Birth story. & goodbye. 💜💙💜

So it started Friday. I was having tiny baby contractions all through Costco but I really didn’t think anything of it because they were so light I could hardly feel them.

Saturday Domonique & I were in bed asleep since it was supposed to be her weekend to work.
Around 5:30pm I woke up to what felt like a little pop & a gush of fluid. 😳
I yelled “Domonique”
& of course since she was asleep she jumped up like a crazy person & said “WHAT”.
She thought she had slept through her work alarm.
I told her my water broke.
& her response was, what…are you sure you didn’t pee in the bed.
-_-
I knew that’s not what it was.
It was a giant puddle that continued to pour out.
She had me call the advice nurse who told me to come in to the hospital.
We took our time, packed our bags and showered and about two hours later we arrived.
The moon was ABSOLUTELY beautiful & the whole way there we just kept talking about how we would soon be taking our son home with us!

After the nurses established it was for sure my water that broke (something Domonique & I already knew.) We were then admitted.
(Prior to my water breaking I had just been seen & was told I would have to come in twice a week until the baby came for NST & if my blood pressure didn’t go down we were going to have to talk about being induced.)

I hadn’t started having contractions so they gave me two options.
One, wait it out 6-12 hours and if nothing happens I would be given medication to help start labor.
Two, take medication to soften my cervix.

We decided there was no point to wait and possibly have to take medication as well as risk the chance of infection/complications since my water had already broke. So I took the medication at about 10:00pm.
Luckily I only had to take one dose & my contractions began.
After awhile the pain got pretty bad so I was given pain medication at 1:00am through my IV & they checked my cervix.
I was 4&1/2 dilated.
The medication was great while it lasted but that was only for about an hour.
I was gonna wait to get my epidural and deal with the pain but that really didn’t make any sense so I went ahead & got the epidural at 3:00am.
That was NOT fun at all. -_-
However I am SURELY glad I got it.
I could pretty much feel no pain at all other than one small area on my left which they called a “hot spot”.
It made me a tiny loopy, every time the nurse came in I made her check that my epidural catheter wasn’t falling out.
& I was also worried my urine catheter would “fall” out the entire time. -_-

The epidural allowed me to sleep a couple hours, like three.
Domonique slept some as well.
A few hours later we woke up and
At 5:30am they put me on oxygen.
I kept forgetting to breath and the baby’s heart rate would go down a little every contraction.
They weren’t too concerned but the oxygen helped a lot.
By 6:00am I was 6 & 1/2cm dilated. ☺️

A few hours later around 11:00pm they checked me again & I was COMPLETE. 😳
They gave me an hour to labor down & then said we would do a “trial run” to see how I pushed.
At 12:00pm we did one trial push & the nurse said the baby was ready to come!!
She called her “team”, a doctor & another nurse and we began pushing. 😝😝
To be completely honest, it wasn’t difficult at all. In between pushes I was laughing and talking with the nurse & my wife.
I was warned before hand about this whole “ring of fire” that I would feel when the baby came out.
& oh my, i was FOR sure on fireeeee.
That was the only super painful part of Kai’s delivery.
Even then there was no screaming or anything of the sort.
We had our Mothers & Domonique’s grandmother in the room.
But they sat on a couch while Domonique was right by my side.

I could only hear Domonique while I was pushing, when she told me she could see him I got super excited and just knew I had to push our baby all the way out right then.

I only pushed for 20 minutes and at 12:46pm on November 9,2014 we met our little man who TOTALLY stole our hearts the moment we seen him.
He’s so perfect.

I couldn’t have asked for or imagine a better birth experience. My wife was AMAZING & supportive.
And it felt great to have our family there. 💙

I did tear & had to get like two stitches. Probably because towards the end the doctor told me not to push but i INSISTED I had to. & she let me.
I didn’t even feel the placenta come out. 😳

Immediately after he was born our family took a look at him & left the room so Domonique & I could spend time with him.

We had to stay at the hospital 5 days because Kaimani had jaundice and needed to be under a billi light.
He was low risk but because he was born at 37 weeks exactly they wanted to keep an eye on him.
He was also Coombs positive which is just a result of the baby & I having different blood types. It pretty much means that his body was working overtime because it recognized my blood as a foreign substance. (that’s a super basic explanation).

Kaimani is the SWEETEST baby ever. When he was born he didn’t let out a screaming cry. More like a few small whimpers.
He’s almost two weeks & we have still only heard him REALLY cry once for a few minutes after his circumcision. Poor little man. I felt horrible.
I turned all the lights out in the room, held him and put on a song that Domonique used to play for him in my tummy & he fell right to sleep.

All of the nurses were impressed by how chill he is.
Domonique & I more so.
He doesn’t even wake up when he gets his little feet poked for blood test.
& yes, I am TOTALLY bragging about our baby.
He’s SUCH a sweet baby boy.
We couldn’t be more lucky to have him in our lives. 😍

I wish I could explain better how totally in love we are with him. 💜💙💜

We hadn’t planned on cosleeping at all.
But we get worried because at times it almost seems as if he has sleep apnea which the doctor says he doesn’t but we aren’t totally convinced.

So Domonique went out & bought him a cosleeper that goes in our bed.
She also bought a tiny monitor that will buzz to wake him up and alert us if he stops breathing for more than 15seconds.

We had bought only Tommee Tippee bottles. TONS of them.
Unfortunately the nipples collapse and smoosh his face.
We also tried lansinoh & latch.
They work, but not too well for him.
The bottles we have found work GREAT and minimize his spit up are Dr.Brown & Joovy boob.

Kaimani eats ONLY Breastmilk, since he was born. Originally I was Breast feeding. But he had a little trouble latching and eventually he got it but it would take him a little while. I felt bad, like why make our son work for him meal if he doesn’t have to. So I began pumping. I also produce a TON of milk. Since he was born I’ve had no problem pumping & literally filling bottles. The nurses kept joking I could feed every baby in there. We are considering donating to a milk bank. They said I “hyper lactate” this is a good thing because I know our baby will always have plenty to eat. But the bad part is the horrible pain that comes from my breast being full. I also developed mastitis & am having to take antibiotics for it. However it’s all worth it to give our baby the BEST meal he can have.

I am AMAZED at how wonderful of a mother my wife is. She’s the most attentive, involved parent ever. I also just enjoy seeing how much she loves our son. I often catch her just staring at him. He looks EXACTLY like her. I am so in love with my family. 💙

Btw, just one more reason we LOVE our sperm clinic. Since we have Kai they mailed us hard copies of the donors photos. & we gained access to a social media like site that only other parents with live births from ONLY OUR DONOR have access to. We are able to post pictures of our children/comment & message each other. It’s VERY private. Everything has to be approved by us in order for anybody to see. Also, once Kai turns 13 we can as well as the other parents allow him to make his own account and speak with his siblings.
We know for sure he has 12 siblings, only 3 being girls & one set of twin brothers. It’s pretty crazy to see the resemblance between the children. All of them even have dimples like our son. The donor can also gain access to this site. However he has yet to do so. We would have to approve it in order for him to see any of our information anyways. It has been great to speak with some of the other families that used the same sperm donor. We are able to discuss our children’s similar characteristics & also it’s nice to be able to stay in contact with others who we share such a deep connection with since our children are siblings.

To be honest I’m pretty sure this will be our last post until we decide to give our little man a sibling. We couldn’t be more grateful to have had all of your support throughout this process. To all of you who are still trying, we will keep you in our prayers. We will definitely still be following all of your blogs to stay updated!

Here’s some pictures from the most amazing two weeks of our lives. 💙💜💙

Welcome to the world.💙

Kaimani La’bree Robinson
November 9,2014
12:46pm
6.75 pounds
19&1/2 inches

He is the definition of PERFECTION.

Feeling it. 34 weeks. 6 days.

I am HORMONAL.
I’m already a pretty sensitive person as it is.
Nowadays I am extremely irritable.
& just about everything makes me sad/angry or hurts my feelings.
I’m sure my wife just LOVES this. -_-
Poor thing.

My wisdom teeth (all 4) have been coming in forever now.
& randomly my mouth just will hurt SUPER bad. Like tonight. 😩
On top of the never ending headaches.
Yay.

Seems like the past few days our baby boy has chilled down a bit.
It’s STRESSING me out.
I’ve contemplated going in to L&D to have him monitored but because I know he is meeting the “at least ten kicks every two hours”, I haven’t.
He still has his crazy moments.
I’m assuming/hoping it’s because of how cramped up he is getting in there.
I have started using the kick counting card given to me by the hospital though.
Just to be sure.

I LOVE being pregnant.
I really do.
Even with the terrible heartburn & headaches.
I’m even scared that I will miss my belly once he’s born. Lol.
I also like my body even more than I did pre-pregnancy. 😝
Baby bumps are just the cutest things to me.
HOWEVER, I am ready for these next few weeks to hurry along!
Every part of me hurts.
ALL. OF. THE. TIME!
& of course we are SOOO ready to meet this handsome liddo man of ours. 💙

Since she doesn’t qualify for maternity leave
& everything will be totally unpaid.
We having been planning.
& HOPING that Domonique would get plenty of time off to spend with Kaimani & I once he’s born.
& we finally have everything straightened out!
She’s going to be off for about 8 weeks. ☺️😍😝
We seriously are so happy about all of that family time.

Baby bump. 34 weeks. & 3 days.

I have been a FREEEAK about what we buy for him.
Like obsessing over the registry (we used this not only for the baby shower but also for everything we personally wanted to buy him) since I was 15 weeks.
Domonique picked most of the larger items we have for him.
I wanted to share a couple of our favorite things.
Just because I am always curious about other people’s picks as well. ☺️
(These are the same colors we picked too. Except the diapers, obviously we got a bunch of colors in those. 😝)

1. Chicco Urban Stroller.
I must say I am absolutely in LOVE with this beaaaautiful thang. 😏 it’s a 3-in-1 so it can be either a car seat carrier, bassinet, or a toddler seat. (With & without leg boot.)
It can also face front or rear which we loveee.
& we have an extra color kit so we can make it gray if we’d like.

2. Chicco Keyfit 30 Magic Car seat.
So on top of being extremely adorable. It’s the number #1 ranked car seat in America. 😊 It fits in our stroller & has sure latch which makes it super easy to tighten it in the car.

3. Evenflo DLX platinum all-in-one Car seat.
This car seat also has sure latch. It has cup holders for the little man. Some of my favorite things about it is that it reclines & has a temperature regulating fabric that helps him stay comfortable & not get all sweaty! & most importantly it has some fancy type of side protection that helps reduce side impact force.

4. Graco Duetsoothe swing & rocker.
So originally we were gonna go with the mamaroo but we read/heard a lot that the baby would quickly grow out of it. So we found this which we like even more. You can use it as a full swing which like has a bunch of different levels, plays music & has a cute mobile. Or you can detach it (just pull it off) & set it on the floor as a rocker.

5. Bumgenius 4.0 cloth diapers.
I already wrote whole cloth diaper post. But yeah, we are in love with these cute little diapers. They seem to be top notch. & are nearly as convenient as disposable (other than washing,which I personally don’t mind) They’re also better for our baby’s bum. & although they’re pretty expensive upfront it will save PLENTY in the long run!

6. Bumbo & play tray.
I’m not even sure why I’m so obsessed with this little seat. It just seems like it will be really convenient. We are on the go a lot so I love that it’s something we can take with us to family/friends houses & he will have his personal little seat for feeding him snacks & stuff. It also is kinda squishy and comfy looking…SUPER cute as well. We got the play tray too which attaches on and gives him a little play/eating station.

7. Dekor plus diaper pail
Some people use regular garbage cans (works fine I’m sure) which I just didn’t wanna do for keeping cloth diapers & obviously you shouldn’t use a regular diaper genie since they have disposable plastic bags inside & you will probably end up with a super funky room. But this diaper pail is the ONLY one that I could find that has the option of purchasing a pack of two CLOTH diaper pail liners that can just be washed with the diapers. It also comes with one refill of the regular plastic liners which is perfect since we will be using disposables while he is a newborn.

8. Tommee tippee bottles
It was between these & Dr.Browns but these ones are just so much cuter. 😍 Annnd since I will be breast feeding/pumping for Dommie to feed him there’s also a lot of reviews on how these bottles are super easy to switch between breast feeding & bottle feeding. Our favorite pack we have are these colored ones. 🙂 even though Domonique doesn’t want him to use the purple one. Lol.

9. Vicks starry night humidifier
Since he has an iPod for his music we weren’t too worried about the projector/sound machines. BUUUUT, we needed a humidifier as well as a projector. So this works PERFECT since it does both. There’s also an option of adding scent pads.

10. Petunia pickle bottom walkabout
I don’t plan on wearing our baby, there’s no particular reason. But Domonique does & will do it often i’m sure. So from the jump we knew we wanted to find her a nice carrier. There were like no options of cute ones. -_- they all pretty much looked the same & are super basic. The day we found out we were having a boy we went shopping. & we found this ADORABLE/boyish carrier. Of course this is our opinion but I would have to say it’s the cutest one I’ve seen, evaaa. 😝

Nursery. 😝 32 weeks & 4 days.

So we had an appointment with our midwife on the 3rd.
Everything went well.
& he’s head down as he should be!
We had our final ultrasound. ☺️
Which was super quick. 😔
Unfortunately for us our baby boy stuck to his usual routine and hid from the “camera”.
We couldn’t make out anything in the ultrasound really.
Except for there was something… he didn’t mind confirming the fact that he’s definitely a boy. lol.
With his little legs sticking up in the air.
We didn’t even get one picture from it Cuz everything was sort of a blurr.

After telling the midwife how HORRIBLE I have been feeling lately she diagnosed me with carpal tunnel, which I guess is common in pregnancy
She also had blood work done to make sure I don’t have preeclampsia, because I’ve had nearly all of the symptoms of it.
Luckily for baby & me the results were negative.
I’m also being sent to the neurologist towards the end of the month for my constant migraines.
HOPEFULLY they will help me find some type of relief.

Th midwife said by looking at my belly the baby is about 4.5 pounds.
& because of the size of my belly she would be surprised if he were (at the most) 7 pounds at birth.
As long as our baby boy is healthy that’s all that matters!
My weight gain has been fluctuating between a 17/20 pound weight gain for a bit now.
Which is fineee with me!

We have gotten A LOT done in the past few weeks.
I spent two ENTIRE nights (from 11-8am) washing & folding absolutely everything of his.
Except his cloth diapers which will take awhile as well being that before they are used they must be “prepped” & that requires 6 wash cycles.

We also spent a weekend completing his nursery!
Saturday we separated all the clothes by size & type.
Figured out what we wanted hung & what could be folded.
(Nearly everything had to be folded as we ran out of closet space!)
& got it all put away.
Which was QUITE the task.
I’m not sure what a “normal” amount of baby clothes & blankets to have is.
But I’m almost positive he has an excessive amount!
We also took mostly everything out of its box and totally organized his room.
We finished the night off with pizza & Hocus Pocus. 💜
Domonique’s sister came over the next day & helped Domonique put up the decorations.
I must say I am IN LOVE with how amazing the nursery came out. It’s absolutely PERFECT.
The only thing left in there is we need to buy a base for his lamp shade.
Other than that it is complete!

I have to say thank you to Domonique’s sister for painting his name signs & helping put the room together.
& thank you to my mother for the roman shades & lamp shade! 🙂
It all really helped to complete the look!
Also, I really can’t take credit for his room since my amaaaazing wife picked out and placed pretty much everything in there. 😍
I’m a lucky girl.

We still need to install his car seat. Assemble his stroller & swing.
& put up the baby gate in the hall way.
Then after that it’s little things like packing our hospital bags! 😝
We’re soooo close to meeting this little guy.

So originally we were going to wait to share his name on any social media sites until his arrival.
BUUUUT, we changed our mind. ☺️
Our liddo man is going to be named,

Kaimani La’bree Robinson. 💙

Even before starting IVF we picked boy & girl names.
Domonique picked the girl name.
& I picked Kai for a boy.
Then she suggested Kaimani.
& so we went with that!
Also, La’bree is Domonique’s Paternal grandmothers maiden name.
We are obsessed with his full nameeee!! 😍

Btw, his furniture kinda looks black, it’s not… It’s “cappuccino” 🙂 lol.
& the little monster that’s currently in his crib is going to be brought with us & given to him at the hospital. 💙
My Dommie picked it. ☺️

Baby Shower. 30 weeks & 3 days. 💜

It’s been like forever since my last post.
Hopefully I don’t forget anything!
But I’m sure I will.

First I wanna say thank you to those of you who nominated us for the “One Lovely Blog Award” I totally wrote a post for it in my phone & after I updated my phone that night it deleted. -_- So I’ll do my best to write another one soon. 😊

My wife started her blackwork sleeve/coverup.
& I must say I am IN LOVE with it.
So far she’s had a 10 hour session followed by a 6 hour session.
& there’s still a bit more to do.
She is a CRAZY person for sitting that long.
I could hardly even watch it. 😳
But it doesn’t seem to bug her.

I feel SUPER in love with her.
I am obsessive & organized and overthink everything.
It’s just getting worse the closer we get to our due date.
But she has a way of easing my nerves & making sure we get everything done so that I don’t freak out.
She’s so involved in every decision we make for our son & I love it.
☺️

Our baby shower was September 20th.
& I must say it was eveeeeerything we could ever want.
My mother & sister put so much time into it.
& it came out amazing.

Some of the highlights are:
Snow cone machine.
Blow up water slide for the kids.
Mini cheesecakes
Cupcakes.
Fruit trifle.
Cake.
Whale shaped Rice Krispies.
Yummy food that our guest just seemed to LOVE. ☺️
Baby games
Domonique & I even did a surprise baby name reveal!

We were super overwhelmed by the amount of our friends & family who came to celebrate our baby boy!
There literally had to be about 100 people who showed up throughout the day. 😝
We are so blessed to have been able to share such a special day with so many of our loved ones!

The ONLY thing I am sad about it the amount of pictures taken.
It was so hectic that even Domonique & I didn’t get ONE picture together. 😢

We are going to go within the next few days and purchase everything we need for the baby that’s left on our list.
Which isn’t much with all of the things we have already purchased as well as the lovely gifts from our family & friends! ☺️

We also are going to complete the nursery.
& get our hospital bag ready.
It may be a bit early for the bag but I don’t feel right about not having EVERYTHING ready being so close to his due date.

I passed my glucose test. ☺️
I know a lot of people complain but it wasn’t too bad in my opinion.
We finally met with our midwife who is just the sweetest thing.

EVERYTHING has been absolutely amazing lately.
The baby is doing perfect. ☺️
He’s kicking and moving a ton.
My whole tummy rolls around when he’s shifting.
I have a feeling he’s a big boy being that he’s constantly hurting me when he moves around. lol.
Our next & possibly final ultrasound will be October 3rd.
They’re going to make sure he is head down.
We also have newborn & breast feeding classes soon.
As well as a hospital tour.

Some nights I wake up and my legs hurt really bad, & feel sort of tingly.
I’m still being told regularly that my bump is small for being 30 weeks.
-_-
I’ve gained 17 pounds. ☺️
& have two tiny spots on both sides of my lower belly that have what looks like the beginning of stretch marks.
I couldn’t care less.
As long as I have a healthy baby boy he can give me all the stretch marks he wants. ☺️
Also as of my 30 week mark exactly my wedding ring & I are gonna have to have a break.
My hands and feet like to swell up if I’m too active so it’s easier to just leave my ring off so I don’t have anymore panic attacks trying to get it off my swollen finger. lol.

I gave in & started using tums with the advice from our midwife.
It helped at first but it’s not doing anything for me anymore. 😔
For the past few days I can hardly eat because ANYTHING I eat gives me the WORSE indigestion ever.
It hurts sooooo bad.
I’ve had to learn to not eat at least an hour before bed.
Otherwise I spend most of the night choking and running to the bathroom trying not to throw up!

I have VERY little patience lately.
& my wife is dealing with that surprisingly well. ☺️
Thank goodness.

Blackwork.
First session.

Second session.

Baby shower. 🚼🚿⚓️⛵️💙

30 week bump.
We didn’t take an official picture.
But here’s one my wife took while I was trying on dresses for the baby shower. 🙂
This is the dress I chose btw.

Six months. :)

Our SIX MONTH baby bump. 🙂
We made it to viability today. ❤

23 Weeks. & 1 day.

I’m sure I’ve said this before BUUUUT. We CANNOT wait to meet our son.
16 weeks & 6 days to go… Considering he comes on his due date. 🙂
Which I hope he does because I really want to have thanksgiving dinner AND still be able to go shopping on Black Friday. Lol.
That’s probably not gonna happen, but I can dream!

We FINALLY finished putting our room together Friday.
Including the most amazing curtains ever which totally block out the sun.
This is extremely helpful being that we sleep during the day since Domonique is on graveyards.
I think we both had the BEST sleep ever since we’ve moved here.
We ordered a new bedroom furniture set when we moved a few months ago.
Since our last bed was low profile we didn’t have a boxspring.
So we finally got that as well.
& I just loveeee how cute our room looks. 😍

Another order of our cloth diapers came Friday as well.
Much smaller than the first, still Bumgenius but it’s a new color so I had to order it separate from the first set.
ANNNND my wife surprised me & ordered EVERY one of the diapers we wanted from this other company.
They only had 5 of each diaper in stock so i wasn’t sure if we would get them in time.
& yes. I know it’s silly, but it’s pretty serious. Lol. -_-
These diapers are a bit more expensive than the Bumgenius 4.0 that we are mostly using (17.95 compared to 26.00)
But they’re the cutest things in the world.
We also ordered a pack of cloth wipes from Etsy to use for pee pee only!
I will FOR SURE be using regular disposable wipes for poop.
Sorry this totally isn’t becoming a cloth diaper blog.
But with how obsessed we are with them I will probably talk about them often. 🙂

We went to a baby shower Saturday. 🙂
It was my first baby shower I attended as an adult. Lol.
So being the nerd I am about this stuff I was excited.

Tuesday Domonique was off & we got the BEST treat ever.
Her grandmother is from Louisiana
& she’s for sure one of the best cooks I know. 🙂
Well her grandmother’s brother was in town (also from Louisiana)
& they made gumbo. 😍
Oh man.
Super delicious. 🙂

I give myself a manicure & pedicure every Friday.
& the bigger my tummy gets, the harder the pedicure gets. Lol.
So I may have to retire and start going to the nail shop soon.

My indigestion is just getting worse.
Or maybe it’s heartburn.
I don’t even know the difference.
Or if there is a difference.
😦
Anyways.
If anybody knows of anything that will help other than medication cuz I just refuse to take ANYTHING while I’m pregnant.
Please let me know!

Domonique was able to feel our little man move last night for about five minutes straight!
He was going crazy in my tummy like he usually does at night. 🙂
I’m not sure who was more excited that she was able to feel him, her or I. Lol.
I could tell by her reaction she’s absolutely in love with him.
After she felt him she started worrying even more about him.
Asking if I was hungry and telling me to lay down & rest.
Today while we were driving she seen him kicking as well. 🙂

Our next appointment will be Friday, we can’t wait to hear our baby’s heartbeat again. 😝
I wish we could have an ultrasound too. 😦
But I won’t be a brat about it!

I CANNOT wait to receive these diapers she surprised me with. 🙂 Are they not the best looking things ever. 💚

Bumgenius 4.0 in Armadillo.

Our cloth wipes. 🙂

Projects.Beaches. & raccoons.

I didn’t intend to write a long post…But I did. Sorry!

So recently I’ve only been posting when we have appointments.
Because there’s really just not much to update on.
However, being that I (& my wife too even though she probably won’t admit it) are totally into this whole cloth diaper thing. I decided it’s worth an update.
Over the past few weeks we’ve been buying lots of goodies for our little man. 🙂
We may have even gone a bit overboard but that’s besides the point.
We’ve received our first cloth diaper order and the second and third are already on the way!
We seriously couldn’t be happier with our decision to use cloth.
My wife also found a website with super trendy cloth diaper prints.
& we signed up for a club they offer in which we pay 23.00 a month.
& they send out one diaper and all types of other related things. 😍
I would have never thought we’d care too much about what type of print was on our baby’s bottom.
Apparently, we do! Lol.

So I’ve also been setting up weekend projects for my wife & I to complete for the nursery among other things in our house. 🙂
Here is one of them.

I googled cloth diaper storage & this happened to be one of the systems I liked the most.
I found the toy bin on craigslist for 15.00 (compared to 80 for a new one)
& we spent about 30.00 on staining and spray paint.
THIS is what we ended up with. 🙂
Which is pretty perfect for neither of us being the crafty type!

Alsoooo, we house sat for Domonique’s aunt for a couple days.
3 blocks away from the ocean beach (the first house we lived in together)
& it was a nice little get away!
We did miss the comfort of our own home.
& I missed not having to worry about raccoons coming in the house.
(Long story short there’s an abandoned lot next to their house. & their windows are flush with the ground. So when the windows are opened at night CITY raccoons. Not to be confused with a normal sized raccoons. -_- like to come in and chill and eat their cat’s food.)
Luckily for crybaby me my wife takes care of everything and makes sure the house is totally locked up so I don’t have to worry about that.
But they did make it in two of the nights we stayed there & had left the window open for her aunt’s cat. Of course we had the room with the open window locked so they couldn’t get to our dogs or us.
But even the idea of them being any where near me FREAKS me out.
I’m not just lightly scared of these things.
I am TERRIFIED.
On top of the man eating raccoons I had to worry about.
The cable & internet was out.
So as if I hadn’t watched Selena a million times already.
(The only movie here)
I have now seen it TWO million times. Literally on repeat. Lol.
The local redbox decided to have no movies that were even remotely interesting! -_-
ANYWAYS. I am complaining/totally not complaining.
Because overall we did enjoy ourselves. 🙂
I didn’t mind being ten minutes away from Domonique’s job, so she didn’t have to commute & came to visit me on her lunches and even brought me food. 🙂
It was LOVELY avoiding the 100 degree weather at home for a couple of days!
& I for sure didn’t mind not having to worry about chores around the house. 🙂
My wife got me MY Thai food that I have been wanting since I started having cravings.
The other Thai food spots she’s got for us were good.
But the place out here is absolutely amazing! 🙂
We also took Remi to the beach for the first time.
He LOVED it.
Paige has been there before. But she wasn’t too happy about it this time around!

So we went to Target to look for the True Blood box set. No luck. 😦
Buuut, while we were in the baby aisle we got lucky. 🙂
My wife pointed out the Burt’s bees baby products because originally we had decided we would use them instead of J&J.
And I said oh yeah I wanted to use Burt’s bees but they’re just way too expensive so I switched to J&J.
Then a woman came up to me and was like excuse me did I hear you say you switched from Burt’s bees?
Then I explained to her my reasoning.
Apparently she worked for Burt’s bees and wanted to buy us some product so we could try it out. 🙂
Holler, that works for me!
So we’re now on the fence about which brand to use.
(What a dilemma right? -_-)
Lol. Usually it wouldn’t be, but for my real life OCD self. It is.

We’re nearing our 6 month mark. 🙂
Everything has been going extremely well!
I’ve gained back all of the weight I had lost plus 4 pounds.
Which would put me at a 4 pound weight gain from pre-pregnancy. 🙂
I LOOK like a real life pregnant lady, which I loveee.

I have been feeling K______ Since I was about 12 weeks.
But nowadays he is kicking like crazy!
At 21 weeks I even felt him from the outside.
And since 22 I am able to see him moving.
Every time I try to get Domonique to feel he decides to stop.
But we’ll get there. 🙂
However I was able to get videos of him moving & sent them to her.
He seems to be up during her work hours.
So this weekend we are gonna stay up late to catch him in the act!

I am still getting HORRIBLE heartburn & indigestion. 😦
& it’s almost impossible to not breath like I weigh 500 pounds.
Or at least that’s how I feel!
Even with all of this I still feel WAY
better than I did in the first trimester.
& I have a healthy baby boy growing perfectly inside of me.
So I don’t mind all these feelings.
With that said I will keep my mouth shut. 😶

Before & after picture of the diaper bin.
(Well kinda before we had started to stain it a tiny then remembered to take a picture.)

Our first order of diapers in our fancy new bin.

& my EXTREMELY cute wife with Paige and Remi at the beach. 😉

My belly as of today. 🙂 22 weeks. 4 days. Awkward picture. 😦 it’s hard to get any picture that you can really tell. I totally took my wife’s shirt. 🙂 mine are just not working for me these days. : /

Baby beach bum. <3

(Domonique is my little beachbum. & I’m sure he’ll be her mini. When I first moved in with her we lived a few blocks from the beach & she’s totally obsessed with it. 😝)

So I really haven’t been writing too much lately.
Not because I don’t want to.
But there’s been A LOT going on. Like too much to even think about.
Mostly good & some bad too.
Anyways.
We’re blessed so I’m not going to complain.

My ALL DAY sickness is gone. & I have been taking a different prenatal that my doctor recommended in place of those seven horse pills.
Which is so lovely.
My overwhelming, sight blurring headaches every night= NOT so lovely.

After losing ten pounds since becoming pregnant I have finally started gaining a couple of those pounds back. 🙂
I have an obsession with not looking pregnant enough.
So this is of course good news.
Alsooo, I have been EXTREMELY hungry all the time. & not as picky so this is for sure helping with the weight gain.

Also as far as food goes…
I am still eating fruit 24/7.
Rarely any meat
& really a bunch of random things.
I’m finally able to cook meals for us again without wanting to throw up. 🙂
Which I know Domonique is happy about.

I have always loved spicy foods.
But since I’ve been pregnant I REALLY should not eat them.
I decided to have some of my wife’s Thai chilies that she eats with pretty much everything & I am paying for it. -_-

Since our gender ultrasound we have had two check up’s where we got to hear our little man’s heartbeat. 💜
& we have completed all of the Down syndrome test.
Everything’s looking good. 🙂

My wife recently had a week of vacation from work for her birthday.
She is now 25. 🙂
It was awesome to get to spend so much time with her since she works so much & when she’s not working we usually have errands to run!
We went to the Russian river in guerneville.
Finished the new season of Orange is the new black.
Started watching true blood, which although it’s kind of corny we absolutely love. 🙂
SHE got turnt up every night. Lol.
And mostly we just chilled at home and RELAXED which is something she doesn’t get to do often.

We have purchased all the decorations for his bedroom.
I cannot wait to see it all put together. 😍
My wife has pretty much designed his room, with some input from me of course. 🙂
& the baby shower planning is underway!
Nautical theme of course.
Which my wife also picked. Lol.
I am a planner by nature so although I’m not the one throwing the shower I can’t help but assist in organizing everything.
I would probably freak out if I couldn’t help.

We have gone back and forth about cloth diapering.
My wife mainly being the one wanting to use cloth & me well…not so much.
BUUUUT she brought it up again recently & I finally agreed.
This has been a topic of discussion way before we were even expecting & we have committed!
The benefits of cloth are just too good to pass up!
It’s sort of confusing.
But overall I’m happy my wife kept pushing for us to use them.
She probably regrets it now that I’ve been obsessing over them. Haha.
We’ve picked a brand (Bumgenius 4.0, one size fits all) & I’m still researching specifics of all the other accessories we will need.
We’re both super happy about this decision!

Today we had our anatomy scan!
They once again confirmed it’s a boy.
Of course our little man was being a booger like always!
He was covering his face and all squished up making the technician work hard to get her pictures.
He is a healthy baby which we couldn’t be happier about!!
There’s nothing I love more than looking over at Domonique while she’s watching him on the screen. 🙂

It was strange to see him move on the screen as well as feel him kick inside of me at the same time! ❤
We SERIOUSLY couldn't be more in love with our liddo K______.
CLEARLY we have decided on a name!
It's the name we picked when we first starting looking into IVF.
But we aren't sharing until he's here. 🙂

15 weeks.

AMAZING day with my wife, mother & mother in law!
After finding out our baby’s gender we all went shopping & to the Cheesecake Factory which was delicious. 🙂
We are having a liddo baby

BOY. ❤
He is always a silly little guy.
Last ultrasound he was sleeping on his face, today he was laying on his head with his feet in the air. Lol.
Domonique & I are so blessed to have a healthy baby boy growing perfectly. 🙂
We cannot wait to see him again on Wednesday. Eek.
LOVE our little man!!

Not even 12 hours of knowing the gender.
We may have over did it a bit. 🙂
This is day one of shopping I'm scared to see how filled his room will be in 5 more months.