What's in my hospital bag?

I packed my hospital bag around 34 weeks, just to be safe! I asked around to friends and did some research to see what I actually needed to bring. I feel like I ALWAYS overpack, so I wanted to try to keep it simple. I also only live about 10 minutes from the hospital I will be delivering at, so if needed someone could always go grab something for me! I've heard from a lot of people that the hospital provides a lot of things like mesh underwear, pads, diapers and more disposable things, so I didn't really bring any of those. First, I used my diaper bag as my hospital bag for me and the baby. I'll link which one I have below, but it's super functional and actually holds a lot! Plus, it's a backpack, which I always find so easy to grab and go. It's the SkipHop Chelsea bag in black with gold hardware.

For me: I picked up a plain, waffle jersey-knit light-weight black robe to wear (I have a really nice white Hotel Collection one Chris got me for Mother's Day, but I thought white might be a little risky at the hospital). I picked it up from Wal-Mart for $12 and I think it will be perfect because I can just tie it up and don't really have to be wearing anything else if I don't want to. Plus, I know I'll use it all the time after! I also picked up two comfy nursing bras from Wal-Mart. For pants I just did my Lululemon Align leggings and a pair of jersey-knit pajama pants from Old Navy. It's going to be super hot I'm assuming so I just brought two loose tank tops to go with them and I guess I'll just wear one of those combos home. Like I said, it takes like 10 minutes to get there so I didn't really put a lot of thought into a "going-home outfit" or anything like that. I also packed my Adidas slides as my sole pair of shoes. They have good enough traction on the bottom for walking around and I could wear them in the shower too since they are waterproof. I packed a washcloth and a travel size face wash I already had (I figured it would be easiest to just do travel sizes of things instead of grabbing all of my regular sized things that I will be using up until I go into labor), a washcloth, face wipes, dry shampoo (my hair is such a pain to wash/dry), a pack of elastics for braids (I think braids will be my go-to to keep my hair out of my face and not have to deal with washing/drying my hair at the hospital), a comb, a travel toothbrush and toothpaste set, floss, a razor (we will see how much I end up caring lol) and then I will just grab my makeup bag on the way out the door. I keep deodorant in my purse so that will be included as well. The most exciting thing for me to pack was a couple of snacks haha! I haven't been able to eat many carbs or any candy or anything from my Gestational Diabetes, so I stocked up on some protein bars (figured they would be more beneficial than just a candy bar) and my favorite Black Forest Organic Gummy Bears to eat as soon as I pop that baby out! Chris has the phone chargers in his bag too. I think I will pick up a pack of gum/mints too to throw in there for when I have visitors hah. That's pretty much it though.

For baby: I really didn't pack much. I packed two outfits (cross your fingers he can fit into newborn sizes lol). If you have seen any of the clothes I have bought him you know I really only like white, black, gray and blue, so the outfits are super neutral. I also packed two cute little newborn beanies and a muslin swaddle blanket. Also, our carseat is on it's way to our house (see last post to read what happened there), but obviously I will be packing that as well. That's really it for him. Let me know if you feel like I am missing out on anything!

Pregnancy Update: Weeks 34-37

Sorry for the lack of updates over the past few weeks! I have been super busy and SUPER tired. I have been taking naps every day when I get home from work, and have been enjoying every second of them while I can :) At week 34 I had another doctor's appointment, which was quick and easy. Then, I went back to the Dr. at week 36 for my final 2 week appointment. At that appointment I had the Strep B test (google it if you don't know what it is lol). He also checked to see if I had dilated at all for the first time. I wasn't at all. After that appointment he said he wants to see me every week until the baby comes, which I think makes the time fly so much faster, the fact that I get to go in every week now and hear/check on the baby. I can't believe he's coming in 3 weeks or less! I think I told you guys a while ago that because I had gestational diabetes he had said at my diagnosis that he would likely not let me go past my due date for that reason. I am not sure if that still stands, I'll have to ask him when I go back in! The only reason why I am wondering is because I have been managing my diet so well and haven't had to do anything extra or any kind of stress tests or anything like that for the GD, which I know isn't always the case. My blood sugar has been great! Honestly, its really hard! But, I am the kind of person that when you tell me instructions on how to do something, I follow it to a T! As hard as it is to stay away from carbs, my health/the baby's health is so much more important to me. Plus, I already packed my hospital bag and put in some of the foods that I have been craving for after I have him! Kind of like a little celebration :) Speaking of hospital bag, I packed mine at around 34 weeks and so did Chris. I think I'll do a next post on what is in my hospital bag and then after I have him maybe I will go back and let you know what I actually used!

I actually got into a minor car accident this past week on my lunch break at work. Someone rear-ended me, but it was honestly such a low impact she pretty much just tapped my car. It freaked me out thought because it could have been really bad. I called my Dr. to let them know and they said it is protocol that you have to come in after a car accident, especially since I was 36.5 weeks at the time. The good thing was that I got to do a practice run of going to Labor and Delivery haha! I could still feel the baby moving around and stuff after the accident, but I wasn't sure if the tightening of the seat-belt did anything or if it hit my stomach against the steering wheel. I went to L&D and they hooked up one of those band things around my belly to monitor everything. They said my blood pressure was fine and the baby seemed fine too, but wanted me to stay around for a couple of hours to make sure nothing changed. She also told me I was having contractions, which I had no idea I don't even notice. They sent me home after a few hours and told me to just keep my normal appointment for the next morning with my Dr. I definitely feel extremely blessed that no damage was done during the car accident!

Symptoms: Just feeling huge! My stomach actually hurts towards the front because it is stretching and I can feel the baby pushing on it. No stretch marks so far, so hopefully I am in the clear! I feel like I am kind of waddling now and my feet/ankles are feeling worn out from the extra weight I am carrying around. I don't think it helps that I don't wear the most supportive shoes most of the time when I am at home. I have also been waking up with really bad charlie horses in my legs and luckily if I flex my foot they go away after a few seconds, but they seriously hurt so bad!! I think I have been nesting like a crazy person too, which I don't know if it is a "symptom", but I thought I would include it anyways. Over Memorial Day Weekend my husband and I deep cleaned the house and changed out the air filter, finished painting, cleaned out all of the vents, all of the drawers and cabinets. It felt really good! Now we just have to keep it clean until the baby comes! I also washed all of his clothes and blankets. I put together his bouncer seat and organized all of his drawers. We ordered his stroller  and carseat over a month ago and just got an email this week saying they cancelled our order because it is no longer available. That was annoying! Luckily I found the same deal somewhere else and it shipped the next day, so I need to at least hold onto this baby until June 14th because I don't have a car seat lol. We ordered a basinet that I put together and set it up in our room! Chris picked it out, which was really cute :) It's super easy to assemble and comes with a carry-bag so you can bring it with you if you travel so I'll link it below in case anyone is interested! Also, we have a name picked out, and most of our friends already know, but I will wait to announce it when he is born!

Cravings: Basically everything that I can't eat! Any kind of sweets and tons of fruit! Unfortunately, when I have too much fruit my blood sugar is too high, so I usually stick to one or two Halo oranges a day or half of an apple. Peanut butter has been my savior! I can eat as much peanut butter as I want without my blood sugar spiking. I have sadly gone through 2 giant Adam's Crunchy all natural peanut butter from Costco over the past few weeks (I'm pretty sure they have like 60 servings per container hah!!). I try to stay away from things that are "sugar-free" because I know the artificial sweeteners are not the greatest for you, but my one "bad" thing that I eat is the Danon Light and Fit yogurts (I think they are made with sucralose or something). They have 12g of protein and help cure my sweet tooth, so I figure if that's the one thing I splurge on this pregnancy, who cares! Another thing that I like to have now that its getting super hot out is sparkling waters. My new favorite is the Cascade Ice Organic Sparkling Water in Pomegranate Mango. It's sooo good when it's ice cold.

That's pretty much it as far as an update goes. Here are the bouncy seat, basinet and travel system that we got. I obviously have never used them before, so I don't know how they are going to work for our baby, but they are all really good quality and decent prices. It's so easy to spend sooo much money on baby, especially being a first time mom. But, I have been trying to find good deals on decent quality things. Hope you enjoy!

6 Summer Accessories: Affordable way to look trendy this summer

Hey guys! I wanted to do a post on some really cute accessories for the remaining summer. These are easy ways to dress up your existing spring and summer pieces to make them a little more on-trend! If you are like me and love basics, this will help dress them up. Trendy things are hard for me to invest in, so it makes me feel better when I can spend a little less on things like this! Hope you enjoy :)

1 Dress: 5 Different Ways

Sorry for the lack of fashion-related posts lately! I think since I have been pregnant it's been so much harder for me to get creative because a lot of my clothes haven't been really fitting and I honestly don't really want to buy tons of maternity clothes that I am only going to wear temporarily (you guys know I am all about trying to have a more capsule/minimal base wardrobe and the fact that I will only wear maternity stuff for a few months is hard for me to justify!). However, I am at the point now where nothing really fits, but LUCKILY it is starting to get nice and warm out and I have recently picked up a couple of comfy jersey-knit dresses that are non-maternity and I know I can wear after I have the baby as well. I wanted to show you how you can take a simple, plain black dress and wear it with clothing pieces you probably already have in your wardrobe! I didn't have to purchase anything new to make this post, which is really great. The dress itself is a midi-dress I got from Ross for $9.99! I can't find it online, but I linked some really similar dresses that are super affordable. The midi-length is great because it shows a little bit of leg so you can see your shoes, but a lot more comfortable and flattering for me than a short dress since I am pregnant. I also am all about comfort, especially now that I am pregnant and already feel uncomfortable at this point. I wanted to keep these outfits nice and comfy! I hope you enjoy!

Pregnancy Update: Weeks 31-33

Baby month is next month! I have a doctor's appointment this week with my doctor (last one was with a midwife) and I want to confirm this, but the midwife told me because of my gestational diabetes they usually don't let you go past your due date. So, since my due date is June 30th, I won't be having a July baby. I had an appointment at 32 weeks and then I will have another at 34 and 36, then every week until the baby comes! That's what he had told me before I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, and since I haven't seen my actual OB since then, I am not sure if that is going to change. The midwife said we will talk about that at my next appointment. At my 32 week appointment it was pretty quick and easy, I had to bring my log of all the food I have been eating and what my blood sugar has been over the past few weeks and they scan that in for their records. She said I have been doing great and there is no need for further intervention at this point! Which is really great to hear because I have been working really hard to keep my blood sugar low and have been passing up all of the delicious foods that I have been wanting! They checked the baby's heart rate, which is always so relieving to hear. It usually is around 140 or so. They measured me to make sure baby was growing correctly (I still don't get how this really tells you lol) and just asked if I had any questions. Another exciting thing that we did over the past few weeks is get another 3D/4D Ultrasound! We went and did this at an imaging place at week 14 to find out what we were having and she told us it is really cool to come back around weeks 28-32 (when the baby is looking close to what it does at birth, but still has enough room to move around so you can actually see everything). So, we went last weekend and it was honestly the coolest thing! We got to see our baby boy and his chubby cheeks and HAIR. She said she was actually surprised at how much hair he already has considering I still had 8 weeks left at the time. So weird, I never would have imagined us to have a baby with lots of hair hah! I wonder what color it will be!

As far as symptoms go, nothing really new. Honestly, I have been so blessed to have a pretty great pregnancy and still have been enjoying it for the most part. There are hard parts about it, but I just feel so lucky to even be able to become pregnant that I try not to focus on the bad so much. Seeing your body change and get bigger is always a hard thing for a woman, I think, but it's only temporary and you get the greatest gift out of it. It's definitely getting a lot harder to workout (OMG the motivation is really lacking here), move around and pick up things off of the ground. I have been taking a nap almost every day when I get home from work, and then after that I go straight to working out because it seems to be the only thing that gives me a boost of energy so I can actually get stuff done around the house. Shaving my legs or putting any kind lotion or anything on them is really awkward. My stomach feels like it can't stretch anymore and is as hard as a rock. It changes shape all the time when I move around and stuff and I can really feel different limbs and body parts of the baby! I woke up yesterday from my nap and it looked so weird I had this giant bulge on one side and not on the other. I was slacking with any kind of stretch mark butter or lotion over the past few months, but I have started to ramp it up because of how much I can feel it stretching. My belly button officially looks weird, too. I am wondering if it will ever go back to it's original state haha. I can see the linea negra now when I look in the mirror (no way I can see anything below my belly button without a mirror at this point), but I think it looks extra visible because I am so dang white! I haven't had any near-fainting experiences since I have been tracking my blood sugar, which is awesome! I have pretty much nailed down what I can and can't eat and eat mainly the same thing every day just to keep everything in check. I am really running out of things to wear as before I could get away with all of my tops, now they just look stupid because they stick out at the bottom. I bought a couple of maternity basic tees and tanks to layer underneath stuff and that seems to be the best! I like the stuff that doesn't have ruching (that looks so weird, but I googled it and it said that's how you spell it lol) on the sides because I know I can wear it postpartum as well; and I think it just looks more seamless. Also, since it is starting to get nice outside I can start to wear dresses, which are so much more comfortable than jeans! I went to Ross recently and found a bunch of really simple, soft, non-maternity dresses that I LOVE and were so inexpensive (like $9-13). I really like the midi and maxi lengths, I find them the most flattering! Again, I know I can wear them after the baby too, so I don't mind buying them. I'll link a couple of cute and affordable ones below! Also, I had my first two strangers mention that I was pregnant! I know this sounds stupid, but I was so excited. I was in my work uniform and the shirt is skin tight so it's kind of hard not to notice haha. They were both so sweet and cute though, it made it seem really real!

I also had my baby shower and maternity photos at week 31! My sisters and Mom threw me a shower over in my hometown and it was soooo perfect! I will do a blogpost with pictures and details about it after my sister gets done editing them. Also, if you need a photographer my sister is seriously amazing! Not just saying that! Check out her photography instagram @jennifernoellephotography . She has the best style and makes awkward people (me) feel really comfortable and basically tells you what to do! I only have a few things left to purchase for the baby and would love if anyone has any last recommendations :)

Pregnancy Update: Weeks 29-30, Gestational Diabetes?

Hey guys! Less than ten weeks left! I wanted to update you guys on whats been going on and how I have been feeling the past few weeks. First, as you can tell by the title, I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes. I never thought I would get it. I have been being cautious of what I have been eating for the most part throughout my pregnancy, with some crackers or a treat here and there and I have been exercising at least 5 times a week throughout my entire 2nd trimester and into my third! So, I was really bummed when I failed the 3-hour glucose test. Last time I updated you guys I was waiting to go back for the 3-hour. I went this last week and honestly it was really bad. Not the drink or anything, but I felt TERRIBLE throughout it and almost threw up and passed out multiple times because I felt so awful. I kind of had a feeling I wasn't reacting well to it and might not pass just based on how I felt the whole time. I mentioned before too, I have had multiple times at work where I just feel really light-headed and weak and then all of the sudden will get really nauseous, sweaty and my brain just can't focus on anything. They called me the day after the test and told me my levels were elevated for 2 out of the 4 blood draws (they draw your blood fasted, then an hour after the drink, then another hour after the drink, then another hour later). So, because it was elevated for more than one, they consider me to have Gestational Diabetes. The good thing is that at least now I KNOW what was going on with me recently and have an answer as to why I have been feeling so bad, plus I only have 10 weeks left so I know I can do it! They scheduled me with a registered dietician a few days ago and she taught me how to change my diet and check my blood glucose levels 4 times a day (just like a diabetic...prick your finger, log your food, the whole 9-yards) and I have to bring my log into all of my appointments so they can check to see if my levels were okay. I have my next appointment in a little less than 2 weeks and I think they start monitoring with ultrasounds at that point. I honestly felt like a failure finding all of this out, but after talking to the dietician, she explained it to me that sometimes you really just can't control having it. She was explaining that your placenta produces all of these extra hormones and they can attack your insulin, leaving extra sugar in your blood stream. I didn't really think I was eating that many carbs, but after a full day of tracking I realized there are certain foods that just spike my blood sugar so at least this way I am monitoring and trying to not make that happen! As far as my bump goes, I feel like it is getting bigger everyday! I still have yet to have a stranger ask if I am pregnant though, which is so hard for me to believe! But, maybe people are just scared to say the wrong thing :) It's getting a lot more uncomfortable to sit straight up in a chair, that is probably the worst position for me to be in, which makes me get kind of antsy at work. Sleeping is going well, no complaints besides my dog waking me up at 4-5 am every morning. I still make my pillow fort with pillows on either side of me to make sure I don't sleep on my stomach and that really seems to help and be comfortable! Still feeling the baby move around mostly at night and in the morning when I am laying down in bed. The movements are seriously the best feelings ever and make it seem so real! I need to make a checklist this week of all of things I need to get done before the baby comes, just because it is really coming up quickly! I wasn't going to do a birth class, but after really thinking about it and looking into it I think it would be a really good idea and I know they teach you more than just birthing. I am going to look into that and a hospital tour the next few weeks. I also have my baby shower this next weekend, which I am so excited about seeing all of my friends and family. That is one of the hardest things is living so far away from all of them, so I am really looking forward to it. The baby's room is really coming along and I will post pictures once it is finished! We got our rocker this last week so now all we really need is an ottoman, some wall decor and a few baskets to organize some stuff and we will be set! It is sooo cute I can't wait to post pictures of what it looks like done :) I LOVE home decor and furnishing rooms so this has been so fun for me to have an excuse to do so! That's pretty much it as far as an update goes! Talk to you guys soon :)

Spring Transitional Must-Have: Sheer duster

Hey guys! I wanted to share one of my most favorite recent wardrobe purchases: the sheer duster. It's still pretty cold here where I live, so I pretty much freeze outside with just this on, but I know I am going to get so much use this spring and even summer and fall with these two pieces. I picked up mine from Forever 21 in black and taupe (exact linked below, but taupe is sold out online right now so check in stores). I have a pretty monochromatic wardrobe, so I knew these two would be able to mix and match with almost everything I own. Since I am currently 29 weeks pregnant, I also knew that these would be awesome with dresses in the spring before I have the baby! I think one of the cutest outfits for spring is a tight, body con dress with one of these over the top! I also think it would look super cute with denim cutoffs and booties for more of a boho look. Check out some of the ones I linked below :)