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?

2012 is going to be a great year!

So I think it's finally time to explain why my blogging has sucked lately...

We're having a BABY!!

I'm currently 19 weeks pregnant and Baby E is a BOY! He should make his arrival around May 27, 2012 (Memorial Day weekend!) We are so excited (and nervous!)

I had a pretty rough 1st trimester as far as nausea and exhaustion (pregnancy is no joke!) But I'm feeling MUCH better now and I can honestly say I'm loving the pregnancy thing. Little man has recently started with some pretty strong kicks, which are awesome. Oh and whoever said that boys clothes aren't as cute as girls has obviously never shopped with me. He's not even here yet and this kid has several monogrammed and embroidered outfits that are to die for! Yes, we have a name picked already - but we're not sharing until he's born.

So I'm sure that many more baby blog posts are in my future. We just started our registry and are getting started on the nursery soon (much more on that later - our house is about to become a construction zone!)

I've journaled my pregnancy so far in a little notebook, so I may do a little catch up on the first 18 weeks and I'll post a few bump pictures as well. I started showing really early and it's slightly bizarre to have this baby bump already! Here's my bump from Christmas Day at 18 weeks:

Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!!

Christmas List

Wow, I'm really sucking in the blogging department! I promise I'll be better in the New Year! Since Christmas is now 6 days away (WHAT?!?!), I thought I would share what's on my list this year. Tomorrow I'll share my favorite gifts that I'm giving this year.J and I decided we aren't really doing presents this year and will both just upgrade to an iPhone 4s right after Christmas. So excited - I think I'm most excited to pick out a cute case for it!Clarisonic Mia (in pink of course). I've heard awesome things about this little brush - and it's the perfect size to fit in my stocking!A calligraphy address stamper - love this one from etsy!I'm not a big coffee drinker, but I LOVE tea, so this is the perfect coffee maker for me and J. He can get his coffee and I can have my tea and oatmeal. A Kindle Fire - I'm all about the tech gifts this year!Yes, I realize it's almost 2012 and I'm asking for a pizza stone - we're a little behind the times on this one. But we realized that we eat a lot of homemade pizza!

So hopefully Santa will put some of these under the tree for me this year. What is on your list?

Thanksgiving Outfit Help!

Being an OCD planner, I of course, like to decide on my outfit for the holidays far in advance. This year, we are going to J's family for Thanksgiving (we alternate every year), so there will be about 30 people there, of all ages. I love his extended family because all his cousins are around our age and it's fun to catch up with all of them!

Anyways, here's the outfit I have narrowed down for next Thursday:This dress - it's a sweater dress and super soft and comfy. Bonus that it's loose so I can eat as much as I want! EDIT - The dress is from Target! They have a ton of cute sweater dresses right now.
These boots - my knock off Frye boots from Target. I love these because the shade of brown is perfect, they were super cheap and look really cute.
To add in some more brown, this belt around the empire waist part of the dress.

My dilemma is coming in what color tights to wear with it. I'm thinking a fun color, such as navy or burgundy might be fun. But would that look weird? Should I go with brown? Or grey? Or even ivory? I'm not super good when it comes to fun accessories, so I need help!! What's your vote?

Back from Paradise

So we're back from Puerto Rico. Bummed to come back, but we had a fantastic time! I would highly recommend PR to anyone looking for a quick, fun, easy weekend getaway. Since it's part of the US, you don't have to go through customs or take a passport. We had a 3 hour direct flight both ways - it couldn't have been easier!

Of course, we had awesome (HOT!) weather the entire time! It's funny how you forget what hot weather feels like when you come from the cold fall temps. It actually snowed back home while we were gone - we saw that on the news as we were laying pool side with fruity drinks!

Here was the amazing view from our hotel balcony:And here's what we did all day:Here's the amazing and authentic Puerto Rican food we ate:
(this is Mofongo, which is mashed plantains topped with shredded marinated chicken. It's a local specialty and was delicious!)

We also did some sight seeing in Old San Juan and walked around the fort there, El Morro:
It was a great and relaxing way to celebrate turning 30! And J celebrated his 32nd birthday while we were there as well, so it was a double birthday trip!

Now I can't believe how fast the holidays are coming up! Thanksgiving next week?!?! Craziness!!