Its a Hero

pregnancy

Preparing for a new baby with meals, support, and CBR.

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Whether it’s your first baby or your 7th baby, adding a new child into your family can be stressful. There are a million things to consider, before, during, and after welcoming your new bundle of joy.

When we decided to try for baby number three, we knew that our family dynamic would forever change. There are certain things that would be nearly impossible to do with three young children — like our occasional dining out at restaurants with the kids. We knew we would have to be a takeout family, at least until all three children get a bit older.

But there are a host of other things that a person thinks about. Namely, how to properly prepare for bringing home a new baby.

And as a seasoned mom (wow, that’s still weird to say), I thought I’d share the list of things I’m doing to prepare for our new family member this time around.

1. Prepare your freezer with meals.

I made this mistake before baby number 2 — I failed to properly prep with freezer meals — and I felt it in the weeks after. This time around I’m stocking up my freezer with ready-to-bake casseroles and thaw-and-eat sandwiches that will make those first couple of weeks with a new baby run a bit more smoothly.

We’re currently 9 weeks out and I’m in full-on meal prep mode. Freezer space has been made and I’m using Pinterest to search for meals that will make a transition from 2 to 3 kids easy (just kidding – it won’t be easy — but it will be easier-ish?).

2. Consider cord blood banking. 

As a first time mom, I was clueless about the benefits of cord blood banking and the peace of mind that comes with it. I learned that cord blood banking and Cord Blood Registry (CBR) have been around for over 20 years. Today, many conditions may be treatable with cord blood as a part of a stem cell transplant, including various cancers and blood, immune and metabolic disorders.* And a lot of research is being conducted to explore potential uses in the future. Most recently, a CBR funded study in partnership with researchers at Sutter Medical Center showed that a child’s own cord blood is even safe for children with autism! If you’re interested in learning more about the study and its findings click here and watch this video.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsXeBScRCSs&]
It’s advancements with trials like these that have made me confident in deciding that we will be using CBR once baby number three arrives. After realizing how potentially life-saving preserving your child’s newborn  stem cells can be, it was really a no-brainer — Especially when I understood that other family members could potentially be use this resource.

After learning about the awesome potential in newborn stem cells, we have finally started the process of getting set-up with CBR (we’re only 3 months out from delivery, y’all!). If you’re interested in doing the same you just visit cordblood.com/enroll or call 888-240-1996 and CBR will ship you a collection kit. Be sure to take the kit with you to the hospital on your big day and then you call a medical courier after your baby is born. That’s it! Easy peasy!

The video also helps explain the process.

Cord blood: studying a potential treatment for children with autism

#AutismAwarenessMonth A prominent neurologist and autism researcher from Sutter Medical Center, recently published results from a CBR-funded clinical trial studying cord blood as a potential treatment for autism. Watch as Dr. Michael Chez discusses the trial and learn how CBR clients are helping to advance newborn stem cell science!

Posted by Cord Blood Registry on Wednesday, April 11, 2018

 

 

3. Have a pre-set support group you can reach out to when you need them. 

Know who you’ll call if you need someone to run to the store for you; know who you can call with a question about nursing; know who you can call to take your other kid(s) for an hour or two; know who you can call to help you clean your house; and, most importantly, check with them because they will assure you that you can use them.

One of the things new moms (and seasoned moms) often forget is that it truly does take a village. And any mom knows this. If they offer you help, they mean it. I promise. So take them up on it because trying to prove you can ‘do it all’ will only leave you to suffer.

4. Load your Netflix queue!

I remember how naive I was before my first child was born 5.5 years ago. I didn’t fully understand how many hours I would spend half-awake in a 24-hour period. But I learned quickly that life with a newborn operates in a haze. And you will keep the TV on half-watching, half-feeding a tiny human, for far more hours than you can fully grasp.

I watched everything those first few months — Gossip Girl, Dexter, you name it. I went from shows I’d never even cared to watch to rewatching series I’d already finished. So for our second baby I spent a couple of hours just loading up my queue with things I really wanted to watch, to things I’d be content watching half asleep.

And I’m doing that again this time around. It’s inevitable that there will be a lot of late nights. And my good friend Netflix will be there through all of those late night feedings.

5. Grace.

Our third child is months away and I’m already prepared with grace. Grace in the sense that I’ll be giving it to myself by the boatload. I want all new mothers to understand that even though giving ourselves grace is one of the hardest things to do, it’s also one of the most important.

Having babies makes us realize, quickly, how little we truly have control of. I know that I will struggle with adjusting to life after giving birth again. And I know that the only way to recover and heal is by giving myself plenty of grace.

Learn more about CBR and cord blood banking by visiting here.

 

 

*See source here.

Gender Reveal // Baby Number 3 is a >>>

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It’s a girl!

I can’t keep it a secret any longer! I know I said we weren’t going to find out the gender of this baby, but at that 20 week anatomy scan I started having second thoughts. I text Chad and said “I think I want to know.” He, of course, couldn’t be there for that appointment and gave his blessing for me to find out for us. But I still waited. I had the ultrasound technician write it down and put it in an envelope for us.

I could barely contain myself to wait til Chad got home from work. Chad was convinced we were having another boy, but I really wanted another girl. I mean, we already have one of each, but I just have grown to love the sass of a little girl.

We opened the envelope and it said “Congratulations — it’s a girl!” and I literally jumped into Chad’s arms. I was so excited. Heck, I’m still so excited. But we waited to make a big announcement because, well, it was a bit more fun that way.

It’s been getting harder and harder to keep it a secret, especially when you have a 5 year old who is willing to tell everyone, “I’m having another baby sister!” Ha.

I haven’t bought anything new for baby number 3, with the exception of her first pair of Freshly Picked moccasins! I just couldn’t wait to get her first pair of shoes!

And aren’t these the cutest little flower moccs you’ve ever seen!? For those who are unfamiliar, these moccasins are so soft and come in so many different patterns (umm, have you seen the tacos and donuts!?), and just so happen to be perfect for newborns and tiny walkers!

And this little lady was so happy to pose in her most recent pair of rose gold moccs. Ha! And that dress? Well, little miss #2 has an exact same dress for when she’s born (thanks, Mimi!). Hopefully Remy’s will still fit her in June. 😉

Thank you everyone for the love during this pregnancy! I can’t wait to share her name in the coming weeks (that’s something we WILL be keeping on the downlow until birth).

 

Stay tuned for a Freshly Picked giveaway. In the meantime, thanks to Freshly Picked for gifting these moccs for little number 3!



3rd Baby, 3rd Trimester !

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It’s here! It’s here! And it hit me like a smack in the face. In fact, I didn’t even realize that I’m *in* my third trimester until I got a BabyCenter email telling me. Oops?

The beginning of the last trimester is a tad bit bittersweet. Mostly because I’m certain this is our last baby. So this is the final last trimester — and the final last of everything from here on out.

But it also means I’m entering the home stretch! Woo hoo! So here’s where I’m at with this pregnancy thus far — and there’s a twist at the end of this post! 🙂

Nausea / Morning Sickness. 

The sickness has mostly subsided. I do still get nauseous if I forget to eat in the morning or if I don’t snack throughout the afternoon; but other than that, it’s over! Thank goodness!

Cravings + Aversions.

My craving of beans seems to have subsided some, but it’s been replaced with fish. Not just any fish — specifically, fried fish — with loads and loads of tartar sauce. I suppose it’s (again) not the worst craving to have. I’m not over-indulging in my fried fish craving, but I’m caving on occasion. Other than that, no real aversions.

Regardless of what I eat I seem to have awful heartburn. Not uncommon. I didn’t have any heartburn with Ari and he was bald for the first 18 months of his life; with Remy, on the other hand, I had awful heartburn and indigestion and she was born with a full head of dark hair! So I guess I’ll take the heartburn if that means that baby number 3 will have hair (fingers crossed)!!

Life with two littles. 

This pregnancy has certainly been less dramatic than my two others. I’m thinking it’s because I just don’t have time to slow down and pay attention to every little symptom I’m having. Thanks to having the two small people to take care of, I just haven’t given this pregnancy a lot of thought.

Because of (all of) our schedule(s), our life has been pretty business as usual this pregnancy. Even now I’m shuffling the kids from playdates to activities to the grocery just like I would any other time. Life is just… normal.

Exhaustion + Activity. 

I. am. so. tired! The fatigue definitely didn’t end in the second trimester. And it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be letting up anytime soon.

So I’m taking (almost) daily naps in the afternoons. And I’m still waking up exhausted and falling asleep around 8:30PM nearly every night.

But I’m also really active. I mean, besides chasing my own two kids around; I’m also still chasing around a gazillion other kids at work.

And I’m still teaching cycling at the Y and regularly taking other classes (like zumba!). I think it’s helping me stay extra active. Ha.

Gender Reveal?

I know I said that we weren’t finding out the gender. Buuuut… we did.

I know, I know! I can’t believe we did!

But this means that a gender reveal is coming very, very, soon! So stay tuned!

Random things.

– I took my glucose test last week. I haven’t heard the results yet, and, even though I’ve never had any issues with gestational diabetes, I get nervous every single time I have to drink that orange drink! Fingers crossed!

– We bit the bullet and bought a minivan! It was inevitable — I know. But it all happened so quickly. We found the right minivan while I was sick with the flu (we took two kids car shopping while I was sick with a fever and the flu… super fun).

– I have zero idea of how much weight I’ve gained. I haven’t asked and my doctor hasn’t said a word. I tend to only weigh myself at the beginning and very end, because otherwise it just freaks me out.

– I am down to bi-weekly appointments with my OBGYN. It’s weird to think that. So so weird. How is it here already!?

 

With all this being said, the next 11 weeks are going to fly by. I’ll update a bit more regularly from here on out 😉 But I’d love to hear your thoughts for our tie-breaker-baby — do you think baby # 3 is a BOY or a GIRL?!

 

 

SO WHAT if I’ve been busy slacking.

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It’s been a heck of a few weeks. Between (finally) recovering from the flu, and being so exhausted that I can’t function, I think I’m finally back on the up and up (ish).

But so what if I’ve been taking some time off from being attached to my computer — I’ve needed a break! And even though my computer = my work, I also just know my boundaries. And that has meant taking a big step away from my all of it lately — and soaking in life with ‘just’ two kids before that changes.

And SO WHAT if we’ve been eating nothing but freezer food (like organic nuggets and french fries and pancakes) for the last two weeks. We’ve been trying to make room in our freezer for the upcoming months. And there’s really only one way to do that.

Also, SO WHAT if we spend most of our days off in pajamas! It’s been too cold to drag the kids out anywhere if we don’t need to.

So what if I’m still taking naps daily. This little child inside of me is really, really, exhausting. Baby Three must be on some sort of growth spurt, because it’s wearing me out to grow this child. Phew!

So what if I’m dreading the idea of Spring Break. It really just means a change from our schedule — a schedule which we’ve gotten very comfortable with.

So what if I’ve been content as long as my kids are healthy, the kitchen is clean, and the floor is vacuumed.

and so what if I’m adding shows to my Netflix queue nonstop. I’m gonna need it in a few months!

OH. And so what if I haven’t gotten a single thing ready for Baby 3. I mean, is there actually anything I need to do? Probably not. Ha!

A dear friend of mine made me make a promise to her last week. It was basically not to bite off more than I can chew — and I admit, I’ve been doing that a tad bit too much lately. I told her that I promise not to do that anymore this pregnancy.

Now is a time for GRACE. For giving myself the grace to just take it one day at a time; to nap as needed; to say no to things that don’t serve me; to stay in pajamas all day if I want; and to eat all of the freezer food! Don’t forget to do what’s best for you!

Happy Tuesday, friends. xo

What No One Tells You About Pregnancy.

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I have a reputation of being quite blunt here on this ol’ blog! Between pregnancy and postpartum drama (my own), I’ve always kinda owned the disaster that can be life. And one day night, in the midst of pregnancy insomnia, I started comprising a mental list of things I wish I had known before getting pregnant 5+ years ago.

Your boobs may leak well before your baby is even born.

This isn’t a guarantee, but with both of my previous pregnancies I leaked colostrum well before there were any signs of labor. With my first baby I started leaking at about 36 weeks — so a good month or so of leaking colostrum. But with baby number 2? I started leaking — and not just leaking — tons of colostrum at 20 weeks. TWENTY WEEKS. Guys. That’s only halfway through the pregnancy! I mean, I would wake up from a night of sleep, completely soaked.

The first time it happened I googled to see if it was normal (it is) and was in complete shock. Who knew?? I certainly did not. I’m not certain if it happened earlier the second time around because my body was used to producing, but it seemed far too early for anyone to benefit from that level of colostrum.

Luckily, with this third pregnancy, it hasn’t happened — yet.

You will have the craziest, most vivid dreams of your life.

One of my earliest signs of pregnancy with both of my children was having very, very, vivid sex dreams. No joke. The first time it happened (just weeks into my first pregnancy), I woke up… surprised. Ha! That’s the best word to describe it I suppose.

It doesn’t just end there, however. You’ll also have crazy realistic dreams about the strangest things in your life. Some will feel like nightmares, but all will leave you seriously confused. Hormones just do that, y’all.

All of the drool!

Oh, hi, extra saliva! In addition to my bedsheets being soaked from colostrum, my pillow will be soaked from excessive drool. Hooray!

That extra saliva, called ptyalism, can also be the culprit of morning sickness. However, if you’re lucky it will just be a pain to wake up to.

You have hair where??

Prenatal hair growth is for real. You’ll end up with hair in places you’d never thought of before — like all over your tummy. Which is fun, because the first time you’ll notice it will be at an OB appointment. And your cheeks will blush with embarrassment because, well, when did you turn into a monkey, right??

But it happens to all of us. Thanks to those pesky things called, you guessed it, hormones! Just roll with it and keep your razor handy. It’s all you can do!

Lightning Crotch.

No, don’t laugh. This is an actual term. And the first time you experience it you’ll think, “What in the world was that!?” Well, it feels like sharp pains inside of your cervix/vagina — and they will stop you in your tracks.

It honestly feels like a shot of intense pain (hence, lightning), and it happens randomly and is completely normal. If you’re concerned, ask your OBGYN about it. They’ll actually tell you, “Oh, that’s lightning crotch.” Or, as my OB calls it, “the LC.”

You will pray for a ‘good pee.’

Did you not know there was such a thing as taking a satisfying pee?? There is. And you will pray for it during the last half of your pregnancy.

There’s nothing worse than the incessant need to pee, and then going, but it not feeling like you’ve emptied your bladder. Sure, if you’ve never been pregnant this sounds silly; but it can feel like torture. Straight up… torture. And it’s just something you deal with.

 

This isn’t to say that all of pregnancy is bad or miserable or awful. I just wish someone in my life would have talked more honestly about pregnancy and motherhood. No, I’m not talking about the naysayers and doom-and-gloom folks who say “Sleep now cause you’re never gonna sleep again!” I’m talking real-deal, nitty-gritty, raw honesty of all of it.

If you’ve been pregnant before, what would you add to the list??

 

Halfway There! // Baby Number 3, 20 weeks

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Wait, didn’t I just make our pregnancy announcement for Baby Number 3!? Sure as heck feels that way! But here we are, at 20 weeks and 5 days already.

And you know what that means?! It means that we finally had our 20 week anatomy ultrasound! Funny enough, the day leading up to the appointment was a complete disaster. I’ve had a nasty sinus infection for days and both kids were losing their minds (AKA – it was naptime). Oh, and Chad couldn’t make it from work, so I was flying solo.

But all of the crazy was washed away when I finally laid eyes on the teeny human who’s been kicking me from the inside!

If I’m being honest, for the first time this whole pregnancy, it finally felt really real. Like, I finally put a ‘face’ to this pregnancy. Does that even make sense!?

Well here’s what else is going on this pregnancy:

Nausea / Morning Sickness. 

Still frequent. It sucks. But it’s hit or miss, which I’m not certain is a good thing because it can take me down out of nowhere.

Cravings.

Still protein-packed foods like beans, beef, lentils, etc. Oh, and fish sandwiches. And chili. So odd, I know. Oooh! And avocados.

Aversions. 

Grilled chicken still. I think the thought of poultry just grosses me out, but when I eat one of Ari’s nuggets from Chick-fil-A, I’m like “eh, this isn’t bad at all.” Other than that, I’m mostly alright with food. I’m not overly hungry, but I’m also not starving myself.

Working out.

I’m not going to lie, this is pretty hit or miss; but it’s still more than I worked out with my other two pregnancies. I am still teaching cycling and still coaching gymnastics at the YMCA, but I’m also registered to take a bunch of fitness classes. My biggest struggle is getting to them because they are mostly in the evenings and I’m always wiped out by 6pm.

But chasing two kids around (and even MORE kids when I’m at work — sometimes 10 at a time!) is definitely keeping me active!

Exhaustion.

I. am. so. TIRED. I recently told someone that I totally underestimated how exhausting pregnancy is when you’re in your 30s and chasing around two kids under 5.

I totally underestimated how exhausting pregnancy is when you're in your 30s and chasing around two kids under 5. Click To Tweet

Guys, it’s EXHAUSTING. I’m so tired and I know there’s no end in sight (thanks to a soon-to-be earthside crying baby). I’m just kissing my sanity goodbye. Well, what’s left of it anyway.

Gender reveal?

Well I was team “green” for the first 20 weeks, but now I kind of want to know. I had the ultrasound technician write it in an envelope and so this will be “To be determined/discussed.” 🙂

 

Overall, it’s just really real now. I’ve always been happy, but now I’m really and truly excited!