Here are a couple of my favorites:

Thanks again ladies, I love you girls.

So lately I have gotten a lot of good news.  I haven’t had any more blood pressure issues and my doctor thinks I only have about a week or so until Liam is born.  I am 60% effaced and 1 cm dilated.  Also my doctor thinks that once my labor starts, it will go fast.  I couldn’t be more excited.  Now I am just waiting.

I still need to put some final touches on the nursery, make my playlist for the hospital and finish packing my hospital bag, oh and finish up some thank you notes.  We had our 2nd baby shower last weekend and it was a lot of fun.  We have really amazing family and friends, who have been so supportive  during my whole pregnancy.

I haven’t really talked about this here on the blog but we plan on having as natural of a birth as possible.  Having said that let me also say that I think the way you choose to give birth is a very personal decision and I would never judge how other people choose to give birth.  Also by natural I just mean that I don’t want to get an epidural.   But I have decided that if I get to the hospital and realize that I have been too idealistic about  natural birth and it is not for me that I will get an epidural and not feel guilty about it.  A lot of people have been curious about why I want a natural birth and haven’t missed a beat in giving me their opinion about it, which is fine.

Reasons why I want to at least attempt to have Liam without the assistance of an epidural:

1. My body is made to give birth and I want to embrace it. I believe now more than ever that our bodies are amazing and capable of more than we give them credit for these days.
2. I plan on breastfeeding immediately after giving birth and sometimes having an epidural can interfere with your baby’s ability to breastfeed initially.
3. I want to be able to walk around during labor (to help with contractions) and after labor I don’t want to be confined to the hospital bed.
4. At the hospital where we are planning on giving birth, if you have an epidural you are required to have internal fetal monitoring and a catheter.  Internal fetal monitoring doesn’t sound like a bad thing but it requires Liam to have a sensor stuck to his little head during labor and I can’t begin to tell you how horrible the thought of having a catheter sounds to me.

Pregnancy Stats

• Weeks Pregnant: 37 weeks and 1 day Full Term!!!
• Size of my tiny baby: A Watermelon!  (Length:  19-22  in.  Weight: 6.5 lbs. )
• My Weight:  156 lbs.  Total Gain: 41 lbs.

How am I feeling?

• Emotionally:  I am so ready to have Liam.  I can’t wait to see him and hold him in my arms.  Sometimes I feel really overwhelmed with emotions both good and bad.
• Physically:  To be honest, I’m exhausted, swollen and irritable.  I am just taking it one day at a time.
• Fun Pregnancy Stuff:  Not a lot of things are very fun about being 9 months pregnant really.  It is fun to think about the fact that he will be here so soon!  I can’t wait to see his little face.
  
• Cravings:  I haven’t really been craving anything crazy lately but I have recently discovered Peanut Butter Cheerios and they are so good!

Thank you Nikki Ballard and Katie Kester for taking my pregnancy photos this weekend.  You girls are the best.

Two weeks ago, I had to go to the doctor’s office because my blood pressure was higher than it should be and my ankles were really swollen.  Since both of these are symptoms of pre-eclampsia, my doctor wanted to check and see if my urine contained protein (another sign of pre-eclampsia) which it did not, thank GOD!  Last Wednesday, I had a follow up appointment and once again my blood pressure was higher than it should be.  My doctor calmly told me that he wanted me to go to labor and delivery at the hospital so that they could monitor my blood pressure for a couple of hours.  Oh course I freaked out a bit, which didn’t help anything.  Once I was at the hospital I started having  contractions, which sucked.  After 3 hours of monitoring my blood pressure, it went down and the contractions stopped.  They sent me home and told me to take it easy the next day.  My doctor doesn’t think I have pre-eclampsia but I just have to continue to monitor my blood pressure at home, drink plenty of water and keep my feet elevated when I am at home lounging around.  I have my weekly appointment today, so I hope everything still looks okay.

Pregnancy Stats

• Weeks Pregnant: 34 weeks and 3 days (The photo above was taken at my baby shower this past Saturday.)
• Size of my tiny baby: A Large cantaloupe  (Length:  19-22  in.  Weight: 5.5 lbs. )
• My Weight:  155 lbs.  Total Gain: 40 lbs.

How am I feeling?

• Emotionally:  I’m okay lately.  We had our first baby shower this past weekend and I honestly feel really loved.  The overwhelming love and support that I have received from my friends and family is amazing.  Also we have received almost everything we need to be prepared for Liam’s arrival, which feels great.
• Physically:  I am so tired!  I don’t sleep well at all and being this pregnant is hard.  My feet and hands are so swollen, my face is huge and having a little boy sitting on my bladder all day isn’t the most fun.  But having said all of that, it is really exciting knowing that my body is almost ready to welcome little Liam.
• Fun Pregnancy Stuff:  I love how cute Liam’s nursery is becoming.  We still have a few things to do in his room but it is coming together quite nicely.  I promise to share pics once it is complete.
• Cravings:  Desserts!  I went to the dr. three weeks ago for my regular monthly check up and was told I can no longer eat desserts!  Not that I have been eating desserts with every meal or anything but since I have already gained over the recommended 35 lbs I was told I should avoid desserts entirely.  This was devastating news for this pregnant woman, especially since it is girl scout cookie time!
  

1.  Day 29:  Something You are Listening to

This is the record player I bought for Ben last Christmas and I love it.  Lately I’ve been listening to The Shins a lot.

2.  Day 25: Green

I finished making the curtains for Liam’s nursery this past weekend.  I made them using this Joel Dewberry fabric which is actually more of a blue-ish green.

3.  Day 27:  Something You Ate

I love edamame and I also love that it is especially good for me during pregnancy because it contains a lot of protein.

4.  Day 26:  Night

It may have taken all of Sunday night but we finished painting Liam’s nursery and I finished his crib skirt.  His little nursery is actually starting to look like a nursery.

5.  Day 23:  Your Shoes

These are actually some of my shoes and Ben’s shoes mixed together because we share a closet.

This month I am participating in the Instagram February Photo A Day challenge by FatMumslim and all of these photos were for the challenge.

Oh and all of these photos were taken with Instagram (iphone app).  If you are on Instagram follow me @SelenaFaye

This month I am participating in the Instagram February Photo A Day challenge by FatMumslim and all of these photos with the exception of one were for the challenge.

1.  Day 21:  A Fave Photo of You

This photo is one of our engagement photos and I love it.  You can’t tell from the photo but the day we took these photos was like the hottest day of the year.

2.  Day 14: Heart

This Valentine was made for me by my good friend Dawn.  It was the sweetest Valentine I got this year.

3.  Day 13:  Blue

Zoe loves wearing her snuggie.  I made that up.  I love seeing Zoe wear her snuggie.

4.  This photo was not for the challenge but it is a photo of the chevron fabric I am going to use to make Liam’s crib skirt this weekend.  The fabric is from Premier Prints, which is a Mississippi based company.

5.  Day 16:  Something New

Ben got me this little stamp set from Yellow Owl Workshop as part of my Valentine’s Day present.  I love it and can’t wait to use it.

Oh and all of these photos were taken with Instagram (iphone app).  If you are on Instagram follow me @SelenaFaye

1.  These swaddle blankets from Dwell Studio are too cute!

2.  I love The Shins and I think this Tad Carpenter poster is perfect for Liam’s nursery.

3.  Socks the Fox from Blabla with his little tie on is precious.

4.  Although a little pricey, I love this Jonathan Adler Skip Hop diaper bag.

5.  I know he won’t be walking for a little while but I love these tiny Toms!

6.  This little onesie from Vital via  Etsy is precious!

7.  Every baby needs a little lion hat right?  I love this hat from Blabla.

8.  I love all of the Ugly Dolls and I hope to start Liam a little collection of them.  We have already received one as a gift and I love it!  (Thanks Nikki)

9.  This baby blanket from Yellow Plum Blossoms via Etsy is too cute.

10.  I think these BPA Free Lifefactory glass baby bottles are awesome and not to mention stylish.

This month I am partcipating in the Instagram February Photo A Day challenge by FatMumslim and I’m having a blast.

1.  Day 7: Button

The Mississippi button is from our wedding.  We made them and handed them out at our wedding as favors.  I made the S + B button sometime before the wedding.  I bought the I heart Country Music button at last year’s Cotton District Arts Festival.  The black and white button is from Ming Donkey, one of my favorite local musicians.  I’m not sure where I got the Rilo Kiley button but I love that band!

2.  Day 2: Hands

I’m so pregnant these days!

3.  Day 5: 10 a.m.

Olive even looks cute early in the morning.  Well, early for Sunday morning.

4.  Day 9:  Front Door

I love my front door but my front porch needs some help lately.  I really need to plant something in the wooden planter for sure.  The red planter actually contains rosemary and tulip bulbs that are starting to emerge.  I can’t wait for them to bloom.

5.  Day 2:  Words

This print is an Ashley G print from Etsy.  I love her stuff.

Oh and all of these photos were taken with Instagram (iphone app).  If you are on Instagram follow me @SelenaFaye

I am officially in my 3rd trimester!  A lot has happened since my last baby post.  We have two baby showers planned for March, we registered, we completed our Stork Support class at the hospital, we bought our crib and we have started on the nursery!

We decided to go with the Davinci Jenny Lind crib and ordered it from Amazon.  We decided on this crib because it will match the the changing table we were gifted  and the rocking chair my mom found for us at a garage sale.  We also chose this crib because it meets all of the latest safety standards, matches our vintage style and it converts into a toddler bed.

Pregnancy Stats

• Weeks Pregnant: 29 weeks and 2 days
• Size of my tiny baby:  A Butternut Squash  (Length:  17  in.  Weight: 3.1 lbs. )
• My Weight:  142 lbs.  Total Gain: 27 lbs.

How am I feeling?

• Emotionally:  I can be pretty moody and needy lately.  I admit it.
• Physically:  Honestly, I am so ready to not be pregnant.  I feel so huge and carrying around an extra 27 lbs can be really tiresome.  Also I have recently started having hip/pelvic pain and it sucks.  Sleeping with a pillow between my legs which I had stopped doing for a while and just recently started again has really helped in this department.
• Fun Pregnancy Stuff:  This may sound silly but I really like all of the positive attention by belly gets.  Everywhere I go people just look at my belly and smile.  It is really sweet.  I think there is something about seeing a pregnant woman that makes most people happy.  Also I have gotten some pretty funny/slightly inappropriate  comments recently.

Some of those comments include:

1. Any day now right? (Don’t say this to a pregnant woman unless you know for a fact that she is about to give birth!)
2. What have you been eating?
3. Are you sure you are not having twins?
4. Woman in line at Piggly Wiggly:  “How much longer do you have? Me: “3 months”  Woman in line at Piggly Wiggly: “Really?” (Then she inspects my belly.) “Girl you aren’t going to be able to walk.”  Me:  “I hope that is not true.”
5. Overly loud UPS Delivery Guy (who sees me everyday but usually I am sitting):  “Oh!  What have you gone and done?”

• Cravings:  Low-Fat Chocolate Milk, Coca-Cola and Apples!  I can’t eat enough Gala Apples.

1.  I have decided to hang a couple of these pinwheels that I made from old maps and some star paper lanterns I ordered from PB Teen above the crib in the nursery.  I really like how these pinwheels turned out.

2.  We have decided to name our son Liam Finn.  I am pretty excited about it.

3.  Ben and I started our parenting classes on Monday.  Ben got called to the front to help her demonstrate the baby moving through the pelvis.

4.  Little Zoe was posing for me.  She is too cute.

5.  Last Sunday, The Starkville Daily News ran a story about Pinterest.  Ben and I were featured in the story talking about how we are using Pinterest to plan our nursery.  It was a cute story.  Check out my Pinterest It’s a Boy board here.

Oh and all of these photos were taken with Instagram (iphone app).  If you are on Instagram follow me @SelenaFaye

For New Year’s Eve this year, some friends and I attended a murder mystery dinner at The Stone Lion Inn in Guthrie, Oklahoma.  My friend Cristina Kinney planned the weekend to celebrate her 30th birthday and it was a blast.  I have been friends with Cristina since 10th or 11th grade and she is one of my favorite people in the whole world.   So when she told me what she wanted to do for her 30th birthday,  I was of course thrilled.  Ben, Katie Doughty, Chris Doughty and I left Starkville on 12/30 and drove about 5 or so hours to Little Rock, Arkansas.  We went site seeing, had a nice dinner and stayed the night.  Little Rock has a fun River Market area and we really enjoyed our short visit there.  The next morning we drove another 5 or so hours to Guthrie, Oklahoma, while of course site seeing along the way.  Although I didn’t see any buffalo, the weekend was wonderful.  I love getting dressed up and celebrating the New Year with good friends.

1.  This is Ben and I with ”Le Petite Roche,” the namesake for Little Rock, Arkansas.  The river behind us is the Arkansas River.

2.  This is Ben at the Oklahoma Welcome Center.  Traveling with a pregnant woman leads to many bathroom breaks, but we didn’t mind stopping here.  We loved the tee pee pavilions.

3.  This is The Stone Lion Inn, where the murder mystery took place.  We had a blast and if you are ever near Guthrie, Oklahoma you should attend one of their murder mystery dinners.  I would recommend it for sure.  The food is great, the owner and staff were a delight and I loved staying in The White Peacock house.  I would recommend the French room.  Our bathtub was huge!

4.  This is Ben and I as the characters, Forrest and Virginia Lawne.  Our murder mystery was set in 1928 and we had to dress the part.  I loved getting all dressed up, even though I am 6 months pregnant.  Thank God my character was pregnant because my baby bump is pretty hard to hide these days.

5.  Everyone looked so great, but sadly the lighting wasn’t the best for pictures.  (From Left to Right:  Katie Kester, Cristina Kinney, Me and Katie Doughty)

Oh and all of these photos were taken with Instagram (iphone app).  If you are on Instagram follow me @SelenaFaye