30w0d

We were out of town last weekend and I didn't feel like doing a post, so this will have my 29w update as well I guess. Honestly, not much has changed in the last week so it doesn't hurt to smush the two together.

Well, Jillian and I have made it through 3/4 of this pregnancy! I cannot believe I only have 10-11 weeks until I am holding my little girl in my arms! I am beyond excited!!

I don't really have plans for this post so it probably won't flow well :P

Here's a random picture of Jill's headbands/bows:

This is her bow collection!

The day before we left to visit the IL's in Chicago, BRU was having a sale on the Snap N Go Stroller frames. If you remember, I bought that hunking jogging stroller second hand for beach and park trips when we move to SC. I didn't want a huge travel system for the infant car seat and the sale was half off any stroller frame with the purchase of the infant car seat. I looked on the website and the car seat we originally wanted was on sale. I don't typically like the character gear because it can get pretty cheesy, but Keith and I loooove the Minnie Mouse line at BRU. It is all purple and it isn't covered in pictures of Disney characters or anything. I ended up trying to be practical and took all of it off of the registry. The same products without the Minnie Mouse name on them were much much cheaper. The car seat we wanted was the Graco Snugride 30 which retails for roughly around 130 when it isn't on sale. The Minnie Mouse goes for 160 (and the same goes for the high chair, pack n play, and swing in the Minnie Mouse collection). WELL, for some reason the Minnie car seat was on sale online for 130 last week on the same day they announced the half off frame sale! I rushed into the store because I knew I wouldn't be home if it was shipped to us bc of our vacation. I get there at like 7pm and the car seat is still 160 and the stroller frame was 10 bucks more than online too! Thankfully, BRU was also doing a promotion for free site-to-store pickup so I sat my butt in there and ordered the car seat and stroller online to have it picked up in the store. I had to kill an hour or so in the store for them to receive and get my order ready, but it was worth it! I saved 40 bucks just ordering it online instead of buying it in the store, plus I got the frame for half off! (BTW, I picked the baby trend brand frame since it runs about 20-30 bucks cheaper than the one specific for Graco and it fits the car seat perfectly!).

I am so in love with our little girl's car seat! I just think it is absolutely adorable! The stroller is freaking amazing too! It weighs pretty much nothing and folds up incredibly small which is going to be perfect and easy for quick trips to the mall or store and maybe if we fly out to Chicago. We'll make the decision on stroller or carrier once she gets here. I honestly hope to wear her as much as possible, but Keith hasn't shown much interest so far in babywearing. I'm hoping he will change his mind. I purchased a gray soft carrier (ergo), and I registered for a black moby (so very gender neutral in the hopes that he will try them out bc they're not girly).

I gave my snoogle a little make over before we left as well. With my first pregnancy, I bought the Leachco Snoogle Loop. I love the pillow bc I switch sides several times throughout the night and I didn't want to have to worry about carrying a pillow with me. With this one, I can just roll over inside of it. The issue is.. it comes with this ugly white pillow case and you cannot purchase others (except more white ones). That does not work for me bc we have a black dog. He doesn't shed much, but it is enough to be annoying. Also, this pillow case fits VERY tightly and it digs into your shoulder if you lay a certain way on it. I went to Jo-Ann's and bought some of their snuggle fleece fabric and made this case for it! It is SO freaking soft and cute!

I also bought Jillian a Rock N Play from a resale group on facebook for my area. It is so adorable and really light and easy to fold up. I will likely keep her bassinet in my room by the bed since it is higher and more on level with our bed and she will nap in the RnP downstairs.

Another little random.. I made Keith this hat! I am pretty proud of myself and I think he likes it! He has been begging me to make him a hat with ear flaps and I finally did! I need to get a pic of him with it on since it looks awkward when I'm just holding it flat.

Anyways, my first appointment with my new doctor and midwife is next week. I'm excited and nervous. I'm hoping Keith will be off so he can come with me. I never minded that Keith didn't make any appointments until I read that a lot of people have their husbands/SOs go with them. Keith has only been to my first ultrasound. He couldn't even come to the anatomy scan.

Speaking of anatomy scan. I might be totally crazy, but I think I'm going to schedule an elective u/s ASAP. I am dying to see Jillian again. Keith is on a snowboarding trip and he has duty days on both ends of the trip, so I'm essentially home alone for 4 days straight. I'm gonna try to get in tomorrow (as in Saturday.. I am writing this at like 2am on Saturday).

Our trip to IL/IN was pretty good. It was great seeing all of Keith's family. It is the first time I got to see most of them in over a year and we haven't seen Keith's immediate family since the wedding (except his mom and one sister when they visited back in May).

And speaking of weddings.. we celebrated our 1 year anniversary the other night! We didn't exchange gifts since we had the expensive trip and we actually spent most of the day driving home from IL and then napping since we drove overnight. We went to dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse and went all out :P It wasn't anything fancy, but we ate a crapton of food! Our anniversary tier got ruined during a storm or something (it was in VA at my grandparents) so we just had cake there. It was a great and laid back day. I loved it!

This whole post is jumpy and random.. oh well :P I need to get some sleep!

How far along? 30w0d!
Total weight gain/loss? I think I'm floating somewhere around 134lb according to my scale at home. That puts me at only 6lb down from pre-pregnancy weight! I guess I over-indulged over the holidays lol
Stretch marks? Some of the ones on my left side are expanding. They are turning pink again and appear a little longer even though my right side ones are purple and the same..
Sleep? Sleep is still giving me problems. Busting my pillow out has helped some.
Best moment last week? Visiting family in Chicago! I also am in love with Jill's new car seat and stroller. I keep pushing it around upstairs!
Movement? My lovely daughter has something wedged in the right side of my ribcage and it makes it awkward and uncomfortable to be in some positions or lean forward unless I turn to the left and lean. She had a very slow day while we were away and I did kick counts for the first time. She got her 10 movements in like 20 minutes, but it was pretty slow for her. Usually she's a maniac in there! I wonder how many times she actually kicks in an hour or two when I'm laying down. I have never counted and I was surprised she made it to 10 so quickly when she was being very calm. We seriously must have a wild child in there
Food cravings? any kind of sweets really
Belly button in/out? The top maybe 1/4 of it is out, the rest is just getting flatter, but is still in
Braxton Hicks/contractions? I may have had one the other day when my belly felt really hard, but I honestly wasn't sure. It wasn't super obvious and I only noticed bc I was rubbing my belly. I thought I'd know for sure if I was having a BH, but what do I know?
What I miss: A good night's sleep
What I am looking forward to: my baby shower!!!
Milestones: I'm officially 3/4 baked! Yay me and Jillian!

29w0d

My bump at 20w and 30w

DIY: Burp Cloth Embellishing

Alright, this one was super easy and super frustrating. I would definitely use different materials if I were making these as gifts.

Supplies:
I bought the Gerber cloth diapers 10-pack. Everyone always tells me they're the best for cheap spit up rags
Ribbon
Thread
Scissors
Pins
Sewing Machine


Steps:
Wash and dry the diapers. They will quilt up after the first wash and dry, so I'm assuming it'd distort the ribbon if you waited until after it was sewn together

 

Cut your ribbon to just a tad longer than the diaper long-ways. You want two strips of coordinating ribbon for each diaper

 Pin the ribbon. I chose to try and cover the seams that are in the diaper.

 Sew each edge of the ribbon down.

 Viola!

 Since the diapers quilt up and get all stretchy, it was a headache trying to sew straight lines while attaching the ribbons. If I used a less stretchy fabric (or was maybe a better sewer), they would have turned out a lot prettier. These were cheap and quick though! I'm sure Jill won't mind when I'm cleaning up her throw up and milk mouth with them!

28w0d

Another week has gone by and I struggle to remember where the time went!

Today, I am a tiny bit grumpy and a lot bit tired. I guess the lovely aches and pains (mainly crotch pain and pain from laying on my back) have been waking me up constantly at night. Last night, Keith snored so loud that I finally gave up trying to sleep at 12:30am and I've been up ever since. 5pm feels MUCH later than it is today..

I've been crafting a little bit and should have at least one DIY post up before we leave for vacation Thursday. I have been working on embellishing burp cloths. I also have fabric in the wash right now for making a slip cover for my pregnancy pillow, but I'm making this one up as I go and I've never sewn something so big or sewn a zipper before so IDK if I will finish it before we leave. I also plan to make some reusable breast pads pretty soon out of my flannel scrap fabric.

Sorry, not a fun update today. I did that huge post the other day and haven't really been up to much since then. I did pick up a rock n play today for Jillian. Another thing marked off of the list!

I made her this adorable bear hat today!

Not bad for my first attempt! I like the half double crochet hat much better than the single crochet hat (the yellow hat I made Jill). I popped two of these out in like 3 hours this morning (the first one looked absolutely terrible so that's why I made two)

How far along? 28w0d!
Total weight gain/loss? As of this morning, I am 130. Down 10lb total for the pregnancy, but up 10lb since the loss stopped
Stretch marks? No new ones
Sleep? Oh sleep.. I am finding it hard to get comfortable, fall asleep, stay asleep, etc. I'm tired pretty much all of the time. I looked it up and I should be taking double the iron I have been taking, so hopefully that'll help with the fatigue I've been feeling this past week.
Best moment last week? All of my awesome buys! I am so excited to have Jill's stuff in the house. It makes it feel more real
Movement? Pretty standard this week. She's finally in my ribs and sometimes it makes me jump or I can't bend in that direction bc there's a little foot or hand stuck right under them. It's pretty bizarre having a little person kick you from the inside
Food cravings? s'mores
Belly button in/out? Still in. No change from last week
Braxton Hicks/contractions? None so far.
What I miss: A good night's sleep
What I am looking forward to: visiting family over Christmas
Milestones: I'll be 3/4 done in two weeks. Other than that, no major milestones coming up soon.

Don't worry.. I wouldn't wear this odd-fitting shirt in public. I put it on when I got home today! 28w0d with Puppy backside!

EDIT: In case anyone wanted the pattern for the hat, http://www.crochetgeek.com/2011/12/crochet-cap-with-bear-ears-small-infant.html    Crochet Geek is the easiest so far for me to follow. She has youtube videos of her crocheting the patterns and it is terribly helpful for when I am stuck or confused. I am getting better at reading patterns from cross-checking her videos with the patterns too.

Baby Gear

Okay. Baby gear is overwhelming. Don't let anyone tell you that it isn't. I mean they write books about it (and they aren't short books either..)! If you want to be sane, buy the Baby Bargains book. I thought to myself, "why on earth would I SPEND MONEY on a book to save me money?!" Trust me, just do it. They cover pretty much everything. They tell you what is and isn't okay to buy used. They rate brands for certain items and give you their best picks for each baby gear category. There are one million different car seats/strollers/cribs/bottles/clothes/etc in all price ranges and it is really hard to narrow it all down.

My method for making a registry was to first read the BB book. I then took their recommendations and went online to read reviews (and instead of reading reviews for 30 car seats, I picked out the top rated ones from BB). Then, I slowly added things to it in the beginning of my pregnancy, but kept my registry private and unsearchable (I wasn't ready to let anyone buy things yet and I still had a very rough registry). Sometime between my elective u/s, when we found out Jill had a vagine, and my anatomy scan, I opened up the registry to the public and I dragged Keith to BabysRUs and let him scan things. I wanted to see a lot of the gear in person. Then, I went home and deleted all of the frivolous things Keith insisted on scanning :P (seriously.. a baby doesn't need a $60 jet tub! and, no, I am not kidding.. Keith scanned it and insisted she have one). I looked for the same or similar things on Amazon and added them to that registry. I chose to do two places because I knew some people would want to shop in the store (BRU.. even though BRU sucks and their prices are jacked up) and I knew Amazon had more of a selection and better prices (plus, I don't have to worry about shit being unavailable in the store). Now, I am constantly going on my registries and changing things.

I am in a few pregnancy groups so I hear different opinions on what is "necessary," "really nice to have," "a life-saver," "a waste," etc from experienced moms. That's why I feel like my registry is ever changing. It scares me that one day we'll actually have to make real decisions on what Jillian needs lol.

Something that makes me so happy is saving money. I love to shop, but I hate to pay full-price for things. I have been stalking my local resale facebook groups and craigslist for baby gear lately. I am SO excited about my finds. I scored a swing for $25 (retail for $80-120), a bouncer for $10 (I can't find the same bouncer.. but they range from $25-60), a jogging stroller for $50 (retail for $120-180), an activity mat for $7 (retails for $35), a breast pump for $40 (retails for $130-220), and a few toys (I paid $3.50 for two and I know one of them is a $15 toy).

My second-hand finds (breast pump not pictured.. I'm sure no one wants to see that :P)

 So, my favorite score so far is actually the breast pump. I got the Ameda Purely Yours. It gets rave reviews like the Medela Pump In Style Advance, but is about 50-75 bucks cheaper. The Medela comes in a handy little travel case and is supposedly more portable. I had the Medela on my registry. The problem with the Medela is that some of the milk apparently gets pumped back into the machine part (from what I've read) and it cannot be cleaned out. This pump is NOT shareable. Some people do, but it really skeeves me out even thinking about old milk being mixed in with my milk and then feeding it to Jillian.. especially a stranger's milk. The Ameda is a closed system, which means the milk does not back up into the pump parts. You can boil to sterilize or buy new tubing and flanges and whatever else for it and it is like using your own pump! Hell! I'll pay $40 for a used pump and then $20 for new parts over paying $250 for a brand new one that I can't re-sell any day! I am SO glad I came across this deal. The lady even had the accessory kit for it.

My dad has bought a few things off of the registry for my Christmas present this year! I was SO excited to get some things in for Jill (this was before my finds mentioned above). He got us a new changing pad (I have one that was gifted to me, but it is pretty old and now we can have one for her room and one for the floor downstairs), the pack n play (we went with the basic one because I didn't think the fancy attachments were worth how much more they cost (plus they have low weight limits)), a small diaper pail, a pail liner, a swaddle blanket/sack, a crib sheet, a water-proof mattress pad, and a lovelace freetime! I finally have a lovelace in OS!

I FINALLY got some new fluff mail today.. those Glow Bugs that I ordered, ohhh..., two months ago! I think I ordered them before Oct 5th (I wanna say that's when the order closed). I seriously have some great things to say about doing co-ops! Essentially, co-ops are huge groups on facebook that do group buys from loads of companies for wholesale (or better) prices. Usually, when you order HUGE amounts of items, companies will give you a crazy discount. The co-ops usually charge a fee per order depending on how many items (usually 2-3 bucks) and then you pay the shipping fees. The co-op fee is for the host (the lady that places the order). Everything is shipped from the company to her and then she takes her time to sort and pack and ship everything to the mamas that ordered the goodies! Usually the prices are well worth the co-op and shipping fees.

Glow bugs in kitten, retro, and dahlias

I also picked up that sweet basket (^) today to put a mini stash of Jillian's diapers and wipes for changes downstairs (because her main stash will be in her bedroom and I am NOT climbing the stairs every time she pees her pants)

Here's Jill's closet now. You can't even see all of the clothes shoved in there!

Jill's closet is stuffed as much as I can stuff it! Her baskets up top have pants, towels/washcloths/bath toys, swaddle blankets, hats/headbands (there are 4 total and I got the set WITH the laundry basket at walmart for 25-30 bucks). Then there are two scentsy buddies. On the left is her laundry basket, diaper pail, the old changing pad, a gifted activity mat, the pack n play, and that tub with plain onesies, shirts, shoes, books, sheets, mattress pads, blankets, the crib skirt, and other misc things. The right has her play gym, the pink basket full of newborn diapers, and the huge tub full of OS diapers, prefolds (NB size), and wipes. Next to that is her other changing pad (you can't see it in the picture).

I promise I am ALMOST done boring you! Keith gave me my Christmas present yesterday. I asked him for a sewing kit to put my threads and scissors in. I have been packing away my sewing machine in the box and then putting all of my random things like fabric scraps and needles in plastic grocery bags.. very fancy! So he went and got me the most awesome sewing table EVER! It has cabinet storage and folds up to look like a regular cabinet. I have pictures (DUH!) to show you what I mean!

Yeah, he wins for awesome/thoughtful gift of the year! I am so in love with it! I don't have a TON of sewing stuff yet, so I have room for all of my crafting stuff (yarn, knitting needles, crochet hooks, scrapbook paper, etc.) I absolutely love it!

I highly doubt he reads my blog, so I'll gush.. I got him sweet Harley-Davidson motorcycle boots! He really needs some riding boots and these are awesome and, from what I've read, comfortable!

Today, I went to my dear friend's house to hang out with her and her mom. I had so much fun and it was so relaxing to get out of the house, but still just hang around on the couch watching tv with someone other than my dog. She has offered to host my baby shower and I couldn't be more excited! It is incredibly sweet of her and I'm SO thankful! It will be January 26th, if I leave anything left on my registry :P

I will leave you with a bump picture, and a promise that hopefully early next week or this weekend I will do at least one DIY post. I am still debating on what.. I'm thinking of heading to Jo Ann's tomorrow (I have a few coupons) and getting fabric for a case for my pregnancy pillow and/or burp cloths. I also plan to make some sweet bandana-shaped bibs (so freaking cute) in the near future!

Me looking a hot mess today at 27w5d. I still feel teeny-tiny.

27w0d

WOOHOO for 3rd tri! We've made it so far!

Up until 21 weeks: 0% survival rate

at 22 weeks: 0-10% survival rate

at 23 weeks: 10-35% survival rate

at 24 weeks: 40-70% survival rate

at 25 weeks: 50-80% survival rate

at 26 weeks: 80-90% survival rate

at 27 weeks: greater than 90% survival rate

---- ---- ---- ----
according to the March of Dimes

Yeah, I'm digging those odds. I certainly don't want to have a premature baby. I'd love for Jill to stay in until at least 38-42 weeks, but it feels great to know if something were to happen, that she's got around a 90% chance of survival (I'm honestly unsure about the chances of her having any medical problems related to premature birth though).

Not much is going on this week. I switched doctors. I originally chose my practice because it was recommended to me before I moved to CT and before I was even KU with my Sept baby. I knew I was moving up here and the girl just told me that's where she would recommend. The practice has 5 doctors and the one doctor that I really liked moved to Boston ): I called up a new practice that is just one doctor and a midwife. I'm excited to see if my care is a bit more personalized. I also want to talk induction policies for "overdue" moms. My original practice wouldn't change my due date from one based on LMP to one based on O date and how baby was measuring in my early dating u/s. They also have a policy to induce on 41w0d. That's a big deal to me. Jillian could decide she's going to come on her own in that 4 day difference and I'd like to give her until 42 weeks before I try to evict her (unless there's a serious medical reason). I don't want to touch pitocin with a 10 foot pole.

Anyways, there isn't much else to discuss since my next appointment isn't until 30 weeks and I haven't done any crafts recently. My next project will likely be burp cloths and/or bibs though. Stay tuned for shitty DIY posts from me!

How far along? 27w0d!
Total weight gain/loss? As of yesterday, I was 129 (so down 11lb since day 1, but up 9lb since I started gaining around 20-21w)
Stretch marks? No new ones
Sleep? I'm struggling with this sleep crap. I keep getting my schedule switched bc I can't sleep all night and end up sleeping all day. Right now I'm running on ~3hrs in an attempt to correct it and I'm counting down the time until it is acceptable to sleep on a Saturday night..
Best moment last week? Jill was a crazy person the past few days. Definitely entertaining and made me smile
Movement? See above. The little booger is definitely practicing her dance moves and I think I may have felt hiccups last night, but I'm honestly not sure. My whole entire belly was jumping for a few minutes
Food cravings? I have killed 4 granny smith apples in the last 24 hours
Belly button in/out? In. The bitch is a tease. It has been slowly stretching out for weeks now. We'll see when she pops!
Braxton Hicks/contractions? None so far. I hear people usually start getting the BHs in 3rd tri so I added this in!
What I miss: Not waddling after having a really active day - I have to keep this from last week.. I am waddling like I'm full term with twins after having a shopping day with Crammy :P
What I am looking forward to: visiting family over Christmas
Milestones: I just hit 3rd tri! I can't think of any real milestones coming up (well most aren't "real" anyways.. like the double digit countdown dealy). I guess next up is being 3/4 done at 30 weeks, 35/35 (35 weeks down with 35 days to go), 37 weeks is full term, 40 weeks will be her due date, and I'm sure 41w or so will be Jill's actual birthday :P

The past 10 weeks

26w4d

Full size at 27w0d!

DIY: Tag blanket for baby

I am a super novice sewer. I have made a total of 3-4 things with my sewing machine, so this project is one that someone with just basic knowledge can do!

Supplies:
Scissors
Sewing Machine
Coordinating thread
16x16in patterned fabric (I used fleece because it's super soft) washed and dried
16x16in soft/fuzzy fabric washed and dried
16x16in warm and natural batting
Assorted ribbons
Pins
Optional - Rotary cutter and mat

Steps:
After washing, drying, and ironing the fabric (so it doesn't shrink and get distorted after you make it and wash it), cut 16x16 in pieces of each kind of fabric using scissors or your rotary cutter (much much faster)
Lay your patterned fabric right side up on your table
Pin the ribbons onto the edges (I randomly chose sizes and lengths) about an inch and a half up (so they aren't in the way when sewing)

(Some of the ribbons may be too thin to pin horizontally, so when sewing, just pull the pin and hold it down with your fingers until you've sewn over it)
Once you have all of your ribbons situated, place the fuzzy fabric face down on top of the fleece and then place the batting over that and pin all of the layers together

We're going to sew this sucker inside out so we don't have rough edges at the end

This is how it should look when you flip it over

Sew with a straight stitch all around the edges. I didn't leave a certain seam allowance or anything. I just tried to sew it evenly :P I also back-stitched over the ribbons. Those suckers aren't coming out since they were sewn over 3 times and then a fourth with the top stitch in the last step!
**Make sure you leave an un-sewn piece of the edge so we can flip everything right side out**
I stick my fingers in the hole (heh-heh!) and pull out the opposite corner when I'm flipping this right side out, but any way you do it works as long as it comes out

I chose to sew a zig zag stitch around the edge to seal them up (after pinning in your open edge)

That's all there is to it!

One for Jill and one for baby James!

DIY: Wooden nursery letters

You know those cute letters people put over the crib or on a shelf of their LO's name?! Well, I'm gonna show you mine and how I did them with scrapbook paper (because there is no way in hell I can successfully paint designs on the letters and it turn out like someone other than a 5 year old did it).
 

Supplies:
Wooden letters (you can do a full name or just initials!)
Mod Podge -matte
Adhesive Spray (or glue.. but the spray is the easiest)
Spray paint (optional)
Sponge or paint brush to apply mod podge
Exacto knife or scissors (if you're using an exacto knife or some type of blade then you also need a cutting mat)
Scrapbook paper

Steps:
(Optional Step) I put the letters in a box because we don't have any newspaper and it's easier to move all of the letters around without getting paint everywhere.

I went outside to do the spray painting since it is better fume-wise. I did two coats and made sure I got the sides really good. The reason I chose to spray paint them, was because I wanted them to have yellow sides (we're only covering the front of the letters with the paper in this tutorial) instead of the unfinished wood sides.. I think the unfinished wood color would actually have looked better with the papers I chose.. but you live and you learn :P

I let the paint dry for about 30 minutes and did a second coat. After the second coat dried, I moved them to the table inside.
Next, you want to get out your knife and mat (or a pencil and scissors). Trace each letter on a different piece of scrapbook paper with the knife (or flip the paper upside down and put the letter upside down on top and trace with pencil. Then cut out the tracing)

After you have traced and cut out all of the paper letters, lay them on some newspaper or scrap paper (or back in the box). Spray a letter with the adhesive and gently place the corresponding paper on the front of the letter. I held it in place for about 20 seconds before putting it down so the letter didn't stick to the paper. Repeat for the remaining letters.

I let the letters sit for a while (and got some opinions on what to do with the dots from some trusted friends :P) and then sat down to add the mod podge to them. Lightly coat the front and sides of the letters with the sponge (or paint brush if that's what you chose). I pressed down lightly on any bubbles with the opposite end of the brush for a few seconds and that took care of any bubbles. I coated each letter and once I finished, the mod podge was dry on the first letters so I went back and did the second coat. It dries pretty quickly (I think the bottle says 10-15 minutes). I did two coats.

Don't worry that it doesn't go on clear.. I PROMISE it dries completely clear!

 I made sure to keep moving the letters around while they were drying so they didn't stick to the paper

I LOVE the way they turned out! Excuse the bump :P I will have to come back and add the picture when we hang them on the wall.. in April :P