Sunday, June 28th, 2015
I took a pregnancy test like I do every day in the days leading up to my period. It’s a habit. I’m seriously addicted to peeing on sticks. I glanced at it and there was no line, so I threw the test in the trash and went about my day.
Monday, June 29, 2015
I took another pregnancy test. Like I mentioned before, I test every single day the few days before my period is expected. Gotta love those cheap Wondfos!
Anyway, this time I took the test and got distracted by the kids yelling at me about breakfast. I laid the test down and forgot to look at it. A few hours later I was going about my morning routine and straightening up the bathroom when I saw the test again. I grabbed it to throw it away when I realized that it was positive. Holy crap. I was totally not expecting that! I dug the test from the previous day out of the trash. Low and behold, it was also positive. Looks like I just didn’t wait long enough for the line to show up. I tested again that evening… got another positive. Dude…
We had been talking about trying for a third. We had even tried the month before… but had taken off this month. We were trying to plan for baby #3 to be born in the off season so my maternity leave wouldn’t interfere with shooting. Funny us… trying to plan a baby around our schedules.
I started looking back at my calendar to try to determine a possible due date and realized that this baby was likely conceived after the season finale of Game of Thrones. The nickname Jon Snow was immediately born. The funny thing is, as I thought back to that night, I remembered congratulating Chris and telling him that he had just made a baby. Maybe I should go into the fortune telling business…?
That night I had to go to a family dinner for Gram’s birthday and keep my mouth shut all while trying to fool people into thinking that I was getting sick and therefore choosing to not partake in any adult beverages. That was freaking hard!
Tuesday, June 30, 2015 (4 weeks pregnant)
Today, I took my first belly photo. There really wasn’t a belly yet… at least not one that didn’t exist prior to getting pregnant. Ha ha.
I also broke the news to Chris over dinner. I had the phone in my lap recording (which is why it’s black at the beginning). I didn’t want him to get suspicious.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WKvnhAzK4U]
He was surprised, but excited after the initial shock wore off!
Later in the week…
My peeing on sticks addiction doesn’t stop after I get that first positive. I like to see the progression!
Friday, July 10, 2015 (5 weeks)
So, I ordered these super cute ‘Big Brother’ and ‘Middle Brother’ shirts for the boys so we could break the news to our families.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2BNS-EV6_k]
We broke the news to Chris’s parents and sister a few days later over dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get it on video! 🙁
Monday, July 13th, 2015 (5 weeks)
Today I broke the news to Grandma. This might be my favorite reaction video ever. Ever.
We were talking about the boys’ birthdays. I was pointing to Logan and saying December 23rd, then pointing to Atticus while saying October 21st… and then pointing to my belly while saying beginning of March. It took a while for it to sink in…
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzVEwtKk–g]
Wednesday, July 27, 2015 (7 weeks)
Oh, the bloat… and a dirty, dirty mirror!
So far this pregnancy has been a lot like my first two. Extreme fatigue and exhaustion. Nausea… but this time, the nausea usually only hits at night. And it hits hard.
Wednesday, August 5, 2015 (9 weeks)
I borrowed a doppler from a friend and set out to try to find the heartbeat. This was my second time trying…
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29TKjJF4UR8]
It was such a relief to find that little heartbeat. We hadn’t told the boys yet, but now that we knew that there was indeed a beating heart, we decided to go ahead and spill the beans…
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHBVUG2UrfE]
Thursday, August 6, 2015(9 weeks)
Today we went for an early sono. Since I wasn’t 100% sure on the date and tend to go over my EDD, I wanted to get an early sono– just in case there was an issue with dates later on in the pregnancy. The sono was actually a little bit of a cluster F. Atticus was not happy that I was laying on a table and cried for most of it. But the bright side is that we got to see and hear that sweet little squish!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2ONkn39Jes]
Saturday, August 28, 2015 (12 weeks)
The boys are super excited for their new baby. Logan’s been talking nonstop about it and trying to come up with a name.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVKoBXUv5wk&w=560&h=315]
Thursday, September 10, 2015 (14 weeks)
Saturday, September 26, 2015 (16 weeks)
Chatting with Logan about the baby. <3
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jAr6-aoBZU&w=560&h=315]
Saturday, October 10, 2015 (18 weeks)
Smack dab in the middle of busy wedding season and a little pre-work selfie. Luckily, this second trimester has been kind to me. My only issue has been some hip pain.
Thursday, October 15, 2015 (19 weeks)
Baby Jon Snow has a new nickname! We’ve been asking Logan recently if he thinks the baby is a boy or a girl and what he wants to name it. He has decided he likes the name Belvin, lol. I have no clue where he got that name! It just came out of his mouth one day and has stuck. Here’s a little video of Logan chatting about the baby:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBwlDD7SZnA&w=560&h=315]
And a belly shot:
Monday, October 26, 2015 (20 weeks)
Today we had our anatomy scan and have decided to not find out Baby Belvin’s sex. It was really hard to not peek at the screen when the sono tech was in that area, but I think it will be more fun this way! Here’s a belly shot and a sono image of baby’s face.
Saturday, October 31, 2015 (21 weeks)
For Halloween this year, we did our usual trick-or-treat around the neighborhood. Baby Belvin was a pumpkin.
Tuesday, November 10, 2015 (23 weeks)
Tuesday, December 8, 2015 (27 weeks)
The holidays might be the death of me this year. Sooo tired!
Friday, January 1, 2016 (30 weeks)
First belly shot of the year! These boys love Baby Belvin so much!
Tuesday, January 5, 2016 (31 weeks)
Backyard hotdog roast with my favorite guys. I love these 3 so much!
Sunday, January 17, 2016 (32 weeks)
We are working hard to get our master bedroom remodeled before Baby Belvin decides to make his/her appearance. This weekend we painted and we will be having new carpet installed in the coming weeks. Chris and I are so lucky to have Miranda in our lives–she volunteered to come help paint since I’m not able to help out that much.
Tuesday, January 19, 2016 (33 weeks)
This week we will be filming our last wedding before baby comes. Now we just need to get caught up on editing. I’m not going to lie, it’s going to be nice to have a break from MM for a while.
Tuesday January 26, 2016 (34 weeks)
Time is starting to tick away more quickly and I’m starting to feel the pressure to get everything done! Though it obviously didn’t happen with the boys, I’m concerned about the possibility of baby coming early. At this point, I would love for baby to be a week (or more!) late like his/her brothers just so I can have a little more time to get things done and prepare myself emotionally and mentally. Some days I feel crazy for thinking I can handle another tiny human. Some days I don’t even feel like I can adequately take care of myself, much less kids. Adulting is freaking hard sometimes.
Friday, February 5, 2016 (35 weeks)
So, I was selected to be the maternity model for a photography workshop. I made Miranda go with me since it was her idea. We had a blast. Here are a few excerpts from the session:
And we had a beautiful sunset on the way home. <3
Saturday, February 6, 2016 (35 weeks)
This evening we celebrated Chris’ birthday with our closest friends. We took him to Neighborhood Services and had a great time!
My ‘mock-tail’ and the most amazing Steak Frites!
Tuesday, February 9, 2016 (36 weeks)
Today we had our home visit with our midwives and doula. It’s getting so close and so very real. Starting to think about the actual birth and making plans for all of that is feeling pretty overwhelming at the moment. Also, this baby acts like he/she is trying to bust out:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atFpPuqdS2A&w=420&h=315]
Sunday, February 21, 2016 (37 weeks)
My sweet, sweet friends threw me the most awesome surprise Blessingway. It was so much fun just getting to spend time with the women who love and support me the most. We had so much food… and they all made little dreamcatchers for Baby Belvin. And I got my belly henna’d. What a perfect day!
Friday, February 26 (38 weeks)
Exactly 2 weeks before my due date and guess who decides to get sick?! Yep… Chris brought illness home Monday and now the kids are sick too. I’m not going to lie… the snuggles and getting to lay around and do absolutely nothing are lovely, but I do have a super long to do list that really needs to get done!
Tuesday, March 1, 2016 (39 weeks)
This sweet little booger is excited about meeting his baby…
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2NP-LFyrA0&w=560&h=315]
Tuesday, March 8, 2016 (40 weeks)
Today is Baby Belvin’s due date. And while I know that we more than likely still have at least a week, (based on the boys going over their due dates) I’m excited to get to take belly photos again! This tradition started with Atticus (it was stolen from my doula’s friend). Basically, you take a belly photo every day that you go over your due date.
Friday, March 11, 2016 (40+3)
We started off today thinking that we were going to have a baby. We were so sure of it, I even had Chris stay home from work! I was woken up in the very early morning with contractions that were coming every 5 mins, just like how labor with Atticus began. But, unlike my labor with Atti, these contractions did not get any stronger when I got out of bed and started moving around. In fact, it was the opposite. These contractions completely and totally fizzled out once I was up moving around. Ugh. How frustrating! To make myself feel better, I headed to get a pedicure to try and relax.
Saturday, March 12, 2016 (40+4… and Grandma’s 86th birthday!)
If there was ever a day that I didn’t want to go into labor, it was today. We had plans to eat at Babe’s with our family to celebrate Grandma’s 86th birthday. Even Aunt Jody came into town!
Sunday, March 13, 2016 (40+5)
We stayed around the house most of the day today playing outside with the boys and enjoying the beautiful spring weather. We took some photos and a short video of Baby Belvin with the boys. Little did we know that Baby Belvin would be born the following day.
Monday, March 14, 2016 (40+6)
Baby Belvin’s birth day. You can read details on the birth story blog, but here’s the last photo I took of my belly. This was in between contractions while I waited for my birth team to arrive. <3
