prego stats - 21 weeks

How far along: 21 weeks, AKA OVER THE HUMPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Total weight gain: not 100% sure, probably 10 lbs? I've read + been told that for my body mass index + height my weight gain should be just as it should, so I'm glad for that. For those interested, it tends to average 5lbs in the 1st trimester, and then 1 lb every week thereafter. Resulting in approximately 25-35lbs gained total. This has generally been the way things have gone for me, and then it takes about the same amount of time to loose the weight (9 months). Don't we all wish it took ONE? But that's another post for another day :)

How big is baby: length of a carrot. anyone else find these slightly unhelpful? What kind of carrot? In my fridge right now we have carrots of various sizes. I want more details!

Maternity Clothes: A lot of my shorts from last summer fit right now (not maternity) because last summer I was still losing weight from my pregnancy with Oli. When I finally lost all the weight (approximately 12 months after his birth) the shorts were too large, but now that I'm 21 weeks, they're perfect. I also find pants/shorts can fit if they're low rise since my bump hasn't dropped yet. But shirts are mostly all maternity now since I need the extra length.

Sleep: my body and baby3 may be allowing me sleep (thank goodness!) but my older two kids haven't been lately :( Oli has been waking EVERY SINGLE NIGHT for over a month, between 10pm and 1am, and normally for up to an hour. Not fun. 

Best moment this week: The kids regularly take turns kissing, "hugging", and cuddling their little sister (aka the bump) which is the sweetest! And I found a darling little dress, brand new (tags still on!) in light blue/chambray for Little Sister for $2 at Salvation Army this week and it got me verrrrry excited for another girl!

Movement: yes, but very low! And much more subtle than the other two were at 21 weeks, but again, probably because she's so low. It's hard for others to feel her movements because of her placement but I feel a lot internally.

Food cravings:My sweet tooth is BACK. I'm sorry to my dentist.

Food aversions:Not much lately, though I've been opting for more vegetarian meals lately.

Gender: GIRL! 

Labor signs: n/a

Belly button in or out: like always in pregnancy, out. And Public Service Announcement: it's NOT FUN when anyone (including my husband) pokes the protruding belly button. It actually hurts and you might be surprised how many people do it. They think it's cute and funny but it's very stretched skin and painful.

What I miss: sleep, but I can't blame pregnancy on that right now (cough Oli cough).

What I'm not loving: at the end of the day my lower body aches a bit, and in the morning my feet get painful cramps, but they go away quickly.

What I’m looking forward to: 2 weeks without the kiddos!!! Brad and I are headed on our first kids-free trip and it is coming at THE BEST TIME. We need this bad.

What I'm loving: Being pregnant, seeing the kids engage with the pregnancy, warm weather :)

Milestone(s):?

a little sister

We found out today that Lily and Oli will have a baby sister come September and we are SO THANKFUL. She's measuring right on target and 100% healthy so far. Jesus, you give good gifts and lavish us with your grace. And a GIRL! Oh... my heart was hoping :)

illustration by Slovly, and such a ringer for Lily + her baby sister :)

prego stats - week 17

How far along: 17 whole weeks!

Total weight gain: 5 lbs

How big is baby: an onion

Maternity Clothes: yes, sir! 

Sleep: It's funny. The 2nd trimester brings more energy, to be sure, but I still have the odd day where I can hardly scrape myself off the couch/bed/floor/laundry heap. Today was one of those days. I skipped napping this morning because I slept for a good 8 hours last night and felt rested. Plus someone was coming over to buy some old cloth diapers from me that I listed on craigslist, in the middle of nap time. And then I went out on a walk with Morgan and the kids and felt great. Until about 3:30pm. OH MY WORD. Morgan left around 4pm, and at 4:45 I woke up on the reading ottoman corner in the kids room, no idea how I got there. Ladies and gentlemen, THAT is what you call tired.

Best moment this week: feeling baby movement and planning for baby #3 has been so fun!

Movement: YES! Occasionally I feel it, and I love it. It's so reassuring and I am reminded of the great gift I'm carrying each and every time. Need to remember that when the movement is less joyful and more painful and inconvenient in the 3rd trimester :)

Food cravings: I'm eating Lebanese take out right now. Does that answer your question?

Food aversions: Still some meats, but basically nothing anymore.

Gender: FIFTEEN MORE DAYS, PLAYERS! I can't wait to find out. Vote on the sidebar for the sex you think it'll be. Because it's fun, and for no other reason :)

Labor signs: n/a

Belly button in or out: Out.

What I miss: energy, my old clothes, the days before stretch marks (but that was 3 years ago...)

What I'm not loving: Constipation like woah. Is that TMI?

What I’m looking forward to: OK this deserves a post all to itself, and one is coming this week, but get this: NURSING. I know, me, who had two horrific experiences complete with poor latching, low supply, mama guilt like woah, evil laleche ladies telling me I'm a bad mom and all the rest of it.... I am excited to try nursing again. 

What I'm loving: Oli kissing my tummy and saying "baby!" all the time, and Lily asking if she can "hold" the baby (and then putting her two little hands on either side of my bump). These two are going to be great big siblings!

Milestone(s): 2nd trimester, movement, and breast tenderness and tingling (signs of milk production, we hope!).

prego stats - week 12 + 13

So for weeks 12 + 13 I was in Florida and/or gearing up/down for the trip, so the blogs took a bit of a hit. I definitely fell behind in my weekly posts but before I turn 15 weeks (this Friday!) I want to update how things have been. This will be to the best of my recollection, because I can't say I remember every day since it was a 2 week spread...

How far along: 12 and 13 weeks

Total weight gain: not sure, but not much. probably 5lbs max? If that? But don't worry. I get bonkers heavy towards the end, it's just how my body seems to process pregnancy. It's nothing for a long time and then very sudden weight gain. Just as my stretch marks.

How big is baby: lime + medium shrimp (random)

Maternity Clothes: yep! can't wear normal pants comfortably anymore, so it's maternity or lululemon. In Florida I picked up the maternity clothes I'd ordered from the US Gap only to find out that two of the pairs of pants were huge! The one pair that I was SO excited about (floral skimmer jeans) were impossibly large and I sent them back. The Gap's sizing is definitely not the same as Old Navy's, though they have the same ownership! Weird. Because the same size pants from Old Navy (some bright blue skimmers) fit perfectly. Another pair, also from the Gap, were somewhere in between. They fit like boyfriend jeans though they're supposed to be skinnys, but I can make them work, so I kept them. 

Sleep: sleep has been good, though I can never get enough. Every day I nap for 2-3 hours. I know. Luxury right?! I'm so blessed. Lily and Oli nap at the same time, for the same amount of time (9:30am or 10am- 12pm or 12:30pm), so I always join them. If I don't nap at that time with them, I have been known to go to bed as early as 8pm. I seriously can't keep my eyes open!

Best moment this week: Florida with Oli was a nice break, and I never had to cook a meal - my parents did everything in the kitchen!

Movement: too early.

Food cravings: Sea food! While I was in Florida I was wanting fish and shellfish every night!! We bought fresh shrimp one night from a shop beside the ocean where it was caught and my dad made shrimp cream linguine and it was TO DIE FOR. Also sour things. I am loving olives and blueberries together, pickles, sour candies, and non-alcoholic margaritas. All that sour kick!

Food aversions: Still slightly averse to meat. Not that I can't eat it, but I don't desire it at all.

Gender: too early! We find out April 30th!

Labor signs: ha! no.

Belly button in or out: OUT. I knew this day would come. my pregnancy belly button is ALWAYS an outie. And it happens earlier with each pregnancy.

What I miss: real margaritas :) 

What I'm not loving: fatigue.

What I’m looking forward to: April 30th! 

What I'm loving: Lily asks if she can "hold the baby" and I say yes, and then she takes her two hands and puts them on either side of my belly and stays there for a minute. She literally holds the baby in my womb! What a sweet little thing.

Milestone(s): out of the 1st trimester! We'll see how our baby's doing on Thursday when I have an appointment, but we have every reason to believe the pregnancy is going smoothly.

sibling spacing

We've always been fans of the back-to-back babies around here. We purposely didn't re-start birth control after Lily was born with that in mind. Now, we did not think we'd get pregnant so quickly (she was just four months old!), but looking back we are so happy we did. At the time it was a bit wild. Lily was not even walking when Oli was born and our hands were indeed full. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

Which has made the road to baby #3 difficult. When we decided to start trying for #3, Oli was already 11 months old. Not a big deal to most people, but we like our kiddies CLOSE in age. Even if I got pregnant immediately, Oli would be 18 months older than his younger sibling, which in our minds was kind of our ideal max. Fast forward to several months of trying - the sibling age gap grows and grows. If I were pregnant right now, I'd still have all three children in three years (and some of you are thinking YOU CRAZY). That would be very very ideal.

What can I say? This is just how Brad and I have experienced and loved it, so obviously it's what we were aiming for for our third child. I know it's definitely not for everyone, but for me, the maximum age difference between each child would ideally be two years.

Why?

• I like the challenge. Honestly, my life is fairly simple right now with Lily in part time daycare and Oli and her both on a great schedule. Time for another baby :) 
• I like that the kids are in similar stages.
• I like getting hard things over with quickly (pregnancies, sleep training, etc) 
• I like that Lily and Oli can share toys.
• I like that they both wear size 4 disposables and the same cloth diapers.
• I like that they have the same bedtimes and naptimes (essentially) 
• They don't have cousins yet (and won't have any nearby) so I like that they have family playmates the same age.
• I believe they'll be closer relationally if they are born closer. Yes, I know there are exceptions (I am told often), and as adults age is really not important, but I think for young children 3-6 years is a HUGE age gap.

What about you? What's your ideal for sibling spacing? 

** Of course there are many things out of our control. 

We are in that boat, and wish I was already 6 months 

or more pregnant right now. 

Some women aren't fertile for up to a year postpartum, 

some women deal with infertility and miscarriages.

I don't want to be insensitive to these concerns, 

I'm just curious what your ideal is :)

3 in a bedroom?

Whether we adopt or birth a third baby, either way, it'll be in THIS house. 

This 2 bedroom, city house. Which means bunk beds are absolutely necessary. 

Good thing I love me some bunk beds :) I have great memories of sharing a bunk bed with my sister growing up. We were in bunks until we moved to a 3 bedroom home when we were 8 and 10 respectively.

Here are two simple bunks that I have my eye on. The IKEA one turns into two twin beds which is a huge perk, but has no storage and is made of less quality wood (and is actually $100 more!). The Brick one is white which I love and a bit higher quality, but doesn't turn into twin beds which would limit it's lifespan. Both are simple and I love how the ladder doesn't jut out but is attached to the structure.

{The Brick, $199}

{IKEA, $299}

But is it just me or are kids rooms getting a little out of hand? While researching bunk beds it was actually difficult to find the two I've posted above. Because all the bunk beds these days are so outrageous. 

They're enormous structures, complete with staircases, and cost nearly $1,000!!

What has happened to the classic bunk bed?!

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