I'm hard pressed to think of a year that even holds a candle to this last one. 2015 was truly incredible and as much as I love the "fresh start" of a new year, I'm kind of bumming this epic year is coming to an end.
This past year I was fortunate enough to go on some amazing vacations! I traveled to 6 different states and a different country! We started the year off with an incredible week long vacation with our best friends in Riviera Maya, Mexico {recaps HERE and HERE}. It was the best week! We had SO MUCH FUN and I feel so lucky that we were able to take this vacation together.
Beyond our epic week in paradise, I traveled to Arizona with Kenley to spend a week with my mom, spent a few days in Colorado visiting my grandparents and cousins, went on a girls weekend to New York City with my mom, Aunt and cousin {recaps HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE}, road tripped to Iowa to spend the weekend with our honeymoon friends, went to Las Vegas for my best friend's Bachelorette Party and visited Ohio twice allowing me to meet Erin and Katie {recaps HERE and HERE}!
As if all that travel wasn't enough we also moved! Kenley started school! I ran my first half marathon! I got to see both the Luke Bryan and Kenny Chesney concerts over the summer! My little sister graduated high school and went off to college! My best friend got married! We became Godparents. Oh, and I got pregnant with our second baby, which we found out is a baby BOY the day before my birthday!!!
As amazingly awesome as 2015 was, it was also probably the busiest {and most expensive} year of my life. I'm kind of excited to follow it up with a slightly more low key! I mean, I'm going to be pretty dang pregnant here in a hot minute and will be bringing a new baby into the world!!! It's inevitable that things will be slowing down for us and I'm looking forward to it.
Happy New Year everyone! Have a glass of bubbly for me tonight!
Baby is looking like a mini-newborn and is developing tooth buds! 126 days til Due Date!
Whew, what an exhausting weekend! I love Christmas and love so much that we are able to celebrate and spend time with our giant families but it really takes it out of me, especially when I'm cooking a little spaghetti squash in my belly. I haven't been following the typical blogger procedure in terms of these bump updates, so I thought today I'd kick it old school and follow that tried and true format to catch you all up on Ziggy and his 22nd week.
Size of the baby? About 11 inches and ONE pound! Why does that feel like such a huge milestone?
Total Weight Gain/Loss? I'm not loving the 19lb gain because it's 5lb more than I should weigh at this point BUT I'm not beating myself up about it because let's be honest, who isn't 5lbs heavier around the holidays? I am excited, however, to get back in to a daily routine with life which will hopefully help that even out a bit.
Maternity Clothes? For the most part I am wearing bigger non-maternity stuff. However, I have a couple of maternity tops and am LOVING my luxe edition maternity jeans. I am planning on investing in a few more items here this week to hopefully keep me comfy and get me through these next 4 months.
Stretch marks? Nope. None to be found so far! Hallelujah!
Best Moments? The best baby related moment this week was on Christmas day. My mom gave Ziggy a sweet little blanket and Kenley got SO EXCITED! She kept snuggling up to it and holding it up to my belly and saying "Ziggy look at your new blanket!"
Movement?
I am feeling tons of movement and love it so much!!! Baby seems to be pretty sleepy during the day but goes crazy in the evenings. I feel confident the movements are big enough for Jason to feel now but every time he tries Ziggy goes still - such a stinker!
Food Cravings? I was craving waffles like crazy over Christmas for no reason other than someone had posted waffles in Instagram and they looked amazing! Thankfully both of my mother-in-laws made waffles over the weekend! So now, I'm not really craving anything specific.
Anything making you queasy or sick? I can't eat poultry. It absolutely gags me. With Kenley all meat made me queasy but this time around I'm all about the beef {must need that iron}.
What I miss? Feeling good. I just haven't felt 100% in what seems like forever. While I'm not feeling awful, I just miss having energy. I also miss not having to pee every 3 minutes.
Nausea/Vomiting? It comes and goes. I haven't been throwing up but bouts of nausea have become the norm around here.
Symptoms? Tired. Achey. Crampy. Back Pain. Ya know...the usual.
Labor signs? I've been having quite a few labor-like symptoms over the past week but was reassured at the doctor that everything is still nice and closed up. I'm not sure if these pains are Braxton Hicks, Round Ligament or just a baby boy sitting EXTREMELY low. Maybe a combo of all three?
Belly Button In or Out? The button is still in, but it's getting shallow.
Wedding rings On or Off? Rings are on and still fitting normally. My fingers have been swelling a bit when I workout, so I have to take them off then but other than that we're good.
Sleep? Sleep is pretty annoying already. I am up several times a night to use the bathroom and have a tough time getting comfortable.
What I'm looking forward to? Painting the nursery! I'm so anxious to make some progress in there! I'm hoping to finish the trim and get the walls painted this week!
For fun, here's 12 weeks vs 22 weeks! What a difference 10 weeks makes!!!
{and apparently I just skipped right over a 22 week update with Kenley, whoops}
Hi friends. I am taking today and the rest of the week off from blogging so that I can catch up on work, get ready for Christmas and maybe even rest a bit. Oh, and of course celebrate the holiday with the ones I love most.
No matter what your religious beliefs or weekend's itinerary, I am sending warm wishes for a happy and healthy holiday weekend filled with love!
Baby's eyebrows and eyelids are developed! 133 days til Due Date!
Woooooaaaaaah, we're {over} halfway there!!! It's hard to believe this pregnancy is half over already! I took a little inadvertent blog break last week because frankly the past two weeks of this pregnancy have been rough. All through week 20 I was so excited to find out the gender and for my birthday but I felt like crap - I was pretty sure I'd picked up a bug causing me to have no energy and just feel overall icky. Friday, December 11th was, however, one of the best days of my life when I got an early birthday gift and learned my baby is a little BOY!
Our little man cooperated and within minutes of the ultrasound starting we were told "It's a Boy!" I cried immediately and didn't stop. I just could not believe it and was so happy and excited! We left our appointment slightly deflated, however, because we were told that they found fluid around baby's heart. Apparently anything above 2mm is considered abnormal and Ziggy's was measuring at 1.8mm. While the doctor wasn't overly concerned she did instruct me to make an appointment and Maternal Fetal Medicine for an in depth ultrasound. We said our prayers and tried not to worry until we had to but it was definitely a scary and concerning thing to hear.
Saturday {the 12th} was my birthday and thanks to my amazing husband, I was able to enjoy it so much. The day started with breakfast at People's Organic followed by an entire day at the spa. I got the full treatment - massage, facial, manicure, blow out and even lunch in the spa! In between appointments I got to sip tea and lounge by a fire and it was seriously the best way to spend my birthday.
That night, after returning from the spa, I started having terrible cramps really low in my belly. I also felt super nauseous, lightheaded and was only comfortable curled up on the bathroom floor. We debated cancelling my birthday dinner, but after about an hour, tons of water and some walking around I started to feel better. Not great but better. So we headed out to dinner with my parents and a couple of best buds for my birthday.
Sunday, I was feeling better but still so unbelievably tired. Then on Monday {the 14th} the same thing happened again. This time I knew that it was not normal and I needed to call the doctor. They instructed me to come in immediately to ensure I wasn't in preterm labor. If you want a sure fire way to upset a pregnant woman, tell her there's a chance she's in labor at 20 weeks pregnant. After 2 hours at the doctor, it was confirmed that the baby and the pregnancy were safe and healthy. It was bittersweet because of course the most important thing is the health of the baby but I was hoping they would maybe be able to pinpoint why this was happening to me. I was instructed to rest and contact my family doctor if the symptoms persisted. As scary as it was, it's always reassuring and amazing to see my baby {boy!} during an ultrasound.
After that appointment, I did my best to rest as much as possible which as we all know too well is really tough this time of year! I was preparing for the arrival of my sister-in-law, prep for our gender reveal party and of course getting ready for Christmas. But, I also knew my health and the health of the baby were most important so I took it easy and accepted as much help as I could get.
This past Thursday {the 17th}, we had our ultrasound with Maternal Fetal Medicine. It was definitely unsettling going in. The ultrasound equipment was so high tech, which was really cool but also unnerving because it seemed to magnify the situation. After about an hour long ultrasound and meeting with a perinatologist we were told that our Ziggy is perfect in every way. The fluid around the heart was within a healthy range and the perinatologist didn't see any reason for concern or follow up. They measured the fluid at 1.2mm so it seems as though the issue is already dissipating. I cannot tell you the relief I felt!
After 3 appointments in 6 days, feeling like crap most of the week, and managing to do just the bare minimum it was time to celebrate our baby boy and share the gender with our parents, siblings and very best friends {oh, and the world}. The party was so much fun. It was definitely a more low key "Kristin Party" but it was the people there that made this one so incredible. Kenley had a blast decorating sugar cookies, my friend Natalie made me an adorable santa cake and my girls at The Corner Balloon Shoppe once again knocked it out of the park with a giant baby boy present for the big sister to open!
Also a major highlight was Kenley getting in some big sister practice when she asked Carolyn if she could hold baby Tyler. Talk about heart explosion!!!! I just cannot wait!
The past two weeks were filled with some definite highs and some definite lows, but overall, I just couldn't be happier. I am in total disbelief that I am GOING TO HAVE A SON! I cannot wait to meet this little boy and hold him for the first time! No matter how crappy I feel, and what the cause of it is {beginning to think it's just my fate this pregnancy} it's all going to be worth it when I see that little boy's face for the first time.
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