My heart is bursting with love and excitement for little Evie. This month, it's like I've been able to see her brain working and growing and learning. We've had another "fly-by monthing" over here... another month gone in the blink of an eye! Here's what happened this month:
*Evie is such a little thinker. She has, what I've dubbed, the the cutest little "frown of discernment", when she's looking at things. It's almost as if it's a puzzle that she's thinking about so hard and trying to work out. She is learning new things everyday and picking up on objects around her more and more. It's so cute to watch her entertain herself with the looking at the same object over and over... she will frown at it for a bit, then smile at it and even laugh a little. Makes my heart melt.
*She is now really enjoying her play gym that Aunt Tanya gave her. Her favorite part is the little mirror that reflects her image back to
her. She smiles and smiles at herself and makes herself laugh. She is sort of reaching for the hanging toys and enjoys watching them swing back and forth. On her 2 month anniversary exactly, she grabbed a hanging toy on her play gym and hung onto it for a minute. It was so cute!
*She doesn't really love tummy time, but she usually will tolerate it for a few minutes before she starts crying. So we've been doing tummy time mostly on momma's chest.
*She's now sleeping from about 10pm (sometimes still a little later) until usually at least 4:30am and then falls back to sleep again until later in the morning. A lot of times though, especially in the last week or so, she has been sleeping from 10-11pm until 7:30-8am... I am super impressed with her sleeping skills! Asher has taken over the changing table portion of the pack n play (which is fine because we never use it anyway)...
*She still suffers from reflux but it's gotten a lot better overall. We had a really bad day about half way through the month and momma just couldn't soothe her. We found out that evening, that Evie loves to hear the vacuum cleaner running and it calms her down almost instantly. So momma dragged the vacuum cleaner into the nursery, sat down with Evie in the glider and rocked her to sleep to the sweet sweet sounds of the same spot on the carpet being cleaned for 45 minutes. (#thingsyouneverexpecttouseyourvacuumfor). We have now had the vacuum sitting in the nursery for 2 weeks straight and we utilize it's magical properties often.
*Momma and Evie took their first official trip out alone together at the beginning of the month. We'd driven to see daddy at work before, but never ventured into any stores by ourselves til then. It went well and we've since been out quite a bit together! We also took Evie to a sit down restaurant for the first time ever and she did amazing!
*Evie is enjoying her baths much better now. She smiles and seems to enjoy the warm water flowing over her.
*She got her first set of shots (besides what was given to her in the hospital) on her 2 month anniversary and screamed the whole time. She was happy again soon afterward, but started to become very fussy later in the day. I don't blame her. I can't handle it either. You can see her little bandaids on both legs in the picture below...
I'm getting this month posted super late, so only a bit over a week til Evie turns three months old!! I love it!! Hopefully I'll get that one posted in the proper time! :) haha! Here's a few random moments of Evie captured during her second month of life:
And just like that my little itty-bitty baby is 1 month old... (actually 6 weeks now, since I never got around to posting this at the one-month mark!) The time passed so quickly! Maybe one day I'll have a chance to post about Evie's birth... eventually. For now, here's what Evie is up to this month.
*She's been holding her head up pretty much from day one, pushing herself off your chest when you hold her up. Now, however, she's gotten even stronger and she holds her head up for minutes at a time. She is gaining a lot of control of her neck, also, and is able to turn her head (a bit wobbly) from side to side to look at things.
*In week 3 she began track objects with her eyes. She won't follow everything I put in front of her face, but the things that interest her she will watch and watch.
*People (faces) make her very happy. She loves having company and seeing new faces. She gets very smiley (and makes all sorts of faces) when people are around, giving her attention.
*"Row, Row, Row Your Boat" is her favorite song so far (accompanied by momma making her arms move in little circle rowing motions) and it usually produces smiles from Evie.
*We had her first real bath this month, after her cord fell off, and she hated it. With a fiery passion I had not yet seen from her. I felt horrible the whole time and was so worried that I was seriously traumatizing her. I can only hope her next bath goes better...
*She doesn't enjoy having her diaper or outfit changed. She rarely doesn't cry when we have to do these, and I dread it! I wish she liked playing dress up a little more, but right now we're making diaper changes as fast as possible and keeping outfit changes to the bare minimum to avoid the tears.
*She's a very quite crier. Very rarely does she give us a big scream. Mostly, her face gets all red and she opens her mouth but no sound comes out. It's like she's holding her breath.
*She's a very loud breather. She snores. We bought a baby breathing monitor for her before she was born and so far, we haven't even remotely needed it. She sleeps in our room and she snores so loud we have no problem whatsoever knowing that she's still breathing. She also makes a lot of squeaks and gasping sounds when she breathes, awake or asleep. Our doctor told us, "babies are supposed to sound like Darth Vader," so we haven't been worrying too much, but she has another appointment at the end of the week and I'm going to bring up her breathing to him again.
*She's only in the 5th percentile (if even that) for weight and height, so I'm hoping we can get a little more meat on her bones in the next few weeks. She likes to eat, but she's kind of not the best at it so far. Plus she had reflux pretty badly, and her stomach would get so upset after eating, and she'd spit up a lot. We are working with her on that and she's getting a lot better now! yay!
*She looks just like her daddy. But we have noticed that her hair has gotten a little lighter and there is a hint of red in it when she's in the sun, like her momma! And she has just a smidgeon of her momma's webbed toes!
*She's a lot more alert now during the day than when she first came home, especially in the afternoons. And no matter what time I feed her, she always wants fed or just held right over dinner time for Chad and I. So I have gotten very good at eating one handed.
*She has slept (mostly) through the night since she was born. We are super blessed. She falls asleep after a fairly long night routine, usually around 11pm. Sometimes she wakes up between 2-3am for a night feed, but often she sleeps right through until 4:30-5:30am. Then after that feed, she usually goes back to sleep until 7-9am. I was concerned at first if I should wake her up every few hours to feed, but all the nurses at the hospital and now her pediatrician say that at night we should always let her sleep if she's sleeping.
I'd say that's most of the big things we've noticed so far! It's so interesting and fun to watch her change! These little ones learn things so incredibly fast. Chad and I love her to pieces, but we are also looking forward to when she's a little older and she can really interact with us more!
So I am really legitimately almost to the end now! I feel like I've thought it so many times during this last trimester of my pregnancy... once I hit 30 weeks I thought 'wow, I am so close to the end now!' and at 35 weeks I felt like it could happen any day! But here I am, just a few days away from full term and it really actually could be any day now! And I am (mostly) ready. And I imagine if it does happen right now I will simply choose to be (completely) ready. Hehehe. My hospital labor bag is packed with probably more things than I will really need. My husband's "support" bag is ready to go. The diaper bag is filled up with cute baby clothes and anything random I think I'll need for her. I've got a big fluffy pillow and my Boppy nursing pillow waiting by the door. The car seat is installed and ready to bring a baby home! All the cameras and camcorders and other important electronics are charged and packed! I feel like I've gotten all the essentials checked off my list, and other than a vague sort of 'am-I-forgetting-something?' feeling, and knowing there are some essentials that I use everyday that I'll have to remember to grab, I am mostly calm and ready to go.
Buttt... my husband hasn't been feeling the best, dealing with either some sort of stomach bug or maybe even food poisoning?? So as ready as I am, I think it would be best to let him get this out of his system first. I really don't want to be in labor with a sick husband at the hospital. Or... have him get better and then catch (if it's contagious) whatever it is myself... I really seriously do not want to go into labor and also have to contend with some sort of stomach bug. I will not. I refuse. HAHA! I have been staying away from him more than I normally do when he's sick... All that is really out of my control, though, so I am just praying that it will all work out magnificently and trying not to worry about it. :)
Okay, so here we go with the stats:
How Far Along? 39 weeks, 2 Days.
Baby Size: My midwives think that right now she probably weighs about 7.5 lbs. She's been measuring a little big for her gestational age, but they've kinda stopped really measuring at this point, and have just been feeling up the belly. There's no telling how long she is, but probably somewhere around 20 inches.
Gender: She's still a girl!
Movement? YES! It felt like it took me forever to feel any movement, and now it's like she wont stop. And I love it. I had a ton of pressure and kicking really low last night and this morning I woke up feeling (and I think looking) like maybe she's dropped a bit! So that is really exciting! I'm not sure that she's really the whole way into position, but she's definitely a little lower now and not constantly jabbing me in the ribs. So the pain associated with that has almost completely gone away, and now it's just become fun and kind of hilarious to feel (and to watch) my stomach move all around wildly.
Weight Gain: I'm holding steady now at just over 30 pounds... hoping I can make it the rest of the way without any more gain.
Maternity Clothes?: HA! Some of the maternity clothes I have are actually starting to feel pulled a bit in the stomach. Sooooo yeah, definitely wearing maternity clothes. My pj tops no longer even remotely fit me and my belly hangs pathetically out of the ones I do still wear. My husband's sweatpants and t-shirts are seeing a lot more wear lately. ;)
Stretch Marks? Yep. They have gotten pretty bad actually. I guess I'm not that concerned about them right now. I just be sure to use my belly butter on them every day (even though they are on my sides and my thigh and not at all on my belly) lol. Hopefully after baby comes, I can get some special oil or cream to help take them away.
Cravings: Salty things lately for sure. The Shalom School Dutch Fest was last weekend and I gorged myself on their delicious hand cut fries. With vinegar. yummmm.
Aversions: Still just carrots. And also anything spicy, which I always hate, but the thought of it has been particularly nauseating to me lately.
Symptoms: Heartburn is still hanging on. / My hips hurt when I wake up at night from laying on them. / A LOT of something I've come to learn is referred to as "lightning crotch". / The urge to pee has pretty much become a constant sensation. / Now that Spring is here and the days are warmer, I'm finding that I have a hard time getting cooled off. / Overall, I've had much fewer symptoms here at the end and I've been feeling really really good!
Sleep: Sometimes still not great, with waking up almost every hour, but actually I'm mostly waking up only every 3 hours or so now (which I think is my body preparing for breastfeeding), and the past week I've actually had a few nights where I slept 4-5 or so hours straight! It was amazing! They say this could be a sign of labor getting closer!
What I Miss:
Fitting in my car properly... I've slowly been backing my seat up farther and farther away from the wheel. It's getting a bit uncomfortable now. / The really good kind of hug. And also I feel kind of quarantined off right now with a recovering hubby, so that makes me extra hug-deprived.
Favorite Moments So Far: Maybe it's because everyone told me how miserable I would be during this last month and I had really low expectations for it, but I've been feeling really pretty great. Sure it's hard to bend over and to get super comfortable at night, but I have just finally been able to not hate being pregnant. This last month has been less painful on my ribs and if anything I've had a bit more energy. All I can say is, I thought I'd be counting down the days with eagerness and misery, but it's really not been like that at all. I'm not feeling antsy anymore to just be done. Although, I do want her to come so I can meet her face to face. / At our 38 week appointment, the midwife had me go to the hospital to get a non-stress test done. It took FOREVER because of some random stuff they had going on that day, but it ended up being really neat to actually see the baby's heartbeat on the monitor and hear it for almost 45 minutes. She has a really strong heart apparently. And also to see my contractions as they were happening. I had quite a few Braxton Hicks while I was there, and it was so odd to see them register on the screen. I actually wasn't 100 percent sure that that's even what they were until the screen told me it was. It was funny to say to Chad that I thought I was having one, and he could look on the screen and say, "yep... it's pretty high this time!" And now that I know how it feels (which doesn't in my opinion feel anything like how they describe a Braxton Hicks feeling) I can tell you I've easily been having them since 20 weeks or even earlier! It's crazy to know that's what it was this whole time!
Least Favorite Moments So Far: So at my 39 week doctors appointment the other day, they laid me back like they always do to feel the baby and do measurements and take the heartbeat... well, I've been having a pretty hard time with leaning back very far lately and definitely lying completely flat on my back is super bad-feeling. I always mention to them that it's very uncomfortable. This time I told the dr. right away because it hurt quite a bit more than usual. She said what they always do, that my uterus is compressing the vena cava and nerves which can decrease blood flow and cause discomfort. Well not even a minute later, everything started to lose color and I realized that I was about to faint. So I told her and she immediately helped me flip onto my side. After a minute I started to feel better... But, then I think I freaked out about it. You know me - I HATE passing out - and when I'm worried I will, it often brings on a panic attack. I haven't had a full out panic attack in quite some time, which I'm really proud of. But I'm pretty sure that's what happened. I started to feel a lot worse again and I got so so so hot. Like, my skin is on fire, I need a fan, I must have burn marks by now, hot. And I started to feel super nauseous. And started to feel really faint again. I just did my deep breathing, though, and I think I managed to stay quite calm as far as appearances go. And I told the doctor what was going on with how I was feeling. She was honestly the sweetest ever. She rubbed my arms, and took my pulse, and got a cool cloth to use on my burning skin, and spoke very softly, and helped me do my deep breathing, and I'm so thankful for kind, sweet professionals like her. (To all doctors, nurses, and health care providers: please be like this! It's so much easier to cope with that horrible sensation when people are being sweet and kind to you.) The whole thing probably lasted less than 5 minutes. And it felt awful. But my dr. made it seem like a non-event, and told me when I apologized profusely afterward, that many pregnant women have the same trouble with fainting when laying on their backs at this stage and that I had nothing to apologize for. So that made me feel better. And you can be sure as heck that I took myself to McDonald's afterward and got myself a very comforting Bacon Egg and Cheese Mcbagel. Because I deserved it. And that made me feel better, too.
Looking Forward To: Not the labor itself, because that scares the crap out of me, but the moment when I finally get to meet this baby girl that I've been carrying around for almost 9 months. And for that "whew" moment where I can wipe away the sweat and tears and breathe easier again and know that I did it... that I made it through, and it's over, and I can move onto the process of getting to know our baby and learning how to be a good parent with my amazing husband.
So naturally there is a lot to do to get ready for Baby Frey! Chad and I have been crazy busy running here and there to pick up things, making lists of everything we need to do, checking things off that list, putting together the nursery, and all manner of other baby prep activities. One of the things that I always knew I wanted to do was have maternity pictures taken. So at 35 weeks pregnant (last week), I suddenly remembered that not only had I not had these taken yet, but I hadn't even arranged for it to happen either.
I got in contact with Selena from Selena J. Photography yet that day, and she was so sweet to get back with me right away and schedule Chad and I for a session just a few days later. I have to admit, I wasn't super excited about having them done. I feel massive and so not pretty anymore, but I knew that I would regret not doing it later. So I scrounged up outfits for Chad and I and off we went.
I am so so glad that I had it done and that Selena could do them for us. She photographed our wedding, and Chad and I were so thrilled with how those pictures turned out. Not only did she take lovely pictures on our wedding day (despite the fact that it poured down rain), but she also invited us to do another shoot on a different day so we could have some outdoor pictures. She took us to a gorgeous spot: a little forest/pond near her studio. Those pictures turned out to be my favorite ones. Anyway, I was so happy that we could return to the same spot to have our maternity pictures done, and to make everything even more perfect, it was the same week as our anniversary. We just celebrated 4 years of marriage last Thursday! So how neat was it that we could sort of "recreate" some of the poses that Chad and I had done for our wedding, only this time with a baby on board!?
I ended up loving the photos
that Selena took of us! She worked her camera magic and made me feel
beautiful (even at 30+ pounds heavier than I was last time). I would so
recommend her to anyone who wants really gorgeous, quality, classy
pictures for any occasion! She's also going to do our newborn pictures
after the baby is born and I can't wait!
Here are my favorites:
How Far Along? 34 weeks, 1 Day. It's been 6 weeks since I last updated this, and I only have 6 weeks til my due date! That time flew by, so I know that this last little bit is going to go fast! :)
Baby Size: 5ish lbs, and about 18-19 inches long. Kinda the size of a cantaloupe.
Gender: Girl!
Movement? Yes. It's so interesting to feel her move. I almost always feel it in two places at once - up on top of my ribs, and way down at the bottom of my pelvis. We had an ultrasound at 31 weeks and the tech said that she was pretty stretched out in there. Also, I found out that one of the movements I've been feeling for a while is actually hiccups! How cute is that??
Weight Gain:
Ugh. Something like 32 lbs. Super depressing, because I think it's mostly not from the baby. It's mostly from the chocolate. (But hey, I lost 30 pounds before, and I can do it again!)
Maternity Clothes?: Yep, I just got a few more cute t-shirts for spring, and a really cute nursing cover-up :)
Stretch Marks? I suppose that's what they are. I have old scars on the sides of my hips from jeans that I used to wear in high school, and they have gotten seriously dark. And I have a definite stretch mark on my left thigh! HAHA! I think it's so strange that's where one turned up, but I ALWAYS sit with my legs underneath me... I tried to stop, but I just can't. It's the only way I'm comfortable. So I guess the marks are because of the way I bend my leg. LOL!
Cravings: Nothing really. Actually my appetite hasn't been amazing recently, and I've been feeling just slightly nauseous again sometimes (but apparently it hasn't hindered my ability to gain weight! Ha!)
Aversions: Just carrots. Man, let me tell you, ick! It kinda sucks, cause I used to really like them. But now it's like instant nausea. blah!
Symptoms: My ribs/abs area "burn" and feel bruised because this baby kicks them all the time. / I started having some horrible pain a few weeks ago in my hip/lower-back/butt which the doctor said is either sciatica or pelvic girdle pain. It hurt pretty much constantly, but sometimes it would get really super bad and I could barely walk. The other week at Target, for example, it suddenly started acting up and I was forced to waddle my way out of the store, hand on my back. A young mom with a little boy in tow gave me a very sympathetic smile and it gave me courage. Fortunately, this has really almost gone away recently. I'm so grateful, and I really hope it doesn't resurface again before this little one comes! / heartbuuuuurrnnnnn. / I've been dizzy on and off.
Sleep: No, not really. :( (Notice the dark circles and bags under my eyes in the picture up top?? lol)
What I Miss: Opening doors without them hitting my protruding stomach... I keep forgetting how big it's gotten. / Being able to zip up my coats and jackets, or wrap towels the whole way around me. / Sleeping on my stomach. / Sleeping at all.
Favorite Moments So Far: My baby shower was about 2 weeks ago, and that was so nice! My mom and sister (with the help of some dear friends) did an amazing job of making everything so cute and pretty! So grateful for the lovely ladies that came out and for all their sweet gifts for Baby Girl. Pictures to come... / BABYMOON! We finally managed to take ourselves away for a long weekend at the end of March. We headed to Lancaster and did lots of exploring and eating! Yum! Pictures to come of that as well! / We had our 3D/4D ultrasound done at 31 weeks and we were able to see Baby's cute little face (once she finally started cooperating). She loves to lay toward my back so that it's really hard to get a clear picture of her face, but when daddy started talking to her, she rolled right over to get closer to his voice. It was so cute. Also she did a lot of these little cute grins, often right after I laughed, like she knows I'm happy and it makes her happy. And on the normal 2D ultrasound, the tech showed us the hair that Baby Frey had grown as of 31 weeks! So adorable! Look at that cute little nose in the first picture!! awwwwwww! Melts my heart.
Least Favorite Moments So Far: Just the discomfort of being pregnant. And the exhaustion. But really now that all the "tests" and such are done, there hasn't been anything too awful.
Looking Forward To: Meeting this little girl. I almost can barely stand it! I'm a bit terrified of the whole process of getting her out (of course!) but I just cannot wait to see her face and hold her in my arms! :) It's not much of a secret that pregnancy hasn't been my favorite experience ever, but it's been so worth it to get to the end product! I'm hoping this next month and a half goes pretty quickly and that maybe she'll be as anxious to meet us as we are to meet her! (Meaning, maybe she'll decide to come a little early! haha!!)
