Second Trimester Reflections

Now that our second trimester has come to a close, I'm going to attempt to slow down time for a moment and reflect...I can't believe we get to meet our little angel in 11 1/2 weeks! I can't explain the excitement.

Our 23 week photo went missing :(

What I have learned in the past 12 weeks:

• A woman's body is truly an amazing machine.
• Feeling your baby kick and squirm around is THE sweetest thing in the world (at least until she is here!).
• I could seriously be entertained for hours just laying there and watching my belly move while dreaming about our lives ahead (and hearing the Jaws theme in my head from time to time). 
• I'm one of the lucky ones. Other than some fairly intense stretching pains on occasion, I have basically breezed through this pregnancy thus far. Despite having lower back pain in the past, I haven't during pregnancy. I don't get heartburn (which is awesome because I crave buffalo chicken at times...but that's nothing new). I haven't "gotten sick" once, although there were a couple of close calls. I do get in bad moods, but am able to recognize them and give Nick a warning (love you!), and those have subsided now...I think. 
• I love my husband. Of course I already knew this, but when he holds my belly and talks to the baby and I get to think about him being a dad wrapped around the finger of his little girl, it makes my heart melt.
• Having a cold during pregnancy can really stink. There is a list of meds you can take during pregnancy, but I refused. We like to live as purely as possible. A couple of days home on the couch with hot water + organic lemon juice + local honey nursed me back to health. 
• Building a registry can be as stressful as it is exciting. There is just so much "stuff" and it's hard to narrow down to the necessities and keep the somewhat minimalist lifestyle we live. Thanks to some awesome facebook friends' suggestions, I'm pretty confident in our registry. Gotta love Target! 
• I never thought I'd be so excited about diapers. But, we've been building up a cloth stash and I'm super excited for some reason. Maybe it's the thought of saving $1500 on diapers. (For those of you who are still picturing the old school cloth diapers...click the image below to have your world changed. Get it? I made a funny.)

• I'm pretty darn strong, but not as "independent woman" as I thought. A big thanks to the ladies I have reached out to for advice. The thought of hiring a doula to assist our birth has eased a lot of anxiety that built up after the hospital tour. I'm stuck in the middle of having a hospital birth and loving the idea of birthing at home, but we are doing a natural hospital birth because despite any anxiety a hospital may cause, I think it gives me more comfort than staying home. I'll do the majority of the labor at home, and we'll head to the hospital later on.
• That being said, I'm not afraid of the birth. We are shooting for all-natural and intervention free, but I am not afraid of the pain. That's not because I'm naive to what it may feel like, of course I don't know, but I am extremely motivated. "I am woman, hear me roar." So while I may feel a bit more dependent...I feel that much more brave and awesome for growing this little miracle. 
• Either I don't get out much or look mean, because I have not been attacked by women with their belly radar on in public. Yay!
• I used to think we'd be set with just one child, but being 2/3 through the pregnancy is telling me I'm going to miss it and want to have one more. I may whine about occasional discomforts, but I am one of those who LOVE being pregnant. 

My Miracle Belly Cream

Get ready folks...this stuff is amazing and super easy. First, go to the store (Woodman's, Jewel, Trader Joe's. etc.) and buy some organic coconut oil. Why organic? Because it's much better than potentially rubbing chemicals into your body. It'll cost around $10-15 for a 16oz jar...but a little goes a LONG way.

So once you get that coconut oil home, open the jar...use your fingers to take out a chunk the size of a marble. Rub it in your hands to melt it (it is a soft solid) and slather it on your belly. INSTANT relief I tell you. I've been having some serious stretching pains and this felt so good. I still have the pains now and then, but they are much more soothed now. I'm applying it three times a day, morning, when I get home from work, and again before bed.

Magical Lotion

My mother didn't have any stretch marks and they say it's genetic, but I will attest to this for helping with stretch marks this summer. They say that nothing prevents stretch marks, but I have to believe that staying nice and moisturized doesn't hurt either. It at least helps the itching/burning that can come with your belly stretching to hold a watermelon.

Could you add vitamin E oil and make it extra fancy? Of course you could. But we're pregnant and busy and this is so much easier. Even if you are not currently preggers, this stuff is amazing on dry patches and an esthetician friend told me that she puts it on her face every night. I am probably going to try this as well, at least on my forehead. Darn winter.

Disclaimer: Obviously, don't use this if you have any type of allergy or intolerance to coconut. I'd also recommend trying it on a small area first. It is about as pure as it gets and I haven't read anything about reactions so far.

Pregnancy Dreams : Issue 1

I decided my pregnancy induced, crazy vivid dreams were entertaining enough (at least to me) to start writing down. Before pregnancy, I would dream but they'd usually fade right away and I wouldn't remember them. Now, I remember every detail in the morning and they have gotten down right weird at times. Watching Revolution and Supernatural shortly before bed probably doesn't help.

12.3.12
Since I decided to write this down later in the day, I have forgotten all of the tiny details, but it was weird nonetheless.

Dream number one:
I was sitting on our couch watching TV and had a glass in my hand that was full of Bailey's, but I'd drank half of it. Then Nick walks in the room and seeing him flashed me back to reality and I flipped out. "Oh my God! What am I doing? I'm pregnant!" and so on. I believe it also involved me immediately getting online to research what half a glass of Bailey's would do. I woke up stressed out and very thankful that it was a dream! As I do with just about all of them.

Dream number two: This one is really fuzzy, but was so stressful and weird. We were somewhere (which looked somewhat like the Sons of Anarchy clubhouse) and were being held hostage.

12.12.12
Dream number one: 
We were at a town home for a party of some kind. And it was one of those dreams where no one looked like themselves. Like I was me, but didn't look like me. Nick was Nick, but looked nothing like him. Strange. And there was a neighbor that was out in his back yard dancing and was either actually a monster or just dressed like one. He sort of looked like the Maenad from True Blood. Then all of a sudden, one of the guys at the party got mad at him and ran towards him, leading to a tackle. Took him out right at the knees. Then of course the crazy neighbor started fighting back. It ended up in the garage of the town house (may have been ours in the dream) and I ended up calling 911 because I thought they were going to kill each other. The dispatcher sounded very uninterested and couldn't understand what I was saying. Eventually they just stopped and the Maenad dude ran back home....sooo weird.

Dream number two:
There was a woman who I apparently knew and she was very pregnant. I guess I'd signed up to be her midwife and deliver her baby at home. Through the whole dream I knew what I was doing and she was happy with me. Then when she went into labor, I suddenly knew nothing and the woman didn't want me around and called in another midwife at the last second who delivered her baby while she was on the floor of her bedroom. All I heard was one "push" from the midwife, a fairly quiet scream grouped with a sigh of relief from the mom, and then the baby cried. Suddenly Nick was there and we were just standing out in the hallway waiting. Again, strange. I don't remember ever seeing either of these women before.

Pregnancy Brain

I would consider myself to be someone who has quite a bit of common sense. I'm a regular ol' MacGyver. I'd heard of "pregnancy brain" before and thought it had more to do with being overwhelmed. Overwhelmed = forgetting things. It happens to the best of us, pregnant or not. But boy was I wrong...hormones it is! Not to mention the clumsiness of being a little off kilter once you start showing (due to your center of gravity changing). Most days I find it entertaining and think everyone should feel the freedom to laugh at themselves. Occasionally though, you just feel like an idiot who's completely lost her mind and you break down. Also hormones, balled up with some frustration. And then I eat something sweet, take a nap, and all is well again!

So here's a running list of my pregnancy brain moments (encouraged by my friend, Diana over at The Wolf Den). This list (and whole blog) is a way for us to look back at all of these great memories and smile. It's also a way to entertain you and make all of the pregnant ladies who are losing their minds feel a bit better.

• There have been several cases of me thinking things have happened when they didn't. For example, I could have sworn that the hubs set up an appointment with a daycare for a tour so I added it to the calendar. This was followed by him asking me if I'd talked to them to set the appointment. I could have sworn he did! Being the awesome husband that he is, he set an appointment right away so we could get it on the calendar for real. Maybe I'm not losing my mind...maybe I am just improving my ESP. Mom's need that right?
• Nick came home to me getting dinner ready and asked what was burning. Confidently, I say "Oh it must just be the crumbs in the bottom of the toaster oven" and I go about my business. Then I turn around to see the pan of cut up potatoes that I thought were in the oven. So the burning smell was a result of those crumbs being the only things cooking. Oy!
• We showed up to a doctor appointment a day early (this one triggered and "I can't stand feeling like an idiot" breakdown). 
• I could have sworn my evaluation at work was a day earlier than it was originally scheduled for. Better early than late though! 
• Sticky notes are my new best friend. My students ask me for something that I say I will get for them the next day (usually some type of tutorial or photo that needs printing) and then the next day it takes me awhile to remember what they heck they were talking about. Poor things. Sticky notes have fixed that problem! 
• I run into door jams and trip over my own feet all of the time! This has gotten better as I'm adjusting, but at first (around 12-14 weeks) I was a total klutz. 

I'll add more as they happen. It may not seem that bad, but I am not used to being an airhead. More has happened I'm sure, but these are the ones that stick out at the moment. I am going to keep better track if for nothing else than my own amusement. 

Construction Progress - Before & After

I finally got around to putting together some before and after pictures of all of the work on the house. I somewhat regret not taking pictures before the demo, but just picture a very outdated, wallpapered space. If you'd like the details on the remodel, see this post. You can click to make the photos larger :)

Demo time!

(Forgive the bad quality, they were taken on the iPod)

Now for the beautiful before and afters :) I can't wait to post the "painted" and "decorated" and "holy cow, we're all done" pictures! And a BIG thank you goes out to my mom for coming over help help Nick prime the new drywall! Painting is usually my thing, but it all falls on Nick now!

Bathroom

Bathroom

Reading Nook

Nursery

Our Room

The opposite side of our room.

My office!

15 Weeks!

As of Saturday the 17th, we hit the 15 week mark. We see the the doctor today so hopefully she will tell us when we can set the next ultrasound appointment and find out the gender!

 

 

As far as pregnancy goes, it has definitely gotten more comfortable. I sleep through the night better and rarely feel nauseous. I started feeling little flutters now and then which is very exciting!(TMI alert: I know they aren't gas...I'm a cheese-lovin' lactose-intolerant). Since I gained my energy back and the nausea left, I started doing squats and lifting (light) weights to keep myself strong and as in shape as I can. I also bought a prenatal Pilate's DVD that I'm excited to start using. The abhorrence to vegetables seems to be fading. Overall, they're right when they say the 2nd trimester is the best!

The only thing I struggle with now is feeling like a side-show at times. I am a pretty shy, reserved person and have never liked extra attention so that has been difficult. In fact, half of the reason I blog and post pictures on facebook is so I don't have to tell the stories and be stared at in person. I guess I figure you will see and read things and that will help. I hope that doesn't come off as rude...but who likes being stared at? I'm sure all of the pregnant ladies know exactly what I am talking about. Does it mean I don't want you to ask me questions and talk about the baby? No of course not. But it does mean that I'd rather not be treated like a fragile little zoo animal. Please and thank you :)

Announcing Baby Duda!

It's been driving us both crazy to keep it a secret, but we are extremely excited to announce that we are expecting! We're due May 11th, only a few weeks before my school lets out for summer, which is exactly how we hoped we could plan it. The house is nearing completion and we have winter break and spring break to put on the finishing touches, plus all of the time in between. It's my goal to be finished by the end of spring break (mid-late March) so we can relax for a month or two and I can go into full nesting mode!

Our announcement photo - Expecting our little pumpkin :)

I was fairly lucky with my first trimester. I was nauseous the majority of the time, but never actually "got sick." I was pretty lazy and tired (and still struggle with focusing now and then). I suddenly started LOVING orange juice more than ever and began hating broccoli and most veggies. I was a huge veggie fan before so that was a strange adjustment. I'll still force myself to eat them, but it isn't easy when you already feel kind of junky. There were only a few times where I didn't have much of an appetite, so I'm grateful for that. I do suddenly love corn, carrots, and celery with peanut butter (hmm...all things sweet).

As far as sudden cravings, I was violently craving a strawberry shake one night but wouldn't let Nick go out to get me one (he offered!) because lactose-intolerance seems to have gotten more sensitive with the baby, and I'm avoiding dyes that I'm sure would be in a shake. So instead I bought organic frozen strawberries to blend with vanilla soymilk (my mom's idea!) and organic strawberry pop tarts, along with a Naked strawberry-banana smoothie. It's helped a LOT to curb my unhealthy cravings. My onion/garlic (technically Allium) allergy has gotten more sensitive, too. If Nick eats salsa and leaves the bowl within 6 feet of me, it gives me a headache. It was never that bad, and I could eat salsa and be ok. Not anymore! Overall, I'm after sweet stuff more, whereas before I was a big veggie fan and never really wanted sweets...except donuts. I always want donuts.

Just before 11 weeks <3 We have a very squirmy baby!

Now, into my second trimester, I have noticed myself losing my balance which is really pretty hysterical to me so far. I also go through ditzy phases (pregnancy brain), which is pretty funny to both of us. I am starting to get my energy back (yay!) and the nausea is gone (BIG yay!). I did have a 24 hour headache which was no fun, but those have stayed away for the most part. I am officially starting to show (at 13.5 weeks as I type this) and just told one of my administrators! I have been trying to hide it with jackets and ruffles but my students totally saw my tummy yesterday so I figured it's time. Everyone else will found out over the next week with the announcements we're sending out and of course on facebook :) Apparently it's "weird" to send out announcements...I love you all but I'd much rather do this and send you a picture than call every single person and I know most people don't love finding out big news on facebook. So there's my solution! I'm really hoping our Christmas cards will include a gender announcement! I hit 20 weeks right before Christmas so I'm hoping we can find out a bit earlier. Our next appointment is Nov. 21st, so we'll see what the doctor says!

In the future nursery :)

Nick has been great already with understanding how I'm feeling and doing even more around the house. The litter box is all his responsibility now! Aww shucks...I sure do miss it :-P I bought him this book and he seems to really enjoy it, as do I. For anyone who knows or is an expectant father, it's super informative while keeping it funny and not-too-mushy.

I've been reading a few books, all fantastic so far: The Mayo Clinic Guide To A Healthy Pregnancy, Babyproofing Your Marriage, and Hypnobirthing. Yes, I said Hypnobirthing. It sounds odd, but it is a wonderful, medically backed book (written by a doctor) that thousands of women have used to have comfortable, drug and intervention free births, and we are doing all we can to go down that path. The research is there and the concepts make a ton of sense. If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all please :)

We are very excited for everyone to finally know! It's hard to keep a secret this big and telling everyone makes it feel much more real! We just ask one thing...I have a good amount of energy now and feel great. No pity please! Pregnancy is fantastic and exciting and yes a little scary at times but I am loving it. I have nothing to do other than think and wait until the baby comes, so I am up for just about anything :)