Baby Jonas is here!

With a full heart, I would like to announce the birth of my son, Jonas. He entered this world on September 27th, 2012 at 2:11 in the morning. He weighed in at 8 pounds and 7 ounces and measured 20 and 3/4 inches in length. As you can imagine, Jon and I are over the moon.

Be back soon.
H.

Due Date.

As I sit here on my due date (or more accurately, my "guess date") I realized I never posted about when we found out I was pregnant. You don't have to settle in or get cozy, this isn't that long of a story. :) So we decided to start trying for a baby in January, the start of a new year seemed like a good place to begin. Also, at that point we had already been together nearly 5.5 years, so we didn't really feel like we needed to wait to "enjoy married life" since nothing changed at all once we got married! Additionally, since I am thought to have PCOS, I didn't know how this journey would go. Would it take 1-2 years, if at all?

So we tried in January on the days that the little online calculators told us would be our best chances. Fast forward a couple weeks later, on the day I was supposed to get my period, did I wait 1-3 days like a normal person? Nope, I went to CVS after work to pick up a test! I still remember putting it on the little belt with nothing else and the girl who checked me out. I go home and read all the instructions (there are A LOT) to make sure I am doing it right and all that. I pee on the first one and before I can even put it on the counter to go wait my 3 minutes, it turns positive! Um, what? I am half excited because its positive but also it feels like a fluke. I still feel the need to leave it alone in the bathroom for 3 minutes and when I return, its obviously the same. Positive! I wait probably a half hour or so before doing the other test (they come in packs of two) and this one doesn't turn at first, but after the 3 minutes it also says positive. Holy shit, right?

At this point, Jon is probably about 15 minutes from home and I'm wondering how to tell him and also kind of half dancing around the house and not really believing what has just happened. I leave the tests on the bathroom counter and when he comes home after we kiss "hello" I tell him "go look at what Pete did to the bathroom...." This isn't that weird since Pete is a little rascal and causes mischief constantly. Jon goes in the bathroom and out a couple seconds later....."what...?!" He didn't know I was even planning on taking the tests so he is shocked! I still half believe the results so we go back to CVS to get the most expensive digital test there is. And I see the same girl that checked me out earlier, really wonder what she is thinking now. We come home, I take them both, both positive. Seriously? To say we were shocked would be an understatement. Getting pregnant for the first time I'm sure is a trip no matter what, but on the first try seemed impossible. There were lots of "oh my god"s and happy tears that night.

{that night back in January}

Nice try, Skipolini's

I am sorry to inform you that the Prego Pizza did not work for me. But it was tasty dinner that I didn't have to cook, which was awesome. Even though my due date* is tomorrow, I am beginning to feel permanently pregnant!

*My original due date is October 4th and I am starting to think that's the real deal.

First Halloween

I am pretty excited baby Jonas is going to arrive right before a slew of holidays. I feel lucky to get to take him to a pumpkin patch and celebrate Halloween as it is one of my favorite holidays! But since he is going to be so small and it's going to be such a major adjustment period I wasn't planning on dressing him up. That was until yesterday...

What's this? A homemade knit present for our little bean?

Let's take a closer look at this little outfit. 

A green bean costume! How perfect!! I was over the moon when Jon brought home this present yesterday from a sweet family friend. I could not have thought of a better costume for our little boy.

Jonas' Nursery

Here it is, the big reveal of our little man's room. It was so fun to gather things for his small space and also a bit of a challenge since the room is so darn teeny. As you can see there isn't a theme but just an overall cheery feeling and lots of animal friends.

I hope he loves his room!

Any questions about sources, ask me and I will answer in the comments.

(But the big rug is from Urban Outfitters :) )

38 weeks

Here I am, 38 weeks pregnant, after my last day of work before my maternity leave starts, looking ready to pop. The spicy Indian food didn't get anything going, but it was delicious, so not a total loss. I am so ready to have this baby! After a long walk on Sunday morning I got a sharp cramp and had to sit down in a nearby park. I started to feel nauseous even. I thought, "this is it! This is the start of labor!" But, no dice. I need to do some soul searching because I certainly could be sitting here writing another one of these posts in two weeks. At my last doctor's appointment I was 1cm dilated and 50% effaced, let's hope that progresses even more by Wednesday at my next appointment. Question. Have any of you or women you know have had their membranes swept? Let me know!

Lately

What I wore to a rehearsal dinner last week. Nothing like a maxi dress to cover this bump-and a 6 year old dress to boot! During this pregnancy so many people have expressed how sorry they are that I am so pregnant during the summer, but I actually prefer it! I don't want anything touching my belly or (entire bloated body!) so being able to live in maxi dresses, skirts and tanks and flip flops has been awesome. I can't imagine if I had to wear winter attire (or find it and pay for it!).

The bassinet. Where baby will sleep for the first few months, placed right next to my side of the bed for easy feedings during the nights. This is the same bassinet Jon and his siblings slept in! Of course I had to buy a new organic mattress and fitted sheet. ;)

A softie basket filled with teethers! I put together another cute basket full of breast feeding essentials to keep at easy reach of the glider in the nursery. Speaking of, I think I will photograph it this weekend and finally share it next week! It isn't totally done, but who knows if it ever will be?

Since our cloth diapers were pretty expensive (thank you Mom!!) I want to make sure we don't accidentally ruin them in the wash. I figured in the beginning we are going to be pretty deliriously sleep deprived, so I printed out the directions and hung them in our garage above the washer and dryer. 

I have also been packing the hospital bag and stocking the freezer with food. I really hope baby comes earlier rather than later, I am pretty sick of being pregnant. After my last day of work on Friday we are going out to Indian food and I am getting the spiciest thing on the menu.

Full Term

We are now throwing around the delicious phrase "full term" around here. Exciting stuff! I can't believe most of my pregnancy is behind me. This post will be a 36-37 week one as once I have photographed myself and the bump another week seems to pass before I can post it. Well, let's just get this out of the way so your mouths can drop and you can recover and move on.

That's a whole lotta baby!

Some thoughts at 37 weeks:

-The baby has definitely dropped. The lower pressure I have suddenly encountered is not letting up and it happened at the same time I noticed the bump appearing more sloped and lower than normal. My tops even fit differently. He is getting into position, which makes me happy. 

-Sleeping sucks. I actually dread when it's time for bed because it feels like work! I basically need to switch from side to side all night long and whenever I randomly wake up on my back I feel guilty. And simply "flipping" from one side to the other is very difficult and sort of painful. 

-My exercise ball is my best friend. The position most people watch TV in while on the couch is pretty bad for promoting baby to stay in the right position and it doesn't help with circulation so I try to sit on the exercise ball when we are zoning out.

-Still not one stretch mark. Hopefully we make it all the way through without any. 

-Last doctor's appointment did not show any dilatation but cervix softening. I'll take it!

-Got some nursing bras. I got way bummed out afterwards for some reason. Those things are not cute, even if you make them in black or animal print. It probably didn't help that I got them after we went suit shopping for Jon. Sharp + Sexy Suits to Nursing Bras, yay!

-Still no Braxton Hicks contractions. 

My current routine includes my prenatals, extra DHA, vitamin D and Calcium chews. I take the calcium chew at night because it absorbs best on its own (or with vitamin D) but also because it is supposed to help with late night leg cramps. I will continue on all of these while breastfeeding. 

Here are some new things I recently picked up. I have read on a couple blogs that oil of evening primrose and raspberry leaf tea are great things to take to begin toning your uterus and preparing the cervix for delivery. The Fenugreek is to help with milk production, so I will toss this in my hospital bag. I hear it makes your pee and sweat smell like maple syrup!

-Also, not related to pregnancy but I feel this reminder is needed right about now.

a ladies lunch baby shower

I feel so lucky to have such a sweet cousin who wanted to throw me a shower, any kind I wanted. Since we already had our big co-ed one, I thought something much smaller with just a few of the ladies I love the most would be a great way to celebrate baby Jonas. She threw the classiest luncheon ever. Take a peek!

The adorable banner greeted us as we walked inside.

The beautiful table settings. 

All the place cards had quotes related to babies and children. 

My sister in law set up a station for us to scrapbook Jonas' baby book. Everyone was in charge of creating a few pages like First Tooth, Nursery, Coming home from the hospital, First solid food and so on. All the pages were decorated so cute and uniquely so now whenever those moments happen, I just have to glue in the photos! Such an amazing time saver.

Beverages.

Peaches & Prosciutto. 

Our beautiful and colorful lunch. 

And lastly, one of my favorite presents: a homemade linen pillow from my Aunt Liana. 

It is sooo beautiful in person. I sure felt the love from everyone that day!

since we can't just call him "baby"

That's right, we are naming him Jonas! We are in love with this name and our little boy who we already have been referring to as Jonas. His middle name is Pieter, after my grandpa. Pieter is the Dutch spelling of Peter and is pronounced the same way. Pieter is also my brother's middle name. So while his last name represents Jon's family, his middle name represents mine. That was important to me. Hopefully you love his name just as much as we do.

Lately

I am such a sucker for cute packaging and anything by Method, so I couldn't really resist this. The scent is Vanilla Chai, yum. Plus, I heard it's a good idea to stock up on hand soap before a new baby comes since we will be asking all the visitors to wash their hands before holding the baby.

After a horrible day, my sweet husband brought me home flowers to cheer me up. After I cut them and put them in water it wasn't long before they all wilted! What gives? Come to think of it, when I cut the ones in our yard and did the same thing they quickly wilted. Bummer-central. 

A corner in the nursery. Some newborn-ish toys in a wire basket hang on the wall. I love Land Of Nod and everything they have. BTW lots of things would pass for adult decor, too. Basically blows Pottery Barn Kids out of the water.

Funny how my purchases lately are focused more on post partum. Everything I've read says witch hazel will be my friend afterwards when everything is sore and stings. A maxi pad soaked in witch hazel and then frozen may offer some much needed relief.

Gotta love summer dinners where there is always a little stack of fresh homegrown tomatoes on the side.

a birth plan

(couldn't find the original source)

While I am fully aware that I have no idea what labor will feel like, what the baby's plans are and that anything can happen, I still wrote a birth plan. Having a hospital birth, I feel it is very important to be upfront about my wishes and communicate that with all of my providers. A lot of the wording I used was from my hospital's "birth plan checklist". Here is what I have so far:

 

During labor I would like:

-Help with positioning, moving around, and other low-intervention (“natural”) pain relief techniques

-Intermittent fetal monitoring and telemetry monitoring so I may walk around and shower, if I wish

-No IV unless necessary, Hep (saline) lock is fine

-As few interruptions and vaginal exams as possible

-To drink fluids and eat light, easily digestible food, if I wish

-To wear my contact lenses

For pain relief I would like:

-Breathing techniques, position changes, massage, a shower to relax

-Only what I request at the time, I do not want anyone else to suggest pain medication

When the baby comes I would like:

-Pushing spontaneously, no loud “cheerleading”-like yelling

-Use a mirror to see baby crown and touch the baby’s head when it crowns

-Avoid episiotomy by using mineral oil and natural tearing, if needed

-Avoid forceps and vacuum extraction

-Baby to be placed on me, skin to skin

-Breastfeed as soon as possible

-My husband Jon will cut the cord

-Absolutely no formula, sugar water, water

-Absolutely no pacifiers, bottles or artificial nipples

Any questions, I will try my best to answer them in the comments. 

Thanks for being respectful, in advance! ;)

our maternity shoot

Jon and I had such a great time shooting these pictures with Catie Coyle a few weekends ago. We met up at Pigeon Point Lighthouse in Pescadero, a first time for all of us. And so random because our engagement photos were shot in the small town of Pescadero also. It was so windy and cool but she managed to get so many amazing shots. We are so happy we decided to have the shoot done, when during an otherwise busy time it's really easy to skip stuff like this. I hope you enjoy. :)

All photos by Catie Coyle. 

If you are in the Bay Area and looking for a photographer for any occasion, we highly recommend her! 

She helped shoot our wedding too and she is seriously such a joy to work with.