Last Friday, Sebastian turned three years old! He’s turned into such a character and I just love his little personality. He’s sweet, silly, and energetic. He loves to run, which makes playing soccer his favorite. He likes putting together puzzles and reading books. He  has also started embracing his sassy side, becoming more defiant than usual but that’s life with a threenager!

Hi, dear readers! I didn’t mean to disappear for a month, but life has been hectic. Between travel, work, toddler needs, and life, time just got away from me. Let’s catch up, shall we?

Travel

At the end of September, Nick and I traveled to California. It was a dual-purpose trip: My best friend was getting married in Carmel-by-the-Sea and asked me to be in the wedding on September 29th, to which I couldn’t say yes fast enough, and then, because her wedding was two days before our own wedding anniversary on October 1st, Nick and I decided to head up to San Francisco for a few days to celebrate our own wedded bliss.

The wedding was stunningly gorgeous. I’m so jealous of how beautiful everything was but I’m honestly not surprised because it simply matched the beauty that is my best friend, both inside and out. I was so busy helping with and prepping for the wedding that I didn’t get to take many photos, but I can’t wait to see the photos that the photographer took. I have a feeling they’re going to be top notch. In the meantime, here are a few that I managed to snap when in the little bit of downtown we had.

Big Sur, California. This was basically the background of my friend’s wedding!

Happy bridesmaid!

Obligatory Golden Gate Bridge picture

Fashion

In North Carolina, we had about a week of “false” fall in mid-September where the temperature cooled down to a beautiful 68-75 degrees, but then quickly heated up again. In California, it was “true” fall with temps in the 60s-70s every day. I think that was my favorite thing about California aside from the wedding. Anyway, NC’s false fall allowed me to wear a few fall-like outfits, which was exciting. You can find them on my Instagram and I shared them on Nikki by example’s Facebook page, but here’s a recap.

Fall outfits, finally!

Outfit 1: Blouse: Loft Outlet | Cardigan: via Stitch Fix | Jeans: LOFT | Shoes: H&M | Necklace: Old Navy 
Outfit 2: Sweater: ModCloth | Jeans: Wit & Wisdom via Stitch Fix | Shoes: Banana Republic (old) | Necklace: J. Crew Factory
Outfit 3: Sweater & Trousers: Banana Republic (old) | Shoes: H&M | Jewelry: Target | see outfit post here.
Outfit 4: Sweater: ModCloth | Jeans: LOFT | Shoes: Madden Girl | Necklace: J. Crew Factory | Belt: Target

Family

In mid-August, Sebastian started potty training and he’s really been rocking it! We’ve gotten super lucky in that many of his friends at preschool are also potty training so I think he picked up on it really quickly from seeing them go to the potty at school. He’s very good about peeing on the toilet on his own and is slowly overcoming his fear of pooping on the toilet. This is pretty common with kids from what I’ve read and heard. I feel like it has been incredibly easy learning/training process, and that for that I am eternally grateful! This kid is truly the best.

The “baby potty” as Sebastian calls it.

Work

I just accepted an offer to work as a research coordinator in the Department of Population Health at one of the large universities in the area and I start next month. It’s a welcomed change that will come with more responsibilities and more pay, so I’m really excited to start this new career journey. I will miss working in adolescent sexual health but the time has come for me to move on and move up in my career. And don’t worry – the building also has a big mirror in the restroom so you’ll still get regular outfit updates 😉

I will soon be a university employee

I think that’s it for now. Lots of stuff going on and many changes to work through, but overall, life is great! I hope all is going well for you, too.

We’ve reached a big milestone in our house. Sebastian is sleeping [mostly] through the night in his own bed in his own room!

via GIPHY

Sebastian’s birth, much like my entire pregnancy, was pretty uneventful. Everything went so smoothly thanks to the amazing work of my medical care team, all of the information and preparation I received from my midwives leading up to birth, and the care we received from the labor and delivery nurses in the hospital. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. So, if you’re in need of a happy, positive story to ease your own nerves about labor and delivery, I gladly offer up mine. Just keep in mind that every person’s experience will be different.

March 24th was the magical date my son was expected to enter the world. I knew from the very beginning that he wouldn’t be born on his estimated due date, as only about 5% of babies are, and I truly believed he wouldn’t arrive until April based on more recent research for predicting when babies to first-time moms would be born. Nonetheless, I still felt a little disappointed when we watched March 24th come and go with no baby.

This was only two days passed my due date.

And then a week passed and the doctor’s appointments started to double up: two per week to check amniotic fluid and to perform non-stress tests to make sure the baby was doing all right. When the thought of my complication-free pregnancy turning into an emergency situation entered my mind and my midwives started talking about induction, I got really nervous and was even more ready for the baby to get here. And if he didn’t get here soon, I would be induced on April 6th, almost two weeks after my due date. Luckily, I wouldn’t have to wait much longer.

Non-stress test at 41 weeks

Saturday night, April 1, I started having light contractions around 11:30 pm. I had experienced some mild cramp-like sensations the previous week but they eventually faded away, so I didn’t want to get my hopes up this time around. However, when 4 AM rolled around and they weren’t going away, I knew it was the real thing. We alerted the family that it had begun. Although the contractions were getting slightly stronger, they were still few and far between. I labored at home for the majority of the day on Sunday, April 2, until about 7 PM when the contractions started hitting the sweet range of 4-1-1 (contractions happening every 4 minutes, each lasting 1 full minute, and have been that way for 1 hour) and we decided to head to the hospital. When we checked in and the midwife measured me, I was already dilated about 6 cm! I labored at the hospital for another 5 hours until my contractions were lasting about 2 minutes each and were about 2-3 minutes apart.

At this point, I had been progressively contracting for more than 24 hours and I was completely exhausted. The contractions felt much more painful when I was sitting or lying down so I stayed on my feet almost this whole time. I was walking around, swaying, and breathing through each one. Every time I would feel one coming on, I would grab Nick’s wrists and we would sway together while I breathed deeper than I have ever breathed in my life. I could tell he was getting tired, too, because he had to stand there and sway with me through each 2-minute contraction and then do it again less than 3 minutes later. I was seriously so tired that all I wanted to do was sit down, rest, and even sleep. The only way to do that was to get an epidural, which I had been against the entire 41 weeks I was pregnant.

But exhaustion is a powerful thing. It will make you act in ways you never thought you would, and for me, it was agreeing to get the epidural. Honestly, I’m not sure I would have had the energy or strength to bring my son into the world if I hadn’t. That’s not to say I didn’t struggle with the decision because I certainly did.

For hours I wrestled with whether I wanted it or not. I was tired, drained of energy, and I wanted to sleep but I was scared of the procedure and I thought it would make me feel like I had lost control of the situation. In the end, the exhaustion won and, around midnight on April 3rd, I asked for the epidural. And I have to admit to you now that this was THE. BEST. decision I could have made for myself. Sure, I lost all the feeling in my legs but I was able to sleep for about 6 hours and when the time came, I was more than ready to deliver my sweet baby boy.

I think the only real downsides to the epidural were that it made me feel a little nauseated and it slowed my contractions while I slept. I vomited once and the nurses gave me some anti-nausea medicine, which also helped me sleep. In the morning, when I woke up, they gave me a tiny bit of Pitocin to get the contractions back up to speed. Around 8 AM, the midwife checked me one final time and could actually see Sebastian’s head starting to make its way down! Everyone in the room – my midwife and nurse, my parents, Nick, and I – started to get ready for delivery. Amazingly, I only had to push for about 20 minutes or so and at 8:50 in the morning, he made his entrance into this world.

Welcome to the world, Sebastian!

Sebastian Armando was born on April 3, 2017, weighing 6 lbs 11 oz, measuring 21 inches long, and sporting a full head of hair. His eyes were open and he was completely alert when they laid him on my chest. He looked up at me and I smiled. Nick kissed his little head and the world just seemed to be right. It was the most breathtaking moment I think I’ve ever experienced in my life.

Sebastian’s birth day

He’s the most perfect little being in the whole world and I’m already so in love with him that it hurts. I love his hair, his smell, all of his adorable little sounds, and even his loud angry cries when he feels he isn’t being fed quickly enough. He’s so very chill just like his father but can get very feisty like me. He’s the absolute best! And I’m very excited to see where this journey is going to take us.

First night home, cuddles with daddy

Stay tuned for more of my adventures in mommy hood.

xo,
Nikki

*This post was originally published on 4/13/2017 and has been slightly updated in honor of Sebastian’s second birthday today.*

As we approach Sebastian’s second birthday next week, I thought I would share a special gift for him that I’ve been working on. But, first, some background.

Many years before I became pregnant, I was in graduate school and was spending one of my breaks binge watching sappy movies on Netflix when I came across Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas and decided to watch it, thinking it was going to be just another love story. It actually kind of rocked my world a little bit and I didn’t even realize it yet. Allow me to explain (spoilers ahead):

Book (left) vs Movie (right)