McCrory, party of 4

The biggest news around here is that I'm pregnant! That has also been the reason for my absence in blogging. I was too sick most of March to sit at a computer. The good news is that even though I was sick I really don't think it was near as bad as my sickness with Lucy. I could barely eat ANYTHING with Lucy. I remember gagging on a plain piece of bread.

Anyways, I'm 13 weeks and my due date is October 21. Just 4 days before Lucy's birthday! I'm feeling much more normal now days, although I'm still sensitive to smells and have a few lingering food aversions. Like Diet Coke! I love diet coke, but I haven't had one is 7 weeks. Maybe someday...

This first trimester was also different from Lucy's because Duke was gone all of march which was when I was my sickest. It was a bit of a blessing and a curse. A blessing bc I had no one I had to cook for (lucy doesn't eat real food, but that's another topic), I didn't have to smell any food that duke made, and I didn't have to clean up after anyone. Lucy is surprisingly clean haha.

I'm such a sharer and it's always hard for me to keep a pregnancy to myself, so it's nice to have made it this far that I can share the news with friends and family.

Hopefully I can catch back up on blogging. We just had a wonderfullll 4 day weekend in Tokashiki, an island off of Okinawa. Trying to soak up as much of this place as we can in the next month and a half!

My Baby Survival Kit

Being a new mom is kind of like a slap in the face. You have no idea what to expect until the baby is there. I thought I'd share some products that came recommended to me that I will now sing high praises to all the live long day. They made those hard days a little easier. Some of these are only valuable for months 1-3, like I mention below, but for me months 1-3 were the hardest so far. Hope this helps someone else!

1. Miracle Blanket This swaddle blanket lives up to its name. It's basically like a baby strait jacket. I couldn't quite get down the swaddle with a regular blanket-she always broke out- but once I learned how to swaddle her in this blanket-there was no breaking out! We have 2 of these and they really helped her sleep better.  Also according to dr. karp he says some parents think their babies don't like to be swaddled, but they may just not be swaddling right or not tight enough, and I felt like with this blanket I at least knew I was doing it "right". It got the job done!

2. The Happiest Baby on the Block I can't recommend this video/book enough. It was recommended to us by several people and those "5 S's" really saved our lives. It was amazing to see how once we were doing all 5 S's Lucy would calm down. They really only worked for the first 3 months of her life which they say is the "4th trimester". I also would also say just watch the movie instead of the book. At least thats what we did :)

3. Solly baby or any wrap. LIFESAVER. Every time I leave the house with Lucy I make sure I have the wrap. If I'm out and she needs to sleep or needs to be lugged around I put her in this. Sometimes when I'm at home and can't get her to sleep I'll put her in the wrap and I swear it's magic. Sometimes it's the only way to get anything done. I wear it to church and I've worn it on every plane trip with her. It's also the product I get the most questions on. Especially traveling-people are fascinated by this thing. It is worth every penny. I have 2 and want more...but i have problems sooo... ;) I recently found a cheaper alternative though called Happy Wrap. And I've seen people use these till their kid is 1.

4. White Noise Lite app and/or Munchkin Nursery Projector and Sound System One of the "5 S's" you learn in Happiest Baby on the Block is to "shush" or basically have white noise. The first day she was born we used the app in the hospital and it's honestly amazing how the noise would calm her down. It was convient for us to have it on our phone bc we could use it on-the-go. I know it was annoying to some people-as we'd have it on while driving in the car-but what's worse-a baby screaming or some white noise??! We also got this white noise machine and now we really only use it at night. The machine plays 6 different white noises and has a projector or images onto the ceiling and can be voice activated so that's cool. We still use it every night to help her sleep better. I'm a believer.

5. Rock 'n Play I lucked out and got a hand me down rock 'n play fo' free! And i'm so happy I did bc they are awesome. Our bedroom is so teeny tiny that I couldn't really have fit any type of bassinet in there if I wanted to. So Lucy slept in this from months 1-3 and it was perfect. I could rock her while lying in bed half asleep and she was right next to me. Now I put her in it while I'm taking a shower so I can keep an eye on her. I loved it. Plus they're small and portable. Win-win.

Lucy Joy

Meet Lucy Joy McCrory. She was born after 19 hours of labor at 4:01 pm on Saturday October 25, 2014. Weighed 7 lbs 10 oz and 18.75 inches long.  

I had decided earlier on in pregnancy I wanted to do a natural birth with minimal interventions. I had watched The Business of Being Born which initially peaked my interest and then I read Your Best Birth and Natural Hospital Birth. (Highly recommend Natural Hospital Birth to every pregnant lady no matter what you are wanting to do. I learned so much in that book!) I also hired a Doula=best decision ever. She was amazing. 

Back to the birth. I went to my 40 week appointment on Thursday morning and had the Dr do an internal exam. Low and behold I was at 5 cm and 50% effaced! I thought, 'wow! i'm halfway there, this labor shouldn't last very long'. Yeah, good one. Jump ahead to Friday night at 9pm. Thats when things got real. I had just gotten ready for bed and thought I better get some sleep if these are real contractions. The sleep thing didn't pan out. We got out of bed and starting doing some of the coping exercises we had learned in our childbirth class. My go-to ended up being leaning over the back of the couch that had pillows stacked and then rocking side to side. My doula came over at about 3 am. We got to the hospital at 5 am and I was at 7cm. At this point I'm thinking "oh good, it's almost over!" Nope. 

The next 11 hours were all a blur. My eyes were pretty much closed the whole time. I was very internal. I remember my mom making conversation with the doula and I finally had enough energy in between one contraction to ask her to stop talking. I needed total silence! I myself was pretty silent the whole time as well. Nothing like the movies, although maybe some people are like that. Duke, my mom and my doula were all taking turns constantly massaging me, holding heat packs on my hips (my hips were where I really felt my contractions), and when I got farther along- holding cold packs on my forehead while I was sweating and shaking uncontrollably. Duke said they probably went through 20 heat packs. The worst part was having to lay on the bed for 20 mins every hour for the intermittent monitoring. It was hard to cope with the pain in that position. My thoughts during the most intense parts of the contractions were "I'm never doing this again", "An epidural would be so nice" and "how have people been doing this for so long?!"

Anyways, I was finalllly at a 10 and was ready to push. I was so completely exhausted at this point, but it was more relief than painful at that point. I pushed for an hour and then she finally was born! My mom said her head popped out, quickly followed by an extended arm, as if she was announcing "I'm here!"

I thought I'd cry when I saw her but honestly I have never been so completely exhausted in my life, I had no energy to cry or do anything but lie there. But I couldn't believe she was here. 

It was a crazy, surreal experience. I hope I never forget it. It's so crazy to finally meet the little baby who's been living and squirming around inside you for so long. We love her so much already. And now for picture overload. :)

My team! (minus my mom) Duke, nurse, Dr Beauchamp, and my doula--all wonderful!

Proud daddy^

Proud grandma!

Dukes first EVER diaper change^ It was a doozy.

Hanging out in the hospital. Woot

grandma time!

My friends visiting with their cute babies

leaving the hospital^

Winston meeting Lucy

Weeks 33-37

33 weeks^

I've been pretty busy the last month which is why I have been quiet in the blogosphere. However, I thought I better do one more pregnancy post since this baby could potentially come any moment now! This last trimester has been uncomfortable, as they usually are! I have been very lucky to not have heart burn though! Mostly just back pain & sciatica (until about 36 weeks). Now its just hard to move in general and having cramps here and there. (also--starting sanding that^ crib 4 weeks ago..still working on painting that sucker. ugh).

 32 or 33 weeks..maybe 34?? ^

How far along: 37 weeks & 5 days

Total weight gain: 23 lbs as of today

Favorite thing so far: Feeling the baby move...I'm not sure what else is cool about pregnancy at this point other than the fact that it ends in a cute baby.

Sleep: Some nights I wake up right around 3 am and can't fall back asleep for 2 hours. Other nights I sleep fine! But either way I get up about 3 times to use the restroom, sometimes more.

Fitness: Since I hit about 34 weeks I honestly have been doing nothing but cleaning around my house and doing projects that have kept me busy and moving, but no real exercise. I can't even imagine running right now. I feel like I have a bowling bowl strapped to my stomach. Also I've been collecting sea glass at the beach and even that has become a real struggle. I have to do a squat as I bend over. This baby has taken over my abdomen.

Feelings: Feeling easily overwhelmed lately. I really have been so busy every single day for the last month and a half. Rushing to get things ready for baby, finish projects around the house, appointments (SO MANY!), and entertaining my friend Stacy who was here for a couple weeks! I've had some nights I've had to cry it out and tell myself I can finish things after the baby arrives. But the truth is I want to feel ready before she is here! I know I'm probably overdoing it some days when my whole body and back are just aching from being on my feet and bending over cleaning or painting or cooking. I can't wait to be a normal person again! But still so excited for her arrival. Can't wait to hold a tiny little human that I helped create!

 35 weeks at the Imperial Gardens in Tokyo

 35/36 weeks at peace prayer park^

 36 weeks at Manzamo Point^

37 weeks at beach by Peace Prayer Park^

Baby Shower!

I am so lucky to have made some great friends while I've been here in Okinawa. My friend Annie threw me the cutest shower a week ago and I can't thank her and the people who came enough! I felt so loved and spoiled. Thanks so much guys! We are so grateful. Here are some pictures of the celebration!

 Thanks to Milly for snapping a couple pictures of me!

36 weeks^

 I don't know who snapped these pics of me opening gifts, but thank you!

So fun to be having a girl...too much cuteness!

Thanks again everyone!!! And big special thanks to Annie for making all the decor adorable and the food delicious. Glad you are my friend :)

Update on Life & Pregnancy

Hello! This will be a pretty random post. First off, my friend Annie had her baby. ^^ Isn't he the cutest?? Since we've been back from Fiji I've been trying to work on getting our house together and organized. It is really sad to admit that we've been in this house since November..so like 9 months...and there is still pretty much nothing on the walls! The biggest hold up has been that our walls are concrete, so I can't just grab a hammer and nail and go at it. I've finally got almost everything framed and I have a drill and THIS WEEK I tell you, stuff is going up!! We also finally got a coffee table and put half our fence in. We are making progress! 

I also starting working on the baby room today. I'm painting it white, which probably sounds really silly...and maybe it is. But I want it nice and bright and I also hear if you paint white you don't have to paint it back when it's time to move. Once I'm done painting, I've got to sand and paint the baby crib! So many projects. Still trying to find a dresser and glider/rocker for the baby room...preferably ones that require no painting or work. Anyways, there's nothing like having a baby on it's way to motivate you to get stuff done! 

One more of baby J in the best onesie ever. 

 Sunday church selfies with Coree

Always torturing Winston of course. It's one of our favorite pastimes. 

Last week Annie's parents were here and staying at the Hilton, so we had a little pool party there. It was awesome until it starting pouring! 

I've been working on being healthy and staying fit! With this whole Beachbody business I'm doing I originally bought a challenge pack which meant the program I bought came with Shakeology. I was pretty sure I was gonna hate the Shakeo stuff bc generally not into that kind of stuff. However, I was surprised, I didn't hate it! We don't keep many easy to grab (read:unhealthy) snacks in our house and so when I'm starving in the middle of the day I've been making me one of these and it's been doing the job. I also feel a liiitle better on the days I don't eat vegetables when I have one of these. Why is eating vegetables so hard?!?

Remember my rant about my Asos package? It finally came!! They had to resend it. Only bummer was that one of the shirts was wrong..and the one they sent was hideous. But I live for mail days like this^ one. They are theee best.

Yep, still pregnant! The pics above were taken at 30 weeks 6 days by my friend Anna. And below is 31 weeks 1 day. I walked into the gym and was a little taken back by my bump. We are growing. 

I'm in the 3rd trimester and I can't complain too much. I've got back pain everyday and sciatica that comes and goes. That's the worst part. Sleep is a little rough, but really not bad. I got myself a snoogle pillow and I will sing the praises of that thing all day long. If you are pregnant--just buy it and stop kidding yourself. 

I'm starting to get a little nervous about the birth part. I'm hiring a doula and just met with her last week. I've got a lot of reading and planning still to do. I'm one of those crazy people who wants to try to have a natural birth with the least interventions possible. I keep thinking things like, what if my baby is breech and I have to have a c-section?? And just worry that my baby is going to come too early and I will be completely unprepared (and without any family here-meaning duke or my mom). I know I'm just being a crazy person. Those have just been my thoughts recently. 

Also I bought myself a new planner bc I love stuff like that. I think it's kind of cute. Hopefully it will keep me organized too.

The skies have been SO good here recently. This was a couple days ago as I was taking Winston for a walk.

Yesterday there was this beautiful rainbow. Also probably not the safest thing to take a picture while driving in the rain. Just FYI.