Hospital Tour & Week 25

I've been so lazy with posting lately & I apologize for that. I tell myself that I'm going to post & then I just get side tracked... So now I'm laying in bed posting from my good old iPhone. 

First things first, I'm at week 25 this week. & little lady is the size of a cauliflower. 

She's moving a decent amount and causing me quite a lot of discomfort. Leg cramps, heartburn, reflux, round ligament pain all seem to be daily staples in my life. It is all worth it though. 

We are getting paint for the nursery next week and picking up her crib as well :) and then the fun begins. My baby shower is also coming up in about a month and I'm really excited :) 

Other news: 

Did something I've never once done before. And maybe it has something to do with the bad memories I've got at PMMC or maybe it's just the plan I have for this rodeo. Either way I did a hospital tour of L&D and I'm SO GLAD that I did. 

If you're pregnant, I recommend scheduling a tour. You learn so much and get familiar with the staff and hospital . Today at my tour I was told about the "family waiting room..." It's a place where friends and family can sit and wait while I'm in labor. Now, given the bombardment of last time I gave birth, I am pretty against people visiting. But it was more so great news for Caleb. The hospital also endorses sibling involvement which is something really major and important to me. 

Since I've been stressing about what to do if I go into labor and jamie isn't there in time, what do I do? Well now we have a solution. We can bring him with us and he can wait right there with us. And then come in and meet the baby right away. <3 which means a lot to me. It's tough because we don't have anyone real close by that we can rely on... My mother in law is out of the question, because she's never around or has an excuse. So finding this out was a great thing. 

I have a lot of different things I want to do with this birth compared to the others.

1. No pain meds. I want to go completely natural. I know it sounds crazy, but it's something that I really want to try. Women did it this way for hundreds of years and I want to experience it. Besides Rays throat will be right there for me to strangle him so. Lol. He can deal. 

2. Delayed cord clamping. I feel like this is a fairly new premise. But it's something I feel strongly about doing. By waiting a few minutes for the cord to change color the baby gets vital blood etc. 

3. Having a mirror. This was something I literally decided on YESTERDAY. Something that freaks me out a little bit but I think that it's beautiful and I want to see her be born. 

4. Pulling her out. This is something new to me as well. I'm going to ask if I'm allowed to pull her out when her head is right there. 

5. Pictures!!!! I want a lot taken in the delivery room. I just want everything documented and saved and remembered. Considering it will probably be done with an iPhone I'm not too worried about quality, because these are for our memories. No one else. Plus knowing Caleb can be there now right down the hall, I'm excited to catch those first moments with those 2 together. 

All in all I'm excited. Taking a hospital tour was something I'm really glad that I did. Something that I wish I had done in the past, but I'm glad I did it now. Here's hoping that July gets here soon! :) 

24 Weeks Down, 16 more to go!

Highlights and Lowlights of Week 24 of My Pregnancy:

Highlights: 

• My little lady has been moving much more frequently, reassuring me she's doing okay in there :) 
• WE HAVE HIT THE AGE OF VIABILITY! (although everyone has something different to say)
• No preterm labor scares or contractions (besides Braxton Hicks) & if you know me, you know I've dealt with preterm labor every single time
• STRONG HEARTBEAT! <3 At my appointment last week, she was squirming around but her heart rate ranged from 120-154 :)  
• My pregnancy support belt from Motherhood Maternity has helped with the lower abdominal pain & I have been able to work out again! :)  
• I'm measuring right on schedule! 
• I am feeling more and more comfortable with my pregnancy body <3 =) 
• Getting excited (and kind of anxious) for labor, but more excited right now. Looking forward to holding my baby girl in my arms and kissing her little face.
• Set on my birth location and birth plan. We are doing delayed cord clamping (you want your baby to get the most from you before the cord is cut, so we are waiting until the tube loses color to cut it) and we are doing immediate skin to skin contact. 
• Linea Nigra... it might seem odd but I never really had that line with Caleb or Gianna or Nick. This is really the first time I have it. And it's not really that bad. It's still faint, but it's kind of exciting for me. 
• Loving  the Motts Apple White Grape Juice & tomato red onion salad with EVOO (light) 
• Almost to the THIRD trimester already =) 28 Weeks and we are THERE. 

Lowlights:

• HEARTBURN/ACID REFLUX/INDIGESTION - it gets pretty terrible at times... to the point it wakes me up or I vomit because of it. I am usually taking Zantac in the morning and before bed. 
• Abdominal pain/tailbone pain - my support belt helps but it's still there. 
• Fear of too much weight gain (I'm working out and staying healthy and I know the weight will come off. But seeing numbers go up on the scale after staying the same for so long freaks me out). 
• Still not leaking any colostrum. Breastfeeding is REALLY important to me. By this time with Caleb I was leaking already, and I haven't done that yet. Not really stressed about it but will be meeting with a lactation consultant to see if theres anything we can do.
• Shortness of breath
• Swollen feet/ankles. Usually from standing too long. Nothing I am too concerned with yet.
• Difficulty shaving my legs, LMAO. & of course right in the beginning of warmer weather. I'm going to need to ask Ray for help pretty soon ;)  
• Glucose test is coming up on the 16th of this month -___- and with Caleb's I almost threw up because it tasted so horrible.
• Back pain... begging my hubs to give me massages constantly LOL. And I've gotta feeling I'm going to have back labor 
• Uncomfortable/Restless when I'm sleeping. Once I am finally comfortable I need to find a new position. And moving around is extremely uncomfortable.
• Itchy belly 

Weight Gain: +16 pounds 

Doctors say I'm on track. I feel like I'm gaining faster this time. But I'm still healthy. And doing well. Working out like I have been makes me feel better about the weight I'm gaining.

Baby Girls Movements: Moving a lot more frequently & we can see it now on the outside of my belly <3 which I absolutely LOVE. 

Food Aversions/Cravings: I haven't been craving too much... but I am always hungry it feels like. When I made London Broil the other night for dinner I got really bad heartburn from it, and when I made turkey chili I felt sick afterwards - so I don't think the baby likes either of those things. LOL. Which I hope goes away when she's born because they're my favorite things. 

BIG NEWS: 

• I have a venue for my baby shower!!!! If you know me, then you'll know what a relief this is for me... I didn't want to have to do it at my apartment. While it's certainly big enough... I just didn't feel like doing it here. The parking situation here is a pain in the ass, and the parking authority has been out with a vengeance as of lately.. 3 hour parking and they'll chalk your tires. And then ticket you for $30. And I would HATE to have people come here and then get tickets because the parking authority is like a bunch of nazi's. Actually having it in the township building my husband is a police officer at! =) So I'm really relieved about that.  
• Baby Shower Invitations will be getting mailed out TOMORROW!!!!! <3 So if you've sent me your address? Be on the lookout for your invite. =) Grateful for my best friend Emily who is helping me with everything baby shower related. I probably wouldn't be doing a shower without her.
• COMPLETELY NEW NURSERY DESIGN. When we looked at our baby girls room we figured that the original nursery idea we had chosen wasn't going to look right. It's a smaller space and I think the stripes would look odd. We have a brand new idea picked out and we are super stoked to start it... <3 We are going to pick up paint and supplies next week and then HOPEFULLY getting started the following Monday (when Ray is off of work).  Once the nursery is painted and complete then we can start working on getting the furniture together and everything else.
• I'm really wanting to do maternity pictures... something with my shadow and the silhouette of my belly. Hoping I can get my sister Julia to do it for me.
• Picking up some baby stuff next week... haven't decided on what though yet. I keep switching around with car seats, strollers and things like that. LOL. I'm indecisive with these things. 

 

All in all I have been acting an extremely good pregnancy. The heartburn has been terrible but manageable. The lower belly pain was excruciating, and I'm glad that the support belt has brought me so much relief. I am feeling good though. Hungry a lot but good ;) 

Other Big News in the Liczbinski Family: Caleb has his 1st t-ball game next Wednesday night and I am beyond excited to see him play. Oddly enough his team name is the same as his daddy's team when he was little - why wouldn't they be exactly the same? Haha. GO MARLINS!! Easter is this weekend as well, so we are dying eggs and doing an egg hunt. Not a big Easter person so we aren't going anywhere or doing a big dinner or anything like that.

I hope everyone has a great rest of your week, weekend & a great Easter holiday! <3 =) 

Remember to follow me on Instagram: @jennaliczbinski 

I post really frequently with bump shots, pregnancy updates and family and fitness updates! =) 

XOXO, Jenna