Mrs. Shopswell

Mama B Baby Gift Extravaganza

2012-02-24T02:20:00.002-05:00

My friend Becca over at Mama B Blog is giving away a bunch of baby items in anticipation of her little girl's arrival this summer. Head over there and enter the giveaways and win something!

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18 weeks: My little Sweet Potato

2012-02-22T01:24:00.000-05:00

*(Okay, so this is the biggest Sweet Potato I've ever seen.
JB you will get bigger than this at some point, but not yet!)

Jellybean you are about 5.6 inches long and about 6.7 ounces now and keep on growing rapidly. Probably explains why I've finally gotten my appetite back. I haven't had any weird cravings this week, but I have made homemade french fries the last few nights.

I think that I'm feeling you move around, but I could just be mistaking you for gas pains. Boy, I've never burped so much in my life! What are you doing to my body!? Your bones are hardening, so I expect some good punches and kicks soon!

Your ears are now facing forward and are completely formed so you can actually hear me talking now. I need to start playing Dada and Counting Crows for you before Daddy starting pumping in the Steely Dan. I want to make sure you love GOOD music.

My 31st birthday is Sunday. My last pre-baby birthday. My birthday was always a really big deal to me and I always turned it into an event. This year, I'd just like a good night's sleep. You are making it hard for me to get comfortable.

I love you Jellybean! There are only 22 more weeks to go before we get to meet you. Next week, we get to find out if you are healthy and whether you are a boy or a girl. So exciting! I can't wait to continue this ride with you!

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Pregnant and Handicapped

2012-02-21T06:19:00.003-05:00

I never expected to get pregnant naturally because of PCOS, so this was a welcome surprise. However, for those that don't know, I was in a car accident (t-boned while going through an intersection) 17 months ago that crushed my left femur and pelvis and broke my right pelvis in multiple places. I spent 4 months in a chair unable to walk or put any pressure on my left side. Another 6 months just trying to get my left leg to start regrowing muscles so I could walk again. And the last 7 learning how to walk with a cane and do things for myself on my own.

I was already overweight pre accident, but the months of sitting and steroids made me balloon up. I see a MFM because of my weight, but also out of fear of how my pelvis is going to adapt to pregnancy and giving birth. I have a femoral rod and pelvic plate with a bolt attachment. My right pelvis never completely healed because of needing a side to put pressure on.

I'll admit that I'm starting to feel really overwhelmed and worried about giving birth and then caring for a baby by myself. I try practicing things like getting our of a rocking chair while holding a doll or carrying things while holding a doll, but nothing seems to work right. I have my husband and my mother lives with us after being my caretaker for so many months, but I want to be able to do this and feel like I'm being a mom.

I know I can't be the only one who's ever gone through this, but hormones and my love for Jellybean make it so pressing and daunting sometimes. I know that once Jellybean gets here, it'll all become second nature, but there is something about the long hours of the night that make you think and over-think all of these issues and fears...

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The difference between the blogs...

2012-02-19T23:49:00.001-05:00

As you might have noticed, there is both Mrs. Shopswell and Mrs. Shopswell at Home. I've been thinking about what to do with both of them for the last few weeks. I'm kind of torn. Mrs. Shopswell was always supposed to be a coupon/money saving blog. While, I'll always struggle at paying full price, my life has really gone in a totally different direction. I'm not saying that I'll never go back to that money saving person, who can't wait to share it with the world, I'm just not there anymore. We still coupon and save money, but it isn't the focus of our lives.

But at the end of the day, I'll always be Mrs. Shopswell. So I'm going to continue to blog as Mrs. Shopswell and use Mrs. Shopswell at Home for reviews and tutorials. So remember to follow both!

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Well Hello Again...

2012-02-18T23:36:00.000-05:00

When I started Mrs. Shopswell 3 years ago, I never saw my life going the way it has. A lot has happened, some good and some really horrible, but all together its our crazy life. We "moved" to Louisiana for a year. I was in a terrible car accident that left me relearning how to walk. We moved back to Georgia. I got knocked up. Yup, you read that right, I'm pregnant!

Being pregnant has made me want to start blogging again. I want to capture our life and Jellybean's life. I want to talk about what I'm learning about parenthood and raising a baby. I want others to teach me about things I would never have thought about. I want to talk about becoming kinda crunchy and letting my naked children run around the backyard like kids used to do.

AND I want to tell you all about it!

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