I wasn't sure if I wanted to do a maternity photoshoot. Life just gets busy and I didn't know if I wanted to go through the stress of coordinating a shoot, getting outfits together, deciding on a photographer... you know all the fun stuff. Normally I would jump at the opportunity to get photos, but pregnancy slowed me down so it seemed more like a chore! Well, we had a Woodmansee family vacation in Island Park and the family wanted to get family pictures. Since we were already coordinating outfits, I decided it would be the perfect time to get them done.

 A perk of it being so early was the fog on the lake! It's one of my favorite affects from this shoot! I'm seriously in love with how these turned out! 

We woke up waaaay too early...6am (funny how now that Lincoln is here 6am doesn't sound so early anymore haha). As we waited for the rest of the family, Zack's sister took some maternity photos for us and let's just say I am beyond happy with them! 

I'm so glad we took the time to take these photos. It will remind me of my pregnancy journey. The good, the stressful, the weird ha. As my due date got closer and now that baby is here, I have done a lot of reflecting on my pregnancy. Every pregnancy really is different. What I have experienced may be similar to others, but ultimately very personal. There have been exciting moments, like finding out our baby is a boy or feeling him for the first time! There have also been hard moments, like an achy back, or tweaking my neck because of soft ligaments and having shooting pain down my neck and back ha.

Overall I have had a mild pregnancy... not counting his low amniotic fluid the last few weeks that ultimately led to an induction and early delivery! I had morning sickness (afternoon sickness more like) but never threw up. I was able to stay active throughout! I definitely slowed down, but I still did yoga until delivery day! I never had crazy weird cravings, but did have to fight the need for sugar all the time! I thought that would go away after delivery... no. It did not and I still want sugar! 

 I think it's tradition for Zack and I to get a dramatic/model wannabe photo ha. This one is a new favorite of mine!

It's kinda crazy to think that shortly after this trip Zack and I had our baby boy! I tried to prepare myself for this. I tried to visualize my labor and delivery experience along with being a mother and caring for an infant. I was never fully prepared but I'm trying my best. Luckily I have Zack by my side to help. He is an amazing father so at least baby has that going for him ha. We will see if his mom can keep up! 

 Zack is a great Instagram husband and took these of me! He's a pro!

So here's to the end of pregnancy! These maternity photos will help remind me of the last 9 months and the exciting journey of pregnancy. To be honest, I didn't always love it, but I am so grateful to have experienced it. 

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I feel so lucky to have so many wonderful friends and family around me to show their support during this time of Zack and I's life!

My sisters and mom threw me the cutest shower last week and I couldn't be more grateful. They decorated the house with hot air balloons (a favorite of mine) and used white, green, and gray for the color scheme.

 Zack and his attitude (left picture). I can't get over it! Also, note how chunky he was!

 More baby pictures of us!

My mom came up with this cute little saying

We ate food... naturally and chatted before going into a game and opening gifts.

Donuts and chicken salad. Two types of carbs I love!

Since the shower, I have slowly been putting baby's room together, washing his clothes, and organizing everything I can. It's starting to hit me that he will be here 6ish weeks or so... hopefully sooner rather than later!

 A little blurry but you get the idea. Everyone had such cute gift ideas!

Pregnant sisties! 

We still have a few purchases we need to make, like a comfy chair, but most everything else is coming together and it's so exciting! Ok Baby Woodmansee, we are ready to meet you now!

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Well we are 29 weeks into this pregnancy and cannot wait to meet this little guy!

As we have mentioned before (on social media), baby boy has clubbed feet. We first found out at his anatomy scan just after the 20 week mark. It’s hard to put into words how we felt that day. You try to prepare yourself for anything and tell yourself no matter what happens (if anything happens) you will still be super excited and happy for this baby. Everything in his scan went smoothly until we got to his feet. Up until that point the technician kept telling us “oh here is his heart, looks great! There are his hands, looks great, etc.” So when she was quiet for what felt like 10 minutes, I was beginning to get a little nervous. She eventually pointed out her concern and mentioned that his left foot was bent; meaning it was probably clubbed. She finished her scan and then sent us to talk to our midwife.

We both had a few moments to try and digest what that meant. I had never even heard of it, but I could see his feet and toes so I knew they weren’t missing so I kept telling myself it probably wasn’t too worrisome. Zack of course googled the term to at least get a reference of what the heck she was talking about and it helped us at least get a small idea what we were up against. As soon as our midwife walked into the room she quickly reassured us that this was more common than we thought and that it was almost always correctable. They sent us off to a specialist though to follow up about treatment and to continue to monitor his health.

Like I said before, we are so excited for our baby to come into this world, but it was still hard news to hear. It’s funny how as an expecting parent all you want is for your children to be happy and healthy. You don’t want them to have to struggle in any sense in life…but I guess that’s not realistic. Life isn’t perfect and everyone struggles with something so to expect baby not to have any struggles is unrealistic. I think that the biggest take away is how we prepare for his arrival in the next several weeks. We spoke to the specialist and they now believe both feet are clubbed, not just the left foot. This however does not change the care baby will receive once he is born. He will have his feet in casts for a few weeks (depending on the severity will depend on how long he has to wear the casts) and then he will wear a brace called boots and bar for a few years. With all this mind, we won’t really know what steps we need to take until baby boy is born and the doctors can assess his feet. So there are still a lot of unknowns but we are hopeful that everything will work out and baby will get the best possible care so he can have full function of his feet.

Wow, that was a little heavier than I expected it to be! I promise not every post will be like this, but dang, I’m already seeing how hard parenthood is ha.

***If you or someone you know has had clubbed feet, we would love any tips, tricks, or details to help us navigate baby’s first few years of life!

22 weeks pregnant 

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