Hannah Morrison

How We Started Sleeping Through the Night with our Newborn

January 12, 2018

**I am sharing our newborn schedule that has worked best for us. This is in no way a “fool proof, works for everyone” kind of post. Every baby is different, so take what we’ve done if you want but tailor it to your baby. We have worked best with a combination of baby led cues and routine. We do not deny a feeding or nap from Knox if he shows he needs one.**

How in the world is Knox a month old?! It is truly mind boggling and I want to nibble up every bit of this little boy for as long as he will let me. Is this really how fast time flies with your kids? Oy, I can’t handle it. I already have cried publicly when I realized Knox would date girls one day that ARE NOT HIS MOMMY. Heart-wrenching, that’s all I have to say about that.

We have had an incredible experience so far *knocks on every piece of wood* with a baby who took to a schedule really quickly and sleeps really well. Seriously, by God’s grace, I prayed SO HARD for a baby that would let me sleep. Don’t get me wrong, we still have a newborn who can be fussy without any apparent cause and we are both exhausted, but Paul and I are sleeping about 5 or 6 hours a night which has helped a ton with our sanity.

To be completely truthful, I didn’t read any books before Knox was born. I asked (and still do) close friends a lot of practical questions, but told myself I didn’t want to read any books about “how to” anything. I am a very ‘put on your big girl pants and figure it out by yourself’ kind of person, and I took on motherhood with the same mentality. Thus, I didn’t know “scheduling your baby” was such a hot topic… and definitely didn’t even know it was officially a thing. I found out it was when I shared on Instagram that we were sleeping through the night a couple weeks back with a newborn and how, and so many people asked if we were doing Baby Wise. We aren’t, but after reading about it, it showed us we weren’t crazy for instinctively getting Knox on a routine that semi-follows ours (and that it’s very controversial- we had no idea!). All Paul and I knew when we came home from the hospital was that we work best with a routine of some kind, and we wanted to see if we could somehow get Knox to work with us a little in that. When we had success our second night home (after a HORRIBLE first night with zero routine or order to our day), we quickly jumped on what worked and wrote out a schedule. That means we started Knox on somewhat of a routine at 6 days old. Our schedule went off of partially Paul’s and my routine meshed together with what Knox was doing on his own already.

Note these VERY important things before making a schedule for your baby:

You cannot let them go more than 3-4 hours MAX without feeding until they hit their birthweight again after coming home from the hospital.
By 1 week, they should be eating anywhere between 2-4 oz. a feeding. (This is important if you do any kind of bottle feeding)
Get everything checked and approved by your pediatrician before implementing routine.
Don’t get frustrated if there are days your baby isn’t “cooperating” with the schedule. They are babies, and they are ultimately going to do what they do and show what they need. Just stay calm and your baby will be calm!

Every baby will be different, and even our schedule can vary a little bit still day to day, because at the end of the day it’s way more important to follow Knox’s cues than stick to a strict schedule. Some days, he is just hungrier and needs to eat earlier or needs to eat between official feedings, or he is fussier and needs to nap a bit longer. But, this schedule is our goal every day.

The things that I DO stick to, no matter what:

Wake-up time and routine/bedtime and routine is the same every single day.

We currently sleep Knox in a Dock-a-Tot in either a SwaddleMe Swaddle *BY FAR THE BEST* or the swaddles our hospital gave to us (both are velcro swaddles and much safer in my opinion than the blanket swaddle), inside our bassinet. Knox kicked out of his blanket swaddles every single night we tried them, and we quickly learned they didn’t work for us. Some babies love them and do great with them, though! The blanket swaddles do work great for us for hanging out on the couch and truly just a blanket type of situation (under supervision).

He ONLY is swaddled for bedtime as part of his routine, and this really says “It’s time for bed.” For most naps, we put Knox in his Dock-a-Tot wherever I am at in the house. I say most, because I mean… who doesn’t want to snuggle their sleeping baby? He associates sleep to the Dock-a-Tot, although he really can sleep anywhere. I recently started sleeping him in the bassinet without the Dock-a-Tot for naps sometimes and will move that around the house as well, because once Knox is too old to swaddle he cannot sleep in the Dock-a-Tot inside the bassinet. (It’s a hazard if he were to roll out of the Dock-a-Tot). We have a mesh sided bassinet, but it’s just not worth risking. (obviously…) Lastly, I just started moving the bassinet into the nursery when he falls asleep for a nap to get him used to sleeping in there with white noise on for when the big transition to the nursery comes, too. I switch it up all day.

All that to say, here’s our newborn schedule. This is what has worked for us. We know it will surely change, already he is showing an earlier bed time works/is needed, so there have been a couple nights we have put him down at 9:30 and he wakes up at 4:30 AM. Then I feed, and he goes back to sleep until about 7 AM.

Again, this is what has worked wonderfully for us with our newborn, and it has given us sleep as first time parents. At the end of the day, rested parents make for better and more patient parents in this household. A well-rested baby on a routine is a very happy baby, too, in our experience so far. The days he hasn’t slept well or routine was off, he was cranky. Knox is thriving, gaining proper weight, extremely alert during awake times, and such a good baby overall. *all the praise hands*

Our Newborn Schedule

(Can be implemented once back to birth weight)

Mommy wakes up at 5:30 AM, get coffee, set up for feeding, etc.

**diaper change before feeding**

Feed at 6 AM

Finish around 6:30, Burp, Nap for 1.5 hours, wake up and play for 1 hour (read aloud, carry, sing to)

Feed at 9 AM

Finish around 9:30, Burp, Nap for 1.5 hours, wake up and play for 1 hour

Feed at 12 PM

Finish around 12:30, Burp, Nap for 2 hours, wake up and play for 1/2 hour

Feed at 3 PM

Finish around 3:30, Burp, Nap for 1.5 hours, wake up and play for an hour (carry him around in Solly Wrap for new scenery and talk to him while you prep for dinner)

Feed at 6 PM

Finish around 6:30, Burp, Nap for 1 hour, wake up and play for 1.5 hours

Feed at 9 PM

Small Feeding *snack time* (about 1.5 oz), Burp, Cat Nap** for 45 minutes, wake up and play until final feeding

Feed at 10:00 PM***

Full feeding (about 3 oz), bedtime routine after final feeding (daddy changes diaper, swaddles, put on Owlet Monitor, lay in bassinet bedside barely awake- don’t let fall asleep in your arms!)

***Until we hit birthweight, and could drop a feeding we did:

Feed at 9:30

Feed at 11

Feed at 3 AM- **bottle of breastmilk for a faster feeding

If your baby doesn’t want to take a nap between certain feedings or doesn’t sleep the full time, that is OKAY. Don’t force it. Wait for that first yawn and lay them down then. Take advantage of awake time to play, read books aloud, swing, tummy time, etc.

Teaching Day vs. Night

When we first brought home Knox and were getting the routine rolling, we had to go through really just about a week (maybe less?) of training him what was nighttime vs. daytime. Meaning, we were all stoked he was sleeping basically all day and in the evenings when our meal train friends were coming over or grandparents were hanging out… but then realized that was why he wasn’t falling asleep when we wanted to go to bed. We followed feeding times etc. as shown above, but “Operation Keep Baby Awake” commenced from 6-10 PM. We played, sang, bounced, and had to fight through cries, but it worked after just a couple days! Now, he is so chill (most of the time) in the evenings, and it’s when he is most alert and ready to hang out.

*READ: We ALWAYS let him nap between these hours while training days and nights when he showed us he was truly tired. It’ll keep you both from being frustrated. Just don’t do a full 2 hour nap during this period. Eventually, the needed nap at this time will likely go away or become much shorter if he slept through the day. Again, follow your baby’s cues above all else. As much as you don’t want an overslept baby, you don’t want an under slept baby.

MAIN KEY: Your newborn needs about 17 hours of sleep a day, meaning 7 hours awake! Whatever times throughout the day you can make 7 hours total of awake time work, do it.

Our biggest rookie mistake: Thinking Knox didn’t need to burp.

As we increased his food intake accordingly, we also found Knox didn’t burp easily. We thought that his lack of burping just meant he didn’t need to, but that was not the case. We went through a few days of a very out of character fussy baby, and didn’t understand why. He was tooting A LOT, though, and we figured out with our pediatrician we weren’t getting burps out of him enough. If your baby is eating, he/she is burping… or should be. They won’t always burp after a feeding, but if they are going multiple feedings without burping, keep trying!! We watched a whole lot of YouTube videos on burping a baby, and laughed a lot about how much life has changed to be celebrating burps and toots.

I cannot say enough how much I really believe if the parents are calm and go with the flow -even with a schedule or routine!- your baby will mimic that. Paul and I decided way early on in pregnancy that we wouldn’t be the parents who wash the pacifier every drop, freak out over every little thing (although that is HARD not to haha), and don’t go out with our baby. With flu season being so bad, we definitely have had to be more cautious than we would like, but we are certainly not taking any chances with that. Even still, I have been to church with Knox multiple times starting at 11 days old (thanks to our Milk Snob that keeps him covered in his carrier!! We have this one), a family wedding at 3.5 weeks old, and we feel so at ease with him. Knox in turn is such a calm, consolable baby. I just can’t help but think that’s partially his personality and also what we’ve helped cultivate. Keep calm, carry on- that’s my advice for you fellow first time mommies. You are you still YOU, you just have an awesome new addition to you now. Keep telling yourself that, and it will help you dive back into “normalcy” or at least your “new normal”. 😉 You can do this, and I promise it really does come naturally. And, at the end of the day, you will know what is best for your own kid. As I said at the beginning, having a routine is just what has worked for us!

As for these amazing newborn photos, of course they are by the amazing Cottonwood Road Photography

Favorite Items, Month 1

Links for everything you see in our nursery are here in our Nursery Reveal!

xoxo- Han

Simplify

January 9, 2018

Here we are going on two weeks into the new year. Feel different? Probably not. 😉

Already broken a goal or resolution? Probably.

Regardless, I do love how the new year makes me feel. It’s like a deep cleaning for my soul and spirit, a time to be reflective and hopeful. I have set goals for myself personally, for my marriage, for my business, and as a mom. I have set a word for me that I hope to live into personally this year, as well as a word for our marriage like we always choose for us every year.

But, at the core of it all, it seems I have one hope for my 2018: Simplify.

Everything I have written down and what I am aspiring to make happen this year starts with simplicity. It starts with pitching and tossing, and welcoming in more silence, more quiet, more of less. Have you ever tried to sit in silence and after about 30 seconds feel awkward? Yeah, me too. I want to change that. Funnily enough, I feel like so many people are saying the same thing for their year. I have read it over and over in my feeds and heard friends say, “I want to live more simply.”

Perhaps it is because after a year of so much tragedy and rockiness in our world, we finally are starting to understand collectively what actually matters and what doesn’t. The fluff is unnecessary. Or, maybe you are sick of devoting your every waking hour to work and not enough to people and relationships, and loneliness was the result for 2017 because of it. Or, maybe your state of being can be defined by “cluttered”, and you’re over it. Cluttered by toxic friends, negative memories, bad habits. Whatever your reason might be, it’ll be different for us all, simplifying life seems to be the goal for so many of us.

In my efforts of simplifying, I aim to drop the phone and computer to replace it with more face to face. I want to read more. I want to sit in silence more. I want to be okay with silence. I want to soak in every inch of my growing son, and memorize every detail. I want less distractions, and more intentionality. I want more scripture, and less of the world’s opinions. I want to get rid of the negative, and full of positive influence and relationships. I want to forgive quicker, and hold onto hurt shorter.

I have read the scripture over and over, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And all these things will be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33) For the longest time, I thought this meant that if I say I am a Christian, I will get what I want in life. Truth is, though, that’s not what this is saying at all. Believe me, brokenness and hurt still come after faith. What changes is hope accompanied with faith within the brokenness. But see, when we truly seek first the kingdom of God, our desires become his. That’s what this is getting at. And, it is then when we can see our desires come to life, because they’re really his for us. When we seek the kingdom of God first, above all else, when we wake up and give him our first thoughts, we spend time in the word daily, when we devote our first fruits, we grow to want more of God’s heart and less of our own wants. It comes naturally by putting him first.

But in order to hear God’s heart and know it, I have to silence my mind and simplify. Choosing less for immeasurably more.

I hope your new year has started off with every dream and desire in your heart burning holes deep within you with great passion and persistent pursuit. But, more importantly, I pray you simplify enough to hear from God what it is that will truly make this year the best year. Your best life is waiting in the silence, the simplicity. Be still, know God, know his heart, know his desires for you.

Love you sweet friends! And, though 9 days late, happy new year.

xoxo- Han

Welcome, Knox Chandler

December 29, 2017

This is Knox’s birth story. I had a very different and much longer labor than I ever imagined, but every second was worth it. Intuition came into play, and peace that surpasses all understanding overwhelmed both Paul and me as we had to make tough decisions for our baby. And at the end of it all, we were blessed with a very healthy and thriving baby boy. Praise God.

First of all, I never knew I could be madly in love with a little bald man who is 25 years younger than me. So scandalous sounding, right? But, here I sit on my sofa between feedings just shy of three weeks into being a mommy while my newborn rocks away in God’s gift to us all -also known as the MamaRoo- and I can confidently say I most certainly am over the top, truly, madly, deeply (like a chicky cherry cola) in love. If you weren’t born in the 90’s, that song reference just went over your head. You are forgiven I suppose.

Yes, even in the midst of sleep deprivation, a massive lacking in hot cups of coffee, impressive bedhead until noon, and the multiple times I have been peed on, I have never felt a more immediate ownership or deep love for anything in my life.

I am a mommy.

Knox Chandler Morrison is my son.

Those are words I honestly never knew I would actually say in my life.

I have a son. I am a mom.

The fears you stack up in your mind about being pregnant, having a child, and bringing them home to raise are valid, no doubt. For years I allowed myself to stack one fear up after the next as they came up in my mind and let them collect dust, routinely depositing a new worry hindering me from taking the leap of faith into parenting. What happens if I spend 18 years raising a child who hates me? What if I tragically lost my kid? What if I can’t give them what they need? How am I going to raise a child in today’s world and explain so many things I didn’t have to worry about as a kid? What if my body never bounces back? What if I die in childbirth? How this… how that… these are what kept me from picturing myself as a mom. Then, even when I decided I was ready for motherhood and wanted to start trying, these fears still crept up in my mind. And, if I am honest, some of them still do.

But, I can confidently say on the other side of it, being a mommy is the best role I have ever played. (And I am only 2.5 weeks in!?) It is amazing how you really do “just know” what to do for your kid. All those years of women swearing to me it just comes naturally… you were right. I have never felt more comfortable or confident in any role before than this one. I have so much confidence in knowing exactly what my child needs and how to do it for him.

Okay okay, so the sappy… I will force myself to stop. Knox’s birth… yikes y’all. It was a ride. I prayed for laboring from home through early labor, and then 6 hours of non-medicated active labor at the hospital. L.O.L. Now, hindsight, we know why I had such a long, horrible labor, but in the middle of it you are thinking to yourself, “My God, what did I do wrong?!” So, here is how it went down (in as short of a story as I can put it.)

Monday December 11th, my parents had just come in late the night before with the hopes I would be going into labor soon (I was two days past my due date at that point). Since they live out of town, we felt it best they were here so that they didn’t miss anything if and when I went into labor. That morning I felt fine, nothing out of the ordinary, and my mom, dad, and I were going to go on a drive to a nearby town to look at houses for sale for my parents and explore a potential town they might want to move to. (We are convincing them to move up here.) Right before we left around 11 AM, I got really crampy and uncomfortable feeling. I immediately chalked it up to being past my due date, but hardly even let myself go to the idea I might be going into labor. Well, our entire ride I was miserable and trying to keep engaged from the back seat and point out houses… acting excited… all while increasingly in more discomfort. Finally, I let my parents know about an hour in that I really thought I should get back home because I wasn’t feeling very well. We got home around 1 and I quietly let Paul know I thought I might be in labor. I was getting to the point I was so uncomfortable I could hardly stand up straight. It felt like really horrible period cramps.

I decided to let my parents know I thought I might be in labor. They ran to get us Pei Wei while we waited it out to see what was going to happen. We watched Friends on Netflix and ate our Chinese food for a couple hours, and it was oddly chill. Then around 3 PM my cramping turned into timed contractions, and this was when we were sure labor was here. Paul finished up his luggage and started checking off the “Day of D-Day List” I had on the fridge for us for when this time came. Again, the environment was oddly chill. Then, my contractions went from 0 to 100 and I found myself hanging over the side of the bed moaning in pain. They were every two minutes… which was weird because that’s usually what you have closer to delivery. So we called the hospital to inform them we were in labor and were planning to labor from home for as long as possible. But, when they asked what my contractions were timing to, they told us we needed to come in. Awesome, okay, so laboring from home didn’t last as long as I wanted. But, this was kind of exciting- we were heading into the hospital to have our baby. I was certain, because of my contractions, labor was going to be fast and I would have Knox in my arms before midnight.

By the time I was in the car, my contractions were borderline scream-worthy. I kept saying, “Why am I not getting any breaks?! Why are they so strong already!?” We rolled through a couple stop signs… and got to the hospital where I had two contractions in the parking lot, the lobby, and the hallway to the L&D, and then at L&D hanging onto the railing by the check-in table for dear life. They got me into my room, checked me, and I was only 1 CM.

Are you friggn kidding me?

They couldn’t admit me as “active labor” until they saw me dilate some from 1 CM. Okay, makes sense… that shouldn’t take long. So Paul and I labored our first two hours of non-medicated labor. They came to check on me, and I was still a 1. They told me if I didn’t dilate soon, they would send me home. I actually laughed at them. Like, clearly I am in labor. You would send me home like this? So I labored a little longer with no progress, but increasingly more painful contractions. They gave me a shot in the butt about 4 hours in that was supposedly going to ease me between contractions. I thought this meant it would bring relief from pain… but really, it was just something to make me drowsy so I fell asleep in between contractions. Problem was I was having insanely long (4-8 minute) contractions, and then only getting about a minute break in between. Thus, I was “falling asleep” for about 55 seconds before jolting out of sleep in excruciating pain. It was the oddest thing. But, low and behold, I had dilated to a two in about an hour of that, and I was admitted officially as active labor. I was having a baby (… officially).

We labored non-medicated for 8.5 hours stalling at 2-3 CM. All I could think was, “Are you effing kidding me?” (Just being honest… haha) The nurses were also letting me know I was having very long contractions that were starting to effect Knox. See, when a normal woman has a contraction, babies hold their breath and dunk their heads under water while they get pushed. It’s really stressful for them as it is. But, most NORMAL contractions at their height are like 60-90 seconds… I was having up to 8 minute long contractions. This would explain why I barfed in the middle of labor, too. (I was really relieved to hear this, because I wasn’t timing how long my contractions were… but dang they felt long! It was nice to know I wasn’t being wimpy.) In fact, after I found out I was enduring 8 minute long contractions non-medicated, I felt like a bad-a. I had nurses coming into my room to see if it was true a girl was having 8 minute long contractions. LOL. Once again, like my pregnancy tumor, I was an anomaly that was super interesting for doctors to study. At this point, they had to sedate my contractions temporarily to give Knox a break since his heart rate was dipping with the big contractions. And, they highly suggested I do an epidural since I wasn’t progressing and my body was fatiguing. I would only get more tense from the fatigue here on out in labor, which only would hinder me from dilating more.

I gave it a heck of a shot, and I think Paul is still traumatized, but for some reason my body needed help. (We found out later why, which I will get to.) So, we chose to do the epidural. They had to do an epidural in between my contractions, which again was only about a minute if we were lucky. They let me know I would likely contract in the middle of them giving me the epidural and that I was going to have to sit as still as possible.

HOLD THE PHONE. So, you’re telling me that while a massive needle is in my back and I start having a huge contraction… I have to sit still lest I want this needle to go deeper than it ought to? AWESOME. As if I wasn’t horrified enough of the epidural, which is one of my main reasons I wanted to labor non-medicated in the first place.

Okay, so trying to wind this story down, we turned on She’s The Man and went to bed until about 5:30 AM after my epidural kicked in around 12:15 AM. They checked me again and I was close to a 6, but progressing still way slower than I should be. They had told me when they gave the epidural that we would probably have a baby by 7 AM. That was clearly not happening. They also had to sedate my contractions again because the 8 minute contractions were still happening too often, and Knox’s heart rate was dipping too low. That stalled me out really from any progress for a couple of hours yet again.

At 11 AM, the c-section surgeon came in to discuss why we were likely going to need a c-section. She laid out the options for me, and we could try pitocin to kick my contractions and dilation into gear since his heart rate got back up, but we risked having to do an emergency c-section if his heart rate dipped again from the intense contractions pitocin causes, and me dilating enough in two hours was highly unlikely. OR, we avoid a possibly traumatic situation and skip pitocin, and we do a c-section which was the safest option for Knox. Paul and I took time to pray and talk through it all, and though I hated the idea of a c-section (it freaked me out so much), we felt so much peace about needing to do it. We let the nurse know our decision, and we had a c-section scheduled for 2 PM.

From here, it was in theory smooth sailing and we just got to wait to meet our baby. And then… I started feeling intense contractions again. My whole body was shaking, and I was having flashbacks of the night before. Of course, add it to the list, I was having back labor. Knox had been in perfect delivery position since week 15 of my pregnancy. I joked my whole pregnancy that he would flip last minute knowing my luck. And, sure enough, because of the stress (and later finding out about the cord wrapped around his neck) he had turned, was lodged against my pelvic bone, and I was having the joy of back labor which epidurals don’t do much for. Fantastic. I was back to square 1 my final hours of labor.

They shot me up after a little bit with the really high dosage they use in surgery to relieve me of the back labor pain, and we prepared for the c-section. This is where everything gets incredibly blurry, because the medicine made me incredibly drowsy and felt very out of body. I told Paul he was going to have to talk for me because I couldn’t keep my eyes open. The surgeon and my midwife came in to prep us for surgery, they took Paul, and I started crying. I was seriously terrified of having surgery… awake. I couldn’t shake it. I asked if they could put me under but they, of course, said no.

They rolled me to surgery alone, and I kept asking where Paul was and to please make sure they didn’t start without him. I was so concerned they would forget my husband. (lol) All I remember is bright lights, a ton of people, and being rolled onto the table for surgery. Sweet nurse after nurse kept coming up to me to introduce themselves, commenting on my nail polish or reassuring me everything was okay. I was shaking so uncontrollably that two nurses had to hold my arms down. My body’s response to nerves is always shivering, and I kept telling them I was just really nervous. Then, Paul came in and he sat next to my head. The next 15 minutes were incredibly long as they pushed and pressed me, yanking on this and that. Paul prayed and spoke scripture over me the entire time until our baby boy came out. We had on our worship playlist over the speakers of the room, I softly cried the whole time, Paul would wipe my tears, and we just kept on praying. I wish I remembered exactly what songs were on during surgery, but I do remember Paul saying, “Let’s see what God wants to tell you” when they turned our playlist on shuffle right before they started. I remember there was Shane and Shane, Phil Wickham, and Elevation… but I don’t remember what songs. I do remember singing “Even When It Hurts” by Hillsong, though.

Finally, I heard a baby cry and I looked up to see Knox’s feet in the reflection of the metal rimmed lights above me. The doctors were laughing as apparently Knox peed on me, and then Paul went over to help the doctors and hold him. After what felt like forever of waiting, they brought Knox over to me and placed him on my chest. It was the best moment of my life.

Later while the surgeon was stitching me up, the midwife and nurse told me we made the right decision because Knox’s cord was wrapped around his neck tightly twice and a third loosely. This is, first off, why I wasn’t progressing in my labor despite my intense contractions. It’s also 100% why I believe the Lord gave us peace that surpassed all understanding to not choose a final try at a vaginal delivery and went to the c-section for the safest option for Knox. He was in such distress during my contractions because the cord was choking him. That makes me nauseous even typing out. Had we somehow dilated in the two hours to a 10, they would have had to end in an emergency c-section even still AND I would have had a nurse holding the baby inside of me as they ran me to surgery because the cord would have been killing Knox in a vaginal delivery.

Praise God for his wisdom.

I cannot believe I have a healthy baby boy. After everything, we have a healthy baby. I am so grateful. And, honestly, after everything my body did and endured, I have never felt prouder to be a woman. The woman’s body is amazing. My body literally went through every type of labor and delivery option possible EXCEPT for a successful vaginal delivery… And somehow, I am alive and well and keeping a human alive post-surgery and 29 hours of labor with a lot of help from my amazing husband who I cannot say enough about. Paul literally dove into parenthood completely blind, AND then also had to take care of me post major surgery on top of that. Thank God for parents who also helped us our first two weeks back.

So here we are, healthy boy two and a half weeks postpartum. I can’t believe how naturally we have dove into parenthood together, Paul and I. We have baby on an amazing schedule that is allowing us to sleep through the night, which we know will surely change. But, it is great for now at least to give us sleep until he decides to mix it up. Bubba eats like a champ, poops like a champ, and naps like a champ. I am so grateful for this gift we’ve been given, and I cannot say enough how much being a mommy has changed my life for the better already in so many ways. I didn’t know I could love so selflessly or deeply. I didn’t know I could love Paul more than I already did. I didn’t know I could get a glimpse into how much God loves us until I had a child of my own.

Thank you for every word of encouragement, email, sweet DM or comment over the last two weeks. We have felt so loved, and it’s amazing to have such a support system from all over cheering us on in this new season of life.

From our hearts to yours, thank you.

xoxo- Han, Paul, and Knox

A Very Pregnant Woman’s Guide to Staying Sane

December 19, 2017

Come those final 3 weeks of pregnancy, I would say it’s safe to say you are borderline losing your mind.

It is partially preggo brain, partially just over it. And then for me, because I had been glutened twice in one week at 37 weeks (one by choice…stupid… and one by accident), and then at 39 weeks I found out I had a pregnancy tumor growing on my finger I had to have removed in a minor surgery… it was a blast.

But really, at 37 weeks your baby is considered “early term”, which means they could in theory come at any point and be completely safe. So… every day you wake up thinking “Maybe today is the day!”

With the angst of waiting, I found a few things that kept me slightly sane those last days. And really these are things that were my go-to all pregnancy, but the closer to my due date I got, they became absolute necessities.

Freshly Waxed and Tinted Brows and Tinted Lashes: I have been going to Southern Chic Wax for almost a year now, and it’s seriously amazing what it does for my confidence just to know my brows look good. You know what I mean? I go makeup-less most days anyways, but with tinted and well-shaped brows I really do feel 100 no matter what. Feeling confident your third trimester can be a bit of a struggle to be honest, because you just feel massive and uncomfortable at all hours of the day. But, knowing I have at least this going for me really does the trick. I go out knowing I look semi-put together. It’s all about the little things, y’all!

Girl Time: I valued girl time more in my weeks leading up to birth. Whether I was at lunch out with my Mommy and Me Group at church or a Friday night in with a few close friends, banana bread, face masks, and way too many belly laughs for this preggo to handle… I soaked in every minute of it. With all things in life, I am really careful with what I say “yes” to, I can be the master of over-scheduling if I am not careful, but I really have been desperate for time with my closest girls and made it a priority. Most of them are moms, so I asked lots of questions as they came up and they just make me feel at ease. Plus, getting out of the house while Paul was gone during the day got my mind off of labor and guessing when he is coming.

Massage: Listen, go get a massage. My hubby was great to help with massages, and became a pro at rubbing my ankles, but there’s just something necessary about a professional pre-natal massage that you both deserve and for real need. Get those hips aligned and ready, and get the stress out. Especially as an unmedicated birth, it’s proven that the less stress you feel consciously and subconsciously upon going into labor will directly effect the ease and length of your labor. #giveme20massages

Nails: Go get your nails done, ya hear me? Go do it. Get a good one, don’t skimp. By 37 weeks you really could go into labor at any point. And, I don’t know about you… but like having my eye brows done… when my nails are done I just feel confident, pretty, and put together. Going into labor confident about everything going on really can help you. So, why not? Just go there, milk it. Go get an amazing mani and ask for them to rub those ankles in your pedi… eherm. Not because you want to go into labor or anything… cough.

Pure Barre: Y’all, between us having only one car (but not anymore WOOT WOOT!) to swollen ankles and achey hips, since about 33 weeks I had a really hard time getting to Pure Barre toward the end. But, even still, I did whatever I could around the house to get my PB fix. Planks, pretzel, ab routines from class, push ups, and squats… whatever I could do to feel active without overdoing it. I cannot WAIT to get back to the barre post-baby and rock it out again with my girls. But, until then, I have been applying everything I learned over the last two years in class to keep my pregnant self feeling confident and ready for labor. I committed to 200 squats a day- a variety of them to keep it interesting.

Pregnancy Pillow: I was given one of these back way early in my pregnancy, and didn’t touch it for months. I am a super simple person, so the idea of crawling into a pillow every night just didn’t really sound appealing to me. But then, 34 weeks came along and I was miserable. So I decided to give the pillow a shot… and I regret not trying it sooner. It really is that great. The ONLY downfall to a pregnancy pillow is trying to maneuver out of it 5 or 6 times a night to pee again. The bigger I got, the harder it became to throw my legs over the side of the pillow and find the ground. But… you do what you gotta do.

Cozy Pieces: But no really- all I bought in the last month was pajamas, cozy pants, and slippers. I bought pajamas I knew would make me feel presentable in the hospital for the close family allowed into our hospital room after delivery, and then items I was okay with people coming over to see us in after we were back home that don’t compromise comfort for me. I, of course, shopped with nursing in mind as well. Everything I could do to feel cute, presentable, and practical is currently hanging on my clothing rack. Just don’t ask Paul how he feels about how many pajamas I have bought… 😉 I have linked for you below some of my favorites.

Those last few weeks are your final days before your life changes forever. And, although it’s incredibly exciting, don’t forget to rest and take full advantage of you time before baby gets here. Soak in every single second you possibly can with your husband. Go on dates, go to the grocery store together, be present. This is IT for life as you know it. With Knox here now, I can say the best is yet to come for you if you’re waiting for your baby to come right now. Paul and I have become a team in a whole new way, and it’s really fun (we are exhausted… but laughing and having fun still ha). Every bit of discomfort, pain, tinkled pants from laughing too hard, weird pregnancy tumors, and everything in between… I can say from the other side, it’s worth it. It’s worth every bit of it.

xoxo- Han

Sweater: here

Pajama Set: here

All photos by Cottonwood Road Photography

Daddy to Be Gift & Best Dad Bag

December 14, 2017

With so much of the attention on me as the mommy during my pregnancy, I really wanted to do something special for Paul before Knox came. Like, sure, I am the one carrying the baby but Paul had a lot to do with that (lol), AND his life is changing drastically, too. We had three baby showers, but he was only at one. I really wanted him to feel the excitement of opening gifts like I had the chance to at my ladies only baby showers, so I had him open them all up at our family shower. I loved watching him get so excited! Before bub got here, I really wanted to get Paul a special gift- a new dad bag filled with goodies that he could feel sleek carrying around all the diapers and necessities that could function well for work, too.

I surprise him with this amazing backpack we had found together, and I filled it up with fun items.

The Ultimate Dad Bag

We searched a lot for one that Paul loved (which is hard… he is picky) and he found this amazing bag from The Littles Shop. It’s so cool! It has so many pockets for dad to fill on the inside with the baby goodies, two bottle pockets on either side inside the bag, a large center main space, and a spot for a water bottle for dad on the outside, and Paul even throws his laptop and snacks in the front pocket for the day. It’s the PERFECT bag for him! The gray was by far our favorite- it’s the perfect shade.

Papa Bear Baseball Tee

I got a mama bear tee for Mother’s Day this past year (early on in our pregnancy), and I wanted Paul to have a cozy papa bear sleep shirt! It was a cute addition to fill his dad bag gift. Find here.

Sweatshirt

Paul loves The Clippers (don’t ask me why- he just literally chose them to be his team a few years ago with zero ties other than loving Chris Paul). SOOOO, when he found this sweatshirt, he had to have it. I was so excited to surprise him with it in his dad bag. He literally has worn it every day for the last two weeks. Get here.

Giraffe Diapers: here

Dude Onesie: here (this one was a gift to us, but it’s a cute idea to fill his dad bag with baby clothes that are “daddy” inspired.)