Baby #3: 23 weeks (nursery inspiration board, baby names)

3.11.14: I'm 23 weeks pregnant today! And wearing a tank top because it was 50 degrees yesterday when I snapped this picture. Yessssss.




I still feel good overall and am fully recovered from strep throat, but I definitely felt a lot more tired last week in general. A little grumpy, exhausted, annoyed that I couldn't be go-go-going all of the time. I'm not sure if it was just the post-sickness fatigue or a big let down after our visitors left and life returned to normal, but I was tired and out of sorts for a bit there. I'm sure catching up on 6 loads of laundry, grocery shopping, MAD cleaning the entire house, and working a busy week didn't help either. I'm mentally better now but didn't like feeling so worn down---kind of makes me nervous for the end of the third trimester when I really do have to slow down a lot and pull the pregnancy card more often. I still can't really imagine a time when it's 70 degrees outside, sunny, hot, and I'm big and hugely pregnant but I guess it's coming! It will be wonderful but I forget how tired and pregnant I will be at that point, too.

On another pitiful 'sickness' note: Truman was complaining of being achey and 'sick' all day on Sunday, but Ibuprofen helped a lot. Then Sunday night around 10:30pm, as soon as we finished Dexter season 4 (!!), I heard him call out for me and he barfed all over his top bunk bed. And then onto me. Uggggghhhhhhh. Glad Nate was home to help with the clean up this time, but poor boy! I stayed home with him on Monday and moved all of my patients to Friday, hoping that everyone else is spared this bug. We had such a great winter for healthiness until recently with CC's stomach bug, then my strep, and now T's bug. I truly despise being a working mom with a sick kid--hate feeling pulled in all directions of responsibility! But I am very grateful for the flexibility with my job and hope my immune system is made of steel right now.

(Side note about Dexter:  So, we finished watching season 4 and holy man, it's intense and so good! I think we will continue on past season 4 although some people say it's the best of all seasons and there is no reason to go beyond. But I just love this show and have to see how it ends, even though I hear it's awful. Obviously, a show about a serial killer probably won't end on a high note but much like Breaking Bad--he is a bad guy who is sort of 'good' and very likable. And lots of blood/murder in this show, too, but without the drugs a la BB. I sure do hope this baby doesn't mind the intensity of these shows he is hearing in utero.)

Baby boy is still very active especially in the evenings. Truman even felt him kicking when we were home together and was so excited! He said, 'I hear him kicking!' (not quite but whatever). And then proceeded to ask me what he should do if the baby wrecks his train tracks someday. And he asked if I knew what color the baby's eyes are. Gah, I love this kid.

I'm sleeping well, not getting up to pee, and generally don't like to wake up in the mornings at all;) My limited coffee consumption is absolutely key to my sanity and I'm trying not to go too crazy with the diet soda, but it seems to replace the alcohol taste in my mouth during pregnancy. I like the sweet taste of something other than water (especially in the evenings) and since I can't really have wine or anything 'fun', soda seems to be my treat to myself almost daily. At least I'm doing decaff Root Beer?

Food in general is amazing and I'm reaching the point when I need to reign in the appetite a bit, fearing a huge, out of control weight gain. I love food though, and occasionally I will crave healthy things like fruit and veggies and WATER….but more often I am craving sugar and salt and junky food. Again, once it's warmer outside maybe I will get my butt in gear and be more inspired to focus on my diet? I did exercise a few times last week but am really looking forward to taking some warm weather walks, too. I guess I'm starting to marvel at the changes in my growing body, not feeling *quite* like I'm in my own skin anymore. I realize I'm not 'fat' but I'm certainly feeling bigger than my norm---which, duh, right? I'm almost 6 months pregnant. I wish I was a girl that only gained my pregnancy weight in my belly, but alas--I gain it in my face, arms, and hips, too (boo!). It's odd to feel both large (compared to my pre-pregnancy self) and small (compared to how I will be in a few more months). I'm both happy with and weirded out by my new body. At least I found a long enough top that makes me feel less boxy.



Further elaboration/over-analyzation:  I feel like I'm in a great but interesting spot of this pregnancy---somehow being really far along but also really far away from the actual birth. Part of me wants to be 33 weeks instead of 23 because I'm just so excited to meet this kid, but the other part of me feels shocked that so much time has already passed. A few times this week I even felt sad about this being my final pregnancy. Where did this come from? I don't know that I TRULY want four kids but I really love being pregnant so much and love my kids so much it's a shift to know that this.is.it. Nate is 100% against four kids which really plays with my head a bit (one of those stupid 'I can't have more so that is all I want'--things. But I really don't want four! #headcase #hormones #dramatic).

It's just a very odd feeling to know that we are done. It kind of makes me feel old, I guess, which is ridiculous. At the ripe old age of 32---hardly OLD but certainly not very young anymore, either. Maybe I'm just being overly hormonal and need to realize that three kids will be a fantastic number. Our lives will be full of amazing little personalities and memories and I cannot even let my brain 'go there' to think about anything more than three. I'm just coming to terms with this concept, I guess, realizing that this is really it for us and I'm trying to savor it as much as possible. We have to stop sometime, find contentedness in our family of five, and move on from the child bearing years. What blessings we've had during these past 4+ years! And at least I'm not on a walker just yet. This old dog has a lot more excitement ahead of her, even if another pregnancy is not one of them.

Speaking of other pregnancies, here is my 23 week post from Cecelia's pregnancy. I'm so glad I blogged then because I barely remember anything I said. But feeling super low kicks, accidentally sleeping on my stomach, being ravenous and kind of hating it, and general comments about how small I am? Deja vu! It was also really weird to scroll down through my 'second trimester' posts to find the 23 week one from CC, and I only have 3-4 more posts in this trimester? Woah.

Here is the post from Truman's 23 week of pregnancy. I am very glad to have an actual round bump this time around and vividly remember that feeling of 'chunkiness' instead of being pregnant. I mean, I don't feel stick thin right now or anything but at least I look pregnant! Way to go, uterus, for giving me a bump much earlier than my first rodeo.

The biggest thing on my pregnant brain this week? Baby boy's nursery. I am a Pinterest addict and feel a little bit overwhelmed with all of my ideas. I am awaiting the nursery rug to arrive, my mom is going to work on the Roman Shades and quilt---all three of which are pretty big 'foundations' for the nursery. So it's a little hard for me to know which area to tackle next. I have been going back and forth over re-painting CC's pink crib versus buying a new (or Craigslisted) wood one and painting from scratch. I guess a part of me is having a really hard time letting go of Cecelia's pink crib---but I am either going to repaint it mustard yellow or sell it and buy a different one, so I need to suck it up.  I told Nate that her pink crib is by FAR the most popular pin of mine on Pinterest and also the most popular post on this blog--35,000 hits on that post alone? Crazy! That's 10x more hits than the rest of my 'big' posts, certainly just from Pinterest. I wonder if I could sell it for a decent price to recoup the cost of a new crib? It was a lot of work to paint it and it pains me to think about covering up that pink. But I don't really feel like buying a new one, either.

I'm also considering selling her pink high chair, pink pom poms and maybe even the awesome Pottery Barn dollhouse bookshelf we got on Craigslist about a year ago. Can't let go of the rug just yet (or any of her clothes) but maybe the other girlie stuff can go towards paying for baby boy's nursery? We will see. I guess let me know if you are somewhat local to Milwaukee and want some girlie nursery items. Otherwise I will probably drag my feet on this one for a good while.

Onto a fresh nursery though! No looking back now! Baby boy!

I finally sat down and made an official inspiration board for baby boy's nursery. As I said before, I'm going with my first ever theme: woodland, outdoorsy, mountains, nature, and Wisconsin/Colorado. I will use dark gray, turquoise, mustard yellow, and orange for the main colors---can't ever be too bright around here;) So many ideas, so little time. Observe:

1. Name with different letters on the wall (source)

2. Adventure Awaits print (source)

3. Paint sticks on the wall (source)

4. Chalkboard frame for wall (source)

5. Sticks framed for wall (source)

6. Forest friends sewing pattern (source)

7. Triangle quilt pattern (source)

8. Fabrics for quilt

9. Fabric for Roman Shades (source)

10. Snips and snails print (source)

11. Birch tree wall decals (source) and painted turquoise dresser (source)

12. Yellow painted crib (source)

13. Shoot for the moon print (source)

14. Fox print (source)

15. Orange rug (source)

16. Wood plank wall art (source)

17. I Heart Colorado print (source)

18. Mountain painted wall with a long shelf (source)

19. Tall, painted bookshelves (source)

20. Handmade wall boxes (source)

Now you see why I'm spinning my wheels and pinning like a crazy person, but I can't quite decide what to actually DO next. I just did the first coat of turquoise paint on the changing table/dresser we have and LOVE it. This was actually a fantastic Craigslist find from my Truman pregnancy days and it was time to repaint/refresh it anyway, so I just used the 'Harbor' color of paint we already had from painting our half-bathroom. Perfect!



I also bought the birch tree wall decals I'm going to use behind the crib, which was a big step. Check, check!

So what's next? I can buy a new crib and paint it, or paint the pink one.  Or start accumulating things for the wall prints/frames I want to do. Gah! I hate when I have too many ideas and need to edit, it's not my strong suit. I probably won't technically buy all of those things anyway, since I prefer to DIY and make it my own with a little elbow grease. Really into garage sale season coming up, where I hope to find some fun vintage 'woodsy' items, a bookshelf, and anything foxy or with deer. 

Another thing on my mind this week? How much I love my baby boy's name. I still don't want to share it on the internet this time, but a commenter asked me to make up an official list of our name choices. So I did. You will NOT see his name down there, but I made up lists for boys and girls aside from our top pick;) I think Alice or Phoebe would have been our girl and Grant would have been this boy if we didn't choose the other winner. Maybe someone out there can use those names and I can live vicariously through you, instead;)

I love talking baby names and don't mind sharing our runner-ups, so enjoy! (And it should be noted: these were not Nate-approved in the slightest. He liked maybe 2 of these on the list but I couldn't let them go and kept making the list longer and longer on my phone before the ultrasound. Ha!)

You like? Judge away since they aren't the chosen one.

It should be noted that we like names that aren't terribly common. Truman's name ranks in the #900s for popularity, Cecelia is the most common of our choices at around #250. And our baby boy will have a name that is around #450 for popularity. So a little less common than other Cecelia's but not quite as rare as a Truman;)

Oh, and Nate is going to take paternity leave this time after baby boy! We are thinking he might take about 2 or even 3 weeks at 60% pay, which is a lot better than using his PTO. It will also be HUGE compared to him going back to school the day after Truman came home from the hospital, and back to work 4 days after CC came home. I'm really excited about having him home for this big transition and now we are thinking my mom can come and stay for her 2-3 weeks once Nate returns to work. So basically, I will never have to be alone with 3 kids until I'm halfway into my maternity leave. Yes. Accept all of the help with multiple kids! Big key to sanity!

So tiredness, nursery ideas, loving our baby name, Dexter, paternity leave, and puke---that was my week. Gotta love these random weekly updates instead of the strict form, huh?