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EP 19: Nesting + Preparing for Baby Margot!
2.6k Plays2 years ago
Nesting! Love it or hate it, it’s a necessary and often manic part of preparing for baby. This week, Whitney shares how she has been getting ready for baby Margot’s arrival. The moms talk nursery prep and decor, staying organized, hospital bags, and the difference between prepping for baby one vs. baby two.
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Transcript
The Cocoon Phase: Pregnancy Metaphors
00:00:07
Speaker
There's no right way to do it. Oh, we're going to get into it. What up, caterpillars, that are in their cocoon right now, but soon to be butterflies again. I'm with Shannon and Candice, my two best friends, and we're the Mom Group Chat podcast.
00:00:26
Speaker
Oh my God, that was the most creative one we've ever had. I was thinking about it and I was like, we are in our cocoon phase and once we have our babies, we're going to blossom and become butterflies again. It's like a cocoon within a cocoon right now. I'm a cocoon. She's in a cocoon. I'm in my house, which is a cocoon.
00:00:49
Speaker
We're a Russian doll situation.
Family Heirlooms and Sentimental Value
00:00:52
Speaker
And soon we're going to hatch. You know, what's funny is I have a Russian doll that I've had since I on the bottom, it says 1993. My grandmother bought it for me, I guess, legit in Russia. They used to travel all over the world. And it is so cute. It has like a little Persian cat. And I have it in Margot's room, but Graydon keeps stealing it. And I've found it in the kitchen. I'm like, oh, hell no.
00:01:19
Speaker
You cannot be touching my Russian doll because it's so like precious to me I loved it when I was little so I'm like boy you better back up. I'm having to hide it
00:01:30
Speaker
That is such a Whitney thing. I was about to say that. I was like, Whitney is just synonymous with heirlooms to me. Why do you have so many heirlooms? I have no heirlooms. Whitney finds weird things. I guess it's... Yeah, yeah. It's not weird necessarily, but it's just like...
00:01:49
Speaker
I don't, like you just have these things that are like so cute and unique and you like save them and they like come out at the perfect time. Like I'm sure that Russian doll looks so cute. And Margot's room, like that is something my grandmother would give me and I would get rid of probably in a move somewhere. And then I'd be like down the line, be like, damn, it'd be cool if I would have kept that. I am just like the least
00:02:12
Speaker
you can ask Vinny this, I am the least sentimental person. Like I don't want to hold on to anything.
Minimalism vs. Memory Keeping
00:02:18
Speaker
I never, the only thing I hold on to is cards with handwriting in it because I always think about my dad, you know, who passed and the things I have of his handwriting to me like mean a lot to me. But that's the only thing, everything else I'm like, toss it.
00:02:39
Speaker
And Vinny is a memory keeper. He likes to keep everything. This whole, I don't even know, okay, right there behind me, that is a huge trunk. And it is filled with Vinny's memories. Like weird things from swim meets and it's just, but I keep telling him, I'm like, listen, that thing, when this baby comes, it's gotta go to storage. You don't have to throw it away, but you have to put it in storage. It can't sit in here anymore.
00:03:06
Speaker
We have a huge container in our garage full of Chris's trophies. I'm like, dude, can we please get rid of these?
Men's Confidence and Youthful Dreams
00:03:15
Speaker
He's like, no, like he's adamant. I'm like.
00:03:18
Speaker
What did he do in high school? Are they high school? Basketball, right? Everything. Football, basketball, baseball. It's all kinds of stuff. Naturally. Little spring spice. It goes back to that idea that men always, even into their 40s, they believe that they have the ability to be professional athletes.
00:03:41
Speaker
Can I tell you something I saw on the internet that I need to tell Andrew it I sent it to him but it was like this guy being like look if you want to make your husband your boyfriend put your partner feel good here's what you have to say there's just one thing you have to say you have to say honey I know that you would have crushed it in World War two
00:04:03
Speaker
I know you would have done such a good job.
Family Legacy and War Stories
00:04:07
Speaker
And he goes, and then you wait a second and you say, especially in Normandy. They probably would love, I think my dad would faint if I said that to him. But it's super relevant for us because Andrew's grandfather was a like paratrooper in Normandy. And it's like such a big part of their family history, obviously, because it's badass and like,
00:04:29
Speaker
So crazy, but I feel like they also say like that's why like basically all of my father-in-laws brothers they're all like we could like literally never live up to their dad because he was in Normandy and like fought in World War II and like survived all of that and then
00:04:52
Speaker
Like now Andrew's generation, they're all like, I mean, grandpa Mike, like there's literally nobody who can touch him. Yeah. Um, so are obsessed with that war. Yeah. My, uh, I think my lake house code, my parents lake house code is the year of Normandy. So don't break into it. Anybody? I'm pretty sure like every man's obsessed with that war. It's true.
Confidence in Emergencies: TikTok Trends
00:05:18
Speaker
I'm kind of also obsessed with it, but that's kind of like my.
00:05:23
Speaker
I don't know, one of my things like I just love. Yeah, you're right. I was going to say you're a history buff. I'm not. I hate history is like my least favorite. That's why you're like, get rid of this old shit. I'm like, shit. And then one more thing back to like the confidence of men and the like blind confidence of men, you know, our guest Julia Stern, I don't know if you saw on her Instagram story, she did that thing, which is also a tick tock trying where you text your husband.
00:05:50
Speaker
And you ask them, in the case of an emergency, do you feel like you could land a commercial airline in an emergency? And the amount of men that say yes, so I did it. I was like, I'm going to text Vinny while he's out and about, and I'm going to ask him. And his response was, oh, yeah.
00:06:11
Speaker
I have it, I have it screen shot and I'll save it. And I texted it to Julia Stern and I was like, what the hell is wrong with them? Like Vinny could never do that. Well, I feel like that's like women. Like, like we all low key think we could be actresses and models. Like, I don't know.
00:06:30
Speaker
I saw Candace consider it. She was like, I mean, well, I wanted to be like an actress slash pop star my entire life.
Parental Support: The Taylor Swift Effect
00:06:38
Speaker
So like, I mean, like with the right training, like if my parents just invested a little bit more in me, if they let me get scouted at the mall, I could be Miley Cyrus. But I last I did not have the right support system. It's always the parents fault, you know.
00:06:54
Speaker
Fuck them. I have told you all this a hundred times. Like all I wanted was to be a Disney star. Like that was, and I live in, thank you so much. That's the best compliment. But now Alice is starting to sing like for real. She sings, let it go. And she sings, she like waves her little hand and it's so cute. And I'm just telling y'all if, and I can hear she's got some pitch in there. That's good. And I'm telling you if she, if the girl can sing it's over. Like I, we're,
00:07:23
Speaker
We are going to LA, we are going to Orlando. I will live vicariously through my daughters maybe. Maybe they'll be a little like sister duo. And I'm just telling you. Allie and AJ. You could have the next Allie and AJ. I mean, Alice Joan, AJ. Maybe this next baby will be named Allie.
00:07:50
Speaker
Oh, there you go. Very little thinking. Okay, but I mean this segues to the thing that I.
00:07:59
Speaker
been dying to talk about because it's my personality, but Taylor Allison Swift. I know. Well, here's what I'm going to
Staying Grounded: Taylor Swift's Journey
00:08:07
Speaker
say. I'm not going to go too much into the concert because everybody knows and I've already talked about how much I love her, but we have really good seats. But one of the things I admire so much about her is that she and her parents, I feel like her parents did such a good job of allowing her to pursue her dream as a young girl and not
00:08:28
Speaker
And she is able to handle it and be a grounded person. Obviously, I'm sure she has to be psychotic in some ways, so you can't be that successful without being a little bit crazy. But she's never gone off the rails. And I genuinely think she's a good person and has handled her business so fucking well. And I feel like that's so rare with the child stars. Oh, yeah. No, it's scary.
00:08:54
Speaker
It's very touchy. It's funny that you say that because now as a parent, I feel like, don't get me wrong, I'd love to interview Taylor Swift. That would be my dream. But I would really love to interview her mom or dad and be like, how the hell did you do it? Because she's been in the spotlight since she was 14-ish, pursuing a record deal. And she still seems grounded and down to earth and nice.
00:09:23
Speaker
Very, very, very, if any, like there are very little stories about her being rude or menace. I truly have never heard that. Really, the only thing anyone says about her is, oh, well, her dating history is like, you know, I hate that. There's nothing else to get on. Yeah. Yeah. Like she has a spotless record. Yeah.
Resilience in Fame: Taylor Swift's Challenges
00:09:46
Speaker
I feel like she's a little reclusive, though. Like you never see her out and about, I feel like.
00:09:52
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I think she went through that during the 1989 when she was like all over. She was, I always say that was Taylor Swift's main character era. She was the main character of pop culture. Like she was everywhere. And then she had that, you know, everything that happened with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. And she like got burned by being the main character. And so now she is like, she
00:10:14
Speaker
She definitely is the main character of the summer, but I feel like from a distance, like in a way, she's still, you know, she doesn't let everyone is built herself. Like she's been dragged down so many times and been able to rise above it. Baby, I rise up from the dead. I do it all the time as she says that everyone's like, you know what?
00:10:35
Speaker
you fucking deserve it. Like, yeah, I feel like nobody anymore is like tearing her down because she's just proven herself over and over and over. So like this heiress tour, everyone's just like, you know what, you fucking deserve it. Like down like she's nobody's mad. Yeah.
00:10:52
Speaker
Oh, so for those of you that don't know, Shannon just got back from L.A.
Taylor Swift's Eras Tour Experience
00:10:57
Speaker
and went to the final night of the era's tour of the year of the year. Oh, sorry. Yeah. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Of the first leg, the first U.S. leg. Yeah. She's like popping more in there. I know.
00:11:10
Speaker
And she sat technically second row, but there was no one in front of you, right? Yes. So it was second row. That's what we knew. But then when we got there, it was like on the end of the second row. Yeah. So if you turn to your left, the way this stage was set up, you were in the front row of like the end of the catwalk. Cause it.
00:11:30
Speaker
I mean, it was like a catwalk and then there's like an end cap that's rectangle. So not only did we have like basically all this space, we were in the corner right there. So it was like front row, but to two stages that she was performing on. And we had all this like extra space to dance. It was just like better than we could have ever imagined. We like got to our seat.
00:11:54
Speaker
And we were just jumping up and down and being so giddy with the people right behind us. They were like, this is so fucking crazy. And I mean, yeah, I don't want to bore everybody with all of my adoration for her, but it was just the best night of my life.
00:12:14
Speaker
really special to me to be able to see her so close up. And they did the, you know, the secret songs were literally right in front of us, which is like the most intimate part of the show. And the lights come on a little bit during that time. So like, I feel like she could see me feeling like we were having a moment.
00:12:33
Speaker
during that time. And then she announced 1989 Taylor's version. And I could just watch her like, like her face, not her face on a screen, not her face on TikTok. Like I was watching her experience this moment. And I was just like, I fucking love you. I love her so much. I will remember it for forever. It was so special.
Pregnancy and Concert Experiences
00:12:58
Speaker
And
00:12:59
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. That is so, I am so jealous. You have to post whenever we do post this episode, you need to post your video. Cause that video, like, like, don't get me wrong. Seeing Taylor is so.
00:13:14
Speaker
like she's so close and like larger than life and like so amazing. But I love watching you in that video. You're like jumping up and down and you genuinely look so happy. And maybe it's just cause you're my best friend and I love you so much. I just love watching you in that video. You're so
00:13:31
Speaker
happy. I just couldn't believe seeing that video how freaking close I was like, yeah, definitely like sweated on you and you were rained on and I'm like, holy shit. You were like, I like when I could have yelled and she would have hurt me like I could have said anything.
00:13:48
Speaker
Um, but yeah, I mean, she's a fucking professional. Her routine is so honed. I don't know how she does it. I can't wait for the documentary to come out. So I want to know exactly what she eats her, her training regimen for this. Like she just looks so strong and so, yeah, she does. Yeah. She is glowing my queen and I just wanted to like the way she feeds off of the audience's energy. I was like,
00:14:18
Speaker
trying to take in her energy. That was like, give me some of this. That's like when they're sucking the life out of the young people. Literally, I was like, just sweat on me a little bit. I know. Maybe I'll get some of your powers. Baby loved it.
00:14:38
Speaker
Oh, yeah, it was super special to have the baby there. I didn't like feel her kicking or anything because I kind of forgot about her for that three hours. I like bouncing around. You're like, oh, shit.
00:14:51
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, I, I wore boots, which was a big mistake. That was my only downfall was like, I was a little bit more tired. It's a three and a half hour show. So I got really exhausted towards the end. And I sat down a few times when she was doing like the slower folklore and evermore stuff. Um, so that was the only time I remembered I was pregnant. Cause I was like, yeah.
00:15:13
Speaker
My heart rate. Yeah, we had a lot of fun. But I feel like it's special that like you're going to be able to tell Alice one day there's going to be a documentary about the heiress
Pregnancy Revelations Post-Tour
00:15:23
Speaker
tour. It's going to be one of the most epic tours of all time. And you're going to be able to tell your daughter like you were in my belly when I went that when I went. Alice. Well, hold on. I said Alice too.
00:15:35
Speaker
Well, I said Alice because Alice I was in my second trimester when I went to the Harry Styles love on tour show Which I also feel like was kind of an iconic not as iconic as eras But I love Harry Styles and I feel like he's he's he will be like the Elton John of our generation it'll be really cool one day to like Tell her you were in my belly when I went to love on tour and it's I don't know I think it's kind of cool
00:15:59
Speaker
Also, this new baby, both Shannon and I were implanting this new baby in our uterus at the Harris store. Literally, when we saw it in Tampa. No, this is legit not a joke. When we went to the Harris store in Tampa in April, Shannon, you were literally implanting this baby. You found out you were pregnant very close after that. And then remember I was like packed a bunch of tampons because I was like, I'm going to bleed.
00:16:28
Speaker
like a motherfucker during this concert, or I'm pregnant. I'm not sure what's going on. Yeah, because you were cramping. And then it was kind of wild. You're like, I implanted there. We were like, whoa, that's legit. And then Candace did the damn same thing. I did the same thing. So I went to New York at the end of May to see. I went to their store in New Jersey. I, again, brought tampons with me. I thought I was going to get my period.
00:16:57
Speaker
I drowned this baby in alcohol. I am not kidding. I truly had like a weekend. Like I had probably like 10 high noons at the concert. Like I was living my best life. We went out to like lots of boozy dinners. I had like a million dirty martinis. And then I found out I was pregnant. Thank God you did. Yeah. Because then that all came to a screeching halt.
00:17:23
Speaker
It all came to a screeching halt. So I was also implanting this baby while at the Aeros tour. So this is just really special for all of us. Special. I think the common denominator is us seeing each other. We get pregnant, though. Like, yeah, weird.
00:17:39
Speaker
But that's the secret sauce. Yeah, we all just need to like do our little vibey thing. We see each other and then bam, one of us gets pregnant together. Hold hands. Yeah, yeah. Have a so true. I mean, that's what happened. Yeah, with Whitney, we went to Lake Tahoe together and I got pregnant with Candice. Together we made a baby. Yeah, I'm just kidding. It's weird how that keeps happening. Yeah. I got away from you, though, for real girl.
00:18:09
Speaker
That's a good segue into our topic because Whitney,
Pregnancy Anticipation and Health Concerns
00:18:14
Speaker
you are. We're in the homestretch. You're close. I'm like two weeks out.
00:18:18
Speaker
Oh my God. I can't believe it. You just shocked me. I don't know. Like, I know it's close, but like two weeks. It's just like we've been talking about it today. Yeah. I was having some some Hicks, some Braxton Hicks earlier. And I was like, Oh God. Yeah, Chris. And I call him the Hicks. That's so getting some of those earlier. And I was like, is this it? Because, you know, I never felt it before. I don't remember having them last time. And I'm like,
00:18:47
Speaker
Is she just moving or are these what everyone's talking about? I don't know. But I definitely, I'm having them, which means nothing, right? But I'm just like, wow, it is so close and also feels forever away. Like the anticipation is so much right now. Have you had your cervix checked at any of your appointments?
00:19:09
Speaker
No, I went on Monday and he didn't check it at all. He also, I don't know if I got to tell y'all, you know how you have to do the GBS test on your butt holio? Yes. They let me do it to myself, which was such a treat. Yeah.
00:19:26
Speaker
I was like, uh, y'all are trusting me with this shoot. The nurse was like, do you want to do it or do you want him to do it? And I was like, I want him to do it. Obviously like a professional. And she's like, it's so easy. And I was like, Oh, I guess I want to do it. I guess. Wait, hold on. I need to, can we talk about the, the logistics of this very quickly? Are you like in the room or they let you take a swab to the bathroom?
00:19:47
Speaker
They left me in the doctor room, whatever. So they told her, so she gave me the swab. I swear to God, I told my group, I was like, it felt like a COVID test for my underbits. I got the swab and you swirl it around in there two or three times, you drag it down that middle section and then you just circle your booty hole twice, snap the stick and you drop it in the little tube. And that was it.
00:20:17
Speaker
Vanderbilt really be out here preaching that teaching hospital shit because I just taught myself the GPS test. So it really sounds like a covid test. Well, I was like, that was easy enough. And I told Chris, I was like, oh, my God, I could be a nurse. And he was like, it sounds easy. I was like, fuck off. But my God, that's a thrill. I.
00:20:42
Speaker
don't remember my doctor doing that to me. I feel like I don't remember it at all. It must have happened. It's at the very end. Yours was positive last time, right? Yeah, which I mean, it doesn't really mean much. They give you medicine. Yeah, they give you antibiotics just in case because it's some bacteria that grows in you while you're pregnant or whatever. So they just had that drip in while I was giving birth. So.
00:21:10
Speaker
Wow. It's so close. I'll definitely have it again. But if I were I was like such a freako about my cervix the last like couple weeks, I was like, check it. I was I was kind of mad. He didn't. I'm like, tell me I'm two centimeters or something. Yeah, that's how I was when I was two weeks away. I was two centimeters, but I still ended up having to be induced. It actually gave me false hope. I know. I'm like.
00:21:36
Speaker
If he's not gonna check it, I'm not gonna push it, so whatever. She'll come when she's ready, or you'll hit that induction date. Or when you're ready. Yeah. Yeah, selfishly, it's like I wish she would come sooner, but what can you do? Yeah, how are you feeling overall? I feel like I had a little scare, obviously, last week where- Yeah, I was gonna say, I feel like you should talk about that because I'm sure there are other
00:22:06
Speaker
pregnant women or moms that have maybe gone through that? Yeah, so I'm considered high risk just because I have the MTHFR blood clotting disorder. And I've had PEs in the past, so I'm on Lovenox. I'm taking daily shots in my stomach, which are blood thinners. So I was already going to be induced at 39 weeks irregardless, or regardless, whichever word works there. Regardless.
00:22:34
Speaker
So I've been getting weekly ultrasounds since three weeks ago. And then all of a sudden last week, they were like, you have excess amniotic fluid, which could mean that you have late onset gestational diabetes. And so it just became this like whirlwind where, and this was like on Friday, where I'm like, oh shit, I'm gonna have to go into the weekend.
00:22:57
Speaker
just googling my heart out and going down a deep hole and being anxious about it. So I had my doctor's appointment Monday. Oh, they did make me take the one hour glucose test, which I failed. And I was like, Oh shit. Like I, all of a sudden got it. Like diabetes is chasing me. My body wants me to have it. So
00:23:18
Speaker
On Monday, he was so casual, he didn't even seem concerned about, it's called polyhydromnios, which is the excess fluid. And he didn't even seem concerned, but he was like, I want you to do the three hour glucose test. And I was like, motherfucker. I do not want to do this.
00:23:40
Speaker
So I did that this week and I don't have gestational diabetes. So I feel like I've been on a little bit of a little roller coaster. I'm like, I'm giving birth in two weeks. Can we calm down? This all seems very dramatic. They also made you feel like if that was the case, that they might induce you early. Yeah, so that was the point. I got a little excited. I'm not going to lie.
00:24:03
Speaker
Ooh, maybe I'll be induced at like 38 weeks, four days or something. But now it just feels like I got let down. Like it's kind of, oh, everything's good again. So yeah. So the fluid doesn't matter at all. It's just like a sign that you might have. Yeah. So that they're not able to like, uh, cause consume it as much like they can't keep up with the glucose levels. Um, but I had that ultrasound Monday and it went back to normal.
00:24:34
Speaker
Like it's gone. Like it, they said that it just transferred and it's fine. Transferred where? Okay. I absorbed. Amazing. My body absorbed. I don't know. I had a little bit of a stressful week last week. So I'm like, maybe it just had to do with that. Or I don't know. Just.
00:24:53
Speaker
I was in the office a lot, so I wasn't I'm not used to like sitting straight up all the time. And so I'm like, maybe it just was like collecting or I don't know. So but everything's good again. Well, that's good. I mean, drama. Yeah. I got you. I mean, it's for me, it's the googling that I'm just like, oh, oh, I spiraled. It was like, yeah, it's not just an astronaut diabetes, and it could be like
00:25:24
Speaker
something wrong with her intestine track. And I was like, they're going to pull her out and she's going to have to have surgery. And I was just really spiraling at that point. And Chris is like, she's fine. He's always like the calm to my storm. And I'm like, how do you know? He's like, she's been fine this whole time. Let's calm down. I'm like, okay.
Nursery Preparation and Design Choices
00:25:46
Speaker
I mean, it probably got you like in the it probably pushed you to do the final things of preparing like pack your bag and all which is what we're talking about today. Yeah, absolutely. I went into full on nesting mode and yeah, we did. We packed her bag.
00:26:05
Speaker
My bag's halfway packed. I only have like one good dress that still fits me. So it's hanging in my closet that I'm waiting to pack stuff like that. But, um, yeah, kind of crazy like past week there leading up for the content today, which we were going to, I guess, transition into now it was.
00:26:28
Speaker
We're talking about preparing for birth, right? For the arrival of Margo. I don't know how far back you want to go with, but I was really excited for this because I feel like I've done nothing. Like as we talked about a few times on the pod, the second pregnancy can feel very chill. And I'm worried that I'm going to like chill myself into a bad situation where
00:26:50
Speaker
I'm not ready at all. So I'm very excited to hear like what you've been doing, how you've been preparing. Obviously your nursery is like the cutest thing of all time and all ready. So like, I don't know how you want to structure it, but like,
00:27:04
Speaker
I definitely feel like the first thing I started on was nursery and which is something like I've talked about before that I consider really fun to do. I started on the nursery like in March.
00:27:21
Speaker
slash April, like that was the first thing I tackled. I found it all stemmed from this wallpaper that I wanted. Found out that it was so nice that I had to have a interior designer order it. So then it just spiraled into me having an interior designer help me buy that. And then she was like,
00:27:44
Speaker
Well, anything else you want in this room? And I was like, well, I'm bad at curtains. Let's throw that in there. She's like, we can match a bed skirt too. And I was like, why not? So I was just like, just keep adding it in. So she helped me with those things.
00:28:00
Speaker
She helped me pick out a chair, which I ordered. Uh, she was going to have one made, but it was just like, some of that stuff is like so expensive to have things custom when you can just find it yourself. So I was like, I'm going to go looking for that. So just ordering things, but like us coming up with the ideas together. Um, we kept, so Margot moved into Graydon's room.
00:28:24
Speaker
old room and we moved Grayden to like a bigger room, which I got to work on that too. So that was so fun. I made it more boyish. It has kind of like a, I call it my like little Ralph Lauren polo bar thing. It's like, it's hard to collect everything for that. It still feels so bare. Like I'm way too scared to hang anything over his crib because I'm scared it will come crashing down on him. So like, it just feels a little more bare compared to her room, but I love his room.
00:28:53
Speaker
so much too. It all started with the nursery. If you plan on working or postponing the nursery, furniture is so hard to get. People are panicking in my group because rocking chairs aren't being delivered in time.
00:29:13
Speaker
You really do need to get a head start on some of that stuff because it takes forever for furniture to get delivered. The room wasn't finished until the end of July recently and I started in March.
00:29:30
Speaker
So he's great and still a toddler. So you pretty much have to like just get everything else because you would move or sorry, get everything again, like because you moved his chair, you moved his diaper stuff, you moved. Yeah, he still needs everything. Yeah. Luckily, our our neighbors have kids that are like five. So they just gave us a crib and we were like, oh, that's right. Yeah. So we just took their crib and it was white.
00:29:56
Speaker
and really nice and I'm like cool put that in Grains room because he's still in his crib he's not too yet and we already had a dresser in there but it was like we we did reupholster his chair in there just we made it brown to match the polo vibe but other than that we kind of had everything and we left everything else from his nursery in there for Margo we left the room blue
00:30:21
Speaker
Um, left all the furniture cause I knew like it would match what I was trying to do. Um, but yeah, all that was really fun and it just took forever. So get as much of a headstart on that as you possibly can. I'd say a lot of girls in my group, um, are still working on stuff and they're like, holy crap, we have like three weeks and I'm like rushing and I'm just.
00:30:48
Speaker
Like, yeah, you really do need to get started on that pretty quick. So yeah, I need to get on it because you have less time when you have a kid already. It's just like time goes away. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. It's just setting everything up. But.
00:31:02
Speaker
Yeah, like I said, I really like that part. So that was easy for me to like dive into. It was probably good too, because starting on something you like getting that done, you'll like snowball into other things, you know? Yes.
00:31:19
Speaker
Yeah, so fun. Yeah. What other, my, I think one of my biggest questions or worries or something I like really want to prepare for that I'm curious if you've like thought about or done anything is doing anything like four grade in to like.
Adjusting Siblings to a New Baby
00:31:34
Speaker
Do you have any plans when you like bring the baby home of like, you know, I've seen things like the baby brings them a gift to make them feel special or like, you know what I mean? Like, is there anything you're doing for Graydon to like soften the blow of bringing a brand new human home? I feel like we've gotten lucky. A lot of my friends have had newborns. Like there's three of my really good friends that have had them right in a row in June and July. And so Graydon's
00:32:04
Speaker
been around a lot of babies recently and he loves them. He's always like, baby. Like last night we dropped off a meal for a friend and the baby was crying and he was like, oh no, like so concerned. Like I think he's going to be really helpful. I feel like the conversation right now is do we bring him to the hospital or do we meet at home?
00:32:28
Speaker
Yeah. And Chris is nervous about the hospital because he's like, man, if he gets taken away and we're not going with him, he's going to have a meltdown. And I go, not our problem. Yeah. Yeah. What do you mean? If he gets taken away? Like if my mom takes him back home without me and Chris. Right. Like it's. Yeah. Yeah. OK. But I think.
00:32:51
Speaker
we might do it at home. And yes, I do have gifts for him, like a book, and I have a stuffed animal. I ordered like a little jelly cat stuffed animal that's gonna be from sister, but really, like, I just feel like he's still so young. I don't know how much you have to prepare, I think. A lot of my friends that have like the three-year-olds
00:33:16
Speaker
Plus are having a little harder time because they can remember the time before baby where Graydon's just going to be like, well, this has always been my life. You know, do you think like, to what extent do you think he comprehends that you're having a baby?
00:33:33
Speaker
Everyone keeps asking me about TJ. I'm like, he can't talk. I don't think he, I don't even look that pregnant yet. Like he doesn't know. He knows where the baby is. Like he's gotten to the point where we're like, where's baby sister? And he will come and slap my stomach. Right here. It's actually really freaking hilarious. And I'm like, right. And you're so rough. And I was like, Margot is going to come out swinging because you are so mean to her.
00:34:04
Speaker
So he calls her baby sister, he calls her go-go, he knows-ish. And he's met all the babies. We've pulled the car seat out and he's like, baby, he knows it's a baby car seat. So, I mean, that's the extent of it. They're gonna be 23 months apart. So, I don't know. This is all very new to me. I don't have a sibling that close to me.
00:34:31
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know how it goes. So yeah, I think you're right about them still being so little like I think the whole like gift thing and like I mean don't wrong. I do plan to get her something that's like from baby sister and all of that just because I don't know. That's the only thing I've seen. So maybe we can ask in our Facebook group if you did bring home a new baby.
00:34:52
Speaker
like what was that like or what did you do to make the older sibling feel special. But we I don't know. I feel like they're still too little to like fully understand what is going on. So it's like I feel like the it's that part isn't as important as like
00:35:13
Speaker
maybe taking Graydon out one-on-one after the baby's born and spending that time with him so he knows like hey you're still special we don't have to do everything with the baby like let's do stuff that we used to do I think that's more important versus
00:35:28
Speaker
that initial meet and greet of the child. So just planning because Chris has the month off. So I think, you know, maybe if it's just taking him once or twice a week, like, let's go get ice cream or let's go to the park just us and doing that.
00:35:44
Speaker
will help. Well, what I was going to say was I'm thinking about, and Candace, you talked about the naps. You've sent the nap schedule. Like mom's on call, has like a combined toddler and newborn schedule, which I'm going to send it to you with. Okay. It's so helpful because it's literally like wake up, pump, get the newborn, do this. And then it's like, it literally tells you exactly what to do for both kids.
00:36:12
Speaker
That went over my head. I guess I do need to look at that. But it'll be nice because I mean, it'll be crazy because they're not napping at the same time. But also like there will be hours to like 90 minutes where the newborn is asleep and TJ is awake where you can have someone on one time with a toddler. I think that that's like
00:36:35
Speaker
a really important note. It's like, yes, there's the meeting and like, I think it'll be cute. I want to do something as well, especially because their birthdays are going to be so close to each other. Um, Oh, that'll be so fun. But then in general, as I think about structuring my weeks with two children, I'm going to try and work in some kind of standard.
00:36:57
Speaker
Okay, like these mornings I'm with TJ by myself. We have like special time. The number one advice I've gotten is to really give each child some one-on-one time and that is what keeps them from like fighting for attention is making sure that their cup is filled with like mommy or daddy time one-on-one. So yeah, I definitely plan to work that in too as well.
00:37:24
Speaker
Wait, can you remind us? I think this might be a good mental checklist. What did you bring out of storage that is for Margot? What were the things? We did pull all of the clothes out that we kept and we pulled all the gender neutral stuff and I was like, okay, all the holiday stuff she can rewear because her birthdays are
00:37:46
Speaker
pretty close, so they match up that way. You got down that play mat, the bubble gum tree one, y'all. Yeah. Maybe you could be a purple monkey. Yeah, that one. Yeah. So pulled that out.
00:38:04
Speaker
We I guess they're away our bottle warmer like. Oh, we're we're going to toss ours to it got gross. Well, Chris and I like we've had friends come over with their newborns and they're like, can we warm up with a bottle? And we're like, yeah, it's gone. Like I'm like, we must have just like thought it was gross to and threw it away. So we had to order a whole new one. So we tried to pull that down. I would we've washed the docket. We
00:38:34
Speaker
I pulled down the nursing pillow, which I didn't use that last time, but they say like, use that with the toddler if they want to try and help feed the baby. So we've washed that.
00:38:43
Speaker
because they say that that's easier for them to hold. The baby like that. What else? I feel like that's all we've pulled down. I have a question. Did you just get rid of toys that Graydon didn't use anymore or did you store them and keep them somehow? We still have them all. All the baby stuff. Yeah.
00:39:09
Speaker
Or maybe it's moms in my mom group that have like rotated toys. And I'm like, I just haven't done that. Everything. Just all of the toys are in the toy room. Yeah, they're really like mixed in like all the bins. You can kind of tell like right now he's just like super into trucks and cars and stuff. So that's all he likes in books.
00:39:28
Speaker
and like all the toys are all in the baskets like the little stacking cups things like that which we probably should sterilize bruh was sick a lot um so i should sterilize that um but yeah all that's still down there so are there any other like organization things you've done that have made you feel like okay i feel a little more ready now
00:39:52
Speaker
Yes.
Organization for Mental Health in Parenting
00:39:53
Speaker
Which is like, is there anything better than getting organized? It feels so good. I don't have as much time to do it anymore. And it actually like, I think my mental health. I was going to say the same thing. I was like, I could clean my house every morning and it gets destroyed by the night and it's killing me because I think once I became a mom,
00:40:16
Speaker
That was something that took over like an OCD issue that I have was like, that's the only thing I can control is my house. I want it clean. I want it clean. And when it's not, I'm in a bad mood. Yeah. So I've organized a lot of stuff. I got that thing that goes on the back of your door from the container store.
00:40:38
Speaker
And I organized all the diapers and I labeled like Graydon's diapers, Margot's diapers, nighttime diapers. So everything is like super organized downstairs for when we change either of them downstairs. They're both in diaper. He's Graydon still in diapers.
00:40:53
Speaker
So that is just like glorious to me. Um, I organized the medicine cabinet just because it was destroyed. Um, and I got, I know something. Oh, sorry. Go ahead. I got all these like containers and I labeled like, this is for ENT stuff. These are the syringes. Like it's just like so beautiful. I took a picture so I could share. I was going to say, you're going to have to share some photos because there's nothing better.
00:41:21
Speaker
I wanted to buy a label maker and I was I couldn't find one. So don't laugh at my handwriting on all of these labels. But we organized that. I've washed all the clothes, all of her clothes. And I actually got this idea from my group.
00:41:39
Speaker
that they put on the drawer, they labeled like newborn section zero to three months. So you can see it when you pull the drawer, it like shows where all the right clothes are. That's what I did with Alice. Yeah. Love that. So I did that. Is that in the dresser or is that in storage? In the dresser. In the dresser. Like I just like, you know, you pull it and it's like right on the edge. I'll take it. Yeah.
00:42:02
Speaker
Which is nice, like I obviously know, but like if my mom's here helping or like God forbid Chris put something in the wrong place, like it's labeled. So you can't get up. Yeah. No excuses. Yeah. So I did that. I loved that idea. It just makes you feel a little more prepared.
00:42:21
Speaker
mentally clear. Yeah, mentally clear. Exactly. We got we cleaned the newborn car seat, got it ready. It's in the back of my car. We haven't put it in yet, but it's ready to go.
00:42:36
Speaker
That's about it. The only things left to do is I really would love to clean the inside of my car and just clean my house and organize my pantry, get that ready to go. Yeah.
Nesting and Cleaning Before Baby
00:42:48
Speaker
That was what I was going to say a second ago when you talked about the medicine cabinet. I remember one thing I did before a week or two before Alice got here is I did a full
00:42:58
Speaker
Yeah, clean out of everything that could possibly expire. So I went through all of my like beauty products slash like, like, um, bath products and all of the, I mean, I say all of the bathrooms. Like we have a million, two bathrooms that have like storage in it. And I got, if I hadn't used it in six months or I've had it for a long time, I tossed it. I did the same thing to my pantry and my fridge. I went through all of our like dressings and stuff and did that.
00:43:31
Speaker
uh, nesting master list that I made before Alice, I found it finally guys. So I'll share it. It is quite insane, but, um, it actually, now that I'm looking at it, I'm like, God, I'm so happy I made this. Um, it literally is sectioned off by parts of your house. So bathrooms, living room, office, closets, kitchen, nursery, bedrooms, car, and then some general things.
00:43:49
Speaker
I also have a psychotic
00:44:00
Speaker
And it's like detailed like I'm excited. Like it goes even like vacuum and clean couch like purge dog toys. Like, I mean, it's like very detailed for each section of the house. And then at the top, I also have some like weak things like it'll be like contact pediatrician 36 weeks set up bassinet 36 weeks. Like I was very thorough and it's all color coded. I'm
00:44:29
Speaker
I love that. So I will, I'll share with, yeah, it's a Google sheet. So I'll share with you guys and I'll make it a like template and I'll share the link if anyone is interested in my crazy psychotic nesting list. Put that in the FB group. Yeah, you're so right. I will.
00:44:52
Speaker
The only thing is I might go through it now that I am having a second child and I might make one version that's like this is if it's your first baby and one that's like second child. I know I feel like this episode's like very niche toward getting ready for baby like obviously a lot of y'all have already had them or maybe are expecting so thanks for listening if anything maybe it'll inspire you to organize because
00:45:19
Speaker
It has been. I do think though something that was interesting in the Facebook group when people were introducing themselves, but it makes sense is that we have a lot of people who are pregnant with no kids.
00:45:30
Speaker
who listening and I feel like when I was pregnant with no kids, I was desperate for this type of information. So it might be niche, but I think we have a lot of people who are pregnant and probably in this exact kind of phase. So hopefully they get something out of it and that master list.
00:45:51
Speaker
I'm also I'm also looking at this list and I'm like even if I wasn't pregnant this would be a solid like reset my life list to be honest like even if I wasn't pregnant I could go through this list and be like damn if I took a week or two to do all of these things I would feel brand new
00:46:13
Speaker
So I'm, I'm honestly thrilled. I found it. The other thing I did, which if you have the budget for it, I would recommend as we hired, like we have a cleaner come every three weeks or so, like a house housekeeper.
00:46:29
Speaker
Um, but they also do deep cleans, which are like double the price of our weekly clean, but they wash all of the windows. They like literally dust and clean all of the walls. They move all the furniture to dust the baseboards and clean those. Like it is a true deep clean. And we did that a week before my induction and I,
00:46:53
Speaker
I truly felt like it changed the way I felt. I, after that deep clean, I have two dogs. Like I, I just felt like even the, I could vacuum every day and there's like dog hair behind all of the furniture. You know what I mean?
00:47:07
Speaker
So it was really, it gave me peace of mind doing that deep clean and it was like part of our like prepare for baby budget to do that.
Maintaining a Clean Home with Pets
00:47:18
Speaker
So I highly recommend if you do that stuff every, yeah, we, we, we literally only do it twice a year. Every six months we'll do like a deeper clean and it,
00:47:29
Speaker
I haven't done it in a year. You know what I want done so bad that would just like tickle my fancy is getting my two couches professionally cleaned. Oh, do it. I'm going to get a new couch soon. It's in the cards.
00:47:46
Speaker
Like I have to vacuum my couch because of Remy. And now that Graydon like plays and eats snacks on it, it's just like gotten so gross. And I'm like, I would love to get them clean before I have like visitors and stuff coming over. I'm like, nothing with family steamer. Stanley steamer does ours. Oh, good to know. I've done a couple of times, like probably every year or so. It's not that expensive. Shout out Stanley. Yes. Shout out Stanley steamer.
00:48:14
Speaker
Damn, I'm going to look into that because I'm kind of, we have y'all know, cause I complained about it constantly, but we have a dog named Finn who.
00:48:26
Speaker
pees on everything. This is a newer thing. He has a weak pelvic floor and a very mischievous personality. And he has started to pee on the couch. And now that it's happened so many times, I feel like now he just thinks he can pee on the couch. And I have to, I wash our couch cushions. I'm not kidding once every two weeks. Like it is, that's how bad it is.
00:48:53
Speaker
And I don't know what to do about it other than to put him up, but if I put him up. That's such a labor intensive chore. Oh my, I joke that that's my workout of the day. It is so hard to take them all them off and zip them back up. I mean, I'm getting my ass off by the end.
00:49:16
Speaker
But anyways, we're at it. We're at the point now that before this new baby, I'm kind of like, I think I just want to start new and get a whole new couch. Like it was not that expensive. Our couch was like.
00:49:28
Speaker
less than $2,000. It was not that much. Well, I don't know. Maybe. Maybe try getting Stanley first. Yeah. Maybe I'll maybe in the next like before Christmas time, I'll do the Stanley and see how that how I feel about that. And then if not, maybe we might. My brother also works for Ashley furniture, so I get a serious discount now. So shout out to Ashley. That's where we're getting our crib from. The gold crib I want.
00:49:57
Speaker
They have cute stuff. Yeah, they actually have quality decent things. Yeah, they carry. So don't shop at Crate and Barrel shop at Ashley furniture. Well, I'm going to be calling Stan. I'm not kidding that.
00:50:11
Speaker
That guy's got to come over and clean your carpets cleaned while you're at it. I did that recently. I did that before I redid the both rooms. Wait, I oh, oh, OK. You mean like carpet, not area rugs like carpets. They'll do area rugs. They do. Yeah. Stanley. Stanley.
00:50:36
Speaker
They do it all. I'm surprised though, Candace, that you just don't have Vinny do it. You can rent those machines too and do it yourself. Well, funny enough, my mom does it. My mom has a steam cleaner and so when we went
00:50:53
Speaker
You know what it was? I think it was when we were in like Tahoe last year with you, Whit. My mom steam cleaned all of our carpets while we were gone, which was, we came home. I know. When we came home, all of our carpets were cleaned. And I was like, I love you. That's the shit. That's the stuff you want your mother or mother-in-law to do while you're gone. I tell my mom that all the time. I'm like, you cleaning my house is the greatest gift you could ever give me.
00:51:20
Speaker
Mom, if you're listening, I love it.
Podcast Continuation During Maternity Leave
00:51:23
Speaker
Or like when a nanny or babysitter like tidies up a little bit. I'm like,
00:51:27
Speaker
You don't understand. I could kiss you. Well, we're so excited to meet baby Margo. We got a couple of questions when I did my Q and a about it. We're like, if we're still going to be releasing episodes while some of us are on maternity leave, there will still be episodes every Tuesday. And this podcast really doesn't feel like work for us. It isn't work.
00:51:52
Speaker
we don't make any money from this podcast. So it's truly just a passion project and we love like getting on here and chatting. And so we're not going anywhere and we're pre-recording episodes to make sure that you guys will, we will be in your ears every Tuesday. Whitney is going to come back for sure. We will do a like after birth episode so we can hear your birth story and hear about Margo and we cannot
00:52:19
Speaker
Way to meet her. I'm scared. First girl of the round two of girls. Yes. Yes. Yeah. That would be so exciting.
00:52:30
Speaker
All right. Well, Whitney, we wish you a very easy, chill labor and delivery and a hopefully not too awful last couple of weeks of your pregnancy. Thank you so much. I guess we're officially on baby watch. Yeah. Got to keep my alerts on my phone. I got to jiggle this baby out. Jiggle it out.
00:52:52
Speaker
Shannon, I'm so excited for you to be like, cause last time I was definitely giving you updates, but like, I feel like this time Shannon will be included in the group chat. I'm going to add in delivering. Yeah, because Chris will include me. Well, well, no, I'll be texting y'all.
00:53:09
Speaker
I know, but last time it was like a group chat with me, Chris and your mom. And I was getting like, it's so crazy to get Chris's updates because they're so like medical. And I'm like, I don't know what that means, but I like his updates are so different. Like if Vinny was updating, he'd be like, not here yet.
00:53:31
Speaker
And Chris was like, they just pushed 30 milliliters of blah, blah, blah. And he would give, it was so medical. And I was like, wow. I mean, the updates are just next level. Yeah. Good to know, Chris. Thank you so much. She's like, but is she happy? Is she alive? I don't know. 30 milliliters means nothing.
00:53:55
Speaker
Oh, my God. It's it's fun. It's an experience. And every one in our chat said that the second baby comes out so much faster and easier. So I'm wishing I'm. Slipping a slide. Oh, please, God. Yeah. Let's do this. All right. We love you guys. Can't wait to meet you, baby, Margo. Bye.
00:54:17
Speaker
Thank you so much for being a part of our mom group chat. New episodes drop every Tuesday. And don't forget, the group chat is blowing up on our Instagram page. So make sure you're following along over there. All right, gotta go. My toddler just put something in her mouth.