Atlanta Content Creator Inspiring [life] style

Friday, February 11, 2022

Bumpdate with Baby Capri

Unlike a lot of expecting moms, I haven't really posted much about my pregnancy. This is the first (and possibly only) blog I'll put up about it aside from the previous babymoon post. I'm enjoying my pregnancy -- for the most part -- but I'm refraining from posting much on the blog or social simply because I want to keep it mostly personal and private, and because my focus is on my life outside of blogging. But here is a bit of a bumpdate so that you all can see where I'm at, but also for my own posterity. It would be a shame if I looked back at this time and had no documentation.

A Few Things About Baby

So, we decided to start trying for a baby back in December 2020. I figured it would take us anywhere between three to six months. With a wedding date of March 2021, I thought this would be a good time to start that wouldn't interfere with my wedding dress fitting, lol. After our honeymoon, we found out that we were pregnant in April. Unfortunately, I had an early miscarriage about a week after I found out. Honestly, if we weren't actively trying, I would have thought that my period was late. But I knew I was, in fact, pregnant as I got multiple positive tests until my HCG readings just stopped getting higher. It was a very sad time, but I learned that miscarriages are actually more common than one might think. In May, we got pregnant again, and here we are now in the third trimester with our rainbow baby!
I had my first OB appointment in June. This is basically where you get an ultrasound and look for things like a heartbeat, fetal pole, gestational sac, etc. At my appointment in July, we did a lot of bloodwork and the NIPT -- noninvasive prenatal test. About a week later, we found out the results and everything came back great. We also found out the gender. I was laying in bed when I got the call and the nurse asked if I wanted to know. I said yes and she told me that we were having a girl. I started to cry. My husband and I both wanted a girl, and we're not certain we'll have another baby, so it was very important to me to have a healthy baby girl on the way. Plus, I'm 35, so I'm not getting any younger! Oddly enough, my mother was 36 when she had me, and I might be 36 when I have my baby girl.

Before I found out the gender, I came up with a girl's name and tried my darnedest to come up with a boy's name. I was having a much harder time with boy names. This is why. My family has a tradition of C names. Blame my parents. My brother, his three kids, my sister, her kid, and her grandkids (my siblings are all older than me) all have C names. Obviously, so do I. So, it was imperative to have a C name. I also wanted a name that was unique but not ridiculous. I didn't want a name that was overdone or a name that would make this baby's life harder than need be. Since my family has the C name tradition, I wanted to add something to include my husband. He's half Italian and half Polish. I couldn't find any Polish C names that I loved, so I went the Italian route. This is how we ended up with the name Capri. It starts with a C. It's different but not too different. It's an island in Italy.

Although most babies are not born on their actual due date, and Capri can decide to come before or after, I still think her due date is pretty awesome. It's February 23, which also happens to be my birthday. Call it kismet.

First Trimester

The rest of the first trimester was crap. I had terrible all-day nausea (they should rename it to "any time sickness" instead of morning sickness) and fatigue. Nothing tasted right and I was in bed by 7pm. Although I didn't have any cravings, I did have many aversions. Meat was disgusting. Coffee was disgusting. Water was disgusting. The last one was very annoying because drinking water is so important during pregnancy, and water is like my favorite, so it totally sucked how much I hated it. I also developed this gross taste in my mouth after I ate, which still hasn't gone away. Thankfully, I didn't vomit at all! I did end up eating a lot of carbs, so I had no problem gaining some early baby weight.

Second Trimester

What a difference a trimester makes! When I hit the second trimester, I was put on nausea medication, which significantly helped. Also, at this point, the placenta starts to take on more of the burden, which also helps with the nausea. Since I had experienced a past miscarriage, I had refrained from announcing the pregnancy until this point. I first told my mom around 14 weeks, the rest of my immediate family around 16 weeks, and then my in-laws around 17 weeks (they live out of state and we announced it to them when we visited them).
I had way more energy so I started working out again. Before I got pregnant, I worked out probably four days a week. During the second trimester, I went on walks with my dog every day and implemented a pregnancy-safe workout 2-3 times a week. This made me feel so much better. Dealing with the weight gain was not easy for me. This is obviously the biggest I've ever been in my life, which takes quite a bit of getting used to, for sure. There were times when I found myself comparing my pregnancy body and bump to other pregnant moms. I don't recommend that. Everyone gains weight differently, especially depending on how many pregnancies you've had. It doesn't matter if someone is bigger or smaller than you. All that matters is a healthy weight gain and a healthy baby.

I was in good spirits most days, but did suffer from round ligament pain and shortness of breath. You really get a new perspective on life when you realize how difficult it is to simply roll out of bed each morning. Big thanks to my Tempur-pedic for being adjustable and allowing me to breathe at night. The most absolute best thing about the second trimester is the baby movements! Nothing beats having a human kick you from the inside -- and I'm not even being sarcastic. It's what I'll miss the most about pregnancy for sure.

Third Trimester

In the third trimester, some days are nice while other days are full of discomfort. My main discomforts are sciatica pain, shortness of breath, and nasal congestion at night. I also get the occasional Braxton Hicks, but I just deep breathe through those. One of the best things to take my mind off third trimester woes (apart from exercise) is nesting. Nursery nesting to be specific. This is basically spending a lot of my time in the baby's nursery organizing, decorating, and cleaning. As a one-time personal style blogger (wow!), I can tell you that there's nothing more satisfying than looking at baby girl clothing when you're pregnant. I basically live in leggings and sweaters while baby girl has a closet full of neutral jumpsuits and cute footie pajamas.

Another great thing is doing kick counts. I tend to do these when she is most active, which is when I first wake up or before I go to bed. We also got to see some of her face in a 3D/4D ultrasound in December. At first, I was on the fence about doing one because it's not necessary or covered by insurance. But, it's not that expensive, and it allowed Tyler to get to see her in real time. Because of Covid, he hasn't been able to attend any of my appointments, so I really wanted him (and myself) to be able to see her before she arrived.

But the most annoying thing that happened in the third trimester is my job changed health insurance providers. Unfortunately, this meant I had to change both my OB/GYN and pediatrician at 9 months pregnant. As you can imagine, there's no worse time to switch your OB and hospital than at 37 weeks pregnant. Like, hey, we just met, and I'm going to need to get comfortable with you pulling a baby out of me in a few short weeks. Instead of getting too bummed out about this, I focused my attention on more nesting and childbirth and parenting books. Now we're in the last couple weeks and really hoping to meet a healthy baby Capri before the month is over. Did I mention I'm trying for a natural birth? Wish me luck!

Update: I was induced on Valentine's Day for low amniotic fluid. I was in labor from the night of 2/14 to the morning of 2/17, mostly trying natural methods to move things along. It was taking forever to dilate, so I ended up getting pitocin, which really made contractions unbearable. I got an epidural on Wednesday, and Capri was born at 4:50 a.m. Thursday at 5lb 12oz and 20 inches long. We're both happy and healthy.

The nursery photos were taken at 33 weeks, and the maternity photos were taken at 34 weeks in our backyard when it decided to snow for one day in Georgia. This dress was last worn in 2015.

Above are items that are in my actual boho neutral nursery. Below are either the same or similar pieces.


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41 comments

  1. You are absolutely glowing! I love everything you chose and her name is adorable!

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    1. Thank you! I'm really happy that the nursery look I had in my head actually turned out just right in real life.

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  2. I love that you documented your pregnancy, this is amazing!!! Also the room interiors, it is GORGEOUS!!!

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    1. Yeah, some people do it by trimester, but I really only had the energy to do everything in one post. Glad you like her nursery! I'm a fan, too.

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  3. What a lovely way to have chosen the name, Capri is such a beautiful name. How exciting if she is born on your birthday too x

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    1. Awh, thanks. I like that her name has something to do with both of us. Would definitely be interesting if she was actually born on my birthday.

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  4. I love your pregnancy journey. I don't have any kids yet because me and my husband are having a long distance relationship due to his work. I also love the things you had set up for the baby nursery. Congratulations :)

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    1. Thank you so much and all the best with your relationship!

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  5. You are absolutely glowing with excitment! I love the nursely design.

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  6. Thank you for the super sweet comments -- happy you like her name!

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  7. So many cute things here. Might I add I am including you! That outfit is one of the cutest I've seen!

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    1. That's nice of you to say. I was quite surprised that I could still fit in it! 😊

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  8. You look so beautiful! Lovely pieces you've chosen...sending lots of love and blessings your way!

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    1. Glad you like the nursery and thank you for the well wishes!

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  9. You are just Glowing and the Nursery is picture perfect. This is great post and you will have it to look at when your Princess goes off to school. Happy Labor Day. . .
    XO

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    1. Yes, I think I'll come back to this post many many times over the years. Thank you, love.

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  10. I love your outfits, you look gorgeous!

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    1. Thank you so much. That's really nice to hear at this stage. :)

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  11. It's up to you to share how ever much or little you want to. I'm glad to hear you're managing well despite some physical challenges and having to switch your healthcare. Baby Capri's nursery looks beautiful. Take good care and best of luck Cheryl!

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  12. I bet it's so exciting about your new little one arriving. I recently did a gender reveal party for a co-worker who commissioned me to do it and they only had small group of family around because they wanted it intimate. I value privacy so I entirely understand. All the best to you, lovely! x/Madison

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  13. Thank you for sharing this, Cheryl! What a journey, eh?
    I'm really sorry to hear about the miscarriage:( Unfortunately, it is a lot more common than people think:( But am so happy to read about where you are now! You'll look back during this time a few years from now, and let me tell you, you won't remember much....LOLZ. Here's to a wonderful time ahead with your baby:) And good luck with the natural birth:)

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    1. Thank you so much, Emmy. I'm glad I'll have this post to remember everything.

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  14. I am sorry you had to go through a miscarrige but so glad you are pregnant now! Congratulations this is so exciting, you look great and really are glowing. And your nursery is GORGEOUS you did an outstanding job with this!

    Allie of
    www.allienyc.com

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    1. Thanks, Allie. I'm appreciating this baby even more.

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  15. Oh wow, it is so interesting reading your journey. You look so beautiful and the room does too! Glad you got on medicine to not feel so sick.

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    1. Yea that really helped until the third trimester symptoms kicked in, lol.

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  16. omg all the things are amazing and you are such a beautiful pregnant woman !!! Congrats Loved your post and allready followed your blog, i want invite you to visit and follow my blog back <3

    www.pimentamaisdoce.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks for calling me a beautiful pregnant woman. It's easy to think otherwise in these 9 months.

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  17. You are glowing, babe! I loved reading your pregnancy update- and I'm so sorry you had to switch OB's at 37 weeks like WHAT? That is the worst timing- but I'm glad you're more settled now and little Capri will be here before you know it!

    -Ashley
    Le Stylo Rouge

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  18. Congratulations! You are glowing and I love the things you picked for the nursery. Capri is a beautiful name!
    xoxo
    Lovely
    www.mynameislovely.com

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  19. Your definitely glowing! Congrats on your baby

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  20. I am doing cartwheels here! Congrats girl!

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  21. Congratulations, you must both be so proud! A natural birth too for your first time, well done you!!! The nursery looks wonderful. I hope you have a great week ahead : ) xo

    juanitalikes.com

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  22. Love to hear your pregnancy update and lovely moodboard

    https://www.alyinwanderland.com/2022/03/red-sweatshirt-with-tassels.html

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  23. Congratulations on the baby!
    xoxo
    Lovely
    www.mynameislovely.com

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♥ Thank you all for leaving your comments! ♥ Remember to find inspiration in everything! ♥

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