Monday, November 28, 2016

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.

Monday, November 21, 2016

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! 

Thursday, November 17, 2016

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.

 

Monday, November 14, 2016

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!

Monday, November 07, 2016

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!
 
Blog Design by Imagination Designs
Graphic by OctopusArtis