse then most of the first. I’m really hoping once the move is over and I can relax with my feet up more often that I start to feel better. This is going to be a looong pregnancy if this keeps up.

How far along? 16 weeks 5 days

Total weight gain/loss: I actually have not weighed myself in awhile, my scale is packed in a box and we haven’t been to the doctor. Probably not the worse thing!

Maternity clothes? Not yet, still wearing regular loose clothes and just the maternity jeans that I’ve had. The weather is finally changing to Fall around here and I’m looking forward to getting some of my Fall stuff out after we move.

Stretch marks? Nope

Sleep: Sleeping much better lately. Or I should say Ada is sleeping better, as long as she stays asleep so do I. I still might get up with her once or twice a night very briefly, but only for a couple minutes and not every night. I think she just likes to know I’m nearby.

Best moment this week: I actually had a freak out in the middle of the night about a week ago, It started as a dream where I thought something was wrong with the baby and then it kept me awake for about 3 hours worrying about it. So at 4am I went online and bought one of those fetal, doppler heart rate monitors. Extreme? Probably, but I had it delivered like 3 days later and I’ve been able to hear the baby’s heart beat whenever I want to. Its actually really cool and gives me great peace of mind, so in my mind, it was money well spent!! This is the one I bought here.

Have you told family and friends: I told a couple co-workers this week, (the big boss included) so I’m glad he finally knows because I didn’t want it to go on much longer before he knew that I’d be out on maternity leave for awhile. I also need to start finding out about the maternity policy at work, so I’m glad he knows now.

Miss Anything? Wine, (always my answer) and just feeling good in general.

Movement: A little bit! I know I am feeling it now, I’ve been kinda thinking I felt stuff, for awhile but now I am feeling it more, its still VERY subtle and I have to be sitting very still. Moves around at night time a lot, and I can sometimes feel it in the car.

Food cravings: French toast. I’ve been making this for breakfast almost every day. Tim Horton’s Iced capp. I still get one of these almost every other day. I try to limit it, but the caffeine really helps my energy level, which I need and I think it helps my headache as well, and I’ll do just about anything to help with those.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Headaches make everything feel worse. I think the stress of moving and work is making me sick too, just run down and constantly thinking about what I still have to do.

Have you started to show yet: Yes, pretty hard to hide, but It still depends on the day a lot, some days I’m definitely bigger then others and certain clothes hide it better then others.

Gender prediction: October 18th is our anatomy sonogram, followed by my 18 week doctor appt. So we will know (FOR SURE) then. We have a cute gender reveal photo shoot planned for that evening so once we do that we’ll be telling the world, which I know many people (my sister- haha) can’t wait for!

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out? Oh the belly button!! I had some extreme pain a couple days ago, it lasted longer this time then ever before. It was the same pain that sent me to the doctor a few weeks ago, only instead of lasting 3-4 hours, it lasted a day and a half. My belly button was the size of a grape and I couldn’t get it to go in, just touching it brought so much pain. Its better lately, a tad sore but feeling ok. I think we’ll have more and more of these days as my belly grows.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Neutral. Anxious. Tired. I wouldn’t say a bad mood because I’m not the type of person who is ever in a bad mood, but as I think I’ve mentioned, I really just want to get this move over with.

Looking forward to: Moving!!! We can just stop there!

Here’s a pretty picture to commemorate the giant POD (and eyesore) sitting in my driveway!

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And here’s a glimpse at 16 weeks for us! Getting bigger and trying to soak in every moment with my big baby!

Baby Bump: 14 Weeks!

Published on September 22, 2017September 22, 2017 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

Yay! Officially in the second Trimester. Unfortunately feeling worse this week then most of my weeks in the first trimester, but surviving! We got word this week that our mortgage was approved, which means it just has to go to our lawyers now and we can set a closing date. So that is happening sooner then we thought. Our closing date was October 19th, we were pushing for a 45 day close which would have been around October 8th, so we’re way ahead. The problem is, I’m not ready! I’ve been feeling kinda crappy and so tired at night again that I’m not getting much packing done. I try to do a little each day. Hoping I start to get my second trimester energy boost in time to make this transition.

So we’ll just get into this week’s update!

How far along? 14 weeks, 6 days

Total weight gain/loss: Still 5 pounds

Maternity clothes? Trying to just wear loose fitting clothes as most people at my office still don’t know. Its getting harder to hide, but still only wearing the one pair of maternity jeans I bought and the rubber band trick on most everything else.

Stretch marks? No

Sleep: Sleeping much better! I think we’ve gotten to the bottom of Ada’s sleep issues as Night Terrors, so we’re better managing that by making sure she gets to bed a little bit earlier and going through the full bedtime routine every night. She’s only been waking me up once per night between 2-4am to “cover me up”, I’m sure this is just a phase as well but I’d rather do that then be up for hours at a time with her crying.

Best moment this week: Getting word that our mortgage was approved and we are cleared to move ahead. We also had a doctors appointment yesterday and everything was great. We were able to hear the heartbeat with the fetal monitor thing (156) and it sounded good and strong. We scheduled our Anatomy screening for October 18th so we’ll be able to confirm the gender then!

Have you told family and friends: Most close folks know. Still haven’t told work. It hasn’t come up naturally yet and since its mostly men in my office I feel like it just won’t, I guess soon it will just be assumed!

Miss Anything? Feeling good. Its been a crappy week with headaches and nausea. The nausea isn’t terrible and I think its mostly caused from the headaches. I’ve been just dealing with them because I felt like I was taking too much Tylenol and that was making me uneasy. They have just made me feel not so hot and I miss more then anything just waking up and feeling good every day.

Movement: Definitely starting to feel things. Its not super obvious all the time, but once in awhile I’ll feel some little “clicks”. I also had some shifting feelings really low in my abdomen the other night, which was that all too familiar feeling of Ada moving around. It was before bed and I remember Ada always being very active around the time.

Food cravings: Mostly if I hear it or see it, I want it. Its nothing specific and nothing repetitive. But if someone says “turkey sub” then I want one. The other day it was macarons. I saw some on Facebook and I went to some extreme measures to find a bakery downtown that had them. I came up short and still want one!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Headaches. I’m sure that’s what’s got me feeling so crappy. Its not all the time, they come and go and fortunately are not super intense but just enough to feel shitty! I haven’t had any food aversions, I’m kinda curious what they would be like, to get something and then completely turn my nose from it, I’m more If I see it I need it!

Have you started to show yet: Definitely yes, but I can still hide it kinda well depending on what I’m wearing, or at least I think I can. I don’t know what everyone else thinks. I feel very pregnant though, but can’t help but think how much farther I still have to go (sigh).

Gender prediction: Skip! Gender reveal coming soon. I’ve figured out what we’re going to do and as soon as we do it and share with family, I will share the news here!

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out? Its been flat, and not giving me too much trouble this week, thankfully! The doctor gave me strict instructions to NOT lift anything heavy anymore, this is mostly because of the hernia and because I told her we were moving. Ada is going to have a problem with this!

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: I think happy? I’m kind of indifferent, with feeling not so hot and having a lot on my plate between moving, work and Ada’s birthday this weekend I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed, managing, but too much going on. We have a lot of exciting things coming up, so I am happy and excited, but I am looking forward to slowing down a bit and not stressing over everything soon. Which then it will just be the holiday season, and I’ll have something else to stress over!

Looking forward to: Ada’s Birthday!! My baby is FOUR today!! How is that even possible?!! She is so excited for her presents and her party. I love this age because she gets it! I tried to play down the gift part this year, but every four years olds birthday revolves around the gifts. We tried to keep the party small, but with such big families even that is hard to do and we wound up with 11 kids and 19 adults. She is having a Trolls birthday, and I love to get all themed and creative, but I’m trying to just keep it simple this year! Its rained EVERY year on her birthday, and we’ve had to move it inside, and this looks like the first year its going to be 85 and sunny, almost too hot! I headed to Target yesterday to look for some fun activities for the kids and found a slip n’ slide and I’ve made note on the Facebook invite to bring the kids swim suits as we’ll have the pool or sprinklers set up also due to the heat! A real summer birthday this year which is different!

And to conclude, a 14 week bump picture. I found this fun App last week called Baby Story. The App itself was free but I paid $1.99 to get fun stickers to add to each week. You can even get them for after baby is born. I made my own when I was pregnant with Ada, but that was 4 1/2 years ago, so one, they didn’t have these cools apps then and two, let’s face it, I had waaay more time to just sit around and count down the days until my precious first child was born, I even had a bump baby book for her. Baby #2 gets shafted a little! No baby book, but at least I’ve been really good about updating the blog, this will be the baby book for all my kids!

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