Pregnancy Update: Week 16 with Baby Schmieder

Happy Sunday! Sundays mark our weekly tracking so I usually wake up and say Happy Week [Fill in the Blank] to Dan. And today marks Week 16! Baby is the size of an avocado.

Since I announced last week and I am just so blown away and grateful for everyone’s kindness and interest, I thought I’d start doing weekly updates (as often as I can!) answering questions, filling you in on me, the babe, the bump, the nursery, and pregnant life.

Also in case you missed it, you can see my pregnancy announcement post where I answer a few FAQs including due date, finding out the gender, etc….

Hopefully this will keep the number of baby posts on the blog down since you can find them all here. Unless you want posts? I don’t know – you tell me!

For the record Baby S is for Baby Schmieder – Dan’s last name which is the name the baby will use! S doesn’t necessarily stand for the first initial.

Also, side note, Schmiedski (as in #schmiedskigreystone) is not our last name (which some people have thought). It’s our two names combined that I do to be cheeky since I didn’t change my name when we got married. Schmieder + Kaczmarski = Schmiedski. But still, baby will be Baby Schmieder.

 

BUMP UPDATE

WEEK 16 BUMP UPDATE: As of a few days ago I was saying I have no bump. Then I took these pictures yesterday morning.

I’d actually say this photo emphasizes even more of a bump than there is. But that little outward bound usually isn’t there so it’s gotta be bebe because I took this first thing in the morning. I no joke could push my tum out to look 8 months pregnant if I wanted at the end of the day because of bloating but that’s another story. I don’t know… I’m waiting for it! My sister said it’ll just pop by week 20. Will report back!

My boobs on the other hand? Oh lordy have mercy. I’m worried about those and how big they’re going to get… to be clear, I am not bragging. Dreading is more like it. They’ve already outgrown my current bras, are large and in charge, and I’ve got a long way to go. Any fellow busty ladies out there who know what I’m talking about?

 

OTHER SYMPTOMS

Overall I feel great. I had a pretty easy first trimester from what I’ve heard others have gone through. Never got sick. Just headaches, fatigue. CRAZY HEIGHTENED SENSE OF SMELL.

Then yesterday, as I told ya’ll on Instagram, I woke up feeling like absolute crap. Headache, couldn’t keep my eyes open, actually felt light-headed. Slept most of the day. And today I was up at 6:30am ready to go and feeling like my normal self! I’m guessing Baby S is going through a growth spurt and whoa are hormones crazy.

In more amazing news, I started feeling the baby a few days ago!! The fluttering actually woke me up as I was dozing off to a lovely Hallmark movie Friday evening. Even Dan can feel movement! Very very very exciting.

I tell you these long breaks between appointments are so nerve-wracking. I say to Dan at least twice times a day “I hope [name I cannot say yet] is ok…” to which he assures me he/she is. Feeling any fluttering at all (and honestly even the less pleasant symptoms like waking up every morning to my boobs hurting) is definitely reassuring. Anyone else experience this anxiety/worry?

 

BEST PART OF PREGNANCY SO FAR

It’s at tie…
Seeing the heart flicker at 7 week appointment.
Hearing the heartbeat at 8 week appointment.
Hearing genetic testing came back normal.
Finding out the gender.
Seeing the baby move at 12 week appointment.
And honestly sharing the news with all of you was pretty fantastic!

 

HARDEST PART OF PREGNANCY SO FAR

The most difficult part of pregnancy so far started the moment we found out we were pregnant. And that was the anxiety that came with knowing there were several very important women in my life who had been struggling to get pregnant who I now had to tell I was expecting. And the thought of hurting them was just… heartbreaking and to be honest quite stressful. Hurting them or making them sad was the last thing I’d ever want to do. I knew they’d be happy for us because they’re wonderful people, but I also knew it wasn’t fair and that it still sucks to hear.

There have been at least 7 women in my life that I am close with (family and friends) who have dealt with one or multiple miscarriages, IVF (that did and didn’t work), and are still trying to get pregnant (and started trying before we did). I don’t know why things happen the way they do, but it’s not fair, it breaks my heart, and I just want everything to work out for them.

And if you’re reading this and you’re one of those women, I truly am so sorry for what you’re going through. I know it’s not easy and can feel very isolating. Just know you’re not alone, which I’ve often heard can be one of the hardest parts about it.

 

THINGS I’VE BOUGHT FOR BABY SO FAR

I’ve tried not to go crazy with the shopping since people keep telling me “wait til the shower… you’ll get so many clothes at the shower.” But I had to get SOME things.

Here are a few gender neutral items I’ve bought so far:

This plaid bunting for next winter (I didn’t know these were called bunting?)

This reindeer sweater (yes, it’s in the BABY GIRL section on the website but I think it works for boy or girl)

This white cableknit sweater (yes, it’s in the BABY BOY section on the website, but I think it works for boy or girl)

I also got the baby their very first Christmas ornament (this isn’t the one). That’s definitely a tradition I plan on doing every year – adding to their personal collection so they’ll have a great set all ready as an adult. It’s not a “Baby’s First Christmas” ornament since that will be next year and have 2018 on it. Just a traditional hand-blown glass one in a cute figurine similar to this one.

You all know baby has his/her needlepoint Christmas stocking. This was a gift from Grandma.

I also picked up a bunch of onesies and some summer and fall clothes that were on clearance from Gap and H&M as soon as we found out the gender (seriously – they were $3 onesies down from $18!), but I can’t share those just yet since the color would give away the gender!

I DO plan on doing a post asking for help and advice w/ registry stuff but more on that later! I plan on using Babylist so I can pull items from all different sites.

 

NURSERY UPDATE

Yes… what was our lovely office is now in transition to becoming a nursery.

We opted to use this small room for the nursery over the larger guest bedroom because

  1. a bebe doesn’t take up much space and
  2. I am SO keeping that queen bed and guest room set up for visiting grandparents, aunts and uncles, out-of-town guests, and anyone else who wants to visit (to um maybe help us with bebe so we can get some sleep)! 🙂

All we’ve done IN THE ROOM so far is:

  1. moved out the small chest of drawers (which had actually arrived damaged but we managed to use for the photo shoot and then needed to get rid of)
  2. moved the big IKEA shelves out and into the guest room

Then a bunch of stuff got put INTO the room when I shot my holiday home tour. It’s all mainly furniture, art, and accessories from photo shoots that will get moved out over the next two weeks. And our Halloween decor which needs to go to my mom’s basement. Thanks, mom!

After Christmas once the tree is down, the desk is getting moved into the master bedroom bay window alcove, which currently just sits looking nice but no one ever uses.

We moved the shelves along the long wall into the guest room and they too will be transitioning from beautifully styled with art and plants and decorative objects to more practical storage (but still looking nice, of course) because if this photo shows anything, BOY DO WE NEED THE STORAGE.

Yes each room has a closet, but it’s a super old house so the two second bedrooms’ closets are very small. Fortunately the one in our master is quite big. Will do a post on that separately!

 

THE NURSERY PLAN: 

  • the whole design is DONE and will be posting on that soon!
  • change out lighting fixture
  • adding crib, glider, dresser, bookshelf
  • add softer curtains
  • all of the furniture I picked out is neutral (mainly white) – I planned it before we knew the gender, so color will be brought in with accents, bedding, throw, rug, curtains, etc.

Here’s your first peek at the nursery design – the white campaign dresser we chose from Wayfair! I’ve loved the campaign style dresser for so long and I really loved all the storage this one offered. I also like the extra width so the top can serve as a changing table but still have extra surface area for storage and display.

For any readers waiting to learn the gender, this piece works great for a boy or girl and can transition with them from nursery to kid bedroom! Heck – it works perfectly in adult bedrooms! It also has amazing reviews and comes assembled!

Wayfair also sells this similar white dresser although slightly smaller version for half the price but it requires assembly and I was worried it would be less sturdy.