Meghan's Nursery, Clothes, & Diapers

Partially because I needed to learn how to use our video camera and partially so that I could share with family and friends who do not live close by, I made four short videos today. If you're interested, check it out....

Meghan's Finished Nursery:

My mom sewed Meghan several crib sheets, a bed skirt, changing pad cover, as well as several of the blankets that are in the closet. She has also made 2 quilts and 2 pillows that will be coming when Meghan is born - we are so blessed by her crafting skills! Many of the blankets and all of the burp cloths that we have were made by me in preparation for our little girl.

What's In Meghan's Closet:

What's In Meghan's Dresser (& Cloth Diapers):

Meghan's Section of Our "Family Closet":

At 38.5 weeks, we are feeling like the house is ready for a baby to come (with three snow days, it's certainly clean!). We are packed to head to the hospital and are getting very anxious to meet this little girl!

Hopefully soon we will be sharing videos of Meghan's antics in the "outside world."

Baby Hoosier :: Week 38

This week, Baby is the size of a: pumpkin
Total weight gain/loss: 41 lbs - eek! My doctor says not to worry about it at all as my weight gain is all in my belly and I have some swelling where I am holding water due to the stress my body is under at this point in pregnancy. 
Sleep: What is sleep? I am currently living on sleep acquired in 1-2 hour stretches once or twice a night. I think that this is my body getting me ready for our sweet girl! 
Best moment this week: Blood pressure was a concern (it had gone up from my usual super low count) at the 36.5 week check up but not at the 37.5 - yay for no pre-eclampsia concerns! 
Movement: She wiggles a bit, but is very much out of room. I might think it's fun to drink a cold smoothie for breakfast, wait five minutes, and feel her freak out! 
Food cravings: apples, fruit smoothies, I'm not a huge fan of "heavy" foods right now.
Symptoms: I can breath quite well now that she has dropped fully into my pelvis and is out of my ribs. I have been doing a lot of house cleaning. I am desperately excited to meet this little person and often find myself feeling impatient for her to get here. I have been feeling more regular braxton hicks contractions - a few have even hurt.
Belly Button in or out: still out
Milestones: She continues to be gaining weight and length.

Waiting On You ... Update #2

On Friday January 31st (37.5 weeks) Meghan has dropped about 3 centimeters - I have definitely felt her move out of my ribs. She places lots of pressure on my pelvic bones but no longer is kicking me in the ribs or lungs! I am more effaced and still 0 cm dilated.

I have been having braxton hicks contractions on a more regular basis during the past two days.

Waiting on You...Update #1

On Friday January 24th (36.5 weeks) Meghan's head is down and very low (way to go our little breech-thru-pregnancy baby!). I am 50% effaced and 0 cm dilated. Looks like we're not having a baby yet!

Baby Hoosier :: Week 36

This week, Baby is the size of a: honeydew melon
Total weight gain/loss: 38 lbs gained - I asked my doctor about this, since it's over the recommended amount, and he said he has no concerns with my weight gain because it's all been in my belly (I have gained nowhere else, besides my swollen ankles) - he laughed when he lifted my shirt to listen for her heartbeat saying, "My goodness! You are ALL baby!"
Sleep: some nights I sleep well, most nights I toss and turn and am up most of the night - just getting ready for having a sweet baby girl who needs her mama during the night
Best moment this week: I had my shower at work on Thursday - we were so blessed by the generosity and support of my coworkers. 
Movement: She continues to be a wiggler! She's out of room, but that doesn't stop her from trying to make some! She "goes to sleep" during very loud events - such as the Garmin Winter Event video and me running the grain mill. She also startles at sudden loud noises - ouch!
Food cravings: apples and pancakes 
Symptoms: She is sitting very low - I can't usually put my legs together. Cole enjoys watching the ways that I have adjusted daily tasks to account for my new center of gravity. He told me that we would have to "do this again" because "you're so cute!" One of my students (who correctly was adamant that she was a girl from the day we told the kids that I was having a baby) insists that she is coming in 8 days - we will see if he is correct :) 
Belly Button in or out: Out - completely out!
Milestones: The doctor says we are full term despite being only 36 weeks - he says we are ready to birth this baby whenever she is ready to come - wow!!

A picture of me for the week, as drawn by one of my students:

Baby Hoosier :: Week 33

This week, Baby is the size of a: durian fruit...whatever that is!

I knew that I was getting large - my shirts were telling me as much. But, when Cole took this picture, I was a bit shocked by what I saw! Seven-ish weeks till we meet this little girl!

Dear Meghan,

Dear Meghan,

The time of our meeting is drawing nearer and nearer. And as it does I find myself with so many questions and curiosities.....

Will you have your Daddy's gorgeous blue-green eyes or my more subtle pale eyes?

Will you be a righty or will you develop your Daddy's left-handedness?

Will you be a brunette, a blonde, or a firey-red-head? All three are possible! Or, will you just be bald for a long while?

Will you have inherited my allergies and celiac disease or will you be like your Daddy and a perfect vision of health and adaptability?

Will you be shy and introverted like your parents or will you break the mold and be our social butterfly?

Will you have a pure & calming singing voice like your Daddy or be completely tone-deaf (but honest in your enthusiasm) like me?

Will you be as much of a mover and shaker on the outside as you are on the inside?

Will you prefer to escape into a good book or to work on math during school?

According to a friend of mine at work - you need to inherit my "cute nose." Do you have my nose or your Daddy's (which I think is quite cute!)?

Will you prefer to sleep in quiet or with music?

What is your favorite color? How many times will that change?

Will you be a cuddle-bug or a bit more hands-off (regardless of how you feel about cuddling, you do know your Papa will cuddle you, right?)?

Will you be a dig-in-the-dirt girl or a little princess? Or a little bit of both?

What will be your first word?

What will your little coos sound like?

What will your smile look like?

Little one, we are so excited to meet you. We are so curious; we cannot wait to discover and learn the little wonder God made you to be. You are so loved.

Love,
Mama

Baby Hoosier :: Week 32

This week, Baby is the size of a: butternut squash
Total weight gain/loss: 30 lbs gained
Sleep: Meghan's busy movement usually wakes me up around 5:00 - long before my alarm clock. But I am able to just lay in bed and enjoy feeling her explore her small surroundings. I have had a sinus infection that's been making sleep difficult - but I've still had great energy during the day! Yay!
Best moment this week: School is out for winter break - it's time to spend Christmas with family and have a few days to work on preparing for this sweet girls arrival. 
Movement: Her movements are becoming much less "spastic" and seem more intentional. This week she seems to be actively exploring her environment - there have been a lot of intentional feeling hits/moves of her hands and feet; I imagine her with a deep thinking look as she explores. Every once-in-a-while she gets a good hit or kick to the lungs which just shocks me :) 
Food cravings: cream soda, ice cold water, oranges, fudge, eggs, bananas
Symptoms: Pregnancy wise, I am feeling very good! Cole bought a birth ball and it arrived this week - sitting on that allows me to sway side-to-side to relieve some of the pressure/pain on my hips. While I am very aware of the extra weight I am carrying around, I am feeling much better than I expected to be at this point in my pregnancy! 
Belly Button in or out: half in and half out - it's odd :) 
Milestones: She now has her toenails, fingernails, and whatever amount of hair she will probably have at birth. She is putting on weight and filling her skin out! 

Baby Hoosier :: Week 31

This week, Baby is the size of a: pineapple
Total weight gain/loss: 
Best moment this week: We are continuing to bask in the excitement of knowing that she no longer has placenta previa and things are moving forward normally. It has been such a load off of my mind - I had turned the whole situation over to God, knowing that he had a divine plan for her birth just as he had shown himself to have in her conception and pregnancy thus far. But, it was still something we knew had the potential to cause problems and something we feel blessed to have "fix itself" without the need for medical intervention. We are blessed - and have been cleared to travel for Christmas rather than having to consider the potential of bed rest. 
Movement: Meghan's favorite trick these days seems to be sticking her hand and/or foot straight up into my ribs. It shocks me every time she does it; several times, most days, we argue about whether or not she can stay there. I am hoping that while we are at my parents next week she will let them and my little brother feel her move; she's a wiggle worm, but sometimes a lot of that wiggling is towards my back or ribs rather than at my belly where others can feel her.
Food cravings: peanut butter cookies, steak, chipotle, cream soda

Baby Hoosier :: Week 30

This week, Baby is the size of a: cucumber
Total weight gain/loss: we will find out on Friday....a little nervous for this after last month!
Sleep: Sleep was off and on this week. Sometimes I was super tired and slept well all night. Sometimes I was super tired and my back ached, keeping me up, a lot of the night. 
Best moment this week: We had a sonogram last Thursday and Meghan is doing great! She no longer has placenta previa and she is no longer breach! Meghan weighs in at around 3.5 pounds. She is skinny based on measurements of her head and belly circumference.  She is also tall based on the measurements of her leg bones. The ultrasound tech pointed out where different parts of her body are in my belly - she was exactly where I expected her to be based on her movement. She is folded in half and her feet are up next to her face - she had her toes-ies on her forehead while we watched her. Thus, when she is kicking me, she must also be kicking herself in the face. We got a few shots of her little face (when her feet and arms moved out of the way) and saw her cute chubby cheeks. She looks very much more like a baby rather than an alien in the pictures - I can't wait to pinch those chubby little cheeks! The first thing I noticed about her when her profile showed up on the screen was her little mouth sucking away - looks like a thumb or a pacifier will see lots of use soon! 
Movement: She is still such a little wiggle worm - I love it! She moves all the time on the right side of my body - which makes sense since her head, feet, and arms are all in the same place. One night, Cole was laying in bed with his arm around me (or, us, I guess); she started kicking so hard that he had to move his arm or she was going to keep him awake! She likes to rock a lot - I think that is my favorite movement to feel. She also likes to kick me in the ribs; we have little "talks" about that. 
Food cravings: snickers bars, peaches, oranges, bananas
Symptoms: much less nausea, much less heartburn (with some diet changes), and much more energy (with diet changes to increase my iron intake!), we finished some of my major nesting projects over Thanksgiving break and I am continuing moving on down the list or projects!
Belly Button in or out: still in, I don't know that it will come out, it's been pulled into a super thin horizontal line!
Milestones: Her big goals from here on out are to put on weight and to continue getting those little lungs and sensory systems ready for the outside world. 

Maternity Photo Session

As a sweet, sweet gift, a friend of ours with a photography business offered us a maternity photo shoot to document the incredible journey we have been on with growing this sweet little girl. Morgan Lang did a great job; here are some of my favorites from our session (27.5 weeks pregnant):

There were some other great pictures that I will share later. They took advantage of parts of the nursery, but I will be sharing pictures of the nursery later!

Baby Hoosier :: Week 29

This week, Baby is the size of a: acorn squash
Total weight gain/loss: I don't know right now, end of next week!
Sleep: Good sleep comes and goes. It's still much better than I was expecting for this point in the pregnancy on most nights - and for that I am thankful! We found out this last week that my iron is low - so that may also be contributing to my extreme exhaustion throughout the day.
Best moment this week: We celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday with Cole's family and we had a blast. Meghan was busy! 

I also had my glucose tolerance test and passed! No diabetes here!
Movement: She remains a busy girl. She seems to fidget quite a bit. Yesterday she stuck a little fist or foot into my ribs; when I tried to move it, she moved it back. We repeated this process several times before she finally decided that maybe she didn't need to punch me.
Food cravings: Jason's Deli sandwiches, Snickers Bars, Roast Beef
Symptoms: I am anemic so we are working on ways to increase my iron intake. Meghan continues to grow and finding tops to wear with my under-belly work pants is getting very difficult! Heartburn is a frequent friend - but I have found that chewing gum seems to help a lot.
Belly Button in or out: still in
Milestones: Meghan's skull is expanding for her growing brain. She is gaining bone strength, muscle mass, and fat quickly! She is using lots of nutrients for lots of growing!

Baby Hoosier :: Week 27

This week, Baby is the size of a: rutabaga 
Total weight gain/loss: 22 lbs - wowza this was a big month for growth! Not only did I gain quite a bit of weight (that was a scary stand on the scale!) but she is now measuring quite big
Sleep: Sadly, Meghan and I seem to be giving up sleeping at night. I can't get comfortable and when I find a comfortable position it either gives me back pain or upsets her until she starts kicking - which also keeps me up. Time to experiment with other sleeping positions! 
Best moment this week: Meghan is just super wiggly. I love feeling her as she moves around and bumps and rolls around against me. 
Movement: This little miss is a wiggle worm! I absolutely love feeling all of her little movements. One day this week, it felt like she was trying to burrow out of the left side of my stomach - I think she is starting to feel a bit cramped. 
Food cravings: chipotle, dark chocolate, quesadillas, egg & bacon cups
Symptoms: sleeping is tough, she's moving a ton, morning sickness only once this week!
Belly Button in or out: barely in, but still in
Milestones: Meghan is opening and closing her eyes. Her lungs are capable of surviving outside the womb  with medical support. She even has the hiccups sometimes! 

Baby Hoosier :: Week 26

This week, Baby is the size of a: head of lettuce
Total weight gain/loss: we'll find out again at the end of the week
Sleep: I can easily sleep for 10 hours at night....those nights are wonderful :) 
Best moment this week: Cole and I had fun (well, more me than him) picking out flannel at the Veteran's Day sale to make some burp cloths and blankets for Meghan. 
Movement: Meghan has been doing less forceful kicking and more just wiggling - my whole belly seems to be moving around now. 
Food cravings: peanut butter, hummus on brown rice wraps, snickers bars
Symptoms: my sacroiliac joint has been hurting again - I am assuming because of the additional weight and the change in gait - I think that's just part of carrying this little girl as she gains the weight needed to be healthy on the outside
Belly Button in or out: still in
Milestones: Meghan's ears are developing their ability to hear even more .... she should be able to hear Daddy's voice (in addition to mine) while we are talking. She is now 14 inches long and 1.66 lbs. She is practicing her breathing skills, as well.

Baby Hoosier :: Week 25

This week, Baby is the size of a: cauliflower
Total weight gain/loss: 13 pounds total this pregnancy
Sleep: since the time change, my new hours of operation have been 4:00am-7:30pm
Best moment this week: NOT having strep throat but just an sinus infection/upper respiratory infection - I took a day off work to rest and am starting to feel much better again!
Movement: She moves so much - and I just LOVE it! She is now moving up on my right side instead of just in my lower abdomen. Either she has flipped to be head down or she is learning to punch/head bang. When I'm reading, she can make my kindle bounce. And, because in that area her movement much more pronounced from the outside, Daddy can definitely feel her moving!
Food cravings: Chipotle, hummus, yogurt, oatmeal, peanut butter, dark chocolate
Symptoms: I have had morning sickness once, but other than that feeling good. Apparently I am starting to waddle when walking a lot at work :) 
Belly Button in or out: in, but not by much
Milestones: Meghan is 13.5 inches long and weighs about 1.5 lbs. She is starting to put on all of that baby fat that will be so squeezable once she is in our arms! She is starting to grow her hair as well. 

Baby Hoosier :: Week 24

This week, Baby is the size of a: cantaloupe 
Total weight gain/loss: don't know until next doctor's appointment - which is tomorrow since I have been exposed to strep several times this week and now have a sore throat!
Sleep: I am sleeping so well at night! I think that my body is just ready to crash from carrying around this sweet busy girl all day :) 
Best moment this week: This weekend my paternal grandparents visited us and little Miss Meghan - it was fun to get to talk, watch football, and play card games with them!
Movement: Meghan likes to kick and bounce a lot. Times she is most active...when the music stops at church, anytime I lean over and "squish" her, almost anytime I am sitting still...basically anytime when I am not providing her with motion & noise.
Food cravings: plain yogurt, peanut butter, oatmeal
Symptoms: I am fairly hungry throughout the day which is a nice change - I have not had to take morning sickness meds all week! My rash on my face has gone away and calcium supplements seem to be keeping the charlie horses away. 
Belly Button in or out: still in 
Milestones: While she hasn't let her Daddy feel her kick, he has been able to see her kick - she is quite strong! Sometimes I wish I could peek inside my stomach to see what exactly she is doing...I think she might be a gymnast! Here's a picture of the effect this sweet baby girl is having on my figure - she is growing like a little weed and people no longer tiptoe around asking me about the baby - everybody knows that this belly has to be a baby!

Baby Hoosier :: 23 Weeks

Well, I missed my post last week - to be fair, I had a crying-vomiting-migraine. It was a migraine pain I have not experienced in many years. But, here's what week 23 has been like...
This week, Baby is the size of a: grapefruit
Total weight gain/loss: +11 pounds total
Sleep: I have had much more energy the past few weeks which has been so nice. And sleep has been welcome at the end of productive days. I have started getting charlie horses during the night and am working on ways to make those go away. 
Best moment this week: Listening to Meghan's heartbeat at the doctor is just so cool! She is breech and has placenta previa - but that has all been left in God's hands to work out however he wills. On the upside - we will get to have another ultrasound in a few weeks to watch her play, or really, to see if those things have been fixed. 
Movement: Miss Meghan likes to move a lot when I am still, so I usually get to feel her dancing around before I fall asleep - I really like that special time together every night. If she's too busy for me to get to sleep, I can guarantee she will calm down by having Cole put his hand on my belly to feel her moving - she usually just stops! 
(This was true until Friday. Now she moves all the time! She is super busy most of the day!)
Food cravings: plain yogurt, steak, chipotle (which my paras brought me for dinner on bosses day!), peanut butter, hummus - protein just seems to be a theme!
Symptoms: Morning sickness is off and on - in the mornings I lay in bed and wait to see if I'm going to need any medicine to get through the morning - I'm needing it less often! I have a red rash on my face and charlie horses at night - two things which people don't know why they happen, so it just gets blamed on raging hormones. I am trying a new lotion and additional calcium/magnesium supplement in my diet. 
Belly Button in or out: still in, but not much
Milestones: Meghan weighs almost a pound. Her teethbuds are appearing under her gums. And she is gaining strength like crazy!

Baby Hoosier :: 21 Weeks

This week, Baby is the size of a: pomegranate 
Total weight gain/loss: not sure - I will go to the doctor in a week and a half.
Sleep: Meghan has made it quite clear that she is not a fan of the method of sleeping that I finally found worked for me. So, now I am trying using a body pillow to provide the support that I need to sleep comfortably for ALL of us - so far so good.
Best moment this week: Feeling her moving more often has been so much fun - I'm just waiting for it to be hard enough and/or for me to catch it in time for Cole to feel her. 

My good friend, Staci, was cleaning out clothes from her girls and sold me a TON of beautiful clothes (super cheap) for Meghan - cute carters, gymboree, k-state, etc! Her closet is looking good!
Movement: Meghan is becoming much more forceful in her movements - she is gaining strength. For the first time, on Saturday night I was able to feel her moving without concentrating on my stomach! She was hitting/kicking so hard it distracted me from what I was already doing - much more than just the "flutters" of the last few weeks. It's so cool! 
Food cravings: steak, yogurt, and ice cream
Symptoms: still some morning sickness, some shortness of breath, lots of wiggling baby in my belly, muscles are stretching around my belly, my stomach (while always hungry) is able to hold less at one time right now
Belly Button in or out: in, but much less in.
Milestones: She is swallowing lots of fluid now (her ultrasound revealed that her whole digestive/urinary system seems to be doing well with this). She is also developing meconium - her first poop - how cute (note the sarcasm?!?). 

And, here she is. Growing bigger every day!

Baby Hoosier :: 20 Weeks

This week, Baby is the size of a: banana
Total weight gain/loss: 
Sleep: some nights I sleep great, some nights I wake up at random, and this past week there seem to have been several scary nightmares
Best moment this week: 
20 Week Ultrasound was today: Meghan is healthy! Everything looks really good and she wiggles and moves all over the place! That was the coolest thing in the world....especially to see how she crosses her ankles - just like her Mommy!

We have started converting our closet into a family closet; some of the little baby things we have recently picked up were hanging on the bar. Cole, rather absent-mindedly made the same statement I have been making to myself when I walk into the closet "Wow, those are tiny clothes!" Soon and very soon, we will have a little one wearing those tiny clothes! 

While rubbing belly butter/oil on my belly, we were talking about how round my belly is - it just looks like a soccer ball on my stomach! My belly sticks out so much and we are wondering just how far out in front of my body this belly is going to be come February!
Movement: Baby has been quite wiggly - nothing painful or even noticeable when I'm busy, but when I am calm and relaxed it gets to wiggling. I tried putting Cole's hand on my belly to see if he could feel it, but not yet. 
Food cravings: these are getting less intense - but plain yogurt has been amazing this week!
Symptoms: still nauseous, lots of headaches, I can feel the muscles in my belly stretching to accomodate the baby, my hair is so much less oily than before - I only have to wash it every other day, which I love!
Belly Button in or out: still in, but a much less pronounced "in"
Milestones: Meghan's sensory system is developing - the brain is specializing in sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. She is also developing the coating that will protect her skin while floating in amniotic fluid for another 4.5 months!

Baby Hoosier :: 19 Weeks

This week, Baby is the size of a: mango
Total weight gain/loss: I have gained a total of 5 pounds - yay for finally keeping enough food down to gain weight!
Sleep: I can stay up late a few nights a week, if kept busy. As soon as I sit down to relax, I get very tired. I am getting much more used to sleeping on my side - yay! 
Best moment this week: While I was at the doctor's office on Friday, he would find the baby's heartbeat and the baby would immediately move. This process repeated itself several times before the baby finally consented to having its heartbeat listened to...is a little red-headed pistol on it's way?!?
Movement: I think I felt the baby moving around a bit a few nights ago - and we were listening to Gungor. I think this baby has good taste in music!
Food cravings: this isn't really changing...mint ice cream, vinegar chips
Symptoms: still nausea, belly growing pains - those muscles are stretching! super dry skin (except the acne on my face - grr!) - but I have a wonderful homemade butter that is great!
Belly Button in or out: still in
Milestones: Baby is starting to myelinate its nerves; this, as we know from child development classes, is a VERY big deal! Baby will be doing lots of myelinating for the next year and a half or so - go myelin go! Build that baby brain and nervous system!