Unconventional Advice

Many things have been going on over here. We are back from Utah! WE MADE IT! It was a bit of a trip, and I have a post in mind about my tips to traveling with a 4 and 2 year old on an airplane by myself. I have a coupe "must haves."

Anyways - we are back, and while I was thinking about what to write, I decided to go super off topic (like usual) and give some unsolicited and unconventional advice. If you know Jake and I very well, you probably know we don't do a lot of things like other people. We just like to find our own way. We aren't swayed much by what "other people do" or what "people think we should do."

So I'm sure much of our family (and many friends) think we are kind of crazy. It's ok - I'm fine with that. So here's my crazy advice.

But first.... AN ANNOUNCEMENT! And a picture of what a 2 year old looks like in a grown man's basketball pants.

We are pregnant with our third child. Yes - #3. That's a pretty big deal I think. I'm not as sick as I usually am (which if VERY sick) so that's a plus, but I do find myself laying down more often than not.

So here's my unconventional pregnancy advice. (I read some pregnancy advice last week that totally bugged me -- so I thought I would be the other side of the coin, and say something some people would disagree with -- just in case you are that type of person who goes against what everyone else says)..

1. You can tell people you are pregnant ANY TIME!!!

    WHAT? You mean, you don't have to wait the agonizing 12 weeks until it's "safe"??? No - of course not. If that's what you want to do, and like to do, that's great. But you don't HAVE to - and no one should look down on anyone that does.
   
     Jake and I have NEVER waited 12 weeks. There's a couple of reasons for this. First, is I get extremely sick and dysfunctional. So instead of having people think I'm going crazy or just plain mean, I tell them there is a completely legitimate reason I have disappeared off the face of the earth. It's not a big deal. They understand. Second, Jake has a hard time keeping a secret. That's fine. It's not a big deal. Third -- and this is the biggest reason people wait to tell, is that they are afraid of having a miscarriage and having to go back and tell people they are no longer pregnant. But think about this -- You would probably be going through a rough time if you had a miscarriage, right? Then wouldn't you want support from those people who love you, that you told you were pregnant? Yes, of course it would be hard to go back, but at least you have a network of family and friends who can help you get through that hard time, rather than feeling the hurt and disappointment on your own, and trying to get through it without anyone knowing.

2. If you can, SPLURGE on nice pregnancy clothes for your first.
 
   Here's where hindsight is 20/20. I wish I would have rounded up some good money and bought nice pregnancy clothes when I was pregnant with Sam. Oh how I wish that. Thankfully, my cousin and sister let me borrow LOADS of their pregnancy clothes, but they weren't my style, and they were too large so for the bulk of my pregnancy with Sam, I felt like a huge ugly person. I hardly ever felt cute. It was bad. Seriously.

   With Olivia, we were SO POOR. I mean, SO POOR. Jake was in grad school and we were living on about $18,000 a year. So I went to a discount place and bought some clothes and it was better than Sam, but still kind of iffy.

   With this one, before I ever got pregnant, I told Jake I wanted some money to buy some nice pregnancy clothes. I wanted to look nice, and FEEL good. So the night I got the positive, I was browsing on www.apeainapod.com and I found some awesome deals. I had previously talked to one of my friends about some good quality maternity clothes, and she pointed me towards this store. So - they were having this deal - buy one get one free of everything on clearance. WHAT??? My lucky night! So I got over $600 worth of clothes for $170. I got 7 shirts, 2 tunics, 1 pair of leggings, and 2 bras. That averages to about $14 per item -- and these shirts and tunics range from $58 - $68 each. So yes, while sometimes it's hard to find the money to splurge on clothes, I wish I would have done it earlier. Then I could have enjoyed these clothes for 2 more pregnancies, rather than just this one. Or maybe another one if I can work myself up for it... but I swear this is our last.

    And while I'm not showing enough for people to even know that I'm pregnant, I still wear the clothes. They just look like normal stuff (shirring at the sides of the shirts, etc). I'm super comfortable and I'm getting use out of them.

   And as a side note, there is no reason to wait as long as possible to get or wear maternity clothes. I mean, you get a positive on that stick, just hop into that comfy maternity shirt. Your belly will thank you! You don't have to do the rubber band trick until you feel like your insides will become your outsides. Just put on those nice maternity jeans. Looking and feeling good is key in this stage of life. Get over any pride about fitting into your "regular" jeans until you were 6 months along. I mean, if that's comfortable and you love doing that, GREAT - but don't feel like you have to because your neighbor does it.

3. This is similar to the maternity clothes, but if you can splurge on nice baby items.

   I have always wanted a video baby monitor. Like really wanted one, but I don't really want to spend the $$ on it - I mean, we are trying to pay of student loans here (MINE!!) and I can only justify so much frivolous spending. But I would have felt much better about it if I had bought it with Sam. Then I really would have gotten my mileage out of it with all three kids.

    One thing I did do was buy a really nice stroller. It was awesome. ((We bought it by saving up traveling reimbursement money)). I used it all the time with Sam, and I used it a good amount with Livvy. Sadly, we just sold it a couple months ago, because we knew with #3 coming along, we could probably need something different. It just didn't fit into our family's needs right now, so we let it go. And sometimes you will buy nice stuff, and you will use it, then you will sell it. But it was totally worth it. I bought it used, five years later sold it for about $125 less than what I bought it for. Not bad. And so far I have used that money to buy an Ergo Baby carrier (which was essential on this flight) and some car seat bags I used to carry the car seats through the airport. And I still have enough left for a smaller stroller for baby #3. Perfect.

4. Last -- here's some crazy advice I started following and it was really helped me. Like has made a big difference in how sick I am with this pregnancy.

   But back story first -- I was pursuing  Pintrest and saw something a friend had pinned about "What to do BEFORE you are pregnant, so you aren't as sick WHEN you are pregnant." I thought - BS. Not a chance. I was 37 weeks with Olivia and my Zofran (high powered anti-neusea meds) ran out. I thought "hey, I'm fine... she's viable, I don't need this stuff." Nope - totally puking at 37 weeks without my meds.... So I didn't think there was anything I could do to stop the sickness

     Anyways - I thought I would read the article, even though I didn't really think anything could help. So here it is.... And I have done everything the website said (Like taking Milk Thistle, Vitamin B complex, and Magnesium ---but I don't take the DoTerra vitamins) and I really have felt better than normal.

   So I don't know if this pregnancy is just "different" or if it's my herbal remedies, but I'm sticking with them. I started taking them about 3 to 4 months before i got pregnant, and I think it has helped.


So there's my random unconventional advice. I'm sure I have more, I just can't think of it yet. And I really just want to go lay down ;)