10/31

Exciting News From Laura!!

Uncategorized
By Laura Gummerman

Exciting news!Hi, everyone! Since we are always sharing glimpses into my life and home here at ABM, I wanted to also let you in on an exciting new development—my eggo is preggo, i.e. I’m pregnant!!! I’m actually in my 13th week now, and our Gummerbaby is due in early May. So it’s possible we will have a full house of May birthdays (both Todd and I have birthdays in May as well). The biggest question that pregnant gals get is, “How are you feeling?”, and while it’s been a much tougher process than I ever imagined so far (helloooo extreme nausea!!), I’m overall feeling grateful and excited. Second biggest question might be, “Do you have any food cravings?”, and while my list of food aversions is waaaay longer than any cravings list, my top guilty pleasure is a soft pretzel with nacho cheese for dipping—YUM!! Although to be totally fair, I’ve been talking about fulfilling that food wish for a few weeks before I got pregnant, so that may just be a general craving that tastes extra good at the moment!

I’m definitely one of those people that falls into the “knows absolutely nothing about babies” category, so this will be a big learning experience, but thankfully May is still quite a ways off. We still have time to learn and prepare as much as we can for all that next year will bring. Oh, and if you have any thoughts on how to best introduce cats to a new baby, let me know!! Thanks for being excited with us!! xo. Laura

115 Comments

  • Such exciting news!!!! Congratulations! Don’t worry, you don’t really need to know anything about babies-your mommy instincts will kick in and see you through your way. So happy for you both:)

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  • I don’t really comment very much anymore but I had to for this one. Congratulations on your new little one! Motherhood is great and full of lots of bumps and bruises along the way. Even if you’re one of those people who “knows absolutely nothing about babies” you’ll do great. There’s no handbook. No magic spell. We are all just figuring out as we go along. Heck, I’m still figuring it out and I have three daughters that are ages 20, 17, and 14. I’m sure you’ll be a wonderful mother 🙂

    ~Laurali

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  • Congratulations!!!! I had my first in June and the best advice that I can give is buy lots of swaddles and check out The Happiest Baby on the Block. The soothing techniques worked for my son:)

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  • Congratulations Laura!! It feels kinda funny to feel happy for a stranger, but you are right after so many glimpses into peoples lives you feel kinda connected to them. 🙂 I think you will be a great mom! About cats… my brother and his wife just had their first baby (like last week) and I asked how their cats were dealing. They said they are about as disinterested in the baby as they are in everyone else, which made me laugh. 🙂 A non-preggo question, did you and Todd do a couples dress up for Halloween this year? Your themes are always so fun!

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  • Congratulations! My favorite title in the world is “aunt.” Little ones make everything more fun. They even give you an excuse when they’re born to indulge in special treats … like pretzels with nacho sauce. <3

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  • Congratulations,
    I would suggest that you check out the website: my cat from hell, or Google Jackson Galaxy, he is a cat behaviorist. He will have some ideas on introducing cats and babies.

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  • congrats Laura, enjoy the time your little one is inside your belly. It is such a magic time in the life of a woman and it goes away to fast.

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  • My friends with cats had a much easier time than I did with my doggies. But for all pets they say that having a friend or family member take a hat or blanket home before you leave the hospital for the cats to smell works best! It definitely worked for my beagle.

    We are 9 days in but this is what we love most:
    – Muslin swaddle blankets (I even made some)
    – tiny baby beanies
    – rock and play is a lifesaver!
    – boppy nursing pillows and boppy loungers

    We also added diapers to our Amazon subscribe and save as soon as I knew I was expecting. We saved over 20% and I have enough diapers to probably last us a year now! There are tons of sites that give you estimates of how many you will need in each size.

    Congrats momma! You’re going to do great xoxo

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  • Congrats! I remember the first time my cats saw a toddler (a friend brought the child she was nannying over for a visit). My cats took one look at the mini human, and looked at me like, “What? You come in our size too???” They looked totally mystified at the new creature, like they couldn’t figure out if it was one of us or one of them. Hilarious!

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  • Congratulations and YAY for May babies! I’m due on Mother’s Day, so I’m right behind you. Hopefully the nausea subsides soon. I’m falling into the EXTREME fatigue category, I could sleep on command!

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  • great news! congratulations! 🙂 can’t wait for some baby content (nursery!) 😉

    (i have no great ideas for the cat introduction but you should leave the litter box cleaning to your husband for now)

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  • so exciting 🙂 i’m on week 10 with baby #3, also due in may. my last pregnancy (twins) was extreme nausea and this one’s no different. i never got those women who said they had ‘NO’ nausea during pregnancy… whuuuut?? just eat what you can/want, rest a lot, and drink lots of ice water!

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  • I confess I tend to enjoy this blog much more than comment, but I definitely wanted to wish you and your man the best on your growing family! And while I’m actually commenting, also say I much I’ve really enjoyed your projects–they align so well with my taste and skill level. I have really loved the addition of your posts to A Beautiful Mess!

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  • I’m so happy for you, beautiful Laura!! <3 I'm excited to follow your pregnancy with you!

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  • Congrats!!
    Make sure you have someone else to clean the litter box. There are parasites not harmful to your cat, but harmful to your growing baby in there. If you absolutely have to, wear gloves and a mask

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  • I’m glad someone else mentioned this, it’s the first thing I thought of when you said cat advice. Congrats Laura and Todd! And woo hoo for all the baby DIY’s to come!

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  • So much happiness for you! Babies are great. Don’t worry there is NO way to prepare yourself for having a baby so maybe just be glad you have a blank slate! Also never ever ever be afraid to ask for help if you need it for your sanity. <3

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  • Congrats!!! I’m due New Year’s Eve with a little girl and definitely feel your pain when it comes to extreme nausea (and in my case, also vomiting). I’m 31 weeks and 2 days and I’m still on morning sickness medication. And I’ve also had an extremely long list of food aversions versus cravings. My recommendations with getting pets used to babies is playing YouTube videos of babies crying and screaming, give them treats when they go near baby gear like strollers, etc. (that way they will associate baby stuff with something positive), and while you’re still in the hospital with the baby or even when you come home if you have a quick stay, give cats something with the baby’s scent on it (like a hat or blanket or something).

    http://dogmomchic.blogspot.com/

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  • How exciting! Blessings and wishes of good health for you and baby!

    My nephew was born this year (first born and first grandchild) and he has rocked everyone’s socks off with his preciousness. They don’t have cats but my bro and SIL’s dogs warmed up from the first few moments since my nephew was born at home. Daddy brought out a blanket with his scent, and by the end of the night the dogs were up on the bed staring at the little wonder with mom and dad. <3

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  • Oh my goodness what a delight! Such big congrats to you and Todd. You will make beautiful parents! xo

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  • Congrats!! I was such a pregnant grump but now as my beautiful daughter bounces around everywhere at 9 months old, I wish I would have cherished the time where she was only mine, cozy in my belly. I hope you can find the mindfulness that I wasn’t able to at the time and know that any uncomfortable aspects of pregnancy are fleeting and you will, in time, miss your pregnant belly. As for not knowing anything about babies – sure we can all read a million things, but your gut instincts will kick in and you will know what is best for your family and you will all grow together 🙂

    Our cats warmed up to the baby in time, they weren’t jealous or really wanting to be around her at all as her quick unpredictable movements had them hiding under the bed. However, we did teach them that the nursery is not a place for cats. We put aluminum foil over her mattress (crib and bassinet) so if they jumped in they would immediately jump out. Now that she’s older and in sleeping in the nursery, we keep the door closed at all times to keep hair out of her sleeping space.

    Congrats again!! Such an exciting time.

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  • OMG I’m nearly in tears at my desk I’m so pleased for you both! I saw on your snapchat or instagram the other day you said you had gone off coffee and I wondered to myself!! Such happy news, congratulations Gummer Gang! 🙂

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  • Congratulations! Always exciting as people start a new journey.

    As for cats, as we prepared the nursery for our first born, I noticed the cats loved hanging out in the crib. I did not want this to happen when the baby arrived. We hung a wooden screen door in the entrance to the nursery. Kept cats out, but allowed air flow and sound to travel easily. Just gave me peace of mind. Never really had any other issues with babies and cats.

    All the best!

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  • Congratulations!!
    I know you love french, so as we say here : Félicitations Laura !!

    Best wishes from Paris 😉

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  • Congratulations to you and your hubby, Laura, on your pregnancy. So fun and I look forward to updates along the way! Please don’t worry, a good many of us knew nothing about babies until we had our first. I didn’t even like babies and never babysat as a teenager so I had NO experience whatsoever. Once you have your own, it’ll all change. You’ll learn and love and you guys will do wonderfully!!! My kids survived ME and are now starting families of their own. That’s part of the circle of life! Again, congratulations and enjoy the journey.

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  • Aww that sounds so amazing! Congratulations on your pregnancy, I hope you will do just as well throughout the whole pregnancy as you are doing now 🙂

    Norina xx

    la-piccola-me.blogspot.com

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  • Congrats! I’m a bit ahead of you at 22 weeks this Wednesday 🙂
    I’ve worked in early education and infant development for many years and initially felt that I will be able to do this with my hands tied behind my back, but as ‘the day’ draws nearer it feels so daunting. That is something I think no one should stand to forget – That no matter how much real experience you possess or how much you read up, we’re all being sent home with a real, live baby of our very own and we just have to do our best and wing it, while keeping in mind that it is never not OK to request help at any time. It’s scary for most new parents, I imagine 🙂

    This will be such a fun season of crafting and nesting for you! I’m excited to be allowed a peek into every once in a while 🙂

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  • Congratulations!! Such exciting news. We had a baby this July and it is wonderful, and really really hard, and really really wonderful ;)! Was super nauseous too. What helped me was sparkling water with lemon, fresh ginger with hot water, fennel tea, and lots of crackers.

    We got two cats and was a bit worried about them but so far it is fine. They run when baby cries but otherwise they are not very interested. I heard it is good to first give the cats something that smells of the baby before introducing them to the baby. I tried but they where not really interested in sniffing it so can’t say if it works. But my um always said they know the baby belongs to the family and they will accept it as it is part from you. And she was right. Feeling a bit guilty as they get much less cuddles now but they are still happy.
    All the best!! xxx

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  • lol. I was taking bets on which ABM gal would announce this first. Congrats Laura. Who’s next? 😉

    Question for the ABM staff: do you plan to adjust the content of the blog to include parenting-y things as one (or maybe soon more of you?) has kids? If so, in which ways? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this, or maybe a reader poll to see whether people want that or not??

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  • So exciting! Congratulations!! I’ve never been a baby or kid person and now I have two. Everything will fall into place and your instincts will kick in. I’ve always thought of motherhood as an experiment where nobody really knows what they’re doing but you’ll find a groove eventually.
    As far as cats go, while we were at the hospital, I had a family member take the little hat that my baby was wearing and a blanket home to let the cats smell and get used to. Really, though, my cats could care less about the new additions. Good luck!

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  • Congrats!! That’s so exciting!! I’m also due early May! And I also have a May birthday! May babies are the best. 🙂

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  • Congrats!

    My best pieces of advice: don’t bother asking yourself why your baby isn’t sleeping! 90% of the time, it has nothing to do with you or anything you’re doing “wrong” – they’re just growing either physically or mentally and will start sleeping again at some point (although you will STILL be sleep-deprived when they reach toddlerhood, ugh). Learning to try to put the baby down after 90 minutes of wake time until they’re 3/4 months old (except for the late afternoon/night when they stay awake longer) made my life MUCH easier too. And keeping nap times sacred.

    Oh, and memorize the big sleep regressions 😉 – they will RULE your life! The Wonder Weeks app is great for this.

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  • Hi Emilie,
    We’re planning to keep ABM focused mainly on food and home decor. But just like every stage in life evolves our content ever so slightly I’m sure you’ll see some influence there (mainly nursery tours- woo!!!). But we’re 0% likely to become a full blown mom blog. This is a food/decor site and we really want to stay in our lane.

    xx- Elsie

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  • Congratulations!!! Here’s a top tip from one cat lady to another: set up the bassinet/crib/whatever thing your cats might want to investigate/sleep on well in advance and cover the surfaces with anti-scratch tape (that wide double stick tape that keeps cats from scratching your furniture). This will make sure that the kitties don’t have any desire to take naps on clean, hair-free baby places! Be sure to remove the tape well before your due date, though… you don’t want to be scrambling to remove if baby comes early! LOL! Congrats again to you both!

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  • Congratulations! 🙂
    I don’t know how cats and babies go together (my baby-boy is 4 month old and not really interested in cats yet), but you should stay away from your cats during the pregnancy! Cats can carry Toxoplasmosis which is quite harmful for an unborn child. Especially cat poo can be dangerous. So let someone else clean the litterbox!
    Ginger in any form (ale, tea, drops, etc.) and rusk (is that the correct word? In German it’s “Zwieback” and stands for hard and dry bread) helped me against nausea 🙂
    Franzi <3

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  • Congrats for thw two of you! That is a brazilian blogger called “Just Lia” that recently had a baby and has 3 cats, maybe you could watch some of her videos on youtube to see how she deals with it 🙂

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  • Wonderful and exciting news! Congratulations! My husband and I are expecting our first bean in February and are incredibly excited. Cheers to a healthy pregnancy, safe delivery, and bundles of unforgettable memories with your little one!!

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  • With you two as parents, this will likely be the most beautiful baby ever born! And also, congratulations!

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  • Congratulations Laura! We had a cat when my daughter was born. Our cat at the time was very cuddly and curious. Before my daughter was born, Francis (the cat) investigated the crib and all of the other baby gear. Once she arrived, Francis gave her a sniff while she was in her carrier and then proceeded to ignore her. We also put a crib tent over her crib so he couldn’t get in with her. Francis was a total lap cat and we didn’t want him cuddling with her unsupervised. However, he would curl up behind her on my lap while I breastfed her. She got food and he got scratches. I think cats, for the most part, adapt very well to babies.

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  • Congratulations to you both!!!!

    We have an 8 month old son and our cat is awesome with him as opposed to our dog(5 year old rat terrier). He totally lets my son mush, grab, and nibble on him. Someone told me that cats are actually pretty tough and so far I’d have to agree! Maybe it won’t be too big of an adjustment for them 🙂

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  • Congrats! I was in the “I Know a Little, but Not That Much” category, and that still felt terrifying.
    I’d definitely recommend checking out Lucie’s List- on fb, they have a website, and definitely worth subscribing to emails. Total sanity saver for me with my first! She’s got a tried and true list of registry basics & some really great essays on the postpartum period/baby care/etc. It’s the only resource that I hands down recommend. I’m 17 weeks with my second and still referencing her stuff!

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  • We were really nervous about our cat because she hisses at all small children but she has been great! Things we did- hung out in the babies room and let her explore, let her smell one of the hospital baby blankets while we were still recuperating, played a baby crying every once in a while on a video or you tube. Happiest baby on the block and baby wise were my saving graces. There’s also a great blog -chronicles of a baby wise mom.

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  • Such wonderful news Laura! This is the best feeling and experience for any woman.
    Enjoy your pregnancy xxx

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  • Congrats! I have an 8 month old and I also knew nothing about babies but it’s awesome and easy and really fun to be a mom.

    My (unsolicited) advice is

    1.Don’t listen to people and their crazy labor horror stories. It is not even close to as bad as everyone will want to tell you it is. NOT EVEN CLOSE

    2.Put a Rock and Play on your registry

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  • That last sentence made me chuckle. In my experience… cats don’t need to be “introduced” to a new baby. They’ll either love baby or be indifferent. They’ll probably be curious and will be very gentle. And if anything, they get procreation as much as any mammal would. Walking around with a baby in your belly is preparation enough for them. They’ll know it’s coming! It’s not something I would worry about at all.

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  • Yay yay! Congratulations! As others have said, truly, even knowing nothing about babies now you will be totes fine. I was the same. You start with a baby who just needs to eat, poop and sleep, and once you get the hang of that, slow changes start creeping in at a pace you can kind of deal with. Not that I’m saying parenting is a breeze (ha!) but it’s not as overwhelming once you get there 🙂 good luck!

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  • Yay! On just the slightly selfish and non personal note as a reader, I’m excited for some of the ABM girls to move into this stage of life so I can see cute baby and kid DIYS etc? which is probably crazy cuz i don’t even have kids of my own, just want to see what you all can do with that! I’m a “birth junkie” or “birth nerd”, it’s a thing. I am a doula and hope to be a midwife some day, and I spend all of my time, FOR FUN, listening to podcasts and reading books and interacting with accounts about pregnancy, birth, babies, breastfeeding, postpartum…may I recommend, if you read one book, that it be Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth. It’s considered the gold standard and it’s wonderful for dispelling fears. There’s also great podcasts, accounts and an app for pregnancy meditations to calm and prepare for birth that are great for third trimester especially. Of course everyone will tell you what to do right now and you have to just do what makes you comfortable. Look into getting a doula to help you transition in those first few weeks and get some sleep. Tennessee is the premier place in the country for modern midwifery and woman based care, so you will be in good hands, I’m sure. Very excited for you??

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  • Congrats! That’s so awesome.
    Sidenote: I love your gray dress in the photo! Where is it from?

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  • CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

    Cannot wait to see what your wardrobe and nursery will look like!

    You should be feeling better soon. The second trimester is so much easier!

    Very excited for you!

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  • Congrats! I was so nervous with my first (I am a natural worrywart) but once my daughter arrived I was just calm and did what I needed to do, you’ll be great. Also, stay far away from the kitty litter while you are pregnant!!

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  • Congratulations Laura! All the very best. I would actually like to get in touch with you regarding the amazing Palm Springs Gingerbread house you made a few years ago. I’m wanting to create a similar edible diorama and would like to review your creation in more detail. If you have more information to provide, that would be much appreciated 🙂

    Thanks!

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  • Congrats!
    I recommend hiring a postpartum doula. It will be a game changer! They teach baby care and help out around the house… and more!

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