“Oh no, does this mean her blog is going to become a baby blog?!?!?”
Whether you’ve been thinking this or not, I would probably have this question if I were you (but maybe that is just how my mind works), and here is my answer. To be honest, I have always considered our blog to be a lifestyle blog. I have recorded our trips, DIY, moving, recipes, the pups, décor, faith, career choices, products I’m diggin’, my dabbling in various hobbies, and so many other random things from our lives. Thus I think LWTH falls into the Lifestyle category. Now that we have a new being joining the fam, I think it would be hard to completely omit that topic from our blog (keep in mind how many posts and updates were done with each pup that joined the fam lol). So while I don’t foresee myself becoming a “mommy blogger”, I am not going to hide that aspect of my life either. Please note that I don’t have anything against mommy bloggers, I have followed and will continue to follow many mommy bloggers, I just don’t see myself fitting into that niche at this point in my life. The plan is to just keep on going with all of those lifestyle topics (recipes, DIY, pups, etc.), but to just add one more category to the list: Little Peep. I would still label LWTH as a lifestyle blog; I do not plan on removing any of the typical topics from here. I understand that I might lose some followers, especially those that are either still struggling to conceive (and if that is you, I hope you know that I pray for you on a daily basis that God would fulfill the desires of your heart and fill you with peace and joy while you wait), or are not interested in children. I respect your decision. Of course I would love to maintain a friendship with you, but if this aint yo thing, I get it and I’m not offended.
With all of that being said, today’s post will be mama & baby oriented (please don’t call me a hypocrite lol). Along our journey of infertility, I always found so much joy in reading other mother's “bump-dates.” It gave me so much hope for the future, and I always caught myself smiling when I read about the experiences of other mammas. I always craved for the day when I could write my own. That day starts now! (insert insanely cheesy smile here) I always knew I wanted to have bumpdates, for others to follow along with our journey yes, but mainly for myself, the Mr., and Little Peep. I want a record of this pregnancy because we prayed so long to get here and we want to capture and embrace every aspect of this time in our lives. Since the day we found out that we were expecting I started recording our bumpdates and I’m going to start posting them here, multiple at a time so that I can't catch LWTH up, so please note that these are several weeks behind, they’ve just been saved as drafts. So here we go, Little Peep’s first Bumpdate :-)
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Date: 9/22/13 How far along: 5 weeks
Fruit-size comparison: Our baby is somewhere between the size of a poppy seed and a sesame seed. It's amazing what hopes and dreams come from something so super teeny
Developmental milestones: Our baby has a brain and a spinal cord (this is big coming from a neuroscientist lol)
Maternity clothes: Just bloating (see above picture for evidence)
Weight gain: Not yet
Stretch Marks: Nope, but with my genes I'm certain they are coming.
Sleep: Ehhhhh it's not horrible but I'm not sleeping like a baby either (haha nice pun Darby, nice pun)
Best moment of the week: Seeing that little expensive plastic pee stick say "Pregnant" and praying with my husband as we gave thanks to the Lord for this sweet and precious blessing.
Movement: haha no!
Cravings: Nope
Gender: It's a girl or a boy (I am so sarcastic sometimes lol)
Belly button in or out: Innie
Wedding ring: It's on
Anything making you queasy/sick: Nope
What I miss: Charting, counting, and peeing on sticks......haha just kidding! I don't miss anything! I've prayed for this for so long that I'm thrilled to leave that old lifestyle behind.
What I’m looking forward to: Everything. My mind is moving a million miles a minute and I am looking forward to everything. I have prayed for so long that I’m excited to embrace each milestone. I want to move as slow as I can so I embrace every stage, even nausea. I prayed for those headaches, "morning" sickness, achy joints, cankles, and weight gain, because that meant we had a baby on the way. I am looking forward to every.single.step. in this journey.
Labor signs: Nope
Symptoms: My chest is sore and I pee a lot, but that is about it.
Nursery: Being a planner, I think I had this determined before I even met my husband lol
Emotions: I have never felt this level of joy before. My heart is so filled that I feel like I'm splashing out all over the place. I am beyond excited and I really don't even think there are words to say about how thrilled we are.
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Date: 9/28/13
How far along: 6 weeks
Fruit-size comparison: sweet pea (the sweetest pea in the entire world)
Developmental milestones: This week we're growing a nose, ears, eyes, cheeks, and a chin!
Maternity clothes: Still a little bloated, so putting off shopping for maternity clothes for as long as I can, but I have been pricing around.
Weight gain: Not yet
Stretch Marks: Nope, but with my genes I'm certain they are coming.
Sleep: I think I'm just too excited to sleep. I wake up between 1 and 2 and again between 4 and 5 to use the restroom, and every time I get up I'm just so smiley!
Best moment of the week: Telling our best friends in Houston the news. Their reaction was perfect (We love y'all G+J)
Movement: haha no!
Cravings: I think it's a little early here, but I do want meat all the time. I'm not sure if that's a craving or just me being me.
Gender: It's a girl or a boy (obviously).
Belly button in or out: Innie
Wedding ring: It's on
Anything making you queasy/sick: Nope
What I miss: I don't miss anything! I've prayed for this for so long that I'm thrilled to leave that old lifestyle behind. I'm embracing every new change.
What I’m looking forward to: I'm really looking forward to our next visit to the doctor. We get to see the heart beat, and show our doctor how truly amazing and powerful God is; she said this would never happen. Well Doc, nothing is impossible with God.
Labor signs: Nope
Symptoms: My chest is sore and I pee a lot. I have had a few cramps after long days at school. Oh and I had my first pregnancy dream last night (9/30/13). I have had these dreams before, but this was the first when I was actually pregnant. I woke up so smiley!
Nursery: Being a planner, I think I had this determined before I even met my husband lol
Emotions: I have never felt this level of joy before. My heart is so filled that I feel like I'm splashing all over the place. I am beyond excited and I really don't even think there are words to say how thrilled we are
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Date: 10/5/13 How far along: 7 weeks
Fruit-size comparison: We've got a blueberry this week :-)
Developmental milestones: Little Peep has both cerebral hemispheres and developing 100 new cells per minute (for this neuroscientist this makes me very happy). Our little blueberry is also sprouting arms and legs!
Maternity clothes: I have resisted this as long as possible. I didn't want to purchase any maternity clothes (probably because I thought I might jinx myself and didn't want to lose another baby). But I realize logically that this baby's life is not in my hands. God's will has more power than my maternity clothing purchases (of course!) So when some went on sale, I purchased. I got a few staples, hoping that they will last throughout the seasons and pregnancy.
Weight gain: Nope
Stretch Marks: Not yet, but I'm certain they are on their way
Sleep: I sleep hard, but I always have. Lately I've been getting up between 1am-2am and between 4am-5am.
Best moment of the week: I heard 3 separate groups of students talking around campus discussing whether or not they thought I was expecting (sidebar- I think it's funny when they think I'm not listening hehe). I also got an email asking me if I was pregnant because I have a "glow". I'm thrilled to know that the way I feel on the inside is splashing out in every facet of my life. I am tickled to pieces! Now to keep this a secret.....
Movement: haha no!
Cravings: No, I just want to eat everything.
Gender: It's a girl or a boy (obviously).
Belly button in or out: Innie
Wedding ring: It's on
Anything making you queasy/sick: My morning tea. I switched to decaf tea and I don't know if it's the tea or the time of day, but a nice wave of nausea follows.
What I miss: This is something that I didn't anticipate would be a challenge for me. I figured that if we ever conceived I would shout it from the mountain top; like you wouldn't be able to keep me quiet. Well obviously since you're readying this weeks later, I had to learn to keep a BIG secret. This is so hard for me! I can't even keep Christmas/birthday gifts a secret. Keeping our miracle secret???? Killer!
What I’m looking forward to: Our prenatal appointment was scheduled for 10/23/13, but it got moved up to this Thursday (10/10/13) because my doc has a conference. I'm totally fine with this, because we finally get to see our baby this week. We have waited for this moment for so long, that I can't believe this is the week we finally get to see our sweet miracle baby. So many years of waiting, and to see that heart beat will be the most precious moment. The amount of joy I am filled with cannot even be put into words.
Labor signs: Nope
Symptoms: Woah those hormones are kicking in, and they mean business! Waves of nausea have set in and they seem to start in the early morning and last until about 4pm. Evenings are my best time as far as that is concerned.
Nursery: Not even thinking about this right now
Emotions: Pure joy, this is the only way I can explain myself. I don't think I've had crazy mood swings; my mood pendulum is simply stuck on the joyous side.
I’m still several weeks behind with these posts so I will be trying to catch up with several weeks at a time.
Have a great weekend friends!
