At 27 weeks, as we celebrate Thanksgiving, I am most of all thankful for this little life that God has blessed me with.
Loving: This week we were with family at the lakehouse for Thanksgiving and it was SO MUCH FUN when the girls would come over and watch my baby move around in my belly. It’s almost alien-like, never gets old.
Hating: While at the lakehouse I forgot my body pillow and it was really hard to sleep! My legs would be achey and I would need Robb to massage them.
It also stunk to not be able to have a glass of wine with dinner. I am really missing wine at special occasions, but most of the time I don’t even think about it. It’s totally out of my rhythm when I’m home.
Weight Gain: (from beginning of pregnancy) 24 pounds. Holding steady PTL! Glucose test next week and I want to pass!
News: Last time we were at the lakehouse I was probably 12 weeks pregnant and I got a kidney infection from drinking the filtered water. So now when we go down there I take jugs and jugs of store bought water and that’s what I drink the whole time. Works out great and I stay hydrated.
There is the back 50 which is a separate lot of land across from the house that has a 1.5 mile trail going around it. Robb and I walked it almost every day – it was so good for me but also exhausting. The trail is so pretty though!
Loving: When I sing, whether it be in church or doing the dishes, he starts moving around. I like to imagine that he is dancing and enjoys the sound of my voice.
Hating: Sleeping is starting to get a little uncomfortable. I have this body pillow that totally helps, but it doesn’t keep me from having to flip from one side to the other….not sure anything will.
Weight Gain: (from beginning of pregnancy) No thanks not this week!
News: This Sunday we attended the funeral of the father of dear friends of ours who was tragically killed in a car accident. Robb actually officiated the ceremony and did a wonderful job. It’s an Ethiopian family and being a part of their mourning and the ceremony was so special. After the ceremony, we went to the burial site. It was a gorgeous 70 degree day for November 15th. I was standing as another pastor spoke and baby boy started moving around like I have never felt him before. It was around my belly button and it felt like he was flipping and flipping over and over and over again. It was slightly distracting and unnerving. I have no idea what it meant! It was kinda cool though.
At 25 weeks my belly is always dancing. Doesn’t it look like my stomach has dropped in the image to the right?
Loving: That I can SEE my belly move! It’s so fun to feel him roll around and see my stomach do a little dance.
Hating: The fact that I need to be conscious of my weight now is really annoying to me. I’m more concerned about my blood pressure – praying that it’s not continuing to rise. Also praying that my placenta has moved up!
Weight Gain: (from beginning of pregnancy) I honestly didn’t weigh myself this week. If I’m being honest – I’m a lot happier if I don’t know how much I weigh.
News: For the first time this week, baby boy woke me up at 2am. Not because I had to pee, but because he was kicking me! It was pretty amazing – I’m not one to be awakened in the night by something other than myself. I have to admit that it didn’t make me happy, but my boy is my boy and I love that he is moving around 🙂
I also read about this new type of baby monitor that is a slipper on the baby’s foot. It monitor’s the baby’s heartbeat and breathing and will alert you if anything is off.
At 24 weeks, we traveled to Chicago and back in two days. Whirl-wind trip but so much fun!
Loving: That I know when my child will or won’t kick. He will kick when I am sitting still, like writing a blog post or working at my desk, but will not kick when we are in a moving car or I am walking around. The motion must sooth him.
Hating: I feel that in this pregnancy I am being taught to get rid of ALL expectations. It’s a hard lesson to learn that I am not loving, but I know it’s a necessary one and my God still cares.
Weight Gain: (from beginning of pregnancy) 24 pounds.
News: On Tuesday at 4am we woke to catch our 5:55am flight to Chicago. It was essentially a whirlwind trip! Robb is a native to Chi-town so he is so fun to go with! He loves to play tour guide and took me and Sam all over his home town Naperville. When we arrived we drove to the farmland his family farms about 2.5 hours from the airport in a town called Miner. We then drove back and stayed the night in Naperville.
On Wednesday morning, I realized that I hadn’t heard anything from my doctor about my ultrasound last week. I checked my app and turns out my doctor scheduled yet another sonogram for December 1st. My heart sank. I started to wonder why on earth they would need another sonogram! My husband told me to just call and ask instead of speculating. I was nervous to because I didn’t want any news to ruin our last day in Chicago, but I did anyway. The nurse at my doctor’s office told me that they want to see my in December because as of now my placenta is too close to my cervix. They need to keep an eye on it because if my placenta doesn’t move up, I will be diagnosed with placenta previa, where the placenta is too close or covers the cervix and can cause major complications such as bleeding if the mom goes into labor. So if I am diagnosed with placenta previa, I will need to be scheduled for a C-section up to 2 weeks before my due date. There is still a chance that my placenta can move up and away from my cervix. 1 in 20 women at this stage have a low lying placenta but only 1 in 200 end up with placenta previa. So, the odds look good for me. I will continue to pray and pray and pray for a healthy little boy that is able to make it to term and it’s just a sweet little bonus if he is born on the leap year.
Wednesday night, right before heading to the airport to come back home we stopped by Millenial Park in downtown Chicago where the Bean is located. That is the bean where we got engaged four years ago, and I wanted so badly to take our little guy to the place where the mine and his papa’s lives together began. Little Sammy actually got our engagement on video four years ago, so have a look! Spoiler alert – I cried.
I can’t wait to take our little guy back when he is older and you know, out of my womb, but I love that we were able to take this little trip now.
At 23 weeks, left photo above brought to you from my end of the month check up.
Loving: My lilttle guy keeps on moving! I LOVE IT! I tried 5 times on Friday at work to get video of him and my belly moving but every time I would pull out the camera he would stop! Little bugger.
Hating: My appetite has really been coming and going. I have no idea why. One night I couldn’t eat my dinner or my lunch the next day, no fun!
Weight Gain: (from beginning of pregnancy) 23 pounds.
News: I’m almost ready to start on the nursery. It’s like a halfway zone right now. Random things I need to sell or toss or relocate. I’ve got my idea for the paint color, so I may go pick that up this week.
I saw the doctor this week for my end of the month check up and he told me I don’t need to gain anymore weight this pregnancy. My blood pressure has been steadily increasing since I got pregnancy so he put me on a diet! I essentially have a month to get my blood pressure down by the time I take my blood sugar test next month. No pressure! That has me worried, especially because I feel that I haven’t been all that bad! Regardless, I will cut the carbs and try to walk everyday. He told me to go to the mall without my wallet and just walk. My husband liked that suggestion. 🙂
This week, the baby was moving like crazy on Wednesday. Sam came home from youth group and I told him to come see (because now you can see my belly move when the baby kicks). Robb said he should feel it, so Sam put his hand on my belly. About 30 seconds later the baby gave a great big kick and Sammy jumped up and ran away. He thought it was so weird! Ya bud, imagine what it feels like when it’s happening inside your belly!
my Dr. scheduled a second sonogram this month to get clearer images of the baby’s organs. I was nervous that something was wrong but the doctor assured me he just wanted him to be bigger so he could clearly see how his organs were doing. The sonographer confirmed my baby is a boy. At one point it was an underneath view where you could see his legs as if he were on his knees and his genitals. As soon as the sonographer turned the screen so I could see, the baby moved his hands over his goodies. So funny! I’m just glad he’s modest, Robb said that’s what all boys do, keep their hands down there. Ew.
Sure enough my boy was showing signs of non cooperation, as I had to turn from left to right about 20 times just so the sonographer could get a clear photo of his kidneys.
At 22 weeks I feel great! Swollen feet and what feels like constant fatigue are worth feeling my boy move.
Loving: That my belly is growing and I have yet to see any stretch marks! Can I get a hallelujah? I put on this Coconut Oil every night, I hope that is what’s doing the trick. I have no problem finding it at my Trader Joe’s so I hope it’s available for you. The real test will be how my belly looks at 32 weeks.
Hating: The feeling of poor circulation in my legs/feet | The fact that I can’t fully bend over anymore, it feels like there is a ball permanently attached to my belly | How quickly I run out of energy! Still not used to how little I can actually do before I need to rest.
Weight Gain: (from beginning of pregnancy) 22 pounds.
News: It is crazy how clothes can hide the size of your belly. The photos above were taken 1 day apart!
This week I encountered the sensation in my legs that there wasn’t enough circulation. Worst feeling ever. Kept me up most of Thursday night. My feet actually swelled up for the first time which was unsettling, but come to find out that can occur anywhere from 22 to 27 weeks. Apparently my mother suffered from that so it could also be hereditary. I will be the pregnant woman walking around in flipflops in the middle of winter due to the fact my feet are so swollen! If I don’t prop my feet up towards the end of the day I start to feel that sensation and my feet swell.
On Saturday we are picking up the baby’s crib thanks to some dear church friends who are gifting it to us. I’ve got my colors picked out for the room, so I’m really excited to have a big piece of furniture to start building off of. I can then focus on picking out a dresser and chair.
Maybe if I am brave enough I’ll share a photo of my belly button. Throw in the fact that my belly button piercing is also all stretched out and it is the weirdest thing I have ever seen!
Other than a slight flu-like episode on Monday/Tuesday, week 21 has been wonderful.
Loving: Anything and everything SPICY | Lunch with my best girlfriends | These tanks from Target (get ’em while they’re on sale ladies!)
Hating: Not much of anything right now. I used to hate eggs but I’m coming around to them again.
Weight Gain: (from beginning of pregnancy) 21 pounds | Up 2 cup sizes, I want my boobs back. I’m sorry I never appreciated you when you were a B cup and perky. Now I feel you resting on my tummy and I HATE IT!
News: I can feel baby boy kick extra hard if I’m laying down in bed at night and I hold my breath. He’s super active at that time so I feel him moving, but if I hold my breath it’s as if he’s banging on the walls of my stomach saying “BREATHE WOMAN!”. Love this little guy!
We started to empty out the guest bedroom that is going to be the nursery. Moved the bed to Noah’s room and have to figure out what to do with all the displaced furniture we have now! I’ll share some before’s of the nursery on here in the near future.
It seemed fitting to me that since I am 20 weeks pregnant, I will tell about my journey thus far to motherhood.
I still can’t totally wrap my head around it. 20 weeks pregnant and I’ve yet to fully grasp the concept that this little being growing inside me is MY CHILD!
From the day I found out at 5 weeks, one of the best days of my life, to 19 weeks.
It was a shock when we found out. I was 4 days late and the week before my family had suffered through the most tragic loss of life in our history – my 18 year old cousin Colin died in a freak accident while exploring in a quarry. I was wrecked. Our family was wrecked.
One week later and I was not expecting to be pregnant. We’d been trying for 2.5 years – I had finally given up and accepted the fact that birthing a child may not be what God wants for my life. Everyday I was more and more okay with that idea, by the grace of God. So to wake up on a Monday morning, June 15th, and realize that I was four days late was a little weird. I decided to take a pregnancy test, knowing that it would be negative.
It was positive.
Already my life has totally and completely changed.
I was 5 weeks pregnant. Literally the baby was the size of a grain of rice. I got to go into the doctor and he showed me the little flash of light blinking at an amazingly fast pace. That was the baby’s heart! My doctor, Dr. Abisogun, shared my enthusiasm for the miraculous new life growing inside of me. Come to find out he’s a man of faith who believes that each life is precious – thank you God for gracing me with a doctor that values and respects my child!
That tiny little white blip that is essentially invisible inside the red circle is my baby! The baby’s heart would flash at an incredibly fast rate. These are the photos I sent to my husband from the dr.’s appt. since he couldn’t be there.
Sure enough the morning sickness happened RIGHT after I found out. I have no idea if it was because I hit the 5 week mark, but all of the sudden I felt ill all.day.long. The only relief I found was when I was swallowing food. To this day if I start to get hungry I frantically look for something to eat – because I dread the nausea so much.
I’m much better now, most of my day I feel great. I get tired around 2pm, then tend to feel a little lazy. By evening time I’m ready for bed around 8. I’m telling you, my life has already started accommodating this baby.
On a Sunday, the first day of my 17th week of pregnancy, I had some incredible back pain. It was my lower left side. I felt that I had sat wrong on the couch. The next day was Memorial day and I felt the same. My back hurt SO BAD. Came home from lake time with the family and continued with the back ache. Tuesday AM I woke with chills and a fever. I called my dr. and my sister took me in. They suspected a kidney infection caused by an untreated UTI, but it would take 3 days for the cultures to come back.
Excuse me I KNOW when I have a UTI and I did not have one. Apparently symptoms can be different during pregnancy. sheesh. So they gave me meds that made me horribly nauseaus. I took tylenol which helped every 5 hours or so. My fever got worse however. I went to urgent care Tuesday night because my fever was 102, anything over 101 can be dangerous for the baby. Too much heat for the baby to withstand. They put me on IV fluids and antibiotics. I was better by 2 am when they sent me home. Wednesday was the exact same thing. Fever kept spiking once tylenol wore off. Went back in for more IV fluids since I couldn’t eat or drink and different antbiotics. They decided to keep me overnight. I had fluids all night so the next day I wasn’t dehydrated, still nauseous however and fever and heart rate were still elevated. They decided I needed to be admitted to the hospital.
While at the hospital (this was Thursday) they introduced yet another new medication, the big daddy of antibiotics that was safe for the baby and would kick the infection’s butt. It worked. By Friday morning, even though Thursday was the worst night of sleep in my life (I think because Robb finally left my side to go home and sleep in a bed and shower), I was pretty great! Eating, feeling awake. They decided to give me another round of different antibiotics, just to be sure they kicked it. I really wish they hadn’t. That was so incredibly miserable. I threw up all the food I ate that morning before they discharged me, I threw up out my passenger door in rush hour traffic (sorry drivers!) and again at home. We had some Zofran at home, thank God! I checked that it was safe for baby and took some. That saved me. Nauseau was gone by the next morning.
By Monday, I was back at work. That week was a total whirlwind and I never want to go through something that terrifying again. I was so afraid my baby was suffering. Turns out he was just fine!
Yup, my baby is a HE! Can’t wait to meet my little man. This is our Social Media announcement on Week 20.
Our post on Social Media: “Introducing, the next Chicago sports fan and little brother to two big brothers, another Schmidgall junior (aka IT’s A BOY!) ps- and Bella, of course!”
God has granted me the greatest desire of my heart by gifting me this child. I didn’t think it would actually happen that I would get to grow a little human inside of me!
Working from home. It can be a blessing and a curse. A privilege and a dreadful task. How can that be? You might ask.
Oh, let me indulge you.
Working from home is a two edged sword. On one hand, you can get so much done because you don’t have co-workers or bosses stopping by your desk every moment asking you questions or just making mindless chit-chat in order to avoid working. On the other hand, it can be a curse if you are like me and can get distracted very easily by ALL THE THINGS if they aren’t put in their proper place.
So, here are a few steps that you can follow in order to get WORK done when working from home. Not the dishes, not laundry, not your nails…work.
1. Designate a place in your home to work.
There needs to be a place that you call your desk, or your chair, or whatever that is your designated place to work. A place that when you sit, your mind knows to do nothing else but work. You must train your mind by creating a consistent place where you do work, so that your mind knows when you sit your butt down with a cup of coffee and a delicious freshly baked scone, it’s game time. Get to work!
A few things may need to happen first, in order for you to have that designated work space. You may need to clear a corner of your dining room table and make that your work area. You may need to stake your claim on a section of your couch (move over pooch) with a coffee or side table and an outlet within arms reach. Or, you may need to tackle that messy corner of your bedroom and convert that into an office space, loaded with a desk and a lamp and a coaster for your tea.
2. Clear the Clutter
Clutter is a distraction. You must clear the distractions. I don’t care what you say about being able to work in a mess or being messy is just how you are. Fine. That’s all well and good. And I’m sure you are absolutely capable of working in a mess, but I’m also capable of poking myself in the eye with a twizzler…yet I do not. Why? what’s the point of working in a mess? Sure you CAN…but I guarantee you will work BETTER if the place that you work is clean and clutter free. Just do it.
3. Take Inventory of what you need.
And make sure it’s nearby. The last thing you need to be doing when you’ve sat down and you’re in the groove is to have to keep getting up for a pen, or some water, or a little green plant because you feel the air you’re breathing isn’t quite purified. Believe me, I’m an advocate of the idea that you can never have too many green house plants. But make sure you have all of this set up ahead of time, that way when you sit in the morning you’re ready to go!
Make sure you have you computer set up so that you can work comfortably, get your favorite artist playing, light a nice candle for a soothing aroma, and dive right into your happy place.
4. Get a list together
Now, I understand that you all may not be list people. But if you have your to-do’s laid out right in front of you, so you can see what needs to be done next, I guarantee you’ll be so much more focused and less distracted by the fact that an enticing new Periscope session has started with your favorite workout guru. (You can tell I struggle with this often, Chalene Johnson is just awesome!) So get a pen to some paper and make a list, or create reminders on your calendar that will ding every time you need to shift gears and get something else done.
There you have it. 4 easy steps to help you get the most work done while working from home.
What do you ensure that you do in order to stay focused while working from home? Let me know!
Below is a friendly little note about how to make your freelance game look just a little bit more legit.
Let me start off by saying – the answer is always TO FAVICON!
A favicon is the little image you see on every one of your web page tabs, to the left of the site name.
It is incredibly simple to create and upload an image as your favicon, but I think because the process is a bit obscure and seems complicated, a lot of entrepreneurs don’t do it.
Here are some steps in the creation and uploading process in order to place a favicon:
1. Create your Favicon
Favicons are teeny-tiny little images, 16px by 16px – incredibly small. Because of that, you want to choose something very simple that stands out. Your best bet is to use your logomark. If you don’t have a logomark, then the initials of your company will do just fine.
To begin, open up the image you want to use in photoshop. I used my logomark, which is NS for Nicole Schmidgall.
A white background will show, since most tab bars are gray, so make sure to remove the background of your image. I like to add a circle behind my logomark (since it doesn’t already have one) and it adds some visual interest to the favicon.
2. Resize your Favicon
Next you need to make your favicon teeny-tiny. Go to Image>Image Size and make it 16px x 16px.
Make sure to check your image and confirm it’s exactly how you want it. Once you resize it it will be impossible to see and edit.
3. Save your Favicon
Save your favicon as a .png (if you have no background or a specific background shape – like a circle) or a .jpg if you’re happy with a white square as the background of your favicon.
Note: Make sure your image is in RGB if you want to save it as a .png file. A .png file is for web only and is not accessible in CMYK.
Note #2: Please don’t judge my horrible file management skills! I’m trying to work on it!
4. Upload your Favicon
Sometimes this is hard to find. It’s a bit obscure in the options section. Sometimes in the extras, or advanced section of your theme option. Just do some digging and you’ll find the spot in your theme where you can upload your favicon. If not, try a google search with your theme name and favicon upload and see what comes up.
Mine is located in Theme Options > Misc. Settings.
Upload your 16px x 16px Favicon and you’re good to go! You now have a favicon in front of your website name on the web browser tab.
I hope you enjoyed this portion of “How to Freelance”. Keep an eye out for more coming your way soon!
At 27 weeks, as we celebrate Thanksgiving, I am most of all thankful for this little life that God has blessed me with.
