Progress

Progress is being made on our big construction project, aka the biggest stress in my life right now. When we were looking for houses last year either having a 5th bedroom (which almost none of the houses did) or an unfinished basement where we could build a bedroom was important to us. We knew we would eventually be having another baby and wanted the kids to still each have their own room. When we bought the house we didn't know we'd start trying to have a baby last summer but once we found out we were pregnant we knew building Brennan a bedroom in the basement had to get started. 

Building a 10 x 12 room in the basement seems like an easy enough task and since we were planning to do all the work ourselves (with lots of help from Nate's dad and brother) we thought it would be reasonably affordable. We were wrong on both accounts. The project was difficult, time consuming, and very expensive. It took 3 weeks longer than we originally anticipated, despite hiring contractors to drywall, mud, tape, and texture. It also cost about $1000 more than our high end estimate. Needless to say we aren't in a hurry to finish the rest of the basement though it will get done eventually.

I've also realized I hate painting with a passion. I bought Sherwin Williams paint on sale, though it was still more expensive than Lowe's or Home Depot. They had a highly recommended no VOC brand and since I did 95% of the painting myself I wanted no VOC. The paint quality was ok but honestly not worth the extra money for me. The high end paint at Lowe's seems to work just as well and honestly the sales people at Lowe's gave me much better guidance when I explained the problems I was having. The heavy knockdown texture we have in our house is a pain to paint. New drywall absorbs primer at alarming rates so we needed a lot more of that than I expected and it took longer. The biggest struggle I had was getting a nice tape line between the ceiling and wall. I painted the walls the same dark beige color the rest of our house is and the ceilings the same off white color the rest of our ceilings are. The contrast is dramatic, especially when the line isn't perfect. The more expensive painter's tape didn't help and I was disappointed with the results. Needless to say in the baby's room I am trying a different technique and so far I have gotten much better results even though it has been just as time consuming to paint.

Monday night we got Brennan all moved into his new room, furniture, decorations, 100% set up. The next step was steaming his carpets and moving Phoenix into his old room. Phoenix's old room is tiny and much better suited for a nursery. She also could not fit her full size bed in her old room so we decided moving her and giving the baby the small room was the best plan. Wednesday night we moved all her furniture and yesterday I organized her stuff and put up decorations. She is thrilled to have more space and have her big bed back. It's been in the basement since we moved from Maryland.

Yesterday I was able to get started on painting the nursery. Progress is slow because I am painting the nursery light yellow and it is currently a medium purple which is hard to cover. I have most of today to paint and would be very happy if all the painting could be done by the end of the day tomorrow. The baby's crib is set to arrive tomorrow. I can't wait to move the baby's stuff into their room and get my loft organized again. Baby's guess date (what we call due dates in Hypnobabies) is just over a month away and baby will be full term in 2 weeks so we are in the home stretch. I am really looking forward to wrapping up all these projects and being able to relax a bit before baby arrives. Wish me luck!

Maternity Photos

On March 10th, when I was 32 weeks pregnant I had maternity photos taken. The very talented Maren Miller of Maren Miller Photography took the photos for us. She took family photos for us this summer that turned out great (and are in my header) so I contacted her to do maternity photos and she'll be back to take newborn photos of the baby once they arrive.

Our gender predictions! Nate (girl), Me (boy), Phoenix (girl), Wynter (boy), and Brennan (boy)

Over It

I'm one day shy of 33 weeks today and starting Monday it happened, I'm over being pregnant. I don't want that to sound totally negative but all week I've been feeling hugely pregnant, exhausted, and uncomfortable. I think everyone hits this point at sometime in the 3rd trimester but I was a little surprised that it happened so soon for me.

When I was pregnant with Brennan I worked up until I went into labor and until 39 weeks I was on my feet for 9 hours per day. Honestly looking back I'm not quite sure how I made it. I didn't get terribly uncomfortable until 38 weeks. The last two weeks were quite miserable but I know it happens much earlier for most pregnant women so I tried not to complain too much. I was very thankful that I went into labor with Brennan on my due date and he was born the next morning. Due dates aren't expiration dates but after 9 months of anticipation and having your body completely taken over I think the mental aspect of going past your due date can get tough.

Babies are considered full-term from 37-42 weeks so I have between 4-9 weeks left. The planning part of me says if the baby comes in 4 weeks there is no way we'll be ready. We're still working on Brennan's room in the basement. It is coming along, the drywall and texture are done, electrical is all done and the lights are installed and working. Today I am going to buy paint and start priming, and carpet will be installed next Wednesday. If everything goes well the basement room could be done in a week and half. After the room is done we still have to move Brennan into that room, move Phoenix into Brennan's room, and then we can start on painting and putting together the baby's room. So far we have a cherry wood with ivory cushion rocker and no other furniture. The crib we had registered for is suddenly no longer available anywhere. This sent me into a bit of a panic Monday. After looking at all the cribs at Babies R Us I found one I loved in our price range. Babies R Us is in the middle of their 20% off crib sale and when I looked online yesterday it was no longer in stock. It also is a dark cherry finish which is closer to Espresso so I am not sure it will match the rocker. The baby's room is tiny so I am not sure even a small dresser will fit in there so I am unsure what to do about that. Good thing the baby will be in our room at first because they very well make their appearance before their room is completely put together.

So, been there, done that moms, how do I stay sane this next month or two? My iron levels were a bit low at my latest CBC so I'm working on increasing my iron levels which I know won't hurt my energy levels. I'm also going to go back to my early pregnancy (vitamin rich) diet. At my 28 week appointment the midwife mentioned I should slow down my weight gain so I stopped trying to squeeze in everything and did lose a pound the first week but I think it has affected how I feel. I don't want to gain a ton of weight but if it is healthy calories and it makes me feel better I'll take the extra weight. I've tried a lot of different things to get some better rest which I know would help me feel better and maintain a more positive outlook but sleep is still elusive for me. I use my Hypnobabies techniques which help but I still don't sleep well. This last week I've been so exhausted and not felt so uncomfortable by early afternoon that I take about an hour each afternoon to practice my Hypnobabies scripts and take some time in bed to rest and recharge which helps some. The time slot of prenatal water aerobics I was taking was canceled and the only other time is very inconvenient so I can only commit to going once per week. This is kind of a bummer. I wish I could go more because being in the water feels good and being active for an hour straight is always good. The weather has been nice so I need to make going on walks a priority. I get frustrated that after only a 2.5-3 mile walk I'm exhausted even on days when I'm otherwise feeling ok. I guess I need to remind myself that even a mile or two walk is better than nothing, especially if I do it every day or almost everyday. Not sure what else to try.

I can't wait to meet our precious baby. I know they are going to be just perfect and the last piece of the puzzle to complete our family. I am so thankful that God has blessed us with another child and I feel grateful to be able to carry this baby. Both my pregnancies have been fairly easy with no real morning sickness, which I know a lot of women struggle with. Besides the insomnia, 1st trimester high blood pressure, moderate protein levels at 26 weeks (which seemed to have resolved itself), and gaining more weight than I'd like, this pregnancy has been pretty easy as well. The baby has been growing well, always has a nice, strong heartbeat, and looked perfect at our 20 week ultrasound. I know I'm truly blessed and hopefully I can find some ways to make the next month or two more comfortable and try to enjoy my last time being pregnant. Either way I know it is worth it in the end.

Sleep, Oh Sweet Sleep

I'm writing this at 3:30am not because I was up late after a wild night of partying. I'm writing this at 3:30am because during this entire pregnancy sleep has been a bit elusive for me. I hate to complain because I've had a pretty great pregnancy and no morning sickness. I'll be honest though, the insomnia is rough.

The hardest part for me is I am truly a sleep lover! I am one of those people who functions best at 9-9.5 hours of sleep. If you aren't one of those people who needs a lot of sleep you probably think that is crazy but those who are sleep lovers know what I'm talking about. Of course I can function on 5-6 hours of sleep but it isn't pretty. I walk around in a bit of a haze most of the day, only to collapse at the end of the day craving the sleep I missed.

The pregnancy insomnia started around 8 weeks pregnant. With both my pregnancies first trimester brought the fun, "I have to pee all the freaking time" symptom. I assume this is hormonally related and it is different from the third trimester, "I feel like I have to pee all the freaking time but really it is just the baby's head smashing my bladder" symptom. Totally different but equally annoying. So early in my pregnancy I was waking to pee 3-4 times per night. A bit annoying but I lived with it. I am a bit of a water-o-holic which doesn't help but as long as I can fall asleep within 10-15 minutes at bedtime and can fall back asleep within 5 minutes of getting up to pee it really doesn't bother me. I can almost get a restful night sleep getting up 3-4 times if I can fall back asleep immediately. Of course the nights I only get up 1-2 times are much better.

The insomnia part that makes me even more crazy is the waking up and being unable to fall back asleep. I've seen 1am-3am more times this pregnancy than even when I was 21 years old. I wake up, go pee, lay back down, and lay there wide awake unable sleep, thinking, "again?!" "why me?". Eventually after 30 minutes or so of tossing and turning and listening to my stomach grumble I go try a snack. My midwives suggested something with protein so usually I just grab a cheese stick and head back to bed.

I first realized maybe hunger was waking me up around 12 weeks pregnant. After weeks of horrible insomnia I put two and and two together and tried to ward off the problem by having a healthy snack right before bed. It seemed to make sense since I have been super hungry this entire pregnancy. At first it did work some. Adding a snack before bed cut back the long, middle of the night awake periods to 2-3 times per week which seemed more manageable albeit annoying.

I tried asking women in my baby group from Baby Center that are due around the same time as me for suggestions. I even asked my midwife for suggestions. I did receive some good ones, though not all worked for me. Some were: cut back on evening water intake, stick with a relaxing bedtime routine/allow unwinding time, exercise but not in the evening, and try a over the counter remedy such as Unisom. While the midwife said Unisom was safe after the 1st trimester I still don't want to try it. Hubby thought it was a bad idea and having to take medicine to make me fall asleep seems like a bad idea.

Since starting my Hypnobabies child birth preparation in mid-January the self hypnosis and relaxation techniques have also helped me sleep better and have less nights with long awake periods. It just seem to alternate between a very restful night of sleep followed by an extremely crappy one. I was beginning to think going to bed earlier helped but last night I was in bed early and still have been awake for about 2 hours.

I am definitely taking this in strides. It is all worth it in the end and in about 2 months (hopefully a little less) I'll be meeting my precious new baby. I wonder if pregnancy insomnia is God's way of preparing the mom-to-be for all the middle of the night feedings and lack of sleep that the newborn phase entails?