Lately: Meeting Samuel

Introducing Samuel

Baby boy Samuel Smith Pierce

Born Sunday August 24, 2014 at 1:09am

9lbs 10 oz

21.25 inches long

14 inch head!

Lately (waiting for baby version)

We've had lots of picnics and lunch outings to Fosters while we're waiting for new baby to arrive!  We're also exploring new creative outlets beyond crayons and markers - stickers, side walk chalk, and guitar :).  The belly shot below was taken on our due date (August 19) and the photo of Stuart and I was from a last minute date night my sweet friend Charissa sent us out on last night (40+3). Hopefully the next post will be about our stubborn new baby!

Thoughts on pregnancy #2

Overall, our second pregnancy has been very similar to our first... No morning sickness and generally pretty tolerable.  I think my body does pretty well pregnant (which is part of why we wanted to go ahead and have a second pretty close to the first!).  In general, the first trimester I have no appetite and nothing sounds good to eat (but very little or no nausea).  The second trimester I feel awesome and totally myself, except for a growing belly.  The third trimester I start to slow down and have some back pain, but generally still feel pretty good (as good as you can with an extra 20 lbs to carry around).



A few things have been different this time around though!  For a few weeks in the first trimester, fatigue hit me like a freight train.  There were some days that all I could do was get out of bed just to lay on the couch, and not because of mental exhaustion or lack of motivation, but my physical body just could. not. do. it.  I had some very sweet friends who brought us meals during this time, and I was so grateful!  I will never again overlook the mama with a toddler who is in her first trimester!  Thankfully it really only lasted a few weeks and then I started to feel normal again!

The second trimester, I started having some pretty significant pain in my pelvic bones (not sciatica or back pain, but truly in my pelvis).  My back also started to bother me, but I had expected that from my first pregnancy.  The pelvic pain was so bad sometimes that I would get stuck in a certain position if I had been sitting too long, or it would be incredibly painful to change positions.  I didn't sleep well for a few weeks, until we discovered this incredible percussion massage and Stuart started doing it a few times a week.  It looks so simple, but it truly made a world of difference!

I also started having some swelling in my hands and feet sometime during the second trimester (when the weather started to warm up) and this totally took me by surprise!  I had it in my mind that only mamas who gained too much weight had swelling with pregnancy, and I was humbled to learn that it just happens.  The midwives and Stuart told me it was mostly due to being pregnant during the summer and my body constantly fighting dehydration in a way much more significant than it did during my first winter pregnancy.  So I started drinking 2-3 liters of water (or red raspberry leaf tea) a day, eating watermelon (a natural diuretic - but not before bedtime!!) and eggs (for the albumin to pull fluid back into the vascular space) and wearing compression stockings anytime I was at home and could tolerate them (they are so hot!).  I also noticed that on the days I was able to get in a longer walk, the swelling was a lot better with the increased vascular pressure from exercise pulling fluid back in, so James and I tried to do 3+ mile walks as often as possible.

Surprisingly, during the third trimester, the pelvic pain pretty much went away (maybe because Stuart was regularly doing the massage?) and so I started noticing the back pain a lot more.  These last few weeks, any little bit of crouching activity (like sweeping the kitchen) will knock out my back for the rest of the day.  I found a great prenatal yoga sequence that I used when I was pregnant with James, and I've been doing that regularly to help with the back ache especially this last trimester.

I remember feeling very anxious about labor and delivery during the third trimester of my first pregnancy.  Some of you may know that before getting pregnant the first time, I was completely terrified of giving birth.  Having a baby and raising a little human seemed no big deal to me, but the physical act of moving it from inside my body to the outside just seemed too much.  I had learned all about it in my maternal health course in nursing school, which was taught mostly by certified nurse midwives, so the perspective I hold to is that it is a completely normal and healthy state, and that generally women's bodies know what to do and do not need interventions to get baby out safely.  But I also had heard about how much it hurts!  I had decided during nursing school that if I ever had kids, I would want to do so without any unnecessary medical interventions for both my and the baby's wellbeing.  At the end of my first pregnancy, I was approaching that moment and I could only prepare myself by reading and talking to experienced natural birth mamas.  But there is nothing like experience itself to teach you!  It was a beautiful, amazing experience and I'm so thankful for the things I had learned and the way that we had decided to approach birth.  This time, I am excited and so looking forward to labor starting and experiencing a natural birth again (as long as medically possible, God willing)!  So, I guess mentally and emotionally I am much more peaceful this second pregnancy, and I'm so grateful for that.

And of course this pregnancy I have gotten to experience with little James by my side :).  I'm sure that some of my symptoms (fatigue and some pain...) could be attributed to spending my day with a toddler, but he has been the sweetest little dude and loves kissing my belly.  I do hope that he loves his baby once it's here on the outside!  These last few days that we have left (we're due in 4 days and having some signs of early labor already), I am really feeling great and just trying to just soak up our little family of 3 (with some long walks and lots of labor-ball-sitting and yoga thrown in!).

A room for new baby!

Getting this second nursery ready was slow going!  Within a few weeks of finding out we were pregnant, we ordered a new crib and I started thinking about how to transform our guest room/Stuart's office into the new baby's room.  And then I sat on lots of different ideas for months!  Finally we got the ball rolling early in the summer and we painted the entire room, including trim and some accent stripes (love!).  The curtains, mobile, knitted blanket, bunting and crib skirt are handmade (me), as well as all of the art work (James, me and my sweetest friend Casey... can you guess which art James made below?).  The crib and giant floor poof came from Target, the teal chest of drawers from an estate sale, the rocking chair from a thrift store (that my mama graciously helped me strip and repaint), the turquoise cart from Ikea and the chalkboard door sign from Homegoods.  Enjoy the photos below!

James: 20 months

This is a strange milestone for James to reach to me, because this is how old he will be when he becomes a big brother (any day now, the midwives say...)!  Otherwise, not a lot of exciting things have happened this month other than playing a lot and having tons of fun!

We had cooler weather for a week or so (in late July and early August in NC!  Hooray!), so we played outside a lot and had several picnics.  James still loves to pick a carrot from the garden and eat it entirely.  He doesn't say "carrot," but he chomps his teeth and points to his mouth, and this is how he communicates that he wants to eat one!  Otherwise he seems to be getting pickier regarding food.  Though, he did try some pork tenderloin last week and loved it (rubbed with herbs and roasted)!  He ate every bite and asked for more.  His favorites are grapes, watermelon and strawberries.  Our staples include whole wheat pasta, beans, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, cheese, yogurt, spinach smoothies and avocados.  He is usually totally uninterested in most other meats and vegetables, and I have been too tired (lazy?) lately to be consistent in offering new foods other than what Stuart and I are eating.  Oh well, grace abounds and someday he will grow out of the picky toddler phase.





We have one new verbal word: "nigh nigh" for, of course, "night night."  I think it might be his sweetest yet. :)  I'm looking forward to having a smaller belly soon so that bedtime snuggles are less cumbersome and more comfortable for both of us!



He loves to play at the playground.  He has pretty much mastered the slide, and often even chooses to go all the way to the top and come down the big spiral slide by himself (though he prefers if I'm at the bottom to catch him).  He has started to be a bit bossy to other kids at the playground (and, well, everywhere that he sees other kids) and tells them "no no" all the time.  I try to just remind him to be kind and that we share with our friends.  He will certainly be a bossy big brother, like all good first children! :)



We've started pulling out some of our baby items to get ready for the new person joining us within the next week or so, and James has especially enjoyed his old zebra chair.  He is often found hanging out in it as shown in these photos!  He also loves to hang out in the new baby's room and play with the baby toys, climb in the rocking chair and lay in the crib pretending to sleep.





He is still the happiest boy I know, and I am so so grateful to be his mama every day (toddler tantrums and independence and all)!

James meets the Durham police

This morning James and I were in my room getting ready to go out to the playground.  I was washing my face when I heard this terrible, high-pitched noise.  I quickly rinsed my eyes so I could try to figure out what was going on, then I look over and see that James has found the little remote for our security system that we keep by our bed.  Apparently, the remote has an automatic alarm "panic" button, and James found it!  I quickly turned it off (what a terrible noise!).  I texted Stuart to let him know that James set off the alarm and we were okay, just in case our security company called him.  I didn't hear anything from him or the security company in the next few minutes, so I forgot about it.

We headed downstairs and started to get everything together and head out the door when James decides to throw a temper tantrum over his shoes.  I wrestle him to the couch so we could talk it over and put his shoes on.  In the midst of this, I just happen to look up out of our front window and see a police officer standing between the boxwoods in our front bed peering in!  I was very confused, so I just smiled and waved :)  He waved back and pointed toward the front door.  So, I leave James fussing on the couch and open the door.  He says, "We had a call from your security company - everything ok?"  I explained that James had pushed the button, but I didn't hear anything from the company, and that everything was just fine.  He said "I also noticed a disturbance inside - is everything okay with that?"  I was mortified - what kind of mother did this police officer think I was?? Thankfully, James walked to the door at that moment and acted terrified of the big man in the dark suit with all the scary tools around his waist.

The officer called his partner to the front door (who happened to be searching around in our backyard with his night stick out!) and then kneeled down and opened his badge to reveal a stack of "junior officer" stickers.  James thanked them with a kiss and was officially inducted into the force, then we sent the officers on their way, apologizing profusely for wasting their time!  Hopefully James' cute face made it worth their while.  At least now we know our alarm works and the police truly are called if we ever did need them!