Pregnancy – Making it Lovely

Adjusting

Calvin is nearly four weeks old already! I was always on my own with our babies before, but now with Brandon as a stay-at-home dad, we can team up on kid duties. I’m nursing and some days it feels nonstop, so I’m mostly taking care of Calvin while Brandon has Eleanor and August.

Nursing — I have such a hard time with it in the beginning. I’ve seen lactation consultants, I’ve read the entire La Leche League book, and my search engine history has been entirely taken over by various breastfeeding queries. Things got better with both Eleanor and August around six weeks, so I keep telling myself it will happen again, but right now it is incredibly difficult. It’s isolating and time-consuming, but the worst of it is that I dread sessions because of the anxiety around anticipating a painful latch. There are often tears, and I’m having a hard time right now.

We are all doing so well though, in every other regard! We’re settling in nicely as a family of five, and the kids are sweet with the baby. Our normal morning routine has continued smoothly, we’re all sleeping as well as can be expected, and I get out of the house and see friends often enough to keep from going stir-crazy. Plus I love love love having a baby at home again. Calvin sleeps on me and is in my arms all day, and I adore his little snuggles.

The good stuff is coming up: the smiles, the coos, the baby laughs. This is likely our last baby though, so while I’m eager to get past the nursing pain, I don’t want to wish this time away. There’s a lot of good stuff happening right now, too.

October 29, 2014

Calvin Edward Balch

I joked on Wednesday evening that I had just bought some fancy flowers to photograph in my entryway for an upcoming post, thereby guaranteeing that I would go into labor before being able to take pictures the next day. Well?

Calvin Edward Balch was born at 8:18 a.m. on Thursday, October 2, 2014. He weighed 8 pounds, 9 ounces (the smallest of our three), and measured 21 inches long. He has fuzzy brown hair with a polka dot of a blonde spot, right in the center on top, and very dark blue eyes that make it impossible to predict what color they will stay.

I’d given birth before without an epidural, so that part of the experience wasn’t new, but this delivery was the first that was free of complications (thank goodness). Calvin and I are happy and healthy, and our family of five is doing well!

October 5, 2014

The 4-6 Weeks Project (Week Six)

I’m taking photographs of Eleanor and August each day until baby number three arrives, to document our last 4-6 weeks as a family of four. I first did this project to document our time as a family of three before August was born.

{ Week One • Week Two • Week Three • Week Four • Week Five • View All }

Aunt Ashley came over after work today, so she and mama took you guys out while daddy started priming the nursery. We went to a few shops in Forest Park, and then had dinner at Junction Diner. They have a huge chalkboard wall there, a photobooth, a train table and toys, and our dinner arrived via model train!

Mama picked up a new rug to try in the nursery today. Eleanor, you saw it and immediately tried to shimmy up it like a tree trunk! Poor August wanted to do it too but he couldn’t hang on tight enough, and then daddy thought maybe this whole climbing thing wasn’t such a good idea anyway. (But it WAS fun, right, E?)

Just a little castle time. You fight with each other a lot (“I’m never ever playing with you again” can be heard all too often), but you also have plenty of fun and get along more often than not.

Mama’s 34th birthday! Everyone had been wondering if the baby would share the day, but nope. August and Eleanor, you’re holding the Pikmin toys you gave mama for her birthday — pretty sure they’re going to end up more yours than hers. (Was that your plan all along when you chose them?)

Oh no, look out! It’s the Hug-Bot. RUN!
Argh, August, he’s got you!

August, mama snapped this picture when you got back from school. A few toys, a few pets, family… the house feels good. Comforting, colorful, and cozy. Ready for a new little baby to come home to.

You two have a million toys (too many toys!), but a new box comes and suddenly it’s the BEST THING EVER. That box, by the way, was from a bouncy seat that we ordered for the baby. He’s due tomorrow, but will he show up?

September 30, 2014

Almost

Home stretch! It doesn’t feel like it’s almost time, but I’m 38 weeks along already.

We’re expecting a boy, and every stranger that has put forth a guess has guessed correctly. “It’s like a basketball!” they say. “All belly!”

p.s. Me at similar points with the first two pregnancies, here and here.

September 11, 2014

What to Wear When Pregnant and Traveling

I wanted to look cute while traveling recently to France and Morocco, but I’m too far along to wear most of my regular stuff and I didn’t want to go out and buy a lot of new clothes. And now I’m posting this while on a quick trip New York. Really though, this post could have just been called “What to Wear When Pregnant,” as it’s pretty much the same thing — traveling or not! Two new pairs of cropped maternity pants have been the mainstay of my wardrobe, but some of what you see me wearing above is from when I was pregnant the first or second time around (or accessories that I’ve had for years), so I found suitable substitutes below.

Dresses

I think the easiest, and often most comfortable thing to wear when you’re pregnant is a dress. No weird elastic band around maternity pants to deal with (ugh), and you look instantly put together.

Tops and Bottoms

Tunics and cropped pants have been my friends on these trips. Pants in black or white look dressier than jeans, and everything still goes with one or the other. A blazer was handy for chilly nights.

Accessories

Accessories keep me from getting bored with my limited maternity wardrobe, so I like to bring a lot of them with me on trips. And here’s my fashion public service announcement: Pregnant ladies (and ladies that just like good shoes for walking a lot), do yourself a favor and buy those Worishofer sandals. They’re old-lady orthopedic shoes that had their heyday of grandma-chic a couple of years ago, but they’re still cute and they are super comfy.

July 16, 2014

Nap All Day

Not really, but I wish.

I’ve been pregnant for half the time that we’ve lived in this house. Each morning for the past few months, I would wake up with a running list in my head of all the things I would set out to accomplish that day. I can organize the closet! I’ll upholster August’s bed! Paint a room! Strip some wallpaper! Get my office in reasonable order! And then I’d be all, nah, I should sit down and rest. Maybe go to sleep early. Eleanor has her motto, and so do I.

I am getting things done, just not at the pace I’d like to. Painting the walls black downstairs was not fun. Normally I love to paint! My body isn’t dealing well with this pregnancy though — it has been much harder than it was with the other two — and I don’t think I can make it up and down a ladder again right now. I slogged through and I’m glad it’s finished, but I haven’t been eager to repeat the experience.

I’m so glad we hired someone to do the built-in bookshelves for us, because there’s no way that project would be near completion right now if we’d tried to do it ourselves. I’m too stubborn to hire out for a paint job or small projects around the house though, and too much of a perfectionist to ask Brandon to do it (he has been a huge help with the kids and helping run the house, but I’m the handier of the two of us). Some days I feel like I’m finally getting some energy back, but then I’ll have three days in a row where I’m exhausted and in pain. It’s frustrating because I have all of these ideas inside, waiting to be put into action, but I can’t act on them except in short bursts. Maybe soon? I’m being cautiously optimistic.

April 21, 2014

Tag: Pregnancy