37 weeks + sneak peak of nursery

Due Date:  February 7th
Gender:  Girl
Symptoms: I have started getting some cramps especially after I've been up cleaning for a while or walking around. I'm sort of excited to start getting contractions so I know that things are starting! I think I'll need a little bit of a warning before all this craziness starts. I don't know if this is a symptom but this child has had her feet stuck in my ribs so those are so tender along with my back. She is certainly gaining weight and when she moves she will sometimes sit on my sciatic nerves.

Movement:  Her movement is definitely slowing down but when she sticks a foot out or her booty I can't help but sit and poke it. I had a pregnant break down last week when she started dancing around in there, I know for sure I'm going to miss feeling her inside. I'm trying to soak it all up while I can!
Weight Gain: We are now going to the doctor every week so I happened to glance down at my chart while they were weighing me and I have gained 26 lbs. I'm really quite proud of myself!

Cravings: Veggies. I've wanted nothing but healthy foods, which I am sensing is a good sign. I also have no desire to cook right now.
Aversions: Nothing that I can think of.

Fitness:  For me I'm to the point that walking down stairs to get breakfast and back up stairs to get ready is a major work out. I washed Sky last night and ended up having Jake finish it off because I was too exhausted.
Sleep:  There isn't much sleep still going on here. The good news is that its not the babe waking me up, its usually because of heartburn or that I have to go to the bathroom. Or I wake up randomly and sit up in bed forever trying to fall back to sleep.



At my baby shower last weekend everyone made their guess when this babe was going to make her way into the world. The majority of people said February 1st. Lets hope that this babe agrees with everyone else! She can come a week early if she wants!

2nd Trimester Favorites

If you missed my first post of my 1st Trimester Favorites you can go and see that here.


Today I'm going to share with you some of my favorites throughout my 2nd trimester. I felt like this second trimester went by so much faster than the first, and I know the third will be so slow (so I've heard). I grew so much in this trimester, but fortunately, I was still in all of my pre-pregnancy clothes for more than half the time. Now I am in maternity clothes 80% of the time. The other 20% is either sweats or no clothes.. just being honest :)

2nd Trimester Favorites by aprilh1692 featuring a chevron throw pillow

Chevron throw pillow / Old Navy Maternity Low Rise Leggings - Heather charcoal / Lip treatment / Victoria s Secret body moisturizer / Bubble bath / Conair Standard Size Heating Pad

-Pregnancy Pillow-
I have taken this pillow with me everywhere! We just recently went to Las Vegas on our second 'babymoon', kind of, but this guy came right along with us! One of Jakes cousins let me borrow her pregnancy pillow, and I will forever praise her at her feet and shower her with gifts! I don't know how I ever slept through the night without one! Jake does get jealous that I get in bed and snuggle right up to it, but he's just not as squishy and fluffy and comfy feeling as that beloved pillow, sorry love! I could write a whole post about that pillow, I could sing from the mountain tops about it! I'm in love! Do yourself a favor... buy the pillow!




-Life Saver Peppermints-
As I mentioned in my first post, I was sick well into my second trimester. Like it didn't stop until I was about 25-26 weeks and even then I still have some off mornings. So these babies are in every purse, drawer, and pocket of everything I own. When my flashes of nausea come on I just pop one in and BAM! It's gone!




-DoTerra Peppermint Beadletts-
Along with the peppermints for nausea, I got heartburn sooo bad once I hit 20 weeks. It doesn't matter what I eat I get heartburn, and bad. My doctor told me to take tums and if I didn't help or I still got it everyday then we would start on prevacid. That would require me to take it everyday to stop the production of the acid that's causing the painful heartburn. I really didn't want to be on any medicine everyday for it so I was looking for something, anything else to help. So I started swallowing one of these puppies after I ate and it took my heartburn away so much faster than the tums ever did. Again, I have these in my purse and on my bedside table so they're always right where I need them!




-Maternity Leggings-
I bought these leggings from Old Navy not too long after I found out I was pregnant. I wear these all the time, they are so comfy for lounging in or you can dress them up and wear them out for date night. I literally am either in leggings, or my maternity jeans (from old navy- and are equally comfortable)




-Lotion-
I put lotion on this ever growing belly night and morning. I did buy some vitamin E oil to start using when I started this journey but I've read so much about stretch marks and such that it is in your genetics, and also how quickly you gain weight. So yes, the oil can help you out but I figure as long as my skin is well moisturized it should stretch pretty well. Knock on wood - no stretch marks yet.




-Heating Pad-
For as long as I can remember we've had a heating pad in our house. I have had a bad back since a 6th grade cheer incident, and this little lady having her growth spurts have had an impact on my poor little back. It has been so nice to lay with it on my back to make it feel better. It is also nice to have for sore legs after a night full of leg cramps! Now in my third trimester it has been nice to lady this puppy on my ribs when she gets stuck in there for the majority of the day.




-Bubble Bath -
 When I first told people I was pregnant, I was told a billion times that I would take a ton of baths. I thought they were pretty crazy. I like baths but they aren't my go to. Well.. I have changed my ways. They are so relaxing and it is the perfect way to sooth all of my sore muscles after a long day. I sit at a desk all day and it makes my ribs really sore, so I have taken a lot of baths in the past few weeks our water bill may have sky rocketed! :) whoops! I am now also adding a BIG HUGE TUB to my Christmas list! We had one in our hotel room in Park City and in Las Vegas, I cried a little inside because I had to leave that huge tub!








Is there anything that helped you that I should be incorporating into my life??

Birth photographer

Since before I got pregnant I always loved reading/looking at birth stories. Somehow it would help with my need to have a child. I could sit in the privacy of my home and cry over how beautiful it was, and how wonderful the husbands were in the pictures. Their eyes were bright, sparkly, and full of love for their new addition.


 I have been wondering since before I got pregnant if I would get a birth photographer. I'm still trying to figure out if I want my mom or Jakes in there. So heres the question of the day, what are your thoughts on birth photography? Did you have one? If so who would you recommend??

The downhill - bumpdate

This last weekend we got our pictures taken for our Christmas card, and she also did some fun maternity pictures! I cannot believe that my belly is as big as it is! I cannot wait to hold that sweet little babe in my arms! I'm so glad that Jake is a good sport and took these pictures! I can't wait to get the rest of them back and I will show them to you then!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

how far? 30 Weeks and 3 days!!!!! We are on the count down now people! Less than 10 weeks until we meet this little girl! It just hit me this past week that I could be having a baby in the next 6 or 7 weeks. Hopefully she'll cook a little longer, but still!
So MAMA'S if you have any tips on what I should be packing in my hospital bag I would love to hear them!

maternity clothes? Oh bessy YES! Every time I get a new article of clothing I just think why didn't I do this earlier?? I caved and bought two pairs of dress pants for work from Old Navy and I don't want to ever take them off. They are SO comfy! I bought these and these. If I could wear cropped dress pants to work, I so would've bought the red ones!! AH!

sleep? Its starting to not become a thing. I've started waking up at least once a night, mostly because I have to pee BUT!!! our bed is so tall and I have to slither out of it  and with my maternity pillow where it is I can't so I just fall back asleep.

best moment of the week? This child moving as much as she has! Right now as I type she is seriously bouncing around in there like its no big deal! Also she's getting big enough that we've started guessing what is sticking out. Elbows, feet, her sweet little bum! I really can't wait for her now, I am getting way too excited.

weird pregnancy moment? Everything is so weird at first and then becomes pretty awesome afterword. It is still weird for me to be sitting at my desk at work and know that my belly is moving all around, I'm still just waiting for a customer to comment on it! 

size of baby? according to apps and such she is about 3lbs!

food cravings? My 'morning sickness' is starting to come back a bit so in the mornings all I want is toast. Come lunch time I am craving all sorts of stuff, today its a corndog from Disney land.

what am I looking forward to? The two baby showers in January that are in the works! I couldn't be more excited. Also to just hold this little babe!

stretch marks? NO! Thank goodness! I am not finished growing yet though. I figure that I will see some pop up here in the next few weeks. I am still grateful that I haven't seen anything thus far!

nursery? Yes! It is almost finished! We just got finished painting the dresser that Jake and his mom used when they were younger! I will sometimes get stressed out a bit about it not being finished and have to realize that she wont be using it for the first few months anyways!

My life now revolves around my sore body

28 weeks.

How did we make this far so quickly, but also so slowly! It gets to Monday and I think 'this week is going to Dddrrrraaaaagggg.' and then all the sudden I'm another week along! This little girl is moving around like crazy and I swear never sleeps! That's going to be so fun! I love wearing clothes that I can rub my belly, because I love feeling for a foot or hand pushing against my tummy. Its my favorite and what we did the whole time during sacrament on Sunday.




My ribs are starting to hurt from her moving around and sitting in an uncomfortable chair all day. Speaking of, maybe if I write it here I'll remember to bring a blanket to sit on, and buy a foot hammock to put my feet up instead of on my heater. 




Heartburn is present anytime I eat anything that is considered food, but mints and tums are in my purse, desk at work, and beside table. I'm hoping she has a lot of hair. With the mane I've got I would cry if she really ended up not having any hair. I have also had it in my mind that she would have dark hair like me, until I talked to Jake's aunt, who also has dark hair, was telling me how blonde her kids were. So now I have no clue what to think about her hair!




Cheese and Pickles are still my go-to snack. Mostly cheese. MMmm.. and crackers. Now I want a lunchable.


Jake says that my life revolves around food right now. Its true. Especially if it turns out to be nothing like I planned. Fried mushrooms with no ranch?! Who even does that!? Needless to say I was in a bad mood the rest of the night.




I have been doing my best to cook at home lately. Since the morning sickness has finally (hallelujah) left me, I am scared of the weight I could gain if I kept eating out like I was. Not to mention it wasn't the healthiest, so I've changed my ways. I have been quite proud of myself and all the things I have made!




End crazy pregnant woman rant! Happy November! Is it Christmas yet?


P.s. Momma question for you moms, did you use a changing tale? I have a dresser that I planned to use as a changing table but I'm not sure how much I would actually use it!

1st Trimester Favorites

Now that I am nearing the 3rd (and FINAL) trimester, I figured I could gather together a list of things that I have loved during my first 2 trimesters. I also have a few blogger friends who are just recently finding out that they are pregnant, so hopefully giving a little bit of my input will help them to have a more comfortable pregnancy.

First Trimester by aprilh1692 featuring beyond yoga pants

-Cold Cereal-
It didn't matter what kind, but this was the one thing that I could keep down most mornings/afternoons, and it is a big comfort food for me. I have just recently gotten over my morning sickness, so I have had my fair share of cereal!






-Tomato Soup-
The brand doesn't matter, but just like the cereal, it was a big comfort food and I craved it all the time! It was so strange because usually anything acidic makes your upset stomach worse, but it calmed mine down. Along with Ritz crackers. Yum! Also, am I the only one that makes it with a can of milk instead of water?? It's something my mama did and it makes it so creamy!




-Stretchy Pants -
These are a must. Good thing I have my BIG stash of sweats and stretchy pants that I didn't have to go buy any! I would come home from work and seriously be in stretchy pants within 3 minutes! In the first trimester you just feel so bloated and yucky that its stretchy pants or no pants!




-Zofran-
Starting at week 6 I was so sick every morning. It was rough because we were going camping every weekend and that's not the place I wanted to be sick. So my first appointment I asked for something because I couldn't keep anything down. I'm surprised I kept it a secret at work for as long as I did with the nausea that I had! The thing that worked for me the best was the dissolvable generic brand of Zofran. I would wake up at 6:30 and swallow it like a pill and fall back asleep so it had time to work in my system without me being awake!






- Peppermints -
I tried anything and everything to help my nausea but nothing worked until I got these. Even on the days that my Zofran wouldn't work very well these would cure what ever was left making me sick. I have had this in my purse and desk at work well into my second trimester as well.




-Lip Balm-
Towards the end of my first trimester my face and lips got SO dry!! Burts Bee's is my all time favorite lip balm (thank you Jake) and I had this on my person at all times!




-Prenatals -
I started out with the gummies, mostly because that's what I had been taking the whole time before I got pregnant. But once all that fun morning sickness set in those things made me so sick!!! So I switched to 1 A Day Womens- Prenatals. They are just 2 pills one DHA and the other is the multivitamin, it does have a yucky after taste to it but it doesn't make me sick like the gummies did.




-water. Water. WATER!-
It's obviously that you should be drinking water but when you're pregnant you need even more water. You are making a baby from scratch so your body is working overtime and a lot of the time if you are feeling sick, tired, or bloated you can drink more water and start feeling better. The suggested amount of water is so high that I have gotten so sick of it but in my trimester lemon water helps and its tastes better than just straight up water.

Oh little one

**My absolute favorite gift Jake gave me for my birthday!**

There are a lot of things about motherhood that scare me. Not sleeping, not showering, being exhausted all the time. I have babysat my niece many times, when she was a baby as well as her little toddler-self now, and I am exhausted after a few hours. I am trying my hardest to not think about the whole pushing a human out of me and keep praying for some wizard to come around and magically take her out of my belly!

Remember this post I wrote about the pro's and con's of pregnancy? Well.. ever since I've felt this little girl move, all of the bad stuff hasn't mattered. I'm starting to see how people forget the bad stuff about their pregnancy. It has been so fun to watch my belly move as she dances around! Any time she starts moving I stop what I'm doing and feel her kick away at my hands, she's such an active little girl. I am so excited to go to our ultrasound tomorrow and see how much she's grown in the past 4 weeks. She has measured right on since the beginning of my pregnancy, which makes me fear we will end up being a little overdue.

But this little girl is already so spoiled. There are so many things that I go to buy but I know that we're already taken care of in those areas. Her nursery is almost complete, minus a changing table (I have my eye on this one) and all we need are all the decorations I have been eyeing on Etsy! oh that will be the death of me.

Baby H will have a name one day. We have a list that needs to be narrowed down and there are some influences that wont let us set on one until we see her. How do you feel about that? Did anyone tell you what you should do with your babies name??





The Pro's and Con's of the pregnancy world

I know I know. You're thinking there is really one Pro for pregnancy and that's the creature you're growing inside of you! Yes, but if you've been pregnant, you know we go through some crazy stuff.


Here are a few.






Pro's and Con's of the wonderful thing called pregnancy










Pro - Pretty hair - I feel like my hair has been overall softer and shinier, and has been growing really fast! It has been quite nice, hence the reason why I went back to my natural color, so I don't have to worry about dying my hair anymore.




Con- along with the hair, the morning sickness- I have had morning sickness since week 5! Here we are in week 13 and if I don't take my Zofran early enough in the morning (before I'm really truly awake) then I am sick all day. And have to tell my hairdresser that if I get up and start running that I will be back! ugh!




Pro - I get to eat pickles and cheese in bed at 10 pm - I don't know if I would say that pickles and cheese are a weird craving that I've had, I've always loved pickles and cheese, but that is what sounded soooooo good to me that night.




Con - the pains - I always read that there were some growing pains and such that you experience during pregnancy, but its so unexpected. Such as round ligament pain, you turn a certain way in bed to quickly, sneeze, or laugh too hard it hurts! It does go away but it stays for a good 30 seconds. Do I just have to learn to be more gentle?? Cramps, Sunday I woke up at 6 and laid in bed with cramps until 11 or 12. I am so happy that I'm growing but it hurts.




Pro- Shopping - you get to go shopping for all of the cutesie baby clothes! awww! Jake and I went to Carters over the weekend and I squealed over everything in the store! And then cried because we don't know what we're having yet.




Con- HORMONES! - this is so so bad for me. When I was on birth control, I was a crazy woman, and once I was off of it I felt amazing and like myself again. Well I feel like that crazy woman again. Jake has experienced all of my melt downs and he's still hanging around.. such a good guy! But really I cry over the most ridiculous stuff. I came home late on Friday from work after helping extra customers, and there was KNEADERS CHOCOLATE CHIP BREAD sitting on my counter!! so of course I start taking off the paper tied to it and just about to open the bread when Jake yells from downstairs, "don't eat that bread!"... you don't tell a pregnant girl what she can't eat! So he came up to tell me that it was for our neighbors and her visiting teacher brought it over for us to give to them because they weren't home. So I violently tied that piece of paper back on the bread went and laid on my bed and cried, and somewhere in between Jake got smacked on the head. I really don't remember what happened but, seriously!? I am ridiculous! It was a stinking loaf of bread! hormones..




Pro - I get a baby at the end of all this madness!






Is there anything else I am missing??