Celebrating the Wins

So I know I’ve written posts/posted articles before on the rough days, because writing is totally my therapy for stuff like this. But today has been a pretty awesome day and I think that needs to be celebrated as well!  

First off, Jose took off work yesterday since I was still sicker than a dog late the night before and we weren’t really sure what yesterday would hold. Luckily, Aurora and I were both on the mend and were back to about 90% by last night. You guys, I was absolutely terrified that Jose would either 1. Get sicker than a dog too or 2. That Jose would return to work today and Holden would be sick and I’d have to mom solo all day when I’m at that point where going up and down stairs totally wears me out. However, not only did Holden sleep in a bit later than usual, but he ate a normal breakfast (drank all his milk, ate a full banana, and a full egg!)!!! I know I still have to post an update of his feeding progress as of late, but he’d been doing really well and then the past few days he wouldn’t drink or eat anything, so we had to rely on his tube again (which sucks when you’re trying to work and sooo close to getting that sucker outta there). Him not drinking/eating is why we were so worried he was starting to get sick. So that’s win #1.

Win #2 came when I gave him a bath and, since Santa brought him some new bath toys, he was occupied playing with those rather than trying to poor water all over the floor. Hey, it’s a win in my book, lol!

Win #3 came when I got the brilliant idea to drag a chair into his new playroom (Not brilliant, we were going to do it anyway, but I got impatient and didn’t want to wait for Jose to get home from work tonight to move it). So now I can just sit there all day long while he hammers away at his tool bench or scribbles on his chalkboard. Laziness for the win!

But the big win came just under an hour ago. For whatever reason, Holden + me + nap time has always been my biggest war. Holden was sleeping on us for the longest time. He would sleep fine for my mom (eventually), sleep great for Jose (of course), but never, ever for me. Or, by the time I could get him to sleep, it was unbearably uncomfortable with my growing belly. So about 2 months ago, we started to try to get him on a regular nap schedule, in his crib. You guys. He would cry for the whole hour straight. For, like, weeks. Sometimes, when Jose or my mom would take him out of his crib after his hour of crying, he would fall asleep for them. But me? No way! Meaning, I would go a full day with this incredibly active little guy, and zero nap. Otherwise known as hell on Earth. Okay, total exaggeration there. Sort of. (The more pregnant I get, the truer that statement becomes.) But today. Today he fell asleep - in his crib - after just 20 short minutes of tears. I was just about to go do the 20-minute checkin when I realized he wasn’t even crying anymore. I’m not going to get all crazy ahead of myself and expect this to become the norm, but you know how some things just happen when you need them to the most?? This would be one of those things and I feel like I’m totally killing it as a mom today!

Yes, I also realize it’s not even 2 pm yet and I still have six more hours ahead of me, but I’m killing this shit right now and there’s nothing you can say to bring me down. Not today, Satan, not today.

Aurora's Tween Bedroom Makeover

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas! We had a pretty relaxing morning at home with the kids. Holden actually came down with a cold overnight, so he slept a little later than normal, but we knew we could count on Aurora to wake us up so she could see what Santa brought her. We opened presents, made/ate brunch, and then we all (Holden included!) took a nap. (Well minus Aurora who stayed awake, playing with her new toys.) In the evening we hosted both our families. We did appetizer type foods and then the kids all tore into their presents. There really is nothing quite like seeing the magic of Christmas through your kiddos' eyes!

This year, Aurora's big present actually came about a week early. We gave her bedroom a little makeover that I think will grow with her. We've actually been planning it for quite a while, but I wanted her input too and that made it quite a bit harder since I love whites and grays and she loves all the colors! Which totally fits her personality, but I wasn't quite sure how we would mix the two. However, I'm so happy with how it all turned out and her reaction when we did the unveiling was worth every minute and penny spent! We moved her temporarily into the spare bedroom while we put everything together, and then revealed it to her last week. A big thanks to our family members, too, who each chipped in and paid for some of the items as well. I've linked all the items below, but let me know if you have questions on where anything came from!

Fun fact about this pillow: It's actually our dog! Check out DrawYourPortrait to get one! Aurora loves it so much!

We finally caved and let her have a small TV in her room, which is hidden behind the tapestry on the right side of her bed. Jose set the side tapestries up, so she can pull them open and shut them when she wants. She's still only allowed the same amount of screen time each day though. :)

Ceiling light: From Land of Nod, similar here

Gold dot wall decals: Also from Land of Nod, similar here and here

Blinds: Amazon

Curtains: Amazon

Pink rug: here and here

Faux fur rug: Similar here and here

Dresser: IKEA Tarva

Tassel garland: https://tasselfairyshop.com/

Pineapple bookends: Target

Pink globe: Hobby Lobby

Cactus: Hobby Lobby

Loft bed: https: Amazon

Tapestries in hangout area: here and here

Throw pillows in hangout area: Pier 1, IKEA, Hobby Lobby, Home Goods

Floor cushions: Amazon

Bedding: Similar here

Reading light: IKEA Fubbla

Curtains in hangout area: Similar here

Hanging chair: Amazon

Chair throw pillows: IKEA, Etsy

Baby #3 | 29 Weeks & A Lesson Learned

So before I get to the usual update stuff, I feel like I need to mention this. Just in case it could be helpful to someone. I had my doctor appointment this week for my Glucola test. So I drink the juice, I'm waiting for the hour to be up so they can draw my blood and, in the meantime, I see my doctor for the usual part of the appointment where she checks baby's heartbeat and all that jazz. So she's checking the heartbeat and it's, very noticeably, off. Like it's skipping a beat. My heart drops, as I'm watching her reaction, Jose's reaction, to see if they notice it too. Then she says the baby's heartbeat is irregular, which just confirms what I was hoping I just wasn't hearing right or something. So they hook me up to the NST machine and aren't really able to get a reliable read on the heartbeat. Fortunately, they were able to get me in for an ultrasound right away because, at this point, I'm a freaking wreck, thinking the absolute worst. The ultrasound tech was immediately able to rule out hydrops fetalis which was the doctor's main concern. My understanding is that hydrops fetalis basically means the baby's heart is failing, so we were glad they were able to rule that out so quickly. So she's looking over the baby's heart and says that everything looks fine structure-wise and that the only thing that's off is the heartbeat. So the doctor comes in and says they want to refer me to another local hospital that would be able to do a more advanced ultrasound of the heart in particular. Seriously by the grace of God, they were able to get me in later that afternoon. (She said sometimes it can take a couple weeks to get in.) If I would've had to wait a couple weeks, you guys, I would've gone completely insane. So of course, between my appointments, I'm Googling everything I can find about what this could mean. Side note: When Holden was in the hospital for his surgeries, anything I would Google would absolutely devastate me. I should've learned my lesson, I guess, but in this case it actually calmed me down a bit. There were quite a few threads I found where people had this same thing happen and it basically was an issue that corrected itself before the baby was even born. So that gave me hope. But a few people mentioned that it could be related to caffeine intake. Now I've been able to give up coffee, no problem, minus a little decaf here and there. But one thing I've always craved pretty heavily when I've been pregnant is pop. (Which is funny, because I don't really have a hard time with pop when I'm not pregnant.) And, at the risk of anyone reading this totally calling me out for being a terrible person, I've definitely indulged myself here and there. Not like, crazy amounts, but just definitely more than I normally would. I've tried to stick with mostly caffeine-free root beer but, to be honest, I guess I didn't realize the whole caffeine thing was so serious of an issue. Unfortunately, I also read that lotions with cocoa butter that have even the smallest trace of caffeine in them can effect this as well. If you've been keeping up on my posts, you know I've used cocoa butter lotion and oil for all three kids so far. You guys, I've sworn by this stuff to avoid stretch marks. I get that it has cocoa in it but, since it's advertised as great for stretch marks, I guess I assumed it would have to be safe for pregnant women. Not that it's not safe, and I think if this was the only form of caffeine I was exposed to, it would be fine. But I think in any cases where it's been an issue, it probably was combined with another form of caffeine. Needless to say, I won't be using it anymore while pregnant. So anyways, we go into our appointment and the ultrasound tech is looking everything over and, after a few minutes, mentions that the heart looks good and asks me about my caffeine consumption. I've seriously never felt so horrible, but was totally honest with her that I didn't think I'd gone crazy with it, but that I definitely didn't totally avoid it either. She didn't say that that was definitely the cause, but she said it could be and that's what makes sense to me right now, I guess. She pretty much reiterated what I'd read online, that it appears to be an irregular heartbeat that will likely correct itself, but that avoiding caffeine from here on out would be a good idea. The doctor came in, basically said the same thing, and told me they didn't see any reason why they'd need to follow up with me there and that I was good to go. I felt so relieved and so freaking awful at the same time. I'm still super hesitant to click "Publish" on this post, but if anyone can learn from it, I'll feel at least a little better. Anyways, on to the usual stuff...

How far along? 29 weeks

Maternity clothes: Comfies, maternity pants, jeans & tanks

Stretch marks? None. While I won't be using the cocoa butter lotion or oil for the remainder of my pregnancy, I've reverted back to the body lotion I typically use every day, which is Keri lotion. Honestly, I've used this stuff forever and love it so much. The only reason I ever switched to the other lotion and oil was to avoid stretch marks. Hopefully this stuff will do the same. It's amazing for dry skin and you only need to put it on once a day. Side note: I'm totally not dissing the stuff I was using for stretch marks. I don't even know for sure that it had anything to do with the issue we had the other day. I just won't be using it to be on the safe side and wanted to let people know, since I was such a big advocate for it. That is all!

Sleep: Still good, for the most part

Best moment this week: Finding out on Tuesday that, what could've been a huge issue with the baby, was really something pretty minor definitely takes the cake. Aside from that, Holden had a great appointment at the beginning of the week, which I'll do an update on soon, and Jose's been making some crazy headway with some projects around the house that I'll be sharing as well. Oh, also, I passed my Glucola test! Woohoo!

Miss anything? Not anymore. I've been feeling pretty good these past few weeks, so just glad for that!

Movement: Lots from this little guy! Even in my ultrasounds on Tuesday, they couldn't believe how active he was!

Food cravings? Only things I can't eat, even if they were things I didn't really eat before (hot dogs, lunch meat sandwiches, sushi...)

Anything make you queasy or sick? Nope!

Gender prediction: BOY!

Labor signs: I've had a tiny bit of cramping, maybe Braxton-Hicks related?

Symptoms: (Read above)

Belly button in or out? Mostly outtie!

Wedding rings on or off? On

Mood most of the time: Pretty happy lately, for the most part!

Looking forward to: Christmas -> Baby -> Disney

Total weight gain: ~29 lbs.