In Bloom Doula Services

Goodbye 2017!

Hello 2018!

2017 has been a huge year for our family. Holden turned one in October, so most of 2017 was spent enjoying lots of firsts for him and enjoying my first year of motherhood. I didn’t let a holiday or event go by without celebration and loved getting to experience the normal everyday stuff like swimming, eating food, reading books, and seeing new sights through his eyes. There has never been so much joy in my life, and despite the many obstacles and challenges, I have never been happier.

I also accomplished a personal goal of mine by starting this blog. I had thought of starting a blog for YEARS. I finally bit the bullet and did it. It has been the best outlet and has been so much fun. I also added a youtube channel to the mix. I am excited to see where my blog ends up going in 2018!

Next, we BOUGHT A HOUSE! We finally moved out of the one bedroom, garage apartment and now have our very own house. We are home owners and it is much more expensive than I had imagined, but we couldn’t be happier to have our own space, freedom, privacy and did I mention space? Now I have a dishwasher, a neighborhood to take walks in, a backyard for our dog, a garage to put junk in, and an actual nursery to decorate in the spring for baby #2, which leads me to my next point…

We found out that baby #2 is on the way in September; due May 24th!! We had been trying since June, and I’m not exactly sure why I felt compelled to have another baby so soon because now I am getting waves of panic about handling two under two. It will be fine – I know. It will be our new normal and our family will be better than before, but I am still scared out of my mind. I’ve been really soaking in Holden being the only child lately, especially during Christmas time and through the holidays. We’ve had so much fun before the craziness starts in the spring and before I get really big and uncomfortable and have a lot to do before the new baby’s arrival.

It has been a wild year as Houstonians too. We hosted the Super Bowl, [the entire world] got to experience an eclipse, shortly followed by the devastating floods of hurricane Harvey. One of the most exciting things has been watching the Astros win the World Series for the first time ever, and seeing the joy that it brought to our city and my family. Then we got our first snow in about 10 years. The year has definitely thrown some curve balls along the way, but there has also been so much joy and love.

As for 2018, I’ve got lots of plans, big and small and lots of goals I would like to accomplish through out the next year. Some personal and professional goals for myself, my family, my blog, my career, and of course the second half of my pregnancy. I don’t usually like to share too many personal details about my life but in the spirit of a New Year and in an effort to hold myself accountable, I figured sharing a few goals, or resolutions could be helpful.

Have a Healthy Pregnancy

As for my first goal, I’d like to continue having a healthy, low risk, complication free pregnancy, which will hopefully roll over into a healthy delivery and postpartum recovery. Some small changes I want to focus more on are:

• Taking my prenatal vitamins EVERYDAY
• Drinking adequate amounts of water EVERYDAY (which should be easier since my husband got my a gorgeous Yeti for Christmas to take to work with me that I am obsessed with.)
• Doing 100 kegels EVERYDAY. They are important for having a strong pelvic floor, and I already pee when I sneeze unfortunately. My midwife and doula are always stressing the importance of kegel exercises, and I am going to listen.
• Workout more. I have been walking with Holden regularly. Usually for about 45 minuets and rigorously, but I would like to incorporate prenatal yoga and lots of squats for a better labor and delivery.

I also want to have another fast, unmedicated labor and birth for my second son. Holden’s birth was such a great experience, so I am hoping that this delivery will be very similar. I have the same birth team ready to go and will be preparing for his birth in the same ways I discussed in How I Prepared for An Unmedicated Birth (And Succeeded). 

Finish Projects

I have been in my home since June, and have done minimal decorating due to a limited budget. I am still on a limited budget and will be for some time, (more on that in a minute) but I would like to make small steps in personalizing my house and making it feel like a HOME. I had fun decorating for Christmas, and have been making plans for what to do after the decorations come down.

One way we will be decorating is by making a nursery for our second bundle of joy. I have been going Pinterest crazy, and have tons of ideas. We will also be moving Holden into his big boy room and making that special for him. If only we could get him to sleep in there too.

An ongoing project/ hobby of mine is scrapbooking. I have been scrapbooking since I was about 12 years old, and have over 20 scrapbooks. I scrapbook EVERYTHING, but it is becoming increasingly more expensive, time consuming and impractical. I have decided to save scrapbooking for the special occasions and have started making more Shutterfly albums. I am still several years behind, so by the end of 2018 I would love to be all up to date and finished with previous years albums and scrapbooks. This was my goal for 2017, and I made a lot of head way, but still have more to do.

Reduce Credit Card Debt

I know compared to some I have very minimal credit card debt, student loans, well thats another story, but I want to get rid of the majority of it. I have 4 credit cards total and have set up a payment plan following some Dave Ramsey advice to eliminate 3 of the 4 card balances by December 2018, hopefully more. This will be a tight spring for us because on top of paying off debts, I do have a doula and birth photographer to pay for. Could I go without them technically? Yes. But they are THAT important to me, so I am sacrificing in other areas by trying to cut back on going out to eat, trying to utilize coupons, box dying my hair, and have been buying used baby products (like my new glider and stroller) in order to save money. I won’t be completely debt free, but if I stick to my plan, I will have a much more bang to my paycheck and will be able to focus on paying off things like my student loans and our mortgage.

Continue Blogging

As for 2018, I plan on continuing to blog and hopefully grow my blog/ channel. I plan on continuing to up new content regularly and would love to reach new followers as I try to expand the conversation that surrounds pregnancy, birth and all that is postpartum life and motherhood. I have enjoyed my blog so much that I can’t imagine stopping now.

Although I am slightly nervous for what 2018 has in store for my family, I am also incredibly excited to see how it all will go. It is such a blessing to have so much to look forward to and I have a feeling it is all going to be pretty wonderful.

What are some of your resolutions and goals for 2018?

Happy New Year!!