Evangeline Grace: 3 Months Update

Evangeline is such a happy baby.

Our sweet Evangeline Grace has been growing like crazy this past month.  15.5 pounds!  Before I know it she will be outgrowing her 6 month clothing.  Evangeline has started to really squirm and kick her legs.  (By the way I am in love with her adorable, fat, chubby legs!)  We now have to buckle her into her swing and bouncy seat for fear that she will fall out.  🙂  Eva has yet to roll over yet but I think that day is dawning near.  Every time I put her on a blanket I find myself watching her like a hawk just so I don’t miss her first time rolling over!  This past month she took her first road trip to Arkansas to visit her grandparents.  We left right after church on a Sunday and made it in 12 hours!  (It usually takes 10 hours so this was really fast.)  I”m hoping Evangeline will continue to be a great little traveler.

 

I can’t get enough of her crooked smile.

The past few weeks have been really difficult with Evangeline.  She ended up with RSV which was just plain bad.  I am so thankful that we didn’t have to be admitted to the hospital.  We were monitored closely by Evangeline’s pediatrician and were able to rent a nebulizer to use at home which helped so much.  I cleared my calendar for about 2 weeks and just held my sweet girl all day long.  Now that she is feeling better she is sleeping well again.  Hooray!  Evangeline usually sleeps from about 11pm to 9am or so with one early morning feed.  She sleeps great at night but is horrible at taking a nap!  She is the cat nap queen and such a little social butterfly.  It doesn’t seem to matter if we keep the house super quiet Evangeline just will not sleep longer than 15-20 minutes.  Any tips or ideas?

It is an absolute delight to watch Elijah and Evangeline play together.

Eli continues to thoroughly enjoy being a big brother.  Most of the time he is so sweet to her and honestly such a help to me keeping her entertained.  Last week I did find him dragging her around the living room floor on a blanket at break neck speeds last week!

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Evangeline Grace: 2 Months Update

My favorite milestone this past month is definitely her smiling.

Our sweet girl has learned to smile and happily shares a grin often.  She absolutely loves to cuddle, nurse, take baths, and smile at Daddy.  It is especially sweet when big brother Eli comes over to play with her and makes her grin from ear to ear.  I have been surprised at how much Eva and Elijah are enjoying one another.  I thought they would be older before they really “played” together.  At this point I feel like I have adjusted to having two children although I do still worry that I am going to leave one of them somewhere!

We ended up canceling her checkup two weeks ago because I had a nasty cold.  Last week we were traveling so Evangeline finally made it to her checkup today and weighed in at 14lbs 4 oz and 22 inches long.  She is actually 2 months and 2 weeks at this point.  No wonder all of her 3 month clothes were so tight!  😉  I am so thankful that Eva is healthy.  I was a little surprised at her weight gain but I guess she is just going to be a chubby little baby until she starts to crawl.  She has the most adorable chunky little legs I have ever seen!  Evangeline continues to be a curious little girl always wanting to look around.  She has also started to squirm and kick with her legs.  Sometimes we catch her putting her little hands in her mouth.  Already she seems to be quite dramatic and acts as though she is going to die if we don’t pick her up fast enough when she is hungry.  🙂

6 Weeks Old

Thankfully Eva continues to be a great sleeper and usually sleeps a good 8 hours (except when we are traveling).  She still sleeps in our room at this point.  Evangeline recently decided that she hates bottles.  😦  We had to supplement the first few weeks with expressed breast milk and she had no problem taking a bottle.  Selfishly I would love to go out on a date with my husband longer than 3 hours so I am hoping that we can convince her to take one again.  Breastfeeding is great at this point and I believe I have made it over the two month hurdle.   I think that as a mother one of the sweetest milestones is when you are nursing your baby and they look up at you and smile and a pool of milk dribbles out of their mouth.  So precious!  If you haven’t had this happen then it probably just sounds weird but it melts my heart like butter every time!

 

How Mommy is Recovering: My incision is healed at this point and I took my doctor’s advice about walking for 2 weeks before resuming any other type of exercise.  I have worked up to about 45 minute walks and would like to reach the hour mark before I join any of the aerobics classes at our gym.  Two weeks ago I was feeling a little tender on my right side after too much activity so I am trying to be careful not to push myself too hard.  I am noticeably less tired than I was a month ago and feel like I have a good handle on things.  Now I am just trying to enjoy each and every moment.  They grow so fast!  🙂

Happy Birthday Elijah & 20 Questions with Eli

Happy Birthday Eli. We love you so much.

It is incredibly hard to believe that my sweet little boy is 4!  Everyone says children grow up so fast but it is so true.  He is such a delight and I am so thankful that God has given him to us.  For his birthday this year we decided to use the money we would usually spend on toys on an activity since he has so many toys.  We spent a wonderful morning at the Newport Aquarium.  Elijah was even able to touch a horseshoe crab and a star fish.  He was too scared to touch a baby shark though!

Touching a horseshoe crab and starfish.

We really enjoyed the Scuba Santa show at the Newport Aquarium.

They even had a show with Scuba Santa and a group of sharks.  If you look closely in the picture you can also see Santa’s elf who is holding a great big stick that he uses to smack the sharks when they get too close to Santa!

Evangeline turned 2 months old on Eli’s birthday.

This year I decided to interview Eli.  Hopefully I will remember to do this every year.  🙂

1. Who is your favorite person in the whole world?   Baby Sister
2. What is your favorite color?  Red
3. What’s your favorite television show?  Leapfrog’s Numberland
4. What’s your favorite outfit?  He had no answer for this one.  That is probably because we are always telling him to put pants on!  😉
5. What sport do you like best?  Basketball
6. What song do you love?  Jesus Loves Me
7. What’s your favorite cereal?  Life
8. Who is your best friend?  Baby Sister-note he usually refers to Eva as baby sister instead of Eva or Evangeline.
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?  Eli said he wants to be a person!  He also said he wants to be a preacher.
10. What is your favorite book?  I’ll Pray Anyway-a book about Daniel that he has partially memorized
11. What are you really good at?  Playing
12. Where do you wish you could go on vacation?  A bounce party
13. What is your best memory?  When I kissed baby sister
14. What would you buy if you had $1000?  Oreos & a baby doll
15. What vegetable do you love the most?  Green Beans
16. If you could have a wish, what would it be?  He had no idea.
17. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?  Chocolate
18. Who is your biggest hero?  Mommy
19. What do you like to do best with your friends?  Play
20. What do you hope you’ll get to do before your next birthday?  Play with baby sister a lot.

He is such a sweetheart and we love him so much!  I am so glad he was blessed with such a great birthday this year!

Evangeline Grace: 1 Month Update

Eva Grace at 1 month

I still can’t believe it!  My sweet girl is one month old.  In some ways this month has flown by and in other ways it has been a long month.  🙂  Evangeline is starting to look less like a newborn and more like a baby.  I am really enjoying how much more alert she is throughout the day.  We have seen a couple smiles but have been unable to capture one on camera yet.  We all find ourselves acting ridiculous trying to coax one out of her!  At her checkup on Friday she weighed 10lbs 6oz (minus the 4 oz cloth diaper she was wearing) and measured 21 inches long.  I am really excited about her weight gain since she had a little trouble gaining weight in the beginning.  The day we left the hospital she weighed only 7 lbs 6 oz so she has gained 3 pounds this month!

I am so thankful she has gained enough weight that we can discontinue supplementation.  The pediatrician also said that I don’t have to wake her up every three hours to nurse if she is sleeping at night.  (I had to wake Eli up as a baby.)  Last night she slept 6.5 hours straight so I feel great today!  It’s nice that I don’t have to stress out about her weight gain now.  I don’t mind pumping but I did not like giving her a bottle since it made her gassy.  Breastfeeding is going much better than it was a few weeks ago.  Hooray!  Eva Grace & I have had our fair share of breastfeeding struggles the past couple of weeks and have really benefited from sheer determination and the help of a wonderful lactation consultant Bethany Hanser at Motherhood Express in Florence.  We’ve been to see her twice and she has been so helpful!  She is very reasonably priced but I would happily drop a large chunk of money on a good lactation consultant.  It makes a huge difference!

 

3 weeks old

Eva Grace is such a sweet baby and is bringing much joy to our family.  It’s still weird to think that I have 2 children.  I’m planning on taking them both to the grocery store so I guess reality will really set in then!  😉  My recovery is going well.  I am not fully recovered yet and still experience a little tenderness on my right side.  I’m still trying to limit myself on stairs for right now but other than that I feel pretty good.  Despite having a 3-year-old I have been able to rest a lot more this time.  I have realized that the best thing I can do for the first two months is to take it easy and allow my body to heal.

It has been fun to watch Brandon fall in love with his baby girl. I think she already has him wrapped around her little finger.  Eva Grace loves to fall asleep on Daddy’s chest in the evenings.

The proud big brother.

Elijah has turned into an excellent big brother!  He is always telling me Eva is hungry whenever she makes the tiniest bit of noise.  My favorite thing is when Eli comes to me and mimics the faces that Eva is making.  It is hilarious!  I will have to try to capture one on camera soon.  Eli loves to fetch things for me which has been a big help while I am recovering.  He also enjoys helping me change her diaper.  I always let him pick out which diaper she is going to wear next.  (Since we cloth diaper this is a little exciting.)  Eli and I continue to have alone time reading or working on an activity.  He had a wonderful time finding a caterpillar and making a habitat for it.

I must say that I have really enjoyed becoming a mommy of two this past month.  It has been such a sweet blessing from the Lord and we are so thankful.  Part of me is glad that Eva has reached the one month mark.  I was able to go to church on Sunday and it was WONDERFUL!  My soul was so refreshed listening to the word preached and worshiping with fellow believers.  I can also see how I have grown and changed as a mom from when Eli was first-born.  I actually find myself enjoying some of those late night wake up calls this time around (so long as I find time for a nap later in the day).  Overall I feel a lot more laid back about a lot of things.  🙂

Evangeline Grace is here!

Evangeline Grace is Here!

Evangeline Grace Emerson

“Bearer of the good news of Grace”

October 11, 2013

7:38 am

8lbs 5oz, 20 inches

“For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him.”  1 Samuel 1:27

Pregnancy & Sewing Update: Week 37

Brandon snapped a picture of me at the Columbus Zoo. We were blessed to be able to slip away just the two of us for a few days before we welcome another baby.

A funny thing happened a few weeks ago.  While at the doctor’s office we realized we were a week farther along in our pregnancy than we thought!  Our due date didn’t change we had just been counting down the weeks wrong.  Regardless this little girl is coming soon!  🙂  She will be born for sure sometime in October.

It is so exciting to be nearing the end of this pregnancy.  The changing weather reminds me often that our new baby will be here soon!  We have spent a lot of time in the past couple of weeks talking to Eli about having a new baby in our family.  He asked us whose house the baby would sleep at the other day.  I thought it was so funny that he didn’t realize that the baby would live with us all of the time just like he does.

Our baby girl has not been moving as much as she did a few weeks ago which means we have been doing a little extra testing the past few weeks.  Ever since she switched to the head down position she just doesn’t want to move around as much.   We had an ultrasound and more non-stress tests that showed that all is well.   I’m also wondering if she is moving more during the night and I am just sleeping through it?  I guess she is just saving up her energy for labor.  🙂  Currently I have gained 14 pounds with this pregnancy.  My blood pressure looks great which I am so thankful for.  I had my GBS test and passed this time around.  Now that I am going to the doctor twice a week I feel like my time is quickly slipping away from me.  A trip to the doctor is pretty much an all day affair at this point or at least it feels that way.

I have been doing a better job exercising (walking) but haven’t been back to the gym in a while.  At this point I am just done with weight training.  If I manage to get some walking in I feel like that is plenty!  I have been trying to spend more time resting and less time working on the huge list of projects I would like to finish before the baby comes.  Brandon has been doing a great job of reminding me to rest but it is still so hard for me to do.  The biggest project left to complete is cleaning and organizing our basement.  (We were finally able to purchase a guest bed and mattress which are set up in our basement.  Hooray!)  I also have a bunch of sewing for the nursery that I would like to do but honestly I care more about having the basement clean before the baby comes than having everything all pretty in her room.  She will be sleeping in our room when she comes home from the hospital anyway.  🙂  I have yet to make a single freezer meal which isn’t good.  By the time I feel like I have time in the day to tackle something like that I am just ready for a nap.  Since we really could go into labor at anytime I am trying to stay well rested.  I want to be as well rested as I can for when labor begins.

I did attend a LLL meeting last week which was wonderful.  So many sweet little babies.  It was great to be reminded of all of the great benefits of breastfeeding.  It made me reflect about how some of my own personal reasons for breastfeeding have changed since my first baby.  Before Eli I wanted to breastfeed primarily because of the health benefits and the fact that it is free!  Although both of those reasons are still great-I really want to breastfeed this time around because of the bonding.  That is probably one of the things that I am looking forward to the most (once I get past the first couple months of difficulties.  Breastfeeding was very difficult for me at first last time.  I’m hoping it isn’t as hard this time but at least I am mentally prepared for there to be a learning curve for baby and I.)  There was a little boy there who was 3 who had a great time pushing his cars over his 6 month old little sister’s belly over and over.  🙂  I laughed so hard!  I’m sure that will be Elijah for sure.

Sewing Update for the past couple weeks:

The two wet bags I made for our baby girl.

I sewed two wet bags.  I used PUL material I had on hand and a nice thick fabric that I had purchased for a different project years ago.  I also had the zippers in my stash.  I was really pleased with how the large wet bag turned out.  All of my other wet bags are square sized but I decided to make this one more rectangular.  I hope both bags can stand up to lots of washing and wear.  (That has been my only complaint with homemade bags.  They do not seem to hold up as well as bags you can purchase.)  The small-sized wet bag is really tiny and will probably only hold 2 diapers.

Peri Pads- I sewed a bunch of 4.5″ squares of flannel together to make peri pads.  I am planning on soaking these in witch hazel and using them for discomfort “down there” after the baby comes.  Has anyone ever done this?

The flannel sheet I sewed, 2 sets of nursing pads, and a newborn side snap shirt where I sewed on baby rick rack.

Nursing Pads-I made a few more nursing pads from scrap fabric using the serger.  I think my serger might need a new cutting blade because it is really struggling.  I’m planning on sewing a couple more pads on my mom’s serger this week.

Sheet- I sewed a crib sheet out of a cute flannel fabric that matches the blanket I made for baby girl.

Size Newborn dress

Dress-I used this tutorial to whip up this sweet little newborn peasant dress.  I thought it looked more like a 0-3 months size after it was sewn.  It was fairly quick and easy to sew.

What advice do you have for us as we prepare to meet our little girl any day now?

Pregnancy Update: 33 Weeks & Sewing Update

The blanket I made for Baby Girl. We have decided to go with Elephants, Giraffes, & Owls for the nursery.  Notice the cute little tag I found. 

Now that it is finally September I feel like I am finally getting close to having this little girl!  She will be here sometime next month.  🙂

I had a doctor appointment last week and the baby sounded great.  She is quite the wiggle worm when it comes to the Doppler.  My sister Katelyn actually went with me and got to hear the heart beat which was neat.  As of last week baby girl was head down and locked in the pelvis.  Let’s just hope she stays that way!  (Elijah had to be delivered by C-section because he turned breech at 39 weeks.)  I can definitely tell a change in her movements since she switched to the head down position.  I have now gained 8 pounds this pregnancy which I am pleased with.  I sure look like I have gained a lot more though!

I have been having a little trouble with some leg pain in my left leg due to a vein that sticks out a little bit.  It has been that way since college but it has gotten worse with pregnancy this time.  The doctor recommended compression stockings.  I didn’t realize how vain I am as a person until I had to start wearing them!  🙂  They are awful in many ways (& cost a fortune) but they do help my leg not to hurt.  I think I have been much more active exercising since I started wearing them which is really good.  I really want to stay in shape for the birth.

Brandon & I toured the hospital where I will be giving birth.  I was very pleased with the tour and look forward to delivering there soon.  It was actually much nicer and had more amenities than I expected.  There are plenty of restaurants right next to the hospital so Brandon can get his fast food fix while we are there.  We also went on a fancy date afterwards to Red Lobster which was wonderful.  🙂  I have such a sweet husband.

My doctor did allow me to attend a girl’s get away in Gatlinburg, TN this past weekend.  Hooray!  I missed my boys like crazy but it was SO much fun to hang out with a bunch of girls I went to college with and rarely see because we all live so far away from one another.  I even rode the Sky Lift!  We went to celebrate the fact that one of my sweet friends is getting married in October (less than 2 weeks before baby girl is due).  I really hope I get to attend her wedding.  It was kind of funny because I was pregnant the last time I went on a girl’s trip with this bunch of girls.  🙂

I have started making head way on a couple of sewing projects for baby girl.

The flannel swaddler I made.

I used Simplicity 2165 to sew the swaddler out of flannel.  I made this pattern last year twice for two friends who were expecting.  It was pretty easy to sew the third time around.

I sewed two burp cloths this week. These are contoured and will not slip off your shoulder.

I’m hoping to start cooking some freezer meals this month to eat after the baby comes.  Do you have any great freezer recipes to share? 

 

Budget Friendly Health & Dental Scheduling

 

As a college student I always scheduled all of my checkups-Dental Cleaning, Eye Exam, and Well-Checkup for the first week I was home in May.  That way I could get them over with and enjoy the rest of my summer.   When I got married I continued with this idea and included my husband.  Unfortunately this turned out to be a budget disaster for us!  He also hated the idea of having three appointments in a single week.  Our small budget just couldn’t handle the expense of copays for the dentist and paying for the entire eye exam, contacts & or glasses for two people.  Somewhere in the past almost five years of being married we figured out that we needed to space them out.  Not only is this much easier on our budget but we don’t find ourselves going crazy trying to get everything done within a week.  We set aside a monthly amount in our budget each month for health, dental, and vision expenses.  Spacing out our appointments insures that there will be enough money in our health budget to pay for different services when the bill comes.

If you would like to adopt a similar plan it’s actually quite simple.

1. For each family member write down exactly which appointments they will need within the next 12 months.
2. Then write down what each visit will cost you.  In our family everyone has a well check-up which is covered 100% by our insurance (as long as the doctor’s office bills it correctly).  You may want to call your insurance company and find out exactly what sort of Well-Check Ups are covered.  Each family member also goes to the dentist twice a year for a cleaning where we will have to pay a small portion.  Some dental insurances require you to pay a copay where others pay only a set dollar amount towards services.  Brandon & I also both wear contacts and must have an eye exam every year.  We do not have vision insurance so this is one of our biggest expenses because we have to pay for the eye exam and contacts.  If anyone in your family takes prescription medicine they might also need to schedule lab work every three or four months so keep this in mind.

I thought it might be helpful to share what exactly this looks like for our family:

January-Amanda has her well-checkup and lab workup.

February- Brandon & Amanda go together to the dentist and out to eat afterwards.

March-Elijah visits the dentist.

April- Brandon has an eye exam.  He will then try out contacts for a month and we will order a six-month supply at a time.

May-Amanda has an eye exam.  Her contacts will be ordered the next month.

June- Brandon has his annual Well-Check Up at the doctors with labs.  Since this is covered 100% there is money in the budget to cover Amanda’s contacts which are then ordered.

July- Amanda visits the dermatologist.

August- Brandon & Amanda have their teeth cleaned again.

September- Elijah visits the dentist.

October- For the past few years this month has held no appointments but we will soon be adding yearly well-checkups for our new baby girl.  🙂

November-Elijah has his well-check up.

December- We schedule NO appointments during this crazy month and focus on enjoying the Christmas season.  This is also a crazy month to visit the doctor since many people have met their deductible for the year.

I can’t begin to share just how helpful it has been for our family to space out our check-ups.  I hope you find this idea helpful.  We have actually found this schedule to be the most beneficial this year since I am expecting.  I visit the doctor once a month but will soon find myself going every two weeks and then every week.  I am so glad to have so many of our visits over with before our baby comes. 

 

Pregnancy Update: 25 Weeks

Our little pumpkin!

 

Last week we had the opportunity to do a 3D ultrasound.  Such a fun way to get a sneak peek at our little girl.  We had a 3D ultrasound with Eli and I think he looked a lot like the ultrasound pictures when he was born.  We took Elijah with us for the first time so he had a chance to see the baby and hear the baby’s heart beat.  So fun!

I can’t believe I’m finally in the second half of pregnancy.  It’s crazy to think that we will have a sweet little baby girl around here in about 15 weeks.  Ever since I hit 20 weeks the time has been going by much faster!  In so many ways I feel as though I have been pregnant forever but I am so thankful for this gift.  Thankfully I have been feeling pretty good.  I do find myself having to slow down a little from the amount of activity that I usually do.  My usual daily schedule involves gardening/playing outside for a couple of hours, lunch, and either a rest or nap in the afternoon.  Some days it’s really hard for me to sit down and rest but I know it is really important.  Traveling long distances has also become a lot more uncomfortable but still bearable.

I have started tackling some organization projects around the house.  Am I nesting already?  The baby’s room is currently a sewing room that includes a twin bed.  Almost everything in the room will need to be removed before the baby comes.  So far I have cleared out the shelves in the top of the closet.  That was a big ordeal.  The top of the closet now holds five Rubbermaid totes to store clothing.  I’m anxious to get the room cleared out but wow it takes forever!  I’m also not supposed to lift anything heavy which doesn’t work well with re-arranging!  🙂  Thankfully we do have a finished basement with an open layout.  We are really trying to use that space more in the upcoming year.  I have been working on creating a cozy little corner for crafts and sewing.  I’m looking forward to having a larger area for crafting and sewing.  I may try to set up a special craft area for Elijah too!  Elijah has a play area and another area will serve as a guest room for when we have family visiting from out-of-town.  We also have TONS of books downstairs.  I’d love to put a couch or nice reading chair down there but that is on the distant future list.  🙂

Pumpkin continues to move around like crazy.  Brandon & Elijah have both been able to feel her kicks.  They are that hard already!  I found a new OB which is such an answer to prayer.  Brandon and I both really like him.  At our last appointment we heard the heart beat again which NEVER gets old!  The baby and I both look great.  Baby is currently measuring 2 pounds!  I can’t believe that.  Let’s just hope she isn’t as big as I was when I was born (11lbs 10oz.).    At this point I am probably back to my pre-pregnancy weight (I lost some due to morning sickness).  I have an appointment next week where I get to enjoy the fabulous glucose drink.  🙂  I’m definitely starting to feel “big” in the front.  I seem to be surprised every Sunday when I sit down to play the piano at church.  I now find my arms brushing against my belly.  People have really started to notice and comment a lot lately too!  We also signed Elijah up to take a Big Brother Class next month which will be lots of fun.

22 Weeks & Gender Reveal

A picture of our gender reveal cake. It was beautiful.

Two weeks ago I had my 20 week ultrasound which was fun.   My mom got to go with us which was really special.  We lived too far away at the time for her to attend any of Elijah’s ultrasounds.  The doctor said that everything looks good and the baby weighs 14 oz.   After lots of debating we decided to peek.  It was a very hard decision as I really like the idea of a surprise.  I’m also a very organized person or at least I like to think so.  🙂  We opted to find out the gender with a gender reveal cake so that Elijah could really be a part of our finding out.  He is really excited about our little baby coming and keeps asking, “When is the baby coming?”  🙂

It was actually Brandon’s idea to do a gender reveal with a cake.  At first I thought the idea was kind of lame to be honest but it turned out really neat.  At the ultrasound appointment we had the technician write down the gender and seal it in an envelope which we took to a bakery.  We actually cut into the cake during my Grandmother’s 80th birthday celebration which made it even more special.  🙂

It’s a GIRL!!

We couldn’t be more thrilled to learn that we are having a little girl.  I have a big soft spot in my heart for little boys but for the past 2 months I have felt pretty confident that this little one is in fact a girl.  I woke up one morning clearly thinking this baby is definitely a girl.  Brandon was SHOCKED to learn we were having a girl this time.  He has made a big deal saying that he can’t have girls since his Dad & Grandpa had all boys.  🙂  Everyone has had a fun time teasing him.

We were a little surprised!

For now we are dreaming of baby girl names & making lists of things to sew (& purchase).

I had a doctor’s appointment after our ultrasound.  He said the baby is measuring  right on target-not too small, not too big.  I”m always a little nervous about large babies since my mom’s smallest baby was 9 pounds and her largest was 12lbs 10oz!  🙂  I am still -2 pounds from my starting weight which I am pleased with.  I’m sure I will actually start gaining by my next appointment.  I’ve been trying to eat healthy and exercise more frequently now that I am feeling better.  (I’m hoping to try a new water aerobics class at our gym soon.)  I have been feeling tons of movement and even some real kicks!  This has to be one of my favorite aspects of pregnancy.  For some reason the baby tends to hang out more on my right side.  Is that normal?