More Nesting!

Yesterday I hit 35 weeks.  This is the furthest I have made it in a pregnancy.  For the most part I feel great, but I will admit there are things that are no longer "fun" - Like getting out of bed 4-5 times a night to go to the bathroom, rolling over in bed takes like 10 steps, getting off the couch takes at least a minute or two, and this week HEART BURN has kicked in! Alright enough complaining, I know it will all be worth it in a few weeks.

Speaking of a few weeks, I have continued my to do list to get ready for Emmett!  Today I worked on the guest bathroom which will be Emmett's bathroom.  My wonderful husband had been using that bathroom for his various fish tank "things" and painting supplies.  Once I cleaned all of that stuff out, the cleaning and organizing began.  I have posted pictures below.

The tub.  I am reusing Trevor's baby tub.  The toy holders and bath toys are from the baby shower.

My favorite part of todays' project.  We have a small bathroom and I found this "skinny" 3 drawer cart.  It allowed me to organize the towels, wash cloths and baby washes.  I love this cart!

I love the monogrammed towels!  

My second favorite part of today's project was the towel hooks.!  Crazy I know, but I installed them myself (they were stick on) and they will be a huge help in hanging up the hooded towels after baths.  As you can see this is another monogrammed towel :)

 The only thing we have left to do is to put the crib together (we were waiting for hardware to come in) and to put the decals up.  I want to make sure the paint is cured before putting them up.  Other than those things we are set.  I have my bags packed for the hospital and all.  HOWEVER, I am encouraging my little guy to stay in for at least 2 weeks.  I would love to say I carried a baby to full term!  So Emmett, please stay put!  :-)

Organizing Emmett's Room

In 2008 when Trevor was born we had NOTHING ready.  He came so early we hadn't even had the baby shower yet.  This time, we have been better about getting things ready.  This process has of course been bitter sweet, preparing for Emmett and remembering Trevor at the same time.

When Trevor was born there was no pinterest meaning no cute ideas!  I have found some great ideas for not only decor but for organization as well.  This week we started with the closet.

We started with an organization system (the closet only had a shelf and a rod to hang clothes on).  We first bought a set off of WalMart.com and it was too complicated and not adjustable.  So off to Lowes we went and bought this system which is fully adjustable and easy to put up!

The next thing to go up in the closet was the nursery organization set.  Again, I saw this system on on pinterest and had to order it.  Luckily it came from Wal-Mart.com and was very reasonable.  Click here to see the product.


The next organization project was the diaper changing drawer.  We bought a new dresser to match the crib.  I wanted to be able to put a changing pad on top and use it as a changing table.  I designated the top drawer to house diapers and wipes.  I bought a few bins from dollar tree and I love the results.

That is all for now.  Dominic and I are going to Lowes this week and plan on buying some wall shelves as well as the window blinds.  I will post more pictures soon!

Emmett's Room

Emmett's room has been a work in progress.  Here are some pictures of the progress we have made this week.

Painting the ceiling

Starting the Paint

Ripping up the carpet

Starting the new floor

Flooring and Paint is done

New Glider and Ottoman

The new decals!

The new crib

The new dresser (and like every room in our house, a fish tank)

I feel like this time around we are much more prepared than we were when Trevor was born.  We just need to put the closet organizer up, cover the windows and order an area rug.  I also need to put the pack and play up in our room (since that is where he will sleep for the first few months).  

Growing Belly Update

Here are the pictures we have done since the last time I posted pictures.  Weeks 24, 28 and 31.  

24 Weeks

28 Weeks

31 Weeks

31 Weeks Update

A friend of mine suggested I update my blog!  Oops.  I have been very busy this summer and haven't updated in a while.  I have taken some photos that I will post later.

I have a hard time believing I am 31 weeks.  In some ways it feels like I have been pregnant forever but in other ways it feels like it is flying by.

Getting ready for Emmett has been really hard for me.  We have a small house and we needed to "reuse" Trevor's room for Emmett.  The problem is I hadn't gone through Trevor's things since he died. The day he died, my father in law came to our house and took the various toys and such that were in the living room and put them in Trevor's room.  So we literally had EVERYTHING in that room.  The room was my sanctuary.  I found myself in there when I needed to feel close to Trevor.  I knew I had to one day deal with going through his things but I wasn't prepared for how hard it would be.

First of all I can't get over how much stuff one baby had - clothes, toys and equipment...unreal!  I have kept about 3-4 rubbermaid tubs of things to keep (things I can't bare to part with, things that are Trevor, toys that even still smell like him). I have also given some of his things to close friends and family as well as donated clothes he never wore.  I also kept somethings for Emmett.  I want Emmett to have a fresh start.  I never want him to think he lives in his brother's shadow, but I want him to know about his brother at the same time.  It is certainly a tricky balance and one I never thought I would have to deal with.

So what are we doing in the room?  An under the sea theme!  First of all I couldn't justify buying an expensive nursery set like I did with Trevor's jungle theme.  You never really use the comforter or the crib bumper, so it seemed wasteful to me.  Instead, we painting the room an ocean blue (see below) and putting up wall decals.

I instantly fell in love with these decals on etsy.  Of course the colors will be different as well as the name.

For the crib we are doing a very cute mesh bumper with plain sheets.  Below is the stock photo from Target.

I promise to post pictures of the nursery once we are finished.  This week we plan on starting the painting (and by "we" I mean Dominic!) and starting the new floor this weekend.

Thank you Susie for reminding me to post a new blog.  I will be better about it...photos of my belly bump and Emmett's 4-D sonogram to come!

Week 21-22

Happy Mother's Day!  Mother's day is usually a very hard day for me.  I can't help but think of Trevor and the fact that he is not here.  This year was a little less hard.  I of course think of Trevor and miss him, but this year I have hope, I have Emmett growing inside of me.

This week was so busy so we didn't get to take a picture until today and tomorrow I will be 22 weeks so I just combined the two weeks.  I went back to the OB for a regular appointment this week.  Things are going great.  I am measuring about a week ahead.  Emmett continues to have a nice steady heart beat.  We even set the delivery date.  I will have a scheduled c-section on September 9th.  I am happy with any day in September except the 3rd.  I am very scared he will be born on the 3rd.  The 3rd is when Trevor died, so here's hoping for the 9th.

20 Weeks

20 weeks down and 19 to go!  Very hard to believe that in 19 weeks we will have our little boy here.  We are hoping to go 19 weeks too, we learned from Trevor...the preemie life is quite a roller coaster!

This week I have really noticed my "bump" popping out.  However, according to my scale, I have only gained 1 1/2 pounds since my last appointment which would put me at a total of 4 pounds, not too shabby considering my obsession with bread and butter!

Today I found out my thyroid levels are still a little off, so its an increase of medicine.  I hope that helps.

19 Weeks

I realized today that we didn't do an 18 week picture.  So I decided to do one today so that I don't forget.  I am about halfway through my pregnancy - hard to believe!  Since I will have to have a c-section, I am 20 weeks away instead of 21.  As of now I will have our sweet boy on September 10th.

Last week Dominic and I "finalized" our name choice.  With Trevor I never had any funny looks or comments about his name.  However this time is different!  I have gotten a few sour faces and a few odd comments.  Oh well, I have to remember that this is our baby and WE chose the name.  By the way his name is Emmett James Ulrich (the James is for my dad and his big brother).

My latest craving has been bread and butter.  It all started with a recipe I found on Pinterest.  Its called "the bread" and Oh My it is super easy and super yummy!  I never thought I would crave bread and butter (how simple)! **You can click the word bread to get the recipe**

My 19 week picture is below.  Dominic was making fun of my pose and smile which made me laugh and I had to use this picture!

We are Having a....

BOY!

We went today for my anatomy scan and found out that we are indeed having a precious baby boy!  He measured 9 ounces and everything looks great!  My placenta is up high and he was head down.  With my first pregnancy, I had placenta previa which never resolved itself causing me to deliver at 33 weeks.   So to see the placenta up high was a reassuring feeling.

I loved seeing my sweet baby boy today.  He was a little uncooperative though.  The tech had a tough time getting him to move.  When the doctor came in to scan me, my little one decided to really show him his "goods".  You can see in the picture below, my son grabbing himself.  My they start young!

He certainly made us laugh today and cry (happy tears of course).  Dominic and I couldn't be happier to "be" parents again.  We can't wait to meet our precious little miracle!

17 Weeks

This week was beyond stressful.  Nothing with the baby, just other things that I can't discuss right now.  This little one fluttering around is what helped me remain positive this week!  I am feeling very blessed to have this amazing little baby growing inside.  I can't wait to meet him/her.  Tuesday is the day we find out what we are having, I will be thrilled either way. The battle of the names will begin as soon as we find out :-)

Below is my week 17 picture.  I see other pregnant women's weekly pictures...wish I was as petite and cute as them.  LOL oh well!

Week 16

Week 16 is actually almost over.  This week I felt the baby for the first time.  I felt some little flutters, there is nothing better!  I don't feel them all the time, but when I do, it gives me chills.  The baby's heartbeat remains around 160.  I can't wait to find out what we are having (We find out April 16th).  Below is my week 16 photo.

On a totally off topic note, we are going to see Theresa Caputo tomorrow.  She is going to be at the Lyric Opera House in Baltimore.  I can't wait!  I am hoping Trevor comes through.

15 Week Photo

I will be 16 weeks tomorrow but here is my 15 week photo.  I just got around to editing it.  It is a little closer up than the last one.  Dominic and I will need to "chat" about that :-)

Fetal Doppler

When I was pregnant with Trevor, I never even thought of buying a fetal doppler.  However this time I bought one.  From 5 weeks - 12 weeks I was having weekly ultrasounds which of course gave me piece of mind, but I was still very nervous.  With my most recent miscarriage I had been going every other week.  One week we had a heart beat, two weeks later the baby had died.  So of course I was so scared of that happening again.

Throughout this pregnancy I have been lurking in various pregnancy boards.  I noticed many women talking about the Sonoline B Fetal Doppler.  So I did a little research on them, they received great reviews and were around $60.  Not too bad!  So I went ahead and bought one.  Best thing I did!  I am not crazy and neurotic about it.  I usually listen once a day (at bed time).  The beautiful sound of my baby's heartbeat just makes me smile and know that he/she is doing just fine!

Take a listen :-)

This is the Sonoline B Fetal Doppler.  I highly recommend it!

What is a Rainbow Baby?

A rainbow baby is described as a baby that comes after a storm, a storm caused by miscarriage or stillbirth.  Since 2009, we have been living a storm that took forever to clear.  Our "storm" includes the death of our first son, 2 miscarriages and 1 ectopic pregnancy.  In January we found out I was pregnant.  We were very nervous and cautiously optimistic.  After weekly doctor visits and many ultrasounds, we have been able to relax (a little) and enjoy this pregnancy.  I am currently 15 weeks along.

Although NOTHING will ever replace our first son Trevor, it is nice to have happiness and hope in our lives again.  Dominic and I were good parents and we can't wait to "be" parents again.  This baby will be loved beyond words and very protected (maybe a bit obsessively)!

Below is a picture I created last week.  I plan on doing this every week.  It is something I didn't do with my son and I wish I had.  So here is to letting go of feeling "fat" and allowing myself to be photographed.