Baby on Board & a Giveaway

image: Periwinkle Photography

I’ll warn you right off the bat – this is going to be a sappy one. As I write my heart is fluttering around inside my chest like a butterfly trapped in a cage. I cannot believe I am just 1 week away from my due date. I can’t wait to meet this little being but I am also sad the pregnancy is almost over. It has been so fun not knowing if it is a boy or girl and I am holding my breath for that moment when the doctor says, “It’s a…” I already feel such a strong connection to this child. I have read many women’s perspectives on the process of pregnancy and how they describe the visceral feeling of having your baby safely within your womb and connected to you by a very real cord that delivers the sustenance your baby needs to survive. I long to meet this baby but dread “cutting the chord” and releasing my third child into this chaotic world unprotected from the barrier my body has created for it over the last 10 months. With every kick or roll of this baby inside me my hand wanders to my belly and I will everything in me to remember what the sensation feels like so that years from now I can recall every detail of this miraculous time. The ability to create new life has been God’s biggest blessing to me.

These days I am often up starting at 4am when a Braxton Hicks contraction wakes me from an already fitful sleep. It’s then that my mind starts to buzz. Have we chosen the right name? Do I have everything I need? Will the baby be late or on time in arriving? And then to calm myself down I always imagine my two daughters meeting their new sibling for the first time at the hospital and I can’t help but grin. I remember so clearly when my oldest met her younger sister. We kept reminding her to be gentle. She was so excited we feared she might squeeze her so hard she would injure her. The love they have shared these past 4 years is the main reason I knew we needed to have a third. In our home there is chaos, disorganization, and plenty of frustrated parental moments but the overarching theme is love and joy when we are together. I want more of that – always. Thankfully the love overshadows the sleepless nights, bickering, and stress.

And as we wait for signs of number 3’s arrival the last thing to do this week is get the nursery ready. For those type-a organized amongst us it may panic you to know I am still without art on the wall, curtains on the windows, and a chair in the room. (After you have gasped in horror – keep reading.) I did indeed have a chair, I promise. It was a rocking chair with lots of history, the chair my mom had used to nurse many of her brood. A few of you have already heard how the rocking chair saw it’s fateful end but bear with me as I think it is a story worth sharing with a larger audience. Last year as my mom was cleaning out her home she asked if I wanted her to save the old white rocking chair. I was still hoping with everything in me that we would be lucky enough to have a third child and I told her to save it. That day we dragged it down to the basement together. When I was confidently 6 months pregnant with this baby I brought the chair over to our house. 3 weeks ago I taxed my husband with the job of sprucing up the chair with a fresh coat of paint. The paint I bought didn’t work on treated wood so John dragged the chair around to the side of the house after trying to paint it in the front yard saying he’d have to sand it down the following weekend and try painting again after. Alas the chair was un-strategically placed beside the garbage can and it happened to be “garbage collection” Monday the following day and you now know where this story is going. The chair was crushed in the truck compactor and alas I am chair-less. There were a few tears but at the end of the day a chair is a chair so we have moved on. Fingers crossed a new white chair that has been ordered will make it by Thanksgiving. And the rest of the room is starting to look great with varying shades of neutral colors and just a few pops of color. I love how peaceful and simple it is. Below are some of the things we’ve been collecting. The baby animal prints are cuter than words right?!?

{Anthropologie Tassle Curtain, The Land of Nod Knot Lamp, Animal Print Shop Art, Ceramic Garden Stool, White Glider, Sheepskin Rug, Art by Big Sister Emma, KidKraft Book Shelf}

While it is easy for me to wax on about the bliss of babydom I can assure you that my pregnancy is just as uncomfortable and icky as the next girls. The varicose veins continue to plague me and a waddle more than I walk these days… If you are pregnant and want some sympathy lob an email my way and I will fill you in on all the nitty-gritty details. That being said the one brand that has brought me the most comfort is Preggers, a line of compression tights and socks that have saved me from being bed bound due to swollen ankles. I adored their leggings under long dresses all summer long and now wear their full tights almost every day. Preggers has generously offered to give away two pairs of their tights to a pregnant mama who likes Preggers and The Sentimentalist on Facebook and leaves a comment below. Trust me. You. Want. These. Tights.

*Top Photo by Jessica Murphy of Periwinkle Photography