An Unplanned Break
Time seems to fly. If you are a regular reader, you’ve probably noticed I haven’t posted any new tutorials since Christmas. It feels like that was just a couple of weeks ago, but here it is March and I’m due with a little baby boy this month. In fact, I have a c-section scheduled for March 20.
Of course I’m so excited, but I’m also pretty nervous. Even though this is the third time I’ll be going through all of this, it’s easy to be overwhelmed with all of it… like trying to recover from major surgery without having time to sleep. We also have JUST started on the nursery. We had saved most of our baby items, so there wasn’t as much to prepare, but I did want to put together a simple and modern nursery for our little guy. I guess we just waited until this past week to start.
What it comes down to is that I don’t particularly enjoy being pregnant. I’m sure a lot of people agree with me on this… It’s a wonderful blessing, but it also is a huge and LONG undertaking for your body. What bothers me most is the “pregnancy brain”. I just don’t feel like myself when I’m pregnant, especially when I am not getting enough sleep I have a seriously lack of creativity, trouble making decisions, and a foggy thought process.
Pregnancy Brain
A few months ago (before a big belly was even an excuse) I took the kids to preschool. I walked all the way inside, talked briefly to their teachers, and drove home. It wasn’t until I walked back into the house that I noticed I was wearing two different colored flip flops. One was turquoise and one was pink. The worst part is… they were both left feet. Looking back at the morning I remember my son saying to me “Mommy, you’re wearing blue and pink today!” I assumed he was talking about my clothes… which weren’t blue or pink.
Celebrating with Friends
A few weeks ago, I got to enjoy a sweet little “baby sprinkle” lunch with my Orlando blogging buddies Lauren (The Thinking Closet) and Katie (Sew Woodsy). It was so much fun getting together and chatting, and so sweet of them to think of me. Katie is actually due with a little boy one day apart from me, which is really exciting! After having lunch together, I came home really excited about actually putting everything together.
Getting Ready for the Baby
Fortunately, the rush of energy that comes from knowing I will meet my little boy in 2 weeks has motivated me and energized me to put some things together. I want to share some of the inspiration for his nursery.
Simple. Modern. Soothing. Understated. Gray. Stripes. Sky. Clouds. Rain. Airplanes. Bright Accents.
I’ve shared a couple of quick shots on Instagram and Facebook, and I will keep you updated on our last minute nursery project as we go.
What we’ve done: We have dark cherry brown furniture that looks beautiful against the light gray walls we just painted. We went with Behr’s Sterling color and I really love it! There isn’t going to be a particular theme for the nursery, but the closest would be the sky, since we will be incorporating a fun DIY cloud project and some of Grant’s vintage airplanes he had when he was a boy. I also picked out some navy and white striped bumpers and some gray elephant sheets (I can’t resist elephants!).
Still to do: I want to add some fun pops of bright color – neon yellow and a shade of turquoise/aqua. I’m considering stenciling some turquoise raindrops across the wall behind the crib, but I’m not sure how it will turn out. Hopefully I’ll share our DIY cloud soon as well as some more pictures of the room in progress. I would also like to add some IKEA spice rack type shelves to let some of our favorite little books be a part of the room’s decor.
Oh my gosh, I can soooo relate to this post! I love that I AM pregnant, but I dislike BEING pregnant. (A huge distinction that lots of people might not understand.)
My c-section is currently scheduled for the same day as yours! I'm also having a little boy. We haven't put the crib up yet . . . but I did finally wash all the sweet little clothes. It's only my second and I am rather nervous about the surgery. (My first was an emergency c after 38 LONG hours of labor.)
And oh, for pregnancy brain . . . last night, while getting reading for another sleepless night, I could have sworn the closet door was open so as I walked past the light I switched it off and then proceeded to walk right into the closet DOOR. Yep, it was closed.
Good luck with everything! 🙂
That's neat we have the same c-section date! My first one was similar – really awful after long labor. The second scheduled c-section was sooooo much better (although I threw up and passed out a few minutes before surgery started from nerves, haha). It was much quicker and less scary, plus the recovery was soooo much better because my body wasn't exhausted from a long labor AND surgery. Hopefully it will be much easier for you too. The whole thing still freaks me out a lot though, so I try not to think about it and just think about meeting my little guy. I'll be excited to check in and see how things went and your baby pictures!
Haha, yeah… that sounds about right 🙂
The colors and your decor for the baby room sounds so adorable! You're almost there and soon no more pregnancy brain… just sleepless brain! =)
Thanks Amy! Sleepless and tired is definitely a big part of it.
I really appreciate this post, Rachel…as someone who is excited about having kids one day, it actually is really encouraging to hear that it's not all sunshine and rainbows. Because that is my suspicion! But I feel like people are reticent to really mention the hard parts. That flip flop story is too funny! Pregnancy brain definitely gives you a run for your money. Also, what a fun surprise to see our sprinkle shot in this post. It was so much fun to get together and hear you and Katie talk all things baby. I love that you're sort of walking this journey together…and I'm tagging along for the ride! 😉 I'll be praying for your C-section – – that all goes well and that you have a peace about it; and that your recovery is speedy! Can't wait to meet the baby! (Fabulous room inspiration, b.t.w. I dig the color scheme.)
It's definitely true that pregnancy and motherhood are not as glamorous as they may seem. You find yourself in crazy and unplanned situations all of the time. I even feel bad to complain at all because my pregnancy has generally been uneventful, other than never-ending morning sickness. I guess it just affects different people differently, and I know that a LOT of people have it WAY worse than I do. Being a mother is also really hard and sort of crazy, but I find that I love even the hard and crazy parts of it 🙂