She’s HERE!!!

24 hours ago I checked into L&D (labor and delivery) with serious back pain that was coming and going every 3-5 minutes.
After being examined, it was determined that I was in labor !
After a long but very fun and pleasant day (I will post her actual Birth Story in a different entry), she entered the world at 6:41 weighing 7 lbs 1 oz.
She is so perfect! Lamar and I are in love.
Ever since I’ve been recovering from giving birth I’ve been doing the whole “sleeping while she sleeps” thing. So far so good. She’s asleep now, but I have to wake her up in a few minutes to feed. 😁 Being a mom is so beautiful!!!!

Ugh.

Every time I log onto TheBump.com and read the posts in my Birth Club forum, I get jealous.
Every morning there are like 5 more women who have had their baby. The post titles are all like “she’s finally here!” Or “our baby has arrived!”.
And here I am, about to be 38 weeks and showing NO signs of eminent labor .
It’s a rainy ass Monday. Here we go again for another week of waiting .

Getting impatient

It’s June 8th there are 21 days left until my due date. This is driving me crazy. I told myself I wanted to just “get through this week of work” and I barely did that. I don’t know why I’ve convinced myself that she will be early . I guess I just can’t imagine feeling like this for the next 3 weeks!!!
Lamar wants me to get through the next two weeks so I can keep working -_- . ARRRGGHHH! For me to get another full check I would have to work until the 21st!!! He has no idea how exhausting pregnancy is. Maybe I don’t show it. He thinks I’ll be fine!
Now that I’m full term, I keep hoping, wishing, praying I will go into labor. No signs of labor. Nothing !!! With my luck, ill be pregnant until 41 weeks. UGH!!!!!

Introducing Simba (My Cat) To Livia

I’ve been thinking a lot about how Simba will react to Livia’s arrival.  Simba isn’t even a year old yet. He’s still a baby!  He isn’t aggressive, he’s just very active and playful.  I’ve been googling “introducing cat to baby” and I’ve found some great advice (all of which I plan to use).

1) Introducing ‘baby’ smells to the cat. The nursery area is completely ready, and since the diaper organizer is ready, I let him smell a few diapers to see what his reaction would be. He actually rubbed his face against them, he didn’t swat at it or try to chew it. (Sigh of relief)! 

2) Introducing ‘baby sounds’ to the cat.  I searched for ‘newborn crying’ on YouTube and played the sound clips and looked at Simba’s reaction. The first time he heard the sound of a newborn crying, he actually fell asleep. The second time, he didn’t look shocked or surprised, he just looked around a little bit. He seemed really calm, though! 

3) Using a baby doll to mimic what you will do with the baby (cradling it, talking to it) in front of the cat.  I’m seriously considering borrowing a baby doll from my job so that I can do this. I don’t want to experiment with Livia to see how Simba will react to a baby, but I’ll gladly experiment with a baby doll! 

All of this might seem a little weird, but Simba is just as much a part of my family as anyone else. I love Simba and I want to give him a real chance at being a good big brother. 🙂 

The Waiting Game.

My hospital bag is packed.
Livia’s nursery area is ready and organized.
Her clothes have all been washed, folded and are in her dresser.
Her diaper organizer is fully stocked.
We have the carseat and the stroller.
With the exception of maybe 2-3 things (like the mattress pad…which I ordered today), everything is ready!
So now…I wait. And wait. And wait.

I don’t think I will make it til the 29th. But I could be wrong! I hope I’m not wrong…everything has become exhausting. Walking, rolling over, work…everything is a major struggle. I hope she comes sooner rather than later!

Livia’s Completed Nursery!

At long last, Livia’s nursery is 100% complete!!! 😀 Thanks to my amazing mom, who put together the crib, her dresser, the wall cubby (and pretty much everything else), Livia’s nursery area looks AMAZING! 

Her crib! 

                                                                                                      

      

   

This is an extra diaper organizer that I decided to use for accessories like hats, bibs, booties, hair clips, and her Safety first kit!

She has a TON of clothes (these pics don’t do it justice… each pile of clothes has about 10 onesies in it). Here are the first two drawers 🙂 . She also has a couple of drawers for outfit sets!

I decided to use my dresser as a changing table instead of her dresser. I don’t really trust the wall cubby hanging above her! 

Her diaper organizer 🙂 

Last month of pregnancy!

As of yesterday, I’m in the last month of pregnancy! 🙂 I’m counting down the days! 🙂 I started to feel pretty crappy, but I had a pretty challenging week at work, so I’m not sure if my moodiness was only because of pregnancy or just feeling drained at work.
This weekend, my mom is putting together her dresser/changer and helping me put the ‘final touches’  on the nursery area! Yess!

Another Wonderful Baby Shower!/Nursery Update !!!

My mom and sister gave me a wonderful baby shower yesterday! My closest friends were there and I couldn’t have asked for more!

When I came home, I was so excited that I couldn’t help but unpack (most) of her presents. I put up her crib mobile and it looks amazing. My mom made this beautiful quilt using fabric from dresses that I wore when I was little, and now it’s draped over the crib. 🙂
 I’m definitely going through a ‘nesting’ phase, because I keep visualizing how amazing her Nursery area will look once it’s complete. I also get annoyed at little things that haven’t gotten done yet (we have to move some of our furniture over so there’s a distinct space between our space and Livia’s space).

Here is what I have done so far for her nursery:

 

This is her name decal! It’s not on the wall yet, so it’s in her crib. Also, these are the tissue paper pom poms that will be hanging over the crib. I still have to make one more lavender one. 

<– This is her crib mobile! 🙂 (Not sure why the pic is so squished, but whatever).

I ordered 3 more Large tissue paper pom poms (the size of the hot pink one) and 5 more medium ones. THEN, I went to Home Depot and bought this:

A “Martha Stewart Living” wall cubby. This will go over Livia’s dresser/changing table! Another amazing idea from Pinterest.

Her nursery area will be finished THIS WEEKEND! (Which means that this week will go by super slowly because I’ll be so excited).

The ONLY finishing touch I’m thinking about adding is some wall art in her changing area. I have this in mind (from Etsy, ofcourse) :

 

I feel like the wall will be naked without it! 

My hospital bag is packed. I caved and ended up ordering two nursing bras and a value pack of nursing pads from Target.com . I’d rather not wait and see if people get them for me (they were on my registry). As soon as these last two items get here, my bag is going in Lamar’s car!!! I just have to pack Livia’s bag. I have no idea what she will wear for a ‘going home’ outfit. She has so many cute clothes that are also practical…it’ll be hard to decide! 🙂 🙂 I am READY for her arrival. Every time my body feels slightly weird, I get this ”AM I GOING INTO LABOR?!” feeling. 🙂 I’m so excited and ready!!!  

Eighth Month.

Oy.  Today I realized that I am now in my 8th month of pregnancy.  This is the home-stretch! In a little over a month, Livia will be here and I will be a mom. I know I’ve probably said this exact same thing in every other entry I’ve written, but I can’t believe it! 🙂

Her dresser came in today and so did her mattress! They are currently sitting in the foyer, still in the box. I can’t wait til the dresser is put together. Once that happens, I can put all of her clothes in there..and the nursery area will be just about READY!  😀 😀 😀 I’ll just have to do some decorating…that’s the fun part ;)!

On a different note, I’m definitely starting to slow down. I feel very heavy, pretty tired, and just READY for her to be here. I hope these next weeks go by quickly! Everyone keeps telling me to enjoy pregnancy, but I will enjoy her being in my arms much more. 🙂

Nursery Progress/Changes

Not too long after writing the last entry, a couple of changes were made to Livia’s nursery area. :). 

My mom and I went to Target the next day, and we noticed the Delta Bentley crib (the crib that is in the same furniture set as Livia’s dresser). It was very sturdy and I could just tell it was very high quality. I felt like it would last much longer than the other crib.  After making some comparisons, we ended up buying the crib AND my mom set it up for me as soon as we got home! 🙂 

 

I was planning on getting a white crib, but I really liked the way the dark wood looks. Thing is…I already ordered a white dresser! (In fact, the dresser is being delivered to me on Monday)! I tried canceling the order-it didn’t work. I was going to take the dresser to a Target store and exchange it..but then I thought “is it the end of the world if it doesn’t match?!”.  I started googling pictures of nurseries with contrasting furniture and I decided that having a dark crib and a white dresser won’t look bad at all. I like the white dresser better, anyways…I think the darker dresser is ugly.  

I also ordered a name decal AND some tissue poms for the nursery decor! 🙂 I will post pictures of the nursery area as soon as it’s done!!!