Our Maternity Photos // Baby Tromburg #2

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During my pregnancy with Asher we had maternity photos taken (which you can see here) and I was really excited to have them done again with this pregnancy and include Asher in the photos. In case you missed all the details about baby #2, we are having a baby boy, due May 9th (Mother’s Day!). Asher and his new brother will be about 21 months apart. With Asher we had a difficult time getting pregnant, (you can read that story here) and so we were delightfully surprised to find out we were pregnant with baby #2 just shortly after Asher’s first birthday..

For our maternity session we worked with Keri Messina Photography who was a delight to work with and so good at catching Asher’s attention and drawing out his sweet smile. As I share the images below (which were edited by me), I also wanted to share a few of the things I am doing in this last trimester to get ready for baby to come.

Nesting

First off, nesting. Nesting always sounded like a fake idea to me, until I actually experienced it. It’s like an unexplainable drive that can hit you at random times during the day to all the sudden clean something, organize something or acquire something for the house or the baby. So what has this looked like for me?

Prepping baby gear
Since this is my second baby and my second boy, we are reusing a lot of the clothes and items we already had (and thankfully saved), but we needed to pull everything out of storage and give it a good wash. I washed most of the newborn clothes between 32 to 34 weeks pregnant, and then around 37 weeks I got our bassinet and car seat washed and set up. Once those things were accomplished I really felt like “this baby could come anytime!”
Organizing our kitchen
We have a very small house and not a lot of storage in our kitchen, so I had to get creative about storing things to make room for items like baby bottles, binkies, pump parts, and medicine containers. I also wanted to move all of Asher’s utensils to an area of the kitchen that he could access because he recently became interested in helping us unload the dishwasher and I wanted to encourage his independence by enabling him to put away his dishes himself and eventually get them out himself as well. For kitchen storage, I used a lot of these Y-weave decorative storage baskets from Target in various sizes to help consolidate some of the smaller items like medicine bottles and binkies, and to function as drawers for Asher plates and bowls, which I relocated to some lower shelving.
Acquiring new toys/activities for Asher
This obviously isn’t something you’d do if pregnant with your first child, but with a second baby, I feel like a major part of preparing your household is preparing the older kids for the change. I wanted to try to acquire a few new toys and activities so that when the focus is on the new baby, Asher had a few things to help keep him entertained and occupied. Here are a few of the things we got:
1. Little Tikes Easy Score Basketball Set
2. Picasso Tiles 60 Piece Set
3. This awesome Canvas Hanging Swing for the oak tree in our front yard.
4. Wooden Step Stool - another item to encourage independence and save my back from lifting him to wash his hands at the sink. We keep this one in our kitchen and have this foldable one in our bathroom
5. Strider Bike and Helmet which he is still kind of figuring out, but I am hoping he will get a lot of use out of it this summer while I follow him with the baby in a carrier.
Stocking up on our Favorite Snacks
The only time in my life that I can eat more than when I am pregnant is when I am breastfeeding a baby. At least with Asher I was so unexpectedly hungry all the time that I got used to keeping snacks in my bedside table for those middle of the night feedings. My wonderful husband did a HUGE Costco run for us about a month ago, and this week I used their same day delivery service to get a few more things. We have officially run out of room in our freezer.

Preparing for Labor

Preparing my body physically
1. Drinking at least one cup of Red Raspberry Leaf Tea per day.
2. Sitting on an exercise ball throughout the day. This is the one we have from Amazon and it’s the perfect size for me (I’m 5’7)
3. Trying to cut down on sugar and carbs and increasing lean protein and veggies. This has proven to be difficult as a lot of my cravings have revolved around sweet things, but I’ve been so tired this pregnancy I really think avoiding those sugar crashes helps to boost my energy.
4. Walking and staying active. I recently watched a YouTube video where a birth educator classified “staying active” as chasing her toddler around all day, cleaning, and just generally moving her body, which was really encouraging to me because caring for Asher and cleaning our house have felt like pretty large efforts to me lately. I haven’t walked as much this pregnancy as I did with Asher, but I’m trying to ramp that up now as much as possible.
5. Seeing the chiropractor at least once a week. I’ve been seeing Brandon Couchman at Elevation Health Center since before I got pregnant with Asher and the list of ways he had helped me are endless. Additionally, studies show chiropractic in pregnancy reduces the time of labor and delivery, reduces back, neck or pelvic pain and can help baby get into the optimal position for birth, preventing c-sections and difficult labors.*
Preparing Mentally and emotionally
With Asher I had did not have an epidural even though my labor was augmented with Pitocin (you can read Asher’s birth story part 1 and part 2) and my goal this time around is again to do it without an epidural. Preparing for this has looked like:
1. Hiring a doula. This was not something I had with Asher’s birth, but after having experienced birth once, I see the benefit of having a doula to help offer extra support during labor and to help guide and instruct me on natural pain management techniques and positions. My doula, Megan, is also a friend of ours and someone I trust fully to be a positive presence in the whole labor experience.
2. A couple days ago I had a few extra minutes in the morning before Asher woke up to write down a few bible verses that I think will be helpful during labor. I focused especially on ones that would be helpful for when I am feeling weak or anxious that would help encourage me and refocus me on the Lord.
3. If this was my first baby, or even if I was feeling like I needed a refresh I would take a birth education course from Shaina Brickner. She is a labor and delivery nurse, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, mama to three and also my old college roommate. She offers so much information and support for moms and dads entering parenthood.

Going from one to two boys is going to be an adjustment and I’m sure you can never be fully prepared, but for now we’ll take it one day at a time. We cannot wait to meet our precious baby boy and I can’t believe the time is almost here! I will treasure these photos and this season forever!