Handmade baby shower gifts (pictures)

 

These are pictures of the quilt that was made for us.  I'm not sure how well you can see, but the second picture shows the stitches.  This was done without a sewing machine.  It looks amazing.  The stitches are perfect.  I can't imagine how long it took to make this.  I love it.  The design is extremely adorable.

 

The little booties that were made for us.  It's part of a set.  They are really adorable.  I can't believe people can make stuff like this.  It's perfect.

 

This is mainly to show the sweater because I have a close up of the hat next.  The sweater is also handmade.  It looks perfect, and I love it.  The colors are great, and the whole set matches really well.

 

This is the hat that goes with the whole set.  I really like this hat.  It'll be nice and warm for him.

 

I am extremely thankful for all of these things.  They are so adorable and perfect.  I can't believe how lucky we are to have people take so much time to make stuff for our baby boy.  I would never be able to make something so perfectly.  I honestly can't find one thing wrong with any of these things. 

 

I thought I'd share them with you because they are so special to me.  I love them, and I can't wait to use them.  Thanks for reading, and have a great day.

Our Crib (Pictures)

 

This is our crib.  I really like it, and I can't wait to be able to use it.  The blanket is in there just for decoration right now.  We won't be needing a blanket in the crib because we have wood heat.  It's always really warm in the house when you have wood heat. 

 

Also, I know that the bumper is not safe anymore.  My mom wanted me to keep it in, and I was going to keep it in until he could roll over because I talked to an adult friend of ours that her daughter had a son and used it until he could roll over.  She works in a hospital.  After that, I asked my nurse at my doctor's appointment about it, and she said that it is okay up until they're 2 1/2 months old.  Then, they can roll themselves over without actually meaning to just by kicking their feet.  I shortened this, and decided I will be taking it out when he's two months old, or before depending on how he is.  I don't just go on statistics because I know every baby is different.  I won't go past two months with it in, but I may take it out before two months if I feel that he is strong for his age. 

 

The picture that is on the wall will be taken down this weekend or next when we finish moving the room around.  I don't trust a picture being over the crib, and I definitely won't be keeping it there.  We have little pillow decorations to go on the wall that matches the set. 

 

So that's our crib.  I hope you like it.  If you have an recommendations or anything please let me know.  I'm open to suggestions.  This is my first baby, and I know that I don't know everything in regards to safety and all of that.  I want everything to be perfect for Jason.  Thanks for reading and have a great day.

33/34 Week Pregnancy Update

Welcome to thirty-four weeks pregnant.  It’s been an amazing journey so far, and we’re getting so much closer to the end of the line.  Only six more weeks! 

Am I excited to be done?  Well, in some ways I guess I could say I am.  What with all the achiness and not being able to do everything I want to.  Also, I can’t wait to see our little boy, and be able to hold him in our arms; that I’m very excited for.

But I also enjoy being pregnant.  I love watching my belly grow, and feeling him kick.  Watching him deform my belly is now daily entertainment, and Mason feeling him kick while we cuddle is just another added bonus. 

Anyways, these past two weeks have been pretty amazing.  I had one of my baby showers, and we got a lot of adorable baby clothes.  I feel especially lucky because we got some cute homemade things.  I’ll be sure to post pictures of these things.  The first is a handmade quilt.  It is completely handmade without a sewing machine, and the stitches are perfect.  You would not be able to tell that she didn’t use a sewing machine.  Next, we got a cute handmade outfit.  She made little booties, a sweater, and a perfect hat.  I did not expect anything handmade, so this was a great surprise. 

After that, Mason and I got started moving the bedroom around so we can fit the baby stuff in here.  It turns out that it didn’t exactly come out right though, so this weekend we will be finishing it.  Besides that, we got the crib up!  The sheet is on and everything is ready.  I am so thankful to Mason for putting it together.  It was pretty entertaining trying to figure it out.  You see, it was the crib my mom used for my little sister and I.  Therefore, there were no directions.  We ended up asking my mom for some help, but for the most part we figured it out on our own. 

Well, that’s it for the random parts of these two weeks; now for my symptoms.  

Everything has pretty much been the same besides feeling achier in the ribs and in my back.  I’ve still been really out of breath.  I haven’t found a way to help with this.  No matter which way I lay, I still feel out of breath.  I’m not out of breath all the time though, just when he’s especially high. 

I’ve also been having some heartburn.  It hasn’t been that bad though.  Going along with this, I sometimes feel like my food is still stuck in my chest.  It doesn’t seem to want to settle.  I think I’ve been having a little bit of an increase in my appetite too.  I still can’t eat too much at once because of not having a lot of room, but I’ve been having more cravings.  One of which is chocolate milk, so this pay we will be getting chocolate syrup. 

My morning sickness has been so much better.  I haven’t gotten sick in over three weeks.  I still get nauseated, but not nearly as bad as it used to be.  This is a great change for me.  I didn’t like being sick all the time, but I had gotten pretty used to it.  I would never complain about morning sickness because it’s a part of pregnancy.  I’ve had the best pregnancy, and being sick hasn’t ruined it at all. 

Getting around has been another big symptom now.  It’s hard for me to bend down and pick up things.  I have to be reclined when I sit instead of sitting straight up.  Sitting straight up makes my ribs ache quite a bit.  My balance is pretty horrible right now.  I have to hold onto the rail going up the steps just to be safe.  I also still get leg cramps in my right leg most of the time while I’m walking.  This causes me to have to walk really slowly because it is very uncomfortable, but it goes away quickly. 

Finally, I still do not have any energy.  I get tired after cleaning houses, and I go to bed early almost every night.  I haven’t had any trouble sleeping though which is good.  The only problem I have is getting out of bed in the morning.  It takes effort now to lift myself up out of bed. 

Anyways, that’s it for my symptoms.  Let me know what your symptoms are in a comment down below. 

Last but not least is my doctor’s appointment.  As you know I had a doctor’s appointment on Monday.  This one was a little bit more eventful than the last one. 

First of all, Mason got to go this time because he got rained out.  We were both really happy about this. 

So Jason is perfectly healthy, and his heartbeat was normal.  I gained four pounds this time, making my total weight gain twenty pounds.  I wasn’t very surprised about this weight gain because I had been feeling really huge.  All of the weight that I gain goes to my belly (isn’t that a sign that you’re having a boy?).  I haven’t gained weight anywhere else, which I’m happy about, but I’m not too happy yet.  I’m thinking that I’m going to end up gaining everywhere when I’m just about to have him.  I’ve heard that happens to some people. 

As for the exciting part of the doctor’s appointment: my doctor was measuring my belly like usual, and I asked her how much she thought he weighed.  My mom had asked me to ask her because she was curious, and Mason and I were too.  She then told me that he was measuring big, and that she wants to order an ultrasound to check his growth.  She also said that her guess would be six pounds, but that she’s not very good at guessing weights, and that we’ll know for sure at the ultrasound. 

I personally think he’ll be between 4 ½ and 5 pounds.  My mom thinks 5 ½, and Mason thinks 4 ½.  We’ve kind of made a guessing game out of this on what his weight will be.  So take a guess in the comments below, and I’ll let you know on Monday what he weighed. 

Anyways it turns out that next time I went it would have been the last time I waited two weeks for my appointment.  After my appointment at 36 weeks I would have started going every week.  Instead I’ll be having my regular appointment after my ultrasound which means I’ll be going to every week appointments early.  This happened when I went to two week appointments.  I was just about to switch to two week appointments, and then she wanted to have my gestational diabetes check early.  Mason and I both find it weird that that’s how it worked out. 

Now we’re expecting a bigger baby, but my OB said that the ultrasound might show that he’s right on track.  Mason thinks Jason might have been sticking out his butt when she measured me, but we’ll find out on Monday. 

Also, Mason will get to go to this ultrasound, which is amazing.  We’re both extremely excited to be able to see him again before he’s born.  My mom will also be going to the ultrasound.  It’s supposed to be about a half hour long, and we have a great technician that always gives us a good look.  It’s funny because I was thinking that I wanted Mason to get to go to another appointment before Jason got here because he hasn’t heard his heartbeat in a long time.  Now he’ll get to go to another one, and get to see Jason again. 

So I think that’s about it.  I’ll be posting my belly picture and a few other pictures today.  I’m going to give you an update on Monday or Tuesday on how my appointment went.  Now every week I’ll give you an update on my appointments if only just to let you know that he’s healthy.  They may be short, but I’ll add in any random things that I can.  I’m still deciding whether I’ll go to weekly pregnancy updates or not, so we’ll see.  Just keep a look out.   Thanks for reading, and have a great day.  As for those that are pregnant and reading this, I hope everything is going great, and that your baby is healthy. 

8 Months Pregnant Belly

My baby belly at eight months pregnant.  I just got my new camera, and I'm extremely excited.  The quality isn't the greatest because of the lighting, but it works.  I've gotten so much bigger since my last belly shot at seven months.  I knew he had a growth spurt but it's so hard to tell until you see the pictures side by side.  My total weight gain is sixteen pounds.  Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

31/32 Week Pregnancy Update

We are eight months pregnant!  I can’t believe how close we are getting.  Have we started the countdown yet?  Mason and I have been counting down the weeks with a note of fear and excitement in our voices.  We are so excited to be parents and raise this child, but the idea of it is still scary.  Money is what scares us, but we have faith that everything will work out.  We have a plan, so we’re not going into this with nothing.  That’s what makes us feel more comfortable about being a family. 

So to start, surprisingly I have noticed a slowdown in Jason’s movements.  Of course he still moves a lot, but it isn’t like it used to be.  I don’t like this at all seeing as I count on his movements to tell me if he’s okay.  I believe this is where everything gets the most stressful.  I worry about going early, and I am terrified that something could happen in these last few weeks.  I hate voicing this worry, but it’s true.  Do other new mom’s feel that way?  I can’t be the only one. 

Something else that has surprised me is that his kicks rarely hurt.  There has been a couple that hurt a little bit, but nothing serious at all.  I always thought that once they get stronger it starts to hurt.  But the only ones that have hurt me are when he really stretches my skin, and he’s also kicked my back twice.  I wonder if it’s further along that the kicks start to be painful.  It’s hard going into this without a clue of what to really expect.  That’s why I make this blog.  Even though I’m learning, at least someone can still learn from my pregnancy. 

Anyways, my symptoms.  My morning sickness has gotten a lot better.  I still get nauseated sometimes, but I haven’t actually gotten sick in a couple weeks.  I forgot to mention that at my last doctor’s appointment we figured out that it was my prenatal that was making me sick.  So they switched me to Flintstone Complete vitamins.  Since then I have been sick a lot less.  I can’t believe it took us so long to realize it was the vitamins that were making me sick, but at least I know now. 

Next, I don’t have any energy.  I can sleep in until ten in the morning, and still be yawning at two in the afternoon, and be ready for bed by nine or ten at night.  I feel like a bum because of how much I sleep, but I guess pregnancy is an excuse.  At least I still get stuff done during the day. 

My newest symptom is a weird feeling in my legs.  It’s always my right leg.  When I stand or walk, every once in a while I’ll get a weird feeling that goes down my whole leg.  It starts at my hip and goes all the way down to my feet.  It feels almost like your leg is falling asleep, but different because it’s not the tingling or the squeezing feeling that you get when your leg falls asleep. 

I talked to my doctor about this at my doctor’s appointment and she said it was perfectly normal.  She said if it caused me pain in my butt/hip then it was probably my sciatic nerve, but if it’s my whole leg than it’s probably him putting pressure on the blood vessels to my legs.  Either way it’s not too bothersome or painful.  It only happens once in a while and it usually goes away within five minutes.  So it’s not too bad of a symptom for me.  

Besides that all of my symptoms have been pretty much the same.  I still have the achiness in my ribs.  It’s getting a lot harder to pick things up off the floor.  I get out of breath a lot, but it’s not all the time.  I think I’ve been a little bit more moody lately.  I haven’t really had too bad of moods throughout my pregnancy, but lately I’ve been feeling so jumpy with my emotions.  One minute I’m laughing hysterically, and the next I’m as serious as can be.  Thankfully I don’t break into random crying fits though. 

I still haven’t had too much swelling.  I think there have been times where I have gotten swollen, but not bad.  I could only tell because of that feeling you get trying to bend your fingers or toes when they’re swollen.   It hasn’t been bad at all, and it’s only happened a couple times so my engagement ring still sits comfortably on my ring finger. 

I’m not sure if this is a symptom or not, but I have been nesting really badly.  I have to wait until the baby shower to get everything ready in Mason and I’s bedroom, and it’s killing me.  The baby shower should be coming up soon, but I can’t seem to wait.  I can’t stop thinking about how we’re going to change the room around to fit the crib and everything. 

The reason we’re waiting for after the baby shower is because we want to know everything we have to fit in our room first.  Therefore, we can make room for it all at once instead of reorganizing the room more than once.  I can’t wait though.  I want to get the base of the car seat in the truck, but I can’t because it’s a baby shower present.  I want to dust everything and make it really clean but I can’t because it would be pointless to dust twice because I would end up dusting again before we put the baby things in here.  I know that once I get everything ready though I won’t be able to wait for him to get here.  Everything will be ready; we’ll just have to wait for him.  That will drive me insane.

So that’s pretty much it for my symptoms.  I’m extremely thankful that my symptoms haven’t been bad at all.  I feel like the luckiest pregnant girl in the world.  I have an outstanding fiancé that’s always there for me, and I have so much support from my family.  This pregnancy has been flying by, and there haven’t been any complications.  We are very blessed. 

Finally, as you know I had an appointment on Monday.  Everything went great.  His heartbeat was normal, and his growth was right on track.  I swear he had a growth spurt because I feel a lot bigger now.  My belly button is still in, but it’s puffing out around the edges of it.  And it’s getting pretty obvious no matter what I wear that I’m pregnant. 

Basically, my appointment was the same as usual.  I managed to make my OB laugh though.  She asked how my heartburn was, and I told her that it was good and I haven’t had to take my prescription for it.  I also said that the only thing that kills me is barbeque chips because they’re so good.  She said, “Middleswarth?”  Middleswarth is a brand of potato chips that only the state of Pennsylvania has.  They are extremely good.  So I said yeah, and she started laughing.  Then she said that she had to go buy some now because of talking about them. 

I thought this was funny.  I wonder how many pregnant women mention what they’re craving, and then the OB has to go buy some because she hasn’t had them in a while.  We pregnant girls are bad influences. 

Lastly, you wouldn’t guess how much I’ve gained.  Five pounds!  Five pounds in two weeks.  That makes my total weight gain sixteen pounds.  I’m pretty happy about this, but at the same time I’m worried.  I keep thinking, “What if I gain five pounds at my next appointment too?”  I’ll be getting close to my 25-35 pound mark if that happens.  But what can you do?  You have to gain weight when you’re pregnant, and you might as well be proud of taking care of your baby.  At least I’m not underweight.  I’m glad that he’s healthy and growing perfectly. 

That’s it for these two weeks.  It hasn’t been much of an eventful time, but who needs it to be exciting?  We just want Jason to be healthy, and stay in my belly as long as possible.  Thanks for reading, and have a great day.  And if you’re pregnant and reading this, I hope your pregnancy is going just as well as mine.  Let me know in a comment below.  Thanks again.

29/30 Weeks Pregnancy Update

We are inching closer and closer to my due date.  I can’t believe how fast time is flying.  This pregnancy has gone by so quickly.  I wonder if it’s because we didn’t find out until I was 9 weeks pregnant, so we just started the pregnancy off weird.  Anyways, we only have 10 or so weeks to go.  That is crazy! 

Unfortunately these past two weeks have been pretty uneventful.  I say unfortunately because it gives me less to update you on, and makes this update not as exciting. 

Jason is kicking all the time and freaking Mason out.  He is also always on my ribs which gives me a horrible achy feeling, and makes it harder for me to breathe.  But I still love him more than ever. 

I find myself really wanting to settle down now.  Before I was kind of still in the stage of squeezing in whatever we could before he got here, but now I’m really excited to be a mom.  I know it won’t be easy, but I’m excited for the responsibilities.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m worried and scared too.  Babies aren’t cheap, and Mason doesn’t have the best job even though it’s stable. 

Yet, I know people have made it by with less.  I try to be thankful for what I have because I do have a lot.  I have parents that help me as much as they can, and Mason’s dad is too.  I’ll be having three, yes three, baby showers. 

Let me explain.  Mason’s dad’s family doesn’t get along with mine because of their drinking habit.  Therefore, Mason’s dad is throwing me one with the girls from their family.  Plus, I think you already know that my mom is throwing me a baby shower with my family.  And finally, my cousin is throwing me a baby shower also.  Mason’s dad’s baby shower will only be about five people, and my cousin’s will only be about four.  My cousin is throwing a baby shower because of the fact that she doesn’t know my side of our family, and we wanted it to be a fun small get together where it could be personal. 

Either way I am extremely excited for all of them, and I feel very blessed to be supported by so many people.  God has a plan, and I know that this was part of it.  It has only turned our life around for the better.  Of course it’s brought struggles along with, but what is life without its battles? 

So, to get back on topic.  I haven’t had many symptoms.  I’ve been pretty achy like usual especially on my ribs.  I’ve also been having a lot of trouble breathing.  I can’t seem to get comfy in bed, but I still sleep fine once I fall asleep.  It just seems that every time I lay down I can’t catch my breath even though I don’t lay on my back.  My appetite jumps around.  Sometimes I feel like I could eat and eat and eat, and other times I don’t want to eat at all.  I’m not sure if this is normal or not.  Please let me know.

I’ve also still been having back pain.  It is all over my back.  I know my upper and middle back is in pain because I haven’t been able to crack it in months, and my lower is obviously from the weight change in the front.  Surprisingly I still haven’t had much swelling or leg cramps.  I still wear my engagement ring all the time, and I don’t have any problem with the shoes that I wear besides I like my support a lot more now. 

Well, I believe that’s pretty much it for my symptoms.  Let me know what your symptoms are in a comment below. 

Now for my doctor’s appointment.  You’ll be happy to know that Jason is perfectly healthy.  His heart rate was 145 which she said was perfectly normal.  She also measured my belly and told me that he was right on track.  I was very happy to hear this as I’ve been afraid that I haven’t been gaining enough weight.  As you know, at my last doctor’s appointment I lost three pounds.  They weren’t worried, but I was.  Isn’t that how it always is? 

Well, before this appointment I had been eating quite a bit, and Mason and I went to a restaurant too.  I was sure that I had gained like five pounds, but I was still worried.  So the first thing they do is check your weight and ask you to pee in a cup, right?  So I always get weighed before I go to the bathroom.  My nurse asked me if I wanted to go to the bathroom first so that I could shed a couple ounces while in there because a lot of women like to do that.  Of course I said no because I wanted any extra weight I could get. 

So it turns out I didn’t even gain a full pound!  Granted I was only a couple ounces off, but still.  I asked my nurse if my weight was okay, and she said yes it was okay because I was still gaining and making up the difference of what I had lost.  Later I asked my doctor to double check and she said that it was good too.  She told me that they like you to gain between 10 and 25 pounds.  In the beginning I was told 25 to 35 pounds, so that was confusing.  I think she might have said that because that’s like the least amount they want you to gain. 

Anyways, my total weight gain now is eleven pounds, and it’s all baby.  I know everything’s fine as long as he keeps growing at a normal weight, so I’m not too worried now.  I’m actually pretty proud that I haven’t gained more than I was supposed to. 

That’s it for this update.  I hope you enjoyed, and that you could relate.  I would love it if you left me a comment down below.  Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

7 months pregnant belly

This is actually the first picture Mason and I took of my baby belly which is sad because I'm already 7 months pregnant.  This is me at 28 weeks and four days pregnant.  I'm getting big and especially round.  My total weight gain so far is 11 pounds.  Thanks for reading and have a great day!