Planned & Easy

*If you are someone who did NOT have an easy pregnancy/conception experience, i encourage you NOT to read this. It isn't here to irritate you, but I feel this story doesn't get told. Women love to commiserate, but it's not all awful all the time, and that should be shared to

With 2 weeks left to go, I feel like summarizing this whole experience. Yes, pretty much every part of pregnancy has come easy to me...which is probably one of those ironic twists of fate in that i only want one child even though my body seems so suited to the task. It also probably means my child will a little hellion, but if he's anything like his daddy we already knew that...

Our Baby Was Planned

Yes, our baby was planned, right down to his birth month. I had always wanted an October baby- it's my favorite time of year, it allows me to work during tourist season (and let's be honest, people tip the pregnant waitress more), my maternity leave is through major holidays i don't normally get to have off, summer clothing is easier to adapt to a pregnant body without maternity wear and i never get hot though i do get clothestrophobia (i get anxiety if i feel restricted by layers of clothing-usually in winter), and our baby will spend his most inactive months of floppy head and restricted vision bundled up indoors when there isn't much outside to see anyway. 

Knowing I wanted a fall/October baby, I knew we would have to get pregnant in late january/early february. I went off my birth control pill (generic desogen) Halloween 2014 and we used other contraception (condoms) through Xmas. Then, I busted out the lingerie collection and we started the new year with a daily game of let's make a baby. Even then, there's only so much planning you can do. I can pinpoint conception almost to the day (January 8th-10th) and our test was positive by the 18th. Biologically, this means our kid was always going to be due either at the very beginning of October or the very end of October, I wasn't ovulating for an ideally mid-October baby, but fall is close enough :) Our official due date is October 1st, we have 2 weeks to go, and i'm still hoping he comes late ;)

It Doesn't Suck For Everybody

I'm not going to tell you that pregnancy is all a sunshine and rainbows cakewalk. There are days where everything smells terrible and you feel like you might vomit at any moment, weeks where all you want to do is sleep. There are aches and pains that have nothing to do with physical exertion, but overall these things are small and become part of your new normal. Pregnancy is 40 weeks long, and little things aren't such a big deal. You adapt, you move on, you keep going. 

I will acknowledge that physical activity DOES seem kind to the expectant mother. I'm not talking hardcore cardio here. I work in hospitality- I'm a waitress. I work with other cooks and waitresses who have worked through pregnancy like me. We're on our feet, standing and walking 8-15 hours a day, regularly lifting trays and boxes that weigh 25-50lbs, using our core muscles all the way through. I had a soft 6-pack when i got pregnant, and honestly, most servers have great abs. That strong core does us proud. Of 8 pregnancies in just the restaurant i work in over 5 years, almost ALL of us have had pretty easy pregnancies. (only 1 had a few issues, and mainly, she was placenta previa with her first, which just comes with a whole different normal of its own). We DO hard labor for a living, and our bodies are now built for it. We adapt, we recognize our limits, but we already KNOW what it feels like to push our bodies, and KNOW what we are capable of. Being physically fit makes your life that much easier.

Best Laid Plans...
At the end of the day, I planned a lot, and most of our pregnancy went according to planned, BUT you can only plan so far. I didn't get a girl, he didn't quite make it to October (September 29th- 2 days shy!), and he doesn't have red hair. He is still perfect. I made it through a natural childbirth according to plans but it wasn't easy and involved much whimpering and "i just can't"s. Officially, i was in active labor (water broken, contractions less than 5 minutes apart) for a total of 6 1/2 hours (5 of them in a hospital), and for the first 3-4 of those i managed my pain very well going from 4.9cm to 9cm in 2 hours. I pushed for 2 hours. I couldn't get comfortable, I couldn't push as well as I wanted. It wasn't as easy as I planned. But we made it, drug free, and he's perfect. Breastfeeding is going great, my supply is awesome, he latches well, but little man sleeps like a champ and lost 12% of his body weight in those first days and was borderline jaundiced. It wasn't what i planned, but i started pumping and giving him bottles of breast milk in the first week instead of waiting 2 weeks like i planned. It works for us and i have no regrets. Your best laid plans still might veer off-track, but it still turns out just perfect in the end.

Baby Box

For more than 75 years, expectant Finnish mothers have been given a box by the state that serves as a new baby starter kit. The box is filled with clothes, blankets, and newborn necessities and the box itself is lined with a mattress, serving as the infant's first crib and leading to one of the lowest infant mortality rates in the world.

An actual Finnish Baby Box

Ever since I first heard of the Finnish Baby Box tradition, I've wanted one. While Finnish mothers receive this box for free and it is STUFFED with everything you could possibly need (51 items) and tailored seasonally, ordering one into the states costs upwards of $450.

My Nature Box from The Baby Box Company
Contains: 1 X traditional Finnish-inspired Baby Box (length 70 cm, width 43 cm and height 27 cm) and lid designed with The Baby Box Company's current collection pattern, 1 X fitted baby mattress w/ 1 X waterproof cover and 1 X 100% cotton sheet, 1 X lovey, 2 X onesies, 3 X swaddle blankets, 1 X healthcare kit, 2 X pair of socks, 2 X terry cloth bib, 2 X organic washcloths, 2 X organic burp cloths, 1 X pair of mittens, 1 X newborn cap, 1 X organic shampoo & body wash, 1 X baby wipes, +Bonus Samples and Coupons from Sponsors!

Luckily, The Baby Box Co. offers a US version, which- while not quite as stuffed as the "real deal"- runs at much more reasonable price point(i used a promotion for $25 off during their new pattern release and paid $125 for the Nature version-which is the middle pricepoint. Boxes range from $69 for just the lined box to $225 for the Every Mother Counts box) and allows you the experience. As our child outgrows this, I will fill the box with my favorite baby pieces to hopefully pass on to his own child decades later.

The box comes with a discount code for $25 off the purchase of a babybox. Obviously, I already have a baby box (which i used a $25 promo code on myself), and am not planning on gifting to anyone anytime soon, so to pay it forward:

MY code is BABY2514 for $25 off

I don't know if the code is single use or multiple use, so whoever gets it first gets it first.

FB15 gets you 15% off instead

We did choose Bambo as our diaper choice, and the sample in this box comes with a coupon code for 30% off on their website, which we will definitely be using. (i bought 4 cases of diapers with the 25% coupon Bambo gave me months ago, but i'm sure we'll need lots more)

Baby Henna

I've had henna before, but pregnancy henna was always an experience i kind of wanted to have. We don't live in an area where henna services are widely available, but we do have a festival (with a henna booth) every memorial day and labor day weekend, so at 36.5 weeks, DH and i went to the Kipona festival where there was no line and I said "I was hoping to henna my big pregnant belly!" and a very nice Indian artist did just that.

It was relaxing, it wasn't too hot or humid and -although i drew a crowd of about a dozen people- my seat faced the river and I got to just chill. All I asked for was something traditional and floral-ish about 5" round.

They seal it with sugar lemon solution at the festival, but since i had to work, i also added a layer of school glue and saran wrap to protect the paste and my clothes. I left the henna on for ~10hours.