I owe it all to those two magical words we as mothers have heard a thousand times. Time Management. After all of this time I have finally grasped this concept fully. Before I used to think that every second of my time did not need to be planned out. If I needed to be somewhere or ready at a certain time it didn’t matter if I was running late.

Now that I am a mom those days have changed. Every second of my day has to be carefully planned out or my world would crumble. I take time to schedule my nursing times, gym time, work schedule, and picking up the kids from daycare.

I have also noticed that I work on my class assignments days in advance. In the past I used to wait until the absolute last minute to start an assignment. I have found that starting assignments early and working on them bit by bit in between my other obligations helps me to finish them on time.

These are just some of the ways that I have figured out how to manage my time and sanity. By planning out my days, I am ready for whatever comes by way and can tackle the unexpected.

What have you done to help make life easier? Does planning out your days help you feel more on top of things?

So, you’re having a baby! Once the shock of that news begins to wear off, it’s important to think about your lifestyle and health habits during pregnancy.

Following these guidelines can help keep you and your developing child healthy in the months to come:

• Visit your health care provider regularly throughout your pregnancy.
• Don’t take any medications without your doctor’s OK. Both prescriptions and over-the-counter medications can cause birth defects.
• Don’t smoke. Mothers who smoke have an increased risk of delivering prematurely and having a child with significant health problems.
• Don’t drink alcohol. It can cause birth defects associated with fetal alcohol syndrome.
• Don’t take illegal drugs. Doing so can cause birth defects and developmental delays in your child.
• Avoid exposure to toxic substances and chemicals, such as cleaning solvents, lead, mercury, some insecticides, paint thinners, and paint removers. Read more>

A picture from my first pregnancy but I still use that dress. Scarves help me change up the look without spending a ton of money!

Let me start by saying – I love shopping.  I love the turn of a new season and treating myself with one or two little outfits.  I love going and checking out the newest fashion for the season and making it my own.

I try to keep it in moderation and don’t go overboard, but there is nothing I love better than a weekend of retail therapy…except when I am pregnant.  I have such a hard time buying clothes that I know I will not wear again or won’t be able to pull out next season.

My first pregnancy I didn’t feel too bad buying clothes because I was still working full time and had to maintain a professional wardrobe, plus I had hoped I would get pregnant again and could re-wear.  This time around is a bit different.  I am only working part time so I don’t need as many clothes throughout the week.  Unfortunately I cannot reuse a lot of the clothes I had previously because I am pregnant during different seasons.

I have roughly ten weeks to go before Baby Waller arrives and I am finding that I truly need a few more maternity items.  I literally am re-wearing the same 2 long sleeve shirts over and over and over.  Honestly they are getting a little too snug around the belly so I try to cover them with scarves.  Still, every time I go online to purchase some shirts, I just end up canceling the order.

I cannot justify spending money on something that I will only wear for 10 more weeks.  There has to be a more economical way to go about this maternity clothes dilemma.  It is hard to use hand me downs because you have to find someone who was pregnant around the same time of year as you are; there aren’t too many thrift stores out there with maternity sections so what are we to do?

Anyone else struggle with trying to find a cheap way to look good during pregnancy?  Any advice on how to dress the bump?!?

• to set a bedtime and stick with it, even on the weekends
• wake up at the same time every day, even on the weekends
• designate my room only for sleeping in, so my mind would associate my bedroom with sleeping
• remove everything from my room that would stimulate my mind (TV, computer, etc.)

The room is clean, but the laptop, supply caddy and binder have to go!

To make the mommy makeover even better, I have thrown out alot of my old cruddy clothes and donated the ones that I don’t fit into (and won’t for awhile). I decided that it can’t be good for my self esteem to keep looking at all the size 4′s that I used to fit into. If it was an expensive article of clothing then I threw it up in the attic in hopes that when I do have time for the gym again, I will fit into them once again. At the moment I am a size 8 so that is why I have budgeted for a new wardrobe as well. It’s definitely not easy to shop for myself, but I have started to get a few things here and there.

I also went through my makeup and realized that it is all from when I first met my husband…4 years ago. Gross. It was all funky. It’s a shame because it’s all super expensive (I used to wear makeup every single day), but I think I’m gonna go and grab some more of that as well. Nothing crazy though, just enough to look like a put together mama everyday.

I’m so excited for this next week! I haven’t done anything for myself in so long! If there is one thing I could say to the still pregnant mommies out there, it would be to try and pamper yourself at least once in late pregnancy and especially soon after the baby is born. It’s so important. I feel like it may have helped my PPD if I did this sooner. Budget for it now! You need some lovin’ too girl!

Is there one thing you do for yourself every once in awhile? What is it? How often and how does it make you feel?

Pink boppy, pink bib, pink clothes, even pink book!

We were very fortunate when we had Elli to have very many generous baby showers.  We were given so many items and we were very grateful.  I absolutely loved creating the registry and trying to figure out what we would need and what would make our baby girl most comfortable and happy.  I was so concerned about what was the “best on the market” and “most popular” items.  I also wanted the things that were cute and girly and pink.  Well, that is where I went wrong so I am writing this post today to give all first time pregnant women out there a piece of unsolicited advice…BUY GENDER NEUTRAL!!!

This week I went shopping for Baby Boy Waller.  I wanted to start gathering up some of the essentials and I was very disappointed and discouraged to realize how much I actually needed to buy.  I was sure that we wouldn’t need too much since we have already had one baby.  The problem is that everything we have for Elli is pink pink pink.  So there I was having to decide if I needed a new boppy cover in blue or if Baby Boy Waller was just going to have to nurse on a pink pillow.  In case you are wondering, he will nurse on a pink pillow.  I know it is not that big of a deal, but I did start to wish I had registered for a few more yellow and green things the first time around.

There is nothing wrong with having some pink or blue around your house, but when you register, consider if you are going to have more children and try to do your big ticket items in a more gender neutral color.  In the end I believe it will save you some money.

So there it is, the advice you didn’t ask for but I hope it helps you in some way! Do you have any other suggestions?

I checked with a few friends as to how to get the swelling to come down. They suggested lowering my salt intake and upping my water intake. I immediately went to the kitchen and started chugging water. About twenty minutes later, I started sneezing, which raised no alarms, until I noticed that the tissue was pink. Thinking my eyes were playing tricks on me, I decided to blow my nose to check what was going on in there. Sure enough, I had a nose bleed, which is very atypical of me.

The combination of the severe swelling and nose bleed started to freak me out. My midwife’s office wasn’t open yet, so I called Onslow Memorial Hospital and asked to speak to the nurse on call. Fortunately for me, it was one of the midwives I had already seen at Women’s Healthcare Associates. She asked me a few questions and told me it didn’t sound like anything to be too worried about, so a trip to the ER wasn’t necessary, but to call WHA as soon as they opened and try to get an appointment for that morning. WHA worked me in at 8:30 to check my blood pressure, my iron levels, get a urine sample to check for protein in my urine and run some labs to make sure I wasn’t preeclamptic.

The doctor assured me that if the labs came back with signs of preeclampsia, that they would know within 24 hours and immediately call me. In the mean time, if I had any changes to vision, like seeing spots, or if my very mild headache got a lot worse, to just go to the emergency room and someone in labor and delivery would be able to determine if immediate action must be taken.

She went on to say that since my nose bleed had clots in it, that was a good sign indicating my platelet count should be fine, and nose bleeds can be very common during pregnancy. To err on the side of caution, they would be checking my platelet count at the lab,  just to be sure. It’s been about 24 hours, and I haven’t heard back from the office, so my mind is at ease about the situation. As much as I hate to be seen for something silly, I would rather rest assured that the baby and I are fine than to end up in the ER because I didn’t heed the warnings my body was trying to give me.

Did you have any false alarms during your pregnancy? Do you find it comforting to check with your care provider if you have a small scare?

Back when it was easy to find the time...

In a recent post, I mentioned a podcast I listened to on how to baby proof your marriage.  One baby proofing suggestion was to discuss the division of chores before the baby arrives.  I have mixed feelings on this suggestion.

In some ways, I think this is very difficult to do, especially before your first child.  Although Jacob and I talked about what life would be like once Elli arrived, we know now that we truly had no idea what we were in for.  There were some chores that we expected and then there were some that we had no idea were coming.

Although I think we have a better idea about what to expect with baby #2, I do think that we will still be shocked at the amount of work involved in raising a toddler and an infant.  Still, I mentioned this suggestion to Jacob and in some ways it seemed like a good idea to open up communication about chores before Smaller Waller arrives.  Maybe having a slight idea about what each other would like to do and the ways we would each like to contribute will help our communication when things get crazy and I get hormonal.

For instance, since I will be nursing, it seems to make the most sense that Jacob will be in charge of getting Elli to bed at night since I will have to nurse.  That is a switch from our normal routine now where I bathe Elli and put her to bed while Jacob does other chores.  Without discussing it beforehand, there may have been resentment or confusion over how to run this whole operation smoothly.  Right now, with just one child, we take turns with Elli in order to give the other person a break.  We discussed that this probably won’t be an option for the first year or so while I nurse.  More than likely we will always divide and conquer, with each of us tending to one child at a time.  I guess the most important part of this baby proofing suggestion is that we need to communicate often, we each need to feel free to communicate, and we need to do it honestly.

Do you divide your chores?  How do you decide who does what when it comes to baby?

I love keeping a food journal because it really keeps me accountable. When I eat a cookie that I know I shouldn’t have I don’t lie about. I own it and write it down. When I look back over my notes I can see which days I cheat the most and at what time of day I normally have the most cravings. I also write down when, where, and how I exercise. This helps me keep track of what works and what doesn’t for my workout regimen. This is especially helpful now that I have a new baby to add into my family life.

The doctor told me that I am not allowed to do any abdominal exercises yet. That is fine with me because I still feel sensitive in that area anyway. The biggest thing I notice is that I am super stiff and tight all over. I need some yoga ASAP, I could use a good downward dog or child’s pose to work some tension out.

I think the biggest obstacle in my way is time. There just isn’t enough of it. The days of spending hours in the gym are long gone. So I have to make every second count. I have to exercise in ways that are safe and will fire up my metabolism so that even when I leave the gym I am still burning calories for the next few hours.

How did you manage to take care of a baby and yourself? Any tips for incorporating a work out in my already busy schedule?

Here I was months ago worrying about if she was gonna crawl and now she’s practically climbing the walls. I have seen her stand by herself for a minute or two until she realizes what she’s doing and then she falls. I’m trying to figure out when standing comes along, but I know better by now that she’s running at her own pace…all babies do.

Nearly everyone keeps telling me that when she walks life gets nuts and that I should be careful what I wish for. Honestly, it’s the part I’m most excited for. To me walking means I can do more with her. Every milestone seems to make things a little more crazy, yes, but also a bit easier I think. The only downside I can see is that I have to pack more in the diaper bag (snacks, toys, cup…) Overall though, I’m ready for that first birthday party! Knowing I kept a human being alive for a year is just, I don’t know, gratifying.

What is your favorite thing about your baby getting older? What do you look forward to the most? Do you find it gets easier or harder as your baby matures?