30 Weeks... Merry Christmas!

How far along? 30w3d

Gender: Girl

Weight Gain? 20+ pounds

Maternity Clothes? Clothes are a challenge right now.  Things are just getting smaller and smaller by the minute!  For sweatshirts and t-shirts I've been wearing a lot of Joe's stuff because it just fits better.  I have maybe 2 hoodies of my own that still fit decently.  Even my maternity jeans are starting to get more snug! 

Stretch Marks? None!

Belly button in or out?  Pretty flat at this point.

Sleep:  Hit or miss on the sleep.  Some nights I sleep great others, not so much.  Lots of getting up to pee, rolling over from side to side due to congestion, etc. but I know it could be worse!

Best moment this week:  Hitting the 30 week mark is seriously blowing my mind.  Roughly 10 more weeks til baby girl is here and it's just so crazy to think about.  We had so much fun with all of our Christmas festivities, although I think it went by way too fast! 

Symptoms:  Fatigue, back pain, weight gain, some restlessness at night, other than that still pretty minimal as far as symptoms are concerned.

Miss Anything?  I do miss being able to bend over and put on shoes without having to sit down.  Also rolling over to get out of bed is practically a work out.  Monday night I had a Braxton Hicks contraction so bad while I was laying on my back, my stomach was hard as a rock and I literally could not roll over it was so painful.  I guess it's just a sign of what's to come!

Movement?  Lots of movement, I know soon she'll be too big to move around too much so I'm really enjoying it now.

Cravings?  Still munching on tons of Christmas snacks & candies.

Queasy or sick?  Noting at all!

Looking forward to?  A short work week, a doctors appointment, and NYE Saturday!  I cannot believe this is the last week of 2016 already!  This year has truly flown by.  It's crazy to think I spent the last half of it pregnant.  All in all this is one of the best years that we have had in a while.  Although the beginning of 2016 started out pretty crappy, it certainly improved for the best.  Looking forward to all that 2017 brings our way.  It will undoubtedly be our most challenging year yet as we navigate through first-time-parenthood, but I know it will also be one of our most fulfilling years ever.

29 Weeks

How far along? 29w2d

Gender: Girl

Weight Gain? 20+ pounds

Maternity Clothes? Mostly maternity, I can still pull of most of my shirts, but pants/leggings/anything on bottom is maternity or a size bigger than normal.

Stretch Marks? None!

Belly button in or out?  Continuing to flatten.

Sleep:  Improving over last weeks sleep.  

Best moment this week:  The general buzz of the holidays and being pregnant has been great.  I am so thankful to be pregnant this time of year and I'm already dreaming of what next year will be like with a nine month old baby in tow.  We had family Christmas on Joe's mom's side this past weekend and there were sooo many babies!  It was so fun to see them all in awe of everything & I'm excited to finally say that I will be a part of that next year.

Worst moment this week:  The cold weather we are experiencing right now sucks.  It's been in the negative temps for a few days & it's usually not this cold in Illinois until late winter like January/February so it's been kind of miserable.  It makes it a lot harder to want to go out and do anything either!

Symptoms:  Fatigue, back pain, weight gain, some restlessness at night, other than that still pretty minimal as far as symptoms are concerned.

Miss Anything?  Holiday cocktails, duh!

Movement?  Lots of movement, I know soon she'll be too big to move around too much so I'm really enjoying it now.

Cravings?  A plethora of Christmas cookies and treats have been piling up at work and it's been SO HARD to say no!

Queasy or sick?  Noting at all!

Looking forward to?  Christmas is this weekend!  On the 23rd we always stay over night at a local hotel at a State park called Starved Rock, they have a beautiful lodge and cabins and we always stay over on Christmas Eve eve with my aunt, uncle, and two cousins.  We get in the hot tub, play games, watch Christmas movies, have a nice dinner, and typically indulge in too many cocktails.  It's my favorite way to kick off the Christmas.  On Christmas Eve we always go to Joe's parents for our annual matching PJ's and Christmas stories read by Joe's dad.  We open gifts and always drink Coke out of glass bottles.  It's one of my very favorite traditions to partake in.  Christmas Day is at our  house again this year.  It's open house style for anyone to come and enjoy food and drink, we stay pretty cozy and relaxed all day and it's nice to have to go anywhere.  I'm looking forward to a nice long weekend and seeing friends and family!

28 Weeks

How far along? 28w1d THIRD TRIMESTER!!

Gender: Girl

Weight Gain? 20+ pounds

Maternity Clothes? Maternity leggings like 99% of the time!  I'm telling you those Blanqi leggings are definitely worth the money, even though I got mine for 50% off, I am now convinced I would pay full price for the, especially the belly support pair.

Stretch Marks? None!

Belly button in or out?  Flattening out more and more.

Sleep:  Sleeping well is becoming a thing of the past.  I still get a pretty decent night of sleep but I've been waking up in the middle of the night wide awake and tossing and turning a lot due to congestion.  I have the humidifier and the oil diffuser going & I think they're doing the best work they can.  

Best moment this week:  I caught baby girl kicking on video which was awesome.  She has been moving around a ton!  I had another prenatal massage and I cannot tell you how beneficial I think those are.  I also had my glucose test Friday and have yet to hear back but I think I passed because those are usually same day results.  My mom and I went out of town Christmas shopping after my test Friday and I got almost all of my Christmas shopping done & everything wrapped/bagged the next day!  Feeling very accomplished as I've never had my shopping done this early!  I also moved into a B cup for the first time ever in my life (yay pregnancy boobs!) which was pretty exciting.  I had to order a new winter coat too because my one from last year was just way too snug in the tummy. 

Worst moment this week:  The general exhaustion & aches and pains that I feel is really the only negative thing I can say right now & even those are tolerable.  I've been so lucky to have such an uneventful pregnancy.

Symptoms:  Fatigue, back pain, weight gain, some restlessness at night, other than that still pretty minimal as far as symptoms are concerned.

Miss Anything?  I'll be honest, lots of people are getting alcohol for Christmas presents this year, I might be subconsciously giving it as gifts since I do miss it a bit!

Movement?  Tons of movement, a lot more during the day than before now too.

Cravings?  All the Christmas sweets are out in full force & you can be I've been indulging.

Queasy or sick?  Noting at all!

Looking forward to?  We have our first Christmas gathering this weekend coming up.  It's about a 3 hour drive south and they're calling for a lot of snow that day so I'm really hoping we can make it as it's been a couple years since I've gone.  Last year I was really down the day of this particular party because we had found out that same day that all of our embryos had arrested,  I had just transferred 2 embryos a few days prior and was really hoping our other 5 would make it to blasts & to be PGS tested but they didn't.  Christmas time last year was so hard, and it was really hard to participate all of the festivities!  Our cycle was awful.  It started off so promising with 16 eggs retrieved, but it turned out to be a complete disaster.  It really amazes me at how much can change in the course of year! Now we have our miracle on the way! I can't wait to really be able to enjoy Christmas this year in a way I have never been able to!

Pregnancy after Infertility, Holiday Edition...

Well, it only took 6 Christmas’s but this year I finally get to say that I am pregnant during the holidays!  Every single Christmas since 2011 I have wished for that.  I have wished to be pregnant, or to be announcing a pregnancy, or have a bouncing babe on my lap opening up gifts at Christmas time, and finally, after a very long, hard journey, I get to say I am pregnant at Christmas time!  For the last 5 years though, the holiday season was undoubtedly the hardest time of year to be infertile.

The holidays are seriously the WORST when you’re TTC.  Yes, first day of school & Halloween costume photos, things like that can be bothersome, but nothing is as bad as Christmas.  Last year at this very time we were in the midst of our third fresh cycle of IVF with a new clinic.  I was driving 2 hours each way to have my monitoring done and I was certain that cycle would work.  The doctor gave us a 63% success rate of success with 1 PGS tested embryo.  I mean I literally had no doubt in my mind that it would work.  Then it all came crumbling down as quickly as it was built up.  No blasts at all on day 5, no ability to PGS test, and a transfer that was the epitome of stressful!  But I remained hopeful that this cycle would work.  Then the day after Christmas my beta came back a whopping 8, which never did double… Merry f'in Christmas, here is your 1 millionth BFN, Love Santa.

It was downright cruel and depressing & I think most of us who have been affected by infertility can agree that although it’s the most wonderful time of year for many reasons, it’s also one of the hardest.  It’s hard to watch other family members, friends, etc. with their kids, it’s hard to be on social media seeing everyone’s family photos with their babies in cute little Christmas PJ’s, in the back of your mind you’re always wondering if you’ll have a turn.  I am here to tell you that feeling that way is totally normal and OK! Anyone who has experienced infertility has felt that way at some point or another.  Heck, I felt that way even before I realized that we were going to have trouble.

The worst part of all is that it's pretty much impossible to avoid these types of situations; not seeing babies, and kids, and parents, this time of year is practically impossible.  Avoiding a baby shower or child's birthday is one thing, but every scroll through Instagram or Facebook, every shopping trip to the mall, every commercial on TV during the holiday season, it's thrown into your face and it really is downright depressing. I would never discourage anyone from  participating during the holidays because it really is a wonderful time of year being around friends and family and enjoying the Christmas spirit, but I would urge lots of extra self-care this time of year too.  Buy yourself a gift when shopping for others or get yourself pampered! 

Although this year is finally different, although we have our miracle babe on the way, although I finally get to say that I am pregnant, I will never forget how hard these times of year can be when all you want is to grow your family & you can’t.  I never thought it would take us YEARS to get pregnant, I never thought it would take 3 people (4 including the doctor!) to conceive a baby, but I also never knew if I’d be able to say that I am going to be a mom & here I am with a baby on the way.

For all of you that are still struggling, please, please never give up.  Do whatever it takes, we did.  Did it go the way we planned or expected?  No.  But that was one of my first lessons learned from infertility, you will have a plan, a detailed plan full of dates, appointments, medicine schedules, procedures, etc. but it will NEVER go as expected & you have no control of the outcome.  But with lots and lots of determination & the ability to accept everything as it comes to you, you can beat it.  As hard as it was, (probably the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through), I would not change it for the world.

I hope that you're all enjoying this truly magical time of year.  No matter where we are in our journey, remember that there is always something to be grateful for, even those of us who have been handed the infertility card, there are silver linings all around us.  Merriest of Christmases to you all!

Second Trimester Faves

Our second trimester is coming to a close already!  I can’t believe in roughly 3 months our baby girl will be here.  I know these few weeks around the holidays are going to go by even faster than time has already been going because of the buzz of the season & all of the festivities we have these next coming weeks.  I thought I’d do a quick round up of my favorites throughout my second trimester.

Champion Balance Ball

I got this balance ball at Target midway through my second trimester at the suggestion of my doula.  She said it is a great way to work on getting the hips open and ready for birthing baby.  I try to get on it every day or every other day for about 10 minutes after I do about 15 minutes of yoga.  Right now all I’m focusing on is getting my hips as open as possible.  At my last prenatal massage she said they were tight.  I can do hip circles in front of the TV on this ball & it also really helps relieve some of my lower back pain.  I got the 55cm ball based on my height.

Homemade Lavender Body Butter

Also at the suggestion of my doula was to do abdominal massage daily to help break up any lesions and keep the muscles in the abdomen stretched.  I made my very own homemade lotion using pure shea butter, coconut oil, arrowroot powder, and lavender essential oil.  I love the consistency of it.  It’s a touch oiler than what I’d normally use on my hands, but it’s great for those belly massages. 

 

Blanqi Support Leggings

I jumped on this train a little late in the game, but when these went on sale on Black Friday I ended up getting 2 pairs.  They had them marked down to 50% off of their regular $64 price tag.  I just couldn’t justify them until they went on sale, but I’m so glad that I scooped up a couple pairs.  I bought a belly support pair to wear the remainder of my pregnancy and a high-waistedpair I can wear during & after.

Men’s Long Sleeve Henley

At this point most of my lounging clothes are getting a little snug.  I had to go up a size in sweat pants although most of my yoga pants still fit fine I just wear the band up around my belly instead of folding it down, however t-shirts are another story.  Most don’t fit comfortably anymore, I don’t want to lounge in tight stuff.  I found a grey, long sleeved Henley in my husband’s clothes and I pretty much live in it in on the weekends, especially this time of year when it hasn’t been quite cold enough yet for my fleece robe.

 

Oil Diffuser

I’ve been using oils for a little while now & I’m really enjoying them & their effectiveness.  One of the best ways to reap the benefits of most oils is by diffusing them into the air.  My favorite oil to diffuse during pregnancy is lavender.  I consider it to be the contributing factor in how well I have been sleeping.  I use DoTerra oils and the VicTsing Cool Mist Ultrasonic diffuser from Amazon.  I have also been diffusing On Guard during the cold & flu season to help boost my immunity. 

I’ve been really lucky my entire pregnancy to feel really good, mostly just some discomfort in adjusting to the added 17 or so pounds that I am carrying around.  I know the third trimester will most likely be the most challenging (how am I going to get my shoes & my winter coat on?!) but I am excited to continue to watch my body grow and change & probably struggle somewhat too as baby girl gets bigger. 

What were some of your pregnancy favorites during the second trimester?

27 Weeks

How far along? 27w1d

Gender: Girl

Weight Gain? 20 pounds

Maternity Clothes? Yes, definitely.  I got 2 pairs of Blanqi leggings, one with belly support and one high-waisted and they're soo comfy and definitely worth the money.  I was lucky enough to get 2 for the price of 1 on black friday!

Stretch Marks? None!

Belly button in or out?  Flattening out more and more.

Sleep:  Sleep is starting to become a little bit more of an issue.  I'm sleeping well, but waking up more often to pee again like I was in the first trimester, also noticed some congestion started so constantly having to roll over side to side to keep my nasal passages open!  I'm going to start adding Respiratory Blend or Peppermint EO to my diffuser.

Best moment this week:  My doctors appointment went well.  Blood pressure was good, all measurements were right where they needed to be.  In a few more weeks they'll check to see if she is still breech and if they can't tell we will get another scan.  I'll be starting my appointments every two weeks now which is also pretty exciting.  It just means were are inching closer and closer to her arrival.  

Worst moment this week:  Starting to feel tired a lot quicker than normal, back pain was pretty bad this weekend after possibly overdoing it on Saturday.  I've been trying to spend extra time on my yoga ball to help alleviate some of the pain.

Symptoms:  Fatigue, back pain, weight gain, some restlessness at night, other than that still pretty minimal as far as symptoms are concerned.

Miss Anything?  Nothing but a good old fashioned holiday cocktail.

Movement?  Movement continues to increase which is great! 

Cravings?  Sweets and Eggo waffles.

Queasy or sick?  Noting at all!

Looking forward to?  Another prenatal massage this week!  I am also going to be doing my blood glucose test, not that I'm necessarily looking forward to that but just something to note.  I am also getting us signed up for 3 classes, infant CPR, breastfeeding & hospital tour, and water birth in January.  I think my shower invites are going out later this week too which is very exciting!  

26 Weeks

How far along? 26w2d

Gender: Girl

Weight Gain? 17 pounds

Maternity Clothes? Maternity clothes for the win, especially on bottom.  Tops I am still able to fit into most of my regular stuff. 

Stretch Marks? None!

Belly button in or out?  In but starting to flatten out.

Sleep:  Great!  

Best moment this week:  Although we ran all over hell, Thanksgiving was great.  It was exhausting and I'm not sure next year having a 9 month old baby I will be able to run as much, but it was great to see everyone.  We got to see lots of family this year that we rarely ever get a chance to be with.  We also cut down our tree which was so fun, it's one of my favorite traditions.  This year we got a huge tree and it looks so beautiful, you can see more on my Instagram.  Also we finally made it into the double digits until our due date if she decides to come on time.

Worst moment this week:  Just the general exhaustion of the weekend.  Also not getting to indulge in any cocktails was kind of a bummer!

Symptoms:  Still lots of lower back pain, getting tired quicker, nothing too serious or alarming yet.

Miss Anything?  I'll say it again, holiday cocktails...

Movement?  Movement continues to increase which is great! 

Cravings?  Just the regular, sweets. 

Queasy or sick?  Noting at all!

Looking forward to?  I have a hair cut and a doctors appointment this week and another prenatal massage next week.  Also my aunt asked me what she could get me for my shower since she lives in Texas and won't be able to make it.  She is very generous and said she would buy us our rocker which I am soo excited for.  Joe is going to do some work in the nursery for me too as far as getting things hung up on the walls & the closet assembled.  I told him I want to work on it as much as possible now while I still have energy.  I know I will have to wait on a lot of things until after the shower, but if we can get as much as possible done now I will be happy.

Maternity Favorites

As far as maternity wear goes, I've been doing a lot of mixing of regular clothes with actual maternity pieces.  I started wearing maternity jeans very early on, like 11 or 12 weeks I think because they were just so much easier to get on & off and I hated the bump that the old hair-tie trick caused when I would wear tighter tops.  Here are some of my favorites so far.

This tribal-print cardigan from Pink Blush is so cute!  And definitely something I can wear even when I'm not pregnant.  As an added bonus, they had a one-day 70% off sale so I got this for $26 which you can't beat.  Pink Blush's clothes are very good quality.

These Ultimate Tee's from Target are the best.  They're so stretchy and comfortable, perfect to accommodate a growing bump.  Plus they usually have them 2 for $16 or 2 for $20 and they come in several colors.  

These skinny Mama maternity jeans from H&M, the only down side was I had to have them hemmed, about 2" because they were so long.  I also really love Jessica Simpson maternity jeans too, they fit really well & aren't too expensive.

This maternity poncho from Motherhood Maternity.  I love pieces like this because it can definitely be worn even if you're not pregnant.  There really isn't anything "maternity" about it, it is made just as it would be as non-maternity.  I got a ton of compliments on it when I wore it last.

These Liz Lange maternity tanks.  I don't know about you but I wear a tank/cami daily under everything just to smooth things out.  My regular tanks still fit but are starting to get shorter & shorter as my belly gets bigger.  These are the perfect length.  

What are some of your favorite maternity pieces??

25 Weeks

How far along? 25w2d

Gender: Girl

Weight Gain? 16 pounds

Maternity Clothes? Yep, lots of maternity clothes.  I'm going to dedicate a separate post to my favorites coming later this week!

Stretch Marks? None!

Belly button in or out?  In

Sleep:  Great!  

Best moment this week:  Working with my girlfriends, mom, MIL, & step mom on planning the shower!  I have a vision of what I'd like so I'm pretty heavily involved, that's just me.  I know they'll throw some surprises in there even though I told them NO surprises (I hate surprises!), but it's inevitable & that is fine.  We're going with a whimsical, woodland, boho theme & I cannot wait to see it all come together!  It's going to be a brunch too so talking about all the yummy goodies we are planning last night was so fun!  Also, my donor found out she is also pregnant with baby girl #2 this past weekend and I am soo excited for her.  She is due 2 months after me & I'm so excited for her and her family! 

Worst moment this week:  Didn't really have a "worst" moment... work has been absolutely crazy & I am trying to get a temp trained for when I leave in March.  She has SO MUCH to learn & is doing really well, the days do go by fast, but they are pretty chaotic right now too.  Makes for one tired mama at the end of the day.

Symptoms:  Lower back pain is probably the one and I only complaint I have.  I have one spot by my tail bone that just aches when I am in certain positions.  The doula told me to spend a lot of time working on getting my hips open doing certain yoga poses, the only problem is most of them exacerbate the back pain, however she also advised me to get the yoga ball so that actually really helps relieve some of the back pain.  The chiropractor said lower back pain is common & inevitable with pregnancy.  

Miss Anything?  Shiner's Cheer Beer is out right now, Joe polished off a 6 pack of it yesterday and it's one of my favorites, definitely missing that this holiday season!

Movement?  Lots of movement, Joe was able to watch her kicking & punching my stomach pretty fiercely the other night, we got a good laugh out of it, so funny to watch from the outside.

Cravings?  Nothing but sweets, however I'm really pumped for Thanksgiving dinners this week too, (that's right dinner(s) as in we have 3 to go to!)

Queasy or sick?  Noting at all!

Looking forward to?  I have tons of family home on my dad's side and I cannot wait to see all of them!  Also looking forward to finally getting to watch Christmas movies on Thursday night after all of the Thanksgiving festivities! 

Baby Ridley Bump, Reintroduced

You may have noticed my new blog layout!  I hope you love it as much as I do.  I think it really is a nice representation of me and I’m so happy to finally be able to get an updated look here at Baby Ridley Bump.  You may not know depending on how long you’ve been a reader, but I have been blogging now since May of 2012.  It’s been such an awesome journey being a blogger and I can’t wait to continue to do so as I document the rest of this pregnancy and becoming a mother.

 

I thought now would be a good time to reintroduce myself and talk about how this blog started & how it evolved into what it is today, something I never in my wildest dreams would’ve imagined.  You may be familiar with the story and if you are I’m glad because that means you’ve been around for a while.  If you’re not, then welcome, hopefully it will be an interesting enough story to keep you around!  If you’re looking for just my TTC timeline, you can click here.

 

Baby Ridley Bump originally started after we had been actively TTC for about 6-7 months.  I had just discovered a blog called LittleBaby Garvin (now Garvin & Co.) and I loved following her as she documented her first pregnancy.  At that time I was laid up after a motorcycle accident so I had a lot of time on my hands and eventually created my own blog.  I wasn’t quite cognizant of the fact that we were going to have trouble conceiving.  I thought I’d do like Jessica Garvin was doing and document my way through our first pregnancy and eventually motherhood.

 

After 2 years of trying naturally we started seeing a reproductive endocrinologist, our entire journey through natural and assisted reproduction has been documented on this blog.  Openly documenting and sharing this journey with the world has been so rewarding and has connected me with some of the most amazing women and opportunities I could ever imagine.  The support that has come from fellow bloggers and through other social media outlets like Instagram has been overwhelming.  Although none of it went according to that picture perfect plan, I wouldn’t change any of it. 

 

On this blog you will find a lot of honest and raw emotion, you will read about my darkest days, you will read about a lot about failure and sadness, but you will also read about positivity and perseverance and most importantly, success after a roughly 5 year battle with infertility.  You’ll also find some lighter topics too, but this blog is dedicated to the struggle and the awareness of infertility. 

 

Some things about me that are not related to infertility… well for starters I am married and I am a fur-mama to a cat named Scout and a dog named Frank, both are rescues.  We built our dream home in 2014 (you’ll find lots of posts about that process too!) and we are still in the process of making it into our forever home.  We love to take trips on our motorcycle, we love to camp.  I consider myself a wine connoisseur and I’m really looking forward to the day I can enjoy a mimosa again after this pregnancy.  I love to cook, I’m extremely organized and an extreme type-a personality.  My favorite thing to do is lounge on my couch with my dog and my husband (and I guess my cat too) and watch a good scary movie with a fire in the fire place.  Home is my favorite place to be, but we also love to travel & especially love cruises. 

 

If you’re new here I am so glad you stopped by and I hope you stick around.  If you’ve been reading for a while, thank you SO MUCH for loving and supporting me throughout this journey of blogging these last 4.5 years.   My dream of documenting pregnancy and parenthood has finally come true and I cannot wait to continue writing our story.

 

24 Weeks

How far along? 24w2d

Gender: Girl

Weight Gain? 15 pounds

Maternity Clothes? Wearing mostly maternity clothes at all times now, or regular clothes in a bigger size.  I ended up buying some regular sweat pants in size medium to accommodate for my growing belly, however the length is too long.  I also need to get some bigger bras and underwear as neither of those things fit in my normal sizes!

Stretch Marks? None!

Belly button in or out?  So far its still in and it looks totally normal.  I noticed my linea negra is much more noticeable now though. 

Sleep:  Sleep has been good, still diffusing Lavender and On Guard (for immunity health) at night before bed which I think helps a ton.  Getting up less frequently to pee too so I'm getting a lot more uninterrupted sleep than before.

Best moment this week:  Reaching our first viability milestone is a pretty big deal and pretty awesome.  Her chances of survival outside the womb now have increased significantly, however we still want her to bake for about 16 more weeks!  I also had my 3rd prenatal massage, this time I wasn't able to lay on my belly so she was able to do some abdominal work which was great.  She taught me some things she wants me doing every night to keep the uterine muscles stretched & relaxed and break up any adhesions.  She also told me to get a yoga ball & keep up the yoga that I've been doing to get my hips to open.  I also learned a couple inversion techniques I can do to help get baby girl flipped since she is breech right now and also to help with lower back pain which I have been experiencing pretty often. 

Worst moment this week:  Realizing how hard it is becoming to move and then further realizing how much longer I have to be pregnant for & how much harder its really going to get!

Symptoms:  I've been really blessed to not be sick at all this entire time and have felt overall very good.  Lately I've been experiencing total pregnancy brain, some lower back pain, some round ligament pain, some shortness of breath, darker linea nigra, and if I'm on my feet too long (like spending too many hours walking the aisles at Target & Kohls) then my feet are usually in a lot of pain.  None of these things I would consider significant or serious at all so I'm hoping things continue this way!

Miss Anything?  This was will call weekend for our wine club that we belong to, I haven't gotten to participate in one of those since June (they're every other month) so I've got quite the stock pile of wine at home and I cannot wait to have a glass! 

Movement?  She's moving around pretty consistently now, but she still is only 1.5 pounds and under 12 inches so she's still got a lot of room to float around freely.  Hoping she flips herself around and gets herself head down, but I know we have lots of time for that to happen.

Cravings?  Last weekend when we had the 80's themed 30th bday party for my friend I went home with a big Tupperware full of about 18 cupcakes, I ate 12 of them between Sunday & Thursday, I finally convinced myself to throw the last 6 away.  Every single one was worth it.  Every type of sweet treat sounds amazing to me.

Queasy or sick?  Noting at all!

Looking forward to?  I've got the majority of things for the gallery wall above the crib I just need to decide on a layout so I'm hoping we can get that started soon.  I'm also really looking forward to the holidays, they're fast approaching and I'm pumped for all things Thanksgiving & Christmas, although that is prime-time for enjoying holiday cocktails which I won't be participating in this year!

23 Weeks

Got to dress up 80's style for my best friends 30th birthday bash on Saturday.  PS. Leotards are not the best choice of clothing for pregnant people! 

How far along?  23w2d

Total weight gain?  About 14 pounds

Maternity Clothes? All day, every day

Stretch Marks?  None.

Sleep?  Sleeping really great!  I swear it's the lavender essential oil I diffuse every night.

Best moment this week?  Finally seeing baby girl at our anatomy scan on Friday.  She is breech at this time which isn't really a big deal this early on.  It was awesome to see & hear that all of her necessary parts were found & measuring correctly!  Below you can see her face, eye, nose, and her arm & hand up against her face!

Miss anything?  Just the usual, alcohol!  What else is there to miss?!  

Movement?   Yes, movement is definitely increasing.

Food cravings?  Sweets as usual.  

Anything make you queasy or sick?  Not a darn thing!

Gender?  Girl

Labor Signs?  No

Symptoms?  Pregnancy brain is on in full effect, not sure if you  noticed or if you follow me on Instagram you may have already saw, I spelled "grapefruit" wrong on my chalkboard.  I've noticed that sometimes when I speak, write, or type, I get confused on my words lol!

Belly button in or out?  In

Wedding rings on or off?  On

Happy or Moody most of the time?  Happy for the majority of the time!

Looking forward to?  The holidays!  We get a 4 day week this week for Veteran's Day which is Friday, always so grateful to everyone who has served this country in order for our freedom.  We only get this day off because of you!  Also next weekend we are going to get together to start planning for my shower which is January 21st.  You best believe I am involved in all of the planning & executing of this shower.  I know my friends are totally capable, but I do have a vision that I'd really like to be a part of making come to fruition.  Thanksgiving will be here soon and then Christmas soon after that.  It's the most wonderful time of the year!

22 Weeks

How far along?  22w2d

Total weight gain?  I finally actually weighed myself again and I'm about 129, my pre pregnancy weight was about 116 so I'm at the 14-15 pound weight gain.

Maternity Clothes? Yes, 100% maternity pants at all times, leggings, jeans, regular yoga or sweat pants still fitting just fine.  I did get some maternity tops from a friend and also some regular (but very stretchy) long sleeve tee's from Target (as pictured above) that will stretch with me as I grow.

Stretch Marks?  None.

Sleep?  Still sleeping really well minus Sunday night.  I'm pretty sure I got like an hour of sleep that entire night, but other than that sleep has been great. 

Best moment this week?  Feeling more and more kicking every day which is amazing.  I can see it sometimes too and I'm still trying to get Joe to see it, of course when you want her to kick she doesn't, already stubborn I suppose.

Miss anything?  Nothing much, alcohol is all I've really had to give up in its entirety and I don't miss that terribly, although mimosas are still sounding pretty effing awesome.

Movement?   Yes, movement is definitely increasing.

Food cravings?  Sweets galore, thankfully it's Halloween!  Other than that, nothing too crazy.  I think Joe has actually had some pregnancy sympathy cravings, he drank straight out of the pickle jar the other day & put hot sauce on his eggs which I've never in 9 years seen him do...

Anything make you queasy or sick?  Not a darn thing!

Gender?  Girl

Labor Signs?  No
Symptoms?  Nothing really, getting harder to bend over that's for sure!  Some round ligament pain too if I move a certain way, or sneeze.

Belly button in or out?  In

Wedding rings on or off?  On

Happy or Moody most of the time?  Happy for the majority of the time!

Looking forward to?  We FINALLY get to have our ultrasound on Friday!  I cannot wait!  It's been a long 11, almost 12 weeks since we last saw her!  I can tell she is growing well because my bump is definitely growing & I'm feeling her moving so I think she is on track and where she should be, however, it's very hard not to worry when you don't get to see them as often.  Our appointment is 8am Friday!  I also got all of her clothes hung on hangers so now Joe can put the rods up in the closet and I can start assembling the closet.  I also got my first shipment of diapers from my Amazon Family subscription.  I got 252 diapers from $25 which is pretty awesome.  The sale was only on size 1, but I know we will need all sizes so I went ahead in ordered them.

21 Weeks

How far along?  21w2d

Total weight gain?  Maybe 10 pounds

Maternity Clothes? Maternity jeans/leggings for the win.  I'm still fitting into most of my tops as everything is made extra flowy these days.  I did order 1 more pair of maternity jeans (a boot cut pair since every other pair I have is skinny) and a sweater from Old Navy along with a poncho and sweater from Motherhood Maternity.  I had $30 in ON super cash so of course I had to get something with that and MM had a 25% off fall sale on full priced items.

Stretch Marks?  None.

Sleep?  Sleeping great for the most part.  I have been diffusing lavender EO in my diffuser pretty heavily these last few weeks so I've been sleeping really well.

Best moment this week?  Another pretty uneventful week which I think is a good thing.  Joe was able to feel her kick for the first time.  I washed all of the baby clothes that I had so I could get a start on those.  I ordered tiny baby hangers from Target so I can get things hung up (how do you fold onesises??!?!?) and put away.  I ordered a few more decorations for the nursery from Etsy and continued to work on my registry, I'm linking it for you guys, tell me if I'm missing anything!!  Ps. I already have some items like a boppy, a stroller, etc. so there are a few things missing already purchased. 

Miss anything?  I'm gunna go with mimosas... I could really go for a couple mimosas right now.

Movement?   Yes definitely feeling movement!  Even actually seeing some of her harder kicks which is really pretty amazing.

Food cravings?  Like I said last week, I really haven't had any crazy cravings.  Lots of sugary stuff, which always sounds good to me, pregnant or not!

Anything make you queasy or sick?  Not a darn thing!

Have you started to show yet?  Yep, the bump is here to stay.

Gender?  Girl

Labor Signs?  No

Belly button in or out?  In

Wedding rings on or off?  On

Happy or Moody most of the time?  Happy for the majority of the time!

Looking forward to?  Still just counting down the days til 11/4 when we get to finally see her again.  I think it's such b/s that they don't check her more often in the beginning, but whatever I guess.  I can't wait to see how big she has gotten. 

Black River Boutique

So some of you may already been familiar with Melissa from her blog Loving Life Moore or if you've been around the blogging world for awhile, you may even know her as I Swim for Oceans.  Melissa and I have been blogging friends for a few years now and she has always been one of our biggest supporters. She is a super sweet mother of 2 married to a military man and currently living in Black River, New York.  A little over a year ago she started Black River Boutique where she sells custom and organic baby goods like minky blankets, sensory blankets, teethers, burp cloths, bibdanas and more.  She is so creative and all of her products are made with lots of love and are of great quality.

When we were in the beginning stages of our donor cycle I got my first ever minky blanket gifted to me from Melissa and I was so hopeful that I'd actually be able to use it one day, and now it sits in baby girls nursery waiting her arrival.  Joe has even commented on how sweet of a gift it was and on how awesome the blanket felt.  Now I have 3 of them and I seriously cannot wait to wrap up our beautiful bundle of joy and snuggle her to death in these soft blankets.

You can find her on Instagram or you can go directly to her Etsy shop to browse all of her wonderful products.  As a bonus she is offering free shipping to Baby Ridley Bump readers.  Just use code LittleBabyRidley at check out now until 10/31!

20 Weeks - Halfway There!

How far along?  20w3d

Total weight gain?  Still around 8-9 pounds

Maternity Clothes? Maternity jeans/leggings for the win

Stretch Marks?  None.

Sleep?  Sleeping great for the most part

Best moment this week?  Really starting to feel movement this week.  I can’t wait til it becomes a little stronger & more consistent so that Joe can feel it.  We (and when I say we I mean I) got the dresser put together this past weekend and I am just in love with the furniture.  Joe is still having a hard time with the fact that the set does not match (grey crib & then wood finish/greyish nightstand and dresser) but once it all comes together it's going to look amazing.  Joe has been working his ass off for the last several weeks (this is their busy time) plus doing a couple drywall jobs on the side so he has been spending his one day off of work working which is why I assembled the dresser myself.  I am really glad that I decided to start getting the room together earlier than later because I don't want to be in my last few weeks of pregnancy still waiting to put furniture together.  My MIL also got us the crib mattress and I ordered the crib sheet so little pieces at a time coming together & making the room feel more and more finished!

Miss anything?  Wine is still sounding pretty good…

Movement?   Yes definitely feeling movement!

Food cravings?  I never really had any crazy cravings this entire pregnancy.  I have felt pretty much normal the entire time which I am so thankful for.  I guess lately I’ve been on a bit of a baked potato kick!

Anything make you queasy or sick?  Not a darn thing!

Have you started to show yet?  Yep, the bump is here to stay.

Gender?  Girl

Labor Signs?  No

Belly button in or out?  In

Wedding rings on or off?  On

Happy or Moody most of the time?  Happy for the majority of the time!

Looking forward to?  Really cannot wait til November 4^th for our anatomy scan.  It’s been so long since we have seen baby girl, I’m sure she has grown so much!  Also looking forward to this weekend and next as we have a couple of Halloween festivities to attend and of course I incorporated my pregnancy into my costume!

20 Weeks - Halfway There!

How far along?  20w3d

Total weight gain?  Still around 8-9 pounds

Maternity Clothes? Maternity jeans/leggings for the win

Stretch Marks?  None.

Sleep?  Sleeping great for the most part

Best moment this week?  Really starting to feel movement this week.  I can’t wait til it becomes a little stronger & more consistent so that Joe can feel it.  We (and when I say we I mean I) got the dresser put together this past weekend and I am just in love with the furniture.  Joe is still having a hard time with the fact that the set does not match (grey crib & then wood finish/greyish nightstand and dresser) but once it all comes together it's going to look amazing.  Joe has been working his ass off for the last several weeks (this is their busy time) plus doing a couple drywall jobs on the side so he has been spending his one day off of work working which is why I assembled the dresser myself.  I am really glad that I decided to start getting the room together earlier than later because I don't want to be in my last few weeks of pregnancy still waiting to put furniture together.  My MIL also got us the crib mattress and I ordered the crib sheet so little pieces at a time coming together & making the room feel more and more finished!

Miss anything?  Wine is still sounding pretty good…

Movement?   Yes definitely feeling movement!

Food cravings?  I never really had any crazy cravings this entire pregnancy.  I have felt pretty much normal the entire time which I am so thankful for.  I guess lately I’ve been on a bit of a baked potato kick!

Anything make you queasy or sick?  Not a darn thing!

Have you started to show yet?  Yep, the bump is here to stay.

Gender?  Girl

Labor Signs?  No

Belly button in or out?  In

Wedding rings on or off?  On

Happy or Moody most of the time?  Happy for the majority of the time!

Looking forward to?  Really cannot wait til November 4^th for our anatomy scan.  It’s been so long since we have seen baby girl, I’m sure she has grown so much!  Also looking forward to this weekend and next as we have a couple of Halloween festivities to attend and of course I incorporated my pregnancy into my costume!

Our Sweet Peach has a Name...

Picking something as important as a name is kind of scary if you think about it.  It’s something that sticks with that person forever, sure there are ways to go about changing it if you really want to, but our names are something we get no say in.  I wasn’t sure how I felt about having that kind of responsibility for my child.  When it came to names we knew if it was a boy it was going to be Joseph Preston Ridley III.  Joe is a Jr. and he was/is set on a JPR III someday.  When it came to a girl he had no ideas and I had a list but I wasn’t really super thrilled or excited about any of them.  

I never really felt like a name had to have some uber significance, just so long as it was cute & maybe a little different, and sounded good with “Ridley” and wasn’t something that my kid would get made fun of for in the future then I would be happy.  Then one day my mom and I were kind of talking about names and Augusta came up because that’s where we went for treatment, then Georgia came up and I thought it was nice but wasn’t really sure about the whole “state” as a name.  Then Joe told me his mom mentioned the name Georgia as well.  I really wanted June for a middle name because that was my grandma’s and once I heard “Georgia” a few times then put it together with June, my mind was made up & there was no going back.

Joe and I both really love it and I honestly cannot think of a better, more suitable name for our first born daughter.  For one thing, it’s classy and timeless, reason enough for me right there.  But it also has insurmountable significance to us, it’s where our donor lives (duh!), it’s where she was “conceived”, and it’s always going to have a special place in our hearts.  Combine that with June, my grandma’s name, and also the month that the entirety of this DEIVF cycle (I’m talking donor starting meds, being monitored, having retrieval, embryos growing, embryo transfer, TWW, and first 2 positive betas) took place.  I’m not sure that I know anyone with a more significant name than our daughter.  

We shared the name with most of our family and friends early on, even before we knew the gender Georgia June was our number one contender.  Now that we know for certain and are about halfway through this pregnancy we felt comfortable sharing.  Lots of people asked after I shared a picture on Instagram of the assembled nightstand with a light up letter “G” on it.  Joe said he was fine sharing publicly which gave me a reason to share the beautiful custom piece I had made for the nursery with her name on it.  

I know a lot of people like to keep the names a secret for various reasons, but for me I just cannot contain the excitement that I have had about every part of this experience so far.  I want every single person I know to relish in the joy that we are feeling.  I want to sprinkle that joy and excitement around like glitter to every single person that I can.  Right now this world is a scary place filled with dirty politicians, idiots dressed as clowns terrorizing communities, devastating weather, and so much more that I just cannot help but put these happy vibes out into the world in the hopes that someone will feel some of the joy that I am feeling right now.  

We cannot wait to meet our little Georgia peach.