21 Weeks!

 I've got a carrot in my belly!

Feeling: Really good. Less than half way to go!!!  

This week, we had a contractor come to move the nursery door and so I feel like things are moving forward.  That needed to happen before we could do anything else nursery-related so YAY! I'm happy.

After Jeff returned from Cali, we spent a couple days together and then went down the shore for Memorial Day which was awesomely relaxing.  We both took naps every single day (ridiculous), rode our bikes and walked everywhere.  Oh, and ate...a lot. 

Next weekend, we take off for DC & Colonial Williamsburg and I can't wait.  These little trips are definitely helping to push this pregnancy along. Thank God. Jeff leaves Wednesday and I leave to meet him Friday by train.  Until then, we have a contractor working on our deck and finishing the nursery door so I'm sure it won't be the best week to be home, but it's only a few days. 

Okay, I'm exhausted and pretty sure my little girl wants me to watch crappy TV that I dvr'd all weekend.  Real housewives, what what!!!

Symptoms:
-Acne.  Still using Belli facewash...hoping for the best.
-Sleep is BAD. Even with my massive snoogle pillow.
-fast and fleeting headaches. 
-craving Grapenuts. Weird, I know.
-liking ice cream (mint choc chip/peach/vanilla&orange swirl) WAY too much.

Weight: No clue. I'll update tomorrow...UPDATE - 10 pounds.

What I Miss: Nada!

Doctor Appointment: 22 week check up. 1 week to go!

Looking Forward To:  Our "nursery weekend" that we have scheduled 2 weekends from now. We're going to jump in head first, get the crib, get the paint (then paint) and get the carpet.  I'm excited to see it come together!

xoxo
L

Craving...Grapenuts?

I now understand what a craving is because I have an unstoppable, insatiable, mouthwatering hunger for...GRAPENUTS.

WHAAAAAT?!

I don't get it.  I've had 3 "mini" (depending on how you define mini) bowls today and honestly, I could have another. And I may. In fact, I'm pouring it right now!

Help! My mouth is literally watering for them.

It kinda reminds me of girls who like to gnaw dirt while they're pregnant (because Grapenuts are so dirt-like in their appearance). Or it's like someone who is addicted to shopping...at Walmart.  Grapenuts are so unglamorous! Why couldn't I be normal and crave ice cream?  Pregnancy can be so weird.

xoxo
L

20 Weeks...Halfway there!!!

Happiness is spending your 20th weekend in LBI...even if the pics are a little distorted and funny looking.

Feeling:  Super. Being at the halfway point feels like an awesome triumph.  My stressful job has ended and I can now feel my baby GIRL kick me.  Things are good.  

Jeff left on Friday for a wedding in California, so for my weekend sans husband, I decided to go down the shore to Long Beach Island with my family and preggie friend.  It was really just what the doctor ordered.  Lots of relaxing and LOTS of fun foods.  Fun = pancakes & jelly beans.  Even though I'm not sleeping well AT ALL, I am halfway through this pregnancy thing and feeling optimistic about EVERYTHING. The nursery, the baby, the sleepless nights to come, our mini family to be, the wedding that I'm IN 3 days before my due date, and of course the BABY!  

It's all pretty freaking exciting.

Symptoms: 
-Back Aches.
-Acne.  Staying in the same semi-bad/good place.
-Sleep is getting worse. I feel like I have a magnet on my back that is attracted to my mattress. The whole night is a duel between good and evil.
-Heartburn. Only at nighttime and it can arise out of nowhere. Cookie = heartburn. Ketchup = heartburn. Yogurt = heartburn. Bread= heartburn.  Usually it's gone before I go to bed, but it's still nasty.

Weight: 9 pounds.

What I Miss: Still missing nice skin like whoa.

Doctor Appointment: 22 week check up!

Looking Forward To:  Jeff returning from Cali and the two of us getting this nursery thing under way.

xoxo
L

19w2d Anatomy Scan

Somehow time has flown ever-so-quickly and our once soooooo faraway anatomy scan is said and done.  

We arrived to Overlook Hospital at 7:30am because a) we are eager beavers and b) Jeff had to get to work. They took us back before our appt time and got started right away.  Lucky for us, our tech is also an MD so she can talk to us throughout the whole thing and explain every measurement that's going on.  

Immediately after lathering me with jelly and seeing our little babe with a beating heart, Karen (our lady) exclaimed that the baby was in "perfect position" so there would be no ooohing and awwing or watching the baby wiggle.  She wanted to take this opportunity to get all the measurements she could before the baby starting doing flips.

I was excited, but I was also NERVOUS.  

First she looked at the four chambers of the heart before showing us the stomach.  Then the liver (or something).  Then she focused on the brain (scary) and finally the spine.  After that, she did a couple things before getting to the measurements.  We were at 19weeks/2 days and everything measured between 19 and 20ish weeks...except for the limbs which seem to be measuring a little ahead at 20 weeks and the head...which is measuring WAY ahead (21 weeks, i think)!!!!  Our little baby is already set to take after my massive dome!  Poor thing:)

Karen also revealed that we are in fact having a GIRL!!! YAYAYAYYAYAY...and it was an odd sense of excitement to hear that confirmed.  Before we were like, "We think we're having a girl" and now we can be like, "Yes, buy us pink stuff. Thanks."

All in all, the scan took 30 minutes because the baby was cooperating.  Of course I would have loved to see her a little longer, but I know that she wasn't a fan of being poked and prodded (she was kicking me like crazy) so it was good to end early.

Fun stuff:

-Toward the end of the appointment, she took the biggest yaaawn (or mouth stretch).  And it was adorable.  Here's a pic...

-She kept reaching for her toes and holding her feet.  So freakin cute.

19 Weeks!

Damn, it feels good to be a gangsta.

Feeling:  GREAT. My baby is a mango! At 18 weeks exactly, I felt the baby for the first time.  It was kinda like gas moving around in my belly which of course prompted me to believe it was gas.  However, when it persisted all week long without resulting in a fart, I believed finally...the baby was moving!!!

So at 18w/1d, I had a doctor appt in which Jeff could not attend so I brought my Mom.  It was AWESOME.  The doctor showed us the baby and I asked if she could tell the gender.  If so, I wanted her to tell my Mom who could then write it down so that Jeff and I could find out together.  The doctor was honest in saying that her machine was much fuzzier than the tech's will be at the anatomy scan, but she would give it a shot.  

Later that night, I returned home from work around 9pm and Jeff met me in town for a suuuper late dinner to reveal the news...

It's a GIRL!!! (as long as my doctor is right...)

Symptoms: 
-BABY MOVEMENT!!!! YAYAYAYYAY
-little cramps here and there
-BIG cramps while laying on the acupuncture table.
-Acne.  Still getting better.
-Bad sleep.  I am finding ways to sleep on my back even with my massive body pillow. AAAAAH.  I hate it.  Waking up to constantly switch to a side sucks:) 

Weight: 7 pounds total.

What I Miss: Nice skin!

Doctor Appointment:  19w/3days - anatomy scan. Weeee!

Looking Forward To:  Anatomy Scan in 2 days!!! Confirmation of the sex!


xoxo
L

Pregnancy Brain #7

Opened a card.

Threw it out.

Walked around before realizing I was carrying an empty envelope.

 ---

Went to type this post in.

Typed it.

Then realized I wasn't on this blog.  

I was on my old one...that I never go on anymore.

whoopsie!

xoxo
L

Happy Mother's Day!

YAY!

Today, the hubs made me quite a caloric breakfast in bed and I got to feel my little baby kick (or something) for the 4th day in a row!!! YAY!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

18 Weeks!

Holy shamoly. I'm 18 weeks!  And because my husband has begged me to lose the loose shirt for this week...here I am with my sidekick, SUPERBELLY!!!

Feeling:  Pretty good.  Loving that I'm this far along. 

Jeff and I stayed in NYC last Thursday night (17w 3days) and I woke up on Friday with some pretty bad cramping.  I was scared at first because it felt really low and menstrual-like and I've been so stressed at work and also physically running around  (no joke...I work between 2 places that are 2 blocks apart and I actually run back and forth...bad idea) so I freaked out immediately and had a pep talk with my baby.  I told it not to do anything irrational.  TELL ME first. Give me a chance to mend my dumb ways before doing anything that we would both regret:)  

I made sure to lie down and get ready for work really slowly.  Jeff and I then  walked to a diner (at a snails pace) and enjoyed a massive plate of pancakes and scrambled eggs until it subsided quite a bit.  At work, it persisted for only a little while before completely going away which made me feel better.  And I stopped with the running.  It's not worth it.  

However, this episode did make me worry...because that's what I do.  And Jeff and I used our new nifty little doppler (Sonoline B) on Saturday to hear the heartbeat.  It was faint and kinda hard to find, but it was there. THANK GOD.

I feel like this pregnancy is flying.  Maybe it's because I've waited so long and this is nothing compared to endless trying, testing, an IUI, 2 cycles of IVF and an FET but it feels FAST. I can't believe that we're going to find out the gender soon and then after that we have SO much fun nursery stuff we can do, as well as, oh I don't know...Summer, which in general is great and completely not boring.

Symptoms: 
-Back Aches!!! They are short lived but frequent.
-Acne.  It's getting better. Not great...but better.
-Big belleh.  My stomach seems to have groooown this week.  And I'm not mad.
-Sleep is still 'eh'.  Bought a HUGE body pillow doughnut thing that I climb and twist myself into now, though and I think it's making for a great improvement. Buy it here...Massive body pillow:)
-Heartburn. Nothing cray but it's there.

Weight: the scale says 6 pounds total this morning but i'm starving so after breakfast, my guess would be 7.

What I Miss: Nice skin!!!

Doctor Appointment: 18 weeks/1 day. Then 19w/3days for the scary anatomy scan. Eek!

Looking Forward To:  18 week appt and then the anatomy scan!


xoxo
L

Beauty Products and Pregnancy

I am in LOVE with beauty products. 

On a normal non-pregnant day, I use:

shampoo
conditioner
acne/anti-age facewash
makeup removing face wipes
anti-age face lotion with spf
anti-age body lotion
another makeup face wipe after work
under eye cream at night
night time face lotion
and vaseline on my lips overnight

oh and deodorant every so often...because I USED to not sweat that much.




Too much? Probably.  And not in quantity...in the way of chemicals.  Nearly every package had a paraben or 3 and a sulfate or 10. 

That's why I gradually changed nearly everything (especially the anti-aging stuff) in my regime throughout my pregnancy so far.

However, being a sulfate/paraben/aluminum-free chickee is NOT easy by any means.  Especially when my skin is worse than ever and I'm sweating more than I have in the last 3 years combined.  

Here's what I've switched to so far:

Burt's Bees Shampoo and Conditioner
Belli acne facewash for preggos
Burt's Bees makeup wipes (from Whole Foods)
Neutrogena Naturals Face lotion
Burt's Bees Milk and Honey body lotion
Vaseline on my face at night
Mama Mio Belly Rub for stretchmarks (I can almost guarantee that this does nothing for stretchmarks...but it smells nice and is awesomely moisturizing)
Burt's Bees hand soap (not sure it kills any germs, but NO SULFATES! YAY)

And aluminum Free deodorant (it smells good...doesn't work at all though)

 I have a couple extra Burt's Bees products that I don't use that often, too.  The mask and Ageless face lotion.  The lotion is too watery for my liking and the mask is good once every couple weeks.

xoxo
L