State of the Pregnancy: Week 36 / by Kate Brightbill

Dress c/o Tiffany Rose

Dress c/o Tiffany Rose

Pregnancy Update 1 // Update 2

My last update was at 30 weeks, so at that rate, this is probably my last update on pregnancy-- THRILLED about that!! So excited to see this baby face to face!! It's surreal to imagine myself the mother of a newborn, even the third time around. Every child is so different, and brings new dynamic, new joys, new challenges...

I've avoided writing any update because- while social life has been SO fun, and the past couple months have been full of excitement, they've also been full of sickness, nausea, and heartburn. I'm a bit of a CASE, and it feels kind of brutal, so who wants to hear about that? It seems the last ten weeks of pregnancy should be full of loveliness and excitement and nesting. Nesting, yes! I love cleaning and organizing- mopping and purging. The excitement has unfortunately been a bit overshadowed by the here and present daily illness that has now been my reality for about seven months straight. 

Now I'm four weeks away from my due date, and feeling a bit more thankful and optimistic than I've been in ages. I was thinking this morning about how I had no idea if this baby would make it to even week 24.. or to 30, and now here we are, edging on on totally full term. It feels a bit like a miracle if I look at all the health challenges and risks of this pregnancy, and how it's now all resolved. Nausea is such a small exchange relative to the fact that this has somehow become a HEALTHY pregnancy, when all is said and done. Neither of our lives are high risk any longer!! SO THANKFUL.

My girls were both early (4 & 9 days), so in my mind I will have an early baby again, but I keep telling myself that after this pregnancy, I may want to count on a 41 weeker, ha! Why not, right? I'm simultaneously motivated to tie up all the loose ends, and telling myself I have plenty of time so I should just rest and not get my hopes up. 

I love bullet points, so I'll use them to help summarize:

  • My bag is not packed yet- that is a project for this week. My mind has been thinking of this that and the other, so maintaining focus on what I'll need for the hospital has been totally challenging. I'll get that locked down in the next couple days. 
  • Our baby's name is chosen, but will not be disclosed this time around. ;) We like to torture our families with anticipation, ha!
  • We haven't even purchased a carseat or stroller, but aren't very worried about it. That can be done in minutes, if necessary (especially now that we have Targets in the city! Did you even know SF didn't have a Target until a couple years ago? All you spoiled suburban mothers would post about the happy place that Target is and I was living vicariously ;) My lifestyle of generally being car-less during the weekdays is far more suited to an Ergo, and we DO have that, so we're totally set. 
  • Baby's nursery is coming along nicely. We have a few spaces to fill and complete, but I'll be sharing that in the next couple weeks. I love love love home decor, so it has been has been really fun creating a space for a baby boy!
  • We DO have a plan for our kiddos when we go to the hospital. This one was just figured out yesterday, and it feels wayyy better than the thought of improvising at 2am if necessary. ;) Also, I had a night last week where I had three hours of strong contractions, so it was a wake-up call to get that plan set!

We're almost there! Just a few boxes to check. It's so funny the contrast between having your first baby, and then having subsequent babies. This time around, I'm really low-key and don't want much! With Sophie, I researched every possible product to find the very very best for the right prices. We were stocked! With Maggie, we had everything suited to a baby girl, so any extra cash was spent on wardrobe- so many tiny cute things!! This time, I'm like "eh, if we don't have it we'll work without... and if we end up needing it, isn't that why Amazon prime exists?" Less is more. 

So there you have it folks! 26 days!! 

--Ps. If you're pregnant and need an occasion dress, Tiffany Rose has the BEST options. I could seriously sleep in the dress I have from there, that's how incredibly comfortable it is. I received it and wore it for about 9 hours at a wedding last weekend, and it worked perfectly!! I also had my eye on this beauty, but found out the color would perfectly match the bridesmaids at the wedding, so I opted out, haha! In a world where maternity fashion is so lacking, finding Tiffany Rose was a huge relief. 

xoxo