15 Week Bump Board

15 weeks today... Good Lord. Only 25 weeks to go!! I'm definitely getting more and more excited as the days pass. I have a bump for sure now but it's not that big... which was the same with Caleb.. I didn't really show with Caleb until right after Ray and I got married!! No really... right after. As in the next day I woke up and had a baby bump. LOL :) Still unsure as to what I'm having...but I am leaning towards girl, but it's honestly hard for me to tell. Only 5 more weeks until I'm at the halfway mark! YAY!

This week. Baby Liczbinski is the size of a navel orange

measuring 4.0 inches and weighing in at 2.5 ounces! The hair on baby's head is growing in and the hair follicles will make pigment if your baby has dark hair -- I have dark hair and so does Ray, Caleb was born with dark hair but he's now blonde much like I was when I was his age ;) Baby is even forming eyelashes and eyebrows!! Around Baby's body there's still that lanugo (peace fuzz like hair) to protect against constantly being exposed to the amniotic fluid. The little nuggets skin is thin and nearly translucent and if you were able to look inside my womb I'd be able to see small blood vessels forming underneath the skin. Baby L might even be sucking his/her thumb around this time & can even get the hiccups. Baby can also yawn, rub its eyes and even BLINK! Baby now also has the ability to grasp the umbilical cord. Baby can also hear sounds now :) Baby's legs also outmeasure its arms now!! Baby is growing rapidly :) 

Pregnancy Symptoms at 15 Weeks:

- nosebleeds, thanks to increased blood volume and sensitive nasal passages

- heartburn, gas and/or indigestion. More to blame on the hormones

- Frisky! Take advantage of the increased libido.

- Swollen gums, another pitfall of those pregnancy hormones. Make sure you're taking care of your teeth, and see your dentist for your regular checkups.

** As a woman's pregnant body continues to make more blood this month, it's especially important that you get enough iron in your diet to keep up with red blood production and to avoid becoming anemic. This increased blood production may still be causing your mucous membranes to swell giving you a stuffy nose or more frequent nosebleeds. ** 

What Mommy is Feeling:

I haven't suffered from heartburn as badly as I did with Caleb - not yet anyway - then again I don't remember when it started with him, I just remember it was ABSOLUTELY AWFUL. I have it on occasion but nothing like before, so we shall see. When I was pregnant with Caleb, I had Tums constantly and was always making jokes about drinking Maalox on the rocks, because it was the only thing that would help me. I haven't had any crazy nosebleeds, but I have been more congested and stuffy and when I blow my nose there is blood... which honestly never happens to me! I don't think I have ever had a real nosebleed before EXCEPT when I'm pregnant. As far as being "frisky" goes - I have been more inclined to want to do the deed - as compared to the first trimester when I just wanted to sleep. I have an burst of energy which has been amazing because I was literally so exhausted in the beginning... I have been able to start T25 up this week which has been wonderful! Working out makes me feel SO MUCH better and I overall have more energy throughout the day. Like I've previously said I am determined to have a fit pregnancy and remain as healthy as possible. I won't use being pregnant as an excuse to eat like garbage and let myself go. A baby is a reason, not an excuse!   I am being careful in my weight gain to make sure it remains in proper range. 

We also bought our FIRST baby item ... one that baby and Caleb can both share and get use out of... a sit and stand stroller. A friend of mine was getting rid of hers and had asked me if it's something that I wanted so I gladly obliged. 

(except ours is red and black)

I already know what carseat we are going to get, but it depends on gender on which color we will go with. My neighbor from my dads house also got in contact with me and will be selling us her gently used 3 in 1 crib (its white, gorgeous, & the crib we WANT!!) as well as her glider/ottoman combo! It makes me feel really happy to know that people think of me in things like this. And it really helps that I'm getting them at a discounted price! :) Saving money is always a good thing.

^ that is THE crib or one that is similar and I just love it. It looks so elegant and I absolutely adore the white crib look.

Another MUST HAVE for Baby L. 

I've been entering the daily contest at 4Moms Facebook page because they are doing 31 days of giveaways and I desperately want one. These Mamaroo's are apparently a God send for busy mama's and I definitely want to get one!! If I don't win one, then it'll definitely be in my purchase list.

Another Mommy MUST HAVE!! -->

A Tula Baby Carrier! My good friend and former Army Battle Buddy Amanda got me hooked on the idea of these. She can literally breastfeed in her Tula and I mean look at the adorable print. They can be pricey but are definitely WORTH THE MONEY YOU PAY FOR THEM! This is definitely something on my must have list. And they have some of the most ADORABLE prints ever! The Lil' Rascal print that is above is unavailable right now but its definitely adorable and obtainable through the many Tula Facebook Pages out there. One of my current favorites is the Tula Love page! There are tons of other Facebook pages out there to. I am still getting the hang of it! :) But it's a must have on my mommy list of must-haves! <3 

Another thing I'll probably need (and I'm praying I have sufficient breast milk production) is this:

You can find it at My Milkies! One of the problems I had with breastfeeding Caleb was I produced SO MUCH MILK. And it was coming in so much I couldn't pump it fast enough. And it's ultimately why I stopped breastfeeding.... because I was constantly engorged and couldn't go anywhere because I was leaking milk in insane amounts. I breastfed for a good 3 months but this idea the milk saver is excellent. It goes in the non-feeding bra and the excess milk gets saved. Because I am so adamant about successfully breastfeeding this pregnancy. I'm praying that I have good milk production again. Any tips on finding out how to figure this out and NOT right when the baby is born? So many decisions and so many little gadgets!! 

I'm also planning on getting one of these:

They are adorable, and I think it would be something great to have right next to the bed. I found one of these on Target.Com (and Pinterest) for something that goes onto the bed as a portable bassinet. I am a big fan of co-sleeping and I think it's super important. As much as I want Baby L to lay right in my arms I have read FAR too many horror stories of what has gone wrong and I know I couldn't live with myself if that ever happened. 

It's pretty inexpensive it's $53.99 at Target and it has surround sound (I don't even have surround sound in my living room, lol) It's called the Baby Delight Snuggle Nest Napper with Surround Sound  and it plays soothing sounds through the speakers to help them sleep - whether it be nap time or bedtime at night :) It's a nice idea, and it might be extremely beneficial for trips away. I know the nursery won't be used right away either...

....and speaking of nurseries... I found what we want to do! 

... well more like what I want to do and Ray will go along with it.

I am seriously in love with and obsessed with gray for a nursery color. There's something about it that is so classy and warm, and I think it's perfect. The crib in the picture is the actual crib (I think) that we are getting from my neighbor :)))) The darker gray stripes on the walls actually have a sparkle to them which if we have a boy I would just do a darker gray with no sparkles... still cute either way. And those rugs!?! OMG! A trip to Ikea is in my near future for sure. If it's a girl - pink accents and if it's a boy I would do teal accents. But that's basically the idea that I'm going with. Going to look for a newer light fixture for the bedroom. Whenever my dad comes up to do the wall in the bedroom I am going to have to have him run some outlets for us too because on that side of the room there is literally none. And I've also been wrestling with the idea of adding a nice fancy curtain across that area so we save money on costs of doing the actual wall and that way everything is still RIGHT there. And we don't need to run wires and separate electricity for that side. I am really hoping its a girl!! Just by looking at the room with the pink and everything its absolutely adorable. I am always going to Pinterest for inspiration and Project Nursery for ideas on what to do. I get daily emails from them in my inbox and they always have great design ideas!! 

I am really just getting impatient now in know if we are shopping pink or blue! I see so many things when we go out and I just to start buying little outfits and all of that!! I also want to buy my first few cloth diapers and I want to get started but don't want to just blindly buy them I want to get my first couple to be gender oriented! :) I've also heard great things about Honest diapers and I've been thinking of trying those out. I heard about them before but I follow this other awesome blogging mama (and you should too) named Crystal Lynn Bogenschutz and she posted some great information about the Honest diapers and their shipping and how they really helped her son with bad diaper rash. And that's obviously something super important for our babies not to deal with. 

This week I did something a little different with my chalkboard...

Doing the writing by hand was extremely tedious and time consuming. My board last week took a good 4 hours and it hurts my back to have to sit like that for extended periods of time PLUS the board doesn't photograph well with regular chalk, so now what I'm doing is going to Pic Monkey and editing my board that way. They have tons of text, boarder and editing options to make the chalkboard vibrant and adorable. It was much easier and took about a half hour as opposed to 3+ hours! You can change the colors and add symbols and little designs. So much easier!! :) It only costs about $4.99 a month for the "royale" features of the site which gives you little extras :) 

Only 13 More Days to go until we find out if Baby L is a boy or girl and we couldn't be more excited. Caleb keeps saying his little sister and that's honestly what I'm thinking I'm having too!! But we shall see. I hope everyone has a great rest of the day and week! <3 Thanks for reading.

XOXO, Jenna