We took William to the pumpkin patch last week! He loved it!! There was so much for him to take in & he loved touching all the different textures of the pumpkins. Will is turning 6 months old next week, it’s so crazy to think he’s half a year old! He’s just getting more and more fun each day!!
Time is flying! I feel like I blinked and it’s October. This month William went on his first plane ride, discovered the possibilities of rolling over & sleeping on his tummy. He continues to babble & learned how to blow spit bubbles. His budding friendship with his fur sisters is just about the cutest thing I’ve seen. I can’t get enough of his tender curiousty with the world around him.
I finished week 3 of BBG last week & I’m LOVING it! I’m so excited to start week 4 tomorrow. I’m doing the program with two friends & it’s so much easier when you have other people keeping you on track. We don’t do the actual workouts together, but we keep one another motivated with a group chat.
This pumping bra is awesome! I ordered it on amazon & highly recommend it. So if you’re a new momma & are looking for a great & cheap pumping bra check this one out.
This weekend we took William out to brunch & he did so well, he was just sitting on Chris’ lap just taking it all in & then decided he’d spend the second half of brunch snoozing.
Chris & I started watching The Crown on Netflix & it’s SO good. I wasn’t sure if I would like it but the show is really well done. We realized we knew very little about the Royal Family at the start of the series & each episode we end up googling something that comes up.
We got William a little activity seat (it’s what he’s sitting in on in the first photo) & he looks SO big to me! He’s still a little small for the seat & doesn’t love it right now, but when he’s in there holding his head up he already looks so grown up!
I’m starting to plan out my work schedule when I return & even though I’m not going back to work until mid September, I have to submit my requests for my schedule at the end of this month & it makes it feel closer than it is. It’s so bittersweet thinking about having to go back to work. It makes me so sad to think about leaving William for 11 hours at time but I’m admittedly getting a little stir crazy being at home with not much on the calendar
Chris & I went on a date this weekend, we went out to dinner & to a Bob Schneider concert. It felt so nice to get out for a few hours.
Below are some of the workout songs I’ve been loving. I usually listen to “Firestone” station on Pandora & then I get ideas for what to put on my Spotify playlist.
hope everyone has a great week!
When I went in to be induced at 40 weeks & 3 days I was just so excited to meet my baby. Not a single ounce of me thought we wouldn’t take our full term son home for seven days. Instead of leaving the hospital two nights after my delivery, my husband & I would spend the next week sharing a 10×10 hospital room. We would wake every 2.5 hours to walk the 400 steps to the NICU to see our baby boy. After a difficult labor, lasting over 36 hours, our little boy had trouble maintaining his blood sugar levels & would spend the following week in the NICU trying to manage his sugar. This was not the plan. I had spent the previous 40 weeks with an otherwise seamless pregnancy, each scan & blood test giving us reassurance that everything was on track.
Our time spent in the NICU taught me more than I ever realized. During that week, we lived in 3 hour blocks. Just waiting for the next blood sugar check, verifying how his dextrose infusion was being titrated, waiting on critical labs to return. The first few days I was somewhat in denial that this was my reality. The ER nurse in me kept thinking “they’ll stabilize his sugar & he’ll be back in our post partum room & we’ll be right on track to go home”. It soon became clear he was going to be there longer than we had imagined & that we were going to have a NICU baby. We were joining an exclusive club no parent wants to be a member of, a club that puts you on a crash course of endless love & fierce protection for this little life you created. Below is some of what I learned from that week.
Look for silver linings anywhere and everywhere: This was huge for us, it kept us floating. Our silver linings were anything from a solid blood sugar reading this hour, to taking advantage of the fact that our little boy was being put on a regimented schedule & was learning to self soothe in the middle of the night since the nurses couldn’t immediately run to him or that he was learning to simultaneously breastfeed & bottle feed. All of these silver linings would be things we’d be thankful later!
Take the help: This is as simple as it sounds. Take people up when they offer to bring you things from the store, clothes from home, keep your dog an extra night (or 5!). One night my best friend & Chris’ brother came over in between feedings & we ordered pizza to our room. People desperately want to help you. Let them. Everyone will feel better.
Sometimes Cuddles Are Enough – One night when we were in the NICU for a feeding & Will wasn’t doing the best at breastfeeding a nurse reminded us that sometimes just holding your baby & being in the moment is plenty. Even though we wanted each feeding to be a great success to help with his blood sugar it realistically wasn’t going to perfect every time. So she encouraged instead of putting pressure on every feeding, to relax & just let him lay with us & know that being on us was just as powerful as any IV infusion. He was gaining comfort & love & security all things he would need to get better.
Feel the warmth: Something that struck me right off the bat being in the NICU was how much warmth there was. As an ER nurse I’d say warmth can be hard to find in an emergency department, however there’s no shortage of it when it comes to the people who dedicate their lives to caring for tiny humans. My recommendation is to let yourself feel it. As someone who doesn’t readily accept hugs from strangers, I found myself gladly taking the hugs from nurses I had just met.
Prepare for setbacks: This lesson sucks. But inevitably you’ll take two steps forward and one step back & it’ll sting. Honestly we weren’t prepared until we had our first major set back & it totally crushed us. A part of me felt guilty for feeling so crushed, when I looked around & saw babies on ventilators, or babies too sick to be held. I felt guilty for feeling so knocked down when our baby wasn’t close to being the sickest one there. Just know set backs will happen & it’s okay to cry, but know that it’ll get better. When we’d walk to the NICU for another feeding we’d talk about potential set backs & prepare ourselves for a low sugar & just talking about it being an option helped.
Think big: This became our motto before every blood sugar check. I’ve always believed in sending out good energy into the universe & as much as we mentally prepared for setbacks I think it’s equally important to be positive & to “think big thoughts”. Even though doctors & nurses are watching over, your baby needs you to believe in them & to be their cheerleader, now more than ever.
Do normal things. Walk outside. Listen to music. Shower. It’s amazing how a hot shower, or a walk around the block helped. It’s important to try to bring some normalcy to a very abnormal situation. There was a Starbucks one block from the hospital so we’d try to go for an afternoon walk & get a coffee. It felt so strange to walk outside & remember there is a whole world outside of the windowless walls of the NICU where our whole world lay in an isolet. I really believe those little pockets of normalcy kept us going, as did the afternoon coffees!
Support Each Other: I would not have been able to make it through this experience without my husband. At various points we each had to be the person to pick the other one up. We knew our son needed us & he needed us to be in a good place. Who ever your support person is, let them support you. And return the favor when they need it. Celebrate the baby steps together, cry when you need to.
Lastly,
Know the NICU isn’t anyone’s first choice. No ones birth plan includes a week long stay in the NICU, ours certainly didn’t. This isn’t how it’s supposed to be & it’s okay to be upset about that. No one will truly understand unless they’ve been through it. The simultaneous urge to fiercely protect your baby paired with the total lack of control over the situation can make even the strongest people weak. For some reason I’ll never know, this was our journey. Having made it out on the other side I’m thankful for the lessons it taught me & how it forever shaped me as a mother. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the feeling of getting to dress our baby in his first outfit & walk out those double doors. The bitter-sweetness of being so incredibly thankful for the hearts that took such good care of him that week, but wishing all the babies got to go home.
If you stumbled onto this post because you’re going through a similar journey my heart aches for you. It aches for all the moms & dads that don’t get to walk out those doors with their babies like they planned.
^moments before we walked out of the NICU
With my due date just a few days away I’ve been thinking a lot about ways I’ve spent the last couple of months & there are a few things that I think every soon to be mama should put on her list.
Did any other mommas feel this end of season bittersweetness I describe? I know that in a week or two I probably won’t even remember I felt this way!
This past Sunday I hit 37 weeks & it feels so surreal that this baby is going to make his or her appearance any day now. I’m officially off of work as of last week & am fully in preparation mode. As a nurse I’m used to having random week days off, so at first it just felt like I had a long stretch of days off but now it’s really setting in that I won’t be heading back to work until the fall! Throughout the entirety of Chris & my relationship I have either worked nightshift or for the past 3 years worked swing shifts which meant coming home around 2am. So this is the first time in five years that we’re seeing each other every night & eating dinner / going to bed together like most couples, it’s something we were both very excited about!
As for how I’m spending my final weeks pre baby? Well I’m certainly soaking in taking afternoon naps & just resting whenever I feel like. But I’ve also got a decent list of little projects that I’m trying to tackle, mostly random cleaning or organization tasks. Our baby room is done, our hospital bags are packed & my freezer is already stuffed to the brim with food for once baby is here. My parents are finally back in town, they spent the month of March away so I can breathe easy knowing they are just a few hour drive away if baby decides to come early now. My mom is planning to come next week to help me with some cleaning, which I’m pretty excited about. Aside from cleaning & resting I’m wrapping up some last minute self care items: getting new glasses, getting my hair cut etc. And of course I’m going to acupuncture especially as I get closer & closer. My major goal this week is to finish our 2017 photo book, I make one each year with all our pictures & I’m SO close to finishing last years & I know I absolutely NEED to get it done before this baby gets here otherwise it may never happen so that is a top item this week.
Below is a photo from the last shift I worked. My amazing coworkers threw my the sweetest send off, it was super hero themed on account of me being SUPER pregnant.
San Francisco has been experiencing some of the most beautiful spring weather for the last week, late into the afternoon you can still comfortably walk around in shorts & a T-shirt. It’s been amazing, & we’ve definitely been taking advantage. Here’s some photos from the past week in all this beautiful weather! My little baby is officially the size of a pineapple which seems SO big. I haven’t been doing serial bump shots in the same outfit or anything like that, but I occasionally get inspired to document the bump because I know it’ll be gone before I know it. So today I got some photos to commemorate week 29, the pineapple week, Juno was very intrigued as to what was happening. This past week I’ve started to feel really pregnant. I’m way more tired after a standard day & notice that it’s just getting harder to move around. The nurse in me knows it’s my bodies way of telling me I shouldn’t be trying to do quite as much. So I’ve been trying to my best to listen & slow down a little bit. I’ve been trying to find easy ways to get Juno exercised & the beach is definitely a fail safe. So yesterday we spent the afternoon at Ocean Beach, I was able to sit on a blanket & let the bump get some sunshine while Juno chased after a ball. Along with feeling more tired, I’ve noticed that my cravings are coming back & once I have my mind set on something I have to have it! This morning it was a sourdough bagel with the honey almond shmear from Noah’s Bagels. Juno & I walked 2 miles round trip in order to get this & it was SO worth it! I’m spending the next five out of six days working, so needless to say we don’t have anything exciting planned this weekend, but next weekend we’re going on our second mini babymoon & I’m super excited!
Happy Friday ❤
Belly Balm – I started religiously applying some kind of cream or balm to my growing belly at least once a day during the second trimester. Your bump starts expanding so fast that your skin starts to itch! My favorite balm was this one from Mother Love & it’s a salve so it’s really thick but starts to melt as soon as it goes on the skin. Because of how thick it is I use it a night so it can really soak in. I also used the Burts Bees Belly Butter. The belly butter has a much thinner consistency and is more like a cream, so I used it during the day. You certainly don’t have to spend a fortune on lotion or balm or salve, but it’s definitely worth putting something on your ever growing belly even if it’s just plain coconut oil!
Register – We started our registry pretty early, I think we went to Buy Buy Baby when I was about 4 months along. Since I work every other weekend, & the timing with the holidays we registered a little on the early side, but it ended up being nice because family could get us things off our registry for Christmas. And it was nice not to feel rushed, we were able to slowly add things to our registry over the last two months or so.
Maternity Clothes – You’re gonna need em but you don’t have to spend a fortune. I found great deals on clothes from Thred Up. Slightly used or new maternity clothes for a fraction of the price? What’s not to love. Another tip for getting affordable maternity clothes? Living in San Francisco & being pregnant primary in the fall / winter, I’m not in need of tons of dresses or shorts, but instead needed warm long sleeves tee’s & sweaters. I found GREAT deals on sweaters believe it or not in the men’s section. I got some really cheap & totally comfy long sleeves from Old Navy for, I kid you not, $8!!! I also got a few sweaters from the Target men’s department. Even before I was pregnant I would always cruise the men’s clearance or sales racks at places like Banana Republic for sweaters. Men’s sweaters are typically thicker and cozier. I’m not always a huge fan of the fit of some women’s sweaters. I tend to lean toward a looser / warmer fit. I also discovered H&M’s mama line & the jeans I’ve lived in the last few months are from there.
Plan / Go on a babymoon – it doesn’t have to be extravagant, it doesn’t have to be week long, but planning a night or two should be on your to do list. We had contemplated going to Hawaii for a babymoon but decided we would rather save that trip for later in the year with baby! Instead we opted to for two smaller getaways that were driving distance. We went to a cabin in Tahoe to enjoy some snow you can see my post on our trip here . Our other small babymoon is going to be in Pismo Beach toward the end of February. We’re staying at a really nice resort that’s right on the beach & is dog friendly! Setting aside a little bit of time for just you & your partner is so important & feels so valuable as the weeks start ticking by & as due dates draw closer.
Skincare Routine – If you don’t already have a go to skincare routine, I think the second trimester is the perfect time to establish one. In the first trimester the idea of washing my face & going through multiple steps was nauseating. By the second trimester you have more energy so I think it’s a perfect time to set aside 10 minutes a night to make yourself feel a little extra pampered, plus your skin will thank you. My favorite overnight cream is Origins Night-a-Mins Renewal Cream.
Pre-Natal Yoga– Your second & third trimesters are a great time to find a prenatal yoga class. I started mine about a month ago & every time I go I’m so happy I signed up. It’s offered through our hospital & meets once a week for 90 minutes. I really started to notice my body begin tightening up more & more as my belly grew this trimester. My back would be sore by the end of the day. So going to a class that specifically focuses on how to adjust poses to make them the most beneficial for your ever expanding belly is so important. Plus it’s a great way to meet other women who are expecting babies right around the same time as you. If you’re in the San Francisco area check out SF Prenatal Yoga this website lists all the prenatal yoga classes available & gives you information on the instructors so you can see if you think the class will be a good fit. Besides getting 90 minutes of stretching in each week, I also find myself leaving class will other valuable insights about ways to relieve acid reflux, recommendations on doulas, birth books etc.
Compression Socks – This is my final must this trimester. If you’re at all on your feet during the day, or if you notice you’re having leg pain or leg swelling do yourself a favor & invest in a pair or two of these. Being a nurse I’ve heard the praises be sung about compression socks for years & years by veteran nurses. I would occasionally wear them pre-pregnancy but now I wear them every.single.day. at work. Standing for 10 to 12 hours even not pregnant is hard work for your legs, so wearing these has made a huge difference. Also if you’re planning any sort of air travel either for a babymoon, to visit family or for work you should definitely be rocking some of these as our tendency to develop blood clots while pregnant is much higher. If the comfort factor isn’t selling you, know that they can also help prevent vericose veins. Amazon has a ton of options for compression socks so in 1-2 days you yourself could be enjoying all the benefits & comfort, no but seriously get yourself a pair!
Growing up I spent a handful of New Year’s in Rio de Janiero on Copacabana beach, where my mom is originally from. Brazilian tradition involves wearing all white on New Year’s Eve to symbolize peace and renewal. It also includes putting flowers into the ocean as a gift to the goddess of the sea & to bring good luck into the new year. These traditions date back to the 1500’s. Ever since I’ve lived in San Francisco I’ve made it a point to take advantage of my close proximity to the ocean & walk out into the water on new years. There’s something so peaceful about going to the beach & thinking about the whole year to come.
I’ve spent the past five new years working in the ER. I always choose to work NYE for a few reasons: 1. it’s endlessly entertaining in the ER 2. I love my coworkers & we bring a ton of food & decorations & have lots of fun 3. I want to have Christmas off so I always volunteer to work on NYE.
Turning the page on 2017 & going into 2018 is so exciting. 2017 was filled with so many wonderful memories. We spent an incredible two weeks exploring Spain & Portugal, we enjoyed SF Giants spring training in Scottsdale for my birthday, we saw friends get married, camped in Timber Cove, found out in late summer we’d be having a baby & so much more! I’m excited & anxious for the year to come, I know it will be our biggest one yet! With everything on the horizon, it feels good to lean on old traditions. Even though this past weekend I’ve been combating a terrible head cold while working 11 hour nights I’m so glad we made a point to get to the beach & throw our flowers in the water. I can’t wait to do it next year with our baby in tow.
Happy New Year! I’d love to hear what some of your New Year traditions are, leave them in the comments below.
Now that we’ve announced we’re expecting & I’m well out of the first trimester I figured it’s time to post about the things that helped me survive those first few months.
Pregnancy Countdown Book – This countdown style book has a little blurb for each day. It’s also separated out by weeks & trimester. The weekly sections are short enough that I can read it aloud to my husband in about 5 or 10 minutes & then he feels like he’s well informed for the week to come. I like that this book isn’t terribly dense, it gives real life advice from real mommas & has a lighthearted feel which makes it fun to read. Pregnancy doesn’t have to be this in depth research project you embark on as soon as the second line appears. I have some knowledge I retained from my nursing school semester of maternity, but otherwise I find this book to be just informative enough & then I save my questions for whenever I see my doctor. I will mention that I do plan to read Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth once I hit my 3rd trimester, but for the first few weeks this book was plenty.
Raw Prenatals – These vitamins are a serious must have. They are raw whole food vitamins that are gluten free & don’t have any fillers. Any momma to be knows that one of most important reasons to take prenatals is Folate or Folic Acid so our babies don’t have any neural tube defects. One thing I love about these vitamins is that they have Folate which is the natural form, versus Folic Acid which is synthetic. It can be hard to find prenatals that are made with true Folate, so that was initially what drew me to these vitamins. They also contain ginger which is a game changer during the first trimester. Other vitamins I tried were not easy to swallow, literally. I got vitamins from whole foods & each time I opened the jar I would gag because they smelled so bad, they were also huge tablets which weren’t easy to take when you’re already so nauseated. These Raw Vitamin Code Prenatals are small capsules that don’t have any strong scent. The box even says you can open the capsule and our the powder into some water and drink it, I never did this so I can’t comment on how that would taste but if you struggle to take pills that could intrigue you. Doctors are now recommending that women also take an omega 3 fatty acid supplement, otherwise known as DHA along with their prenatal. I’ve been taking Nordic Naturals
Face Wipes – Do yourself a favor & just buy a pack of your favorite face wipes. Once week 7 hit I was so tired & so nauseated that at the end of the day all I wanted to do was crawl into bed. I couldn’t bring myself to wash my face every night so I lived on these. I personally love the Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleansing Cloths. They’re super gentle & take all your makeup off.
Ovia App – When it comes to pregnancy applications there’s dozens to choose from. I originally used Glow to track fertility but switched over to the Ovia App. It’s easy to use, I like that it gives you little “tid-bits” about your baby each day & there’s a calendar feature which makes seeing how many weeks you are really easy. I also love that they have a feature that shows how big the baby’s hands & feet are versus how big they’ll be at 9 months! At first it seems like the hand is never growing but now I’m at 21 weeks and the hand all of the sudden looks huge! Side note: I try really hard to avoid the online forums, I think they’re more anxiety producing than they are helpful because most of the time it’s just other random people on the internet answering whatever question you pose.
Cool Eye Mask – Originally when I purchased this San Francisco was going through it’s once in a lifetime heatwave & I was just about 6 or 7 weeks pregnant. You put this eye mask in the freezer and then put it on before bed. I became addicted to sleeping with this each night during my first trimester. Something about having the coolness on your eyes when you’re feeling like you’re gonna hurl just made me feel better. I was never able to sleep with it on the whole night, I usually woke up a few hours later and took it off, but I really do think it helped me get to sleep. Added bonus the coolness is supposed to help with any dark circles under your eyes!
Acupuncture: I have been going to acupuncture for over 5 years for various ailments. I started going originally for a pulled hamstring & was sold after I was able to make a full recovery. Since that time I usually would go once every six weeks or so as a preventive measure for my back. Being an ER nurse takes a toll with standing all day, lifting patients, & just other awkward body mechanics. When we started trying to conceive I knew I wanted acupuncture to play a role. After going for one full cycle we were able to conceive the following month! So needless to say after I found out I was pregnant I wanted to keep going especially during those first few weeks when your risk for loss is the highest. Acupuncture helps promote blood flow to the places where you need it the most & can help relieve some of the uncomfortable symptoms of pregnancy like nausea, bloating, constipation etc. I also find it to be meditative. Usually they’ll place the needles and then let you rest in a dark, warm room for about 30 minutes. It’s a great pause in an otherwise hectic day to day life. Usually I find myself in a half sleep state & I walk out more relaxed than any massage has ever made me! I recommend acupuncture to everyone for all sorts of ailments but especially if you’re trying to conceive. If you are in the San Francisco area you should 100% check out Blue Ova they’re honestly the BEST!
Apple Sauce packs – this obviously isn’t a must have for everyone but this was one of the few things I could stomach eating during those first few months. I probably hadn’t eaten apple sauce in at least a decade but I found myself eating a few packs of these day. But honestly my best advice is to eat whatever sounds good and whatever you can stomach! I lived on chicken broth, apple sauce and miso soup probably for a month straight. But take comfort in the fact that feeling really nauseated means your body is producing the hormones it needs for a healthy pregnancy!
What are some your pregnancy must haves?! Comment below I’d love to find out.
East Bay Mama 