9 Months.

Honestly, I can't believe we're here.  Hopefully my last and final BUMPDATE!!  While this pregnancy has been much harder on me, I can honestly say it's FLOWN by!  I am beyond ready to meet this little soul. 

If I'm being completely honest, I feel like I need to see her face to truly fall in love with her.  Our hearts are so full of love for our little girl that's right here in front of us, that it feels crazy to think we're capable of loving another little one as much as we love her.  I read lots of blogs and articles these days on becoming a parent for the second time, because I'm so curious how I can love another the way I love Lara.  I pray often that I love her as much....which in turn leaves me feeling guilty.  

Mommies out there--can you relate?  

Any words of wisdom??

How Far Along: 37 weeks today!

Due Date:  Still.......November 30th!

Weight Gain: 8 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Oh yes.  I've officially crossed the threshold of wearing strictly maternity.  I'm totally digging Wendy Bellissimo line from Motherhood.  I picked up this adorable shirt a few weeks ago and i've been LIVING in it!  The maternal is TO DIE for.  

 I throw fun cardigans over it and plan to pair it with a black plaid button down and vest in the coming weeks, because fall has officially made it's appearance here in KC!  

Stretch marks: Yes, and more are appearing by the day.  

Symptoms: Still lots of pain in my lower back and still lots of trips to the potty.  I'm getting my prenatal massage on Saturday (Thanks, babe!!) and can't WAIT!

Cravings: Hmmm....that's a tough one.  Heartburn is limiting me quite a bit these days.  I had a spicy italian dish last Friday evening and my body HATED me all day Saturday.  Thai, my favorite, is just totally out of the question.  I would say....baked potatoes.  I could eat a baked potato just about daily at this point.  Wendy's has some great options, so I've frequented their drive thru as of late.

Gender: Still a Little Lady!!

Mood:  Excitement.  Each cramp, I start to wonder if it's time....
While we still need to load the car seat and I have lots of wittle clothes to wash, overall, I feel like we are ready to rock and roll.  The part I'm most nervous about is having the strength to push thru a VBAC.  We have a birthing class next Saturday and I'm contemplating not going.  I don't want to psych myself out and I fear that knowing all the details of what's to come, may do just that.  I'd rather just let nature take it's course and tackle each phase of labor as it comes.  
Pray for me because I'm a bit terrified!!

Nursery: BEAUTIFUL.  It's by far my new favorite room in our home.  
A few more finishing touches and photos to come.  But let's get real, that will likely be after she makes her debut.

Movement: Yes, and PAINFUL.  I have a sneaking suspicion this little lady will be a bit bigger than our little peanut, Lara.  If you don't remember, Lara was a whopping 6 lbs and a mere 16 inches long.  I'm predicting this one to be over 8lbs.  And she packs the punch to prove it!

Sleep: Besides feeling like I'm shifting the Titanic when switching positions, good!

Workouts:  Please.

Names: Still........#nameless.

And yes, we realize we cannot leave the hospital without a name.  

If I had a dollar for how many times I've heard that, I'd be able to pay for the delivery. 

To wrap up, let's take a look back at how this little life has grown!

3 months - 4 months - 5 months

6 months - 7 months - 9 months

A Trip to Labor & Delivery and a BumpDate!

Wait...

Did I just...???

Why, yes.

Yes I sure did.

28 Weeks

As this sweet little baby grows bigger & bigger, the soundtrack of my life has turned to,

"Wait...did I just ______ ?"

Insert whatever word comes to mind, and it's likely happened to me over the past few months.

As most of you know, we had a surprise visit to Labor & Delivery at our hospital earlier this week.  Funny story, actually.

Well, it started out funny, then turned to terror, then was even more funny.

Sunday evening while getting ready for bed, I was standing in our bathroom when I sneezed.
I heard a splash, looked down and realized I had pee'd all over myself and the bathroom floor.  

I laughed, grabbed a towel and continued on about the evening.  

The next day, I told my Mom what had happened and in true motherly fashion, she becomes convinced that my water broke.

"How do you know it wasn't your water breaking?"

"Anne, did you smell it?"  

"No, Mom.  I didn't smell it. Who would smell it?"

As the day wore on, her 'mom' persistence began to take a toll, and I contacted my doc around 5:00.  

Mind you, I'm on the way home with a car full of groceries to make Jon his birthday dinner.

The doctor responded and shared that it's normal to not labor if your water breaks this early (I'm 31 weeks), and suggested I head to the hospital to get checked out, just to be sure.

Then, the panic sets in. 

No, she's not ready.

We're not ready.

She's going to have to be transported to a different NICU because the one at our hospital is not equipped to care for a 30 week old baby!

This isn't supposed to be happening.  

She's due in November.

NOT September.

I don't even have sheets on her crib.

And the list goes on and on....

As we arrived at the emergency room, Lara in tow, we headed up to the L&D unit.  We got checked in and waited for the results.  As I sat in the birthing suite, all hooked up to the monitors, things became very real in that moment and I felt entirely unprepared. With Lara, it was a scheduled CSection.  We knew when she was coming, bags were packed, the date was set and we had time to prepare.  For round two, I'm really hoping to have a vaginal birth (VBAC), just not at 31 weeks.  However, sitting in that massive birthing bed, stirrups and all, made me realize how totally unprepared I am for a natural child birth.
Needless to say, we'll be signing up for child birth classes ASAP.

A few minutes later, the results were in and thank the LORD they were negative!  

We waited about a half hour longer for discharge paperwork.  Lara kept herself occupied by covering us in Minnie Mouse stickers, and then we were off.

We picked up a pizza on the way home and opened gifts before we put Lara to bed.  I think we'll remember this birthday for quite some time, and are so grateful September 26th will remain Jon's birthday, and only Jon's birthday.  ;)

"CHEESE!"

Alright, moving on to my very late monthly BumpDate!

I have tried to post these monthly, but clearly I've gotten a few weeks behind.

How Far Along: 31 weeks, 2 days
(picture is from 28 weeks)

Due Date:  November 30th!

Weight Gain: 3.2 lbs.  Apparently this little girl is HUNGRY because she must be sucking up just about every calorie I eat!

Maternity Clothes: Really?  Yes.

In fact, I'm getting ready to order a few dresses from PinkBlush for our upcoming showers!

Stretch marks: Please.  I was covered in them before I got pregnant.

Symptoms: Lots of back pain and LOTS of pee'ing.  This girl is LOW.

Cravings: Cheese Fries

I'm a regular at Freddy's these days!

Gender: GIRL!!!!!! 

Mood:  Feeling more anxious every week that passes as I still feel as if we have lots to do!

Nursery: We finally picked out fabric which was most definitely the missing piece in bringing my vision to life.  I can't WAIT to see it all come together, but my poor mother has a lot of sewing to do over the next 9 weeks!!  

Here's a sneak peek!

Movement: ALL. THE. TIME.

Sleep: Outside of a sinus infection that hit me last weekend, sleep has been good!

Workouts:  That ship sailed about 6 weeks ago.  I was having lots of ligament pain due to how low i'm carrying her, so I had to say goodbye to the treadmill.  I'm pretty dang active with Miss Lara these days--so I'm counting that!

Names: #nameless

To close, let's take a look at how this belly has grown!

3 months/4 months/5 months

6 months/7 months

A Birthday & A BumpDate!

Well, hello!!  Today I've got a double whammy for y'all.  Our big girls 2nd Birthday snapshots AND a bumpdate.  I know, I'm coming in HOT. 

Our sweet girl turns TWO on Monday and last night we celebrated Miss Lara Anne and it was just perfect.  We planned for a Flamingo themed pool party and low and behold, it was calling for 70% chance of rain ALL day.  I woke up at 2:00 am the night before in a panic.  But God was in our girls corner and the rain stayed away!  Instead, it was breezy and beautiful with just enough cloud cover to provide some fantastic temperatures.

 

Cake--HyVee!

Swimsuit--Mud Pie!

Big Sis Outfit--Etsy Shop Three Wild Girls!  Amazing quality!

Little Girl Play Makeup--Etsy Shop Glamour Girl Fun!  Lara LOVES it!!

We rented out our local pool here in Pleasant Hill, which has a fantastic baby pool, zero entry with lots of fun little fountains.  The kiddos seemed to really enjoy it!  In fact, Lara was the last straggler out of the pool....she would've stayed all night had we let her. 

She came home with quite the loot and she's spent the entire day enjoying all her fun, new toys!  HORSES were the theme of the night.  I think she ended up with 10 or so!  Haha! 

She also got some new panties which we've been trying out today, unsuccessfully. ;)  She peed in her potty, but a few minutes later, she crapped and peed in a pair, so back in the diaper she went.  But hey, she sure looked cute in her little panties! Here she is showing them off to her horsie.

Now, onto my monthly BumpDate!

How Far Along: 6 Months + 4 days

Due Date:  November 30th!

Weight Gain: 5-6 lbs I think, which is shocking because I literally feel like a whale as of the past week or so.  I swear I can feel this belly growing, and it HURTS.  Lots of stretching & lots of pain this time around.

Maternity Clothes: YES!  I will admit, one of my favorite parts of being pregnant.  Dressing the bump!  Don't get me wrong, I totally dig the whole growing a little human part, but the maternity fashion, I just can't resist.  In fact, I hit the jackpot at Motherhood Maternity earlier this week and landed some adorable fall sweaters.  With Lara being born in August, I have NO winter clothes for this belly and it's going to be large and in charge, here in a few short months...

Stretch marks: Please.  I was covered in them before I got pregnant.

Symptoms: Still tired, but not near as bad these days!  Which is great!! I'm feeling like my old self and that's been nice.  As I've mentioned before, I've had lots of anxiety this go around, but feeling much more relaxed now.

Cravings: Hmmm....I'm going to say as of late, has to be frozen custard with Reeses peanut butter cups & cookie dough!

Gender: GIRL!!!!!! And boy am I having fun shopping for this nugget, as if she really needs it....

Mood:  EXCITED TO MEET HER!!

Nursery: Yeah, about the nursery.   I thought I was settled on the farmhouse idea, but I'm switching gears to more of an enchanted forest idea.  Who knows! But what I DO KNOW is that we need to get started!!  We gotten as far as buying a gallon of paint.  Said paint is still sitting on the floor with all the paint brushes, unopened.  #winning

Movement: LOTS!  In fact, our doctor will have the Doppler on my belly with her heartbeat and she'll flip around so fast it's hard for her to keep the Doppler actually ON her.  I was really hoping this little girl would be more mellow than the first, but I'm not so sure these days.

Sleep: Same.  Sleep, pee, sleep, pee, pee some more, sleep, and pee some more.

Workouts: I've only been getting to the gym 1x a week as of late due to how sore I've been.  I've now resorted to only walking on the treadmill these days because the running is just too much for the belly these days.  I did buy a prenatal Yoga DVD that I can't wait to try!

Names: Still Undecided! But a few we really love.

20 Weeks.

Hello hello hello from the VERY HOT Kansas City!  This summer, y'all.  Phew.  This momma is melting.  I am feeling for all you ladies out there who are in your third trimester, waddling around in this heatwave!  Kudos to YOU!

Last time I blogged, we were heading out on vacation and what a BLAST it was!  I need to do a full recap, but I'll save that for another day when I have more time. 

I'm popping in for a quickie today, no pun intended. ;)

I am officially 21 weeks, but I took the photo last week at my official halfway mark.  I intended to type up a post that evening, but you know how that goes...

So let's just dive right in, shall we?

How Far Along: 21 weeks 3 days!

Due Date:  November 30th!

Weight Gain: 5-6 lbs but have slowed in the belly growth, which is a bit of a relief!  Don't get me wrong, I love showing off my growing frame, but I was large and in charge pretty early this time. Thankfully I haven't grown much since then as you can tell by the side by side comparison below.

Maternity Clothes: Oh girl, yes. 

Stretch marks: Please.  I was covered in them before I got pregnant.

Symptoms: THIS MOMMA IS TIRED!  This was one of my main symptoms with Lara, so I can't say I'm surprised at this one.  Naps happen on the regular these days.

Cravings: Sonic Cheddar Bites & Ranch!!

Gender: GIRL!!!!!!  I have to say, I was SHOCKED when we found out we would be bringing home another little girl...SHOCKED.  I was absolutely, 100% convinced it was a boy.  This pregnancy has been such a different experience,  I've had lots of anxiety this time around and overall, much harder on me physically.  So it had to be a boy, right?  WRONG.  My shock wasn't sadness, it was just that...total surprise.  I had to switch perspective of what life was going to be like.  Once I began to wrap my mind around watching our two little girls holding hands, running around the front yard together, it all became so much more real.  We could NOT be more excited!

Mood:  Anxiously excited to meet her!

Nursery: Farmhouse Chic--Can't WAIT to see it all come together, because right now, it's just a vision and a Pinterest board.  

Movement: Lots of jabs these days!  She is very active in the evenings...hopefully that's not indicative of her schedule once she arrives!  My placenta is on the exterior, which typically means you don't feel quite as much, but this girl is STRONG!

Sleep: Pee, sleep, pee, sleep, pee, sleep & dream!  Last night I dreamed I had twin girls and they were big 'ol babies!  One was 9 lbs 8 oz.  Lara was a tiny little nugget, at 6 lbs and 16 inches long....let's hope this little girl keeps with the trend!

Workouts: A few miles on the treadmill a few times a week and 21 day fix cardio here and there.  It's good to get moving again!

Names: Undecided and I suspect it'll stay that way until we meet her!

12/16/20 weeks

Hope everyone's having a great week!

xoxo,

Anne

A Vacation & A BumpDate!

It's super early, in fact the sun is just rising as I type this, but I'm too excited to sleep!  We're taking Lara on her first real vacation today!!  Growing up, my parents always prioritized family vaca's, so every single summer we'd all load up in our custom van and head somewhere fun.  

I'm so excited to be able to continue that tradition with our little one.  

We rented a lodge with Jon's parents, in the beautiful StoneBridge Resort near TableRock Lake & Silver Dollar City!  If you haven't heard of StoneBridge, click the link above.  They have tons of playgrounds, lots of swimming pools, a catch & release lake in the resort along with a championship golf course, all right outside of Branson!  If you're in the stages of planning a trip close to Kansas City, keep them in mind.  I'll provide a full review in the next couple weeks.  

We'll be there for the next 5 days and I plan to swim, boat, and amusement park the hell out of the time we have there. 

We've been on many vacations over the course of our marriage, and traveled to some pretty exotic locales, but I have to say, I'm looking forward to this one the most!  

And to think, next summer we'll be traveling with two little kiddos.... 

Which leads me into my 4 month (albeit a little late) 

BumpDate!!

How Far Along: 17 weeks, 2 days!  The photo was taken at 16.5 weeks.

Due Date:  November 30th!

Weight Gain: 4 lbs

Maternity Clothes: I cleaned HOUSE at Destination Maternity this week as Momma needed some shorts!  Listen, it's 125 degrees in KC right now and I have been dying. 

I've purchased maternity pants from many different stores, but nothing fits quite like their secret fit belly does! 

The sales are amazing right now, so hit them up preggo friends!

Stretch marks: Please.  I was covered in them before I got pregnant.

Symptoms: Lack of appetite these days, which is bizarre because I ate a cow about everyday of the first trimester

Cravings: SOUR SKITTLES!!

Gender: WE KNOW!  WE KNOW!  We found out at 12 weeks.  

Our Gender Reveal is just around the corner on the 4th of July!

Mood:  EXCITED!

Nursery: It changes weekly

Movement: Jabs here and there, and a few times it's felt like the baby was flipping totally over which was super cool!  Definitely one of my favorite parts of growing a tiny human, for sure.

Sleep: Wacko dreams.  Last night I was being chased by a 50lb tarantula.  Not sure what that's supposed to mean...

Workouts: Please.  I have a toddler.  

Names: We have about 3-5 that we bounce around between, but none of them feel like they're the one.  I have a feeling we'll be choosing once we meet....the baby.  Wow, almost spilled the beans there. ;)

12 weeks to 16 weeks



And, that's a wrap for today's post.

Have a great weekend everyone!  

12 Weeks.

My last post was February 27th.  

To say a lot has happened since then may be the biggest understatement of all time. 

We're adding a new addition to our front porch sittin' crew!

I think I needed the past three months to process the fact that we are actually doing this whole baby makin' thing....again!  In the spirit of being totally candid, I think I underestimated the emotional roller coaster I was jumping on when we decided to grow our family.

You know that rush of sitting in the roller coaster cart, slowly.....slowly.....slowly inching up the massive hill, looking straight up into the sky because your strapped into a metal cart inching upward, completely perpendicular to the ground?

Yeah, that's how I've felt these past few months.

Now just to be clear, we knew exactly what we were doing in those days leading up to visiting the theme park.  We knew what we were committing to when we stepped into the metal cart next to one another, strapped ourselves in and took off for the ride of our lives.  

As we inch ever so slowly up that hill....week after week after week, we know we're in for the ride of our lives.  

Just don't look down.  

I will admit, I have spent a fair share of this first trimester peeking over the side of the roller coaster cart, looking down into the scary unknown. Wondering what the hell I've gotten myself into.

However, now that the nausea has slowly subsided, the hormones have evened out and the fatigue has slowly released it's grip.  Finally, finally the excitement can now inch it's way in. 

And damn, it feels good.

Baby Xenos #2 will be here the end of November!

Now, onto my first BumpDate!

How Far Along? 12 weeks, 6 days!

Weight Gain: Does anyone really want to know this?

Maternity Clothes: I jumped on the strictly maternity pants ship around 8 weeks.  This baby isn't messing around!

Stretch marks: Please.  I was covered in them before I got pregnant.

Symptoms: THIS GIRL IS EXHAUSTED

Cravings: Mexican, mexican and mexican. But that's nothing new :)

Gender: WE KNOW!  WE KNOW! 

But keeping it a secret until our Gender Reveal on the 4th of July!

Mood: Sentimental

Nursery: I have a Pinterest board starting to fill up, but keeping it locked for now

Movement: None, but CAN'T WAIT!!

Sleep: Like a baby!

Workouts: Please.  I have a toddler.  

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not these days, thank the VERY GOOD LORD!

Until next time, my friends!