“watch out little one, watch out…”
SURPRISE!!
We are excited to announce that Little One #2 is expected to arrive October 22nd!
We couldn’t be more thrilled for this little addition to the family, so please join us in surrounding this sweet baby in prayers and love!
My baby boy is two weeks old ?! How did this happen?! I swear I’m going to wake up and he’ll be 18… (There’s probably some truth in that statement since to wake up I’d have to sleep first, and I’m starting to worry that won’t be until he’s 18. However, I’ve been told the teenage years are just as bad when it comes to getting any sleep. Goodbye soft bed, hello dark circles under my eyes!)
Nate went back to work yesterday leaving my mom and I alone with Damian. I miss him already… It was nice having him home. Without him I have so many more diapers to change! Monday will be my first time completely alone with the baby as Mom leaves Sunday. I think I’m ready to handle it… It’s amazing that something so small can become so intimidating at times. I just have to remind myself that babies cry a lot, that’s normal. They also only sleep during the day, that’s normal. New moms like to cry for no apparent reason, that’s also normal. There are a ton of things that no one could ever fathom as being normal that suddenly become the norm when a baby arrives in this world. It’s a total mind shift, one that I think I’m slowly accepting.
Despite the poo and screams at 3 am, Damian’s wonderful. When I’m holding him and he’s all snuggled up in my arms, I forget how tired I am or how he may have peed on me. He knows how to capture my heart with just a little smile or fat-and-happy sigh after eating. Hard times always containing some manner of sweetness to them, and I’m learning that from my two week old…
Our lovely friends Emily, Hannah, and Katie Jane threw a party in honor of Baby W, and it was amazing! I know that Nate and I had a great time and so did the friends and family who were able to attend. Going along with the nursery, they did a nautical theme and filled our house with the cutest decorations and most delicious food. Check out Emily’s blog post to see more on the food. We received so many fun baby things and enjoyed getting a chance to get together with friends from college. Nate and I were told we’d have to keep having babies to give everyone an excuse to get together. Hopefully some other friends will start helping us out on that one 
Dear Baby W,
We’ve been hanging out now for the past 8 months now. You’ve gone from the size of a poppy seed to now a fruit that should never be inside someone watermelon. After longing to feel you move and wiggle around inside of me, you’re now a very constant presence that I feel under my ribs and bouncing on my bladder. Dad and I have been working hard on learning how to take care of you, getting your nursery ready, and stocking up on more baby clothes than a baby store. For the first four or five months of your life, I hid you from most of the world. You were our fun little secret. And then all of a sudden, as if over night, I popped out to look like I have a basketball under my shirt. There’s no hiding you now!
Before I say this, I want you to know that you need to cook in there for at least another month, so don’t get too excited… But I’m very ready to meet you! I know this last month will go by fast and that I should treasure our final moments together. I know when I finally have to go back to work after you’re born I’ll miss those moments where I felt you move as I rubbed my belly. It’s nice having you so close and knowing that you’re safe. But there’s more meant for you than just swimming around my tummy. You have a whole world waiting for you (and a family who can barely contain their excitement to hold you and kiss you and count your fingers and toes.) And honestly, I’m starting to miss my feet, my bellybutton, and my ability to bend over. I think your furry brother misses his mama’s ever shrinking lap. And Dad is probably ready to be able to hug me again without having to stand 5 feet away. But like I said, we want you to cook fully, so don’t be coming out early! We can manage another month of my waddling.
Enjoy your last month little guy! We’ll see you soon!
Love,
Mama
On Saturday, Nate and I attended the Labor and Delivery class at the hospital. Lasting from 9 am to 4:30 pm, it was a long day filled with birth videos, a tour of the hospital, and relaxation/ pain management techniques (they worked great Saturday, but we’ll see when I’m actually in labor!). I think we were both wiped by the end of it, but look we passed!
I liked the class. It made me excited to give birth. Our instructor was very good about encouraging us to accept that we are stronger than we think we are. Women’s bodies were designed to endure this process, and, although it will most likely be the most difficult thing we do in our lives, going into it aware and confident will help the process move along. She also did a wonderful job helping the fathers understand that they weren’t just on-lookers, but rather that they have an opportunity to be very involved with the delivery. Nate and I look at the delivery as a moment to strength our relationship and the bond between us. It’ll be something we do together. It’ll be hard on both of us, but it’s in those times that true love and commitment are able to shine.
Nate and I were both happy to hear the hospital’s “natural” philosophy regarding birth. They do not schedule C-sections, and they only preform them if absolutely necessary for the health of the baby and/or mother. All the delivery rooms are designed to look as home-like as possible with each room being private and intimate. They’re very accommodating with regards to birthing positions and the like, and each room has it’s own bathtub to allow women the chance to take advantage of the soothing power of warm water. I’ll be allowed to walk around as much as I’d like as long as I check back in with them every hour to make sure the baby and I are fine. Once he has arrived, they’ll move us to the maternity suites where Baby W and Nate can stay with me in the room. From what it sounded like, they don’t really offer any other option than the “rooming in” when it comes to where the baby will stay (that is if there isn’t something wrong of course). All in all, the hospital met all our wishes!
At this point it’s just a waiting game. Of course, we hope Baby W doesn’t come early! We want him fully cooked before he makes his entrance into this world. However, we realize that he could come anywhere from a month or so from now to tomorrow. (I really hope not tomorrow!) But it’s hard to believe that before we know it, we’re going to be parents. Baby W will actually be someone we can hold in our arms. It’s a surreal thought that after almost a year, he’ll finally be here so very soon. Whenever he decides to arrive, Nate and I will welcome him with open arms and a loving home–one that is very ready to have him!
Knowing that being at work all day was already rough on my pregnant body, Nate and I decided to split the trip to Charleston in two and stay last night in Greenville with my best friend Emily. We had a lot of fun eating Thai food and catching up with friends. We even spent some time before bed watching my belly move as Baby W did his nightly aerobics routine.
Emily may have been a bit weirded out by my moving belly.
It was good to be in Greenville for a bit, even if it was only a short stay. I never thought I’d say I miss it there, but I’ll admit I kind of do…
Just look at the leaves right outside her apartment.
Tibi and I enjoyed them together while Nate and Emily attempted P90X Extreme Yoga this morning.
Emily’s an awesome cook, and you can follow her food adventures on her blog Comfortable Home Life. She made us some yummy flat bread and almond butter snacks before we left to make the rest of the trip to Charleston. They were delicious! Thanks Em!
We’ve made it to the 30s, which seems incredible. I can’t believe how quickly time has flown by since getting pregnant. Baby W will be here before we know it!
I just got back from my doctor’s appointment and everything looks great! Baby W is now in the head-down position, which is exactly how we want him. All my measurements came out fine–also good. And we’ve now moved from having once a month appointments to every 3 weeks. So I’ll have two 3 weeks apart appointments, and then I’ll start going once a week for the final month. I have an appointment right before Christmas to figure out our ‘birthing plan’ so I should probably start researching that… As Nate said, “Don’t we just want someone to catch it?” But in all seriousness, we probably should sit down and talk about all the procedures we are and are not comfortable with.
In other exciting news, we (ok Nate) painted the nursery this weekend, so I’ll try to get pictures up sometime tomorrow! Stay tuned!
A surprise!! We’ve decided to keep the little guy’s name a surprise. But we have finally landed on something we both really like. After a lot of advice from people, we decided to not risk the inevitable comments and opinions about our favorite name and save it for when he’s born. That way everyone will have to love it, or at least tell us they do because there will be no going back then! haha The meaning of his name has always been one of the most important factors so I’d love to share with y’all all the thoughts that went into the naming process, but I’ll have to save that for a later date. I think Nate and I would both agree though that this was a lot harder of a process than we thought. Names are really important. He’ll go by this name for his entire life and develop a certain identity with it. That’s a huge responsibility as parent. We wanted something unique but not weird. (So that threw out all those fruit names people were hoping for!) I feel very confident in our choice and I hope our little one loves his name as much as we do.
