Occasionally, I'm asked how this pregnancy is different compared to my pregnancy with Daniel. So, I thought I would write this post for my future self. I'm sure some day I will want to look back (probably when I get pregnant with our third) and remind myself how I felt this time around. The short? Certain things are worse and certain things are better. 

Exhaustion

For one, I'm definitely no where near as tired as I was with Daniel. I remember feeling completely and utterly exhausted with Daniel. My body was SO NOT used to being pregnant and for the first trimester and part of the second, I had to take a nap on a regular basis, or I just couldn't seem to function. This time around I do take naps occasionally...but I don't NEED them like I did with Daniel. 

Morning Sickness

With Daniel I remember feeling nauseous and being able to eat to make it go away. I felt that for most of my first trimester, but unfortunately it wasn't limited to just the morning. It would happen all day. Luckily it was easily fixed. This time around, I had the hunger nausea again, but with an active little boy to take care of, I wasn't able to just sit and eat whenever I wanted. As a result I definitely felt sicker this time around. Thankfully, I am into my second trimester, and the nauseousness has passed. 

General Health

Instead of putting all of this info into separate categories, I figured it could all be lumped together. With Daniel I just felt good. Besides the exhaustion and morning sickness, I loved being pregnant and my body seemed to handle it really well. This time around, I feel good as well, but have noticed a few more aches and pains. I have been having what I think is round ligament pain. It only happens occasionally, but usually makes me stop what I'm doing for a second. 

I also have been having a bit of soreness due to my c-section with Daniel. I truly felt fine after having my c-section and haven't really had any pain at the incision site until now. The further along in my pregnancy, the bigger I grow, the more frequently I feel little pricks of pain. Nothing to be alarmed about, but I think my scar is just figuring out how to stretch out. Coconut oil seems to be working wonders at keeping my skin pliable. 

Finally, I had a lot of migraines this time around. My midwife explained this as being caused by my body trying to make enough blood for me and the baby. She said that because my head is the highest part of my body, it might not be getting as much blood as it needs. Thankfully they have gone away as I have moved into my second trimester. 

Nesting

Oh this is a big difference for me. During my first pregnancy, the urge to nest never became really strong until a few days before Daniel was born. Sure I organized things and did my usual cleaning routine, but it was more out of habit and wanting to be prepared rather than having a feeling. This time around I have had an urge to nest since the beginning. Maybe it's because I know what is coming, having been through the newborn phase once now. Or maybe it's because I feel like our house is WAY more disheveled now than it was before, but either way, my urge is quite strong. 

BUT!!!

Apathy 

Then there is the apathy side of things. Oh darn the feeling of apathy. I never was really able to identify or put words to how I was feeling until Kate from The Small Things Blog wrote this post. While I was reading it, I just kept thinking 'Yes! That's me too!' This is something I didn't really notice with Daniel. But this time around, holy cow. I really have absolutely no motivation. Nesting sounds great and I have tons of mental lists about the things that I want to get accomplished, but man nothing is getting done. I just have no interest in tackling anything. I'm really hoping this passes soon. I do NOT like having my house like this, but at the same time don't feel any need to clean it. Any suggestions for pushing through this and tackling even the daily tasks that need to get done would be greatly appreciated!! 

Overall, I think I feel pretty good with this pregnancy. With Daniel I was beyond ecstatic to finally be pregnant and nothing could get me down. This time, I am beyond ecstatic too, but I think the apathetic feeling has sort of taken over. I know I should be planning, organizing, and getting ready, but something keeps holding me back. 

So, each day I just try to push myself. I motivate myself by making simple lists of things to accomplish each day. I try to make each task easily achievable so as not to feel overwhelmed. If I have a burst of 'hey! let's do this' I try to milk it for all it's worth. Whenever a bad day hits and I just can't seem to make myself do much, I try to rest in God's promises and remember that each day is a new day. Also, who really needs to have a perfectly clean house anyways? :) 

SIX Months!

I have tried to write this post over and over again. I have started and stopped a dozen times, as what is in my head, won't come out and present itself into clear coherent thoughts. 

My baby is six months old and I still can't wrap my head around it. How has time gone by so fast?! 

It's as if someone has taken my post pregnancy self--the one that was innocently relishing in the smell of a newborn--and kicked her ahead six months. I'm dazed and in awe of the little man who sits in front of me. He sits up. He babbles. He smiles and flirts with anyone who will pay attention to him. He reaches for things. He knows who his daddy, mommy, and beloved puppies are. He. is. six. months. old. 

We are halfway to a year of being a family of three and I'm barely comprehending the fact that he is here and not still in my womb! 

Oh goodness. This mama is emotional just thinking about it! 

Daniel has been such a precious gift to us. There are times when I look at him and realize that what I feel for him, must be a minuscule sample of what God feels for us. The love. The awesome emotion that overwhelms and threatens to make your heart burst. How am I so deserving Lord? 

All I can say is that I'm trying to soak up every single moment with this boy. I feel as if I'm neglecting so many other things in my life at this time, but I can't help it. I want to spend every second I can with that smiling face. 

Thank you, thank you Lord. 

Goodbye 2013. Hello 2014.

As we get ready to start 2014, I am reflecting back on all that 2013 had to offer. It has been a good year. A really good year.

We went from announcing that we were expecting, to finding out we were going to have a boy,  to going through his semi-stressful delivery (more on that some day), and finally, to spending five whole months with our beautiful blessing. It has been quite the year. It has been the best year.

Our first family picture. Blurry, but I love it. 

I'm looking forward to 2014 though. I think it could be the best year yet. Jonathan and I will celebrate four years of marriage and seven years of being together, Daniel will turn one, Jonathan is going to participate in a Tough Mudder, I'm dreaming up big plans that involve becoming a healthier version of myself, and who knows, maybe by the end of the year we will be expecting baby number two (a mom can hope can't she? ;) ).

All I know is that I'm ready to ring in a new year and a new chapter in our lives! 

Welcome 2014, it's nice to meet you! 

Daniel: One Month Old

I cannot believe our little boy is four weeks old! Time has just flown by as I enjoy being this little one's mom. What a blessing he is to us.

Daniel celebrated his one month birthday by gaining 12 ounces in 4 days (yay! the supplementing is working!) and sleeping 5 1/2 hours straight. But he also decided, after eating at 4:30 a.m. yesterday morning, to continue to celebrate by spitting up everything he had just ate. Projectile spit-up went everywhere. He proceeded to cover his pack-n-play, his changing pad, and then a bit later, one of our comforters. So a 5:30 a.m. bath it was! Then, at that point, we snuggled up on the couch and both caught a bit more shut eye. There is nothing like a freshly bathed baby snuggled up on your chest.

He now weighs 8 lbs 14 oz and is still 22 inches long. It amazes me the difference that the formula has made. He just feels heavier to me. My arms are getting sore now, which never was the case before. I am so thankful that he is gaining weight. Even though I really wanted to exclusively breastfeed, I'm truly ok with the formula. I just want a healthy baby boy!

I have no idea what is considered a 'good' or 'bad' baby, but in our opinion, he has been such a good little boy. He goes down easily and usually only takes a bit of rocking, if anything. He eats like a champ (still don't know why he wasn't gaining weight, but that could have been so many different things). He also seems to be very content. He is happy to just hangout and look around the room and really enjoys interacting with whomever will give him attention. He has started to coo and smile. He loves when you tap his nose and usually rewards you with a big, open-mouthed grin.

He is currently enjoying a mixture of cloth and disposable diapers as mommy navigates this whole new diapering world! He doesn't seem to mind either and looks so stinkin' cute in cloth. He is in a mixture of newborn and 0-3 month clothing. The newborn stuff is just a bit small (especially when he is sporting a cloth diaper) and the 0-3 month clothing is a bit big.

Daniel has enjoyed meeting lots of family and friends in his first month at life. He took it all in stride and was always happy to oblige to tons of snuggling. He also handled his very first vacation, like it was no big deal. He loves his car seat and often falls asleep pretty quickly once the car starts moving. He will occasionally tolerate his bouncer, when mommy needs both of her hands to do something. He seems to also like his playmat, but mommy doesn't like that the dogs look at it as a personal invite to get in his face...

I cannot wait to see what the next month holds! He has become much more active and alert. Plus, those smiles just kill me every time! We love you dooders. 

19 Weeks--This Pregnancy Thing is Awesome!

I officially hit 19 weeks today! I'm almost halfway there! This freaks me out a bit as I feel like this is all just flying by! I remember having this huge plan, before I found out we were pregnant. It involved all these projects that I wanted to do once I found out we were expecting. You know--weekly photos, fun crafts to do in preparation for the little one, a whole house organization plan, etc. But now, I'm almost halfway through and I'm realizing that I have done very little of these things I swore I would do. 

You know what, I'm OK with that. Instead, I have been indulging in sleep--because I won't get it later. Enjoying time with my husband and by myself--allowing myself to really let this soak in and enjoy it while I can. I have been finding fun recipes to experiment with--in hopes of having a go to list once the baby arrives. And slowly making a list of things to accomplish before little one gets here--things like making a couple of quilts, crocheting cute baby clothing, and a small list of stuff to organize around the house. 

Other than that, 19 weeks has hit and I'm feeling great! I feel better than I did when I wasn't pregnant! I have a decent amount of energy now--though I do have my moments, hence the extra sleep. My cravings are still there, but are easily managed with a week full of fun recipes to try. I have officially outgrown my pre-pregnancy jeans and now am wandering into the world of maternity jeans (blech!). I find that Old Navy maternity clothes seem to fit the best, but if it were up to me, I would stay in yoga pants and a hoodie all day.

As far as baby goes, I think I have started to feel little bumps and kicks. I'm still not sure, but I don't know what else it would be. They are just so subtle, and sometimes so few and far between, that I doubt if it really is little one moving around. I guess time will tell! Other than that, according to our sonogram on Tuesday, everything is great! Baby's heartbeat is where it needs to be, he is measuring appropriately, and he is breathing, eating, and peeing well! A mom can't complain :)

Now to be as patient as possible as the next 21 weeks go by!

Little One's Nursery: Step 1

Well, I know you have all been anxiously awaiting my plans for the nursery. I'm flattered! :)

I have to admit, as of right now, they are just a bunch of crazy ideas that are floating around, waiting to be decided upon. I like to dream--and dream big. Then reality hits and I realize that a giant slide won't fit in our little one's nursery.

Wait, my baby won't come out wanting a slide within the first month? Oh. 

Thanks for being a kill-joy.

Anyways! Please ignore my craziness...let's talk about the realistic plans that I have. I only have a few ideas about how I want to nursery to feel--we are waiting to make any design decisions, until after we find out the sex of our little one. So once we have our ultrasound on March 6th, I will be able to give you a better idea of what we are going for. There may or may not be a mood board included. Now you have something to look forward to. :)

Ok, so down to the nitty gritty. Just in case you don't remember what our guestroom looked like before, here she be:

A few months ago, I cleared her all out (she was our storage room for a time being) and decided it was high time that we have a proper guestroom to welcome our, well, our guests to. I will miss having a designated guestroom, but you know what, I will enjoy having a nursery even more. Plus, next week I will show you the new arrangement we came up with, for our future visitors--because we definitely want them to be comfortable when they come. Hint: our new arrangement sort of resembles this again. 

So, first we emptied everything out of the guestroom. Right now, most of the stuff is stored on our porch or in our dining room. I'm currently working on designated places for everything that was in our guestroom, as none of it will be coming back in--but that has been a bit harder to figure out than expected.

After I cleared everything out, Jonathan proceeded to gut the entire space. We were anticipating a huge mess of plaster and lathe, but thankfully it turned out to be some-sort of thick cardboard that was on the wall. It made for an easy removal and quick cleanup. Plus, he also found this wonderful surprise during the process.

Not only was there a nice, old nest hiding behind the wall, but there are also 4 x 4's for studs. Definitely not necessary, but nice to know as we are putting the room back together.  (In this picture you can also see the cardboard...on the left there...see it?)

Jonathan then wired the room for better electric access. Before, the room had one outlet and a small wall light. (You can see the wall light in the picture above.) Now, the room has five outlets and an overhead light. Plus, Jonathan wired one of the outlets to a switch so that we can turn on a table lamp if need be. I thought this would be a good idea with the space being a nursery and possible future office. This way, if we just want a bit of light, to see what we are doing, without waking the baby, we have that option. Or in the future, the option of having a small table lamp and cozy chair would make the perfect little reading nook.

After a bit of wiring, up went plenty of insulation. The room had none before, but man can you tell the difference it has made! Our little one will be nice and cozy during the winter next year :)

And that is where things are currently. The carpenter said his goal is to have all the drywall up by this weekend. Then it's new windows, finishing the drywall, and we will be all set to paint! YAY! We probably won't get to that for a bit though. At least until we find out our little one's gender and are able to put together a better idea of what we would like to nursery to look like. 

So, in true Liz-has-to-talk-and-share-every-detail fashion, here are my simple ideas for what I'm looking for in the room. 

1) I want the space to be as simple as possible. I'm also looking for something that is gender neutral, in the sense that, we won't be picking out a paint color based on the sex of the baby. Rather, we will more than likely accessorize to reflect gender. 

2) I would love to have some kind of built ins. We have been discussing the idea of turning the one wall into a combination bookshelf/small closet/window seat area. Only time and availability of money will tell. We think it may be a great way to get the storage we need, without overwhelming the room. We would build something along the wall, with the window, in this picture: 

3.) Jonathan and I, both, want to do something special and eye-catching in this room. We aren't sure what that will look like yet, but we agreed that it would be fun to do something out of the ordinary. I'm thinking an accent wall with lots of texture. Maybe a burlap wall? Don't knock it till you've seen it. :)

So, what do you guys think? :) Are you as excited as I am???!!!! 

5 Questions, Answered

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It's a chilly, chilly day here in good ol' Western NY and I have been enjoying every minute of it. After a morning full of getting my husband off to work, grocery shopping, and my prenatal workout, the afternoon has been spent snuggled on the couch catching up on various things on the computer and chatting with one of my closest friends. It is so surreal to be able to talk about kids and knowing that we will be having one in a few months. God is SO good!

Before I have to move on from my cozy spot and ready our house for Bible Study tonight, I thought I would chat a bit about our future baby plans. Y'all have been asking so many questions and I thought I would just answer a few of them here. :) So, here we go.

1. When are you due?
Well, we aren't 100% sure. Our guess is sometime between the beginning of July and the beginning of August. To put it bluntly, having PCOS makes everything complicated. It means that I can't go based on the date of my last cycle in order to determine our due date. Rather, we will have to have an ultrasound to determine how far along I am.

I took a pregnancy test at the end of October and it was negative. Then I took one at the end of November and it was positive. BUT my hormone levels can be so low, that an early pregnancy test could easily read negative. So, long story short, we are just going to have to see what the doctor says.

2. Are you going to find out the gender?
Yes! We are really looking forward to being able to plan a bit for baby Geiger. A good friend of ours reminded us that it is a surprise no matter when you find out, so we have decided that we would like to know. I think it will make the whole bonding process a lot easier, plus, I can't wait to go shopping for little boy/girl clothes. I think both Jonathan and I are looking forward to setting up a nursery for our little one too.

3. Speaking of the nursery, are you planning on renovating your guest bedroom and making into the nursery?
Long story, short...yes. After much deliberation, I think we have decided that it would be the best way to do things. We thought about keeping the baby upstairs with us (since there is plenty of space) or doing a temporary fix in the guestroom, but in the end, it looks like we will be completely gutting the guestroom and transforming it into the nursery. Our sun porch will then go back to being the guestroom. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but we are really excited about it!

4. Will you be cloth diapering? 
Again, another yes! I am really looking forward to it. Right now I'm looking into the flip system and the fuzzi bunz system. We will probably end up registering for a combination of the two. I like the idea of having a disposable option with the flip system, but also like the idea of having some nice all-in-ones with the fuzzi bunz. I also want to try the both of them out and see if I'm partial to an all-in-one or a two-in-one. Then that way we have a better idea for our future children.

5. Any exciting plans for readying your house? 
Well, we don't have any huge plans yet. But we would like to get a bunch of small things accomplished. One of our goals was to get our new counter tops installed and purchase/install a washer and dryer. Both of those have been checked off the list and I will be blogging about them soon. We would also like to gussy-up our entryway a bit, install a railing for the stairs that lead to our bedroom, plan out and plant a small veggie garden, and do a bunch of paint touch ups.

I sort of look at this time in our lives as the perfect time to get a bunch of things done. We have the time and ability to and I would like to check as many things off of our unending list as possible! We will just have to see how it all works out.