How Far Along: 25 weeks
Total Weight Gain: I'm up to 19 pounds now. I don't think this whole 25 pound limit I imposed on myself is going to happen. The problem I'm facing (other than simply just not caring about eating whatever treats I want at any given time) is that the way I normally stay in shape/at a good weight is by counting everything I put in my mouth and limiting that to a certain number of calories (or points) a day. On top of that, I run and do classes at the gym at work. Well, I'm not really capable of doing any of those things right now. I can't do weight watchers while I'm pregnant, which I personally think is completely ridiculous, why can't they make a "healthy pregnancy" program? I can't run because it was 4 million degrees all summer so I quit running and I really shouldn't/can't start again now. Walking is all well and good but it just doesn't get my legs in shape like running does. And I can't really do my class at work anymore because I have to modify basically everything that they do in there. That leaves me to come up with my own modified workouts at home which just isn't quite the same, and it's harder to force myself to do stuff when I get home from work than it is to just go down to the gym at lunch. So...come December when my ass is the size of Africa, please don't judge, and just pray for me that it will go back down to semi-normal size by approximately March of next year.
Maternity Clothes: My work pants are getting tight. See above rant. And yes, I'm still wearing 4 inch heels.
Sleep: I have reached the point of maximum frustration with the lack of sleep. I know this is Mother Nature's way of preparing me for when the baby comes. Quite frankly, I do not care. I literally sleep in half hour to 45 minute segments and then I'm up for 15-20 minutes trying to fall back asleep because my back hurts so bad. I'm pretty sure, unless I end up with the curse of a horribly sleeping baby, that when I'm up for feedings I'm not going to be up every 45 minutes. It's going to be every several hours. That is so NOT the same as the crap I'm dealing with now. I think I have convinced Jake that next weekend we need to go buy a memory foam mattress. It will be one of those things that I will super appreciate now, and we both can appreciate for the next 15-20 years.
Gender: No real girly stuff this past week. During my staycation in a few weeks I'll probably do some more bows and work on the nursery a little bit more.
Best Moment this Week: Reds clinch the NL Central for the 2nd time in three seasons!!! WOOOOOO!!!!!! We didn't get to see the game at GABP like we did in 2010, but it was still really cool watching it at home, knowing we already have tickets available to us for the postseason. Yay!!
Movement: Jake felt her kick for the first time last week. It's still really faint and it's kind of a sit-around-and-wait game, but he definitely felt it a few times.
Food Cravings: Ice cream. Cookies. Caramel popcorn. Frostys. Lucky Charms. Brownies. Cupcakes. Donuts. A spoonful of sugar. You think I might have trouble passing my glucose test? Yeah, I'm going to have to go cold turkey on the sugar the week before my next appointment. Yikes!
Symptoms: Major, major, major, did I say major? back pain. It hurts pretty much all day. I couldn't really tell you the last time I went for more than 20 minutes feeling comfortable with my back. I have GOT to call a massage place and see if that will help. Doc recommended a foam mattress topper, hence the discussion with Jake about buying a full on foam mattress. I'm really hoping that will help, since the pillows between my legs, under my belly, behind my back, under my knees (you name it, I've tried it) have done nothing to help. By 1:30-2pm at work I just want to go home and lay down because I'm so uncomfortable I can hardly stand it. The back support cushion I have here at work does, at best, a mediocre job of making any pain go away.
What I Miss: I miss any semblance of a good night's sleep that I can remember from 6 months ago. As weird as it sounds, I also would give anything at this point to have a total ball-busting, ass-kicking, sweat dripping from everywhere on my body workout right now, but that's just going to have to wait until next year. Wah.
What I am Looking Forward to: Two more weeks until my staycation begins. It cannot get here soon enough! I desperately need to recharge my motivational work battery.
Exercise: This week was a major fail. I walked one day last week during lunch, and did a 5k walk on Saturday morning for pancreatic cancer. I definitely need to step it up this week. Hopefully with Jake out of town the first part of the week I'll be bored enough at home by myself to do my little workout video.
Noteworthy Items:
-Due to the (hopefully) impending expensive mattress purchase, we have decided to go with a cheaper rocker/glider. We went to Furniture Fair on Saturday and I (gasp) looked at recliners. They all made me want to vomit on myself because they are so #*$%-ing ugly, so we promptly left. I think we'll just keep shopping around until we find something that's affordable and doesn't make me want to puke.
-I think Callie has figured out something is different with me. She is way more cuddly when I get home from work, and it seems she always wants her head on my lap, which ironically is awfully close to that little baby bump. Maybe she is claiming her territory?
-Sometimes when I'm walking around or when I run into someone I haven't seen for a while, I feel like a farm animal, or perhaps a museum exhibit. It's like the eyes instantly go to my belly. It doesn't really bother me, especially when it's friends or family members who I haven't seen recently, but the random stares in the elevator at work are pretty obnoxious. One of these times when I've gotten less than 4 hours sleep I'm going to look at them and be like "yes, I'm pregnant, do you want a picture of my stomach to take home with you?"!!!
-One of those old people pocket catheters is sounding pretty great the more Samantha squishes my bladder. Just saying.
-I was thinking recently about how a lot of my relationships with my friends will probably change once she gets here, but I really want to make a conscious effort not to let it get too out of control. I'm trying to combat it now by not being a pouty pout about going out and staying sober. I'm not saying I don't actually pout about not getting to have a beer, because that's EXACTLY what I do. However, I'm not going to sit at home like a party pooper just because I can't partake in certain festivities. Hopefully this will carry on when it becomes obnoxious to find a babysitter or worry about my kid the whole time I'm out. Fingers crossed!
-Jake is in Philly until Wednesday for work and I hate it. I don't know how people who travel every week for work manage to maintain any sanity. I miss him already and I just saw him this morning. Wednesday can't come soon enough!
Monday, September 24, 2012
Monday, September 17, 2012
Twenty-Four.
How Far Along: 24 weeks
Total Weight Gain: I have gained 17 pounds total so far. I'm getting awfully close to my 30 pound limit I have enacted on myself with 16 weeks left to go, but at this point there's really not much I can do except continue to work out and perhaps maybe cut back on my ice cream intake. Maybe the new cooler weather will help with that task?
Maternity Clothes: My sweet baby seester is took me back to Gap tonight. I got some more casual t-shirts to wear on the weekends, and some maternity leggings and yoga pants. I still think I'm good on work clothes. I need to keep the weight gain in check so the cute maternity clothes I have now will fit me the whole time.
Sleep: I have found a solution for sleeping through the night! Wake up at 4am because you have to use the bathroom. Come back to your room and find your husband snoring. Lay there unable to sleep for 30 minutes until you just decide to get up because your alarm is set for 5am anyway. Drive to Chicago. Go to Cubby Bear, watch everyone drink beers and wipe drool off of your mouth while fantasizing about having a beer. Go to Wrigley field and watch a baseball game in the sun. After the game is over, eat your weight in deep dish pizza. Get in the car and drive home. By the time midnight rolls around and you're finally back in bed, you'll be so tired you'll sleep like a baby until 9am! Woohoo!!
Gender: While I was at Gap shopping for my growing belly, I bought my first little girl outfit for Sam. I have been trying to hold off because I know I'll probably be inundated with cute girl clothes at showers and from hand-me-downs, but it's been a month since we found out this little monkey is a girl and I couldn't contain myself anymore! Here is a preview of the first pieces of her wardrobe:
The first one is my favorite. I have decided that I love adult looking clothes on little children more than I like childlike clothes on children. A ruffle tunic is the perfect example. Jake picked out the polka dotted ruffle butt bodysuit - he did good! My sister is fully aware she is absolutely NOT allowed to quit working at BR anytime soon!
Best Moment this Week: I didn't have any absolutely spectacular moments this past week, but sometimes just spending time with friends and family is enough to make an entire week great. That's how my week went last week, so I'd say overall it was a success!
Movement: Jake still can't feel her move, and the movement I feel is very sporadic. It's all very low in my abdomen too, so I feel like she must be sort of standing on my bladder and kicking me. This week the fruit of choice is eggplant. I also saw cantaloupe again on one of my apps, which I'm pretty sure is backtracking to week 22-ish? The fruit tracking used to be kind of fun but now it's just totally lame.
Food Cravings: Pinterest is the devil. I get on there and I just want to make every fatty, sugary, carby, yummy treat I see. I should probably avoid it at all costs until this baby comes. While we were in Chicago I bought some Garrett's popcorn (if you've never had it I highly suggest you try it next time you hit up the windy city) and I have been inhaling it ever since we got home. It is SO GOOD.
Symptoms: After spending 9 hours in the car on Saturday, my ankles looked like they belonged on Jabba the Hut. I legitimately could barely see my ankle bones they were so swollen, and it was uncomfortable to even bend my foot back. Luckily they went down by mid-day on Sunday. I'm starting to get nervous about my swollen legs even fitting into any boots this winter. I guess I'll have to get a new pair of boots with wide calves. DARN a new pair of shoes...
What I Miss: I'm going to start prioritizing this category because if I'm being honest, I still miss everything I said I missed 6 weeks ago. So this week I'm going with: I miss eating without feeling bloated. Even my bowl of Rice Chex in the morning makes me feel like I just sat down for Jersey Shore sunday night roommate dinner and kept up with Ron and Pauly D. After I ate that deep dish pizza on Saturday night in Chicago, I was uncomfortably stuffed for over 4 hours. I only ate a piece and a half and split a salad with Jake! That's nothing compared to my typical appetizer, full salad, 2 pieces of pizza, and beer. What gives?
What I am Looking Forward to: Clinchmas! The Reds are so close to a playoff berth. The magic number is 5. I'm selfishly hoping they wait to come back to Cincinnati this weekend to clinch so we can experience some magic like we did 2 years ago during Jay Bruce's walk-off home run to clinch the division. But even if they don't wait to do it at home, I'm still looking forward to going to some play-off games and hopefully cheering them on to a World Series Championship!
Exercise: I did pretty well last week, let's see if I can keep it up again this week. Monday I did that video I ordered, which I thought was pretty good and I'll continue to do it once or twice a week from here on out. Tuesday I rode my exercise bike for about 30 minutes before I went to the Reds game and stuffed my face with funnel fries. Thursday I went on a walk with EY and her adorable little guy who just chills in the stroller the whole time like a champ. Friday I did my own little arm workout. I was pretty impressed with myself for coming up with the idea of downloading a power hour app so that I could do a 30 minute workout, changing exercises every minute without having to look at a clock. Every time the song changed, I just changed my exercise. Not only that, but since I have music ADD, it really helped me get through without being bored with a song. I would highly recommend!
Noteworthy Items:
-I have reached a crossroads with this damn rocker-glider. I can't decide if I should get the one I truly want, but skip the ottoman because the chair itself is too expensive to splurge on the ottoman as well, or go with a cheaper chair and get the ottoman too. The chair I want has down cushions and a removable slipcover that can be thrown in the wash. The slipcover concept is so appealing because of all of the potential accidents that come with a newborn. Also I think it gives the opportunity to use the chair longer, because when I decide to move it to a family room space, we can change the cover if we want to get something that matches our downstairs decor better. But is all of that worth not having an ottoman to prop my feet up?!?! Will a nursing stool be just fine? I just don't know. HELP!
-I/we are getting really restless with our house. We've had two realtors come through our house to give us an opinion on putting it on the market, and we've walked through about 4 houses in Fort Thomas. We've considered buying a lot and building. We've also considered just saving our money and adding onto our house at some point. There are so many options, and none of them seem to be quite ideal, so I think we are just going to sit on it at this point. I just know when there are play mats and exersaucers and pack-n-plays all over my house, I'm going to be ready for more space! Again, I think I'll start playing the lottery so when we win we can just build something bigger that suits exactly what we want :) No big deal.
-Callie is turning into a champ with her purple splint. She runs up and down the stairs now, usually only using her 3 good legs. That, my friends, is quite humorous to watch. She's learned how to lay down and maneuver around without too much trouble now. I'll still be glad for her to get it taken off, but I'm happy to see her getting used to functioning with only 3 legitimate legs. I just really really hope that the splint works and we don't have to face the dreaded surgery option.
-No crafting this weekend due to our Chi-town day trip, but I think I'll get back to some more bow making and nursery decor this coming weekend.
-I had a 24 week check up today and everything is progressing as planned. My doctor must have missed his "pushed the due date back to January 11th" note and said my due date is January 7th. THIS GIRL IS NOT ARGUING WITH THAT INFORMATION. He said everything is progressing well and her heartbeat sounds great. I told him again about my back pain and he recommended massages, a memory foam mattress or topper, and memory foam pillows. We started small tonight with a memory foam pillow and we'll go from there. Memory foam is expensive and I am not trying to spend several hundred dollars on new bed materials! I'm going to call a medical massage place tomorrow and try a half hour massage sometime this week or next and see how that goes. If I don't start getting some better sleep soon, I'm going to become a very cranky individual!
-I am getting more and more ready to meet this sweet little baby! Although the next 16 weeks will fly by, I just feel like her arrival can't come soon enough!
Total Weight Gain: I have gained 17 pounds total so far. I'm getting awfully close to my 30 pound limit I have enacted on myself with 16 weeks left to go, but at this point there's really not much I can do except continue to work out and perhaps maybe cut back on my ice cream intake. Maybe the new cooler weather will help with that task?
Maternity Clothes: My sweet baby seester is took me back to Gap tonight. I got some more casual t-shirts to wear on the weekends, and some maternity leggings and yoga pants. I still think I'm good on work clothes. I need to keep the weight gain in check so the cute maternity clothes I have now will fit me the whole time.
Sleep: I have found a solution for sleeping through the night! Wake up at 4am because you have to use the bathroom. Come back to your room and find your husband snoring. Lay there unable to sleep for 30 minutes until you just decide to get up because your alarm is set for 5am anyway. Drive to Chicago. Go to Cubby Bear, watch everyone drink beers and wipe drool off of your mouth while fantasizing about having a beer. Go to Wrigley field and watch a baseball game in the sun. After the game is over, eat your weight in deep dish pizza. Get in the car and drive home. By the time midnight rolls around and you're finally back in bed, you'll be so tired you'll sleep like a baby until 9am! Woohoo!!
Gender: While I was at Gap shopping for my growing belly, I bought my first little girl outfit for Sam. I have been trying to hold off because I know I'll probably be inundated with cute girl clothes at showers and from hand-me-downs, but it's been a month since we found out this little monkey is a girl and I couldn't contain myself anymore! Here is a preview of the first pieces of her wardrobe:
The first one is my favorite. I have decided that I love adult looking clothes on little children more than I like childlike clothes on children. A ruffle tunic is the perfect example. Jake picked out the polka dotted ruffle butt bodysuit - he did good! My sister is fully aware she is absolutely NOT allowed to quit working at BR anytime soon!
Best Moment this Week: I didn't have any absolutely spectacular moments this past week, but sometimes just spending time with friends and family is enough to make an entire week great. That's how my week went last week, so I'd say overall it was a success!
Movement: Jake still can't feel her move, and the movement I feel is very sporadic. It's all very low in my abdomen too, so I feel like she must be sort of standing on my bladder and kicking me. This week the fruit of choice is eggplant. I also saw cantaloupe again on one of my apps, which I'm pretty sure is backtracking to week 22-ish? The fruit tracking used to be kind of fun but now it's just totally lame.
Food Cravings: Pinterest is the devil. I get on there and I just want to make every fatty, sugary, carby, yummy treat I see. I should probably avoid it at all costs until this baby comes. While we were in Chicago I bought some Garrett's popcorn (if you've never had it I highly suggest you try it next time you hit up the windy city) and I have been inhaling it ever since we got home. It is SO GOOD.
Symptoms: After spending 9 hours in the car on Saturday, my ankles looked like they belonged on Jabba the Hut. I legitimately could barely see my ankle bones they were so swollen, and it was uncomfortable to even bend my foot back. Luckily they went down by mid-day on Sunday. I'm starting to get nervous about my swollen legs even fitting into any boots this winter. I guess I'll have to get a new pair of boots with wide calves. DARN a new pair of shoes...
What I Miss: I'm going to start prioritizing this category because if I'm being honest, I still miss everything I said I missed 6 weeks ago. So this week I'm going with: I miss eating without feeling bloated. Even my bowl of Rice Chex in the morning makes me feel like I just sat down for Jersey Shore sunday night roommate dinner and kept up with Ron and Pauly D. After I ate that deep dish pizza on Saturday night in Chicago, I was uncomfortably stuffed for over 4 hours. I only ate a piece and a half and split a salad with Jake! That's nothing compared to my typical appetizer, full salad, 2 pieces of pizza, and beer. What gives?
What I am Looking Forward to: Clinchmas! The Reds are so close to a playoff berth. The magic number is 5. I'm selfishly hoping they wait to come back to Cincinnati this weekend to clinch so we can experience some magic like we did 2 years ago during Jay Bruce's walk-off home run to clinch the division. But even if they don't wait to do it at home, I'm still looking forward to going to some play-off games and hopefully cheering them on to a World Series Championship!
Exercise: I did pretty well last week, let's see if I can keep it up again this week. Monday I did that video I ordered, which I thought was pretty good and I'll continue to do it once or twice a week from here on out. Tuesday I rode my exercise bike for about 30 minutes before I went to the Reds game and stuffed my face with funnel fries. Thursday I went on a walk with EY and her adorable little guy who just chills in the stroller the whole time like a champ. Friday I did my own little arm workout. I was pretty impressed with myself for coming up with the idea of downloading a power hour app so that I could do a 30 minute workout, changing exercises every minute without having to look at a clock. Every time the song changed, I just changed my exercise. Not only that, but since I have music ADD, it really helped me get through without being bored with a song. I would highly recommend!
Noteworthy Items:
-I have reached a crossroads with this damn rocker-glider. I can't decide if I should get the one I truly want, but skip the ottoman because the chair itself is too expensive to splurge on the ottoman as well, or go with a cheaper chair and get the ottoman too. The chair I want has down cushions and a removable slipcover that can be thrown in the wash. The slipcover concept is so appealing because of all of the potential accidents that come with a newborn. Also I think it gives the opportunity to use the chair longer, because when I decide to move it to a family room space, we can change the cover if we want to get something that matches our downstairs decor better. But is all of that worth not having an ottoman to prop my feet up?!?! Will a nursing stool be just fine? I just don't know. HELP!
-I/we are getting really restless with our house. We've had two realtors come through our house to give us an opinion on putting it on the market, and we've walked through about 4 houses in Fort Thomas. We've considered buying a lot and building. We've also considered just saving our money and adding onto our house at some point. There are so many options, and none of them seem to be quite ideal, so I think we are just going to sit on it at this point. I just know when there are play mats and exersaucers and pack-n-plays all over my house, I'm going to be ready for more space! Again, I think I'll start playing the lottery so when we win we can just build something bigger that suits exactly what we want :) No big deal.
-Callie is turning into a champ with her purple splint. She runs up and down the stairs now, usually only using her 3 good legs. That, my friends, is quite humorous to watch. She's learned how to lay down and maneuver around without too much trouble now. I'll still be glad for her to get it taken off, but I'm happy to see her getting used to functioning with only 3 legitimate legs. I just really really hope that the splint works and we don't have to face the dreaded surgery option.
-No crafting this weekend due to our Chi-town day trip, but I think I'll get back to some more bow making and nursery decor this coming weekend.
-I had a 24 week check up today and everything is progressing as planned. My doctor must have missed his "pushed the due date back to January 11th" note and said my due date is January 7th. THIS GIRL IS NOT ARGUING WITH THAT INFORMATION. He said everything is progressing well and her heartbeat sounds great. I told him again about my back pain and he recommended massages, a memory foam mattress or topper, and memory foam pillows. We started small tonight with a memory foam pillow and we'll go from there. Memory foam is expensive and I am not trying to spend several hundred dollars on new bed materials! I'm going to call a medical massage place tomorrow and try a half hour massage sometime this week or next and see how that goes. If I don't start getting some better sleep soon, I'm going to become a very cranky individual!
-I am getting more and more ready to meet this sweet little baby! Although the next 16 weeks will fly by, I just feel like her arrival can't come soon enough!
Monday, September 10, 2012
Twenty-Three
How Far Along: 23 weeks
-When we first went looking for our crib I fell in love with this diaper bag at Treehouse Kids. It was orange and white so I knew Jake wouldn't really care to carry it. Then I checked the pricetag - $120. My mom told me I was crazy but I figured I'd just keep my eyes out, maybe register for it and see if someone decided to buy it for me. The bigger version of the bag was $150 so I had pretty much figured if I was getting it at all I was getting the smaller one. Lo and behold I checked amazon.com last week to look at the bag again, and it was on sale for $46.99. That is literally over $100 off so I bought the damn thing! I'm obsessed and Jake doesn't hate it either. Yay for sales!
-Callie has a purple splint on her foot. I know she's just a dog, but now I understand why moms cry when their babies get shots or are laying on the football field unable to move their leg after a bad tackle. When we first got her home last week, I could barely watch her walk because I just wanted to pick her 75-pound-rear-end up and carry her everywhere. She is getting better at everything, but Saturday morning she sat at the top of the stairs and stared at the bottom like "Mom I really want to go down, but I'm scared." I cannot physically pick her up, so she had to wait until Jake got out of bed to carry her down. When she lays down or jumps up on stuff, her leg kind of gets caught and one of us has to help her maneuver her big straight splinted leg. I'm so glad we are going through this with her now instead of after little Miss Thing gets here, because that's going to rock Callie's world enough as it is. I hope this splint works and we don't have to move on to surgery...poor baby. (more stellar photography skills showcased here)
Total Weight Gain: I forgot to weigh myself this morning. DARN!! I think I'll go ahead and assume I only gained a half a pound this week. That should be pretty accurate...
Maternity Clothes: I totally rocked a sweater dress and boots to work today. It is almost fall and I am so excited to cover up these ginormous boobs with some big sweaters!
Sleep: I desperately need a remedy for a snoring husband. Why is that now that I can't sleep because my back hurts and I get up to pee every five minutes, Jake has adopted a wretched snoring habit? It's not fair. Typically if I nudge him to roll over it stops once he's on his side, but then he gets all pissy with me like "I can't believe you are waking me up and making me roll over." Hello Mister, I'm carrying your child over here. I'm trying to sleep since I have to get up and go to work and still carry your child all day. The least you could do is ROLL OVER AND STOP SNORING so I can sleep. Thank you.
Gender: My bow making is already kind of out of control. This weekend I made three bows, but I purchased fabric to make two more. I also realized that since we are Reds fans and UK fans, I have the appropriate colors to make a patriotic bow too. Score! Here they are pre-headband and center jewels:
Now she's ready for her first Reds game and for her first UK game amongst other fun occasions. I think they are so cute and I can't wait to slap one on her head every morning before I head out the door with her! The tutorial was super easy to follow and the bows are super easy to make. Here's the link to the etsy shop where I got it: http://www.etsy.com/shop/fancyschmancybyjeni?ref=top_trail. I think I have spent $12 on fabric so far and I have enough to make about 6 or 7 headbands so it was well worth the $5 tutorial purchase.
Best Moment this Week: I'm about to admit something that I think is really disgusting, but it might not actually be that disgusting because I'm pretty sure there are other people out there who are equally as disgusting but maybe don't think it's that disgusting. Follow me? We moved into our house 4 years ago. We have never cleaned the blinds or the windows. Yep, that's right. Until yesterday. I've been wanting to do it forever and it was gorgeous outside and we didn't have any plans, so we decided to go for it. We took the blinds off the windows and laid them on the driveway. I hosed them off, scrubbed them down, and hosed them again. The amount of dirt running down the length of the blinds with the water was sickening. The black on the paper towels from cleaning the windows was disturbing. But hey, it's all clean now. I think from now on we'll make this an annual or bi-annual event. The thought of living in that filth, especially with a toddler running around, is pretty disgusting. Is it sad that my best moment from this week was cleaning my blinds? Mmmkay moving on...
Movement: I'm really starting to get annoyed with the fruit of the week. This week she is a size of corn on the cob. Really? How is that bigger than a spaghetti squash? Or she pulling a magical shrinking trick in my belly? I highly doubt that's true, seeing as this bump finally kinda looks like a bump and not a beer gut, but seriously. The fruit thing is out of control. I'm still feeling her move, but not a lot and it's not very strong. It seems to be pretty low on my abdomen and in the same general area. I don't feel like she's doing somersalts yet, maybe she's just practicing her kickboxing skills?
Food Cravings: It's official that I crave ice cream. I think I probably only went 3 nights last week without it. I am going to be cruisin for a bruisin (or cruisin for a big fat ass) in December if I don't watch it. I also would like to eat a large serving of pancakes, cinnamon rolls, or other sweets every morning for breakfast, but I'm going to try to stick to cereal as much as possible so I can continue my ice cream binge at night.
Symptoms: The sciatica is back, but it typically comes and goes pretty quickly. I've been really tense throughout my whole back and neck too, and Jake has been great about trying to work out some of the knots. Unfortunately it seems they just come right back the next day. I think having to hold up these 50 pound baby-feeders on my chest is about 90% of the issue. Since they aren't shrinking anytime soon I guess I'm stuck with back issues for the next 6 months or so.
What I Miss: This week I think the thing I'm beginning to miss the most is being able to sleep through the night. I woke up three times to pee last night, and I roll over about every hour so I can re-situate my back. I've given up on the trying not to lay on my back. In the middle of the night when I can't sleep and it's the only thing that feels comfortable, I'm going for it. If the weight of my uterus crushes a vein that's supposed to be pumping blood to my heart, then so be it. At least I will die comfortably and free of back pain.
What I am Looking Forward to: We're going to Chicago on Saturday to see a game at Wrigley field, which should be fun. I'm also hoping we can make a stop at Garrett's popcorn while we're up there. A large bag of that caramel stuff is a pregnant lady's dream!
Exercise: I'm adding a new category to keep myself accountable. And since I am reporting it online for any random stranger to read, hopefully I'll feel more inclined to do at least something when I'm sitting on my lazy ass not wanting to take a walk, ride my bike, or do my workout video. Jake and I walked for an hour on Saturday, and I think I did 50 pushups one night last week. I probably need to pick up the dedication a little bit if I have any hope of returning to pre-pregnancy form. I ordered a video on Amazon and I did it today and I actually kinda sorta liked it. I absolutely HATE yoga and pilates, and this video seems to be more my kind of workout. It's called The Perfect Pregnancy Workout Volume 1. I have also ganked my parents' exercise bike from their house and it's sitting in our basement right now ready for me to use. I guess since Jake and my dad carried that obnoxiously heavy piece of equipment downstairs, I should probably use it :)
Noteworthy Items:
-The changing table is done. I think it looks so much better and is actually kind of cute! I don't have an assembled "before" picture, but you can see the ugly color it was before we got a few coats of white paint on it. This time all we did was use spray primer and white satin spray paint. We used contact paper to cover the shelves since they were some sort of weird melamine material with 25 year old stains on them. The paint covered pretty well:
I think I might add a few bows to the changing table to jazz it up a little bit, but I'll wait until I get a changing pad and some storage bins on there first.
-I finally finished the ribbon wreath. I'm not 100% satisfied with the way her name looks on the wood block, but I gave up. Paint pens are my worst enemy and I just couldn't handle the stress of trying to make it look perfect anymore. I'm sure Sam won't care (terrible picture taking skills gheesh).
-Callie has a purple splint on her foot. I know she's just a dog, but now I understand why moms cry when their babies get shots or are laying on the football field unable to move their leg after a bad tackle. When we first got her home last week, I could barely watch her walk because I just wanted to pick her 75-pound-rear-end up and carry her everywhere. She is getting better at everything, but Saturday morning she sat at the top of the stairs and stared at the bottom like "Mom I really want to go down, but I'm scared." I cannot physically pick her up, so she had to wait until Jake got out of bed to carry her down. When she lays down or jumps up on stuff, her leg kind of gets caught and one of us has to help her maneuver her big straight splinted leg. I'm so glad we are going through this with her now instead of after little Miss Thing gets here, because that's going to rock Callie's world enough as it is. I hope this splint works and we don't have to move on to surgery...poor baby. (more stellar photography skills showcased here)
-Trying to figure out maternity leave has been an absolute nightmare. I think I'll start playing the lottery so I can potentially stay home after she gets here.
-On that note: I have decided I want one of those pills that Bradley Cooper takes in that movie Limitless. My productivity has been at about 5% of capacity the last few weeks and I need something to step it up since my staycation isn't happening for another month. My other thought is for my employer to start offering "personal health days" for those days where you wake up and you just don't want to do anything. When I take PTO I feel the need to be productive. If I just had even 2 days a year where it was excusable to lay on my couch and watch the Kardashians, or Jersey Shore, or insert trashy reality TV show of your choice here re-runs for 8 hours straight, I think I'd be a happier person in general. Can the next president please enact a law to make that happen? Thank youuuu!!
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Twenty-Two.
How Far Along: 22 weeks (and 2 days, but who's counting?)
Total Weight Gain: 14.4 pounds. I'm blaming the extra weight gain this week on the fact that I weighed myself on Tuesday morning instead of Monday morning. It has nothing to do with the fact that this was a holiday weekend and I ate enough food to feed a small village in Africa. Obv.
Maternity Clothes: For the next few weeks I'm going to make a conscious effort to wear all of my regular clothes, basically just tunic-type tops. Pretty soon these tops are not going to fit anymore and I'll be confined to my cute, yet very small, maternity wardrobe. I went to the mall TWICE this weekend (count that - TWICE) and didn't buy a single clothing item. It's all about progress people.
Sleep: I believe the whole "you don't sleep while you're pregnant to prepare you for baby's arrival" thing is true. I haven't slept past 7:45am in weeks. Even on Saturdays and Sundays I'm waking up before 8am. I think part of this is due to the lack of hangovers in my life - the one plus side of not drinking. And the other parts are the waking up 3 times a night to pee, and the my-back-hurts-so-bad-I-can't-sleep-anyway situation I'm dealing with. I'm surprised I don't wake the neighbors in the morning with the crack of my back when I get out of bed. The noise is rather disgusting.
Gender: I purchased a tutorial on Etsy for how to make bows. I am obsessed. I bought my first fabric on Monday at Hobby Lobby and I hope to have one finished by the end of the week. My goal is for her to have a different bow for every day for like the first 3 months of her life. And no I'm not exaggerating even a little bit. I love bows and I don't want my sweet little girl mistaken for a boy, especially since we'll probably be calling her Sam.
Best Moment this Week: Labor Day weekend was pretty stellar in general. Friday night we said good-bye to Jake's brother and his wife as they head off to NYC. It was great to see the whole fam. Saturday we got to see some friends from high school we haven't seen in a while, which is always fun. And Monday we made a short trip to Lexington to say good-bye to more dear friends who are leaving for DC. All-in-all I'd say that's a pretty successful weekend despite the nasty nasty rainy weather that invaded Cincinnati!
Movement: She is now the size of a papaya or a spaghetti squash (these people truly are nuts, I'm telling you). I am pretty sure I can actually feel her moving. Most of the movements are lower, a few inches below my belly button. I'm picturing her either kicking her feet against my bladder (thanks) or using my uterus as a punching bag. The movements are really faint right now, but I'm fairly certain they're no longer gas bubbles or muscle twitches. As much as I don't want to see any feet or hands moving across my belly from the outside, I'll be excited when Jake can actually feel her moving around. Like many moms before me have said, it's a wonderfully reassuring sign that she's okay.
Food Cravings: I'm starting to become slightly disappointed that I haven't craved anything crazy yet. I still just have the urge to eat something, anything, all day every day and I constantly have to fight the urge to stuff my face for 24 hours straight. Today I set a goal for myself to make it until 2pm before eating my Rice Krispie treat. Sorry, but that's just plain sad.
Symptoms: No new symptoms this week again. None of my miserable symptoms that make me want to lay in bed all day and do nothing have gone away, but for now I'll just thank my lucky stars that I'm not dealing with anything new on top of what I'm already dealing with. I will say that I am in a constant state of "I have to pee" and I can't imagine how terrible this is going to be when this baby is the size of a watermelon instead of the size of a papaya or spaghetti squash.
What I Miss: Because it's been so much nicer outside (until this weekend), I've seen a lot more people out running. I tried to run for about 45 seconds during one of my walks last week, and it just felt weird. It's like I could feel the extra weight and my belly just felt bizzare. We'll just scratch that activity until after she makes her worldly debut.
What I am Looking Forward to: There's nothing too exciting going on over the next few weeks, but as usual I'm looking forward to the weekend. I'm also anxiously awaiting some cooler weather so I can start wearing sweaters, boots, and scarves and dress this growing belly a little easier. The Reds game tonight was so wet and humid and completely mizzzz I could hardly stand it. I made Jake leave after 5 innings, oops.
-We have begun painting the changing table. Once it's reassembled and we've got the contact paper on the shelves, I'll post a picture in the nursery. I think it's going to work just fine. Once again - free is always better!
-This ribbon wreath is becoming a big pain in my arse. I went to Hancock's one day last week to buy another spool of ribbon to do the big bow, and all of their Offray ribbon was 30% off. REALLY?!?! Then, I went to Michael's on Saturday with my mom, and all of their ribbon was BOGO. Never again will I buy ribbon in bulk when it's not on sale. I know it's sounds crazy, but I really don't think I've ever seen ribbon on sale in any of these stores, and I am so annoyed with myself for basically wasting $15-20 on ribbon. Oh well, I guess she's worth it. Additionally, I bought the wood block to paint and write her name on to hang in the middle of the wreath. I had it painted and wrote her name and it actually looked awesome. Once I hung the block in the middle of the wreath, I decided the paint was too neon. I proceeded to paint over it with a lighter pink, and I've now tried 4 times to get her name back on it the way it looked before and nothing looks good enough. I'm so annoyed with it I'm about to just leave the wreath hanging on the wall with no name! Once it's completed to my satisfaction, I'll share a picture with the rest of the world. For now, I'm keeping it to myself.
-Callie went back to the vet today. She is still limping like a little gimpy pup, but the vet doesn't really know what's wrong with her. They x-rayed her fyoot (my dog has a Russian accent and yes that is how she pronounces the word "foot") again and are supposed to call us with results from an orthopedic specialist tomorrow. Prayers for my little muffin.
-I feel that this week my belly finally kind of popped out and I actually look prego instead of like I have been overeating (which I have been, but that's beside the point). But now that I look at my belly bump pictures from the last several weeks, I don't really think it looks any different! So weird! Once I do finally pop I know it will only be a matter of time before I feel like a heifer with a belly the size of Texas.
-Mi madre has informed me that she did not get stretch marks while she was pregnant. This is me praying to the pregnancy gods that I received my mom's non-stretch mark and non-weird dark line down my belly genes - sorry but that line just totally creeps me out. Fingers crossed!
-"They" say Samantha will come out of my belly enjoying the foods that I eat while I'm pregnant. I guess her favorite food groups will be cheese and carbs. Please see helmet o' nachos I shared with Jake for dinner tonight:
That is a helmet that would fit on an actual human being's head, not the little bitty ones they give you with soft-serve ice cream in them. Sidenote: Sam may also end up enjoying pizza, Chipotle, Graeter's ice cream, Subway breakfast, and Skyline chili. I guess she'll be a good born and bred Cincinnatian!
-The diaper debate: I think we have settled on attempting cloth diapers. I've done a lot of research and talked to some people who have used cloth, and Jake and I have decided that it's worth a shot. Yes, we actually did have a conversation about it. Jake did contribute. And of course I did a cost analysis, hello - who do you think I am? There is a service in Cincinnati called Good Natured Baby that will deliver diapers to your door every week and pick up your dirty ones. I definitely am not cut out to be washing cloth diapers myself, but in my opinion, diapers are gross no matter how you cut it. That being said, I'm thinking: what does it matter if they are made of cotton or some sort of manufactured material? I'm not going to be one of those people that is strictly against using disposables while Sam's being babysat, while we're on vacation, or if we're out running errands all day, but based on what I've read, if there is a possibility of cutting down on diaper rash, potty training earlier, and reducing the amount of diapers I'm contributing to a landfill on a daily basis, then I think we might as well give it the old college try. Again - fingers crossed that this works out!
-I also think we have pretty much completed our registry. It seems early to have them completely figured out, but we've covered all of the big items that we can think of. Now we're going to need to figure out a place in our house to put all of this stuff once she gets here! Yikes!
Total Weight Gain: 14.4 pounds. I'm blaming the extra weight gain this week on the fact that I weighed myself on Tuesday morning instead of Monday morning. It has nothing to do with the fact that this was a holiday weekend and I ate enough food to feed a small village in Africa. Obv.
Maternity Clothes: For the next few weeks I'm going to make a conscious effort to wear all of my regular clothes, basically just tunic-type tops. Pretty soon these tops are not going to fit anymore and I'll be confined to my cute, yet very small, maternity wardrobe. I went to the mall TWICE this weekend (count that - TWICE) and didn't buy a single clothing item. It's all about progress people.
Sleep: I believe the whole "you don't sleep while you're pregnant to prepare you for baby's arrival" thing is true. I haven't slept past 7:45am in weeks. Even on Saturdays and Sundays I'm waking up before 8am. I think part of this is due to the lack of hangovers in my life - the one plus side of not drinking. And the other parts are the waking up 3 times a night to pee, and the my-back-hurts-so-bad-I-can't-sleep-anyway situation I'm dealing with. I'm surprised I don't wake the neighbors in the morning with the crack of my back when I get out of bed. The noise is rather disgusting.
Gender: I purchased a tutorial on Etsy for how to make bows. I am obsessed. I bought my first fabric on Monday at Hobby Lobby and I hope to have one finished by the end of the week. My goal is for her to have a different bow for every day for like the first 3 months of her life. And no I'm not exaggerating even a little bit. I love bows and I don't want my sweet little girl mistaken for a boy, especially since we'll probably be calling her Sam.
Best Moment this Week: Labor Day weekend was pretty stellar in general. Friday night we said good-bye to Jake's brother and his wife as they head off to NYC. It was great to see the whole fam. Saturday we got to see some friends from high school we haven't seen in a while, which is always fun. And Monday we made a short trip to Lexington to say good-bye to more dear friends who are leaving for DC. All-in-all I'd say that's a pretty successful weekend despite the nasty nasty rainy weather that invaded Cincinnati!
Movement: She is now the size of a papaya or a spaghetti squash (these people truly are nuts, I'm telling you). I am pretty sure I can actually feel her moving. Most of the movements are lower, a few inches below my belly button. I'm picturing her either kicking her feet against my bladder (thanks) or using my uterus as a punching bag. The movements are really faint right now, but I'm fairly certain they're no longer gas bubbles or muscle twitches. As much as I don't want to see any feet or hands moving across my belly from the outside, I'll be excited when Jake can actually feel her moving around. Like many moms before me have said, it's a wonderfully reassuring sign that she's okay.
Food Cravings: I'm starting to become slightly disappointed that I haven't craved anything crazy yet. I still just have the urge to eat something, anything, all day every day and I constantly have to fight the urge to stuff my face for 24 hours straight. Today I set a goal for myself to make it until 2pm before eating my Rice Krispie treat. Sorry, but that's just plain sad.
Symptoms: No new symptoms this week again. None of my miserable symptoms that make me want to lay in bed all day and do nothing have gone away, but for now I'll just thank my lucky stars that I'm not dealing with anything new on top of what I'm already dealing with. I will say that I am in a constant state of "I have to pee" and I can't imagine how terrible this is going to be when this baby is the size of a watermelon instead of the size of a papaya or spaghetti squash.
What I Miss: Because it's been so much nicer outside (until this weekend), I've seen a lot more people out running. I tried to run for about 45 seconds during one of my walks last week, and it just felt weird. It's like I could feel the extra weight and my belly just felt bizzare. We'll just scratch that activity until after she makes her worldly debut.
What I am Looking Forward to: There's nothing too exciting going on over the next few weeks, but as usual I'm looking forward to the weekend. I'm also anxiously awaiting some cooler weather so I can start wearing sweaters, boots, and scarves and dress this growing belly a little easier. The Reds game tonight was so wet and humid and completely mizzzz I could hardly stand it. I made Jake leave after 5 innings, oops.
Noteworthy Items:
-We have begun painting the changing table. Once it's reassembled and we've got the contact paper on the shelves, I'll post a picture in the nursery. I think it's going to work just fine. Once again - free is always better!
-This ribbon wreath is becoming a big pain in my arse. I went to Hancock's one day last week to buy another spool of ribbon to do the big bow, and all of their Offray ribbon was 30% off. REALLY?!?! Then, I went to Michael's on Saturday with my mom, and all of their ribbon was BOGO. Never again will I buy ribbon in bulk when it's not on sale. I know it's sounds crazy, but I really don't think I've ever seen ribbon on sale in any of these stores, and I am so annoyed with myself for basically wasting $15-20 on ribbon. Oh well, I guess she's worth it. Additionally, I bought the wood block to paint and write her name on to hang in the middle of the wreath. I had it painted and wrote her name and it actually looked awesome. Once I hung the block in the middle of the wreath, I decided the paint was too neon. I proceeded to paint over it with a lighter pink, and I've now tried 4 times to get her name back on it the way it looked before and nothing looks good enough. I'm so annoyed with it I'm about to just leave the wreath hanging on the wall with no name! Once it's completed to my satisfaction, I'll share a picture with the rest of the world. For now, I'm keeping it to myself.
-Callie went back to the vet today. She is still limping like a little gimpy pup, but the vet doesn't really know what's wrong with her. They x-rayed her fyoot (my dog has a Russian accent and yes that is how she pronounces the word "foot") again and are supposed to call us with results from an orthopedic specialist tomorrow. Prayers for my little muffin.
-I feel that this week my belly finally kind of popped out and I actually look prego instead of like I have been overeating (which I have been, but that's beside the point). But now that I look at my belly bump pictures from the last several weeks, I don't really think it looks any different! So weird! Once I do finally pop I know it will only be a matter of time before I feel like a heifer with a belly the size of Texas.
-Mi madre has informed me that she did not get stretch marks while she was pregnant. This is me praying to the pregnancy gods that I received my mom's non-stretch mark and non-weird dark line down my belly genes - sorry but that line just totally creeps me out. Fingers crossed!
-"They" say Samantha will come out of my belly enjoying the foods that I eat while I'm pregnant. I guess her favorite food groups will be cheese and carbs. Please see helmet o' nachos I shared with Jake for dinner tonight:
-The diaper debate: I think we have settled on attempting cloth diapers. I've done a lot of research and talked to some people who have used cloth, and Jake and I have decided that it's worth a shot. Yes, we actually did have a conversation about it. Jake did contribute. And of course I did a cost analysis, hello - who do you think I am? There is a service in Cincinnati called Good Natured Baby that will deliver diapers to your door every week and pick up your dirty ones. I definitely am not cut out to be washing cloth diapers myself, but in my opinion, diapers are gross no matter how you cut it. That being said, I'm thinking: what does it matter if they are made of cotton or some sort of manufactured material? I'm not going to be one of those people that is strictly against using disposables while Sam's being babysat, while we're on vacation, or if we're out running errands all day, but based on what I've read, if there is a possibility of cutting down on diaper rash, potty training earlier, and reducing the amount of diapers I'm contributing to a landfill on a daily basis, then I think we might as well give it the old college try. Again - fingers crossed that this works out!
-I also think we have pretty much completed our registry. It seems early to have them completely figured out, but we've covered all of the big items that we can think of. Now we're going to need to figure out a place in our house to put all of this stuff once she gets here! Yikes!
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