We’re officially on baby watch around here! My mother-in-law arrived on Saturday to kick off our rotation of parents visiting, ready to take care of Charlie whenever we head to the hospital, our bags are packed and ready, and baby girl’s nursery is organized and decorated. My emotions have been all over the place but I’m trying to focus on just being excited to meet our daughter any day now. Now that we’re so close, my biggest source of worry has been about Charlie–how he’ll do when we’re in the hospital (since it’s flu season, our hospital policy doesn’t allow him to visit us while we’re there), how he’ll adjust to having a baby sister, and so on and so forth. My siblings are my very best friends, so while I know this is ultimately a wonderful thing for him, I can’t help but worry about how his little heart will handle this season of change. My prayer is that I’ll read this post in a few weeks or months and wonder what I was so nervous about!

The beginning of my third trimester was absolutely wonderful. We began settling into our house and making it our own, enjoyed the sweetest Christmas (our first one in Raleigh!), had a blast ringing in the new year with friends, and celebrated baby girl at my shower. The last month or so has been tougher as I’ve grown less comfortable and some less-pleasant symptoms have flared up. In both the easier times and the hard ones, though, here are a few of the things I’ve been loving:

Baths: The worst “symptom” of my third trimester has been how painful baby girl’s movements are! I don’t remember this being the case at all during my pregnancy with Charlie, but for whatever reason (my theory is her positioning), the times when she’s super active sometimes bring me to tears from discomfort. The only thing that has given me a little bit of relief when she’s her most active in the evenings has been near-daily baths. I’ve never been a bath person, but this new little routine has actually been kind of fun! I’m even eyeing this bath tray to take things up a notch, and if you have any favorite bath products, let me know :)

Gal Meets Glam Collection Allie dress: I ordered this new GMG dress (pictured above) in my pre-pregnancy size with the intention of wearing it in a few weeks, but since the silhouette is so loose and relaxed, I dared to try it on as soon as it arrived. Much to my delight, it not only fit over my 38-week bump, it actually looked good! Since it’s not a “maternity” style, but would work beautifully through any trimester AND postpartum, I’m declaring it a rare magical unicorn dress.

Burt’s Bees body oil: For some reason, I haven’t been quite as motivated to apply stretch mark prevention lotion daily this pregnancy. Instead, I’ve been more loyal to this body oil, which I apply liberally after showering. It has a fresh, lemon-y scent and feels so good.

Leopard slides: File under things that are hilariously challenging at the end of pregnancy: putting on boots! Thankfully, our winter has been super mild, so I’ve been opting for easy leopard slides multiple times per week–I love the silhouette and the pop of pattern they add to super simple outfits. My pair is from the summer and almost sold out, but this, this, and this are very similar. I also love this ethically made version, available to shop online via one of my favorite local boutiques.

Tinted moisturizer: I’m working on a post about my recent Beautycounter favorites, but one of the top is the Dew Skin Tinted Moisturizer. It’s super sheer, which I don’t usually go for, but with a dusting of Bare Minerals powder over top, I’m really liking the look lately. I think it’ll be perfect for the next few weeks when I’m home with the baby and don’t want to wear full makeup, but still feel best with something on my face.

Petite Fleur earrings: I shared about this lovely Saint-inspired earring brand in this post, but wanted to mention them again since I’ve been wearing them almost every single day. In a season when my outfits feel repetitive at best and lazy at worst, having some pretty new accessories has made getting dressed over the last few weeks a little bit more fun.

Chocolate Strawberry “Fab Four” smoothie: My sweet tooth has gone into overdrive during both of my third trimesters! While I certainly don’t deny myself many sweets this late in the game, I try to balance it out at least a little bit by adding more “fab four” smoothies to my rotation at the same time. (If you’re not familiar with Kelly LeVeque’s fab four stratetgy, check out her book or tune into this podcast episode.) My go-to combination is a cup and a half of unsweetened almond milk, a tablespoon of almond butter, a tablespoon of chia seeds, half a serving of vegan chocolate protein powder, a handful of spinach, and a few frozen strawberries. It tastes indulgent, but is packed with nutrients and keeps me full for a long time.

As we get ready to meet baby girl literally any day now, I’d be so grateful for your prayers! As always, thank you so, so much for following along with the journey. Y’all make everything sweeter :)