33 Weeks

getting bigger and bigger!

frontal views are my new favorite.  my stomach looks so crazy to me.  i love it! plus, i am often caught standing or sitting holding my stomach just like this in all sorts of places - both public and private!

when my shirt is down, my stomach looks a little more torpedo like than when you see it bare in all it's glory!

How far along? 33 Weeks I can not believe we are in single digit weeks now!  Just 7-9 more weeks to go depending on when Leland decides to make his presence!

Total weight gain/loss: 20.3 pounds gained. 

Maternity clothes? Yes.  I live in my black maternity leggings!  This last week I have been pulling on my Old Navy Rockstar (that are cheap and very stretchy) jeans so I can feel a little less pregnant and a little more normal when I go out places.  It really does work.  I no longer wear the Belly Band - it was SO tight for me that I think I only wore it 3 times.  I used to do the rubber-band trick through the button hole, but now I just leave them totally unbuttoned and unzipped and wear a long tank top! Perfection. 

Stretch marks? No. Keeping my fingers crossed!  A friend of mine gave me this bottle of Mama Belly Oil (lavender, camomile, and red mandarin oil) that I have been rubbing all over my body!  It smells sensational and by sensational, I mean I smell like a fancy spa which I am okay with!  

Sleep: I am still sleeping a lot at night.  Gravity is kicking in, and my pregnant belly is finally starting to pull on my back when I lay on my side.  I used to be able to just have a pillow in between my legs, but now I need one under my stomach for some additional support!
 Other symptoms: Varicose veins have not been as swollen this past week which is great.  I do sit down a lot at work which has been helping. 

Best moment this week:  I found out that a dear friend is having a BOY!!  So exciting!  Nate and I went through our first Hypnobabies "class" this past Sunday night which was a fun first step in our birthing process.  Also, I bought NEW MAKEUP yesterday!  How fun is that.  I used Christmas money from my students and bought new eyeshadow, eyebrow pencils, my first makeup brush, and this primer for my eyelids that I am supposed to put on before eyeshadow - who knew!  I am going to a makeup class next Friday afternoon and they are going to teach me how to apply makeup and I am going to buy new blush, a blush brush, and mascara!  How fun.  MAC is my all time favorite makeup!
Hypnobabies & Birthing Preparation Update:  We decided to do the home study of Hypnobabies for our birthing preparation.  My friend gave us all of her materials from when she did the group study for her first birth and highly recommended the program.  It has also saved us about $350 by using her materials and studying at home.  There are scripts and cd's and all sorts of things that I am supposed to be practicing each week.  It is pretty intense.  We have our second "class" tonight!  I will update on Hypnobabies next week too and give a little bit of background on why we decided to use this method for our birth prep! Sweet sweet husband is reading, The Birth Partner by Penny Simkin.  This book was recommended to us by the doulas at 9 Months and Beyond.  Several of the doulas said that they bring this book with them to each birth they attend.  When Nate finishes the book he is passing it off to my mom and she is going to read it as well. 

Movement: Yes! Lots. 

Food cravings:  Sweets. Rootbeer floats!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing right now.    

Have you started to show yet: Yes.

Gender: BOY!  Leland Henning Kivett!

Labor Signs: Braxton Hicks Contractions!  These are getting more serious which is pretty crazy and making this all the more real.  I have to stop and breathe through them almost every time I get these now.  I bet that people think that I am a little crazy when I am mid stride through the Green Hills Mall and suddenly stop.  Before it just felt like my stomach was getting tight and now it feels as though Leland is going to burst right through my belly button!

Belly Button in or out?  It is still IN.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody: Happy!

  Looking forward to: I am so looking forward to my third baby shower this coming weekend.  How lucky am I that I get three baby showers (and another one to come from the sweet sweet Moms of the kids in my class)!  People are so so sweet wanting to celebrate baby Leland!  It will be at my sister in law's house and I can't wait!!  (I will be doing a whole post on Baby Showers at a later date to show off all of the precious details and hard work that everyone put in to make them so special!)

How to talk to a pregnant woman.....

I found out that I was pregnant when I was about 3 and a half weeks along.  This Friday, I will be 33 weeks.  Throughout this journey people have been oh so helpful in offering advise, "complimenting" me, and making comments about pregnancy in general.

I love being pregnant.  I love the way that I feel.  I love the way that I look.  I love watching my body change.  I love knowing that I am growing a son inside of me.  I love how wonderfully supportive and sweet my husband has been.

Most people have been very friendly and I know that people mean well when they talk to a woman who is pregnant.  For the remainder of this post, PW will stand for Pregnant Woman!  I feel like it is a duty of mine, as a PW, to offer some of my own advice about how to talk to a PW.

1. Remember that anything that you say to a woman who is expecting will be taken to heart and exaggerated and thought about more deeply than you ever thought possible.
2. Small comments that are said in passing to a PW are heard by her.
3. Do NOT try to compliment a PW.  You may think that saying things like, "oh WOW you are sooooooo small" or "how far along are you?....that's IT!"  would be wonderful compliments to give a PW.  Well, that is not what she hears.  She hears you saying "is your baby growing enough?" "Are you gaining the proper amount of weight?"  Then, she thinks about this "compliment" for several hours and may even have an emotional breakdown when her husband asks her "how are you feeling?" when he gets home from work!
4. Do not ask her how she is feeling and then when she says, "great" or "fine" give  her a "just wait...." scenario to think about.
5.  Do not ask about her and her husband's laboring and birthing plans.  If you feel called to ask about these plans (that really are none of your business) do not make a face or proceed to judge and explain why a different route would be better.  Do not laugh when she tells you her birthing plans that you asked about.
6.  When you hear her talking to a friend about her plans to cloth diaper, do not laugh and talk about how disgusting disposable diapering is and how cloth diapering will be even grosser because you have to touch all of the poop and put poop in your washing machine when you have never tried cloth diapering yourself!!!  Do not ask her why she plans to cloth diaper if your response will be, "well, I really don't care about the environment enough and I heard it doesn't really save you any money anyway."
7.  When a PW shares with you about how she and her husband felt a little scared over the weekend because she didn't feel her baby move for a couple of hours, do not respond by telling her a story of someone that you knew who LOST THEIR UNBORN CHILD AND FOUND OUT BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T FEEL THE BABY MOVING.  Respond by saying, "That does sound scary.  I'm glad that you have felt him move since then.  You look great."
8.  When you find out that someone you know is pregnant, do not tell them ANYTHING NEGATIVE about being pregnant, birthing, laboring, raising a child, or "how your life is over once you have a baby".  The woman is already pregnant.  Say congratulations and leave it at that.
9.  If you are 100% positive that someone is pregnant, and you can only be 100% if that individual woman TOLD YOU HERSELF, just tell her, "you look great."  (even if she doesn't)  Just say it.  If she feels great then she will appreciate that others think so too.  If she is feeling crappy and miserable and ugly then that one little compliment may boost her mood for just a second!

I hope that some of this can be helpful  to those of you who are not pregnant and it will definitely serve as a reminder to ME when I am no longer pregnant how to talk to a PW!

31 & 32 Weeks

not feeling sensational during our photo shoot.  blah. 

we added a lil' basket for stuffed animals underneath the chalkboard! our puppy baby thinks that they are for him!

my face is looking a little swollen in this pic.  i guess i should get used to it!

feeling MUCH better this week than last! 

How far along? 31 & 32 Weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 18.4 lbs.I lost a little bit last weekend when I wasn't feeling well.

Maternity clothes? Yes.  I live in my black maternity leggings!

Stretch marks? No. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Sleep: Sleeping great.  I fear the day when I can no longer sleep at night.  Everyone who knows me knows how much I LOVE going to sleep at night and how much I LOVE my nap-a-roonies during the day!  I am a morning person and Nate enjoys the night time so hopefully that will help up tag team baby Leland when he gets here! 
 Other symptoms: The varicose veins are still a problem, but when I ice them they feel so much better! If you thought when you looked at the 31 week picture that I looked a lil' sick, you were right.  During our photo shoot I had a 100.9* fever.  Gross.  I was sick that whole day but felt much better on Saturday.  Now I just have  gross cough and drainage.  My voice sounds super sexy too!

Best moment this week:  One of the best moments this week was the BEAUTIFUL baby shower that I had on Saturday, January 12th.  Three of my mom's friends and my two sisters hosted.  It was sensational!  SO many people came and Leland and I felt so loved.  This was the first time that I got to see Leland's name spelled out on a little backpack and written as a monogram.  It was very weird.  I just kept staring at the gifts with his name on them! I love them.  While I was home in Atlanta for the baby shower, sweet husband painted our living room and stairwell!  It looks so beautiful.  Nate hates painting and spend about 7 hours doing so while I was gone so I didn't breath in the gross paint fumes for me and baby!  How precious is he.  The only room we have left to paint in the whole house is our guest room.  It is still a work in progress so we are not in a rush to get that finished.  I also haven't figured out how I am going to decorate the guest bathroom/Leland's bathroom so that is still a pale blue from the previous owners.  We will see.  Too bad this precious whale wallpaper is  so expensive! 

I'm totally in LOVE with this wallpaper! 

Movement: Yes! Lots. 

Food cravings:  Sweets. Rootbeer floats!

Anything making you queasy or sick: The drainage from my cold is not helping with the nausea.  

Have you started to show yet: Yes.

Gender: BOY!

Labor Signs: I guess that I can add Braxton Hicks contractions to this section now!  I haven't had any that hurt but my stomach gets VERY TIGHT! Yesterday in Target I had to stop walking while pushing the cart to breath through one.  Pretty crazy! 

Belly Button in or out?  It is still in but getting A LOT flatter! 

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody: Happy!

  Looking forward to: I am so looking forward to a relaxing long weekend at the house with my puppy baby and hubby!  This is a very happy weekend because the NHL lockout is over and WE GET TO WATCH THE 1ST SABRES GAME OF THE SEASON ON SUNDAY!!!! Nate is thrilled beyond measure, and now Leland will finally get to hear Rick Jeanneret announce a Sabres game!  Also, I am going to Joann's with Jill to purchase a few fabric items so that she can make the curtains, crib skirt, and a few pillows for the nursery!  How exciting!  I can not wait until it all comes to fruition (the nursery & having a baby boy!).

nursery sneak peak - it's turning more nautical which is normally not my thing!  we will see when it's finished how it all looks! my nana made the quilt at the bottom of the bed!

baby closet on a budget!

     Today I was on a mission to complete baby Leland's closet so that I could get all of his clothes in his room and out of the guest room.  I had no reason for doing so except that I wanted to, and since I'm pregnant I'm allowed to demand things like that, right?! I have been scouring Pinterest looking for ideas of ways that we could turn the closet into something functional for a baby that could grow with a toddler and so on.  Nathan and I didn't want to spend hundreds of dollars at a store that specializes in organization and custom closets.  We don't have all of that extra cash lying around.  So, thankfully my parent's closet collapsed and they wanted to spend their money on a custom closet! They gave us all of the white wire shelves that had fallen down and Nate cut them to size and we designed the closet to fit our exact specifications.  The closet came with one long wire shelf.  We used two of the shelves that my parents donated to us and cut them to size.  We purchased the shelving accessories at Home Depot and spent $17 total.  We are pretty proud!

Step 1: find closet inspirations on Pinterest!

I knew I wanted two rows of hanging clothes and a spot to place baskets for pants, shoes, hats, pajamas, ect., because we do not have a dresser in the nursery!

I really liked the clean lines and solid wood in this closet.

  Step 2: draw a sketch for your handy husband so he knows exactly what you're visualizing because pregnancy makes it very hard to articulate your wants and needs in a clear way. 

I know that you're all jealous of my artistic skills!  

Step 3 & 4: sit back and watch your husband build the closet (in our case it is best when I am no where near the room telling him how I would do it in a more efficient way!) Fill your new closet with your puppy baby baby clothes and all of the things that you have been given and have no idea what do to with or where to store them! 

Here is the beautiful closet ready for clothes and baby items!

Our puppy baby was VERY curious about all of the crazy sounds coming from his future brother's room and wanted to check out the final product!

The finished closet!  I love it.  There is so much more space than I was imagining and we have so much room to hang more clothes!  Nate is going to add one more long shelf to go over the window to give us even more storage space!  We are also going to hang some adorable paintings in there to make it a super cute and fun space!

I am VERY happy with our finished product! Hope baby Leland loves it as much as his mommy!

30 Weeks!

How far along? 30 Weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 19.5 lbs.

Maternity clothes? Yes.I live in my black maternity leggings!

Stretch marks? No. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Sleep: Sleeping great considering I'm 30 weeks pregnant.  I think that I am still sleeping more than the average human.  I sleep anywhere from 7 and a half to 10 hours a night.  I am only waking up about 1 time a night to go to the bathroom.  I am sure all of this will change very soon, but for now I am enjoying every moment of rest!  I am still sleeping in the guest bedroom on our nice firm mattress!
 Other symptoms: The varicose veins are still a problem, but when I ice them they feel so much better!  I have pulled a muscle in my back on the right side.  I can no longer get out of bed on the right side.  I am getting a massage on Monday after work which I am pretty excited about!

Best moment this week:  I have been out of school this whole week so I have been organizing the house and clearing space for baby.  I have been crafting items for the nursery and purchasing fabric from Textile Fabrics and online for nursery items that Jill is going to make for me! Nate and I went to BrickTops for New Year's Eve this year, just the two of us!  It was so much fun!  We got appetizers, salads, drinks (I had my first glass of red wine since June), I got the most delicious steak, and we shared the famous skillet cookie with extra caramel sauce!  I ate every single bit of my food and was completely stuffed! It was so much fun.

Movement: Yes! Lots. 

Food cravings:  Sweets. Rootbeer floats!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Brushing my teeth has been making me a little nauseous and blowing my nose...weird. 

Have you started to show yet: Yes.

Gender: BOY!

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out?  It is still in but getting A LOT flatter!  Also, I have started to develop the linea nigra on my belly.  It is still very faint but you can see it if you are looking for it! 

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody: Happy!

  Looking forward to: Nathan and I are installing a "closet system" in the nursery.  I put it in quotes because we are really just hanging the white wire standard shelves that come in most homes.  My parent's closet completely collapsed (sad for them, good for us) and they gave us all of their shelving!  They are getting a new cool custom closet so don't feel too sorry for them! I have all of Leland's baskets labeled and filled to the top with clothes!  I haven't bought any clothes for him ( I just high five'd myself).  We have been given so many articles of clothing it is amazing!  It is weird to think that in just a few weeks he will be here wearing the clothes in these little baskets!

Bunting above the crib has been hung!  It adds a lot of color to the room so I am glad that we have a neutral color on the walls and white furniture!

Baskets filled with baby clothes are so cute!

Kitchen and living room colors! I love!

This past week I have been trying to complete decorating tasks that I have wanted to do this last year.  I have also been cleaning and organizing closets and cabinets to make extra room for Leland's things!  I am feeling very accomplished and really we just have a few more items on our "To Do List Before Baby" to complete! The main one is having Nathan paint the living room!  Hopefully I will be able to add a home update each week of something that we accomplished off of our list!