27 Weeks

Last picture in the 2nd Trimester!!!

How Far Along: 27 weeks, 4 days

How Long To Go: 12 weeks, 3 days

Weight Gain: didn't weigh myself this week
Total Weight Gain: 7.2lbs
Weight: 127lbs

Belly Button: flat!

Stretch Marks: none

Sleep: trouble getting to sleep

Best Moment This Week: the wedding in Aspen!!!

Nausea: none

Craving: Sushi

Miss Anything: Had a lot of bummer moments this weekend at the wedding with all the fabulous wine, beer and booze everyone was partaking in. I also had to pass up tuna tartare and lox during the festivities that cut me right to the heart.

Movement: Lots of kicks and movements, last night she had these rapid fire machine-gun-like movements that actually freaked me out a bit.

Gender: bouncing baby girl

Symptoms: milk is officially coming out of my boobs when i grab them...my hubby actually found this out. Also, I had my first experience with Braxton Hicks contractions

Wedding Ring: on

Looking Forward To: our next 3D ultrasound which we are scheduling for next week

Maternity Clothes: Couldn't have been happier with my purchases, especially at the wedding. I received a lot of compliments on my dress which I got from ASOS for $25! Gotta love a deal on clothes, especially clothes I can only wear for another three months. 

Fruit: Cucumber (2.2lb, 15 inches)

Weird Dreams This Week: I had a dream that Ray Lewis was trying to break into my house to murder me during a tornado...my friend Jenn made an appearance as she ran into my house for safety (from the tornado, not the crazed Ray Lewis)

XOXO
Lisa

26 Weeks

This week was a little rough, physically. The closer to the third trimester I get, the more I am starting to feel the affects of my growing body. My back and pelvic pain is at an all-time high. I went to the gym the past two days and after I got home yesterday the pain that was radiating down my legs was almost unbearable. Along with back pain, I have now developed acid reflux. I have never had acid reflux before so it is particularly unpleasant, especially because I love tomatoes and spicy food. Another lovely symptom that has developed this week is trouble sleeping. My enlarged belly is making getting comfortable extremely difficult at night time, and it also happens to be my daughters favorite time to kick me.

Although it sounds like I am doing a lot of complaining here, I am actually really enjoying being pregnant still. I feel so blessed to have this little girl inside of me and I can't believe I am almost in the third trimester! Things are getting into gear for both of our upcoming baby showers and I am planning out my last two months of work. All of a sudden it feels as if we have very little time to get our ducks in a row before our little one arrives. We have also reached the point where we will now be seeing the doctor every two weeks.

We went to the doctor yesterday and she gave me some good tips for my back pain (heating pad, muscle relaxer if necessary, taking it easy with the exercise) and gave me a thumbs up as far as baby's heart rate and growth. She said I was measuring at 25.5 which means baby girl is on the small-ish side, which I don't mind. She is definitely getting bigger and I wouldn't mind a 6lb baby on delivery day lol. My weight gain is starting to become steadier and I have definitely gained the most weight this past month (about 5 pounds). The only concern from the doctor was that I am on the verge of having too low of an iron level, so she just asked me to be mindful of eating high iron foods to keep my levels up.

We leave for a wedding in Aspen on Thursday so today I am cooking the remainder of my delivery meals and hopefully will have time to get primped before we go. I can't wait to show off my bump to my in-laws who haven't seen me since pre-pregnancy. They are so excited for this baby that I'm sure I will be closely monitored this weekend...I anticipate being offered lots of food and being asked if I need to rest constantly. Hopefully my back pain will be manageable enough for me to dance at this over-the-top wedding!

grimacing in back pain

 

How Far Along: 26 weeks, 3 days

How Long To Go: 13 weeks, 4 days

Weight Gain: 0lbs
Total Weight Gain: 7.2lbs
Weight: 127lbs

Belly Button: flat!

Stretch Marks: none

Sleep: Really tired all day and then a lot of trouble sleeping

Best Moment This Week: Having a couple of at-home date nights with my hubby, including a movie marathon

Nausea: none

Craving: sweets...went and got TCBY the other night and it really hit the spot. Still trying to beat the craving with fruit.

Miss Anything: Sleeping on my stomach

Movement: Lots of kicks and movements

Gender: bouncing baby girl

Symptoms: Acid reflux, back pain, pelvic pain, leg pain, general body discomfort...and i'm supposed to get bigger???

Wedding Ring: still on

Looking Forward To: Going to Aspen on Thursday!!! I need a vacation!

Maternity Clothes: purchased a pair of maternity jeans and can't wait to rock them out in Colorado

Fruit: Butternut squash (2lb, 9.2 inches)

Weird Dreams This Week: Had a dream this week that when the baby was kicking, her little arm and leg protruded from my belly skin and looked kind of like barbie limbs were sticking out of me...I had to push them back in. Also part of the same dream, I was in preterm labor.

XOXO
Lisa

25 Weeks

 

 This has been a stressful week. I was busy with work, we started and completed a huge project, and my niece was in the hospital for 4 days. Everything is fine and little Brooke is back at home, but it gave everyone, myself included, major anxiety for the entire week. 

To keep busy, Matt and I embarked on an ENORMOUS home renovation project that was brought about by my extreme nesting. Nesting, like pregnancy brain, is entirely real. For no reason at all, the state of our kitchen and dining room area bothered me and it had to be changed. So we painted, then Matt installed a new backsplash and sink, I decorated and we both took on the biggest headache - refinishing our dining room table. It was a lot of work, but it kept our hands and minds busy and off of Brooke being in the hospital. 

Between the home projects and the worry there wasn't much sleep this week and both Matt and I felt like zombies the whole time. My brain actually had a hard time functioning. Thankfully, with the good news of Brooke's discharge from the hospital and a couple of solid nights of sleep, I feel back to myself again.

 

How Far Along: 25 weeks,5 days

How Long To Go: 14 weeks, 2 days

Weight Gain: 2.8lbs
Total Weight Gain: 7.2lbs
Weight: 127lbs

Belly Button: flattening out

Stretch Marks: none

Sleep: exhausted!

Best Moment This Week: Finishing a HUGE home renovation project. We painted, tiled and re-finished furniture in our kitchen, dining room and sun room.

Nausea: none

Craving: nothing this week

Miss Anything: Nope

Movement: Lots of kicks and movements

Gender: girl

Symptoms: emotional, tired, back pain, pregnancy brain!

Wedding Ring: still on

Looking Forward To: Going to Aspen next week for a wedding!!

Maternity Clothes: Still loving my maternity clothes but feel good that I can still fit in to a lot of my pre-pregnancy clothes too (with a belly band)

Fruit: Eggplant (1.7lb, 9 inches)

Weird Dreams This Week: I was married to Jennifer Lawrence....referred to her as my wife and everything


XOXO
Lisa

Fitness and Health While Pregnant

My 24 week pregnant self

The theory with fitness and wellness during pregnancy is that pregnancy is not an excuse. Since I've been reading the message boards on the What To Expect app, I have noticed how many women are using pregnancy as an excuse to go all out, and I mean ALL out in regards to their diets. They post pictures and comments about their cravings and indulgences, constantly one-upping each other with more and more trash that they are putting into their bodies.

I should have prefaced this post with the fact that I am a food snob. As a professional chef and a slow food advocate I am a 100% believer in the power of sustainable, local, real food. I have read books on the subject of nutrition and would say that I am pretty knowledgeable on the subject of food. That being said, I don't diet and I LOVE food. I simply eat when I'm hungry and try and make the best choice as to what I put in my body. I love good food, especially carbs and make no apologies for not living a gluten-free existence. I take food very seriously and even more so now that I am pregnant.

This is a time in our lives as women that our decisions on food and wellness are affecting our growing babies and setting the stage for their health and behavior later in life. It is already proven that starting around week 22, a fetus can start to actually taste the food you are eating! It makes me so sad to hear about women drinking soda and eating fast food during pregnancy because they just "had to have it!" because your baby is being exposed to harmful chemicals, preservatives and insane amounts of sodium and processed sugar.

As a pregnant woman myself I call bullsh*t on the craving excuse. Of course there have been times when something especially bad for me sounded great, but you improvise, you satisfy your craving in other ways, or else you satisfy the craving in moderation. The most common pregnancy cravings are for sweets and even I have had them on occasion. My solution is eating fresh fruit. It's the summer here in South Carolina and there are several farms right up the road and let me tell you, nothing you can get from Dairy Queen tastes as good as a farm fresh peach. I seriously can't get enough fruit and have stocked my fridge with fabulous seasonal options like watermelon, nectarines, cherries, peaches and melon. I have also made sure to have squares of dark chocolate and almonds on hand when I need something a little more decadent. The antioxidants in dark chocolate are actually beneficial to your body (especially if you're staying active) and the almonds add a nutritious crunch that adds to the yumminess.

Now on to fitness. I hate working out. I've always been an active person but it has always been a love/hate relationship with exercise. I'm not the girl who loves to wake up at 5:30am and make it to two classes before 9am. I enjoy sleep and on the scale of 1 to lazy, I would rank myself close to sloth-status. However, it's a necessary evil, like going to the doctor or brushing your teeth. In my book, there is no option, you work out, you stay active and you sleep better knowing that you are taking proper care of yourself. Sure, I would love a perfect body and six-pack abs like a Victoria's Secret model but I have made peace with the fact that a) I'm not built that way, and b) I love food too much to ever have 4% body fat. I'm satisfied with staying trim and trying to ease gracefully into my 30's without letting my cellulite spread too rapidly.

Pregnancy makes working out even more tedious. You're exhausted, your body hurts (for good reason) and the notion of exerting extra energy seems impossible. My tip is to give yourself a break in the first trimester. I beat myself up for taking a few weeks away from my normal gym routine once the morning sickness and exhaustion set in. I was terrified that I would never get back to working out and as a result would spend my pregnancy in sweat pants on the couch growing fatter. This was not the case. Once the second trimester hit I felt like myself again and back to the gym I went. You have to modify your workouts to accommodate your growing and changing body, but for the most part I do everything I used to do pre-pregnancy.

Believe it or not, working out helps a LOT with the symptoms you will undoubtedly deal with. I prefer yoga and weight lifting with moderate cardio mixed in. Everyone needs to find what works for them but the key is to stay active! It will make it much easier to lose weight postpartum (so I've been told) and get back to your before baby body.

Pregnancy is an incredible time but it definitely comes with its fair share of challenges. Keeping yourself healthy and active not only benefits you during the journey, it will give your baby a step-up in life from day one.

XOXO

Lisa

24 Weeks

This week has been an emotional roller coaster. My hormones are definitely raging, as I have entered a very weepy stage of pregnancy. I have cried three times this week, one of those times I would categorize as hysterical. I freaked out about bills, work, money, and how we are going to be responsible for this tiny new person we're creating together. The crazy part is that work is fine, I'm busy and have recently taken on some new clients and I have a big event booked for the beginning of August...so really, I'm just a nut. I think the knowledge that I am shutting up shop soon has gotten me on edge and I'm worried about juggling being a full-time mom with a full-time entrepreneur.

In actual fact, minus the cry-fests, we actually have a LOT to be excited about in the near future. We are going to Aspen in two weeks for a family members wedding and we are stoked, afew weeks after that is my baby shower and we've almost finished two huge DIY home projects (the nursery, and the kitchen/dining room). I plan on posting about both projects once they're completed because we are really proud of how they're coming along.

Anyway, I'm chalking up my weepy week to hormones and hoping to get a grip in the coming weeks.

How Far Along: 24 weeks, 6 days

How Long To Go: 15 weeks, 1 days

Weight Gain: .4lbs
Total Weight Gain: 4.2lbs
Weight: 124.2lbs

Belly Button: holding on for dear life

Stretch Marks: none

Sleep: tired all the time but hard to get to sleep

Best Moment This Week: Picking our daughters full name. Going out to dinner with my sister and brother-in-law. starting a huge makeover of our kitchen/dining room. Finding out my Glucose Tolerance Test came back negative and I need no further testing for gestational diabetes

Nausea: none

Craving: nothing this week

Miss Anything: wine :-/. With my raging hormones I miss my usual crutch - some lovely wine.

Movement: She is so active that it is starting to keep me from getting comfortable

Gender: girl

Symptoms: emotional, tired, back pain

Wedding Ring: still on

Looking Forward To: Finishing our projects

Maternity Clothes: Loving the pieces I got this week from ASOS and Pinkblush Maternity. The dress from ASOS is a powder blue bodycon dress that I am going to rock the hell out of at this upcoming wedding. The pieces from Pinkblush Maternity fit well, although some of the maxi dresses were too long. I am actually wearing one of the Pinkblush dresses in my picture this week.

Fruit: Ear of Corn (1.5lb, 8.5 inches)

Weird Dreams This Week: I don't remember any particularly interesting dreams from this past week...I'll pay more attention next week


XOXO
Lisa