baby girl

because pregnancy.

November 17, 2015 by Rachel 1 Comment

As easy of a pregnancy as I had with Moosh, I was silly to assume this pregnancy would be equally as easy. I mean, TWO easy pregnancies?! Ha. Riiiight.

Yesterday I went to see my OB for just a general 30.5 week checkup (because I accidentally missed my actual 30 week checkup. Oops. #PregnancyBrain). I left work during lunch (with plans to eat my lunch at my desk when I returned). I left my computer on, left papers for home on my desk, and headed out. Only to find out that my blood pressure was crazy high when I got to the OB.

The nurses asked me, “Are you stressed? Did you hit traffic? Bad day at work?” And I just responded, “No. For once, I am not stressed.” To be honest, I can tell when my blood pressure is up; and it’s been frequent throughout this pregnancy. Often times when I stand up, move, or just simply climb a flight of stairs. It’s odd for me because when I’m not pregnant, my blood pressure is generally low.

In addition, apparently the “normal pregnancy symptoms” I’ve been complaining about to my husband/friends for the last several weeks are not all that normal. Well, not at least when combined with high blood pressure. Apparently then they are ‘alarming.’

I’m measuring ahead of schedule (even though my belly is so much smaller than it was with Moosh).

I’m having frequent headaches and seeing stars in my vision.

And I’m SO uncomfortable. Like, I was only this uncomfortable with Moosh when I was 40-41 weeks. I can’t even sit up straight because there is so much pain in my upper abdomen — right below my ribcage.

Little did I know that these things + high blood pressure = no bueno. So they need to rule out hypertension/preeclampsia.

So they sent me to triage at Akron City Hospital where I had four hours of monitoring and testing before determining, inconclusively, that I would NOT be admitted. Instead I have to get rid of a bacteria they found via an antibiotic so that they can test me again next week and not receive skewed results.

So now we wait. If my ‘symptoms’ get any worse, it’s back to triage I go!

Somehow I managed to remain mostly calm throughout this whole process. I told Chad to stay at work and Ari stayed with the sitter until Chad picked him up at his normal time. I suppose that one thing that this pregnancy has taught me is to roll with the punches. So it’s almost funny that my blood pressure is high. Like, of course it is. Of course it’s high when I’m not stressing about it.

But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. If I have preeclampsia, that means my chances of a natural, unmedicated delivery, go way down. That means that I will need to be induced via pitocin (which also scares me because I needed pitocin to stop the bleeding post delivery with Moosh). That means a higher chance of needing a c-section. I understand that these are instances where it is medically necessary for the safety of both the mother and the child, and that truly is OK with me. But it still makes me a little sad to know that this is a real possibility.

However, the idea of this pregnancy not going to 40 weeks — or 41 weeks like with Moosh — is definitely appealing. I’m not gonna lie. So for now, we antibiotic, we monitor, and we do what we have to do.

Key to the Cure // Wrap Up

November 6, 2015 by Rachel Leave a Comment

Before I get into this wrap up I wanted to very quickly give a shout out to one of my favorite local charities, Shoes and Clothes for Kids (SC4k). The mission of SC4K is to provide disadvantaged kids in Greater Cleveland with brand new shoes and clothing. What might surprise you is that two of their most requested items are socks and underwear. It’s so easy to take simple things like these for granted, but many kids in our community are wearing hand-me-downs, giveaways, throwaways – and some just go without.

To get people to think about this topic, they created a catchy video. Take a quick minute and check it out:

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdgGqUKW9nA#t]

Right now they are running a crowdfunding campaign to help increase sock and underwear donations! Even better? They’ve received a challenge grant of up to $15k! That means your donation will be MATCHED!

If you are able, please consider donating to the campaign here.

Alright, so, a few weeks ago I had the privilege of attending another charity event, the Key To The Cure event at Saks Fifth Avenue at Beachwood Place! My girlfriend, Carli, and I decided to say buh-bye to our boys for the evening and head out for a night of fun.

Saks Fifth Avenue of Beachwood Place teams up with the Cleveland Clinic each year to host a shopping extravaganza! It’s a chance to give shoppers the opportunity to support women’s reproductive and breast research by offering a percentage of their sales go to the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center from October 15th to October 18th.

Guests were encouraged to purchase presale tickets to the event kickoff, which was the event we attended on October 15th, for $75 per person. Included in the event ticket was a $50 tax deductible write-off, a $25 Saks gift card, live entertainment, and food and drinks supplied by the amazing local talents from the Taste of Cleveland restaurants!

Carli and I arrived and were a tad bit overwhelmed at first. There was a LOT of food. Like, a lot. And, even though I knew I would be sick later, I wanted to eat all of it. We did a quick circle through Saks to check out all of the food offerings (duh. I’m pregnant), before diving in.

The food was amazing. Many of the offerings were from restaurants I have already been to; others I was experiencing for the first time (though we had meant to try them… that whole toddler thing keeps us home a lot as of late). Society Lounge provided cocktails for the evening (and I may have sipped on the most delicious Moscow Mule I’ve ever had), and wine was also provided for guests. I honestly can’t even remember who had the best food (but it was probably Lago).

Oh and I made sure to eat as many delicious donuts as my belly would hold, thanks to Peace, Love and Little Donuts. 🙂

At the end of the night, we waddled our way upstairs to the childrens department (because let’s be real — when a mom is given $25 bucks to spend, she chooses to spend it on her kids, not herself). I bought baby girl an adorable sleeper (that I would have normally never spent $25 on… let’s be real). So thank you, Key to the Cure, for the “free” $25!

Overall, it was an awesome night. I would love to experience the evening again, but this time not pregnant (Umm, HELLO Moscow Mules and see ya next year!)! If you missed it this year, keep an eye out for it October 2016! And see ya there!

pregnancy update //

November 5, 2015 by Rachel 1 Comment

I feel a LOT of pressure. And no, silly, not emotional or mental pressure… (although, truthfully, there is a bit of that). But lots and lots of pressure… pelvic pressure! I’ve asked my doctors and, although I don’t recall having this kind of pressure this early with Ari, it’s apparently normal. Oi.

I’m still sick-ish. Yep. I’m back at work! But I’m still feeling kind of ‘off’ some days. Still throwing up on occasion. It’s definitely better than it was; but not great by any means.

Sleep is a thing of the past. I mean, I’m sleeping, mostly. But I’m tossing and turning when I’m asleep, so it’s incredibly restless. I remember experiencing that with Ari, too; but it was much later in the pregnancy.

Oh, have I mentioned that I’m officially 29 weeks?? So that means I’m also officially in the third trimester! Home stretch, here we come!

I’ve only gained a few pounds this pregnancy. Shocker, I know. Turns out having no appetite and throwing up frequently means instead of looking 7+ months pregnant, I look 5ish months pregnant.

This girl is a mover and a shaker!! It’s probably because she is sitting much higher than Ari was, but I can feel flips all day (and all night) long. After my pregnancy with Ari, I couldn’t understand how movement and kicks could be painful. I mean, I felt them with Ari — lots of them — but I guess not like this! HOLY SMOKES. She’s an acrobat!

I cannot wait to meet her. First time around, I was petrified. Knowing what to actually expect postpartum is a lifesaver. And as difficult as I know it will be, I can’t wait for her to be here. With Ari I wanted to keep him baking for as long as possible (and he totally got the memo at 41 weeks); but this time I’m cool with her making an appearance a little early. Though, likely, that will not happen.

TMI alert… my boobs are leaking already. Seriously. I forgot how much “fun” this part is. Ha. I forgot I would need nursing pads before the baby is born. Sigh.

practice the art of the unexpected burrito.

September 11, 2015 by Rachel 2 Comments

It’s Friday but I’m battling (yet another) pregnancy thing [which I’ll be happy to get into another time — soon — just not now]. And I’m starting to feel just plain down and out and sorry for myself. I know I shouldn’t. I should be thankful for everything I do have instead of feeling sorry for myself.

So today I’m taking a play from Kid President and going to try and make the world just a little bit more awesome today by doing a few of these things:

No, I won’t be mailing anyone a corndog (although, truly, I’d like to be a recipient of such a gift). But I do plan on giving out some free high fives and hugs as well as laughing and celebrating real beauty today, even if it’s just for a few moments. Who knows – maybe I’ll even “Practice the art of the unexpected burrito!” Ha!

And if none of that works out, the one thing I will be doing today is relaxing and not sweating the ‘dumb stuff.’

All I can say is let your light shine today, friends. Focus on the light. ♥ ♥

because it’s been a week now…

September 10, 2015 by Rachel Leave a Comment

One of the main reasons I was so anxious to find out if we were expecting another little boy or our first baby girl, was because I want to either: a. pack all of our boy stuff up (I’m not ready to part with it yet), or b. look for all new awesome girl stuff.

Sooo obviously you know what I’ve been up to over the last week. The search is on! And as much as I truly adore boy clothes (seriously they are SO cute), there are some equally adorable girl clothes. Bonus? I tore through my bins of clothes to find the baby girl clothes I hid away about 13 years ago! 🙂

But here are some things on my “Baby Girl Wish List” right now (because let’s be real… it’s going to grow).