Sunday Pregnancy Musings...

1. Yesterday at the gym, I realized I need to invest in some maternity work out pants. My regular pants are no longer cutting it and giving me a weird bump because they are tight in the waist, which is not cute when you are sweating on the elliptical and already a bit self-conscious about having this new body. I'm thinking about checking out Target and Old Navy - any other recommendations?

2. I used the baby as an "excuse" to convince J to get Dunkin Donuts for breakfast this morning. And then I may have eaten 2.5 chocolate glazed donuts, plus a large caramel flavored decaf coffee. But I plan on putting on my too-tight workout pants and hitting up the gym later today, so that makes it ok, right?

3. I think baby boy is growing at a rapid rate, because this week, my back and sciatic nerve have been in serious pain. Doing yoga has helped, but I'm definitely uncomfortable and still not sleeping very good. Little man is hanging out low, low, low because I'm only feeling kicks on my bladder and underneath my belly button. I know he'll move up in the next few weeks, but I think I'd rather have him on my bladder than in my ribs, so I'm happy where he is for now.

4. I'm anxious to start the nursery and I'm in major nesting mode. I literally woke up one morning and was overwhelmed with everything we need to do. We have to relocate my office, sell our guest room furniture and clean out the closets in the nursery before we can start the fun decorating. My nursery Pinterest board has like 100 pins but I'm starting to narrow down my ideas for the room. We are keeping the walls the green that we painted when we moved in, but I want to do a fun bold accent wall where the crib will go. I want to do navy as the main color, with a few pops of fun yellow.

5. My favorite black Patagonia fleece no longer zips up over my bump. This sort of depresses me and sort of makes me laugh. This past week, I've noticed the comments from strangers have increased, as well as 2 unsolicited bump touches (ahhhhh so weird and creepy!!). As much as I like to rock the bump, I'm sort of happy that it's winter and I can still cover it with my winter coat to limit the comments and touches.

6. I love how now that I'm pregnant, J.Crew has been doing crazy ridiculous sales. All their Factory stuff is 60% off this week and I was sort of bummed to look at everything that I don't currently fit into. Then I realized I can still shop for accessories, shoes and CARDIGANS!! So I may or may not have placed an order this morning for a couple of pregnancy friendly items.

Summer in January

So I realize that it's January and it's about 30 degrees outside, but I saw this at the grocery store earlier this week and had to get it:
Dole's Endless Summer Salad Kit. I'll be honest, I'm not really sure what makes this a "summery" salad. It has a "Summer" Vinaigrette, shredded Swiss and Gruyere Cheeses, Roasted Sunflower Seeds, Croutons and Pepper and Herb Seasoning. But it was AMAZING! I'm sort of a salad snob and I thought that the lettuces that came with the salad were sort of gross (I hate iceburg), so I actually bought a second bag of salad with romaine and other greens and used that instead of the lettuce that came with it.

But all the add-in's were delicious! I think my favorite was the Pepper and Herb Seasoning - it really gave the salad a lot of flavor. I'm allergic to nuts, so I was happy to have the sunflower seeds to give it crunch. I seriously could have eaten the entire bag myself (but I did share with J!)

If you see it at your grocery store, definitely try it! It may be my new favorite salad!

Golden Globes - Best and Worst Dressed!

I love awards season! And the Golden Globes may be my favorite awards show, I love how laid back and fun it is! Most of the stars did not disappoint last night, so I thought I would share some of my favorites. And then get to some who I thought missed the mark.

Favorites:Jessica Alba - I thought she was seriously glowing! Her skin looked amazing and I loved this lavender dress. I can't believe she had a baby 5 months ago. I may tape this picture to my fridge as motivation after I have the baby in May!Charlize Theron - Loved this, even though I do think it's very similar to other dresses she's worn before. I LOVED her headband, probably my favorite part of her entire look!
Claire Danes - Loved the black and white! The back was to die for as well. Simple and elegant!
Dianna Agron - I thought this was very different, but I still loved it. The cutouts up top were really pretty and I loved all the layers/ruffles at the bottom. Her hair was also one of my favorites. Emma Stone - I liked the two-tone and I thought the belt was actually pretty cool. Loved the beaded cap sleeves. She definitely could pull off a look like this. The only thing I don't like is that her shoes look sort of chunky for such a delicate dress.Paula Patton - Yellow!! This color looked amazing on her with her dark hair and it was so bright and cheerful. It's a color that not everyone could pull off, but I thought it looked amazing on her!Reese Witherspoon - I loved how relaxed and happy she looked! It was different from her normal very polished looks and I liked it! Her hair is great and the red looked so good on her!

Now, my LEAST favorites:
Jessica Biel - YUCK. It was a sloppy mess...her dress AND hair looked blah. You'd think for someone who just got engaged to Justin Timberlake, she'd want to look really good. It reminds me of an old lady's nightgown.
Natalie Portman - I love Natalie, but I did not love this dress. It was too frumpy and didn't show off how cute and tiny she is. I hated the folded down part at the top - it reminded me of a 90's prom dress!Lea Michele - I was not a fan of this and I think it looks too old for her. The top reminds me of a ice skaters outfit.

Who did you think was best and worst dressed?

One of those days....

Not sure if the fact that it's Friday the 13th has anything to do with it, but today is a crazy day! While I was out on appointments this morning for work, I decided I need to treat myself and the little man to some deliciousness in a cup...
Chick-Fil-A Ice Tea and Lemonade mixed - heaven in a cup!! Oh and while I was there, I couldn't turn down a #1 with extra pickles and CFA sauce. Obviously.

Pregnancy Essentials - The first half!

I celebrated the halfway point of this pregnancy on Sunday! I can't believe I made it halfway - sometimes it seems like the time is dragging on and other times it feels like it's flying by.

I put together a short list of the things that helped me get through the last 20 weeks and what I couldn't live without!

1. My Sigg Water bottleI will admit - I was HORRIBLE about drinking water before I got pregnant. Like, I would go all day without drinking anything. As soon as that 2nd line popped up, I was craving ice cold water like it was my job. I have a 24 oz. Sigg and I try to drink 4-5 bottles of water a day from it. I carry it with me everywhere and I'm seriously obsessed with tracking how much water I've had in a day.

2. These 2 prenatal workout DVD's...
Suzanne Bowen's Long and Lean Workout - this is a serious workout, even if you aren't pregnant! She does a million squats and leg lefts - it's a great whole body workout and I am typically super sweaty by the end. I LOVE the stretching sequence at the end, it really helps with hip and back pain. I do this every other day and alternate it with this:Shiva Rea's prenatal yoga. This is amazing and calming, but still a great full body workout. I feel like I've gotten the best stretch ever after I finish it. She has different modifications for each trimester. I also like how she teaches you some deep breathing techniques, which I hope will be useful for labor!

Both of these DVD's have really helped because I've had pretty bad back and hip pain since around 11 weeks. If I skip a few days of them, I definitely start to feel more sore.

4. Cardigans. Sort of random, but I've found that dressing while pregnant is all about the layers. My current go-to outfit during this pregnancy is maternity jeans, a short or long sleeve t-shirt, a cardigan and then some fun jewelry. The nice thing about cardigans is that they will work after I have the baby as well, so I don't feel guilty about buying a lot them since I will get more than 9 months of wear out of them. I bought this ruffle cardigan from Target in every color...
Edit - The cardigan from Target can be found here. They also had a lot in my local store, on clearance for $17.99!

Catching up - the first 4 months

Part of me is sort of bummed that I didn't blog the beginning of this pregnancy, but we really didn't tell anyone except immediate family until I was 14-15 weeks along. But then right at 14 weeks, I woke up one day with a large baby bump, so we figured the cat needed to get out of the bag! ha! So here's an abbreviated version of the weekly pregnancy posts, for the first four months!


Due Date: May 27, 2012

How Big is Baby: Well he started out as a poppy seed and grew all the way to like an avocado I believe in week 16. Currently in week 19, he's a mango!

Symptoms: I pretty much had every pregnancy symptom ever in the 1st trimester. The extreme all day nausea started around week 6, but luckily pretty much vanished in week 13. The exhaustion was seriously ridiculous - I didn't realize a person could be so tired all the time. My weekends in the fall basically consisted of sleeping on the couch and J bringing me food/forcing me to eat. I had some bad food aversions and couldn't really eat anything unless it was a carb. I also had horrible bloating/gas (lovely!), extreme headaches and heartburn (which I still have). Honestly, all these symptoms went away in the beginning of the 2nd trimester, so I can still say that being pregnant is amazing, because I feel great now! Selective amnesia I guess!

Cravings: Eggo Waffles (we literally started buying these in bulk from Sam's Club because I was eating so many of them), Spaghetti-O's, Orange Juice, Ice Cold Water. This is literally what my entire diet in the 1st trimester consisted of. Picture of health right?? Don't worry, I'm actually eating vegetables now!

Sleep: Pretty horrible right from the beginning. Right after we found out, I think I was really nervous/excited so I hardly slept. Then that was replaced by getting up to pee at least 2 times a night. I did nap like a champ though several times a day, especially from week 6 - 10.

I Can't Live Without: My large water bottle, so I can keep track of how much water I'm drinking and leggings, long v-neck tshirts from Target and cardigans (pretty much my daily wardrobe now)

I Miss: Sleeping through the night without getting up to pee a million times, not having any back pain and sushi.

I am Looking Forward to: I'm trying to enjoy the pregnancy as it happens, so I try not to look ahead too much. I think I was looking forward to getting out of the 1st trimester so I could relax a little bit and start feeling better.

Milestones: Making it out of the 1st trimester alive!

Awkward Moments: I think pregnancy is generally awkward all together. All the body changes and weird things that happen to you. It's a surreal experience!

Exercise: I fought through a lot of the nausea and exhaustion and actually did work out in the 1st trimester. I jogged (just recently stopped because it was feeling really weird!) and went for long walks. I also have been doing a prenatal yoga and prenatal pilates DVD every day - I alternate between the 2 every other day. I love them both and I think they are definitely keeping me feeling good, especially when I started getting back/hip pain.

Diet: Whatever I could keep down?

Movement: I guess since this is my first pregnancy, I didn't really know what I was looking for as far as movement. I never really felt any "flutters" except for maybe 1 or 2 times and it could have definitely been gas. But right after Christmas, around the 18 week mark, Baby Boy started kicking the crap out of me and now there's no mistaken all this movement.

Gender: BOY!

Labor Signs: Umm no way!

We are taking monthly photos of my belly growth - I thought weekly was a bit much, especially since you don't grow that much week to week. I wear the same outfit and we take them in the same room for comparison. So here's my 4 week picture (taken the day we found out) and my 16 week picture, so you can see the crazy explosion that my belly has done!Ahh I miss you little flat stomach! Yeeeeeeeah, no denying that I'm pregnant! And I have been asked by strangers if I'm having twins. I love how people think it's acceptable to ask pregnant people ridiculous questions!!

So that was the first 16 weeks in a nutshell!

It's a Boy - Old Wives Tales

So we found out Baby E was a boy on the 23rd, just in time to tell our families on Christmas - it was a very fun Christmas reveal! I baked chocolate chip cookies with blue M&M's in them and put them in 2 tins for both our mom's to open on Christmas and they all loved it!

The funniest part of the baby being a boy is that J was convinced that it was a girl. He was calling my belly "she" and was constantly talking about baby girls. I really didn't have any mother's intuition either way and honestly had no idea until we got the money shot on the sonogram. When the tech pointed out his little man parts, J's mouth fell open and he literally did not say a word for the entire scan. I was hysterically laughing because he was just so in shock. Of course, now he's obsessed with the fact that he's going to have a little mini-me to take fishing and camping!

Anyways, only a few of the "old wives tales" were accurate for me in predicting that the baby was a boy.

• If you prefer sleeping on your left side, you'll have a boy. Right side? A girl. Umm I preferred (and still do) to sleep on my back. And I know it's bad, I have slowly been forcing myself to sleep on my side now that I'm so far along. I don't really have a side preference, I honestly just hate sleeping on my side at all.
  
• Extreme nausea means you are having a girl. This was wrong for me - I had extreme nausea all day from 6 weeks until about 14 weeks. I threw up a few times a week, but mainly it was just feeling like crap and not being able to eat anything. Yuck.
  
• If you're craving citrus, you're having a girl. This was wrong too - I eat so many grapefruits and clementines, it's not even funny. I also was chugging OJ in the 1st trimester like it was my job.
  
• If your skin breaks out, expect a girl. Considering I look like a 13 year old, this was not correct for me. My skin is awful and nothing helps. Luckily it's all on my chin/jaw line so it's not super noticeable, but I still am not a fan, as I normally have very clear skin. I have no "pregnancy glow" at all. It sucks!
  
• If you feel graceful during pregnancy, you'll have a girl. Clumsy? It's a boy. Umm well I'm always clumsy, so I'm not sure if this works for me or not. I am still very clumsy, so I guess it was right.
  
• If you gain weight in your face, it means you're having a girl. I guess this was right for me - so far I haven't gained any weight except for in my belly. Let's hope it stays that way!!
  
• Craving salt? Expect a boy. A little something sweet? You're having a girl. This was right for me - my sweet tooth that I normally have is pretty much non-existant. But give me olives, pickles or salt and vinegar chips and I'm in heaven!
• If baby is low, expect a boy. High, it's a girl. This kid is super low, so this was correct. At our last ultrasound, the tech goes "wow, he is right on your bladder" - yeah, I already knew that from the constant kicks he gives me, which are always fun when you are peeing 150 times a day anyway!
  
• If you're carrying in front, it's a boy. All around your middle? A girl. I'm definitely carrying all in front, so this is correct. I hope this continues, you really can't tell I'm pregnant from the back.
• If the baby's heart rate is over 140 beats per minute, then you are having a girl. If the baby's heart rate is under 140 beats per minute, you are having a boy. This was not right for me - apparently our boy has a super high heart rate. It's normally right around 160. My mother in law told me that J's heart rate was super high when she was pregnant with him, so I guess he's already taking after his dad!
  
• The Chinese Gender Chart - this was also WRONG for me, which I find very interesting because it's been right for all my friends who have babies and I consider it to be pretty accurate haha. It definitely said girl and there is no doubt this baby is all boy!
  

For those of you with kids, were the old wives tales right for you?