Hello, friends! I hope you all had a great weekend. I had a very productive Saturday and then spent most of Sunday fighting a nagging headache and allergies. Fun times.
I am happy to announce that I have worked out 4 times a week for the past 2 weeks! I have been getting up at 6:15 and going for a 30-minute walk, and it's worked out really well. It's not a ton of activity, but I feel good that I am doing something to keep my body active, and it's manageable for me right now. Plus, on Saturday Stephen and I spent two hours raking leaves, which was a great workout (and left me sore the next day!).
I am now 14 weeks pregnant and officially in my second trimester, about which I'm super excited. Several of my friends have told me the second trimester was their favorite, and I am looking forward to having a bit more energy and seeing my baby bump grow! I have a little belly right now, but it's only noticeable in certain clothes. Some of my coworkers have taken to calling me "Little Mama," and I just love it! I'm ready for it to be obvious that I'm pregnant and not just look like I had too much dessert at dinner, haha.
I read that the baby has developed hair. How sweet is that?? Baby Mount is now the size of a lime and is moving all about. I can't wait until I can feel the baby move; I am SO curious to know what it feels like.
Next week I go back to the doctor for another check-up, and THEN at the appointment after that one, I think we get to find out what we're having! I can't wait!
I hope you all have a great week and are striving to reach your goals!
Monday, August 30, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Slow and Steady, Not Fast and Furious
Some of you may have noticed that I declined to answer the question about weight gain that was in the pregnancy survey I posted on Monday. Or maybe you didn't notice and couldn't care less. However, the truth is, I didn't want to post it because I am ashamed of what I've gained. It's definitely more than I wanted to or should have gained by this point, but there's nothing I can really do about it now, so I may as well ‘fess up.
Pregnancy starting weight: 170
Weight as of 13 weeks: 176
Yep, I've gained 6 pounds, and I’m not even out of the first trimester yet. According to What to Expect, average expected weight gain for the first trimester is 2-4 pounds. So while 6 pounds isn’t too much higher, I definitely don’t want to start a trend of gaining more than I’m supposed to for every trimester.
A lot of this gain has happened over the past few weeks. For a while I was doing fine, but I think the extra eating I’ve been doing has caught up with me. I have not made the best of choices (can we say Blizzards and cake?), and now it’s showing up on the scale. I am trying to eat healthy a majority of the time, but my cravings for sweets (which have always been around) have seemed to be heightened, and I’ve just allowed myself to indulge.
I’m determined to nip this in the bud, though, and continue this pregnancy with healthy weight gain. I’ve started tracking my food on SparkPeople and am trying to be more mindful of the foods I’m eating. When I want something sweet, I’m going to turn to fruit or yogurt and not give in to every single temptation I have. Hopefully, if I can build some healthy habits, I will gain weight the way I need to. It’s not as though these are new strategies to me; I used them when I was trying to lose weight, so I don’t know why my mind seems to have “shut off” all my healthy lifestyle buttons, but I am turning them back on!
Pregnancy starting weight: 170
Weight as of 13 weeks: 176
Yep, I've gained 6 pounds, and I’m not even out of the first trimester yet. According to What to Expect, average expected weight gain for the first trimester is 2-4 pounds. So while 6 pounds isn’t too much higher, I definitely don’t want to start a trend of gaining more than I’m supposed to for every trimester.
A lot of this gain has happened over the past few weeks. For a while I was doing fine, but I think the extra eating I’ve been doing has caught up with me. I have not made the best of choices (can we say Blizzards and cake?), and now it’s showing up on the scale. I am trying to eat healthy a majority of the time, but my cravings for sweets (which have always been around) have seemed to be heightened, and I’ve just allowed myself to indulge.
I’m determined to nip this in the bud, though, and continue this pregnancy with healthy weight gain. I’ve started tracking my food on SparkPeople and am trying to be more mindful of the foods I’m eating. When I want something sweet, I’m going to turn to fruit or yogurt and not give in to every single temptation I have. Hopefully, if I can build some healthy habits, I will gain weight the way I need to. It’s not as though these are new strategies to me; I used them when I was trying to lose weight, so I don’t know why my mind seems to have “shut off” all my healthy lifestyle buttons, but I am turning them back on!
Monday, August 23, 2010
13 Weeks!
Baby Mount is now 13 weeks old, which means I am entering the last week of my first trimester! Woohoo! In honor of this, I'm posting a little survey I stole from Karli (who looks AMAZING at 19 weeks!).
How big is the baby? Baby Mount is now almost 3 inches long and the size of a medium shrimp. This is the first week in a while that has not compared Baby to a piece of fruit. Hehe.
Weight gain? Umm, next question, please.
Stretch Marks? Not yet, but they are inevitable because I have residual stretch marks from when I was much heavier.
Maternity Clothes? Not yet, but I think they will be coming very soon. I am still wearing all of my regular clothes, but my pants are definitely getting snug and won’t last much longer, I’m guessing.
Sleep? If I could sleep 10 hours a night, I would. I have had a lot of trouble falling asleep some nights, and then I feel all out of sorts the next morning. It’s frustrating.
Best Moment of the Week? Stephen’s parents came to town for a quick trip, and it was fun to see them. I also went to a baby shower for one of my friends, and knowing that I will soon have a little one made it all the more exciting!
Food Cravings? Zaxby’s and anything sweet, especially cake or ice cream. Danger, danger!
Name? We are totally stuck on a boy’s name, but we really like the name Charlotte if it’s a girl.
Movement? It’s too early for me to feel any movement, but I can’t wait until I can!
What I Miss? I can’t really think of anything that I miss. I’m just so grateful for this pregnancy!
Fun Fact? Baby Mount has fingernails now! And if the baby is a girl, she will already have over 2 million eggs in her ovaries! Isn’t that crazy??
How big is the baby? Baby Mount is now almost 3 inches long and the size of a medium shrimp. This is the first week in a while that has not compared Baby to a piece of fruit. Hehe.
Weight gain? Umm, next question, please.
Stretch Marks? Not yet, but they are inevitable because I have residual stretch marks from when I was much heavier.
Maternity Clothes? Not yet, but I think they will be coming very soon. I am still wearing all of my regular clothes, but my pants are definitely getting snug and won’t last much longer, I’m guessing.
Sleep? If I could sleep 10 hours a night, I would. I have had a lot of trouble falling asleep some nights, and then I feel all out of sorts the next morning. It’s frustrating.
Best Moment of the Week? Stephen’s parents came to town for a quick trip, and it was fun to see them. I also went to a baby shower for one of my friends, and knowing that I will soon have a little one made it all the more exciting!
Food Cravings? Zaxby’s and anything sweet, especially cake or ice cream. Danger, danger!
Name? We are totally stuck on a boy’s name, but we really like the name Charlotte if it’s a girl.
Movement? It’s too early for me to feel any movement, but I can’t wait until I can!
What I Miss? I can’t really think of anything that I miss. I’m just so grateful for this pregnancy!
Fun Fact? Baby Mount has fingernails now! And if the baby is a girl, she will already have over 2 million eggs in her ovaries! Isn’t that crazy??
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Put Your Mind to It, Go For It, Get Down and Break a Sweat
The baby is 12 weeks old now and the size of a lime. For a more detailed description of the baby's development this week, see the baby blog that Stephen created! I love this line from the babycenter.com description: "His face looks unquestionably human." Aw.
It's no secret that the pregnancy has caused me to feel quite exhausted, and I have not been very disciplined in keeping up my exercise routine. I have averaged about one workout a week for the past 2-3 weeks, and I need to change that. Exercise is good for me and good for the baby and is even supposed to help prepare my body for labor (and goodness knows I need all the preparation I can get for that!). I have not been very disciplined in this area, and while I know that rest is good, laziness isn't, and there definitely have been days that I wasn't as tired and yet still didn't exercise.
So here's my plan: Exercise in the mornings 4 days a week. I've tried it in the evenings after work, but by then I'm even more tired, and it's easier to talk myself out of it, so it really needs to be in the morning. Stephen has promised to help me get up in the mornings, so that should prevent me from continuing to sleep after the alarm has gone off, as I have done pretty much every morning.
I know exercising will make me feel better and give me more energy and provide health benefits, so why NOT do it? I will report back in a week to let you know how I did!
(Bonus points if you can name the show that featured the song lyrics referenced in my title!)
It's no secret that the pregnancy has caused me to feel quite exhausted, and I have not been very disciplined in keeping up my exercise routine. I have averaged about one workout a week for the past 2-3 weeks, and I need to change that. Exercise is good for me and good for the baby and is even supposed to help prepare my body for labor (and goodness knows I need all the preparation I can get for that!). I have not been very disciplined in this area, and while I know that rest is good, laziness isn't, and there definitely have been days that I wasn't as tired and yet still didn't exercise.
So here's my plan: Exercise in the mornings 4 days a week. I've tried it in the evenings after work, but by then I'm even more tired, and it's easier to talk myself out of it, so it really needs to be in the morning. Stephen has promised to help me get up in the mornings, so that should prevent me from continuing to sleep after the alarm has gone off, as I have done pretty much every morning.
I know exercising will make me feel better and give me more energy and provide health benefits, so why NOT do it? I will report back in a week to let you know how I did!
(Bonus points if you can name the show that featured the song lyrics referenced in my title!)
Friday, August 13, 2010
Oh, Baby!
Hello, friends! I hope you've all had a great week. I've been dealing with some nausea (which for me has not been the norm in pregnancy), so I stayed home today to get some rest. I watched an episode of A Baby Story earlier, and good gracious, it had me bawling! I never really liked watching that show before because I thought it was kind of "icky," but curiosity got the better of me this morning. I have to say that watching someone in labor and in obvious pain kind of freaked me out, but when the baby was born, I just started crying. I kept thinking about how that will be me in 200 or so days, and it's just so overwhelming and wonderful.
On Wednesday I went in for my first OB appointment, and we were there for over 2 1/2 hours! We talked to someone about insurance (woohoo), then we met with a nurse practitioner, and she took a family history. As she was asking all the questions I realized how fortunate Stephen and I are that our families have had no major health issues beyond diabetes and high blood pressure and the like. Then we got to hear baby's heartbeat! It took the technician a while to find the heartbeat, and she was pressing down on my abdomen really hard. I had to go to the bathroom, so that part was less than fun, but then we heard little baby's heartbeat! It is amazing how fast a baby's heart beats! Then we had a quick chat with the doctor, I had a bunch of blood drawn at the lab, and we were done! I go back in 4 weeks, and then 4 weeks from that we'll have an ultrasound and hopefully find out the sex of the baby!
The only downside to the whole experience? Stepping on the stupid doctor's scale. I had just weighed myself at home the previous Saturday, and the scale said 171, a mere pound higher than what it said when I found out I was pregnant. I was so excited! Then, I stepped on the doctor's scale on Wednesday, and it said 176. When I weighed in at 6 weeks, that scale said 172, which means I gained 4 pounds in 5 weeks! What in the world?? So do I just chalk it up to bloating or something and just worry about what my scale at home says? Or do I keep freaking out like I have been over the past two days? I hate the scale. HATE. IT. Part of me says I should just not look at the scale, but then I would be scared about gaining 5 pounds in one week or something.
What is the solution? Someone help this crazy woman!
On Wednesday I went in for my first OB appointment, and we were there for over 2 1/2 hours! We talked to someone about insurance (woohoo), then we met with a nurse practitioner, and she took a family history. As she was asking all the questions I realized how fortunate Stephen and I are that our families have had no major health issues beyond diabetes and high blood pressure and the like. Then we got to hear baby's heartbeat! It took the technician a while to find the heartbeat, and she was pressing down on my abdomen really hard. I had to go to the bathroom, so that part was less than fun, but then we heard little baby's heartbeat! It is amazing how fast a baby's heart beats! Then we had a quick chat with the doctor, I had a bunch of blood drawn at the lab, and we were done! I go back in 4 weeks, and then 4 weeks from that we'll have an ultrasound and hopefully find out the sex of the baby!
The only downside to the whole experience? Stepping on the stupid doctor's scale. I had just weighed myself at home the previous Saturday, and the scale said 171, a mere pound higher than what it said when I found out I was pregnant. I was so excited! Then, I stepped on the doctor's scale on Wednesday, and it said 176. When I weighed in at 6 weeks, that scale said 172, which means I gained 4 pounds in 5 weeks! What in the world?? So do I just chalk it up to bloating or something and just worry about what my scale at home says? Or do I keep freaking out like I have been over the past two days? I hate the scale. HATE. IT. Part of me says I should just not look at the scale, but then I would be scared about gaining 5 pounds in one week or something.
What is the solution? Someone help this crazy woman!
Monday, August 9, 2010
Reasons Why Today Is Awesome
1. Baby Mount is 11 weeks old today! Our little bean is roughly the size of a fig now and is now fluttering about and even gets hiccups! Isn't that just the cutest?? I have my first real OB appointment on Wednesday, and it's the long one, where they take a family history and do a bunch of blood work and all that jazz. Stephen is going with me. I am so thankful to have a husband who is so involved in the process!
2. Stephen bought me a surprise at the store: colored pencils and a coloring book! No, I'm not in fact 8 years old, but I do enjoy coloring, and I especially enjoy coloring with colored pencils. They're more precise than crayons and not as thick as markers. I already finished one picture in my princess coloring book, and it looks lovely, if I do say so myself. :)
3. We got an awesome surprise in the mail: a check from the government! We filed an amended tax return last month to take advantage of the first-time homebuyer credit, and our check was waiting in the mailbox for us today. We were completely shocked that we got it so quickly. I begged Stephen to fly me to SeaWorld, but he said no. Isn't he mean? ;)
So even though I didn't sleep well last night and have been super tired all day, I'd say today was pretty fantastic. And tomorrow my parents are coming in to town because they are going to buy us a new sofa as their housewarming gift to us! Yippie!
I hope you all have a great week!
2. Stephen bought me a surprise at the store: colored pencils and a coloring book! No, I'm not in fact 8 years old, but I do enjoy coloring, and I especially enjoy coloring with colored pencils. They're more precise than crayons and not as thick as markers. I already finished one picture in my princess coloring book, and it looks lovely, if I do say so myself. :)
3. We got an awesome surprise in the mail: a check from the government! We filed an amended tax return last month to take advantage of the first-time homebuyer credit, and our check was waiting in the mailbox for us today. We were completely shocked that we got it so quickly. I begged Stephen to fly me to SeaWorld, but he said no. Isn't he mean? ;)
So even though I didn't sleep well last night and have been super tired all day, I'd say today was pretty fantastic. And tomorrow my parents are coming in to town because they are going to buy us a new sofa as their housewarming gift to us! Yippie!
I hope you all have a great week!
Monday, August 2, 2010
10 Weeks
I'm 10 weeks pregnant today! I only have 210 more days to go. :) So far I haven't had any nausea. I'm just fighting a lot of fatigue and dizziness. And I'm too tired to compose many sentences, so how about some pictures depicting different parts of the journey thus far?
I took two tests, but I still didn't believe them.
So we went digital just to be sure. :)
The excited parents-to-be!
Me at 7 weeks
Baby Mount received his/her first gift this weekend: handmade burp cloths from my aunt! Aren't they precious?! (Thanks, Aunt Zonia!)
Me at 10 weeks. No bump yet! I can't wait to see how Baby Mount continues to grow and develop!
I took two tests, but I still didn't believe them.
So we went digital just to be sure. :)
The excited parents-to-be!
Me at 7 weeks
Baby Mount received his/her first gift this weekend: handmade burp cloths from my aunt! Aren't they precious?! (Thanks, Aunt Zonia!)
Me at 10 weeks. No bump yet! I can't wait to see how Baby Mount continues to grow and develop!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)