18 months old | Daily Schedule

The previous Day-in-the-Life (9 months) and 15 month old daily schedule posts have been popular so I thought I would continue to do our daily schedule for 18 months. 

It feels like my son's schedule hasn't really changed much but when I look back at his 12 month schedule, I guess there's been a couple major changes.

One big update is that he no longer takes his morning nap!!  It's so much easier to get out of the house and do things now since we have that wide open window between 8:00am - 1:00pm.  The transition to one nap (at around 16 months) went pretty flawless and I'm sure we owe that all to daycare!  They keep him busy and do all sorts of great learning activities throughout the day which keeps him content and not bored.

The second major change from 12 months is that we don't offer him his milk before bed anymore.  He's learned to get his calories from his food and drinks during his meals so he doesn't need that pre-bed milk snack.

As of 18 months, he's been an AMAZING sleeper through the night.  He's always been a good sleeper but there were random nights where he would wake up at 3am, 5am, 6am, etc.  But now I never hear him over the monitor.  He's a solid 12 hour sleeper now at night!!!

Our Favorite Diaper Bag

You guys...I've literally bought about 4 diaper bags and found THE ONE!!

I never thought I would like the backpack style diaper bag....until I had a baby.  Momma needs her arms!  To me, it's just so much easier (and more comfortable) to throw this thing on your back, rather than holding a purse-style bag or cross body bag.

I originally bought it last summer when my son's daycare was closed and I knew I was going to be out and about with him a lot for two weeks.  I'm so glad I bought it because it's the only diaper bag I've been using ever since I bought it!

I receive so many compliments every single time I've worn it and have converted so many moms!  

Pros:

• Super easy to just throw on your back when you're out and about
• So many pockets to keep everything organized
• My husband can carry it!!
• Comes in so many cute colors

Cons:

• The zippers aren't the greatest and feel cheap--especially the small front pocket.  BUT, I've been using it for about a year and they haven't broke yet!

So do yourself a favor and buy the best diaper bag ever.  It will change your life!  It's about $30 off Amazon.

Link to bag: https://www.amazon.com/Designed-Ticent-Multi-Function-Backpack-Capacity/dp/B07171H6HS/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1516731788&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=land%2Bbackpack%2Bdiaper%2Bbag&th=1

Enjoy, Momma!

Favorite Sippy Cups for Toddlers

Let me tell you...we've been through our share of sippy cups as I'm sure most first time moms go through in order to find the perfect one.  By no means have we found perfection but here are a list of some of our favorites!

Munchkin Miracle 360 Trainer Cup: I think all moms own this cup!  This is the first cup we gave to our son with water and he loved it and still drinks from it often.

NUK Learner Cup: This one worked well for us to start giving him milk out of a sippy.  It's small enough that he could hold and get used to the new "cup".  Initially, during the day he would drink 4oz of milk at a time so this smaller cup worked well for us.  The little handles come off so that's a nice option.  We usually took the handles off so it would feel more like his normal Dr. Brown's bottle.  IMPORTANT NOTE: I cut the holes to be bigger so the milk would flow faster! Let me know if you want a tutorial but it's pretty easy.  My son would get so distracted so the quicker the milk flow, the happier we all are!

NUK Active 10 ounce Cup: Once he started dropping milk sessions throughout the day, he was drinking larger amounts at a time (especially first thing in the morning) so these larger NUK cups worked better for us.  I love the clear one because it shows the ounce amount but it's definitely more expensive so we ended up buying more of the blue/turtle one.  Cheap mom, sorry!  Again, I cut the holes to be much bigger so the milk would flow faster.

Munchkin Click Lock Weighted Straw Cup: I think this is his all time favorite cup for milk and water. I don't know how but he learned around 7ish months how to drink from a straw.  I quickly purchased this cup and served him water so he could keep practicing.  He's a pro now and loves this cup.

Contego Kids Gizmo Water Bottle: Since he did so well with the weighted straw cup above and drank so much water throughout the day, I decided to give these bottles a try. He absolutely loves drinking his water from these bottles.  I add ice and he loves it even more! 

15 month old | Daily Schedule

Since the 9 month old daily schedule post was such a hit that I decided to come back and do an update.  Of course, this schedule isn't for everyone or the "right" way to do things but it's what's working for us so I thought I would share.


At around 12 months, we decided to start gradually taking away the bottle and transitioning to whole milk (please note, this was not by advice of our doctor, just a decision we made ourselves).  We lucked out and our son isn't very sensitive to change so this transition happened without any issues.  I decided to first transition him over to whole milk.  I started mixing the whole milk with his formula so he would get used to the flavor.  I also kept serving it to him at room(ish) temperature since that's what he's used to.  Around 13 months he was completely on whole milk and mostly bottles.  Around this time, we started introducing the milk into his sippy cup (I'll do a whole separate post of his favorite sippy cups for milk and water...we've been through a LOT!).  I started transitioning to to sippy cup with his morning bottle. Since he wakes up starving, I figure he would drink his milk out of anything!!  That trick worked perfectly!  I just started gradually giving him more and more of the sippy cup.  Before we reached 14 months, he was 100% drinking whole milk from a sippy cup.

Here's our typical routine -

7:30am - wake up + 8 oz milk (whole milk in sippy cup)

8:30am - breakfast with water

9:00-10:30am - Nap #1

11:00am - snack (usually yogurt) with water

12:00pm - lunch with water

1:00-3:30pm - Nap #2

4:00pm - snack with milk (whole milk in sippy cup)

5:30/6:00pm - dinner with water

6:30pm - bath

7:00pm - bed

Day in the Life | 9 Month Old

I always love reading about a day-in-the-life of other mommas in the world.  I guess it's my little way of checking, "Am I doing this whole thing right?!".  A relative was over last night and asked if I'm still pumping/nursing and if the doctors tell me when to stop.  I explained how it's all a personal decision and while it's nice that no one tells you what to do, it's almost hard at the same time as a first time mom.

So I hope this is helpful for at least one person out there!

For some background - I'm a full-time working mom while my son enjoys the day at a local in-home daycare.  I exclusively pumped for 8+ months but just started supplementing one bottle of formula a day.  I'll do a future post about introducing formula + the brand I use (he loves it!).  Our son started purees/solids at 6 months and is now eating 3 meals a day.  He's a little guy and doesn't eat/drink much.  We offer him milk all the time but he clearly tells us when he's had enough!


Day in the Life of a Working Mom
9 Month old Breastfed + formula supplement Baby



6:00am - Mom + Dad wake up!  Shower, eat breakfast (eggs or cereal), makeup, hair...

7/7:30am - Son wakes up.  Some mornings I have to wake him up and some mornings he wakes himself up.  Either way, I make sure he's awake by 7:30am.

7:30am - Change his diaper and feed him 5-7oz formula (I offer 8oz but he usually stops around 5-6oz unless he's going through a growth spurt).  I pump for 20 minutes while he's eating and playing (...and by "playing", I mean distracting him from grabbing my pump tubes!).

8:00am - Wash pump parts, bottles, and quickly get us both dressed for the day.  Dad leave for work.

8:15am - Drop son off at daycare.  Fortunately, he loves it there!  I don't know what I would do if he cried when I was leaving.  He just immediately smiles when I hand him to the sitters and starts playing with all his friends.  Thank goodness!! :)

8:30am - Son eats breakfast at daycare.  Breakfast is usually oatmeal + fruit puree.

8:45/9:00am - Mom arrives to work.  Work, work, work...

9:00-10:30am - Son naps at daycare.

9:30am - Mom enjoys snack.  Usually oatmeal, nuts, or yogurt + granola.

11:00am - Son drinks 4-5oz pumped milk.

12:00pm - Lunch for Mom.  Usually a salad with grilled chicken or leftovers from dinner the night before.

12:30pm - Son enjoys lunch.  I have to be honest here.  I used to make all his meals but then he started turning his nose up at my meals and devouring the organic pouches from the store.  So I just feed him those pouches.  Today he's enjoying Ella's Kitchen Organic Spaghetti and Meatballs!

1:00pm - This bottle is hit/miss.  Sometimes he needs 4oz pumped milk at this time.  Sometimes he doesn't.

1:00-3:30pm - Son naps at daycare.  We are so lucky...he's a good napper!

1:00/2:00pm - Mom takes 20 minute pump break at work.

3:30pm - Son drinks 4-5oz pumped milk.

4:00pm - Mom leaves work and picks son up from daycare!  He's just recently started crawling from the opposite side of the room to me once he hears my voice.  He crawls right up to me and gives me lots of hugs and love.  It's honestly the BEST part of my day!!           
 
4:30-5:30pm - Get home, walk the dog (needy dog won't use backyard....annoying!), unpack bags, boil/sterilize daycare bottles, get dinner ready, play with son...this hour is kinda crazy hour in our house!

5:00pm - Son usually "snacks" on milk and has anywhere between 2-4oz.  I always offer 4oz.

5:30pm - Dad gets home from work.

6:00pm - We all eat dinner.  Son eats another pouch + puffs.  We're working on his chewing.  He still kinda chokes, which is so scary.  We also give him his sippy cup and he loves drinking filtered water from it!  If we have our dinner ready at this time, we'll eat.  Otherwise, we just wait until after we put him to sleep.  I would say we all eat together about 75% of the time.

6:30pm - Bedtime routine = bath, PJs, bottle (6-7oz pumped milk), book, story time with Dad.  This story time with Dad just started last week and we love it!  It's pretty much the only time of day that they can just bond 1:1 together.  We were struggling with the 9 month sleep regression (son would cry when we put him down in his crib.  Once he fell asleep, he was fine.) and Momma was feeling stressed about everything that still had to get done.  So this changed seemed to work for all of us!

7:00pm - Son asleep.  We are so blessed and have one AMAZING sleeper!  Since day 1, he knew day from night and started sleeping through the night around 12 weeks or so.  I'm sure if we ever have a Baby #2, we won't be so lucky!  He usually sleeps 12 hours straight (7pm-7am).

7:00/9:00pm - Mom and Dad spend time together, get things done around the house (clean, trash, random projects...), check work emails, Mom gets daycare bottles + food ready for the next day.

9:00pm - Mom pumps 20 minutes.

9:30-10:00pm - Read personal emails, scroll through Instagram (I need to be better at FaceBook...), Google random things, such as, "How to survive the 9 month sleep regression", "How many ounces of milk should my 9 month old be drinking per day?"....

10:00pm - Lights out for this momma :)

_________________________________

I hope this helps someone out there!  My day is not perfect and my son probably doesn't drink enough milk (20-24oz) throughout the day compared to his peers but you know what?  We're surviving, enjoying as much time together as possible, and we have 6+ wet diapers/day so I consider it to be a win!  My question for you - what do you do from 4:30-6:30pm to keep the house from getting so chaotic? 

Best EVER Breakfast Sandwhich!

Ingredients

Bread of your choice (I used high fiber English Muffin)
Butter/Vegan butter (I use Earth Balance)
2 Eggs
1/2 Avocado
Trader Joe's Everything but the Bagel Sesame Seasoning

Directions

Toast bread.
Cook 2 eggs any style you prefer.
Spread butter over bread.
Mash the 1/2 avocado on bread.
Add Trader Joe's seasoning.
Add cooked eggs.

ENJOY!

5 Effective Tips to Help Increase Milk Production

A friend reached out to me about increasing her milk supply with her sweet baby boy #2.  It got me thinking if I can help her, I hope this can help someone out there too!  I am in no means an expert but I have learned over my past 7 months of exclusively pumping that these few effective things helped increase my milk production.

Drink water: Stay hydrated!  The more you drink, the more your milk supply will increase.  I kept two full water bottles in the nursery, slept with a water bottle next to me, and constantly drank throughout the day in order to keep hydrated.  Buy lots of fun new water bottles to keep close by.  My favorite is the Swell bottle because it keeps the water cold (I can thank my sister for my Swell bottle addiction!).  On the one or two days that I didn't drink my normal amount, I noticed a significant decrease in supply the next day.  Once I started drinking water again (and did a power pump - more info below!), my supply came back immediately.

Remember to EAT!: You're welcome! :) No, but seriously.  As a new mom, it's so easy to skip meals or go hours without eating because you're taking care of your newborn.  It's so important to have healthy meals and snacks throughout the day.  I always hear that dads have a hard time in the beginning newborn phase since they feel the baby only needs mom.  But this is a HUGE area where dads can help...prepare the meals and bring snacks to mom!

Eat Oatmeal + flaxseed: I constantly read about oatmeal increasing milk supply so I had oatmeal basically for every breakfast those first 3 months.  Oatmeal is a good source of iron.  Low levels of iron can decrease milk supply, so it makes sense that oatmeal increases the milk flow.  I just sprinkle chia seeds and flaxseeds on top and try mixing it up by eating hot oatmeal or overnight oats so you don't get sick of it!

Power Pump: Ok, you guys.  I got desperate during one of my son's growth spurts and didn't know what to do.  I read about Power Pumping and I tried it twice when I noticed my supply dipping or I couldn't keep up with a growth spurt.  I literally did it twice in the first 3 months and I'm a firm believer that this theory works!!  It works by repeatedly emptying the breast, signalling the body to make more milk (it's all about supply + demand!).  Power Pump = for one hour use the following pump pattern (or something similar): Pump 20 minutes; rest 10 minutes.  Pump 10 minutes; rest 5-10 minutes.  Try it!

Limit Stress:  This is so much easier said than done.  Especially during those first few stressful months when you're learning about your little one and your hormones are flying everywhere.  Try to enjoy every single second with your little one and savor these special moments....they grow WAY too fast!  I was feeling stressed since I wanted my son to have 100% breast milk (which we were so fortunate to accomplish following all these tips + pumping religiously every 2 hours) but someone told me that a few drops of breast milk is better than zero.  Even if you have to supplement 95%...that's okay!  You have to do what's right for you and the baby.  That's all that matters!

The truth is, the more often and effectively you nurse, the more milk you will have.  However, I think these few tips above help too!

Pumping Tips | Exclusively Pumping

Exclusively pumping is definitely not easy and takes a lot of work and organization.  But Momma, just think of all the amazing benefits and nutrients you are providing for your baby and it makes all the extra time well worth it!  Plus, think of all that $$$ you'll be saving...formula's NOT cheap!

My plan was to breastfeed for 6 months.  However, life didn't go according to plan (as usual!).  Our sweet baby boy was 6lbs, 3oz at birth and lost a lot of weight the first week of his life.  I thought he was eating but he was fooling us! ;) The doctors and pediatrician recommended for us to supplement.  What I didn't realize was that I could pump and still provide breast milk but we could at least see how much he was eating at each meal.

So here are some amazing helpful tips I've picked up along the way as an exclusive pumper -

Pump every 2 hours for first 12 weeks: If I could recommend ONE and only one tip...this would be it.  It's so important to make pumping a priority those first few weeks so your milk comes in.  It sucks, it's time consuming, and you'll literally feel like you're attached to that pump but your milk will come in and you'll probably even start a freezer stash during these first few weeks if you stick with this tip.  We basically never left the house these first 12 weeks and I had to excuse myself or pump in front of family/friends but I decided to make this a priority for my sweet boy.  For the first 12 weeks, I pumped every 2 hours for 20 minutes per session.

Pump while you feed baby: I don't know why it took me a couple weeks to figure this out but it saves SO much time!  I used the bouncy seat (still do some mornings!) and fed my son a bottle while I was pumping.  It would take just about 20 minutes to feed and burp him, which is exactly how long I was pumping.  Now I actually had a few minutes to myself when he would nap (instead of worrying about when I would get a pump session in).  It worked well for us and hope this trick works for you too!

Consider renting a hospital grade pump: I received a breast pump through my insurance - the Medela Pump in Style Advance.  It's compact and works great.  But I decided to rent the Medela Symphony through my son's pediatrician office.  It's quieter and doesn't hurt as much, honestly.  The pediatrician office allows me to rent it for a cheaper price if I rent it for 2+ months at a time so see if they have any incentives to offer you.  It's not cheap but I figure I would be buying formula ($$) so I might as well invest in the pump.  Since I'm exclusively pumping, if something were to happen to my pump (once I found mold in the tubing), I wouldn't know what to do.  This is why I found it extremely helpful to have a back-up option.  Also, I find it super helpful to have two pumps, especially once I started going back to work at 4 months.  Which gets into my next tip...

Have two sets of pumping supplies:  Flanges, tubes, bottles, membranes, hands-free bra, and even two pumps.  I made myself a "pumping bag" so I have everything all ready to go for those days I head into work.  It's already quite a task getting everything organized for the work day (daycare bag, diapers, extra change of clothes, bottles, laptop, lunch, water bottles, etc.).  And since I wouldn't be able to pump at work if I forgot something, it was helpful to have my bag all ready to go!

Make sure you're using the correct Flange size: The lactation specialist at the pediatrician office recommended this.  Initially, I had no idea there were different sizes available (#FTM!).  I just thought the one you got through insurance was the only option.  The Medela Website goes into more detail about what to look for but consider meeting with a lactation specialist to get sized correctly.  If you are sized correctly, you could even produce more milk!

Once baby hits 12 weeks, slowly drop pumping sessions:  Finally, I felt like I had my life back.....a little bit!! Well, I could at least leave the house for longer than 2 hours!!  I was lucky enough to be overproducing for my son's needs (I think I owe this to being so consistent in the beginning).  I had quite a stash saved up in our deep freezer and realized my milk's fully established and I can start dropping pump sessions.  I started dropping down to 7-8 sessions/day.  Once I went back to work at around 4 months, I was down to about 6 sessions/day.  Now, at 6 months, I'm pumping 5 sessions/day at 20 minutes a session.

Try to pump at the same time every single day: I stick to my 3:00/4:00AM, 7:00AM, 11:00AM, 3:00PM, 8:00/9:00PM schedule now that I'm down to 5 pumps a day. I try my best to mimic a baby's feed schedule.  Your milk works on supply and demand.  I figure if your body knows baby needs 6oz at 11:00AM, your body will get it all ready for you, Momma.  However, if you're pumping at 9AM some days and 10:30AM other days, your body won't really know what Momma needs.

Stick with that overnight pump session: This was hard for me.  Like, really hard.  This Momma loves and needs her sleep.  Once my son was sleeping through the night (we put him down by 7pm and he's been sleeping until 7:30am...God, we're lucky!), initially I was sleeping through the night as well.  I would wake up so completed engorged and it was painful.  One day I experienced what I think was a clogged duct.  Pretty painful so I pumped more often that day and really massaged that breast to get rid of it.  So after this issue, I realized I need to wake up once a night (usually around 3-4AM) for a quick pump session lasting about 15-20 minutes.  Not only could I sleep better because I wasn't so engorged but I got the most milk at this session.  Always about 9 oz!  I didn't want my body to think it didn't need to produce that milk anymore so I've been sticking with this overnight session and figure it's just a nice, quiet time to catch up on emails and social media while the rest of the family is sleeping peacefully!

Storage organization: At first I was buying countless Medela freezer storage bags but then I came up with a better system.  My body is basically producing exactly what my son eats per day so I just keep the Medela bottles in the frigde (Medela Collection and Storage Bottles) and make 4 bottles in the evening for the next day.  I was used to preparing bottles for daycare the next day so I just do this daily, even on the weekends and it works well.

Helpful items to buy:

• A nursing cover (I love the ones from Covered Goods) so you can pump in front of friends/family 
• A car charging device for your pump (this way you can actually leave your house and pump in the car)
• A cooler bag (to keep the milk fresh until you get home if you're on the go)
• Hands-free bra

Our sweet baby boy is turning 6 months this week and pumping has just become second nature to me at this point.  I'll continue to pump and provide breast milk for as long as I'm able (hopefully up to one year).  We are so lucky this has worked out for us this long and I hope with these helpful tips above, it all works out for you too!

Please reach out to me if you have any specific questions.

Happy Pumping, Momma!

Surviving the First Month | Must Have Baby Products

It feels like just the other day that we were adding hundreds of items to our baby registry.  We didn't really know what we needed but here is a list (I linked the actual products we have) of many of the products we couldn't live without for that first month of parenthood...

General Items 

Wash cloths: Who knew you could go through so many wash cloths?  Well, all mommas must know this because our momma friends got these for us and I can't thank them enough!  Doesn't matter the brand...just get yourself lots of wash cloths!

Swing: We have a swing in our living room/kitchen area and it's so handy to place our sweet boy in when we're making breakfast or cooking dinner.  He loves to swing and look outside.

Boba Wrap:  This lightweight wrap has been used multiple times every single day.  He loves it!  Momma loves it because I can actually get things done when he wants to be held!  Laundry, dishes, make dinner, eat dinner, walks around the neighborhood...you name it!

Aden and Anais Swaddle blankets: We cannot go a day without these.  They are perfect for summer time babies!  Swaddle with them, use them as blankets, cover their carseat when you're out in public, use as a nursing cover, use as a burp cloth....


Feeding/Breastfeeding

Bottle Brush: This brush works perfectly to clean all the bottles after each feeding.

Boon Grass Drying Rack: We even used this for our own dishes before our sweet boy joined us!  This is so perfect to dry all the bottles, nipples, pump parts, etc.

Medela Storage Bags: I tried the Lansinoh Storage bags and didn't like them.  They were too big.  We like the Medela ones.  Although, I never go by the measurement on the bag, I measure the milk in a bottle before I pour into the bag.

Nursing Pads:  I literally haven't gone a day without wearing these!

Dr. Browns Bottles:  I had no idea what kind of bottles to register for.  These are our absolute favorite and help with colic/gas as well.  Our guy is pretty gassy in the afternoon/evening.

Electric Breastpump: We tried breastfeeding for the first couple weeks but our sweet boy wasn't latching right and he wasn't getting enough fuel.  We decided to start exclusively pumping (not easy!).  I did order a Pump and Style Advanced through insurance but it wasn't working well enough for us in the beginning.  I rented the Symphony Breastpump from our pediatrician and LOVE it!  It wasn't hard to spend the $75/mo to rent because we figure we would be spending more than that to cover the cost of formula without it..  I will try the Pump and Style Advance model before I return back to work since it's a lot smaller and my milk supply should be fully established by then.


Sleeping

Long-Sleeve Sidesnap shirt: I never thought we'd use long sleeved shirts especially since he was born in the summer.  However, these are perfect to use as pajamas under the SwaddleMe blanket.  The hospital used these types of shirts and I definitely stole about 5 from the hospital and ended up buying more when we got home!

SwaddleMe: Our little boy is STRONG and breaks through any swaddle my husband and I put him in.  These velcro SwaddleMe blankets are perfect for naps and overnight and he usually doesn't break through them.  Sometimes he does.  It's perfect for those first few weeks/months when he still has the startle reflex.

Rock N Play: I researched Googled a ton before our boy arrived to learn the best sleeping options.  We knew we wanted him in our room for the first few months.  We didn't want him in our actual bed but right beside it.  I was tossing between the Pack n Play (flat surface) and the Rock n Play.  He absolutely loves the Rock N Play and is such an amazing sleeper since day 1 - he's like his momma and likes his 9pm bedtime.  Right now he's waking up about twice during the night but we put him right back in his Rock N Play after feedings and he soothes himself back to sleep.  We actually don't use the rocking or music at all - I didn't want him to become used to sleeping with the rocking action.  We have enough of a challenge on our plate transitioning him to the flat surface and eventually his crib.


Changing/Diapers

Changing Pad: I guess any changing pad will do but I like this one because it has four sides to it.

Newborn Diapers (worn until ~4 weeks): We use the Pampers Swaddlers and haven't had any issues with diaper rash or anything.  Our little guy was born at 6lbs. 3oz and ended up wearing the Newborn size until about week 4.  It would be helpful to have plenty of Size 1 ready to go as well!


Going Out & About

Graco SnugRider: This might be my most favorite product.  I didn't register for this and ended up buying it about a week after our son was born.  I use this just about every single day for running errands, going to doctor's appointments, walking baby + dog around the neighborhood.  We have a larger jogging stroller as well which is much smoother of a ride but this SnugRider is so lightweight and small - it's perfect for running errands alone with the baby.  In my opinion, a small cart like this to carry the carseat is a must!

Pacifier: I wasn't sure if I would use a pacifier but I registered for a couple anyways.  Thank goodness we did because sometimes it's the only thing that will soothe him.  We have three total and I always make sure to keep one in his diaper bag just in case he gets fussy while we're out.

Portable noise machine: This thing is amazing!  We have it attached to his carseat and whenever we go out for a car ride or walk around the neighborhood I play the beach waves and 9 times out of 10 he falls right asleep.

Portable Changing Kit: We've used this so many times during the first few weeks.  It's amazing how many doctor's appointments you have to get to those first few weeks.  I find this helpful to have diapers and everything ready to go in one convenient place.

Carseat: A carseat is a must.  We have this Graco  SnugRide Click Connect 35LX one and it's great - super lightweight and safe.

Newborn Clothes: Again, our little guy was 6lbs. 3oz. so he wore newborn clothes for the first three weeks or so.  I wasn't sure how many newborn clothes to buy but I'm glad we bought the simple white onsies and a few pairs of pants.

I hope you find this helpful.  I'm sure every baby is different but these are the must have products we definitely could not have lived without!

Now time to soak in all this newborn-ness!!  <3

Pregnancy | The Third Trimester

We officially survived the first two trimesters!  Where has the time gone?  I'm feeling pretty amazing and now we're just counting down the days until our little guy to join us!


Symptoms - Around Week 33-34, I am officially starting to experience frequent urination.  Fortunately, I can't believe I'm just starting to feel this!  Unfortunately, it's like Baby Boy is using my bladder as his new trampoline toy.  No real other symptoms - feeling great!  High energy (surprising...being 35+ weeks in mid-July).  I've never been a napper and I've literally never taken a nap throughout this entire pregnancy.  I'm sure in a few short weeks I'll be wishing I could nap and sleep all day!

I'm also starting to notice a different feeling when it comes to his kicks.  He's definitely kicking/moving more up towards my ribs.  It doesn't hurt at all...I actually LOVE the feeling...it's like he's massaging my ribs!  It feels more like he's swimming or floating around rather than kicks.

Mood - Feeling SO excited and shocked that in just a few short weeks our lives will be forever changed.  I'm doing a little reading/research about labor, etc.  I know everyone's different and has a different story but I feel so much better going into things feeling prepared and knowing what I'm in for.  I'm not going to lie, I'm a little nervous about the labor/delivery process but I'm trying to focus on the amazing outcome...my little sweet boy in our arms!

I'm finally feeling prepared!  We are so lucky to have had three Showers so we have just about everything we need - car seat, stroller, crib, changing pad, rockers, bouncers, diapers, pack 'n play, and tons of sweet little clothes....

I just ordered my hospital bag and have set aside things that will go right in there.  I'll do a separate post on What's in My Hospital Bag shortly.

Amazon Vera Bradley Weekender Travel Bag

Cravings - Again, no extreme food cravings and absolutely no food aversions. I'm starting to notice a decrease in my appetite around 30 weeks or so.  Maybe there's no more room in there?  Since it's so hot outside, I would love to live off fruit and popsicles but I don't think that's a very healthy option!  I started adding my one cup of iced coffee most mornings.  I just missed that taste so much and really look forward to a relaxing morning with my (small) cup of coffee.

Exercise - I've been doing my Bar Method classes about 3 days/week and lots of walks with my pup.  I'm finding the hills around my house are a struggle to get up with the heat, humidity, and little guy growing so much.  Every now and then I'll do a short upper body workout but I'm mostly trying to relax and enjoy those Bar Method classes while I can!

Sleep -  Like I said earlier, Baby Boy has found my bladder and I'm up about 2-3 times/night because of his new found love for it!  I think my body is just getting prepared for the feedings every 2-3 hours once our Baby Boy arrives.  Using the long pillow in between my legs has really helped with the restless leg syndrome I was experiencing towards the end of the second trimester.  I move from side to side pretty often just to give my shoulders and hips a break.  I've been pretty fortunate in the sleep department throughout this entire pregnancy.  I think staying active throughout the day really helps!

Looking forward to - Our whole world changing!  I'm so ready for all the memories we'll make with our little guy.  I'm looking forward to starting new holiday and family traditions.  I know he's not even here yet but I feel like my life will truly begin once he joins us.  I've always wanted to be a mother and I'm so glad he's making this dream come true!