Maternity Picture Planning

Top of the morning! Today I am 36 weeks, and I head to the Dr. for my first exam. I leave that vague purposely. If you've been preggers, you know what that means. If not, then ignorance is bliss! 

We also take our maternity pictures later this afternoon. Now these pictures have been stressing me out. Any photo session stresses me really. But at 36 weeks prego? I'm huge and rocking some serious bags under my eyes! I am ultra prepared tho, have a shot list, and tons of props. This isn't like me, but the shoot has been rescheduled twice. My favorite part about the shoot is my flower crown! 

Now a little bit about the shoot, we are using Chesney Layne- a Houston-based photog who just shot my bestie's announcement pictures.

I have been waiting for Emily to tell the interwebz she's prego for about 6 weeks! We've been gabbing baby all day, every day for a while. "Did you see so and so is prego!?" "She's having a girl!" "What do you think of this bedding?" We go on and on. So now that that cat is out of the bag, a big congratulations to her and Stan! She's going to be the cutest pregnant girl. 

So back to the session. We are going for a lifestyle or "at home" maternity session. I've always wanted maternity pictures at home and in comfy clothes. Pregnancy is very much about the home in my opinion, and we have some great plans to capture this. But Chesney also suggested recreating the lifestyle shoot outside, with props and all this cool jazziness, turning my at home concept right on its head. I'm excited! And hope a picture or two hides my double chin! Now I must get some sleep. 

Oh, and if you are wondering how I'm feeling ... My standard response is "hanging in there!" ... Aka I'm slightly exhausted and getting through the day is kinda painful. 4 weeks people, 4 weeks! 

Tata lovas. And thanks for the comments on my last post! This girl needed some empathy! 

a BIG update

Phew. Last week was a roller coaster. I went from super excited, to straight up achey and grumpy to be so pregnant, to super productive this weekend. My moods were all over the place. I even went to a work happy hour on Wednesday (not something I do often), and had a blast. It was completely random. My poor husband bears the brunt of this crazy emotional roller coaster, which duh he should, because this pregnancy thing is a serious business. Men owe us a lot for carrying their children. I definitely stand by this statement as I'm winding down in this crazy pregnancy journey. 

So straight up ketch-up style, here's what's been causing all the roller coaster-ness in Tessy world. 

-last Monday we had our last big ultrasound, and we found out the baby is big! She was clocking in at 6.5 lbs and in the 88th percentile with 5 weeks to go. We were ecstatic. I have no issues with my whale status because I know there is a big ol' healthy baby in there! I was 8lbs 13 oz. so I am not really surprised. And she was head down & practicing her breathing. For 34 weeks that was a really, really good sign! Proof of this big baby: 

- of course this news set the stage for what could happen in terms of delivery. I kind of took a step back from the 'what shelves do I want for her room' type questions and really started to focus on labor and delivery. I started researching effacement, dilation, stripping of membranes and inducement options like a crazy woman. I'm trying to be as informed as possible so I don't get pushed into a c-section at 40 weeks because the "baby is so big." I have nothing against c-sections. If there is a medical reason for it,then it is what it is. But just because she is big? I'm ready to be proactive to prevent that scenario from happening. Again, all this news really brought everything into perspective. A baby is about to come out of me, the shelves can wait.

-I realized at some point last week that my hips are doing some serious adjusting my friends. They ache all night while I sleep on my side, and I even have a few new stretch marks to prove it. It hurts like a biatch, but any signs that we are getting closer gets me pumped.

-another gripey symptom: my feet feel like they've been running marathons. Every morning they ache for a solid hour. Just a general point of advice: just say 'hanging in there!' when strangers ask you how you are doing. Strangers ask a lot of questions (which I have no issue with, I'll talk to anyone about baby cook that will listen :)), but I'm sure they don't actually want to hear, "well my feet feel like bricks and my hips are spreading." Just a thought.

-I've been a stressed out mama about maternity pictures. Why didn't I book these sooner?! Our session is finally all planned out, and I can't wait to check this off the list tomorrow. I'm so ready to be done with tasks like this. I've debated canceling but everyone says you'll want the pictures later. Puffy face and all. 

-we had our family baby shower this weekend! We are feeling ultra prepared in the baby stuff department. After said maternity pics, we can pack our bag and then set up as much as our time allows. I Love this painting we got from our sister in law, and the diaper cake from my sister. No other pictures because of said puffy face.

A lot has happened in a week. Emotionally and physically. I'm so ready to meet our baby.  I have my first labor and delivery exam (TMI perhaps, but this is my blog) on Thursday. I can't wait to know even more about how this journey will end! And that's all she wrote. Which was a lot. If you are still reading drop me a line and I'll send you a cookie.

Lates. 

When your husband goes out of town..

You call your mom and have a weekend long sleepover! Omgah, hanging with your mom who will take care of you when you are uber pregs= heaven. She drove me around to run all my errands, stopped at the donut shop for me, not once, but twice. Chaffeuring at this stage of pregnancy is highly appreciated.

You make it through buy buy baby and babies r' us trips to return items and check out new items. Sidenote: I can't get my pinks to match and its driving me bananas. End sidenote.

You have a successful trip to ikea, even if only for few nursery knick knacks. EVEN despite the masses of people. One look at this line and my husband would have said: "I'm out. Buy this crap online." 

You also get to eat healthy. With the exception of the donuts, I was in serious eat high protein, low fat and lots of veggies mode. Somewhere in my third trimester, I turned into a junk food monster - at the delight of my husband. I was ready to get a hold of myself, and my mommy helped me with just that. Especially since she's all gluten - free and stuff! 

And you make it to the pool for a bare bump tan with some great support! No picture here. #notbraveenough 

And my favorite part of the weekend? I erased my Instagram app and hardly touched my phone to look at social media. Now that, is a cleanse my friends! Try it. You won't regret it. 

Happy Monday peeps.  

Dear Baby Cook | 33 & 34 weeks

dress is from asos.com / find here 

Ok. I'm writing from my celly, don't have the bump survey format to copy/paste, and frankly don't have the energy to go hunting for it. So I'll be shooting from mah hip on this one!

So what is most memorable about the last two weeks? Well. I'd say today (Wednesday, As I type this in bed) is the day my body officially started to show signs of giving up. Don't worry, I laugh as I type this. But my feet look like the flintstone kind.  I swing back and forth between baby pushing my diaphragm causing a serious huff and puff session to get my breathing correct, to her floating down and playing soccer with my bladder. 

I'm glad I know my coworkers well. Because not being able to poke fun at myself as I huff and puff while waddling to the bathroom for the 37th time would be a would be a serious shame. 

What I couldn't live without this week: my house slippers. Chafing cream. Bio oil. Zantac. 

Mood: meh. Just kinda waiting for my third wind to get my butt in gear. Maybe it won't happen! I'm telling ya, it's getting more and more tempting to just wing it. She's in charge and I can't control this. I've done enough to be able to manage anyway.

Wedding rings: off at the moment. I can get them on, but it hurts to pull it over my knuckle. I pick and choose what days to wear it. update: I wore it today, but I might have to leave it on. It's seriously painful to get it over my knuckle.

Sleep: getting a lot of it for being so prego. I toss and turn a lot, and have woken up at 5 am twice this week, but I'd def say I'm rested as possible. It's walking in the heat that causes an indescribable physical exhaustion.

Weight gain: 21 lbs.

Stretch marks: just the little ones on my thigh still. I still can't believe that.

Favorite moments this week: The Heights moms group meet up, and our hospital tour! Everything really clicked at the hospital tour. Then I really started planning our maternity pic session yesterday. You know, when I woke up at 5 am. Just gotta get my thoughts to the photog! 

Looking forward to: I am so ready for our big ultrasound on Monday. I just want to know how big she is, is she head down? What's going in there!?? Then maternity pics and our family baby shower next Sunday. And spending this weekend with my mommy. 

Random things I don't want to forget: I'm really trying to strike a balance between over preparing and winging it. I don't want to become too attached to anything before she's here. I read a ton of happiest baby on the block. I want to pack my hospital bag, but worry it will make me SO impatient. And I got a little freaked about breast feeding this week.

That's it in a nutshell! only 2 or 3 more of these bump posts. Crazy stuff. 

Weird dreams + Scary Stuff

I had my first weird mama dream last night. I was driving all around town and late for work. All while little miss had blown out her diaper and poop was everywhere. I think since it was a dream the blown out diaper was a bit exaggerated. It was like a car full of poop. No joke. I looked at the time and realized it was 4:30 p.m., so I probably wouldn't make it to work. And then I woke up to realize, ah I've overslept! 

Onto the scary stuff: I don't know what it is about Mondays, but I just get a little anxious about everything on the first day of the week. I particularly can't get words like episiotomy and colic out of my mind. I can thank a random stranger for her scary episiotomy story, and that stupid happiest baby on the block book for my colic fears. And today,  a friend just forwarded this HILARIOUS, but also terrifying link of all these crazy post partum things that happen. Yea. Not looking forward to my 'uterine massage.' 

I promise it's not all doom and gloom over here. We went to our hospital tour yesterday and it was the coolest thing. Seeing all the rooms we'd be in, and walking through exactly what you do when you go into labor was surreal in this fuzzy kind of way. We are so excited to experience becoming parents.  Even if some of it will be a little strange (for me mostly), we are so ready. 

I just can't believe anytime in the next 4-8 weeks I'll have a baby!   And as much as I want to fast forward and know  exactly how our birth story will go,  I will just have to wait and seeeeeeee. The biggest mystery of my life :) 

Oh, and I have my first 'mom meet up' group thingy ma-jig tonight, and I'm so pumped.  A room full of pregos + italian food sounds like a blast to me! 

Over and out.

Free Write & Lots of iPhone pics

I'm feeling really bloggerific this morning. Mostly because I've actually had a minute to catch up and relax. Thoughts in my head today:

^this is my new favorite position. Laying down. Ha!^

-I think I am accepting my new pace of life, which will always be busy.

-I need a shirt that says this: 

-This weekend we went out to the coast for a day, and spent a lot of time with family. When everyone took off to jet ski, I just napped it up! This nap approach is really working for me. I took a 30 minute nap yesterday after work too. GLORIOUS I tell ya. 

^I love watching Matthew be an uncle. He's gonna be a good dad! ^

-Baby girl is no longer measuring a week behind! I knew she had to have caught up, because whoa my stomach is big now. Since 29 weeks I've been expanding like crazy. I mean check it out:

-This week is going to be so awesome. It's all about baby girl!  I had a Dr. appointment yesterday, have a pediatrician appointment on Thursday, a daycare tour on Friday, and hospital tour on Saturday. And then! a Heights moms group meeting on Monday. It's my first 'mom club' type of meeting, and I am so freaking stoked. I'm gonna be somebody's mom. My mind is seriously blown.

-oh, and I am going to target for my first diaper run. its one of those crazy coupon deals. Follow this link for the instructions if ya need diapers! It is not the Dollar General Ad craze from last week, this one is legit!

Dear Baby Cook | 31 & 32 weeks

Hey lovie. These past two weeks were crazy for your mom and dad. We had your first baby shower, which was such an event, full recap coming soon! And we protested our taxes. You’d be so proud of your daddy J and we settled so many things in the house for your arrival, you put everyone to work! keep moving around in there, mommy loves it, but try not to squish her lungs too much so she can breathe better. lol. 

ok folks. I havent blogged in a 2 weeks. It's just been a whirlwind. Here's my bumpdate, and I hope to post all the happenings around casa de cook very soon. 

How far along?  32 Weeks. Which is 5 Weeks from full term. #mindisblown

31 Weeks

Baby size:  I don’t have an exact here, supposedly almost 4 lbs and 19 inches. I can’t wait until Monday to get a more accurate idea at the dr.

Mood: a roller coaster. Excited, then having serious anxiety, then camped out on the couch watching The Wire. Matt and I watch it together almost every night, and have gotten through 4 seasons in a few weeks.

Wedding Rings: on, but getting hard to put over my knuckle.

Weight gain: I don’t know. I keep forgetting to hop on the scale since I moved it into our master bathroom and out of her bathroom. I still shower in her bathroom daily since stand-up, glass showers are not my fave.

Maternity clothes: For sure. I think besides boxers I bought in large from Old Navy, pretty much every item I wear is maternity. Oh, and two work jackets I bought in a size bigger. My t-shirts officially don’t cover my belly, and I have to wear hubby’s to sleep at night.

                                                                                                
Stretch marks: still just small ones on my left thigh/hip. Using bio oil every single day.

Sleep:  pretty good for the most part. I keep waking up on my back and having to get back on my side. I don’t know why I start falling towards my back, I guess it’s just gravity!

Gender:  Still a girl J

32 weeks

Movement: Her movement has just been my favorite thing. I can feel limbs, or see her switching shapes completely. She may have turned head down last night. I saw her moving side to side, as in her WHOLE body was moving. It was crazy. I can’t wait to see if my intuition is right, and she is in fact head down.

Best moment this week: finding a pediatrician and daycare. I was legit having panic attacks about these two things. Now that they are semi- settled I feel 100 times better. I do not know why, but I was feeling like a serious flop mom for not having these things accomplished sooner and crying my eyes out about it. Once I got a hold of folks, It was a huge, huge burden lifted off my shoulders. Last week, in week 31 - definitely our first baby shower and working on the nursery!

Looking forward to: being completely done with the nursery and all other items! Half way there! It is totally doable to finish all necessary things in the house by 36 weeks. I just need to not procrastinate. 

Food cravings:  reese’s peanut butter cups, and the usual cinnamon roll. 

Anything making you queasy or sick:  nada

Labor signs:  nope

What I miss:  Matt and I are closer than ever. It’s so true that your relationship with your husband changes, and you really fall in love with them again, in this totally new way. But I have to say, I feel like he’s my best friend, and I can’t wait to feel like his girlfriend again. You know, wear cute clothes, and be totally game when he wants to do something v. “oh babe I can’t do that. I’m hot. I’m tired.” Or, “no I don’t’ want to go Galveston. I want to clean the house!” He probably thinks my desire to work/clean/organize the house is insane at this point, but I’m just nesting hard-core. I feel a tad guilty, and can’t wait to be less hormone-crazed and physically capable of being a good wife. I know we will have a ‘new normal’ with the baby, but The Wire marathons, maternity clothes, and laughing/talking about all the crazy things happening to me will have to do for now J

Symptoms:  back pain and discomfort. Shortness of breath. Big time. This might be a combo of stress, and physically having less lung space. But sometimes I truly have to remind myself to breathe.

Workouts: climbing 3 flights of stairs multiple times a day. Getting anything done in the house requires some serious stair climbing. Does this count?? Lol.

Random things I don’t want to forget: I officially bought shoes in .5 size up.