First Family Vacation

Last week was our first family vacation with the baby. He did surprisingly well on the plane and all of the family back home was ecstatic to meet him for the first time. Not going to lie, but for the first time in a while I was feeling homesick. I truly miss being in California. I don't know if it was the beach, the family, or the food... but apart of me was actually considering moving back... and then I thought "I would totally regret that decision!" haha. Going home is different now that I have a baby. I LOVE LOVE LOVE seeing Ellis with his family, so much love. I want so badly for all of them to be apart of his life, but I know that I am making the right decision by keeping my family up here in Portland, at least for a little while longer :) Visits back home will be a lot more sweeter now that we have Ellis to take with us.

2 months later

Ellis Nikson, the light of my life.

I'm a MOM!

It's been a while, 11 weeks to be exact. With the craziness of motherhood, I haven't found the time to post anything. Where should I start?! The day after my last post (the one about my growing impatience with meeting my son), I went into labor. TWO days after that post I gave birth two a beautiful perfect child. I can't imagine my life without him. Its hard to believe that the child that I am staring at right now was that squirmy little thing in my belly.

BIRTH STORY: 

On November 6th as I sat on the couch watching the results of the election, I began to feel some intense cramping. The night before I was so eager and had tons of unusual energy, I walked up and down our marina ramp a million times trying to make myself go into labor haha. Anyways, as Jordan and I sat there on the couch, timing contractions I knew that this must be it. 2 hours in I decided to call Labor and Delivery. My contractions were 5 minutes apart, 1 minute long, and had been consistent for an 1 hour. 5-1-1, you know its go time. The nurse on the phone said it sounded like I was in labor so to come in and be checked just in case. Jordan, my grams, and I packed up all our stuff and headed to the car. It was pouring ran, Jordan was trying to get to our hospital as fast as he could even though I insisted the pain wasn't even that bad (at that point it was still a breeze). Let's just say we got to the hospital just in time because as soon as they put me in the triage room my water broke. IT WAS GO TIME!

Now I chose an all natural birth plan and was extremely grateful for the super supportive Labor and Delivery staff. From the time we got to the hospital to the time that the baby was here,  it took a total of 8 hours. In that 8 hours was the worse pain of my life, but according to everyone who was with me (hospital staff, Jordan, and my grandmother) I was extremely calm. Not going to lie, it was not easy. I was meditating, focusing on my breathing, leaning on Jordan and my grandmother for support through the whole thing. I may have been calm on the outside but in my head I was thinking "GET THIS BABY OUT OF ME!" The worst part wasn't until the pushing. After 8 hours I was only 7 cm. dilated. I felt so defeated, could I really last a few more hours? 45 minutes later I felt the urge to push and was apparently fully dilated. Now here is something that didn't even dawn on me, you chose the all natural route... you're going to feel EVERYTHING, but after 15 min of pushing there was my baby! All that pain, those 8 hours of intense contractions didn't mean anything to me once they placed that baby on my chest. He was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. At that moment I felt complete, I had a wonderful man by my side who had given me this beautiful gift, and I had a perfect baby on my chest. This was my whole world.

39 weeks

So I am officially 39 weeks today and couldn't be more anxious for my son to be here! Everyday I am hoping is the day we get to see him, but this kid is just not ready to come out apparently. Last thursday at our doctors appointment, we  were scheduled to be induced on our due date, the 12th. Its hard to believe that that is only a week from now. After talking inducing details, the doc then checked to see if I was dilated, and a was a womping 1cm! Not only that but my cervix was soft and she said the baby only had about 2 inches left of room there. This was very encouraging, and here I was thinking that meant any day now! I would love love love if he just came out naturally and I didn't have to be induced, but he is a stubborn little bug and is still holding out in there.

Now when you're this far a long, you are willing to pretty much try ANYTHING to make you go into labor. I have heard many different wives tales of how to induce labor naturally, and since I am at home all day and have nothing but time, I have given some of them a try. My doctor suggested lots of walking, sex, and spicy food. I have done the walking and spicy foods but after telling me that my child is about 2 inches away from greeting this world, there is NO WAY that I will be having sex anytime soon. I have done everything from dancing around (making sure I did a lot of hip shaking), squats, eating eggplant parmigiana (I know, I thought that was weird too but apparently it has worked for a lot of people), adding the hot sauce to every meal, and even meditation. One thing that I found did work a little bit is nipple stimulation. I began to feel contractions immediately but it freaked me out so I stopped. I also read that it can be very stressful for the baby and lower is heart rate so I didn't want to risk that one. Also, sitting around at home playing with your nipples is kind of awkward.

Labor pains. I am also at the point where I am taking any little movement, pain, and ache as a labor sign. Who knows if its true or happening but I am dissecting everything around me as a labor sign, just HOPING that its GO TIME. So far nothing has happened though. I'm still her today just sitting on my couch waiting to go into labor. Yesterday was actually a good day, no aches or tiredness that I have felt for the last month or so. I had lots of energy and straightened up a little (which some may consider nesting) but I honestly think that I have been nesting for an entire month now so don't really get my hopes up that its a soon to be labor sign. Walking is still a little uncomfortable, but his head being 2 inches away from the opening would explain that. I have been crampy and achy but still have not had any strong contractions.

Its almost time, but for me its not coming soon enough. In the end he will just come out when he is ready.... well unless we end up having to be induced. I'm guessing little Ellis is going to be a mommas boy. He is just too attached to me :) haha Thats quite alright with me.

That Growing Belly

Was looking through old photos and I can't believe how big I have gotten! Even within this last month I have popped out a lot. Now to think that I thought I was getting so BIG those first couple of months during my pregnancy is ridiculous. I miss being that size!

Maternity Clothes

So I can admit that upon finding out that I was pregnant, there were many fears and concerns, one of the biggest being "WHAT THE HELL AM I GOING TO WEAR?!" The farther along you get in your pregnancy, when you realize that none of your cute clothes fit you anymore, you begin to realize that it is time to search for maternity clothes. This can be scary for most, especially since there is not a huge selection out there of fashionable maternity clothes. Now this is something that bothers me. Who says just because you're pregnant you have to wear some boring moomoo?! I recently got a job at a very well known maternity store, in fact its probably the "go to" store when it comes to shopping for maternity clothes, but even I can admit that there are very few things that i find match my own "personal style." Of course I make it work and mix and match the maternity pieces with pieces I have from before I was pregnant that I FORCE myself into. This is very frustrating to me. Yes, it is true that when you're pregnant you want to be more modest and comfortable, but that does not mean that you have to look frumpy, boring, and in no way should you have to give up that fashionista in you to hide your bump.

So here is a little list I have made to help women out when it comes to maternity shopping. There are few pregnancy ESSENTIALS that I believe all pregnant women should have in their closets. I have also found some great websites for the fashion forward pregnant lady who wants to rock that baby bump in style.

The first couple months of your pregnancy you should still be able to fit into most of your clothes. As your baby bump grows, there are some things that you will want to get to make you feel comfortable.

1. The belly band: The belly band is an elastic band that you can put over your pre pregnancy pants to hold them up. This is something I loved, I could wear my pants unbuttoned so they would still fit and the belly band went right over it to hold them up. They look like camis underneath your tops and come in white, black, and tan so they can go with pretty much any outfit. Belly bands are perfect for when you're struggling with the pants buttons but aren't quite ready to move onto the full band maternity pants. I am still wearing my band today and I am 8 months preggers.

2. Leggings: Nothing seemed more comfortable to me then a pair of leggings to wear underneath my dress or tunic shirts. This is a must for throughout your entire pregnancy. I find that a lot of women are against the idea, but as soon as they get a pair on they end up living in them for most of their pregnancy.

3. Cami tanks with built in bras: Now your boobs are most likely going to get huge during your pregnancy. At first you will love it, and then you will begin to hate it when you can no longer fit into any of your bras. In fact, my favorite thing to do when I first get home is take off my bra. Cami tanks with built in bras are great because you can wear them underneath your clothes AND GO BRA LESS, something you might want to take advantage of before you begin to nurse.

4. Striped T's: I will be the first to admit that I have a serious stripe addiction. Many pregnant women probably wouldn't think to even go near them but they honestly make the belly bump super cute, and unexpectedly makes you look a lot smaller.

So above are the early term necessities, but once you get farther along you will want to add a good pair of maternity jeans (I preferred an over the belly band for comfort), side rouge T's, a comfy sweat set (valuer is making its comeback), dress pants, and pretty dresses that either have a stretchy band at the waste or a belt to accentuate that belly.


ONLINE SHOPPING! It is very unfortunate that most of the "good" maternity clothes can only be found online, especially since women don't know how much they will be growing during their pregnancy so sizing is always a little weird. I recommend going into a maternity store FIRST and figuring out which size you're by trying on some clothes, pick up the basics while you're there and then get your more stylist pieces online. Most maternity sizes go by your pre pregnancy size, unless you're have twins and would then need to go up a size.

Here are some sites that I found to have ADORABLE maternity clothes, I just wish I found them earlier on in my pregnancy, not much use to me now being a few weeks away from my due date.

Asos Maternity
HATCH
Topshop Maternity
Splendid
GAP maternity
A Pea In the Pod
Shop Bop
Rosie Pope
Isabella Oliver
H&M
Nordstroms Maternity
Dorothy Perkins
American Apparel

Kruger's Farm

There is nothing like a perfect fall day spent at a pumpkin patch. Today Jordan and I headed over to Sauvi's Island to get some fruit for smoothies, but were greeted by a fall wonderland. Children were running around with giant pumpkins in their hands, there were hay rides, roasted corn, caramel apples, and a corn maze. It is days like this that make me truly love living in Oregon, when you look up at the woodsy hills and see nothing but a blanket of colorful trees. When the sky is blue but the air is crisp. Fall is BY FAR my favorite season. It made me warm inside to see all the excited children, made me even more excited to think that next year I will have a little one of my own. Granted he will still be too small to carry a pumpkin, but I was definitely seeing some photo opts.

Kruger's Farm was a great way to end the day, a day that started with back to back drs. appts. I can't believe how close it is to my due date. Today they were discussing having to induce me at 40 weeks, which would be my due date, but they are concerned that my placenta will stop working and that Ellis isn't growing anymore. He is a healthy size though if that were the case, he's just a small baby, which makes sense considering Jordan and I are small people. I also have to have a stress test once a week to moniter the babies heart and my contractions. Everything is looking good, I just have to lay there with a huge belt around my tummy for half an hour. I am feeling so ready for this baby to be here. I am trying to wait patiently just because I want my mother to be here for the delivery. I don't know how long I can wait. I am miserably fat and I just want this baby in my arms already!