Ahhh! I can’t believe I’m DAYS away from giving birth. At this point Baby Camille can literally come at any time. This pregnancy honestly FLEW by. Between the holidays, traveling, and tending to my family, I feel like I blinked and now I’m approaching bringing yet another beautiful baby girl home soon. I figured I’d try to crank out one last blog post before delivering so I’m answering all you guys pregnancy related questions. I received a lot of the same questions so I’m answering the ones I got asked the most. Let’s jump right in!
Did you workout this pregnancy?
You know, I planned on it. I didn’t workout with Channing. So when I found out I was pregnant yet again, I told myself I would be sure to workout this time around. Well, let’s just say everything doesn’t go as planned, ha! To honestly answer the question, no I did not. BUT I did stay very active. I worked all the way up until now and my job requires me to be out in the field daily. Not to mention we took a family vacation to Disney World when I was 7 months pregnant. That vacation alone should’ve counted for working out my entire 9 months hehe. If you’ve been to Disney to know the unreal amount of walking you do there. I do however plan on getting back in the gym once I have this baby.
How did you manage everything on your plate like already being a mom, wife, working, and everything else?
I got this A LOT! You know looking back over these past 9 months, I don’t even know how I did it. I mean, I know women do it every day, but it’s amazing just how much us women and moms can have on our plates at once. I truly had to take it day by day. I worked full time and I don’t have a desk job, my job requires me to drive all over Houston and be in and out of my car every day, all day. I have 2 other kids at the house full time, I run my blog, tend to my household & my marriage, and tried not to leave myself out of the equation as well. I don’t have a nanny or local help at that! Some days I handled it all with grace and other days I found myself completely overwhelmed…BUT GOD. I’m grateful that I’m almost at the finish line. Not that bringing a newborn home will make it any easier, ha! I just showed myself grace. If I had to leave dishes in the sink overnight to get an extra hour of sleep then so be it. If I had to cancel plans to get much needed rest, then that’s what I did. We can’t be superwoman all the time. Being pregnant while having a toddler and a school aged child was super tough for me. But with Christ, all things are possible! 😊
Will you have help once the baby comes?
YES! THANK GOD!!!! My mom and grandmother come and stay for a little while with every child I have. Although they don’t live around the corner and eventually have to go back home, I’m grateful for any amount of time that they are willing to come help me. They tend to the other kids, including dropping them off and picking them up from daycare and school, house duties, cooking and all. My husband also gets paid paternity leave with his job. Sidenote, how amazing is that? I don’t even have a paid maternity leave but he gets a few weeks of paid paternity leave with his company. So he’ll start his leave once my family goes back home. Overall, I’ll have almost a months’ worth of help before being on my own during work hours.
How long will you be taking off?
The plan is to take at least 12 weeks off for sure! My maternity is completely non paid but I’m a BIG believer in not rushing back to work after having a baby. Although, I know some women simply have to do what they have to do to provide for their family. We save during the pregnancy to give us some cushion and try to manage our money well while I’m off. The bonding time those first few weeks with the baby is crucial. Not to mention, not only do you need to heal physical post delivery, but emotionally as well. Between your hormones, being sleep deprived, breastfeeding, and everything else that comes along with having a newborn, the last thing you want to throw in the mix too soon is having to deal with work as well. That’s an easy recipe for postpartum depression! Take your time going back to work ladies, God will provide for your sweet family!
Is this your last bundle of joy?
I’m saying YES! We’ll see if God says the same lol. I love being able to bring life into this world and I love being a mom so much but these kids ain’t cheap. I also don’t have local help on a day to day basis so it can get pretty overwhelming at times. Realistically, I feel this should be it for us but never say never!
How did you stay so put together during your entire pregnancy?
I got this a lot as well. Yall I’m a true girly girl at heart. I love makeup, hair, fashion, accessories, etc. I can get myself together in my sleep, it comes naturally to me. It also helps that I have my morning routine down to literally like 15 minutes, as far as me just getting myself together. I would lay my clothes out at night to shorten the preparation time in the morning. I believe pregnant women are sooo beautiful, so I have fun dressing up my bump!
Can you recommend you favorite baby items?
Get you a carrier for sure. It makes it easier to get things done around the house when baby doesn’t want to be put down. The baby swing is also a life saver for us, we still put our 1 year old in it. Our portable bottle warmer was clutch as well. I got it off Amazon. If you don’t plan on cosleeping be sure to have a bassinet you can keep right next to the bed so you aren’t having to get up and down to go back and forth to baby’s crib.
What kind of car do you have to manage 3 car seats?
I have a small SUV. It’s going be pretty tight in the back seat with a booster seat, toddler carseat, and infant car seat. My husband actually has a large vehicle that seats 7. So we will most likely swap vehicles but I’m not a fan of driving his big vehicle. I’ll have to look in to other options in the future.
Epidural or Natural?
EPIDURAL ALL THE WAY!!! And I’m not ashamed to admit it either lol. I’ve never had the desire to even attempt a completely natural birth. I knew going in to it with all 3 deliveries that I wanted the epidural. More power to you women who push these babies out naturally though. Yall are some BEAST!
How did you deal with morning sickness?
Luckily, I didn’t have bad morning sickness with all 3 pregnancies. I had your typical nausea in the first trimester but once the 2nd trimester came it went away. But for the little time that I had it, sour stuff and anything with ginger worked for me. Sour candy and lemon water was my fav.
What’s in your hospital bag?
This could be its own blog! But a few must haves are a comfy robe, slippers, and night gowns. Nursing bras, nipple cream, and nursing pads. Makeup kit because by the second day in the hospital I’m sick of looking a hot mess haha! Your own toiletries, the hospital will provide most toiletries but bringing my own makes the hospital stay feel a little more like home. A great read and I personally bring my computer because I’m always working on blog stuff!
Okay guys, I’m going to stop it right here. For the sake of this blog not being ridiculously long. I’m so sorry if I wasn’t able to answer your question. If you really really want me to answer it feel free to DM me or shoot me an email and I’ll get it answered for you. Bear with me as this will be the last blog post before baby girl makes her arrival. I’ll be back on it shortly after she’s here. Let me know if there’s anything you’d specifically like me to post about below. Say a little prayer for me that I have an easy, complicated free delivery pretty please!
As Always…Love you All,
Courtney N. Williams