Category Archives: Baby G

Jun13

20 Weeks [Round Two]

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Kendra G.

While I still feel like the weeks are creeping by, I cannot believe we’re already at the halfway mark.
I had a routine check up Tuesday and all is well with baby G2. Heartbeat was 130 bpm,
which is on the lower end of the normal 120-150 range.
What does that mean? Are boys known to have slower heart rates or girls?

It’s funny to read that I was only in maternity clothes for a couple weeks at this point last time,
since I’ve been wearing maternity clothes for about 9 weeks now.
I really wish I could wear these maternity leggings every single day. They are so comfy.
I put them on as soon as I walk in the door each day.

We are making some progress on the nursery, but it’s a much slower process this time around.
It seems like we’ve been bouncing back and forth between different projects & rooms,
making it hard to focus on the nursery. Plus, it doesn’t help that I think I’ve decided on
something, then I change my mind two days later and want to do something totally different.
It was much easier with Kenley’s room, I knew exactly what I wanted and had a clear vision.
I’m hoping to share some inspiration with you soon!

I’ve become bored to death with regular water, so I’ve been trying some new things.
The Arizona Arnold Palmers are delightful, but I’ve also discovered the citrus flavored sparkling water from Whole Foods
thanks to being a little bit early to my doctor’s appointment this week.
I’ll be stopping there from now on when I go for my checkups.
I’m still eating anything and everything in sight, with exceptions of Amy’s Burritos.
These used to be my go-to for quick lunches, but since the first semester nausea, I’ve been totally turned off by them.
Hopefully my love for them will return, but at this point, I’m not sure.

We have a couple busy weeks coming up, so I will be trying to rest any chance I get,
but we’re really looking forward to our little babymoon that is right around the corner!

Jun5

19 Weeks {Round 2}

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Kendra G.

Standard

We were able to see baby G2 yesterday at our 19 week ultrasound!
I could sit there for hours and just watch baby move around in there.
We got some good pictures and everything with baby looks great!

We went into the ultrasound planning to not find out the gender,
and even after a minor freak out on my part, we stayed strong.
Greg made a good point that it would be silly to make a last minute decision
in the moment that we may regret later. If we decide later to find out, then ok,
but we were not going to find out yesterday. Decision made. Shew!
Turns out, baby was in on it too. Our doctor doesn’t even know
because the little booger’s legs were crossed the entire time.
As of now, there is no risk of anyone mistakenly revealing the gender to us.

I am feeling so good right now and I am so thankful for that.
No food aversions at all… actually quite the opposite. I will eat anything and everything in sight and I have no problem doing so.
I am off the juice kick and have still been chugging water because the “dying of thirst” continues.
I have minor aches and pains here or there,
but overall, I’m really loving the second trimester, just like last time.
I appreciate all the comments and “welcomes” to the yoga community
and I am happy to say that I’ve been to two Hatha mix classes since my last post that I really enjoyed.
Unfortunately, I’ve been put on pelvic rest, low activity & no lifting, etc.
for at least 5-6 weeks, so yoga (and many, many other activities) are off the table.
Major bummer.

May29

18 Weeks {Round 2}

Posted on May 29, 2013 by Kendra G.

Standard

I swear I just posted an update yesterday, but I guess it’s been two weeks.
I am getting bigger, but I think that I am actually looking the appropriate size for 18 weeks,
and I don’t feel as ginormous as previous weeks, but then I see this picture and yikes!

More importantly, for the last week I have been able to feel baby G2 moving around in there!
I don’t remember exactly when I started feeling Kenley move, but I don’t think it was this early.
A couple nights ago, I swear I could have felt a little kick from the outside, but no such luck yet.
I am excited for more movement to come!!

I am still feeling good and no crazy food cravings these past two weeks.
Kenley and I have been eating a lot of pickles though.
The girl loves them, just like her mama, but only the zesty (slightly spicy) ones…
NOT the bread & butter flavor.
They were buy one, get one free at Publix last week and we’ve almost polished off two jars of them. Yum!

I went to my first prenatal yoga class last week and I really enjoyed it.
Confession, it was actually my first yoga class ever!
I am much more of a cardio person, so if the activity doesn’t cause me to sweat profusely,
then I don’t think it’s much of a workout. I think I may start becoming a yoga person though,
if nothing else, for the stretching alone, which I am very bad on my own.

More next week! Happy Wednesday!

May15

16 Weeks {Round 2}

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Kendra G.

Standard

I’m not sure how it’s possible, but this pregnancy is going so quickly, but so incredibly slow at the same time.
By my belly, I feel like I should be a couple weeks further along than I actually am,
but at the same time, I still can’t believe I’m already in my second trimester.
My body is continually changing. Belly is growing, growing, growing; and
my completely deflated-post-breastfeeding boobs have inflated again, so I may be on the hunt for new bras very soon.
I’ve had some odd aches and pains, but overall, I’m feeling really good.

I am back to eating everything, thank goodness, and I feel like I can eat all day long…
Then, I immediately regret eating said food because I am so full.
I have had more cravings this time around.
Peanut butter on anything, pretzels, apples, bananas, rice cakes, pancakes…anything!
We are not juice drinkers in our house and I didn’t really grow up drinking juice.
I’m always so aware of how much sugar is in it, so I don’t really ever have the desire to drink it…
until I’m pregnant. Last time I drank a lot of apple juice. This time, it’s anything,
apple juice, orange juice, orange juice with mango, V8 Splash, strawberry banana! I love it.
I have also cut a few things out of my diet completely, which has been somewhat sad.
Alcohol (obviously), caffeine (for the most part), deli meat (sad), and raw sushi.
I’ve been craving coffee lately, so I will have some decaf iced coffee and it totally hits the spot.
We are pretty big (diet) soda drinkers, so I have really laid off that immensely.
I basically think about food all day long, and I’m ok with that.

I had my 16 week appointment yesterday and everything looks good.
I’m gaining weight and little baby G2′s heart rate was 149 bpm.
I haven’t felt any movement yet, but I’m anxiously waiting to!

The past two weeks I’ve went for at least one run… I think just one run each week,
but I ran 2 miles each time, with a short break at the one mile marker.
I feel so good once I get out and run and it’s honestly not that difficult.
Hopefully I’ll be able to keep it up.
I’m only running outside with Greg and only pushing the stroller during the time to walk,
so it helps having a support system and not pushing a 35 lbs+ stroller.
Still haven’t made it to yoga yet, but maybe next week.

Until next time!

May1

First Trimester {Round 2}

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Kendra G.

Standard

First, a huge thanks to all the messages of congratulations, well wishes, and love on here, Twitter, and Instagram.

As I welcome this second trimester with open arms, I wanted to give you a wee bit more details, rather than just dropping a bomb on you like I did Monday. We have gotten such mixed reactions to our pregnancy announcement, both “yeah I figured it was coming” to “wow!”. We actually were the latter ourselves. Completely surprised. Looking back, it obviously wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities, we just didn’t think it would happen so soon. After the first pregnancy test (on Saturday, March 2nd), we sat at breakfast in shock. I proceeded to take two more tests the following days…you know, just to be sure. There was some confusion with our due date, originally October 21st (which was Kenley’s due date), now October 30th, and we’ve already had two ultrasounds to see the tiny little nugget.

This pregnancy has definitely been different. For about three to four weeks, I was nauseous 24/7. I never threw up (knocking on wood right now), but I almost felt like I would feel better if I did. Everything smelled, sounded, and tasted horrible. On top of that, I was and am insanely thirsty…all…the…time. Which means I’m drinking a lot of water, which is great, but then I have to pee…all…day…long and all night long, which is fun for no one.

Last time, I took a nap almost every day after work…oh the luxury of being able to nap. This time around, it hasn’t been as easy, but there have been times that I would take a nap after Kenley goes to bed and end up sleeping on the couch until I just moved into the bed for the night. Other times, Greg has played with Kenley when I absolutely had to lay down for 30 minutes to survive the rest of the day. On the weekends, I am fully back into the “sleep when the ~~baby~~ toddler sleeps” mode, which is really only like an hour nowadays.

Speaking of… Greg has been the glue that has held our family together the past 8-10 weeks. He literally has sprayed almost every diaper, made every breakfast, lunch, and dinner for all of us, did loads and loads of laundry, etc. He literally did it all when I was feeling absolutely horrible. There were days that I couldn’t even think straight because I felt so miserable, so I cannot tell you enough how amazing it was to just not worry about anything other than dropping Kenley off at school and getting through the work day. Of course, he will say that it’s his job, but regardless, I appreciate it.

While I was squeezing myself into regular clothes as long as possible last time, I was pretty much in maternity clothes by 10-11 weeks this time. I swear to you that I had a belly at 10 weeks. It’s amazing how fast that thing pops out the second time around. I am soaking up every minute of stretchy pants. My maternity wardrobe has already grown because I have no idea how I survived last time around, I swear I must have worn a tank top every day. My previous job was a lot more casual, so I have already picked up 3-4 pairs of pants and a couple dresses on sale or clearance with our beloved Banana Republic card (read: Gap & Old Navy). If you have suggestions for cute maternity clothes that aren’t too expensive, let me know.

I have had several people ask me if I’m still running. I am proud to say that I ran one mile (at 12 weeks) right after the bombing at the Boston Marathon. It felt like the right thing to do, to get out and run. I fully plan to start ~~running~~ jogging again very soon. One of my biggest regrets during my pregnancy with Kenley was not exercising much. My doctor said to keep my heart beat around 120 (which is basically only walking), and that’s what I did. Since the half marathon, I feel like I am in much better shape now and at my last appointment, my doctor gave me the ok to do some jogging. So I intend to do just that. I am looking for a couple 5K races to run before it gets too hot. I did a little bit of a prenatal yoga DVD I had the last time around, but I am hoping to finally make it to a prenatal yoga class that is not too far from our house (so I really have no excuse).

I am hoping to write a little bit more about my pregnancy experience this time around. Looking back, I didn’t write as much about my experience as I thought I did… and it’s crazy how quickly you forget the little things, so I’m hoping to change that. There is also a good possibility that this could be the last pregnancy for us, so I want to soak it up. If pregnancy posts aren’t for you, feel free to skip those days. We are excited to start planning another nursery…this time a gender neutral nursery, even though I have no idea where to even start. The looks of the nursery right now gives me anxiety, so I just keep the door shut.

This turned into quite the post, but you are now caught up to speed on what’s been happening around here the last three months. Now that I’m feeling like a normal person again, I’m hoping to better keep up with the blog and start back on some house projects now that we have somewhat of a deadline coming up this fall!

Oct29

Kenley’s Birth Story

Posted on October 29, 2011 by Kendra G.

Standard

Disclaimer: This is an extremely long post, don’t feel obligated to read it.
I wanted to document every aspect of our birth story to share it with Kenley one day.

***

Bringing Kenley into the world was not how I expected it to go.
I didn’t really have a birth plan, in writing at least,
but I had a general idea of how I thought it would go down.

I knew that I wanted to deliver vaginally and with the help of an epidural.
I wanted to labor at home for as long as possible and I wanted
both Greg and my mom in the room with me for support.
I also knew that I didn’t want to get my heart set on anything
because I didn’t want to be disappointed.

Throughout this entire pregnancy I thought that there was no way that I would
want to be induced, even if she was overdue,
I wanted her to come on her own time, as long as it was safe.
At my 38 week appointment, my doctor brought up the possibility of an induction
after I was already 2 cm dilated
and as he (casually) mentioned that he was leaving town right after my due date.

I kept an open mind about it.

He thought that I would go on my own before we got to my due date, so we waited…
and waited.
The waiting was excruciating.
I was anxious, nervous, excited, a whole array of emotions.
Thankfully, my mom was here to keep me busy.

I had two more OB appointments before we ended up getting
a tentative induction appointment on Tuesday the 18th at 5pm,
which was not guaranteed if there were other mommies who were actually in labor.
I was not 100% sold with this, but, it meant that my doctor would be able to deliver Kenley,
which was what I definitely wanted… as well as this baby to finally be here!!

Monday night Greg and I had a date night. We went to our favorite
restaurant, Houston’s, in Winter Park and stopped at Jeremiah’s Italian Ice for dessert.
It was fun to have a last date night together.

Surprisingly, I slept really well that night.

We called the hospital at 3:30pm on Tuesday to see if they had room for us, which they did.
I called Greg at work and said it was go time, which was weird since I wasn’t actually in labor.
We packed our bags in the car and headed to the hospital.
It was really weird leaving the house knowing that we would return with a baby.
Our baby. We were going to be a family.
It was also weird leaving for the hospital not in labor,
even though I felt terrible the entire drive there.

We arrived at the hospital and were greeted by our nurse Natalie.
She was super nice, but ended up having to leave for another delivery,
so we got another nurse. She wasn’t so nice.
Thankfully their shift was over at 7pm so we got yet another nurse for the night shift.

We got settled in our labor & delivery room and got all hooked up to monitor
my contractions and the baby’s heart rate.
I was administered my IV, which was not a pretty sight.
I am very squeamish with needles and ended up having somewhat
of an anxiety attack. The nurses ended up sticking me in three different spots,
which was not pleasant. A couple other nurses had to come in because
they noticed that Kenley’s heart rate had dropped significantly and
I had to wear an oxygen mask to try to calm me down and get her heart rate back up.
We survived, but like I said, it wasn’t pretty.
I was pretty much terrified for how the rest of the delivery process was going to go.

At 9pm the nurse started me on a very low dose of oxytocin.
She increased it every hour through out the night.
I was having contractions, but nothing serious or painful.
The night passed… my mom and Greg stayed up with me,
we all tried to sleep, but my vitals were being checked every hour
on the hour, so what very little sleep we did get wasn’t consistent.

Around 6am the nurse checked me. We had made very little progress,
but they were hopeful that my doctor would come in and break my water before
he went into the office that morning.

At 7am it was time for another shift change for the nurses and
Natalie, my original nurse, was back.
She reminded me so much of my friend Meghann, who is also a nurse,
which was very comforting.
Natalie was amazing and I could not have asked for a more supportive
and better nurse to help me get through the day.

Around 8am, she let me know that the anesthesiologist had a pretty
busy schedule and if I wanted to go ahead and request my epidural,
it probably would be a good idea. I complied and they were hopeful that I’d get
it administered before they went into a c-section at 9am.

I wasn’t so lucky.

The good news was my doctor came in shortly after and broke my water.
The bad news was the contractions picked up very quickly and
I was having them every 2-3 minutes and they were painful.
Extremely painful.

Around 10:30am, Natalie checked me again and I was around 5 cm,
but her head was very low. So low that Natalie got very nervous
and said that we needed to get the epidural now.
The anesthesiologist came in shortly after to administer it.
By this time, I was sobbing. The pain was excruciating and at this point
I was scared that she was coming and I wouldn’t have time for the epidural to kick in.

For someone who is terrified of needles, I can honestly say the epidural was a breeze.
It may have been because I was so ready to get it or because I was still concentrating
on getting through my contractions, but getting the IV was way worse!

Soon enough, I was feeling no pain and happy as can be. It was amazing and weird.
I was able to move my legs enough, but was confined to my bed the rest of the day.
I was actually able to nap. After 2+ hours of extreme labor pain, I was napping.

As the day passed, we watched a lot of ESPN and HGTV. Natalie continued
to monitor my contractions, the baby’s heart beat, and my progression.
It seemed like I wasn’t progressing that quickly, but I was feeling no pain.

Somewhere between 4pm-5pm, I was 10 cm dilated.
I knew the time to push was right around the corner and I was scared.
What if I couldn’t do it?
She was going to be here soon. So soon.
We were going to have a baby.
Is it going to hurt?
I had so many thoughts running through my head.
But alas, it was time to push.

Another nurse started me off because Natalie was delivering another baby,
it was a crazy busy day in labor & delivery apparently.
My doc came in shortly after I started pushing.
There were nurses in and out of my room the entire time.
It was no time to be shy, that’s for sure.

I didn’t feel pain, just a lot of pressure.
Pushing was not easy. It was exhausting.
During every push, everyone kept saying how close she was
and how I was almost there.
After a while, I started to not believe them.
I had no recollection of time, I couldn’t talk, I didn’t even scream.
I just pushed. Then recovered. They gave me oxygen to help regulate my breathing.
I pushed, and pushed, and pushed.

About an hour and a half later (so I’m told) at 6:25pm on October 19th, 2011;
I heard her cry.
It was the best sound I’ve ever heard in my entire life.
And I cried.
She was here. She was finally here.
25.5 hours after we arrived at the hospital, she was here.

I was so thankful to have Greg and my mom there with me the entire time.
I could not have done it without their strength, patience, and support.

The next best thing to seeing my daughter for the first time is
seeing the love of my life with my daughter.

It was such an emotional day, but a day that I will never forget.

It definitely was not how I pictured our labor and delivery to go,
but that doesn’t matter now. I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Oct26

One Week!

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Kendra G.

Standard

Kenley is now one week old!

We have had a great first week!

We were able to come home on Friday, after three nights in the hospital,
which you can tell took a toll on us.

Over the weekend, we had visitors, received gorgeous flowers, and yummy cookies!

We’ve been hanging out in our bouncer seat.

We had our first bath.

Of course, we had to make a trip to Target!

Hopefully I will be more frequent with the updates & pictures!
Thanks for being patient!

Oct22

Plus One Makes Three

Posted on October 22, 2011 by Kendra G.

Standard

We are so happy to announce that we are now a little family of three!

Kenley Dee Gilbertson arrived on Wednesday, October 19th, 2011
at 6:25 pm weighing 7 lbs 13 oz and measuring 20 inches long.

We are home and doing well!

I promise to provide lots more pictures & updates very soon!

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers!
We are so blessed.

Oct18

Nesting

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Kendra G.

Standard

I mentioned here that we have been nesting.
I say “we” because Greg has been nesting too, even though he may not admit it.

Of course, I didn’t take any “before” pictures before
we completely started rearranging our house, as we were waiting for this little girl to get here.
(Still waiting by the way)
So I started looking through some old photos on our external hard drive
for some “before” photos that I may have taken a while ago.
Well, it turns out we have some very old “before” photos, so I thought it may be fun
to show you all how the rooms have transformed since we moved it.

This is our family room when we first looked at the house, it was “staged” by the sellers,
because the house was empty and didn’t have anyone living in it.
December 2007

After we moved in!
February 2008

This was before we installed the hardwood floors.
I say “we” in this instance, but it was really the work of Greg & Chris.
I mostly supervised the installation process and cleaned up afterwards.
We had made some changes in the decor and added a chair.
Our last photo with carpet!
August 2010

After the hardwood floors are in! LOVE them!
August 2010

This is pretty much what the room looked like last weekend,
before we randomly decided to make some improvements!

Here is what it looks like now!
October 2011

I want to update our art work & decor to give it more of a modern look,
plus get a rug for the floor, but that doesn’t need to be right now.

I love the new big comfy couch!!

This change sparked some changes in our living room/dining room.

This is the living room/dining room combo when it was staged.
December 2007

This is the actual intention of the room, but of course,
we didn’t use the room for this purpose.
When we first moved in, this room sat empty for a while.