Having a Baby in a One Bedroom

Welcome to our bedroom / nursery!

We thought our family across the world might like to see a few photos of where the baby will be living once she gets here – hopefully that’ll give some context to anyone who is planning to FaceTime our newborn!

Because real estate is crazy expensive and also because we love our apartment and neighborhood so much, we made the choice to stay in our one-bedroom flat indefinitely. Upgrading to a home with an extra bedroom would necessitate a significant financial sacrifice and we know quite a few young couples who are raising their baby (or multiple kids!) in the same amount of space that we have. The upside: we don’t have to waste our money on an expensive baby moniter since we’ll be able to hear if she’s crying from all corners of our cozy abode…and probably in the hallway, in the street outside our balcony, and in our neighbours’ apartments too, for that matter. #thinwalls

When I first started thinking about the best way to smoothly transition an extra human into our home, I was sure of only one thing: I didn’t want the nice adult space we had created to become Babysville. As a homebody, my bedroom has always been a sanctuary for reading and relaxing, and while I recognize that the baby is probably going to take over our hearts, schedules, and spaces, I figured that could happen without hanging pink bows and baby animals all over the place. Not really our style anyway.

What we ended up doing was dividing our room into grownup space and baby space (ish). Half of the room has retained an adult feel, with our bed under the watchful gaze of Lake Louise, while the other half of the room has the baby’s crib, changing table, and the storage units that already house the growing collection of little girl clothes from my own mama, who cannot seem to help herself. The trick now is figuring out how to keep the room this clean once there are three of us living in it!

Jess Writes: Locally Sourced Baby Names

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It’s no secret that we love the city of Vancouver, though Tom has only been here for three years. We’ve spent a lot of time together walking different neighbourhoods, cycling around the city, imbibing local brews, picnicking on the seawall, and revelling in the proximity to lakes, mountains, and trails. Our interest in doing local stuff eventually overlapped with our many conversations about finding a name for our upcoming firstborn, and we started seeing baby names everywhere, prompting Jess to write an article about it for (the kickass, women-focused) Loose Lips magazine, which you can read here, if you’d like to.

Bump Update

How far along: 26 weeks!

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Sleep: adequate, but my belly went through a growth spurt these last couple of weeks, and as a result I’m definitely feeling more aches and pains. Pillows have been crucial to my comfort!

Movement: the midwife told us that weeks 24-28 are the time of the most movement because the baby is still small compared to the amount of space she has. It certainly feels true – she is all over the place in there like a little whale, and I never know where she’ll surface next.

Appreciating: the fans in our hot, south-facing apartment. I wouldn’t get any work done during the day or sleeping done during the night without them.

Craving: tart lemon water and all of the quinoa bowls! I’ve been making quinoa and adding all of the good stuff – spinach, tuna, edamame, homemade hummus, almonds.. whatever we have in the cupboard.

Nesting: we rearranged our bedroom recently to better accommodate the crib and to give the baby (and us) more space and storage, and we are loving how fresh and open the new set-up feels! It’s amazing what a difference a little effort and $100 or so can make!

Looking Forward To: November 🙂

Bump Update

How Far Along: 24 weeks!

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Sleep: so many dreams lately, another interesting side effect of pregnancy. Since my teen years, whenever I’ve gone through major life changes and have been feeling a lot of anxiety about my lack of control over things, I’ve had dreams about my teeth falling out. It’s been a while since I’ve remembered having it, but when that dream recurred this week it made a lot of sense. I’ve felt like this whole experience is completely out of my hands, which appeals to the relaxed Type B side of me, but terrifies the anxious Type A side of me which seems to be winning out more often lately. 

Movement: the ‘milestone’ this week is that Tom has finally felt some big kicks, so I’m not alone in feeling our Tiny Dancer movin’ around in there. I think he was starting to think I was making it up..

Appreciating: coffee, affordable Canadian health care, and that so many of my friends and family are pregnant or have young kids, because I feel very tapped-in to a wealth of knowledge and experience. 

Nesting: crochet, every day! So glad that my Oma taught me to knit and crochet at 13, and that YouTube tutorials helped refresh those skills at 22. It allows me to let my mind wander and rest while still keeping my body busy, similar to the way running did before I got pregnant.

Enjoying: baking, writing, planning. 

Looking Forward To: seeing sunshine again (what up, July?), starting new projects with new yarn, and buying a house one day (I like to plan ahead..)

Bump Update

How Far Along: 23 weeks!

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Sleep: still sleeping fairly well, waking up periodically from discomfort or hunger or having to pee. Getting out of our low bed is another story .. 

Movement: lots of movement from this lil gal pretty much all times of day, but even more so when Tom is poking my belly, urging her to move..

Appreciating: that no strangers have attempted to touch my belly now that it’s prominently showing. 

Reading: The Birth Partner …and learning a lot about what to expect.

Nesting: we haven’t really been buying anything for the baby. What do they really need, anyway, right?

Enjoying: all of the quiet, lazy summertime moments, because I know they won’t last.

Looking Forward To: having a newborn in the crib in our bedroom! Something I’ve been spending lots of time daydreaming about, as it’s the first thing I see when I wake up. 

Bump Update

How Far Along: 22 weeks! 

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Sleep: it’s a good thing I’ve always been a side-sleeper, as this is the comfiest position when pregnant. Only getting up once per night now! 

Movement: sometimes I laugh out loud at the strangeness of feeling this baby move – such a bizarre (and amazing) sensation. Tom is still looking forward to feeling more pronounced movements, as he seems to have bad luck feeling her kicking so far. 

Appreciating: my pregnancy nails! They’re amazing. Also appreciating the availability of so many positive birth stories that make me excited to give birth instead of freaked out. 

Craving: smoothies and long walks. 

Nesting: spending a lot of time crocheting (and a portion of our budget on cozy yarns..)

Worrying: about the baby measuring too big (still). Luckily Tom has learned to measure my fundal height so we can check in on how big/small my uterus is. 

Looking Forward to: actually really enjoying exactly where I’m at. I get so excited every time I think about meeting our baby girl this fall, but I’m keenly aware that Tom and I only have 4 more months to be kid-free, and I’m savouring every day of it! 

Bump Update

How Far Along: 20 weeks! Halfway! 

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Sleep: slept well all week in our amazing hotel bed in the Kootenay mountains, but woke at 6am most mornings to the hubby watching EuroCup matches in bed.

Movement: lots of movement on the inside, especially at night, but Tom still can’t feel much happening on the outside yet. 

Appreciating: the halfway point! How can it feel like time is going so slowly and so quickly all at once!?

Craving: not a lot, actually, except for the sunny days when I crave a cold beverage on a hot patio somewhere. 

Nesting: bought and assembled our crib and changing table last week (we know, it’s early), but have been on the road around BC and Alberta for the last 8 days, so no other home improvements have been made.

Worrying: about gestational diabetes, as last week’s ultrasound showed the baby was measuring a little big.  

Looking Forward to: getting home, unpacking, and getting out for my daily long walks! 

Bump Update

How Far Along: 17 weeks! 

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Sleep: sleeping well and feeling really great lately (despite the unimpressed face displayed above, when I was 17/40 markers up the moutainside and not happy about the ascent).

Movement: starting to feel her movin’ around in there, but only at night, after I eat, if I keep very still…

Appreciating: that my mom, hubby, and sis in law Hannah all waited for me while I took it slow going up the Grouse Grind this week! I felt very heavy and sluggish, but we made it together! 

Craving: all of the things I can’t have – soft cheese, rare steak, and a cold beer! 

Nesting: no time for the nesting instinct to kick in, we’ve got a reception to pull off and in-laws in town to spend time with! 

Looking Forward To: spending a long weekend in our rental mansion in West Van with Tom’s family – sleeping in, drinking coffee, and swimming in the pool! 

Bump Update

How Far Along: 16 weeks!

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Sleep: still enjoying going to bed early most nights (around 10pm or so). 

Movement: nothing yet, but hopefully soon..

Appreciating: having the energy to be cooking meals in my kitchen again now that the first trimester is behind me! 

Craving: anything juicy! Sour candies, pineapple, watermelon, popsicles…

Nesting: painted our living room and rearranged the furniture – it’ll be such a cozy winter with a newborn! 

Worrying: actually not worrying about much these days, very uncharacteristic for me! 

Looking Forward to: an article I wrote about being pregnant being posted this week on Loose Lips Magazine (update: click here to read it!)