Welcome to the World, Charlotte Frances!!

Brian and I welcomed our beautiful baby girl, Charlotte Frances King, into the world on Friday, January 6 at 6:31 p.m. We are head over heels in love with this precious miracle, and have spent the last twelve days wading through the waters of being brand new parents while being in absolute awe at this little life that we created. 

Charlotte Frances King

7 pounds, 9 ounces

19 1/2 inches long

I never, ever could have fathomed how much love I would feel for my sweet baby girl - it's the most overwhelming, beautiful, all-consuming love, and I wouldn't trade it for a single thing in all of the world. Aside from battling a good dose of the baby blues, I'm recovering really well, and Brian is even more of an amazing dad than I could have pictured him being. We're so in love and feel so blessed to have this sweet baby as our daughter.

Week 38 Bumpdate

How Far Along? 38 weeks, 4 days

Musings on the Weekly Photo: The thought of "Is this my last bump picture?!" is now constantly running through my head!

Sex: A sweet baby girl, our CFK!

Maternity Clothes: I placed an order over the weekend for a few maternity pieces that look comfortable and transition into nursing-friendly tops, so I think that will be good for now. I want to hold off and see how I look/feel post-delivery before buying too many post-baby clothes. But someone will have to pry my beloved maternity yoga pants from my death grip... probably around the time I go back to work in April. 

Baby's the size of...: A winter melon (?)/Pomeranian/a half baking sheet of meringues! At my appointment last Thursday (12/29), my doctor estimated she is measuring around 7 pounds and may be close to 8 by delivery day, which is exciting!

Nursery: Finally, totally, completely FINISHED! I snapped photos this morning but it was still dark outside and the pictures weren't so great. I'll take more tonight and will plan to share them tomorrow! I'm just in love - it's our favorite room in the whole house and is exactly what we pictured for our girl.

Movement: Still constant. I don't know if she's getting stronger and bigger or I'm running out of room (or both!) but I am feeling EVERYTHING and am trying to soak up the last days of watching and feeling her move throughout the day.

Symptoms: Congestion - I'm over my cold but have definitely been fighting the dreaded pregnancy nasal congestion. Carpal tunnel (didn't even know this was a symptom until I told my doctor that my right fingertips were going numb and my hands were falling asleep really easily). Still struggling with the RLP, still only on my right side. Bending over is nearly acrobatic - there's lots of side-leans going on. Tired because I'm not sleeping all that well. Starting to feel light cramps on occasion, but nothing consistent/regular.

Brian: Is so excited for our baby to be here. He tells me constantly how excited he is to be a dad and that makes me fall for him all over again. He's starting to study for a big exam but has still found time to help me with all of the little last minute things that I had on my list - he's been amazing throughout this entire pregnancy.

Sleep: Bad. Real bad. My blood pressure was a little high last Thursday, so the doctor told me to try sleeping on my left side but when I do, it strains the ligaments on my right hip area. So then I rotate (literally like a roasting chicken - I have to pull my butt over by the pajama pants because it hurts too badly to just shift my hips) to my right side, and then I'm laying directly ON my sore hip. It's never-ending and so uncomfortable, to the point where I have started to dread bedtime. Even when I'm beyond exhausted, I struggle to fall and stay asleep. And that's WITHOUT the bathroom trips 2-3 times a night.

Workouts: One walk with Molly and Brian and lots of stretching/squats.

Cravings: Orange juice. Chips Ahoy cookies. Guacamole. Queso. Grilled cheese and tomato soup. Egg rolls. 

Aversions/Dislikes: Raw vegetables. We had taco salads on Monday night and I had to force the lettuce and tomato down.

Annoyances: Weird mild weather - I'm ready for it to be cold and stay cold (maybe because I am ALWAYS hot).

What I Miss: Being comfortable.

Best Moment This Week: My doctor's appointment last Thursday! As of then, I was dilated 1cm and 70% effaced, at -1 station. I totally had to Google most of that when I left the office, but it was encouraging to hear that I'm making progress. And as my doctor (who is amazing, the chief of the department, and has been doing this for years) started to leave, she dropped "I'm going to guess that you go at 39 weeks - I don't see you making it to a full 40." So that was very much a "Cue the panic/excitement/how the heck do I plan for my parents to rearrange their flight and get here?!" moment.

Looking Forward To: My next appointment tomorrow! I'm really hoping that I've made more progress. Once I have my parents here, I feel like I'll be much more in an "Okay, it's go time" frame of mind. Because right now that hesitation is definitely there - wanting things to hold off as much as possible so they have plenty of time. My last date night with Brian. And my "me time" that I've scheduled - a haircut and root touch-up, wax, mani/pedi... I figure it will be a little while before I have endless pampering time, so I might  as well make the most of it now!

Week 37 Bumpdate

(I'm actually 38+ weeks at this point, but forgot to post my 37 week update last week - can't fall off the wagon this late in the game!) 

How Far Along? 37 weeks on Christmas Eve!

Musings on the Weekly Photo: I really just can't believe that this time next year, I'll be holding our baby girl in front of the Christmas tree! Makes all of the aches, pains and complaints so beyond worth it.

Sex: Girl

Maternity Clothes: All day, every day. I'm loving the shirt I'm wearing in the photo - my mom sent it to me as part of my birthday gift, and it's been in constant rotation. I figure if I can't drink champagne at the holidays, I might as well wear a shirt that looks like it has champagne bubbles on it.

Baby's the size of...: A striped skunk, a head of romaine lettuce... basically, large and in charge. She's measuring in around 6 pounds, 19 inches.

Nursery: We have a couple of things to hang on the wall and find a closet organization solution and then we're actually finally TOTALLY finished.

Movement: All the time. CFK has been super active throughout my entire pregnancy, but I'm really feeling the movement a lot more. Maybe because she's running out of space?

Symptoms: I've had the worst cold and let me tell you - coughing fits while 9 months pregnant are NOT fun. Luckily, my doctor told me that I'm welcome to take cold meds (which I had been avoiding because I didn't think they were allowed), so that's offering some relief. I'm just glad that the cold is falling over these long holiday weekends, and not the middle of the work week. Aside from that, still struggling with RLP, heartburn has gotten worse, I'm definitely waddling around... to say I'm over the symptoms would be an understatement! 

Brian: Is handling me well. I think he's starting to realize how miserable I'm feeling (maybe it's the middle of the night tears that did that?) and offers to do whatever he can to help. Unfortunately at this stage in the game, there's not a whole heck of a lot that either of us can do, but it's comforting just to have him there. He's also too cute about being so excited for baby to be here - it makes me look forward to seeing him and our daughter together that much more!

Sleep: Getting worse every night. It's hard to get comfortable and once I do get comfortable, I have to pee, so it's a whole routine start-over of trying to get out of bed, to the bathroom, back into bed, repositioned... I'm definitely winded by the time I do finally settle down. I'm telling you - I've never felt more attractive.

Workouts: Just my squats and lots of stretching. It seems to help the RLP and makes me feel like I'm doing a little bit of something, which... is better than nothing?

Cravings: Buffalo chicken pizza. Cheesecake. Everything bagels with cream cheese. I can't really taste much of anything right now, so there aren't many things that sound good.

Aversions/Dislikes: Can't deal with raw meat, and raw vegetables are not tolerated right now.

Annoyances: This cold and whoever gave it to me.

What I Miss: My waist? All of my shoes. My cheekbones. Wine.

Best Moment This Week: My doctor's appointment! I was a 1/2 cm dilated, which I know isn't much but was still progress! 

Looking Forward To: My check-up next week. Taking Christmas down and getting the house in final prep mode for baby. My parents getting into town. Having one last "We're not parents yet!" date with Brian.