Friday Faves: Baby Edition

Ok, so I've held it in for 3 months now, and pardon me while I spew baby related things for a little bit (I promise it won't take over everything). But this week I wanted to share some of my favorites since we found out that we're pregnant!

{1} The Announcement

I got the idea from a photo I saw on Pinterest of a couple changing a dog's diaper. I knew I wanted something that would be funny and not too serious. We've had enough serious with the IVF process, and I wanted this to be fun. Plus, Cooper was part of our engagement photos, and it only seemed right to include him in the baby announcement photos. 

My friend came over and took the pics for us that ended up in our announcement. We had a lot of fun, and a ton of laughs, posing Cooper in baby bibs, and feeding him a bottle (which he totally drank the milk from! lol). It took everything in me not to share it as soon as it was done.

{2} The Love and Support

Our family and friends have been incredible throughout our entire IVF process. And then after finding out we were pregnant, we've gotten so much love as well. Baby G already has 2 baby books waiting for him/her in the future baby room (which we've started to clear out from all of our "storage" items), and a super cute picture frame from my MIL, with baby G's ultrasound picture in it. (She's also been DYING to tell the news--we even had to shut her down about 6 weeks ago when she told people at our friends' wedding lol)

I've also really super appreciate my blog girls who have checked in on me, asked how we've been doing, etc. And my fellow IVF friends, who have been here and supported me through every step of this process. It's been incredible to have this support network and people to call and ask questions, freak out about meds, get advice (the pineapple one was key, Owen! haha) or whatever else this process holds.  It's been overwhelming in the most amazing way!

{3} Generosity

We have friends who have already given me maternity clothes for when I need it (not quite there yet, but getting close!), and others who have offered up their old baby things since you quickly realize just how much STUFF a baby needs. For you mamas out there, I'm gonna need some help figuring out what stuff is actually essential, and which things are just extra nice things to have. My SIL got me and MG books about baby (his is a Q&A for dads, and mine is a combination information book and journal to keep track of the process and my thoughts). We are truly blessed.

{4} The Baby Aisle/Decorating

This one sounds silly, but whenever we're at Target, MG and I frequent the baby aisle now. Before, I would pass it by, and longingly look at the adorable little clothes, and picture picking things out. And now, I just love walking through, imagining what our baby will look like, and all of the cute things I can dress him/her up in, which crib Baby G will sleep in...

And then the decor part comes in. We've had "that room" that we never did anything with because we knew it was going to eventually be the nursery. It's the only plain room on our top floor which always felt like a kind of reminder of what we didn't have (but it served us well as a storage room in the meantime). And now, all of the ideas I've been thinking of and finding on Pinterest are swimming through my head and I can't wait to get going with painting and decorating that room! (Pinterest now seems to only suggest pregnancy and food related pins to me...hmm..) :)

{via} Just one of a buuuuunch of ideas :)

{5} Ultrasounds

I've had 4 ultrasounds now since finding out we're pregnant. At the first one, we saw this teeeeeeny tiny flutter on this little bitty blob. That was the heartbeat. I sobbed...like full on sobbed, because it was the confirmation that our baby had a heartbeat and that this was more than just a positive pregnancy test.

 The next time, we saw this gummy bear shaped object with little arm and leg buds, and a beating heart in the middle and tiny wiggles. My mom was there with me for that one since MG was out of town and it was so cool to get to share that with her.

The third one was at my first OB appointment where we got to see the heartbeat again, but not as clearly since it wasn't a transvaginal ultrasound.

And this last one....there was a REAL baby in there, with kicking arms and legs, and a heart beating, and a big old head! (In this one you can see a little tiny foot and toes on the print out!) And we got to hear the heartbeat for the first time instead of just seeing it, which had me tearing up all over again. 

These appointments are magical and I treasure every time we get to see our baby and we seriously revel at how much it has changed in the past few months and weeks even. 

Thanks for indulging me in this today--and thank you all for your messages of congrats on my blog, your sweet prayers and thoughts throughout our journey, and for the private emails and messages you've sent! I can't tell you how much it means to me and how much it has helped with this process! Sending you all lots of love as we head into the weekend!