Nursery Dresser

This is my last furniture post, but it's quite possibly my favorite. This dresser is something the hubby and I redid to use as a changing table. Keep reading for all the details.

Here is the dresser in its 'before' state. The hubby found it at a yard sale and snagged it for only $20!


Now, here's the dresser after a few coats of white paint, new hardware and some wallpaper accents. Yes, it would have looked fine without the wallpaper, but i thought it added some nice texture and interest.


I am in love with this wallpaper pattern! The blue and green stripes are a subtle nod to the wall color without being too matchy-matchy. Plus the white background helps it read as a pale accent without providing too much contrast.


And as a bonus, I was able to use the extra wall paper to line the drawers.


The real hero of this makeover is my hubby. He and I brainstormed together, but he did all of the work. Partly because he loves any excuse to be out in our workshop, but mostly because he didn't want my very pregnant self breathing all the sawdust and paint fumes. He's such a sweetie!

So there you have it. For just $20 and some white spray paint we have a snazzy new dresser for the Peanut. Now all it needs is a changing pad and some accessories and we'll be good to go!

Nursery Bookcase

I'm back with another piece of nursery furniture. My latest purchase is an Expedit bookcase from Ikea outfitted with some navy blue storage boxes.


The shelf will be used to corral books, toys and any baby related clutter. The navy boxes tie in nicely with the recliner and the shelves will look so festive once we have lots of bright colored baby accessories filling them out.

Stay tuned for one last piece of baby furniture, then I'll start with decorations!

Plastic Babies and Floor Pillows - Part 2

Last night was my second birthing class. I feel it was more informative and less likely to make me giggle like a middle schooler. This was class 1 of 12, so we met with the other couples that would be with us for the next 12 weeks.

In my second class I learned:

- The goal of the Bradley Method is to provide a birth that results in a "healthy baby, healthy mom." That doesn't necessarily mean an all-natural birth, but Bradley feels that all-natural is ideal.

- Some basic relaxation techniques and some pregnancy exercises to help me relieve pain now and to help me cope with labor.

- That I am not the only woman who is so terrified of needles she would prefer the pain of natural childbirth over having a needle jammed into her spine.

- The side effects of an epidural. see below

- Not to wear a skirt to any future classes. Let's just say tailor sitting (the PC term for sitting 'Indian Style') is not very relaxing when you're constantly tugging your skirt over your lady junk to prevent flashing the other moms and dads.

This class was a brief overview of what we would learn in the following 11 weeks. We hit the high notes - a bit of quick info on the big things like breastfeeding, epidurals and what to expect from a hospital vs. a less traditional birth center. I have done quite a bit of reading so very little of this was new to me, but I learned something MAJOR about epidurals. I am guessing the Bradley Method wants to really hammer this point home, so it will probably be mentioned early and often.

NOTE: I debated with myself whether or not I wanted to share with you what I learned about epidurals. Part of me wants to shout it from rooftops and write it on billboards. The other part of me knows that there isn't just one way to birth a baby and that you don't come here to have me lecture you on the way I choose to do things. In the end, I would rather put the info out there and if you don't want to listen to me, you don't have to. I just think women have the right to know what they're doing to their babies and their bodies.

Most of us already know what an epidural is. It is pain medication, administered through the spine, that numbs Mom from the waist down but leaves her mentally clear. This shouldn't be news to anyone reading this blog. Some of us even know that an epidural can leave Mom feeling lethargic for a few hours after delivery. However, what I didn't know - and I'm guessing you might not know either - is that an epidural will effect Baby for two weeks after delivery. TWO. FREAKING. WEEKS. The reason is because Baby has a tiny liver and it takes that long for the liver to process all that medication. Until the meds have been processed out Baby will likely be quiet, groggy and may even need to be woken up for feedings. I don't know about you, but that doesn't really sound like "healthy baby" to me.

Like I said, I am not here to judge what any other mom chooses to do with her pregnancy and delivery. I just feel like that bit of information isn't common knowledge, but should be. That information is probably buried in the fine print of the epidural consent form, but who has time to pore over all those details when they're in the midst of labor. If I have educated even one person, then I feel like I have done a good thing.

Shower Details

I had my first baby shower on Saturday and it was a complete success! My best friend Rachel was the hostess and my other best friend Brettany helped out with some details.

The big hit with all the guests were the adorable owl cupcakes, made by Brettany. The cupcakes were as delicious as they were cute!



Brettany made them from scratch, even the little fondant owls. She is so talented!



The hostesses had some decorative pacifiers, but gave them a sophisticated edge by displaying them in a martini glass.



My favorite part of the decorations was the bunting! I know it's very trendy right now so I wanted to get in on the action too. Rachel, Brettany and I whipped it up Saturday morning using nothing more than wide ribbon, craft glue and some fabric scraps I had leftover from another nursery project - more on that later!



I am so pleased with the way it turned out I am going to find a way to display it in the nursery.

I got lots of great gifts and I was so happy to spend the afternoon with many of my favorite ladies. I can't wait for my next baby shower!

Bump Photo - Week 29

This week I wanted to take my bump photo while I was all dressed up for my shower! It was a lovely afternoon and I will post some details tomorrow.

Dress: Target

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Week 28

Week 27

Baby Shower #1

Tomorrow is my first baby shower and I am just tickled pink about it! The lovely hostess is my high school best friend and she will be arriving tonight to spend the weekend with me. With me working full time and her in school full time - she's getting her Masters! - we don't get a chance to see each other very often. As if this weekend wasn't already destined to be awesome, my college best friend, who moved away last year, is coming for the day! I'm going to get a weekend to spend with two of my favorite gals in the world!

Both of these lovely ladies are super crafty and talented so I'll be sure to post pictures of all the cute things they do for the shower!

Nursery Recliner

I've had this navy blue chair for over two months now, but I wanted to wait and show it against the new wall color.




This chair is so comfortable I might actually look forward to midnight feedings, just so I can sit in it! Ok, probably not, but it is really comfortable.

My mom bought me the chair to help me get the nursery set up. I'm telling you, a crib and a chair - my family is too generous!


When we first ventured out to Ikea I assumed I would be getting a rocking chair. Something about them just seemed fitting in a nursery. I must have sat in nearly every chair in the store, but none of them were going to cut it. Many of my favorite chairs, including the early favored Poang, were comfortable but they didn't seem suitable for nursing. In any other situation I would be thrilled to have a Poang, but the chair encouraged a slouched posture which I thought would make holding up a baby more difficult.


I hadn't even considered a recliner, but with my rocking chair search coming up empty I was willing to try anything. I tried out the recliner* and it was love at first sit! When upright, the posture is perfect for nursing and the padded armrests are a nice bonus. I love that I have the option to recline when it's time for reading, snuggling or napping. The frame is much smaller than a traditional recliner, so it's still the perfect scale for my little nursery. The best part is I can recline and sit up by leaning on the chair - no handles or levers - which means I never have to take a hand off the baby when I get up.

So that's the story of my recliner. Stay tuned!


*I have searched Ikea's website but cannot find this chair anywhere! Maybe it's discontinued? Maybe the pollen is clouding my brain? Who knows.

Plastic Babies and Floor Pillows - Part 1

Monday night was my first birthing class. Steven and I will be learning all about the Bradley Method, which is a 12 week course. Laura, our instructor, only teaches one group at a time and for my group Week 12 falls after my due date. Her solution was for us to attend the Week 12 class with her previous group, and then start over again with Week 1. Week 12 is all about breastfeeding, diapering and newborn care, and can easily be taken out of order.

In my first class, I learned:

-The different colors and textures of poop my baby will produce in the first few weeks, and what they mean.

-How to hold my baby like a football.

-That I have the maturity of a 12 year old boy.

Laura kicked off the breastfeeding segment with a video about, you guessed it, breastfeeding. Everything was going well until the video instructor wanted to teach us about getting an uninterested baby to latch. The camera zoomed in on the breast of the demonstration mom. Once we all got a screen full of an engorged, nursing nipple the demo mom pulled her baby to her breast, putting his mouth near, but not on, her nipple. Then the instructor grabbed her breast and started rubbing demo mom's nipple all around the baby's mouth trying to get its attention.

At this point, it took all the composure I had not to burst into laughter. No, I don't think breastfeeding is funny - it is a natural and beautiful thing - but seeing a woman rub another woman's breast on a baby's face just struck me as hilarious. I looked around the room and everyone else was completely cool with this. About this time the baby latched on and the camera found something else to focus on, so the urge to snicker subsided.

If this level of stellar maturity sustains itself, I will likely have many more birthing class stories to tell. I can't wait.

Hooray for Only Being a Semi-Fat Ass!

I had another OB check-up today. Blood pressure is good, baby's heart rate is good and my belly is measuring right on target. So, that's all good news.

The results of my glucose tolerance test came in. I registered on the high end of normal, but I don't care because I. AM. NORMAL. I am more than happy to moderate my intake of white flour and refined sugar as long as I am not at risk of having a ginormous baby or getting the diabeetus.

In fact, I am so overjoyed that I am going to embarrass myself and share my dirty little secret with you. deep breath Here it goes:

Before I got pregnant my weight had topped out at 186 pounds. Total lard ass, I know. I was doing something about it, and with the help of the nice ladies at my Weight Watchers meetings I had gotten down to 175. I still had a long way to go, but, baby steps.

The reason I am telling you that is because today at my OB's office I weighed in at 184 pounds. That's right. I'm almost 29 weeks pregnant, I have a sizable belly, and I'M STILL SKINNIER THAN I WAS LAST SUMMER. Gahd. How depressing is that?

Now, as you may remember I actually lost weight during my first trimester - getting down to 162 pounds - due to the very scientific reason of "hmm, that's odd." So, I'm tempted to say my pre-preg weight is 162 (to make myself feel less fat) but the charts don't lie, and they know I started at 175.

Hopefully, since my body got so darn efficient in the first 13 weeks, I will be able to shed my baby weight and then some while I'm nursing.

Nursery Crib

I am so excited to finally show you the crib! We shopped for our crib over a month ago, but we had to wait to assemble it until after we painted the nursery.


The story of our crib is almost too good to be true. Steven's grandmother works at the customer call center for Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma and she asked if we had thought about getting a crib from Pottery Barn Kids, but since they're usually so pricey we had crossed them off our list from the get-go. Then she offered to get us a crib as her gift to us - how could we say no?

We browsed around the store and I spotted the Kendall Crib. It's the sleekest of the Pottery Barn cribs and it was available in white - just what I wanted. If we were to buy our own crib we would have been limited to shopping at the big box stores, so we're thrilled that we ended up with a higher quality crib! We're so grateful that our family wanted to help us out!

Stay tuned for more furniture posts!

Mr. Braxton Hicks Can Suck It

So, I have experienced my first contraction. Seeing as I am not currently in labor, that means I had a 'practice' contraction.

I was sitting at work, minding my own business, when all of a sudden my uterus went rogue on me. It got all tense and tight and I'm all "What did I do to you?" It was over very quickly and it was nothing some deep breathing couldn't get me through, but I now know what all the fuss is about. I'm sure all of you that have gone through actual labor are thinking "Child please.* That's nothing." I assure you, I'm aware this contraction will PALE in comparison to the real thing, I'm just saying I have even more cause to be slightly panicked that my delivery is quickly approaching.

*Major props to any reader who knows what professional D-Bag athlete originated that phrase.

Shower Invites

The invitations have gone out for my first 2 baby showers - yes I am lucky to have more than my fair share of friends and family who want to host a shower for me! - and they are just so adorable. How could I resist sharing them with you?


The first invite is for a shower hosted by my high school bestie. She went the speedy, and eco-friendly, digital route and I could not be more pleased with the theme she chose. Owls? Yes, please!





The second invite is from my Great-Aunt Fran. She went old-school with the paper invitations and it was such a treat to get this little cutie in my mailbox.

Are they not too cute for words? I'm not usually into the cutesy stuff, but I can get a little ga-ga over baby invites!

Bump Photo - Week 28

So, this is the first picture from my third trimester! I can't believe I'm this far along already! This pregnancy just seems to be flying by and, with the exception of a few minor symptoms, I have felt great.



I had to show you this close-up of my top because it was designed and made right here in Raleigh! It's a non-maternity tank, but it's stretchy enough to make it through the day. I love how the ship makes an awesome bump accessory! And yes, I'm wearing Birkenstocks - they may be granola shoes, but the arch support is a pregnant woman's best friend!

Tank Top: ahpeele

Pants: Old Navy Maternity

Shoes: Birkenstocks

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Week 27

Week 25

Nursery Wall Paint

This weekend we got the nursery cleaned out and painted! The color is Valspar's 'Aqua Glow' which we had color matched with Olympic paint - that was the only low VOC option. With a mama-to-be doing the painting, we didn't want to take any chances.

This is the obligatory 'before' shot. Beige walls, beige carpet, white trim and ceiling. BORING!


I wanted to take a proper picture for you but Steven was making it difficult. He had already brought in the paint supplies and dragged the furniture to the middle of the room, so it was VERY hard to get a decent angle that didn't show too much other stuff. I told him I was trying to document the process "for the blog" and I don't think he really cared. I know this because he said "I don't care."

Anyway, here he is doing an excellent job of cutting in. That's our division of labor - he cuts in and I get the roller - fun times.

I was planning on doing a separate post for the curtains, but I realized I couldn't easily show the walls without giving you a peek of the windows, so here we are. We picked the Matilda curtains from Ikea because, let's face it, you can't find cheaper curtains anywhere else.

These curtains are very soft, and have a wonderful nubby texture - perfect for a nursery.

I love, love, love the way the color turned out. It's bright and fresh and doesn't lean one way or the other on the gender spectrum. I have always liked this color but I was afraid it was too bold for any other room of the house. However, I think it has the perfect amount of zest for a baby's room.

So that's the first big step in turning our junk depository spare bedroom into a nursery. We got the whole thing done in less than 4 hours, but it made such a huge difference! Stay tuned for the scoop on furniture!

Nursery Layout

Here's a quick sketch I did for the nursery layout. Much like the layout I created for my living room, I brought back this standard technique to arrange the nursery furniture. The single door opens to the hallway and the double doors open to the closet.


We have three key players here: the crib, the recliner for nursing/reading/cuddling, and the dresser that will do double duty as a changing table.



The dresser is a little smaller than the crib so, on paper, it fits better on the wall where the crib is shown. However, I need space next to the dresser for a laundry hamper and a trashcan for dirty diapers so the dresser had to move to a bigger wall. Also, the recliner is quite large so it could only fit in one of the two corners, and I thought it would be more pleasing to enter the room to see the front of the recliner rather than the side of the dresser. So that left the shortest wall for the crib. I will be adding a few more things - a floor lamp, hopefully a small bookcase - but they are small enough to work in later.

In this case there were lots of layouts that I played with, but in the end only one seemed to fit the room.

Next up is wall paint, so stay tuned for some major color!

Book Report: The Birth Book

I just finished reading The Birth Book by William Sears, MD and Martha Sears, RN. The Searses are a married couple that have been working in obstetrics for many years, he as a physician and she as a labor & delivery nurse. They also have 8 children together (7 biological, 1 adopted) so they bring that experience into the fold as well.

If you are pregnant you should read this book. The goal of the book is to teach a woman how to have a safe and satisfying birth experience. Their personal belief is that natural, unmedicated birth is attainable and empowering, however they do not condone a woman for choosing to have pain relief or other medical interventions. They simply explain many basic procedures, weigh the benefits and downsides and leave the decision up to the reader.

What makes this book so unique is that Martha really, really knows what she's talking about. Throughout her 7 pregnancies and deliveries she has had a variety of birth experiences - from a medicated hospital birth to a soothing home birth surrounded by her family. She can honestly explain the difference between the births and give helpful advice. Not to mention the hundreds of births she has assisted as an L&D nurse.

Even if you have no interest in a natural childbirth this book is a wonderful reference. I believe the best way to prepare for your birth is to be educated and know what you want.

Bump Photo - Week 27

Ok, ok, I'm a TERRIBLE blogger. We were slack and didn't take a picture for week 26 - but you can look at this week and Week 25 and have a pretty good guess what I looked like. Since the weather has improved (and the sun is still out when I get home) I have moved the weekly pictures to our backyard. I hope you enjoy the change of scenery!

Shirt: New York & Company

Jeans: Old Navy Maternity

Shoes: Nine West

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Week 25

Week 24

Review of gDiapers - Week 1

Before I could try out the gDiapers I had to wait until Luke's umbilical stump fell off - newborn belly buttons are adorable, btw - and since it fell off last Monday we have been using them for a week now.

So far I am pretty pleased.

As long as I keep one or two diapers pre-loaded with an insert the act of changing and fastening the diaper is no different than using a disposable diaper. If the insert is only wet, it goes straight into the compost bin. If it's dirty it has to be flushed. It's somewhat of a pain to go through the steps to flush the insert (yes, there are steps), so sometimes I get lazy and just throw it away. However, I don't feel too terrible about it because it is plastic-free and will biodegrade quickly.

In my opinion, there are a few hiccups in the system.

1) Newborn poop is runny. Really runny. This means that when he poops, he almost always gets a little poop on the plastic liner that holds the disposable insert. The gDiaper people consider that part of the design, so it isn't considered a 'leak'. As often as he poops, I end up having to wash all the liners every few days. Luckily I don't have to watch the cloth pants nearly as often. To combat this, gDiapers sell additional packs of liners - which I just bought two of - to keep the supply up.

2) Diaper changes out in public are a wee bit difficult. So far, I only carry disposable diapers in my diaper bag. Each cloth diaper costs $17, so I don't want to "waste" one by keeping it as a back-up in the bag. Even though I have the clean diaper sitch under control, I still have to put the dirty diaper somewhere when I'm done with it. If it's wet, I flush the insert and put the cloth diaper in my diaper bag, no problem. But, if the plastic liner or the cloth diaper is soiled I have to wrap it in a plastic bag and put the smelly mess back in my bag. This isn't a deal breaker, but it's an inconvenience.

But like I said, for the most part I've been happy with them. I am concerned about how they will handle "blow-out" poops once he gets bigger, but we will stick with them as long as they are working for us. When he gets up to 15 pounds we will have to switch to the next size up - which means a whole new set of pants, liners and inserts - and we will decide whether or not to stay with the system when it's time to invest more money.

I'll keep you posted once I go back to work and we add the childcare wrinkle to the mix.

Walking the Line Between Dreams and Nightmares

I have started having dreams about labor and delivery. In each dream I find that I have passed out during labor - not sure if I'm being drugged or not - and I wake up after the baby has been delivered. I am never grateful for this, I always feel like I have been robbed of the experience.

Last night, the dream was worse. When I awoke from my labor I was told I had been given a C-Section. No one would tell me why it was necessary, they just kept repeating "you've had a C-Section." I later find out I had been unconscious for days and that Steven and the baby had already gone home without me. I finally got home to see them and my child looked like a toddler, and didn't know me at all!

I'm trying not to be a control freak (i.e. my usual self) because I know I can't choreograph my own delivery. I have a wish list, of sorts, and methods I would like to try but for the most part I will go with the flow. My subconscious, however, is terrified that I will be unable to have a satisfying birth experience. Maybe I'm not as relaxed as I thought?