maternity series | Sarah Fortune

Pregnancy Blog: 32 weeks & the baby shower!

Sarah Fortune
August 24, 2011
2 Comments

I’m a little late on getting this week’s post up, but that’s because I’m sitting here typing this from a hotel in downtown Nashville. It’s my last work trip before the baby arrives and now at 33 weeks, I’m moving a little slow.

Despite the swollen feet and aching back, week 32 was the best yet! With my baby shower this past Saturday, my week was full of friends, food, and prizes for Iris. More than anything, I just loved having so many of my favorite people around, especially those who live out of town that I rarely get to see. I am beyond thankful for all of my eight (eight!) shower hosts and all that they did. It was truly a day that I will remember forever. And oh my goodness can I just talk for a minute about the baby loot we received? It took me forever to open up all of those goodies! So long that I actually started to feel bad for the guests. Hah. We are so grateful for everything we received.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Once we get completely organized I’ll do a feature on the nursery, which I’m sure will include lots of the gifts. For now though, here are some photos from the weekend (with more to come later, from Erin, who thankfully also took pictures while I was busy cracking open presents and talking to everyone).

My mom

Brandy

My niece, Mariam

Erin

GL & me

Jessica & Brains

Hillary

Beth

Kerri & Brandy

GL & Milton

Ashlee, Jill, & Jessica

Brains & Lacy

Family

After the shower…
Todd’s dad & my nephew Cole

Dinner with Memphis pals

A few Instagram pics from myself & friends…

Smores wontons by Erin

Just a few of the gifts

What a magical weekend! Now I can’t wait to get home and set everything up. Thanks again to everyone who has helped make this baby journey extra awesome.

Xoxo

Photos, Pregnancy Blog, Words

Pregnancy Blog: 31 weeks

Sarah Fortune
August 15, 2011
3 Comments

These blogs are kind of funny because by the time I write them, the week that I’m writing about is almost over. So that means as of today, I have around two more months left of this growing a baby thing.

That’s only eight more Saturdays of not having a baby, ya’ll.
And that’s if she doesn’t come early.

During our 31st week, Todd and I celebrated our four year wedding anniversary. I honestly can’t believe it’s been that long. Last year we jetted off to Vegas for the weekend to celebrate, knowing (hoping) that it might be our last summer without a baby. Smart thinkin. This year we kept it simple by grilling steaks and watching football. It may sound like Todd chose our itinerary, but nope. It was me. I’m counting down to fall for more than one reason, and one of those reasons is that I’m going through major football withdrawal.

Every year we try to remember to pull down the airbrushed backdrop that we used at our wedding and take pictures of us as the years go on. This year I especially didn’t want to miss that tradition.

From our wedding…

On our second anniversary…

This year…

This week was also all about preparing ourselves as parents for Miss Iris (well, as much as you can anyway). Todd and I did a Labor & Delivery class during the week, which included a tour of the delivery area of our hospital. Then, we spent our Saturday learning about baby basics, which wasn’t really that necessary but it certainly didn’t hurt. Except for when they passed around the poo chart. That was gross. I was mostly there for the afternoon (FOUR hour) session that was all about breast feeding. Don’t worry, I let Todd go home for that one. I’ve always planned on going the breastfeeding route, but was completely clueless about the process before this class. If anything, I’ll feel more confident about it going in.

Other happenings this week…

Todd got crafty & made Razorback onesies

Our “baby” from our class

My mom made us dinner.
Shrimp & grits, rosemary lemonade, & chocolate pie from scratch.
I want more… now.

Taylor had her baby!
I got to meet Mr. Seger Monroe Sutton today. So handsome.
Now it looks like I’m up next, followed by GL. We can do this!

* * * * *

This upcoming weekend is my baby shower and I couldn’t be more excited. More than anything I just can’t wait to see everyone, especially my pals who are coming in from out of town. So yeah, next week’s post should be a fun one!

Photos, Pregnancy Blog, Words

Pregnancy Blog: 30 weeks

Sarah Fortune
August 8, 2011
4 Comments

Yee haw, we’ve entered over into the 30s!
That’s another big milestone that always seemed so far away.

This week has gone by fast, but all in all it was a good week. I had another doctor’s visit today, which mostly involved waiting and about five minutes of the doctor actually visiting. Once again, everything looks good! The doctor measured my tummy and I’m measuring two weeks ahead (not much of a surprise). She wants to keep an eye on that and if it doesn’t even out, she might schedule me for another ultrasound closer to my due date to get a better idea of how big Iris is getting. I imagine that if Iris really is measuring that big, there’s a chance that they could induce me a little early, but that’s something I won’t know till we get a lot closer.

At this point, that sounds fantastic. Despite being exhausted all the time, sleep is officially a challenge. Lots of pillows certainly help, but for some reason my legs feel just awful all night long. If that doesn’t wake me up, my bladder will. I probably get up about every 2 hours, which I suppose is nature’s way of getting me ready for my life come October. Iris has been kicking up a storm lately, which is cute and all but that doesn’t help the sleep situation either. And by kicks, I mean really hard jabs. I can now feel what I assume are tiny feet and hands poking up at me, which is pretty amazing mixed with a little creepiness too.

This week Todd and I took advantage of some soon-to-expire hotel points and spent Saturday night at Embassy Suites in Rogers. Yeah, that would be about 20 minutes from our house. We played tourist for the day and visited a couple of town squares, toured the spot where Walmart first started, browsed antique stores, and gave Five Guys Burgers a try. I’m so glad we decided to do something like that by ourselves before Iris arrives, even if it was just up the street.

Some photos from the week…

Vintage find: Kenny Rogers pearl snap shirt

Walton’s Five and Dime

Pretty soaps inside the Walmart museum

Hotel room

Five Guys

Vintage find: Lemon yellow girl’s dress

Nursery sneak peek

Random thing of the week:
Todd’s baby book led to the discovery that his mom & my mom…
shared the same gynecologist! How crazy is that?

We have a couple busy weeks ahead with a labor & delivery tour, baby classes, and my baby shower. It’s all happening... and I’m so excited. XOXO

Photos, Pregnancy Blog, Words

Pregnancy Blog: 29 weeks

Sarah Fortune
August 2, 2011
4 Comments

Truth be told, I cried after Todd took my photos this week.

I’ve only cried a few times since being pregnant, but I think this batch of tears had to do with seeing myself as officially huge and the fact that I’m entering the stage where I’m constantly uncomfortable. Okay, maybe it had a little to do with hormones too. But the tears only lasted a few minutes and, all in all, week 29 was a good set of days.

● I spent a couple of days in Chicago on a work trip, which was a nice (slight) break from this southern heat. Traveling in the third trimester was surprisingly easy, but direct flights, good company, & lots of sleep certainly helped.

John Hancock building across from our hotel

I discovered H&M has baby clothes

Our laughable air-conditioner in the cab from the airport

● Speaking of the heat, can I just point out for a minute that I’m pregnant during a historic heatwave? It’s been terrible and this week is supposed to be even worse. We’ve had record breaking temperatures & days on end of reaching over 100 degrees. Now someone hand me a milkshake and point me towards a pool.

● We had another doctor’s visit (this “appointment every two weeks” thing is awesome) and Iris seems to be doing great!

● Iris has started hiccuping within the last couple of weeks. The first time I noticed it I was eating a spicy chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-A. Maybe spicy isn’t her thing. Sorry girl, it sure is mine.

● We have a new tradition of going over to my mom’s house every Sunday for dinner. It’s been a long time since I’ve lived in the same town as a parent, so just getting together for a meal is quite a treat. I can’t wait to continue this once Iris is here.

● Todd and I worked a little more on the nursery, finally decorating a little bit. He hung shelves and I made paper flowers.

So even though there were a few tears (that’s to be expect though), I made it through another seven days and am oh-so-close to that 30 week mark.

Hip hip hooray!

Photos, Pregnancy Blog, Words

Pregnancy Blog: 28 weeks

Sarah Fortune
July 25, 2011
5 Comments

Week 28 has been a great one! Even though I’m starting to find it difficult to catch my breath at times and rolling out of bed is starting to look like a circus act, I’ve managed to have a pretty darn good time. This past weekend my dad came to visit, which meant a lot since he lives about 5 hours away. He brought up lots of prizes, which were specially picked out by Cathy, Selah, and Lilah (my step-mom & little sisters). Let me just say that Iris’ wardrobe got even more adorable over the weekend.

My dad and I spent the weekend talking, eating, eating some more, roaming around town, and exploring my old campus. Lucky for Todd, he even finished up the last of the mudding on our kitchen drywall while he was here. As for Iris herself, baby girl is getting strong. This week I can feel either a hand or foot (I have no idea what is what in there), pushing with all its might like she’s trying to escape. I still can’t get over how surreal (and weird) it feels. It’s certainly a wonderful reminder that a real person is in there.

There was also good news from the doctor’s office this week. I passed my glucose test! I also got confirmation that my negative blood type is still not an issue. However, they did tell me that my iron was a little low, but just to eat more red meat and green leafy veggies. So yes, Todd and I have had steak and salad two nights since then. I can deal with that.

A few photos from the week…

Our stroll on the University of Arkansas campus