Happy Sunday, you guys! Thanks so much for stopping by and reading. I am super excited to share with you our *almost* finished nursery! I figured I would get too busy/crazed in the next 5 ish weeks to photograph the final touches, but it's nearly done! We are just going to have our navy glider chair delivered in the next couple weeks, and it will be complete!
I usually keep it pretty light over here on Belle On Trend, but I thought I'd open up a bit about our pregnancy journey. It has not been the easiest, and I think sometimes it's helpful to talk to other expectant moms/new moms about the journey. Sometimes going through struggles during pregnancy can feel like a super lonesome time because you might feel like you're the only one who has faced certain issues/any issues along the way. With that in mind, I wanted to just open up about what we experienced, in hopes of setting some other expecting moms/dads at ease. Additionally, I hated to bring people down with our not-so-great news we kept receiving, so sometimes I just kept it to myself. Our close friends and family were amazing and kept the positivity flowing! We just hated to burden anyone with our "unknowns".
So... here it is!
We are due April 6, and we finally "graduated" from the high risk pool! Which is SO GREAT!!!! This happened on Monday at our most recent MFM (maternal fetal medicine) appointment. We had a couple of factors that kept us seeing the high risk doctor for the past 8 months. It started at our 12 week appointment, where the ultrasound showed signs of echogenic bowel. This means the bowel shows up "brighter than bone" on the ultrasound and can be an indicator of Downs Syndrome. Of course, this would be totally fine, but we would just want to prepare ourselves/our house, etc. for a baby with Downs.
Fast forward a few weeks, and I underwent a slew of other tests to figure out why the bowel might be echogenic. What I tested positive for was called CMV-- cytomegalovirus. It is something that apparently 80% of people in the country get before they are 40, and if you're healthy and you get it, you might never know you have it. The problem lies in someone contracting it when they are sick (undergoing chemo, etc.) or pregnant. The scare was that CMV can be passed on to your baby, and it can cause deafness, blindness, or other worse outcomes.
We were so devastated and nervous. I felt like I couldn't stop crying for weeks. I felt like it was my fault, too, because I was the one who had had CMV at some point recently. Again, more tests ensued. Our doctors kept telling us NOT to Google anything, but of course, we Googled. I just kept praying and praying-- it was such a rough time. I wanted to stay healthy and positive for the little guy growing inside of me, but I was sooooo worried about this CMV (something I had never even heard of before!).
Finally, in November, the specialist said that the baby was NOT showing signs of CMV, which was the best news we could ever hear. He wanted to keep checking, as the signs could still show up. Basically, I work with kids all day every day, I probably had CMV at some point and didn't even know. You can literally get it from a cough in the air. But, for now, the baby was not showing any signs of it (like measuring small or spots on his organs or any heart issues).
At our next appointment, the doctor mentioned that the baby had a little echogenic focus on his heart. However, they insured us that this was really common and often went away! That was a scare again, but we trusted our doctors. They are amazing. In January, they told us that his kidneys were a bit dilated, but again, they explained that this was super common (primarily in boys), and it would likely go away by our next appointment. We just kept praying. With that, it could just require antibiotics when he was born and an ultrasound on him when he was out of me. But, they were very confident that we shouldn't worry. We definitely tried to keep that in mind and stay calm.
On Monday, we had our most recent ultrasound and FINALLY everything was normal!!! He is 5.5 lbs right now (and one of our friends did the ultrasound, which is so great because she's the best-- hi, Krista!), he is measuring a little big, but the doctor thinks he will be born at right around 8 lbs. He said the bowel looked totally fine, kidneys are back to normal, no signs of CMV in the baby, and he was not concerned at all with the heart. Thank. The. Lord!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just wanted to share that in case anyone else was experiencing a harder-than-usual pregnancy. I can't even complain, honestly, because we are pregnant. I would truly endure anything for this little guy. But, I thought maybe it would help to share for others. Pregnancy is no joke, and it is the hardest and best thing that has ever happened to me. I for sure have had all the possible side effects of pregnancy, so I am happy to share anything that might help! Haha! And, if you have advice for zombie-esque nosebleeds, please hmu! As we approach the last month and a half of this pregnancy, I just wanted to be a resource for anyone else who needs it.
And now, for the FUN STUFF!!!!!!!!!!!! The nursery!!!!!!!
Here is a shot from the hallway door!!! Mike and I painted the walls yellow and green over my Christmas break. This used to be our office, but we moved that downstairs (as blogged about here).
This alphabet sign is from Homegoods! It was $19, but unfortunately you have to go to Homegoods to actually buy anything. Here are some similar pieces below:
We also found this elephant chair at Homegoods! It's sooooooo soft! I hope we can take the monthly baby pics in it, but he might not stay sitting in there since he won't really be able to hold up his head for a while, LOL.
This corner will have the navy blue glider chair in it once it arrives! But for now, we have that adorable elephant humidifier, and the little table that Mike painted with the leftover room paint!
It was a plain Ikea night stand, and he turned it into the perfect addition to our little guy's room.
The little giraffe storage hanger is perfect for newborn toys! My friend Fran got us that!
More fun giraffe options below!
Obsessed with these Ikea bookshelves/ledges, so then you can show off all your books!
The giraffe print is another Homegoods find, but I will link equally adorable ones below!
Anna got this pennant sign made for our baby shower! How cute is that!!!???
The entire room was based around this Safari Rock themed bedding that Mike found. It popped up on his Amazon, and he was like, "if we have a boy, can we get this?!" and I'm like, "YES!!!!" Baby animals playing instruments?! What could be better! He also got it on super discount-- the whole set for $80. Our crib was given to us from Mike's best friend from high school! Scott and Jessica asked Mike if we needed a crib, as their youngest son was heading into a "big boy bed"! And it just so happened that that weekend they needed to have it out of their house, Mike had a U-haul to get his grandmother's piano from Jackson MI! Serendipitous. We are soooo grateful for Scott and Jess's gift!
Those animal heads are from Target! They come in a bunch of different animals, too!
That "I think I can, I know I can" sign was actually in my childhood room growing up. So cute, right?
The monkey with the balloons has everyone's names from the shower-- a guest book of sorts! My sister got us the yellow frame for it, too!
Elephant night light-- Mike called that his "impulse purchase" when he was finishing up our registry the other day haha:
Isn't this giraffe height chart amazing? My sweet cousins from Bethesda, Maryland bought us this!!!! It's beautiful, and a perfect addition for the jungle animal-themed room!
This lion hamper was from my besties from HS! SO cute!
The stuffed elephant in the left corner has our little guy's heartbeat recorded in it. I surprised Mike with that for Christmas!
Had to get the infamous Sophie the Giraffe!
My cousin, Beth, got me that amazing May Designs baby book!!
Measuring daddy-- haha!!
According to his Match.com profile, he was 5'11 hahahaha! #inaccurate bahaha I love you, Mike!
Our baby bag! Fawn Designs. I did a lot of research on the best/cutest diaper bag I could find. This one is gorgeous. Luxe leather, soooo soft, and an amazing design. You can wear it as a crossbody messenger bag or a backpack. I love the camel because it's not going to get dirty easily.
Also, I will totally use this well past babies! I want to use it until BBF arrives for work! Haha.
I know Mike wouldn't care if the diaper bag with pink with bows or sequined, he would still carry it, but I think this one is a nice compromise.
My friends who recently had babies all raved about this Boppy. Loved that it was safari animal themed, too! We also got the Boppy lounger, with recommendations from my friend and new mama, Jena!
If there is anything else you are curious about that I didn't link, please ask below! I am so happy to share anything we registered for/bought for the baby or the baby's room. I have a bunch of girlfriends who just recently had babies within the last 6 months, so they have been my saviors!!! It really takes a village to figure it out. I am nowhere near "figured out", but I am getting a lot of amazing advice from my friends, so I would love to share it with anyone who might need it!
Please feel free to email me or comment below with any questions!
Mary.Fremeau@gmail.com
xxoo
Mary
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