Monday, September 23, 2013

31 weeks with my baby love.

well, here we are!

check out muh big belly.

people have been asking me similar questions about how things have been going with my pregnancy, and i thought this was a perfect place to address them. so, here we go!

how have i been feeling?

overall, great! but recently, not so great.

it's starting to get really cold in chicago, and because of that, i caught a nasty cough and cold and took all of the day off yesterday to sleep, sleep, sleep. and boy did that do wonders to my exhausted, preggo body! for the first time in a long time, i felt completely recharged and energized enough to do laundry, bake cupcakes for john's work, and even do the dishes.

when we first moved to chicago, i was always cleaning, cooking and doing normal duties of a stay-at-home {soon-to-be} mom. but recently? a sink full of dishes can bring me to tears because i don't have the energy to do them. i just want to collapse onto the couch and pass out for hours on end. do i feel guilty about this? yes and no. yes, because i enjoy having a clean house for john to come home to, and no, because sometimes i need to cut myself some slack.  my body is growing a HUMAN BEING, and i need to give myself a break sometimes. 

this has been one of the hardest things for me being pregnant. i'm a person that likes to go, go, go! i like to do things and be busy or else i go crazy! being pregnant has allowed me to relax and find time to kick my feet up, read a book or take a good, long nap. all of these things, i've come to find, are things that i absolutely need to stay sane- pregnant or not. i need to find time for just me, to do the things i enjoy doing and take the time to relax. 

how are you feeling about labor?

earlier on in my pregnancy, my nervous feelings for labor and delivery were through the roof. recently, we attended a one-day birthing class at northwestern memorial hospital where we will be having our baby. ever since the birthing class, i feel much more prepared and at ease about labor and what it entails. 

i don't have a specific plan set in my head for what i want my labor to be like because i know that unexpected things can happen. i'm preparing myself for anything and everything. all i want is to have a safe labor with my husband by my side, and a healthy baby boy at the end. whatever happens in between my first contraction and holding that baby in my arms is going to happen the way it's going to happen for me, and i'm okay with that.

how have you been sleeping at night?

honestly, i feel that i've been extremely lucky with how well i've been sleeping at night. i do get up around three to four times a night to pee, but when i'm done, i can go right back to sleep. baby is most active right before i'm about to go to sleep, after i eat, and right when i wake up in the morning. 

what have you been doing with your baby to bond?

one of my favorite things? prenatal yoga. 

this has been one of my main sources of exercises during my pregnancy- learning proper breathing techniques, and stretching has been one of the best ways to bond with my wee babe. teaching myself to breathe properly through pain has prepared me for contractions and i've loved the feelings of peace and relaxation that it brings me. 

another one of my favorite things to do with my baby is read to him. 

as a young child, i LOVED reading books. my parents would always read me a bedtime story every night before i went to bed, and it instilled a love for reading that i continue to have to this day. i want our baby to have this as well. as mother and son, we are currently reading the Book of Mormon together. i have never read the Book of Mormon all the way through from cover-to-cover, and i made it a goal to read the Book of Mormon before our baby is born. i started back in july and am currently in the book of Alma chapter 26. it has been a truly rewarding experience that i've shared with my son. when we read together, he kicks and rolls which to me says that he loves it. in addition to reading the scriptures, we read Ensign articles, and story books. we already have a good supply of books, and BONUS- there is a library just a few blocks down the street that i know we will be frequently attending once he's out of my womb. 

one last favorite thing to do with my baby is to sing to him. 

singing church hymns, primary songs, and lullabies are a few of my favorites. in addition to singing to him, we like to have dance parties. baby's favorite song is "Party Rock Anthem", and man oh man, this kid can dance. i'm so excited to see what those moves look like outside my belly. 

how is your nursery coming along?

it's definitely a work in progress.

we are currently painting the baby's nursery from the dark gray that the room was before to off-white. the previous tenants that lived in our apartment trashed the walls of the baby's room, so john and i had to putty a lot of dents, holes and scrapes. 



i'm so excited for it to be finished.

and finally, have you guys picked out a name for "Small Fry"?

yes, and no. john and i have a few names that we LOVE, but we are waiting until we see him to officially pick one. i like the element of surprise with baby names, and to even us it will be a surprise! we have a few favorites that have stayed in our top 5 throughout my entire pregnancy, and then sometimes we hear a new name that we both love. it'll all depend on what name we feel best represents our son when we see him for the first time. 
and i cannot wait for that moment. {check out those lips!}

happy 31 weeks baby boy!

No comments:

Post a Comment