My plan is to either get some type of exercise equipment like a treadmill, or to join a gym. There are a few nearby that I have heard mixed things on but if anyone has any specific recommendations I would love to hear them. One thing is that I LOVE to swim and would prefer a gym where I can swim laps if I go the gym route. Also price is a big consideration. Thanks for any input.

When I was pregnant with Bailey, I got really bad stretch marks. I was fine until about 35 weeks and then it’s like my body just exploded with lines everywhere. I got stretch marks all over my stomach and hips, and on my boobs. I seriously thought it was one of the most disgusting things I had ever seen. I thought a couple times about buying some sort of cream or something but figured that I had so many lines that it would never work.

Finally when Avon came out with the Anew Clinical Stretch Mark Smoother, I decided I might as well give it a shot. I am more willing to try Avon products randomly since I get a discount and also because then if customers ask about them, I can give my opinion. I have been using the Stretch Mark Smoother for about a month now and honestly, I DO notice a difference. The marks that were pinkish/purple before are now skin colored. I am hoping that they “diminish” more and get smaller but right now I am excited that they aren’t as obvious as they were before. I thought about doing a before and after picture but realized I didn’t want to show the “before” to the whole world

Anyway, this is my product endorsement for the Stretch Mark cream. It really worked for me. If you are looking for something to get rid of stretch marks or other scarring, I seriously recommend this. It’s $25 and worth every penny. If that’s not in your budget, they also have an Anti-Cellulite and Stretch Mark Cream in the Avon Solutions line. It’s only $17 but I can’t vouch for that one.

You can order directly on my website and choose Personal Delivery to have me deliver to you, or Direct Delivery to have it shipped. Right now you can use the code REP10 for free shipping on orders of $10 or more (pre-tax). Questions? Leave a comment or email me at tara (at) twolinesonastick (dot) com

Also, I just wanted to say a big Thank You to all of you who order from me or have ordered in the past. You are helping my business to grow and to make it easier (and more fun!) for me to be a stay at home mom. I appreciate you!

For more fun tips, check out Works for Me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer.

I went shopping with my mom one day and we traded shoes because mine were so uncomfortable. Hers were Crocs, and they felt like foamy little cushions. But after that, I still swore they were ugly and I wouldn’t own any.

Enter Avon. They make some great faux Crocs and they are only $9.99. Plus for some reason, I can’t so no to a good Avon deal So I ordered the black ones with rhinestones… because if I am wearing Crocs, at least they are going to be sparkly! I still can’t believe I own them. But they are so comfortable. I know some fakey Crocs aren’t as comfy, but these things are awesome. They have become my slippers of choice around the house. Um, and I’ve worn them out of the house a few times now. Don’t tell.

I also just ordered these sandals, which were also $9.99. Last summer I was bumming that I didn’t have a cute pair of flip flops to wear with black capris and stuff like that, so I am excited to get these!

Born on Monday, April 16th at 9:38 pm
7 lbs 7 oz
19 inches long

We are all doing well- very busy and very tired! The labor and delivery went smoothly, for the most part. Bailey needs to figure out this eating thing a little better, but hopefully that will come with time.

We will update more later as we get a chance.

Please pray that everything goes well. I’m a little nervous and we’re trying to stay distracted right now.

Updated (10:37 pm) I think the baby has FINALLY dropped today. I feel like I can’t empty my bladder all the time and it is uncomfortable to walk. And I am having trouble moving from sitting to standing. It just feels like a lot of pressure and a little bit of lower backache- but still no contractions!

Good baby- please help your mommy out and get as far down there as you can!

Here is my belly at 40 weeks. I honestly can’t believe we’ve made it this far! I decided to take this picture in the nursery- for the first time- in honor of Bailey coming out this week. She’s got two days left to enjoy her womb home, and then it’s eviction time

I think my blood pressure was high again today. The nurse took it and didn’t tell me what it was- which she usually does- and then the doctor came in and took it again. The doctor has never done my blood pressure herself. Then she asked me if I had been having any headaches or seeing spots. I told her no, and she said that I was “okay” but that if I had anything like that I needed to go in to the hospital. This seems to be the theme of my appointments lately.

She also checked my cervix and I am now at 4 cm. Not much change from last week, but the good news is that she said even if I went to the hospital before my contractions were five minutes apart (she said like 5-7 mins or not completely consistent) that they wouldn’t send me home at this point.

I asked her to guess the baby’s size- and she said it was really just a guess and probably not very accurate but she guessed around 7 1/2 pounds. Yikes I don’t want a big baby! I was only 6 lbs 4 oz and I was hoping for a little girl more about that size. But that could be way off anyway.

She said she is still hoping I will go into labor this weekend but if not, I’ll definitely have a baby on Monday! I am glad I am making such a good snuggly home for Bailey but I wish she didn’t like it in there QUITE so much!

Other than that, I am just having a little more back pain than usual, and trouble sleeping because of being uncomfortable. I wake up about every half hour until about 5 a.m. and then I manage to get about three hours straight where I can sleep. That’s been the pattern for the past few nights. The reason I wake up is because my back and hips are in pain and I have to turn over- but then of course I have to pee while I’m up too- but I always fall right back asleep.

This is my little baby girl who I have wanted for as long as I can remember. I know I would love a little boy too, but this is my dream baby. I know we are in for a rough road ahead and hopefully not too much spoiling, but she is already perfect in my eyes. I think that’s why I can’t wait to see her. But the next thing I know she will be walking and talking and not my little baby anymore…. so I need to enjoy EACH day with her. Plus, it’s been pointed out to me that it won’t ever be this easy again and I’ll wish I could put her back inside for an hour or two and catch a nap

The other realization I had last night was that Jonathon and I have a maximum of FIVE nights together as a “couple” before we become parents. I don’t really consider us a family right now. I mean, I know we technically are, but we still seem like Just Jonathon and Tara. We are going to become a whole Family of Three in less than a week. I cried because I am worried that I will miss just us.

He reminded me of a freakout I had the night before we left for our honeymoon. (Not our wedding night, the next night)… I actually called my mom in tears at bedtime and said, “I can’t believe I’m living with a boy! I don’t know if I’m going to like this!” I was completely scared- and apparently not too worried about hurting his feelings, either- but I was terrified of the unknown. But last night he reminded me of this, and was like, “Look, now you’re so scared for that to change. But it’s going to be the same way. Scary at first and then you won’t be able to imagine anything else.”

I guess I am just feeling a little overly emotional and apprehensive of so much changing. And of course worrying about the birth- I’m sure that’s contributing to my freaking out.

Anyway, Bailey, I am looking forward to seeing you whenever you are ready to come out. But I need to warn you: Monday is your deadline to decide to come out on your own

The appointment started out with my blood pressure being way higher than usual. 132/94 or something like that- please don’t comment on it and scare me because I don’t need anything else to stress over right now but yes that is high for me.

So I made a joke about them sending me over to the hospital right now, and the nurse actually said that I wouldn’t want to go now because L&D is FULL! How the heck does that happen? Besides a full moon and a low pressure system both in one week… anyway she said that people are starting out in the hallways and that they have postponed all the scheduled inductions for now and told people to stay home until they get a phone call! How crazy is that? ANd this isn’t some little podunk hospital. We’re talking about one of the main hospitals here in St. Louis. She said I need to hold off at least a few hours to go into labor so that they can get some of those people cleared out and/or delivered! I guess it’s good that I didn’t go in this morning before my appointment like I was hoping to On that note, I won’t be doing any walking or eating spicy food until at least tomorrow.

I told the doctor I was concerned that I was possibly leaking fluid and so she checked my water and it didn’t seem to have broken or be leaking. She used one of those pH strips and it didn’t change color, and then she checked something under a microscope and it wasn’t amniotic fluid- so I guess I have just been peeing my pants a little bit lately. Lovely. Yet another reason I would like to have this baby soon.

The other not-so-exciting news is that I am at 3.5 cm right now… which SOUNDS good since I haven’t been even having contractions yet, but it’s only a half a centimeter since last week. Jonathon was there and he said something like, “Only a half a centimeter in a whole week?” I got kind of snippy and said something like, “Yes, I’ve been telling my cervix not to do anything. I’d like to be pregnant forever!” She didn’t mention effacement this week so I was assuming no change (still at 75%) and didn’t want to ask. I asked if the baby was any lower and she tried to look hopeful and said, “Maybe just a smidge.” Great. Thanks. The good news is that she’s still head down. My belly has definitely gotten lopsided to the right lately so I was a little curious if she had twisted herself around.

Then the last event of the day was…. drumroll…. scheduling my induction! Ahhhhhhhhhhh I don’t want to be induced. This was NOT part of my plan. Everything I’ve heard about being induced has not been good. My due date is April 14th, which is a Saturday, and she said I could pick any day the week after that and they won’t let me go MORE than a week past my due date. So I randomly picked Monday the 16th (yes, still in hopes that I can make it to the wedding on the 20th but if I didn’t go until then that’s kind of doubtful anyway). She said I could change the date anytime… so now I am thinking maybe I should have made it for Wednesday the 18th or something instead and give Bailey a little more time to get out on her own. What are your thoughts? I would like to hear opinions from people who have been induced- please no horror stories but just helpful input about my options!

The crazy thing is that even if I go past my due date and I’m induced, I will definitely have a baby within two weeks from today! Wow…

These guys are causing me some pain. This picture isn’t even as bad as it gets. By evening, it hurts to walk because the bottoms swell too. That’s about the time when my toes look like they might pop off. I’m bringing sexy back.

Last night I woke up with contractions during the night. Started to get excited because I had several and they were painful… but still far enough apart that I could kind of fall asleep in between. Next thing I knew it was three hours later and they had stopped.

Nothing really going on here today. And today was the day I “hoped” I would have the baby, because of the full moon. Although it’s during the night tonight, so I guess anything could still happen. I am just so anxious to meet Bailey.

My next date I kind of randomly picked is April 5th. We’ll see about that.

Updated: Nope, not during the night either. Today I am having lunch with my mom and then we are taking a long walk whether she wants to or not. This baby is getting out of me somehow. I haven’t *quite* resorted to sex yet, though.

How your life’s changing:
It may be harder than ever to get comfortable enough to sleep well at night. Take it easy through the day — this may be your last opportunity to do so for quite a while. Keep monitoring your baby’s movements, too. Though she’s crowded, she should still be active.

I thought it was funny that they mentioned getting comfortable enough to sleep… yeah, that’s been a problem lately. In fact, Jonathon just took some pictures of me wedged into our bed with (I think) three pillows under my head, another between knees, one behind and also supporting a heating pad, and one under my feet. Not to mention a blanket under my belly and two stuffed animals for my arms and shoulders. We have quite a crowd in our room now. Anyway here are the pics.

Wow… I thought I was going to take a “short” maybe one hour nap and just wasted the past three hours of a perfectly good afternoon! I guess that’s the point of not working, though- I can rest when I need to.

This morning my doctor had me come in to my appointment earlier because I called her with a concern about swelling. Until now it has just been my feet and hands, but this morning I noticed it was also in my legs and my face. Yuck. They checked my urine and blood pressure, and everything was normal. So it really is just horrible water retention. I don’t feel like my feet even look human. My toes look like they’re going to pop off. The doctor said I should be drinking as much water as possible and put my feet up when I can. Which I’ve already done. Other than that, she said the only thing that will help is having the baby.

Dr K did an internal exam this week and man, did it hurt a lot more than the one last week! I don’t know if it’s just because of her hand size or what, but it was pretty bad. She was apologizing while she did it because I think my face was showing everything. Plus, last time I was probably more calm and relaxed because Jonathon was in there holding my hand. This time I was alone and my mom was out in the waiting room. She drove me to my appointment after being concerned about the swelling.

The results: Now at 75% and 3 cm! Yay! Of course that doesn’t really mean anything for sure, but she said she hoped that next time she saw me would be in the hospital and not at her office She also mentioned that I was “doing well” for a first baby and I’m ahead of where most women are at this point in the pregnancy. So was my mom when she was pregnant with me (her only baby) and she delivered two weeks early, with five hours from the first contraction until I came out! So maybe these will be my last belly pictures before she comes out… but I don’t want to get my hopes up too much!

EDITED:

I am fine. No protein in urine, blood pressure is normal, etc etc. Just horrible water retention, apparently. Things are fine and in fact I have progressed even more. Details later- and I will post my 37 week pictures- but I am going to take a nap first.

My main complaints:

-back pain
-swollen ankles and feet
-rib pain (drop, Bailey, drop!)
-hands get tingly
-can’t get comfortable sleeping