Week 30

 

Oh my gosh - only 10 weeks left!!  Eep!  It's so soon! I feel like we still have so much to do and so little time.  I've reworked my work schedule a bit so instead of working from 7am-11am at the café and then 6pm-11pm at the cinema I'm now working 12pm-6pm at the cimema.  So my work day starts around 7am and ends around 6pm and afterwards I am free to do what I wish.  Which, after working for 11 hrs isn't very much.

 

I'll only be working at the café until the end of June though.  I cannot stress enough how much I am looking forward to a bit of a break.  I work on my feet at the café, which isn't as terrible as it sounds.  It's actually a great way to get my daily exercise in.  Some days are more difficult than others but overall it is getting to be just to much.  My goal was to remain at the café until the end of July.  I usually don't get many shifts at the cinema this time of year because for indie cinemas the summer is actually the slow season.  However, since we're short staffed at the moment I've been getting a lot of shifts which means I can leave the café and only work the cinema job for the remainder of the pregnancy.

 

 

 

Way back when I first found out that I was preggo I remember being happy that I would be delivering in the summer.  I wouldn't have to buy a new winter coat, try to stuff my huge feet into my boots, or waddle through the snow.  I am still grateful of the fact that I will not be delivering under those conditions.  However...all of the pregnancy books, articles, and classes have not lied when they have said that summer pregnancies are a b****.  My feet, legs, and ankles are swollen all of the time.  All I want to eat are popsicles and ice cream (okay, to be fair that actually applies to most summers).  I cannot breath.  Roibeard has told me that I sound like Darth Vader when I sleep at night.  Add 80% humidity to the list and you'll get one miserable preggo.  To make things worse I am over heated 90% of the day.  You know how amazing that first blast of air conditioning can be on a really unbearable hot summer day?  It has absolutely no effect on me.  None.

 

 

Okay, okay, I don't mean to sound too negative on here.  I don't want to scare anyone with my tales of misery.  It's just that when I'm out and about and talking to people and they ask me how I feel I know they are not asking for a laundry list of my symptoms.  So I have to smile and tell everyone I'm alright as I swallow a bit of my lunch that has crept back up due to my wonderful acid reflux that I'm now experiencing.  This is my place to vent and vent I shall. Also, I just think it's good to be open with this stuff.  Making a baby is hard work.

 

I tend to be a hopeless romantic in all aspects of life.  I once volunteered at a flower shop over Valentine's Day because I thought it would be adorable and a lot of fun.  I even got all gussied up in my pink and red outfit and heels.  Big mistake.  After spending eight hours in an unheated room with blood dripping down my hands from shoving wire up rose stems I learned a valuable lesson...Valetine's Day is the worst.  Oh yeah, and things usually don't turn out as glorious as I picture them in my head.  I've always imagined pregnancy as a magical time in a woman's life.  A time that is full of belly rubs, amazing glowing skin, and all the food you can possibly eat - guilt free.  Oh man...I was so wrong.

 

On a more positive note, the biggest plus I can think of about having a late summer baby is he'll be here just in time for autumn to start.  I'll have three months of (hopefully) great weather to explore the city with my little guy and it will all have been worth it.  Plus....adorable baby Halloween costume.

 

Also, on a more random note - sometimes it really is the little things that help to get me through the rough patches.  The other day I went to see Love & Mercy, which for those of you who don't know is a biopic covering the life of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys.  It really was a great film and I fully recommend it.  Anyway, one of the reasons that my experience watching it was so positive was because every time the music would start up little Micheal would start dancing around in my tummy.  It made me smile every time. :)

Week 29

 

Roibeard recently cleared off our balcony so that we can use it for summer activities.  I've had back decks before, but never a balcony over-looking the street. I love it so much.  As of right now we only have the one plant, but we hope to get more soon.  The cats love it but require a little supervision.  Mostly they sit on their cat tower inside and just enjoy the cool breeze and sounds of the chirping birds nearby.  However every once in a while they venture out and try to get up onto the ledge.  So we just have to be careful.  The above photo isn't the best.  The over exposed areas drive me crazy.  I see the "zebra stripes" everywhere, haha.  Throwback to film school right there.  However I decided to post it because what I DO like about it are two things - Panthro's intent stare as he overlooks the street and NES poking his head out the door in the bottom of the frame.  I'm loving it.

 

 

 

Well, I'm at 29 weeks now and working my way up to week 30.  Just a little under 11 weeks to go!  That is just so crazy!  The nursery is starting to look more like a nursery (I'll post photos after the crib arrives) and everything is becoming just a little more real.  I feel like I've finally gotten a handle on this pregnancy thing.  Every day has its own challenges, but usually I can find a way to work around them.  However, when I think about the fact that there will be a little baby here soon I go right back into freak out mode and have no clue what to do or expect.

 

I finally decided that I'm going to bite the bullet and start paying for prenatal yoga classes.  I've held off because I wanted to save the money, but I think being around other pregnant ladies will be a good thing for me.  None of my friends or co-workers are at a point in their lives where they are ready for a family.  Some of them know for a fact it's something that they never want.  So sometimes I feel a bit of a loner when it comes to all of my fears of being a new mom.

 

It's weird because I feel like I have been quite clearly showing for awhile now, but only in the past two weeks have people actually taken notice.  All of the customers at my job have been like, "you're preganant?!  Wait, when did this happen??"  Which amuses me a bit when I tell them how far a long I am.  I think the fact that the weather no longer requires jackets, sweaters, or other layers has helped to reveal my huge baby bump.  Also all of the sudden people are giving up their seat on the bus for me.  Well, not the the 20 year old hipsters.  They are too cool for that.

 

Other than a giant belly I am also sporting giant hobbit feet these days.  I just need to glue some hair on the top of them and I'm pretty sure I could fool just about anyone into thinking that I am a real life very tall hobbit.

 

 

 

 

The little ones are starting to realize that something is going on.  Okay, in truth I think that they have known for a while.  They look so cute and innocent in the above photo, but do not be fooled.  The other day at 5:30 AM when I woke up for work and was in "grumpy sleep monster mode" I found that they had "poopy-trapped" the nursery.  That is no typo.  There was old poop from the litter box (which they dragged from the other side of the apartment) strategically placed in all of the places that I need to step.  I had been poopy-trapped.

IRELAND! Cong

 

I thought that I would take a break from maternity posts for the moment and revisit my trip to Ireland from last year.  It's so hard to believe that it has been a full year since we were there.  I miss it so much and the fact that Roibeard and I have decided to postpone our wedding only makes it worse.  We were scheduled to get married in October.  When baby Micheal came into the picture we decided to put it off, but it was too late as his family had already made the payment at city hall.  For the past few months we've been trying to convince ourselves that we can do it all...just for the sake of not losing that money...

 

Now that everything is getting closer though we've both spent a lot of time talking and thinking it over and have come to the decision that putting it off for a year is just the best thing for us to do.

 

Planning a wedding in a different country, worrying about visas, worrying about taking additional time off right after my maternity leave, trying to find a new job, recovering from giving birth, and traveling with a two month old baby is just too overwhelming for me.  For both of us actually.

 

Don't get me wrong, it really sucks that we are going to lose the deposit that was put down at city hall, but looking at the big picture...we haven't spent any money on vendors or the reception yet.  We never sent out save-the-dates because that's not a thing in Ireland. I haven't yet bought a dress (due to not knowing what size I would be two months post birth).  We haven't booked our plane tickets or spent the money on a marriage visa. So in the long run we are saving ourselves from unnecessary stress and we'll have some extra money set aside for when the baby comes.  Plus we won't be losing money from booking off work for the wedding.

 

But...it means not seeing the Emerald Isle again for a whole year... 

 

 

 

 

 

Cong pretty much captures the image that pops into my head when I think of Ireland.  Stone walls...green hills for miles and miles...sheep...a cool breeze...and clouds that always have the slightest threat of rain.  It's certainly a very romantic image and dramatically different from what Roibeard's image of "back home" entails. Even so we both found ourselves awed by the charming little village of Cong.

 

Although the bus dropped us off right outside of the downtown area finding our b&b was a bit of a hassle.  Like most places in Europe, Ireland isn't the best at posting street names.  So of course we started off by walking a mile in the wrong direction before realizing that we should have found the b&b by that point.  So we headed the mile back to where we started passing by all of the serene farmland on the way.  Then we had a walk a mile or two in the other direction before we finally found our place of rest.  Only when we got there we were informed that they had accidently overbooked and we would have to stay at another b&b five miles down the road.  Our hearts sank at that point.  Five more miles of walking?  With all of our luggage?  NOOOOO!  Luckily the hostess offered us a lift to the other place.  Phew!

 

We ended up staying on a farm with the cutest elderly couple.  The husband tended to the farm duties while the wife ran the bed and breakfast.  They were a good team and really helpful.  They told us a back way of getting into Ashford Castle (where we didn't have to pay...hehe...) and offered us a lift to the bus station once our stay was up.

 

 

 

Cong is located in county Mayo on the western coast of Ireland and is just a teeny tiny little village with a population of 185 people.  Its claim to fame is that it is where the 1952 film, The Quiet Man was shot. 

 

Its other main attraction is Ashford Castle, a 13th century castle that was built by the Anglo-Norman House of Burke.  Today it is a luxury hotel.  That's right...you can actually spend the night in the castle!!!!  (As touristy as that sounds....I was really into the idea...that is until we discovered one night there costs around 300 pounds...)

 

Roibeard and I spent our day there exploring downtown, the old abbey ruins, the castle, and the castle grounds.  For such a little village there was quite a bit to do and see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately our camera battery ran out just as we made it to the castle, so we ended up with very few actual photographs of it.  I really wish we could have gone inside and explored all of its secrets.  Oh well.  Next time. ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week 28

 

Wow, I have been a terrible blogger lately.  It's just so difficult with working two jobs and having a broken computer.  The computer is kind of sort of working now which is why I am able to update. 

 

Anyway this post is a bit of a mishmash of photos.  The photos above are from our trip to the lake during the first really nice day that we had in May.  It was around 80 and sunny and it was absolutely gorgeous by the lake.  Roibeard and I set up a blanket and lied back and discussed our excitement and fears of upcoming parenthood. 

 

 

More maxi love!  Seriously, the larger I get the less I want to wear clothes altogether.  Since I hear that's illegal in the state of Illinois I tend to settle for flowy maxi dresses.  I wish I had a few more to get me through summer, but I don't want to keep spending money on clothes that aren't going to fit me in a few months.  Hmmmm....maybe I'll just do one more trip to the thrift store?  I'm so bad.

 

I did actually just get an adorable white vintage dress while I was home in Michigan this weekend!  Which takes us to...the baby shower!

 

 

 

This weekend Roibeard and I hopped a train to Detroit to celebrate our baby shower.  The forecast threatened rain and storms all weekend but it ended up being beautiful.  My family did an excellent job hosting everything and I was so pleased and grateful with the outcome (thanks again guys!).  Unfortunately I was only able to get a shot of the table set up before the decorations were added, but we had a cute little "under the sea" theme to match our nursery.  I really hope little Micheal grows up loving the sea and has an innate desire for travel and adventure just like his parents.

 

I booked the rest of the week off from the cinema to give myself a little time to rest and set up the nursery.  I'm still working part time at the café this week, but it's still a little bit of a breather from my usual hectic and busy work days.

 

It's so hard to believe there's only 12 more weeks to go...

Week 23

Here I am with my first post solely on the iPad.  My photos are small and unedited, but at least I'm still updating.  I've read that you can download other apps to assist with posting through blogger on the iPad.  That's just too much for me to handle right now though.  When I started this blog I promised myself it would be easy, simple, and fun.  So my little blog isn't the best, but here we are.

This was my Easter outfit from last week.  Roibeard and I had to celebrate a day late because we were both working on Easter proper.  We still had a wonderful dinner.  I made deviled eggs, spinach pie, asapagus "yum yum" (asparagus, mushroom, and cheese dish), and cheesecake bars.  Even though it's gone I'm still drooling over its delicious memory.

I'm so happy that I had at least one Eastery dress that still fit me.  Seriously, getting dressed these days has become a major challenge.  There are very few things in my wardrobe that still fit and of those things even fewer that I feel comfortable in.  I'm holding off on thrifting some summer dresses because I want to wait until I start my third trimester.  I'd hate to buy a bunch of stuff only for it to be too small a few days later!

Another reason I'm holding off on buying new clothes is money.  Ever since we found out we were expecting Roibeard and I have been doing everything we can to cut back on unnecessary spending.  It kind of stinks because I always pictured myself with THE BEST vintage maternity clothes ever.  I pictured my hair done up every day and my cat eyeliner always being perfect.  Cut to reality and I'm 23 weeks pregnant and clinging to anything in my closet that will fit over my ever growing chest.  Seriously, if it passes the bust test, then we're golden.  Makeup has also taken a back seat these days.  I can't afford to replace my eyeliner, primer, and bb cream every month right now, so most days I have been leaving my apartment with only a dash of blush and a swipe of mascara.  Both of my jobs requires that my hair be restrained, so at 5:30 in the morning when I'm getting ready for the day a quick pony tail is my best friend.  It's definitely a change for me and my sense of style.  

I've always found the contrast between middle aged women and their younger selves to be so interesting.  You look through old photos and wonder what changed.  From rocking a killer pair of heels to sporting an old pair of ratty orthopedic sneakers....what changed.  Clearly I'm not quite that far lost just yet.  But I do wonder if this pregnancy is the start of a permanent change of style or just a temporary glitch.  Hopefully if things do change they go in the classy direction and not in the casual direction.  At least not permanently casual.  I love my dresses and girly accessories!

Week 20

I'm actually around week 23 right now, but these were taken a few weeks ago.  I've been really trying to keep up with my posts, but my computer is broken (this time for good) and I have so little leisure time these days that it is just so difficult to get anything done.

I'm well into my second trimester at this point.  The morning sickness is truly more or less gone.  I've also found that I have a lot more energy these days to do things.  The frustrating part though is that my feet and ankles gave started to swell.  So even though I have more energy and am in better spirits it's physically hard to do anything.

I expected my feet to turn into giant sausages though.  Even though it hurts I'm still able to force myself through the day. The new challenge that I'm dealing with now is tailbone pain....or bum pain as I like to refer to it.  It is awful!! I can't sit, stand, or lie down without being in agony.  It's making work really difficult at the moment.

Which brings us to another fine moment in my pregnancy....working.  Even with reduced hours working is getting more and more difficult by the day.  The cinema is fine on it's own, but juggling two jobs just completely drains me.  I don't really have a choice so I've got to pull through, but man is it ever a challenge.  

After work my day doesn't get any more relaxing either.  I have an unending amount of paperwork, bills, and phone calls to make.  I'm losing my mind trying to remember where to be and what is due by when.  I bought a few folders the other day to try and organize some of my crazy paper load...but my cat threw up all over them.  So much for staying on top of the game.

So anyway, enough complaining....our little Micheal (Mee-hall) weighs approximately as much as a bag of sugar these days.  He is quite active and has started kicking in the early hours of the day.  He almost always kicks exactly three times in a row and then he's done.  As adorable as his little kicks are some of them can be kind of alarming and take me by surprise.  Roibeard finally felt him for the first time the other day.  He is a proud papa!!!

Micheal went to his first ever concert the other day (Roibeard's first too).  We went to see Belle and Sebastian.  The little one was dancing around in my tummy the whole time! <3

Week 19

Nope, I didn't miss a few posts...it turns out I'm just further along than we originally thought!  Roibeard and I got an official due date at our last prenatal appointment - I'm due August 10th!!  That's only a few days from my birthday (August15th).

 

I'm definitely starting to look pregnant.  The baby bump is small, but it's there!  These photos were taken in Grant Park on a bitter cold March day.  I didn't add any filters or anything to make them look so blue.  I think it was so cold my camera was even shivering!!  Despite the snow and frigid temperatures once March hits I always try to start dressing for Spring.  Florals, florals, and more florals.  Haha.

 

 

 

I think I *might* (fingers crossed) be over the morning sickness period.  FINALLY!!!  Oh my gosh, I have just been such a miserable person the past four months.  I really haven't wanted to talk much to anyone or do much of anything. Also....I have been able to start eating cheese again in very small amounts.  Ever since around four weeks I have been unable to eat cheese without spending the night hugging the toilet.  For those of you who don't know, cheese is pretty much my favorite food; so this is a big deal.  Bananas, apples, and rice are among other things that have not agreed with me.

 

I still get a bit sick if I'm not eating enough, but for the most part I have been able to get through the day with minimal stomach upset.

 

One very unusual side effect that I have been dealing with is losing my eyelashes.  I've never heard of this happening, but I looked it up and sure enough it is definitely a result of the pregnancy.  It was quite alarming when I first noticed it!  I think the reason behind it is that the prenatal vitamins I was given by my doctor weren't vegan.  I wasn't getting the proper break down of vitamins as a non-meat-eater.  Ever since I made the switch to vegan pills my eyelashes have been doing much better.

 

Another unusual side effect has been phantom smells.  Particularly peanut butter.  I smell it everywhere.  All of my food smells like peanut butter and therefore tastes like peanut butter.  It's not a nice, faint peanut butter smell either.  It's really strong and over powering and drives me crazy.  My doctor assured me that phantom smells such as these are completely normal though.

 

In other news I just cut down on my hours at work.  I don't have the option to stop working at five months like some people are able to.  I've been working between 50-60 hours/week for the past year now.  That's a bit too much for me to keep up with right now.  So instead I'm working 20 hours at the café and 20 hours at the cinema.  It's still a full work week, but I now have two full days off and I am able to sit down while I'm at the cinema.  It's certainly going to be a huge struggle to make things work financially.  Roibeard and I have worked so hard to be able to afford a nice, "adult" apartment in a good neighborhood. We've been able to pay all monthly bills and loans and still have a little to save.  Now it feels like being thrown back into life as a student.  Finding any and all ways to make our money go as far as possible.  It's not just the baby that we have to prepare for either - our wedding is in October!  We definitely had to adjust our ideas of the dream wedding to make things work with having a newborn.  This means no honeymoon.  No amazingly beautiful castle wedding.  No ceremony over looking the ocean.  Oh well.  When we look back on this we will feel so blessed to have this amazing little one in our lives that those other things won't even matter.

 

 

 

 

It's so hard to know what life will bring once the baby arrives, but Roibeard and I have a few ideas of what we would like to do in terms of raising our little one.

1) We know that we want to breastfeed for sure.  It's healthier for the baby, good for me, and hey, it's free food!!  That being said I am really worried that this won't work as planned. Maybe the baby won't learn how to latch properly, I won't know how to hold it the right way, or my nipples will become too sore and start bleeding. Eek! 

2) We know that we want to use cloth diapers at least while we're at home.  It's so much better for the environment and will save money in the long run.  I don't know if I have it in me to go full hippie mom though. (I really wish I did.)  I feel like when we are on the run we'll probably have a stash of disposables on hand. 

3) We want to make our own baby food.  I wouldn't really consider Roibeard and I to be serious health food nuts (we both have a major sweet tooth), but we do try our best to eat a healthy diet.  We cook most of our own meals, rarely eat out, and try to avoid foods with artificial ingredients/additives.  So why wouldn't we want the same for our baby?  I've already been looking up some recipes and some of them sound so delicious, haha. 

4) Speaking of food, we would like to raise our baby a vegetarian.  I've been a vegetarian for most of my life and it's something that is very important to me.  It's a much healthier lifestyle and doesn't contribute to the unnecessary cruelty of animals.  Once the baby is old enough to understand what meat is and where it comes from I think it's okay if he or she wants to eat it outside of the house.  When we are home though we keep things veggie friendly. :)

** Just a side note - When I started this new blog I did it with the intention of creating a time capsule for our family down the road.  I don't expect to get many readers or followers.  However, if you do find yourself reading this first of all, welcome!! Second, know that none of these posts are sponsored.  Sometimes I get discouraged reading through all the baby blogs out there to see that the new parents have their cribs, strollers, and baby clothes all paid for by sponsors.  I want to read about real people struggling to make it on their own and how they get past the barriers.  That's what you'll find here.  Two first time parents scared out of their minds, but hopefully somehow pulling through, haha.  Enjoy.