Hi everyone, sorry to have fallen off of the pregnancy updates. Life has been crazy busy with the high-risk diagnosis, my sister having her second son in October, and now the holiday season. I’m just trying to get as much done as I can before baby arrives because after our sweet baby is here, I’m planning on planting myself on the couch so I can nurse and watch TV while I cuddle my fresh newborn.
I’ll start with the amazing, huge, wonderful news… we are not considered IUGR (intrauterine growth restriction) anymore!! Baby has grown to the 21st percentile and we can look forward to a low-risk birth again. I’m currently 37 weeks and feeling so thankful that I’m not starting an induction right now followed by a NICU stay (although we know anything is possible in birth). This baby has gone from below 3rd percentile, to 3rd percentile, to 4th to 12th and now 21st percentile. We’ve had more BPP’s, Dopplers, and NST’s than I can count and this has been one crazy roller coaster ride of a third pregnancy.
Upon finding out that we had graduated from the perinatologists, I felt so many emotions. The main ones were joy and relief that baby is healthy and continuing to grow. I also felt grateful that I can have the birth I’ve been envisioning for months. I then felt guilt about our luck when I’ve seen other mamas with babies starting at the 3rd percentile but having a very different outcome. And finally, I felt some anger at the loss of a birth center and midwife led birth (and because I’ve been asked before, I want to say I have decided not to try and switch back for many reasons which I won’t get into now).
This has been an anxiety-filled pregnancy with so many changes and a lot of very close monitoring. It was really bizarre for my husband and I to hear the same people who warned us of loss, genetic abnormalities, and prematurity, switch to, “everything looks great and you can be treated as a normal pregnancy again.” A blessing for sure.
So what have we been up to? Well my BFF and sister threw me a “donuts and diapers” sprinkle at the end of October. We did a bunch of old wives tales to see if we could determine the sex of the baby (obviously we know most of them indicate nothing!) and found the numbers swing to girl. I thought girl for a while but now I’m thinking boy and since I’ve had zero intuitive dreams/moments, I’m really excited to finally find out! After so many ultrasounds, it’s kind of a miracle that we have managed to keep it a secret. We’ve heard both he and she multiple times from different providers, everyone has their go to and that’s kept things nice and exciting for sure, haha.
We took maternity photos around 31 weeks and I’ll share a few (ok, a lot!) here because I’m totally in love with them. Our go-to photographer and friend is such a gem to work with and she knows just how to capture both of our boys so beautifully. I will treasure these pictures forever. All images are by Annie Wiegers and you can find her HERE or on Instagram if you are a fellow Minnesotan looking for amazing images.
Mr. Cookie and I also managed to get away for a weekend babymoon trip. It was before we were all cleared from being high-risk but it was only a 3 hour drive. We went to Sundara, an adults only spa and hotel in Wisconsin Dells. Highly recommend!! However, the next time I go I definitely don’t want to be pregnant. 
I’m so pumped to be at the beginning of my guess month of December! Unfortunately, I keep hearing a decent amount of negativity around having a baby near Christmas so I’m curious, if you are a December baby or have a December baby, what is one positive thing about having a birthday near the holidays? I’d love to hear it!!
nectarine / 2690 posts
What a fantastic update! You look great, and your family is beautiful! Love the shot of the boys kissing your tummy
I hope you have a smooth delivery and can’t wait to find out if you have a boy or girl 
apricot / 364 posts
Congrats on the great news! My oldest is a 11/30 and my twins 12/30 birthdays, so it’s nice that I’m off work more around their birthdays. We are also very careful about celebrating their birthdays separately from any holiday even though my oldest gets birthday presents from my family at Thanksgiving since we’re already there for the holiday. Also more family is in town for holidays so they tend to get a couple of mini birthday celebrations requested by various relatives.
blogger / apricot / 439 posts
Yay for such a wonderful update! And wow, those pics are gorgeous!! My birthday is 12/21 – one positive thing is that everyone is in a celebration mode my entire birthday month. Also, I get birthday month coupons in a very spendy month and it’s nice to save the money!!
guest
Yay for the great news! My youngest is a Thanksgiving baby so he will likely always be surrounded by loved ones and family and not in school for his birthday.
pomelo / 5621 posts
That is such good news. Hope the last couple weeks are uneventful and you have a great delivery. Can’t wait to find out boy/girl.
Gorgeous photos! You have a beautiful family!
guest
Wonderful news! And your family is beautiful! Best wishes for a smooth last few weeks and delivery!
nectarine / 2018 posts
Glad to everything is going well! DD’s birthday is in December and while it can be a crazy month – every thing just feels extra special! People are busy but generally in a celebrating mood. She has decided that the beautiful lights and decorations around the city are for her
. So far other than picking a date for her party, we haven’t had any major issues with her December birthday.
One thing we have always done at home is to not put any Christmas decorations in our dining room until after her birthday and party. We typically decorate our house around Thanksgiving but wanted to have a space that was still all about her. So whatever theme we do for her party we go all out in the Dining room – so she doesn’t feel like Christmas is the focus.
pomegranate / 3601 posts
My DD1 birthday is 01/10 and all the presents come at once. First there is the advent calender (which is very common here in Germany) and then there is Christmas and just as you finally get out of celebrating the New Year it is time again for a birthday. So pretty often it feels more like dreading the birthday instead of looking forward to it. Obviously we try to never let my DD feel that! (In our case it doesn’t help that the twins’ birthday is also in January).
blogger / apricot / 431 posts
Beautiful pictures! And what great news! I have to write a little update too
pear / 1565 posts
This is amazing news, and you look radiant!!
pomelo / 5084 posts
First of all, congratulations on this news! Wahoo!
Second, there’s nothing more magical than a holiday baby.
Third, your green dress is everything!!!
blogger / persimmon / 1225 posts
@JennyLayneAZ: Thank you so much!!
@hilary: Time off and extra family around, love it!! Thanks for sharing!
@Mrs. Starfish: LOL,, I love birthday coupons, good call! And a long special month, that sounds nice. This baby is still hanging out and we’re getting closer and closer to Christmas
blogger / persimmon / 1225 posts
@Emileee: Aww, so nice to have family around on birthdays!
@ALV91711: Thank you! The last few weeks have been crazy emotional, I forget how the hormones at the end make me react, but not long now!!
@Catherine: Thank you so much!
blogger / persimmon / 1225 posts
@catgirl: Ooo, that is a great idea. Save space for the birthday decorations, as I also like to decorate as soon as possible after Thanksgiving. And the lights do make every Dec. birthday pretty special, love it!
@Pumuckl: That makes sense, I have a friend whose kid’s birthdays are all in Dec. and Jan. That must be tough! It’s a lot of planning and gifting and celebrating. Good luck with your holiday season!
blogger / persimmon / 1225 posts
@Mrs. Pizza:
I know, we need a baby update!! Unless I missed it?? That could have happened too lol
@graceandjoy: Thank you!!
@wrkbrk: Aww you’re so sweet, love the magic of a holiday birthday and the green dress was only 50 bucks on Amazon, so worth it!!
blogger / apricot / 431 posts
@Mrs. Cookie: I wrote a post soon after this post! Pizza #3 is here