New adventures

So... I have some good news and some bad news.

The good news is that I've started blogging again! Jeeej :)
The "bad" news is that I'm blogging on a different blog and in Dutch. Well, technically that's not really bad news, but most of my blogfriends don't understand Dutch so it's not really "good" news either.

If you want to follow me along on this new blog-adventure, click here
You could always have Google translate the text or just enjoy the photo's.

I hope to see some of you there!

Emanuella Grace

She's here! 

Well, she has been for one and a half week already but I've only just found the time to post an update.

Emanuella Grace was born on the 28th of January. 

She weighed 3.635 kg and was 52cm long at her birth

She is the most beautiful and easy-going baby we've ever seen!

38 week pregnancy update

How am I feeling?
I'm still alive and kicking and superlarge. I'm feeling great, really... Sleep is going great and I started taking evening walks with Mr.-Daddy-to-be to shake things up. My OBgyn sais everything is going perfect! I'm already 1.5cm dilated which is great. Only 8.5 to go!

I even went in for an extra check-up today because I've been having some pretty painful contractions and I already had an appointment with a physiotherapist. The monitor confirmed I'm having some rather strong contractions but they're still very irregular. It was acually pretty fun just laying on a bed for half an hour, listening to baby's heartbeat and seeing how the monitor was measuring the contractions! I'm a tad bit sad that it's not yet going full force but hey, I still have 2 more weeks to go. The sweet midwife said it could go fast now so if the pain gets any worse I should take a warm bath and then come back in to check my progress.

The appointment with the physiotherapist was really fun because the lady was so friendly and sweet and bubbly! It was like meeting with a friend - a friend that gave me a pretty nice back massage, hah! We just did a couple of relaxation exercises and some breathing techniques. If I'm not yet holding my baby by Thursday I'll also get a chance to try out the birthing tub so I know what to expect if I choose to use it during labor or the actual birth.

Weight gain?
+17kg.

How big is baby?
She weighs 3.5kg and is about 50cm.

Fun moment of the week?
Spending half an hour on the monitor and seeing that I'm not crazy - there's actually something happening in there!
And getting a visit from my friend Joke. She brought us FOUR meals to freeze so we don't have to think about food when the baby's born. Two portions of chilli (my favourite! She knows me so well :-) ), a portion of orange chicken and breakfast frittata muffins! Oh and a bag of cookies but somehow they got "lost" somewhere... Really babe, I have no clue where I put that bag of double chocolate cookies??

On being full term

I feel like this pregnancy has gone so fast and yet so slow at the same time.


I remember feeling very anxious, shocked and overwhelmed when we found out we were having a baby! We didn't think it would all go so fast and I only took that pregnancy test as a joke, just to see what it would be like... When that test said "pregnant" even before I could put it down (it took less than 30 seconds) my brain couldn't quite process what that little word meant. For a moment I could only stare at it - feeling like everything was slowing down until reality hit me and I realized that yes, I actually am pregnant, the words on the test are not going to change anymore. When Jeff came in he just knew by looking at my face and I saw in his eyes how proud and happy he was. I'll never forget that moment...

I remember how shocked and happy our families were when we told them! They didn't even know we were going to try to have a baby so at first nobody believed it. But they were so so very happy and I feel like now they might be even more excited than we are - even though that's really not possible.
Another moment I'll never forget, especially since we secretly filmed their reactions, hah! They weren't too pleased with that but who cares, right?!

I remember the fear of something going wrong with our baby, anxiously awaiting every milestone. The first ultrasound at 8 weeks, the 12week-mark, the gender ultrasound, 20 weeks, viability at 24weeks, the 6 month mark that gives your baby a good chance of survival, the 32 week OB/GYN appointment, the 36 week appointment that was the last one before being full term. 

And now our baby technically is "ready". She has everything she needs to be a normal, healthy baby and she could come out any moment she pleases. Yes, I'm a bit scared for labour - but what mom isn't? Yes, I'm not sure if I'm ready to be a mom - but what mom is??

What I do know is that I love this little girl. I've loved her since I knew she was there. I've loved feeling her little kicks in my belly and I've loved being the only one that really "knew" her. And I can't wait until they put her in my arms and they tell me I'm a real mommy.

I can't wait for Jeff to hold our precious daughter and to announce her name. I can't wait to see his face when he gets to see her and to see what kind of Dad he'll be. This week he proudly chose her first outfit and he's been talking to her at night, telling her that he can't wait to meet her. He'll be the best Daddy in the world, I just know it!

So baby girl, your Mommy and Daddy are ready whenever you're ready. You are loved and we can't wait to meet you. Don't stay in there too long, sweety...
- Love, Mommy

36 week pregnancy update

 Taken after an emotional meltdown this week, don't judge haha!

How am I feeling?
My energy levels go up and back down again all through the day. I do think I can get a lot of stuff done once I'm having an energy burst! Over these last three weeks we've finished our bedroom, put a lot of furniture together, I've washed all of our baby clothes and gotten my bags ready for the hospital. It's getting pretty close now so I'm feeling very anxious.
I'm experiencing a lot of pelvic pain and I think baby has dropped a bit. Last friday I wasn't dilated yet so our OB/GYN said we would probably have some more days of rest but she also said it's impossible to predict anything when it comes to labor.
I think the anxiousness is the worst really. Knowing our baby could come any moment now, but it could also be another 5 weeks! It's driving me insane :-)

Food?
I feel like I'm stress-eating a lot. It doesn't matter what it is but I could eat all day long. This is such a bad habit!!

Weight gain?
16kg. The OB/GYN said I'll really have to watch my weight these next weeks because she's afraid I'll have trouble getting it back off. We'll see :-)

How big is baby?
Our doctor estimated baby girl is 49-50cm and weighs a whopping 3.380kg!! That would be a great birth weight but we still have about 4 weeks to go... She'll be a big baby but apparently it's very common in Jeff's family. I'm not really worried, I just don't want people to say she's heavy... Our world is a cruel one and I'm already in some kind of mommy-protective mode, trying to protect her from anybody that could possibly hurt he.

Fun moment of the week?
Putting our stroller together and finishing all the baby clothes.
People are also getting reallllly excited! I think almost every single person at our church wished us luck and said they're so looking forward to our baby. My family aso keeps calling or messaging to see how we're doing. I just hope it won't take another 5 weeks until we have our baby girl!

RIP Janneman

My sweet little friendliest friend Janneman suddenly passed away due to a severe bunny disease...

RIP dear animalfriend, you'll be missed. I hoped you would be our daughter's friendliest friend too but it wasn't supposed to be...

I'll be back soon with some updates - I'm still pregnant! I enjoyed some time off with our families and planned on getting back this weekend but after what happened today I'm not really in the mood for blogging, as you can imagine.

34 week pregnancy update

How am I feeling?
My energy levels change a lot during the day. The mornings usually are a bit tiring but starting in the late afternoon I'm on fire! Painting walls, washing baby clothes, putting dressers together, cleaning everything, ... I like it because we're getting stuff done! And it makes for a good night's sleep :-)
Nesting definitely has kicked in. Don't let me go grocery shopping on my own, please! I'll come home with 5 packs of coffee, a toilet paper supply for the next half a year and lots and lots of freezable stuff... Did I mention the 6 packs of baby wipes? Yeah...

Food?
I luuurrvvve grilled cheese at the moment. When Jeff brought me some earlier today I started squealing with joy and clapping my hands. Yeah...

What's up with these hormones, really?!

Weight gain?
14kg. I just keep gaining weight! Must be the grilled cheese, huh?
At this rate I'll be +20kg by the end of this pregnancy if I don't watch out!
Yeah...

Movements?
I think she moves enough for me not to worry and not too much for it to hurt too much. Sometimes I find it a bit anoying but most of the time I start talking to our baby girl. I mean, she's awake, I might as well get her used to us being bff's, right?

Fun moment of the week?
Our stroller, car seat and diaper bag came in!
And we put together the dresser in our room that we'll use for baby changes.
And we painted half of our room and it's beautiful! It makes me sooo happy...
Baby girl's room got a serious cleaning (no, I did not get a before-picture because it lookes horrendous...).
I also started washing some of the stuff I'll need to bring to the hospital. The rest will be washed after the Christmas craziness because I suspect my mom and sister of getting our girl some more clothes.
Oh, and I started putting together our sugar beans, the little thank you gift we Belgians give to people that come to visit the baby after she's born.

Did I mention nesting has kicked in? Yeah...