Pregnancy Album: Weeks 17-31

Posted on March 29, 2017 by Nat

I’ve been plugging away on this album throughout the pregnancy! I usually work on 2-3 weeks at a time to save photo paper. But I try and do the handwritten card right after the week is over before I forget what happened.

Choosing the Cover and Colors

The cover will be made out of patterned paper: Pure Joy from Crate Paper’s Gather collection. I grabbed coordinating cardstocks from my collection to have at the ready when I needed them throughout the album. I’ll be using this method to create the cover and bind.

We ended up having more ultrasounds than I originally anticipated, so I’m glad I made the album flexible and cut out the weeks and numbers ahead of time!

Weeks 17 through 31

In Week 17 we planted a new tree in our yard. This week was the first of many during this period where I wasn’t as great at getting our bump picture in natural light. After we got back from Hawaii (see below), I started setting a phone alarm for Saturday afternoon to remind me.

In Week 18 my parents came to help paint the baby’s room and the entire living area of our house. I snapped this picture of them right at the beginning of the project before we got too busy. Week 19 covers my thoughts on election day and what it means for our son.

In Week 19 we had another ultrasound and in Week 20 we started a series of childbirth classes at the hospital.

Week 21 was Thanksgiving! I got a great shot of Mr. P teaching our nephew how to make biscuits. In Week 22 we were putting up our Christmas lights. Since the album counts weeks rather than dates, I like having the pictures to mark the season.

In Week 23 I got a shot of our Christmas tree and we had another ultrasound.

In Week 24 my little sister got married! In Week 25 we worked a ton on the accent wall in the baby’s room and I asked Mr. P to get a few pictures of me using the paint pen.

In Week 26 we got to visit my newborn niece and had another ultrasound. For our bump picture, I was in the middle of painting and caulking the baseboards of the built-ins for the baby’s room and was too lazy to change out of my work clothes for the picture.

In Week 27 we were still working hard on those built-in shelves and prepping to leave for London. In Week 28 we were in London (read more about how that went here) and I got a picture of the bear we picked out for our son at Selfridges.

In Week 29, we finished up our time in London and made our way back home. In Week 30, we were home for just a handful of days and then we left for a quick Hawaii trip. I broke my streak of blank-hotel-room-wall bump pictures. But I like that we were on the beach for this one.

My baby shower was in Week 30 right before we left for Hawaii. There were too many pictures I wanted to share, so I did a small layout with my favorites. Finally in Week 31, I got a great shot of Mr. P learning how to use our new infant carseat/stroller!

I’m having a great time with this album! Even though it’s not bound yet, I’m already having a great time flipping through the pages.

More Information on My Pregnancy Album

Check out these posts for everything you need to know!

Planning my Pregnancy Album
Having Dad in the Weekly Bump Pictures
Album Pages: Beginning – Week 16

Pregnancy Album: Beginning – Week 16

Posted on December 7, 2016 by Nat

I planned my album very carefully with emphasis on ease. Here are how the pages came out so far!

I left some blanks for the title page. I think I’ll make that after the baby is born and when we have a name. Week 4 was the official start of the pregnancy, but I wrote a beginning card just to talk about finding out we were pregnant.

I designed the album in Week 6 and we didn’t start taking bump pictures until then. I used whatever I had for 4 and 5.

In Week 6 my best friend’s daughter was born! Don’t ask about our Week 7 bump picture. It’s on a memory card that’s hiding somewhere in our house. I know that I’ll find it eventually. Maybe on the kid’s 18th birthday? I’m trying not to sweat it at this point.

Week 7 is also when we left for Australia! I timed the bump pictures so we’d only have to get one on the road, which was Week 8. Nice blank wall in our hotel room! I balanced the camera on a couple coffee table books on top of the ironing board.

We were in Australia for most of Week 9 but took the bump picture as soon as we got home. Other than in Week 8, the pictures don’t scream Australia, but this album is about the pregnancy and not about our trip. I’ll scrapbook the trip separately later.

Notice I varied the layout week to week. It looked too boring to have the cards in the same position when the pages were facing each other.

Week 11 featured a big big deal: the very first picture of our baby! I scanned it and printed it to size for the page.

Week 12 we had another ultrasound and I realized I wanted the option to add big things. I didn’t want to plan for things outside of my formula because I didn’t want the pressure. But since the album size is flexible, I made a game time decision. The font is Klinic Slab Book and I pre-cut a ton of “weeks” and numbers out.

See what I mean about not wanting to wear the same outfit in each picture? Our Oktoberfest gear in Week 13 makes me smile. The baby also got its first quilt courtesy of my mom.

Good thing I came up with the full page option because in Week 15, we found out we are having a BOY. I printed the message from the doctor plus a piece of the test result (several sections below blurred for privacy). I’m glad I had the extra room to tell the story of how we found out.

I’m loving how we are mixing life stuff, baby stuff, and house stuff in the pictures. In Week 16 we took our hospital tour (I was the only one who was sneaking pictures for my album).

Well phew! So far so good! Even though the little guy is quite comfortable and is taking a while to pop out, I’m loving the weekly pictures!

More Information on My Pregnancy Album

Check out these posts for everything you need to know!

Planning my Pregnancy Album
Having Dad in the Weekly Bump Pictures
Album Pages: Weeks 17-31

Pregnancy Album: Dad’s in the Bump Pictures

Posted on November 22, 2016 by Nat

Notice something in the weekly bump pictures? Other than the noticeable lack of a bump for a long period of time? Kid is going to do what the kid wants to do. Moving on.

That’s my husband and he’s in every weekly bump picture.

Why?

I love weekly bump pictures. Love love love. It’s such a cool way to show the progression of time. When I was researching other pregnancy albums, I knew a weekly picture was totally going to happen.

One thing that struck me: looking at the weekly progression, dad seemed very absent. Sure, in some people’s lives, dad might not be available. For me, I didn’t want my album to be all about me.

This is about us. The album is from my perspective but this experience is about us becoming parents. We’ve been handling everything together aside from him not actually growing the baby. It’s important to me that when our kid looks at the album, dad is very prominent.

How We Take the Weekly Picture

We have it down to a science now and Mr. P is a very good sport. We use the same blank wall in our living room and he knows exactly where to stand. And I don’t have to wait for him to fix his hair or makeup.

I get as much natural light as I can. As I said earlier, we don’t get a picture on a set day of the week. I try to get it when we’re both home and have the best light. If that means that weeks 17 and 18 are only two days apart, so be it.

We use a tripod with my DSLR. We used a timer for the first several weeks, then I got a remote which made it much simpler. I tilt the LCD screen so I can see it from our spot and know if I need to move a hand or un-slouch.

The whole process takes about 10 minutes. This is from setup to take down. I keep the tripod in the closet half-extended so it’s easy to set up.

We don’t have set outfits. I do love the weekly bump pictures where mom is wearing the same or similar black dress the entire time. I opted not to. I didn’t want to have to change my clothes. I also thought it’d be cool to see my clothes and seasons change. A big bonus would be to show clothes from things we were doing at the time, like going to football games or an Oktoberfest party.

As with everything in pregnancy, to each his or her own. For us, it’ll be nice for our child to look back and see how excited we both were (and how we both used to look when we got full nights of sleep).