Surprise: Pip 3.0!

We are excited to announce that Pip3.0 will be here in March 2018!!I found out I was pregnant shortly after returning from Iceland. Something about those international waters, I tell ya 😉

This pregnancy has been so different from my last two! Actually, they’ve all been pretty different. The first trimester I was always cold. Which is so weird for me because as most of you know, I’m usually a heat box, and I have been since becoming pregnant with Preston 4 years ago. I’ve also had a huge meat aversion. I cannot eat hardly any meat, and when I do, it has to be very little. So we’ve been cooking a lot of vegetarian meals around here. Which is a nice change, I’m just always trying to find ways to get any extra protein I can (eggs, pistachios, peanut butter, etc)

Thankfully, I haven’t been sick like I was with Jack. The first trimester I was just so darn tired all the time!! I was napping with the boys every day and we had to stay inside for a few weeks because the heat (100’s) didn’t help. Now that it’s cooled off outside and I’m in my second trimester, things have been going well! Today I am 17w3d pregnant.

We had our first ultrasound at 7 weeks. It’s crazy how each doctor does things differently. With Preston I had a bunch of ultrasounds (9 weeks, 14 weeks, 19 weeks, and around 32 weeks). With Jack I just had 2 ultrasounds (12 weeks and 21 weeks). I’ll have my next ultrasound for Pip3 at 19 weeks.

A lot of the time I forget I’m even pregnant!! Which has actually been really nice! There are the times that I get winded super easily, or the times my stomach gets in the way when I’m trying to lay Jack in his crib, but otherwise, it hasn’t been bad at all!

We are excited for this little bundle to arrive (but please baby, cook as long as you’d like–I made it 41 weeks with Jack). It may be crazy adding another one to the bunch. Jack and Pip3 will only be 14 months apart. Thankfully Jack is a pretty easy going baby these days and Preston is such a good helper around the house!!

…until next time! xoxo ❤

Overdue.

Well, I made it to 41 weeks with our newest addition! Let’s just say I didn’t realize how uncomfortable I actually was, until I pushed him out and I told my doctor how great I felt with all of that pressure off of my back!

I didn’t get a picture at 39 weeks because it was my 31st birthday and I had other things on my agenda. 🙂 So here is a picture of me at 40 weeks on December 23rd.

By 40 weeks and 5 days I had a lot of people reaching out to me to see if I’d had the baby, or at least any contractions. So I figured I would update them all!  Haha.

(I was 2 cm at 38 weeks and 3 cm at 39 weeks. You’d think that would have meant the baby was coming soon. It didn’t!)

And here is the final picture of me at 41 weeks! Large and in charge for sure!!

Stay tuned for my next post on the arrival of our sweet baby boy.

…until next time! xoxo ❤

On the move!

Hi friends! I figured I’d do a little update of everything that’s been happening lately. After coming home from a much needed weekend away with my sisters and Che, the only thing that could have made life sweeter was an offer on our house.

A little overview of the last few days: I left home on Thursday to head to Chicago for a weekend away. Chad stayed at home with Preston until Sunday and then they headed to Chicago to meet Emily and I for dinner. We had an inspection on our new house on Monday. Heading back to Iowa after our inspection, we got a showing request for first thing Tuesday morning. So Chad dropped Preston and I off at my parents house and he headed straight to Nebraska for work. (That way we didn’t have to worry about getting out of the house before Preston even wakes up in the morning!) I was a little nervous as I hadn’t been home since Thursday, but knew I could trust hubby’s cleaning abilities.

So anyway, call me crazy, or hormonal and pregnant, but yesterday (tuesday) was the day for happy tears. Preston and I got home after being gone since Thursday. When I walked in the house and saw how clean and perfect Chad had left our house, I just couldn’t help but try and fight back the tears. I was so impressed! That’s been the stress of having our house on the market–keeping it perfectly clean for showings! Shortly after that, I received a call from our realtor, we had TWO offers coming in! um, what?! I was just so happy that there were people who loved our house just like we did. One of the couples even asked if we’d be interested in selling any of our furniture with the house, I was so flattered! 🙂 Anyway, with one of the offers that came in, also came with a letter to us from them. The letter was perfect and sweet and made me cry. They talked about how they loved how we had our house decorated and how it was already baby proofed. They have a 2 year old and a baby on the way this winter. (um, what? just like us!). They talked about how their son had found our raspberry bush in the backyard and couldn’t help but pick the raspberries and eat them (one of Preston’s favorite things to do) and they said that he played in the Preston’s sandbox the whole time they looked at our house. This letter couldn’t have been more perfect. It was just what I needed to hear. It’s been so hard thinking about even leaving this house that we have grown in and love,but knowing that there is a new family, just like us, that will be taking our place makes it seem a little more bearable. We’ve written a letter to send back to them and can’t wait for them to read it! Makes me cry just typing this up.

Those of you who have been unfortunate enough to be around me since we listed our house the beginning of October, know how stressed and worried I have been. Thank you for listening to me stress and worry and vent. I swear this whole process would have been so much better had I not been weeks away from having a baby.

(what if our house won’t sell? what if the contingency expires on the house we made an offer on in Illinois?  what if we are living out of a hotel with a toddler and a newborn? When can i start going through baby clothes for Pip? When can i start nesting? Am I stressing so much I’m going to go into early labor? Should I start packing my hospital bag?) you get the jist! #basketcase #nutjob

We are excited for the new adventures ahead, it’s going to be so bittersweet leaving this home! This is the home that we welcomed Preston home to and the one where we found out we were adding another bundle to our family! Hoping the next house will be perfect to making many new memories.

…until next time! xoxo

16 weeks with Pip2!

I’m back!! 

it seems like i’ve been gone for far too long. I keep saying to myself, ‘i’ll do a post during nap time’ and then when nap time rolls around, i’m like, ‘sleep sounds nice’. So there ya have it. I’ve been napping on the job and enjoying every minute of it!

I’m 16 weeks pregnant with Pip2. It’s been a long 16 weeks with being sick, tired, and dehydrated. I mean seriously, I even carry a puke bucket in my car with me these days. Since it’s summer, and a hot one at that, i’m always hot and thirsty. If i drink too much water i get sick, but if i feel dehydrated i get sick. Every time i see a pool or a body of water, i just want to jump in!! Preston has been happy that i’ve been getting in the pool with him all the time. At the gym, i stare at the pool and just want to dive in!! I’m going to go get myself a swim cap so i can start lap swimming again. I think pip2 will enjoy it. I have been able to continue to work out with this babe! Yay!

I can’t tell you the number of times i’ve thrown up my prenatal vitamins. 😦 I even tried switching brands and it didn’t help. So lets just pray this baby is happy and healthy tucked away in my tummy.

okay, enough of the gross talk.

 I have been having strong cravings with this pregnancy, too! Like, ‘I NEED IT NOW’ cravings!! My last craving was a steak, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich with sautéed onions and spinach. I had to make a stop at the grocery store to make them for dinner!! This weekend i wanted a Kim Chi reuben with real corned beef and Kim Chi Kraut. But the Kim Chi bus hasn’t been at the farmers market once this year. 😦 I’m not even sure if i was spelling that right…but it’s amazing!!

Hubby and i did get around to making like 20 freezer meals over the 4th of July weekend! That’ll help out so much since i haven’t been able to cook much in the last few months. Loaded with good veggies for baby Pip2.

I’m really trying to enjoy as much of this summer with Preston as i can. This will be the last one of just us two!! The start of next summer we will have a 6 month old!

My little boy Preston is just a cute as ever. I know every Mom probably says this, so i guess it’s my right as a Mom to brag about my son. If i didn’t, who would?? lol

He is oh so smart and loves to learn!! He’s known how to identify the letters in the alphabet since he was 18 months old. He is very good a memorizing. He ‘reads’ every book along with me before nap time and bed time. He can count to 10 in English and Spanish and is currently learning to count to 10 in Japanese and German–only because my hubby and I know how. haha! He is so good at singing songs–his favorite is ‘The Itsy Bitsy Spider’. Probably because he LOVES bugs. Which he will kill for me if i ask, otherwise he will play with them. Today while we were in Express he found a bug on the ground and the lady working was so grossed out and Preston looked at her and just stomped on it like ‘i got this, don’t even worry’. It was so funny! He is Mr. Manners to, no more prompting from Mom most of the time! I even hear him playing with his cars and they will crash and he will say, ‘i’m sorry’ and ‘it’s okay’ or they will happily pass each other and he will  say ‘thank you’ and ‘you’re welcome’. It melts my heart every time i hear it!!

He also practices writing his letters. Especially his initials. But the other week when i was cooking preston said, Mama, look, i drew an ‘h’ and an ‘i’!! He was so proud!! I was impressed he wasn’t even looking at anything to go off of.

Today when we were at TJ Maxx Preston found a Digger that he wanted. He asked me if we could buy it and i told him i didn’t have any money for the digger. He told me he had a penny in his pocket. I told him a penny wasn’t enough money to pay for the digger. He told me he had more money in his wallet at home. So i told him next time we go out, we could bring his wallet, and he could buy a toy. The thing that made me want to just buy it for him was that he didn’t get mad or throw a fit, he just put it back on the shelf and gave me these little puppy dog eyes. I just melted. but i stayed strong because i know it’s an important life lesson! I told my hubby that some day this week I’m going to take preston to the bank to exchange his piggy bank money for cash and let him buy a toy with it. I’m sure i’ll end up paying for over half of what he got but i think it’ll be a good lesson for him!!

I keep reminding myself that life will never be this easy again (come December). Having one child is such a joy and a blessing!!! It really gives you time to hang out and get to know your little mini. I can’t wait to add another little munchkin to our family, but I’m sure enjoying this single child thing while i can!

^^^ Preston’s first REAL camping trip! We stayed in a tent (or ‘fort’ as preston would call it). He loved every minute of it!! And the extra time he got to spend with family.

Anyway, I still have a couple more hours of nap time–so i think i might take a little snooze myself!

We will find out Pip2’s gender on August 12 (21 weeks). At my 15 week appt Pip2’s heart rate was 140 bpm. (Preston’s was usually in the 160’s) Any guesses on what I’m having???

…until next time! xoxo ❤

We’re excited to announce…

that Preston is going to be a big Brother!!

 

He’s so excited and so are we! Baby is due December 2016!

I know I’ve been MIA for awhile, but with feeling sick, taking a photography class, Preston’s gymnastics, babysitting my cute little neighbor, and wedding festivities for my SIL…we’ve been pretty busy!

…until next time! xoxo

Labor & Delivery

It’s hard to believe that it’s already been one week since we had little Preston. Last week at this time, about 10 am, I was yelling at my nurse to give me an epidural. We were waiting on the anesthesiologist and the nurse promised she would arrive in about 15 minutes.

My labor was moving along so quickly. It was hard to believe that I had just woken up at 3:00 am that morning with what appeared to be contractions. My husband told me to start timing them, just in case. It was a good thing he did, because I would have just laid there in pain wondering why this was happening to me.

When I started timing my contractions they were about 10 minutes apart and lasted about 45 seconds long. I knew that it was the real thing because they came like clockwork and slowly got closer together and lasted longer. By about 5 in the morning I told my husband that this was the real deal and we needed to call First Nurse once my contractions were 5 minutes apart. He non-chalanty said, ‘are you sure they’re not just going to go away?’.

{Note: since this was my first pregnancy everyone warned us about Braxton Hicks contractions, going to the hospital too early, and false labor.} 

I was sure these were the real thing!

By this time, about 6 am, I was in so much pain. My contractions had been about 5 minutes apart and lasted for about 1 minute. It was time to call First Nurse. When we talked to the First Nurse, she told us we needed to wait until my contractions were 5 minutes apart for an hour, and lasted 1 minute to 1.5 minutes long. Feeling frustrated, I decided I better get in the shower because I didn’t know when the next shower I would be able to take would be.  As I was in the shower, I had two contractions at 4.5 minutes apart. They lasted about 1 minute and  15 seconds long. I told Chad, we needed to call First Nurse back because they were less than 5 minutes apart. He told me we needed to wait until the hour was up as instructed {remembering all the horror stories about women going in too early and being sent home to wait out more contractions}. 

So we waited.

It was the most painful hour ever!! (or so I thought–haha.) We finally called First Nurse back around 7 am. We told her my contractions were about 4 minutes apart, for over an hour, and were lasting 1 minute and 30 seconds long. She still acted like this wasn’t a big deal. She said we could come in if we wanted to. She also said, if we waited until 8am we could get checked in at the Women’s Clinic by my Doctor and then submitted to the hospital once they confirmed I was in labor. At this time, Chad started cleaning the house, folding laundry, setting out our bags, etc! In between contractions, I was trying to get dressed. Surprisingly, the hour went by really fast because it took me about that long just to get some clothes on. We didn’t end up heading to the Women’s Clinic until about 8:30 am. I called ahead to make sure my doctor knew I was coming. She was in surgery for the morning so they had a different OBGYN from the clinic check me for labor. When we arrived, I could hardly walk. Chad walked me inside and then went back out to park the car. I was such a mess. I checked in at the counter and quickly sat down to wait. I had another contraction while sitting in the lobby–at least I was surrounded by other pregnant women! The lab tech came out to give me a cup to pee in. I struggled to the bathroom and once I got there I had another huge contraction. I’m sure everyone could hear me wailing from the toilet. When I was done, I went back out to the waiting room. Chad was standing there. We sat down for a bit. Had a couple more contractions, and then the nurse came out to get us. She took us back to the room. As soon as I sat on the bed I had another huge contraction that lasted until the doctor arrived in the room. When he got in there, he asked which pregnancy this was. I told him it was my first and he immediately changed his tone, like everyone else we had talked to in the medical field once we told them it was my first. {Like I said, when people know it’s your first, they often believe you will be there for a good 12-24 hours before there is an actual baby in the picture.} The OBGYN asked Chad if I’d broken any of his fingers yet from squeezing them while I was in pain. Chad told him no, but lets be honest, I didn’t even let Chad see how much pain I was actually in!! I was trying to be tough. The doctor finally checked to see if I was dilated at all. {Last time I was at the Doctors office (just two days prior) I was only dilated to 1 cm–so I was praying for at least 3cm.} He looked at me and said, ‘you’re definitely in labor! you are 5cm dilated and you’re going to have a baby today!’ Chad and I both looked at each other in shock–I knew I was in labor, but just hearing it out loud made it so much more REAL! The same went for Chad. This whole time, I swear he thought we were going to be sent home. He knows I don’t have a huge pain tolerance and was probably thinking they were going to send us home for the afternoon, at the least. After another contraction, the nurse arrived with a wheelchair to wheel me over to the hospital. By the time we got to the hospital it was about 9:30am. The labor nurse came in and started checking my vitals. Everything was looking good and I told her I wanted an epidural as soon as possible! She told me she would contact the anesthesiologist. It was 10am at this time and she promised me the anesthesiologist would be here in 15 minutes. During this time the labor nurse started fluids in my hand (and missed my vein three times, ouch) and hooked me up to the monitors to hear Preston’s heart rate. It had been 15 minutes and the anesthesiologist still wasn’t there. I was yelling at my nurse, who was the most annoying person in the world, but now that i’m thinking about it, maybe every women in labor finds a similarity in their labor nurse to a person they find extremely annoying in real life. Anyway, I digress, the anesthesiologist eventually showed up around 10:25. She gave me a shot in my back that was so minor compared to the pain I had been in with contractions. Now I just needed to wait until the medicine kicked in. My doctor came in shortly after that to break my water and check my cervix. I was 7cm dilated at this time. My parents came in the room to hang out for a bit while we waited. My parents were with us for about 20 minutes and my doctor arrived back in the room to check how much I’d progressed since breaking my water. My parents left the room, my doctor checked my cervix, and sure enough I was already 10 cm dilated. She told me that there was a women in labor in the next room, and we were going to wait until she had her baby before I started pushing because the 2 labor nurses that were going to help, were in the other room. So my doctor went back over to the Women’s Clinic and my nurse left the room for us to wait. Not even 10 minutes later Preston’s heart rate went down on the monitor. It was in the 130’s and all of the sudden dropped to the 50’s-60’s. So I immediately paged my nurse. She came in the room and said we couldn’t wait any longer because Preston’s heart rate dropped due to my last strong contraction. Not even 5 minutes later, my Doctor flies in my room and says we’ve got to start pushing to get this baby out. Without the help of the 2 additional labor nurses, my nurse held one leg and Chad held the other. I started pushing at 12:46 pm and Preston was born at 12:51 pm. I pushed through 3 contractions (a total of 5 pushes) and Preston was out!! Let’s just say, Chad was impressed, I was impressed, my nurse and my doctor were both impressed! {In case you’re wondering, the woman in the room next to me still hadn’t had her baby at this time.} Chad was able to cut the umbilical cord and Preston was handed to me right after that. I had all of these feelings rushing through me. The second she handed Preston to me, I started crying this weird cry I’ve never cried before. I couldn’t believe that this little human, who resided in my womb for the last 10 months, was mine! We made him and he was real! Yes, he was real before, but it was such a different feeling– holding your baby for the first time in your arms. Little Preston Robert, who actually remained nameless for the first 27 hours after his birth, made his appearance weighing in at 7 lbs 3 oz and 20.5 inches long! He also got a 9 out of 10 on his APGARS–that’s my boy!