Baby Nursery Reveal

Last time I blogged about the baby's nursery, we were literally putting the pieces together, but it was nowhere near finished. Over the final 6 weeks of my pregnancy, we pulled it all together. And I'm sure glad we did - I haven't had a minute to even think about since we brought Connor home.

While there's no theme to the room, we did stick with a gray and navy color scheme with shots of bright green. I didn't want anything too babyish, but I also wanted to be sure it looked like a nursery. So, without further ado, here's Connor's nursery!

Reading Corner

Color-block curtains

Gallery Wall with Antique Dresser/Changing Table

Close-up of the Gallery Wall - Still adding a cute yarn ball garland at the bottom...

Shelf and Hook for Diaper Bag

Crib - we actually have put the pennant above his crib

I'm very proud to say that we completed the whole room for well under $1000, but that's certainly due to the generosity of our family and friends for helping us to furnish key items. And in case you were wondering, here's a breakdown of items:

Crib - Babies 'R Us (gift from my Dad & Stepmom)
Dresser - purchased at an antique store and refinished by my super-handy hubby for around $400 total (cost of dresser plus cost of paint and supplies)
Glider - BuyBuyBaby (Little Castle Glider Company) in Navy (gift from Greg's parents)
Accent table next to glider - Target
Pendant Drum Light - Destination Lighting
Rug - Target
Gallery Wall - frames from IKEA & Target; wall art is DIY'd or from Etsy
Book Ledges - IKEA
Curtains - DIY'd courtesy of my mom (similar at PB Kids)
Chevron crib skirt - DIY'd courtesy of my mom (similar at PB Kids)
Wall shelf- my Grandpa actually built this shelf years and years ago; Greg painted it white
"C" Wall hook - Anthropologie

Life With Baby

In case you didn't see/hear, our little one arrived Wednesday, March 13. This post was originally titled "One Week Out" and was started last Wednesday, but turns out being a Mommy is pretty time-consuming and I've gotten a little side-tracked... :-) But here are the deets:

Connor Philip
7:58 a.m.
6 pounds, 13 ounces
20 inches long

He is truly the sweetest little thing we've ever laid our eyes on. Greg and I just stare at him for hours - we couldn't be more in love! While we're still holding our breath, he is the best eater and sleeper and is doing so great. I'm not saying it's easy being new parents (the amount of times a night that we check to make sure he's still breathing or question every little thing is pretty ridiculous), but he is making it pretty easy on us!

I've really unplugged a lot the past week (which is why I have about a 1-2 day delay in replying to texts/emails), but am trying to soak in as much time with the little guy while he's so small.

While the recovery from my c-section has been a little tougher than I expected, we are setting little goals for ourselves to make sure we're making progress. First, it was the goal of getting me out of bed and walking the halls at the hospital. Then, it was going on our first walk in the neighborhood. Then, we got out of the house for our first non-pediatrician visit; it was a 45 minute trip to Target and it was wonderful. Next up? Who knows! Maybe out to eat?!

We finally finished the nursery (glider has arrived so no one at Buy Buy Baby has to get hurt! ;-) so am planning to share pictures of that soon as well as Connor's birth story. After that, I'm really not sure how often I'll blog but hope to do so somewhat regularly.

We're super-grateful for all the kind words, texts, visits, meals and love sent our way over the 11 days!

In the meantime, here are just a few pics from the 11 days with our sweet boy.

Before the festivities began!

First picture as a family of three! (In recovery)

Daddy getting to know his little one while he warms up in the nursery!

Dressing him in his "going home" outfit

All ready to go home!

Heading home! (Love Greg's face here)

Angel Baby

After our first bath at home. It was a little traumatic.

Pregnancy: Week 38-39 in Review

Well, we've come to the end, folks. This is the last "Pregnancy Review" blog post! The exciting news is that Connor will be arriving on Wednesday morning and WE. CAN'T. WAIT. He'll be here just one day before his actual due date.

Feeling? Excited, scared, anxious and totally joyful! Physically? Errrr, fairly uncomfortable. We're definitely ready.

Sleeping? Meh. I sleep OK some nights, not so great others.

Weight Gain? A little over 25 pounds.

Baby Size? As of week 38, they estimated his weight at 7 lbs, 5 oz. But really, who knows? My weight guess at birth is 8 lb, 3 oz. And we'll know soon enough!

Maternity Clothes? Oh lord, I'm so over maternity clothes. When I'm shopping (usually for something really awesome like extra nursing pads or a diaper genie), I always stare longingly at the non-maternity clothes...

Cravings? Same as before... but I'm still on a bit of a kick with sweets. I'm literally drooling as I scan Pinterest dessert boards. And I may or may not be eating a pint of ice cream as we speak. This can neither be confirmed or denied.

Baby Position? Well after weeks of effort, hours of tilts/being upside down and hundreds of dollars worth of acupuncture and chiropractor, unfortunately the little guy is still head-up, so he needs a little help coming out. So, we'll be going in for a c-section on Wednesday morning. At first, I was extremely upset and it's certainly not what I wanted for my birth experience, but I've had several weeks to let the idea soak in and I've found the positive in it. The main thing is that we get a healthy baby, which is all we want!

What I Miss? I do miss walking like a regular person. In the past two weeks, I've definitely gotten the token "pregnant person" waddle down pretty pat.

What I'm Looking Forward To? Meeting my baby boy, of course!


Best Moment? Lots! I finally got over my sickness, we finished up the nursery (well, except for that blasted glider that we're still waiting for. Little Castle Gilder Company and BuyBuyBaby are about to get on my shit list, if I don't get a call this week that it's arrived!) and Greg delivered my "push" present early! 

Belly Button Status? Outie. I could probably poke an eye out with that thing...

Once we get the glider in, I'll definitely do a belated blog post to share all the nursery photos. It's so precious! And I'll be sure to share photos at some point after he arrives.

Last bump pic at week 39 and a sneak peak at the nursery!

 Wish us luck! ;-)

Pregnancy Talk (Explained in .GIFs)

An alternative title to this blog post could be How to Make a Mommy-to-be Want to Attack You. I'll totally admit that I've been treated awesome throughout my pregnancy and there have only been a couple of comments that have annoyed me. But I hear things all the time from new Moms and Mommies-to-be about things people say and it appears as though some people lose all sense of what's polite/appropriate. If that's you, take note. If it isn't, here's a nice glimpse into pregnancy!

So far, I've thoroughly for the most part enjoyed my pregnancy. But that's not to say that there aren't still those moments of, ummm, WTF? Whether it be noticing something weird your body is doing or, more commonly, something someone says to you. So, I thought it'd be interesting to share some of my top WTF moments with an accompanying .GIF to explain my reaction.

Them: "Awww, you're having a baby? Let me explain to you in detail how horrifying my birth experience is... It'll help 'prepare' you."

 
Them: "You're going to be the cutest pregnant lady ever. I bet you only gain weight in your belly and face...

  



Parenting advice from people who DON'T ACTUALLY HAVE CHILDREN

The first time someone referred to me as "Big Momma"

 

After reading a series of BabyCenter emails, with titles like "The Truth Behind Labor" or "Nine Things No One Tells You About Breastfeeding" or "What a Post-Pregnancy Tummy Really Looks Like" ... (Um, I kid you not with these emails...)

Pretty much anytime anyone says "You look like you're about to pop!" (In particular, when that happens at 34 weeks...)

 My thoughts about half-way through our Prepared Childbirth Class:

I hope we've all learned a valuable lesson... If you can't say anything nice to a pregnant person, by all means LIE! ;-)