A Family Called the Bruners: August 2012

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Bump Love

My niece Gianna started taking a picture of me every 3 weeks wearing the same little white Chanel dress. It is really fun to look back now on how much my body has changed over the past 9 months. I love my bump, and embrace it at every size! Even the most recent (watermelon size). It is so neat to see that Stella started out as just a little speck a little dream come true on Christmas Eve morning, and has grown into one healthy & big baby ready for the outside world.

I'll be honest I have gained a total of 55 lbs during my pregnancy. I really don't feel like I ate a ton, and I was very active & on my feet until I got put on bed rest. In fact I put on 20lbs in the last 7 weeks, so I think that had a lot to do with it. I'm not going to be too hard on myself, because at heart I still consider myself an athlete, and plan on getting back in shape and losing every single pound I gained. I know it won't happen overnight, but I'm putting it out there and giving myself one year to lose it.

Third Trimester Done... Pregnancy Wrap up!

So today is August 23rd, and I am 38 weeks and 5 days pregnant. I honestly thought Stella was going to join us a little early, but it seems as if she is pretty comfortable in my tummy and taking her sweet time. One of the traits I hope she doesn't get from me is my tardiness. I call it fashionably late, but seriously, I'm always 5 minutes late everywhere, and its a really bad habit. Note to Stella"The early bird gets the worm", so start off on the right foot, and come on out! According to my Dr. her head is very low past my pelvis, and I am 50% effaced. This was on Monday. Please do not make me wait another 10 days, and PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do not go past your due date. With my Puppps we had discussed inducing me at 39 weeks, but now that my body is making progress my Dr is discouraging me from getting induced, and would like me to stick it out & be patient, as he wants to avoid the higher risk of a cesarean.

As much as I have enjoyed pregnancy, I have to be honest... I am done, put a fork in me. I want my body back, I want to feel normal, but most of all I just want to hold my daughter in my arms (not my uterus). I know all women experience different ups & downs during their pregnancy, and everybody's story is different. I would say I have had a pretty rough pregnancy, but I would do it all over again for my daughter. My favorite time during my pregnancy were weeks 18-30. I had energy, my bump was pretty cute, I could feel the cutest little kicks, and felt like I had that "glow". By far weeks 32-36 were the worst most horrifying part of pregnancy. My experience with PUPPPS was just hell. They have become manageable over the past two weeks, but they still flare up in the heat. It doesn't help that we are having 100 degree weather. With that said, here are the highlights & lowlights of Trimester 3.

At last the Ups & Downs of my Third Trimester

Top 5
1. My Baby Shower. My friends & family planned a beautiful shower for me, and I felt so much love & support as I enter this new adventure in my life.
2. Completing the Nursery. It all came together, and I absolutely love the space we created for Stella.
3.Contractions. Ok, although these are actually kind of painful, I like getting them because I know my body is preparing for D.day!
4. Nesting. I love how organized and clean my house is. Lets hope we can try to keep it this way.
5. Hanging out with my Mom. I work really long hours, and being on bed rest, I have got to spend a lot of time with my Mom. She has been the most amazing support to me during this time. We have breakfast together every morning, have Gossip Girl marathons, and have endless talks about how Big Stella is this week. She washed and folded every single piece of Stella's wardrobe, including blankets, burp cloths, and swaddles. She has been a tremendous help, and is going to be an amazing Grammy.

Bottom 5
1. Puppps. Need I say more.
2. Achy Muscles- my feet, legs, back, thighs, neck. Basically my whole body is tired & sore.
3. Indigestion. I get it every night, and it doesn't ease up until about 3am. I have to sleep sitting up, making night time not much fun.
4. Bed Rest. From weeks 32-36 I was on bed rest. I didn't leave the house, except to go hang out on my mom's couch. (she lives next door). I missed out on my Designer Preview event that I had been planning and prepping for since February. This also is time that is being taken away from my maternity leave, as I had planned on leaving at Week 37. After week 36, my Dr put me on modified bed rest, so I have been able to get out more, but with the heat I still have pretty much hung out at home like a little hermit.
5. Bathroom Runs. I seriously pee close to 40 times a day. I am not exaggerating. Night time is the worst, I usually go through an entire roll of TP in one night.

I would like to thank my husband, family, friends, and co-workers for putting up with me these past 9 months. I know I have been moody, crabby, and probably a little annoying, but I couldn't have made it through without all your love & support. xoxo

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Stella's Garden Themed Nursery

When choosing a theme for Stella's nursery I went no further than the meaning of her name. When Trevor and I were dating we would play around with baby names, and ask each other what names we liked. My two favorite names for a girl were narrowed down to Stella & Chloe. (Yes, both fashion names, and both chic!) Stella McCartney is my absolute favorite designer. For those of you who have been living under a rock, she is Paul McCartney's daughter, and a very successful designer based out of London. She is known for being eco-friendly, and many of her designs are inspired by her English Garden that her & her husband created together with dusty pastels, crisp white florals, and greenery to die for.I later found out that Trevor's grandmother on his mom's side was named Stella. Although Trevor nor myself never met her, as she passed away many years ago, she is described as a beautiful and loving woman who had a free spirit, and loved her family more than anything. This made choosing a name for our daughter very easy.... Stella it was.

It was very important to me that that Stella also had a family name from my side, so her middle name is Rose, named after my beautiful Grandma Rose. My Grandma Rose was a gorgeous woman who died her hair red (think Lucille Ball), and lived in a Pink house. Her favorite color was pink, she decorated her home with roses and crystal, and she lived for fashion. My Granmda took care of me and all my cousins every day after school until I was 10, when she passed away. I looked up to my Grandma so much! She was a girly girl in every sense who collected designer fashion (think vintage Halston), wore pearls and heels every day, and was never caught without a full face of makeup and beautiful red curls. Rose is an extremely special family name that I am happy to give to Stella.

So back to Stella Rose's nursery. With the inspiration from her name, I decided on a Pink Garden themed nursery. When I think of a garden, I think of flowers, birds, and butterflies, so this is what we filled her nursery with. Trevor is very handy, and painted her nursery a beautiful pastel pink called "pink cadillac". He painted all the baseboards a crisp white, and hung all her art pieces. We went with crisp white furniture from Pottery Barn Kids to keep the room soft. After months of studying, shopping, and putting together our ideas her dream nursery came to life.

Cute as a Button Baby Shower

On June 24th my amazing friends and family threw a beautiful baby shower with the theme "Cute as a Button! " It was hosted at my Mother in law's home in Claremont surrounding her pool and beautiful garden. I am so blessed to have the bestest best friends a girl could ask for and the most gracious Moms and sisters.So much thought and work went into this party, I cannot thank them enough for making me feel so special.

I felt so overwhelmed with love and support by everybody that came to celebrate Stella and from those who couldn't make it, yet still sent gifts of love! From towels, to clothes, to diapers, and necessities... we were showered with all the baby goodies anybody could ask for! Everyone was so beyond generous, and I feel so blessed to have such wonderful women in my life, and now Stella's.

Here are some photos of the special day, that I will forever cherish.