It's time...my new blog name is here!

www.SensibleMa.com

I'm transitioning into a new dimension of life, Motherhood. I needed to represent my newly partly-selfless decision making from here on out with a fresh name so I can document all my honest motherhood nuances under my new evergreen title, Sensible Ma. Also, Nate told me the old name was stupid and I should change it....so I made him work with me on this one!

• Origin: Old French
• Adjective: (of a statement or course of action) chosen in accordance with wisdom or prudence; likely to be of benefit. (of an object) practical and functional rather than decorative.
• Archaic: Readily perceived; appreciable. Able to notice or appreciate; not unaware of.
• Synonyms: practical, realistic, rational
• Antonyms: Foolish

• Origin: English
• Noun: (informal) One's mother.

As much of a planner and worry-wart I am, I'm also very sensible about the reality of a situation and accepting that not everything will be perfect and mistakes will be made. As a new mom I'm conscious about a lot of products to use, organic everything and non-chemical anything. As much as I like being a creative, modern and forward thinker I'm also the kind of person that doesn't have patience for a lot of details if it's going to take up my time and stress me out. This is where I know I'll throw my arms in the air and use a non-organic, chemically doused product just to make my day a little more sensible.  This blog (and a baby) is an on-going venture so I'm extending the pregnancy journaling because it's fun and I like to write and divulge information you might not be comfortable hearing. And let's be honest, I'm an introvert so this is totally my thing!

Please continue to follow, stalk and share your own experiences and advice! If you followed the previous blog by email you'll need to re-subscribe to this one, you'll see the sign-up on the left sidebar of the new blog :)

Currently: March baby please!

The Deal: I'm linking up with Ot and Et and Harvesting Kale to share my week by their weekly themes!

This Week: facing, snapping, counting, loving, hopping

I'm FACING the last couple weeks (wishing days) of this pregnancy! It's been an unforgettable and interesting ride but I'm staring it in the face now, I want out!

I'm SNAPPING... more like complaining to Nate about how uncomfortable and huge I'm feeling. The snapping comes in when he laughs at how bizarre it is to see me this huge, it honestly does make us both laugh at the end of the day. Continued in loving...
I should start HOPPING around if I want this baby in March! 

I'm COUNTING the days and hours even though it might be weeks. We were hoping for a March baby but we're definitely not counting on it...if only we were so lucky! April has just never been one of those sought out months, like "Oh, it's just April..." whereas March has always been an important month for my family; my birthday, my mom's birthday, both of my sister-in-law's birthdays and even my great grandmother's birthday. At least Baby S will be an Aries as well...she better be any way. If she goes past the Aries mark that's almost another 3 weeks away! 

I'm LOVING the laughs we have about these last couple weeks. My butt looks nonexistent since my belly is so big now, I mean...most of society assumes I'm having twins. I roll out of bed in a way that looks like a little flip so I can land on my feet, thank you gymnastics skills. I have uncontrolled burps and farts... which are always funny. Nate makes me laugh to pee my pants and I"m pretty sure he tries to do this on purpose now. The real treat is the weight my vagina has gained, like it's carrying a baby too. I'm closer to knowing what it feels like to be a man with less space between your legs.

I should start HOPPING around if I want this baby in March!

38 Weeks = Home Stretch!

I'm in the home stretch! If you've been following along you've read that I have two due dates  since I started going to an OB and then switched to midwives. They each are one week apart, April 8 and 15th. I've been sticking with the April 8th date just because that was based off conception and I'd rather prepare for an earlier date. Either way, as long as I made it to 37 weeks I'm safe at the birth center, so to them I'm 37 weeks today. Yay! 

Due date: April 8 or 15, 2014

How far along? 38 Weeks

What food are you? Leek

Total weight gain/loss: 45 lbs... Baby S, I need you to come out soon so I can stop gaining weight.
Maternity clothes? The only clothes I can wear; my staples are tanks and Ts from Gap Maternity, J.Crew maternity jeans and my regular maxi dresses. 

Stretch marks? Not yet...

Sleep: My body is officially too heavy. I'm snoring! I've never in my life snored and I've woken myself up two different nights now, multiple times.
Miss Anything? Talking without a lisp... these chubby cheeks need to go. My normal laugh, I have the weirdest big belly laugh that sounds awkward when something is really funny. 

Exercise: Bike rides, dog walks and yoga.
Movement: Rib kicking and uncomfortable belly stretching. 

Food cravings: Still watermelon and breaded sweets: muffins and donuts

Anything making you queasy or sick: My mild cramping makes me nauseous sometimes

Gender: Girl

Labor Signs: Braxton Hicks contractions and cramping. The round ligament pains have stopped, I must be stretched enough... for now.

Belly Button in or out? I think it's technically out now. 

Happy or Moody: Exhausted, anxious, excited and nervous. 

Looking forward to: Another music festival with Surfer Blood this weekend - this band just won't stop coming to Tampa!
Best moments last week: Miami and receiving the news that my blood levels are safe to stay at the birthing center! I'm still seeing a Hemotologist because some levels are oddly (slightly) low but they're still safe by Florida law. 

Miami Weekend Getaway & Our Must-Do List

Yes, the only good photo from a three shot camera timer is with his hand on my boob. This is his favorite pose when being in a photo. This is from the Wynwood neighborhood.

Miami has become our weekend destination... to relax! Our first weekend spent in Miami was Labor Day weekend in 2012 and we stayed at The Standard; it was the most relaxing weekend ever! We spent our time laying by the pool under an umbrella (well, my pale skin requires a full-time umbrella) and only left the hotel for dinner and a bike ride. This past weekend we pretty much did the same except we stayed at a different hotel since I wouldn't be able to enjoy the Lido Spa massage floor, which is amazing if you're not pregnant!

LIST OF MUST-DOS FOR A QUICK RELAXING MIAMI GETAWAY

STAY

W HOTEL

THE STANDARD

SEE

WYNWOOD

EAT

PUBBELLY

PRIDE & JOY

YARDBIRD

The morning of my birthday we woke up early, dropped the dogs off at daycare and made it to Miami in four hours. Once we checked in we spent some time on the beach to do my birthday suit compare photo and ordered a bite to eat to hold us over until dinner. I was so happy to find watermelon on almost every menu in Miami! Baby S was craving it too, you can see her foot about to kick me in the ribs!

On a mini vaca like this, our main goal is to relax but also eat well at places we can't get in Tampa. We did our usual google searches for "farm to table" and "foodie" and then ultimately asked our friends of our favorite restaurant in Tampa, The Refinery where we should go. The one place they mentioned was Pubbelly, we looked it up and realized that's where we went in 2012; we're not big 'repeaters' because we like to try new places but we loved it so we decided to go there again and end our search so we could get back to doing nothing. 

Pork belly must be 'in season' because it was all over the menu so of course we ordered plenty, their dumplings were amazing and the noodles and rice dish was spicy and filling. I decided to skip dessert because I was really in the mood for a big cup of ice cream around the corner. Their menu changes. and may change by the time you click, but this was the menu on my birthday. We had the McBelly, Short Rib & Corn dumplings, Kimchee Fried Rice and Green Beans. 

The next day we ate at The Dutch, the restaurant in the W, and as imagined it was over priced and mediocre but convenient since we had to stake out chairs by the pool before there was a wait list. 

Although we enjoyed ourselves by the pool for a couple hours it was a cloudy day so we decided to head to our favorite part of town, no, not South Beach but the Wynwood art district. There's basically a ton of art galleries, an awesome coffee shop, a few food spots (we had a bite to eat at The Butcher Shop) and one brewery. What makes this area so unique and artsy is the artwork displayed outside of all the buildings. 

These photos are from our last trip in 2012 

(the only one we took this year is the one above)

Within one of the Wynwood buildings is a fresh juice bar, JugoFresh. Since our next stop was the Wynwood Brewery, I grabbed a fresh juice and Nate had a juice made into a vegan milkshake. These were so good, they're made fresh every morning in-house. 

I had the P.A.M.pered Ginger (Pineapple, Apple, Ginger, Mint and Maca Extract). 

Of course, we had to visit their brewery, Wynwood Brewing Company. Luckily, for me, they had games :) The beers weren't rated very high by Nate but it was refreshing to find craft beers. 

As usual, I won :)

For dinner we were looking for something a little more casual and in the neighborhood so we ate at a BBQ spot called, Pride & Joy. It wasn't the best, but it was still good and just what we needed. 

Nate let me sleep in before checking out of the hotel while making his arm fall asleep. I have a confession I never thought I'd have to tell. For the first time ever, on the night of my birthday, I woke Nate and myself up from snoring! I woke myself up multiple times during the night...

And the most important place we went the entire trip was to YardBird for brunch, all thanks to our foodie friend Matt! We HIGHLY recommend this spot too. This was a perfect end to a very relaxing birthday trip and what some might call a baby moon... our real baby moon will happen after she's born :)

My Birthday Suit...what a difference a year makes!

2013 - Birthday #27

Last year for my birthday we took a big trip. I love birthdays, plus we were due for a big trip. We went to St. Martin (French side) for almost two weeks and loved every minute. We're not big 'beach' travelers but we needed something different with a language change. This was one of the most relaxing vacations we've ever been on and I found my favorite place in the world (so far); St. Barths. I've always wanted to go to a topless beach and staying on the french side with minimal American tourists gave us this opportunity. My plan was to then be in my birthday suit for my birthday.

Mission Accomplished. 

Hello, Old Body...

2014 - Birthday #28

This year we're ending my pregnancy the way it started...with a road-trip and vacation, but mini version. We bundled my birthday weekend and baby-moon into one weekend and decided to stay in Miami. I wasn't having any early labor signs this week so we booked a hotel, took the risk and drove from Tampa to Miami for the weekend. Our last trip was in August for Nate's birthday (the same week I found out I was pregnant) so we've been itching for a getaway. Our "me" time splurge is lounging all day by a nice pool under an umbrella with pool boy service. 

Keeping these milk trucks covered this year :)

A look back at Birthday #27

37 Weeks! [This milestone deserves an exclamation point]

Due date: April 8, 2014

How far along? 37 Weeks

What fruit are you? Bunch of Swiss Chard

Total weight gain/loss: 41 lbs
Maternity clothes? The only clothes I can wear; my staples are tanks and Ts from Gap Maternity, J.Crew maternity jeans and my regular maxi dresses. 

Stretch marks? Not yet...

Sleep: Better than last week
Miss Anything? Talking without a lisp... these chubby cheeks need to go. 

Exercise: Bike rides, dog walks and yoga.
Movement: All the time like she doesn't fit in my belly any more, because she doesn't. A lot of rib kicking, she's at least helping my posture!

Food cravings: Watermelon and breaded sweets: muffins and donuts

Anything making you queasy or sick: Last weekend the smell of truffled oil on fries

Gender: Girl

Labor Signs: Braxton Hicks contractions, round ligament pains and light cramping when I'm doing too much

Belly Button in or out? the very, very inside is still inside but the rest is out

Happy or Moody: Tired and irritated

Looking forward to: My 28th Birthday on Friday and hopefully a weekend getaway, living in Florida and having a birthday during spring break season is not ideal for last minute plans! AND only two more days of work until my maternity leave starts :)
Best moments last week: The crash course of hypno-birthing and the arrival of the bookshelf and glider for the nursery! A nursery update coming soon :)

This was our St. Paddy's Day dinner outing: Fly Bar in downtown Tampa with a mocktail and Nate's favorite wine for their Monday special of 1/2 off wine night accompanied with jazz music. Nothing irish about this night except my green attire, heritage and Baby S' name :)

The Art of Arranging a Bookshelf

I don't know what the art is but there has to be one. The final furniture piece of the nursery was purchased and built, the bookcase. This was an important aspect of the room because I needed something that would hold as much storage as possible. This is actually my main priority for any piece of furniture we consider buying. We're in a 1925 bungalow and apparently our generation hoards more ‘stuff’ than the Roaring Twenties? Crazy, I know. The only real storage we have is the closet in the nursery, the closet is the width of the door; it’s small. In the two years we’ve owned the house this room started as a storage room, then Nate’s office, a TV den and now the nursery.

Although I think I’ve done a pretty good job at being a minimalist this closet is still half full so there’s not much room for baby storage. I’m trying to figure out the most strategic way to store everything within the room, including S’ books. Have you ever tried to organize books on a bookshelf? It’s like the task of arranging flowers, you assume it’s a brainless task but it becomes a drawn out activity where you feel clueless.

Do you line the books tallest to smallest? This was my obvious first choice but then it looks awkward when you have extra long books that over power the spine of the narrower books. Do you separate these different sized books? Color-coding the spines looks really neat but confusing when you actually try, and what color comes first?

I’m a Google-r. I couldn’t take rearranging the books and having them all fall like dominos any more, nine months pregnant or not. These are a few of the most common styles I found so if you ever find yourself needing to arrange a bookshelf, hopefully this gives you a good starting point!

Stacking vs. Standing: Standing is second nature and easier to remove and replace but stacking can look more aesthetic. In my case I had a couple extra small shelves available so I pulled my favorites out to stack. The more baby stuff I buy in the future I'm sure these will end up with the rest of the books.

Alphabetically: This isn’t something I would normally spend time doing but this does sound like a GREAT idea when your child is learning their ABCs and how to properly alphabetize. Let them put away their own books on the shelf!

Color-Code: Since I don’t have a ton of books, the color-coding part wasn’t difficult. Deciding if I should include the extra wide books is where I was stumped, so I attempted the color-coding but needed to stick with the sizing of the books. 

Besides the books, the rest of the shelves are still a work in progress but I at least found a way to store the stuff I didn't know where to put. The upper grey box is holding all extra diapers and wipes and the lower grey box is holding all the extra swaddles and bed sheets. The colored box is storing all her toys and the mason jar has pacifiers. The glider is being delivered this week which is LAST major piece of furniture so a full nursery update will be coming soon!!

Currently (link up)

The Deal: I'm linking up with Ot and Et and Harvesting Kale to share my week by her weekly themes!

This Week: hoping, wondering, working, wearing, eating

I'm HOPING I don't get transferred out of my birthing center. When I say that, it sounds like I'm being expelled from school, which is what it sort of feels like. Since my 20th week I've had low hemoglobin blood levels on top of taking iron supplements and by law with a birthing center I had to go see a Dr. to have more testing. My midwives work closely with this Dr. because he supports midwifery and the more holistic choices we like to make. Usually the culprit of low hemoglobin levels is anemia, low iron; in my case this test came back normal. That sounded like good news but now we're left on a goose-chase to see what my issue is because my hemoglobin levels still aren't increasing enough. We have two weeks to get those puppies up so now I'm seeing a Hemoglobin specialist.

I'm WONDERING what our little mini is going to look like, if she'll take after me or Nate, or a combo. All we know is she'll be a European-Cherokee Indian mix. I'm mostly made up of Irish, Scotch-Irish, British and Cherokee Indian and Nate's mostly Polish. 

I'm WORKING one more week until I take my maternity leave! I'll be in my 37-38th week of pregnancy (since I've been playing with two dates) so I wanted to have a couple weeks to prepare myself, the house and my lady parts for the natural birth that's in place. My first day off will also be my birthday, my official late 20's, the big 2-8. This is the first year I feel like I'm getting older, I've never said anything silly like "OH EM GEE I'm getting so old, I'm not telling how old I'm turning!". Maybe it's this baby growing inside of me that's making me feel like an adult but in general I still feel like 28 is still so young! 

I'm WEARING an extra 40 pounds. It's still so crazy how 'okay' I feel about gaining all this weight, it's like when movie stars have to gain weight for a role and we all say, "I wish I had to gain weight and it would be okay" Well, this is my time and it's been awesome :)

This is what my 40 lbs looks like :) #NotAshamed

36 weeks vs. 14 weeks

I'm EATING like a cave woman. Since my blood levels are low and we thought it was because of my iron, I've been trying to eat a lot more meat, beans and iron rich green foods. I'm still taking iron supplements as well, just in case. I also never say no to chocolate, even when I'm not hungry. 

36 Weeks

It's been so long since we've been on a vacation that this music festival felt like one. It might of had something to do with the perfect weather we had but it was a much needed weekend of music and relaxation. This was also the most family friendly music festival we've ever seen, one of the bands even stopped playing to talk about it (positively); yay!

This entire weekend I was also reminded that I'm pregnant, huge and yes...I'm due soon. I suppose being around so many people the odds aren't in my favor.
My list of reminders:

1. Two people asked me personally: "Are you having twins?"

2. "Whoa!" (I noticed one guy say this to his friend as they walked by and I turned to my mom to ask if she saw it and she said, I've been seeing that all day except people were pointing at you)

3. "She's going to drop it right here" (my mom overheard this one too)

Due date: April 8, 2014

How far along? 36 Weeks (measuring 35 weeks)

What fruit are you? Head of lettuce

Total weight gain/loss: 40 lbs (yikes... and still one month left!)
Maternity clothes? The only clothes I can wear; my staples are clothes tanks and Ts from Gap Maternity, J.Crew jeans and my regular maxi dresses.

Stretch marks? Not yet...

Sleep: Not so much... tossing and turning.
Miss Anything? Sleep and energy

Exercise: Bike rides, dog walks and yoga.
Movement: All the time like she doesn't fit in my belly any more, because she doesn't. Her movements are actually uncomfortable in some spots. 

Food cravings: Girl Scout cookies and watermelon

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope

Gender: Girl

Labor Signs: Braxton Hicks contractions, round ligament pains and light cramping when I'm doing too much

Belly Button in or out? the very, very inside is still inside but the rest is out

Happy or Moody: Tired and irritated

Looking forward to: Our crash course in hypnobirthing at our house tonight!
Best moments last week: We're certified in infant and child/adult CPR, a weekend full of music and perfect weather and another art piece for the nursery by one of our favorite local artists, Brandon McLean!

Nana Fran

Music partner

Snickers Ice Cream :)

Boring water...

Nana Fran and two of my lady friends!

New art piece for Baby S

I love how he includes all four edges of the canvas 

A Bottle of Wine and Dad's First Taste of Parenthood

The one thing I've learned (still attempting) to embrace from Nate is his spontaneity and never making a decision based on consequences; which is what all of my decision making is based upon. Anytime Nate makes a suggestion that will change our plans I always have a brief moment of panic and anxiety of what-ifs and then sometimes I let go and try to be in the moment with him. When I've let myself do this before it usually has positive results but the negative times are catastrophic day-ruiners.

Nate had his first realization of the selfless acts he'll have to encounter in the future. After a bottle of wine, someone has to finish it since I can't help, and late night music listening while I had already gone to bed, Nate had a brilliant idea. We've been wanting (dying) to see this band Real Estate and they're currently on tour. The closest they're coming to Florida is Atlanta, Georgia.

When I wake up in the morning and check my phone with one eye open I see an email from Nate, the subject line reads "Real Estate". At this point I already know they're on tour because we've casually spoken about it but then in the body of the email my eyes jump all over because I see a confirmation of flights booked and then I read "Hope you can fly. If not we can drive up that Monday?". Both eyes are open now. My anxiety is kicking in and I'm trying to scroll all over the email on my iPhone screen to see what dates the flights are booked. March 31st - April 1. My due date is April 8. I turned to Nate and he's still groggy from the wine and lack of sleep and I honestly don't remember what I said, if anything. I think I was still swallowing his 'surprise' (ironically he hates surprises but knows I love them) and just uttered sounds, not words until he asks if I saw his email and I think I just said, "You're crazy."  After waking up a little I reminded him that it's a week before my due date and I'm pretty sure I can't fly along with the big what if, I go into labor...

His response: "That's why I thought we could just drive up that Monday if you can't fly" Haha, what!? Driving from Tampa to Atlanta is like 6 1/2 hours with no traffic; how does a total of 13 hours in a car sound like a better alternative than a quick flight (that I can't be on)?

I don't know if I was turning a new leaf, my prego brain kicked in, I just wanted to be spontaneous because I really want to go see this show too or if I'm going through travel withdrawals but I agreed, "We'll ask the midwives about flying and maybe make the decision on March 30th". My thoughts of agreeing to this came down to thinking it would be good to be on my feet and moving around to help things progress so I'm not going too far past my due date. I'm already planning to leave work a couple weeks early so I can be on feet more, exercise, stretch my birthing positions, relax, get acupuncture, do yoga... anything natural to help labor come on time.

Side note... I was worrying about taking a trip to Miami for my birthday, the weekend of March 21, two weeks before my due date. When I saw my midwife I mentioned flying that weekend and as soon as I stuttered out 'flying' she just shook her head, no. That answers my other question! Whelp, a two hour driving radius it is for this almost 28 year old/official late 20's birthday trip!

Nate's response to everything, "Well I can fly, can I still go see Real Estate?"

Funny man. I love him.