DO NOT GET PREGNANT LIST

While I'm in my final stages of pregnancy, I thought it would be beneficial to write down a list of reasons why this is my last pregnancy:

• My husband and I always agreed on having two kids.
• We wanted our kids close together in age but can't handle three close together in age.
• Two kids makes us an even family of four.
• Two kids fit nicely in the back of a 5-seater car.
• When going to theme parks as a family, my kids can ride together.
• I already have my mother's necklace made with their names.
• I found 2 retro teddy bears from my childhood before we had our son, and I planned to give 1 bear to each of my kids.
• 2 kids is the perfect number to share a bedroom.
• My kids will have siblings to lean on later in life but won't cost us an arm and a leg.
• I hate being pregnant.
• I want control over my body back.
• I want to have my kids done with bottles, baby food, and diapers relatively soon.
• I want to be young enough to enjoy my husband again once my kids go to college.
• We had one child on my birthday and are expecting another during my husband's birth month.
• I'm having 1 of each gender and a third child would make somebody feel left out.
• I'm already slacking with my preparations for baby #2. Any other child would get even less attention.
• I'm done wondering what my family will look like one day. There is something calming about being absolute.
• Labor scares the hell out of me. 
• I'm in my prime for child-rearing. Once I hit 30, I want to move onto the next stage of my life.
• We get to reuse most of our son's baby items and then we get to sell sell sell!
• We won't have issues renting a hotel room since we'll only need two doubles.
• Gender wasn't as important with our child quantity, but it lucked out that we will each have a mini-me.
• We can have our wills made up after my daughter is born and be pretty set on how things divide.
• My father will be alive to know each child. His health is poor, so he probably won't live to meet his other grand kids if my brothers wait too long.
• If I had another girl, I don't have any names picked out. Our two kids' names were picked out in January of 2010. I'm glad to be done with that too.
• I'm an emotional wreck with this pregnancy. I think it would only get worse with each additional pregnancy.
• In these later months, it has been extremely hard "taking it easy" with my son. I want nothing more but to carry him around on walks and to play with him on the floor. 
• I want my energy back.
• I miss alcohol.
• I miss drinking tons of caffeine without feeling guilty.
• I miss skipping meals if I didn't feel hungry.
• I miss exercising.
• I miss tanning.
• I miss getting my hair bleached.
• I miss rough-housing with my dog.
• I hate pregnancy cravings and what they do to my body.
• I love the fact that once my daughter is out of car seats, I will no longer need them in any of my vehicles.
• My mom had 4 kids because she was addicted to pregnancy and newborns. I don't ever want to be like her.
• We don't want our kids outnumbering us in the home.

That's just a rough list of things I could think of during this posting. I know baby fever hit me hard around 3 months post partum last time. I have a feeling it'll hit me again after I give birth to my daughter. My husband plans on getting a vasectomy, and I need to fight every urge in my body to make another child. I have a tendency of talking myself into things based on impulse. This list was made to remind me of why we only want 2 kids. Big issues for me are pregnancy related and body issues tied to pregnancy. I have very easy pregnancies, which should make any woman want more. I just don't like it. I worry too much. I anticipate too much. I question every decision I make regarding food, exercise, water consumption, and sleep. It's just too much. I like being prepared and planning for my future. Right now, we are prepared for our two children. If we had an oops situation with a third pregnancy, I would of course be very excited. I would like to avoid that situation though because I enjoy knowing we planned our pregnancies. I like that I can one day tell my kids that we tried to get them. Having a third child and telling him/her that we thought we were done before getting that positive test result would make me feel like a shitty parent. If my husband and I hit the lottery and had some long-term benefits affect our lives, our child count would probably go up. We think 2 kids with day-care, education, and weddings is the most we can handle financially.

Getting Some Custom Baby Stuff

Look at that beautiful giraffe theme! When I had my son, I had not yet heard of PickySticky.com. I didn't catch on to the trend until he was 2 weeks old. By then, I was already behind with taking his pictures. So, I ordered a generic blue sticker set from their site and had to photoshop my first month's sticker.

With V, I decided to browse Etsy in order to find a cute brown/pink giraffe inspired sticker set for her monthly photos. After spending over an hour searching, I found a set I was happy with and pinned it to my pinterest board. When I hit my 7 month mark in this pregnancy, I decided to check Etsy again just to see if there was a better sticker set available. Since I couldn't find any, I went to my pinterest board and clicked to order the previously selected theme. Unfortunately, that store item was no longer available. I hadn't saved a link to the shop, so I couldn't even tell which store sold the missing sticker set.

My search for a new set had to start all over again. I eventually found a store with some nice, bold stickers and sent the owner a private message. We talked about creating something custom and she gave me the backgrounds and giraffe image as seen on the left. She's going to pick 6 different backgrounds and will be creating something unique for me. I am so much happier with this outcome than I would have been with my original choice. 

Emotional Pregnancy

I can't tell if I'm more emotional with this pregnancy because it's a girl or because I already have a child to take care of which prevents me from getting as much sleep as last time.
I'm fighting a bad head cold right now and am refusing to take any meds. I took Tylenol last pg but have read studies linking it to asthma. When I have a headache now, I drink caffeine. Last night was bad. I just wanted to cry about my health, my self-image, my lack of energy... Everything! I had a 5 minute cry session in the bathroom before going to bed. Once in bed, I started getting painful contractions on one side of my uterus. I tried to clear my mind, drank water, and switch positions. I eventually fell asleep with the help of my husband rubbing my back.

He's been nothing but helpful this entire pregnancy. In every aspect where I fail to handle my responsibilities, he picks up my slack. On days where I do nothing but slack, he handles housework, watching our son, taking care of me, and taking care of himself. I don't know where he finds the strength to do it everyday, but I know how lucky I am to have him. I'm now 33 weeks pregnant, so I know it's going to get worse before it gets better.

My personal goal is to try and de-stress as much as possible. I can't pinpoint the cause of my emotions, but I certainly know their effects. I don't want preterm labor, and I don't want my hormones somehow permanently damaging my daughter. I'm going to work on getting more nutrients in my system, drinking more water, and getting more sleep.