22 Weeks Pregnant!

Twenty Two Weeks ends tonight, and I must say, I'm happier than I have been in a month or so :)  People always say your emotions are kinda on a hiatus when you are pregnant, but I thought "oh never me".  Wrong!  I can go from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs in just a day.  I try to focus on the happy days, but you have to admit to yourself, pregnancy and life in general can be tough.  So combine any pregnancy emotions with any work or relationship stress and holy cow are you (and others around you) in for a rude awakening!

I'll be honest, I can be a big ol' B word.  It's sometimes the best thing that I work from home.  Around Wednesday of last week (the first day of week 22), I don't think ANYONE would have wanted to be around this foul, angry little woman.  I am talking crying uncontrollably and being TERRIFIED about having a child because of the impending changes to my job, my relationship with Neal, my relationship with others, my body, even our location where we live.  Everything was a trigger.  From a harmless work email, to a sale on Etsy. Everything was making me angry.

It wasn't until Wednesday night when Neal talked to me about all my outside stressors and really took into account how incredibly stressed I am about work that I made a turn for the better.  My job is different than most in that it is contracted.  My team and I never know how long our contract will last because even though it's "contracted" I have never in my time here seen a contract.  Each month we wonder if our jobs will end the next month.  We don't have insurance benefits, but I do have the benefit of working from home and making my own hours.  However, our boss is changing this coming Friday.  My current boss and another employee on my team no longer have positions within the company.  Now my team is down to two, myself and one of my best friends.  The new boss wants us to make more specific hours and it will, of course, be a change in leadership style.  That makes me nervous.  I have stayed with this job because the work is fine, I understand it well, I feel like I'm very good at what I do (IT/User Security), and I truly am blessed to work from home and not have to drive anywhere or get fully ready each morning (hair, clothes, makeup).  But again, it is stressful to not know how long it will last, especially with the introduction of a new child into our family.  Neal and I have discussed the possibilities and the options if I were to lose this job and I feel MUCH more confident going forward.  I am incredibly lucky to have Neal as my husband!

How far along: 22

Gender: Little one’s a girl!!!

Weight gained: 11.4 lbs

Inches gained: About 6 inches around biggest part of belly (I know, no changes in size/weight since last week...)

Working Out:  Yes! I did a lot on Wednesday and Thursday, and then had normal active days over the weekend at Funk in the City and cleaning up the house, and Monday started the Tone it Up Bikini Series!

Clothing Choices:  None of my shorts fit well, I may go get a band for them but am not sure…it’s getting warm, so I’ve resorted to wearing stretchy longer skirts.

Stretch marks:  Only those from soccer years ago on the thighs.

Belly button: Inny, but just barely.

Sleep: Sleep has been pretty terrible.  Being outside all day on Saturday for Funk in the City has got my allergies, or something, going pretty badly.  I barely slept Friday night due to excitement, and then Saturday and Sunday I couldn’t sleep well because I was so hot, had a sore and dry throat along with an earache and stuffy nose…then during the day, my eyes are just sore/dry. Ugh.

Best moment this week: There have been some great highs lately!  The start of the week (Wednesday) was SUPER hard for me, but then I did a 360 and started looking at all the positives.  I did amazing at the show, Funk in the City (Lively Happenings best show yet!), I really enjoyed yoga on Thursday and even sorta made a new friend :-D, I bought baby girl some super cute clothes with a paycheck I found from last year that needed to be deposited (oops!), all the posts on Instagram for the #BikiniSeries and #TIUteam are SO inspirational, and yesterday I got the rest of my fabric in for baby girls nursery décor crafting I plan to do!!!

Hardest moment this week: I was SUPER emotional on Wednesday morning. I had a difficult Tuesday night and woke up grumpy Wednesday and could just barely get out of the funk.

What I’m missing: Sleep

Movement: When I’m not active, I feel her a lot, but when I’m really active I don’t notice her moving as much.

Cravings:  Burgers! I love when Neal makes burgers….mmm

Queasy or sick: Sickness from allergies, which is noooo fun

Looking forward to: Making baby some crib sheets & a crib skirt!

Strange Dreams:  I totally remember waking up this morning with a strange dream where Neal and I were supposed to be scientists somewhere super top secret for the President and we were also secret lovers, Neal and myself = lovers…not the President & myself…  Anyways, one of the things I remember in the dream was walking into a lab where my mom was working and there were all these deceased bodies sitting in chairs at a table, they all looked exactly the same.  They weren’t like scary bodies, more like wax figures.  My mom then showed me how the eyes are stuffed with cotton balls so that they look more ‘lively’…umm yea…what the heck!  Is that even real?  Did I see that on TV once or hear that thing about the cotton balls and cadavers!?  Now, let’s backtrack to reality about 18 years. I remember walking into a lab once when I was pretty young; my mom was in college finishing her degree and was in an anatomy class, she had dissected a cat and the cat had kittens inside.  From that day forward, I knew I could not be a medical professional.  I even tried taking anatomy in high school because I knew if I was good at it, when it was time to go to college, I may pursue a nursing degree since I knew those jobs would be in high demand upon graduation.  However, I dropped out on day two once the teacher gave us a heads up about dissecting turtles, and eyeball of a cow, and a brain of another animal.

Week 21 Workouts

• Wednesday  - AM = Knocked Up Fitness, the first 3 routines: Core War-Up, Prenatal Fitcamp, and Pilates Arms and then PM = Worked out with the hubby doing Biceps and Chest! (I was a total crank and needed that PM workout with him!)
• Thursday – Tone it Up Summer Sizzle x 1 and Short and Sweet Arms x 3 for my AM workout, a 25 minute walk with my puppies (separate walks) right after work, and then PM was 1hr 15 min of Power Yoga!
• Saturday – I call this a active ‘normal’ day – loaded and unloaded the car 2 times for the show and stood most of the day for Funk in the City, Lively Happenings did awesome!
• Sunday – another active ‘normal’ day.  The dresser that holds a lot of Lively Happenings supplies was moved from the guest/craft room into the office. So I cleaned up the whole office and guest room to adjust for the changing house – the Guest Room will now be Guest/Nursery and the office is now Office/Craft Room (and some of the craft supplies are now in the garage!) things are changing up around here, and I can’t wait to do the nursery!
• Monday – FIRST DAY OF THE BIKINI SERIES!!!! Yay!!!  Cowabunga workout 1 time through (modifying the last move so I wasn't on my belly and doing tricept pushups frollowed by squats), the "Three Moves for a Sexy Upper Back" x3, and a 35 minute dog walk that put me 1.75 miles towards my #100bySummer
• Tuesday - AM - got up and did 24 minutes of cardio with Knocked Up Fitness DVD's Core Cardio routine 2x's through (hello now 4 miles towards my #100bySummer).  I took a 25 minute break in the later afternoon when work was SUPER slow and did the Bikini Body routine by Tone it Up (modifying some of the ab moves at the end to make for a more pregnancy safe workout), and now I'm about to take the dogs on a walk (because they are so cute and deserve one) before it gets dark outside!                       

21 Weeks Pregnant, It's a Girl!

I was looking back nostalgically over the last few weeks, and I remember feeling big at 14 weeks and here we are 21 weeks...it's hard to believe she's already about 10.5 inches in length!  Frankly, it's hard to believe I'll be getting bigger too! 

How far along: 21

Gender: Little one’s a girl!!!

Weight gained: 11.4 lbs

Inches gained: About 6 inches around biggest part of belly

Working Out:  Yep! More yoga going on for this little mama!

Clothing Choices:  I wore regular pants for the reveal with a hair tie, a loose BCBG dress for Easter, and then some regular jean shorts again with a hair tie while doing stuff around the house/prepping for the craft fair, Funk in the City, this weekend!  Other than that, I’ve been in yoga pants and tanks.

Stretch marks:  Only those from soccer years ago on the thighs.

Belly button: Inny, but it’s getting much closer to popping out!

Sleep: Sleep has been nice this week!

Best moment this week:  I really enjoyed Yoga in the Park with Energize Evansville/Evansville Power Yoga, it’s just so nice to be outside in warmer weather, rocking the bump!

Hardest moment this week: I’m finding my back aches much quicker these days.  I’ll be doing some cleaning outside or inside the house and have every intention to walk the dogs after, but then I’m just soooo sore or tired.  Also, I've gotten moody lately.  I think it mostly has to do with work and the changes happening :-/ 

What I’m missing: Being able to get in and out of the truck normally…I know that sound random, but I have to learn new ways to move and baby girl isn’t even that big yet!

Movement: I feel the little one every day and now I can sometimes see her moving. I find myself staring at my belly a lot.

Cravings:  Fruits – I want watermelon, strawberries, pineapple, raspberries, bananas…mmmm

Queasy or sick: Felt good this week!

Looking forward to: Nursery decorating!  We have lots of time, but I can’t wait to move Lively Happenings out of the guest room and into my work office so now I’ll have a full office for my IT job/Lively Happenings and then a nursery/guest room.  I’d love if the guest room could be separate, but it’s what we can do with the space of our house.
Strange Dream of the Week:  This is a new addition to my weekly posts, but they are getting odd & I'd love to share!  This past Sunday going into Monday I had a dream that my new boss wouldn't acknowledge that I was pregnant, but wanted to do a lunch acknowledging another coworker's birthday.  I was devastated!  In my dream, I pointed out that I was the only employee that never got her b-day celebrated (the one year I worked in the office, my birthday fell on the day of the Nashville flood), I never got a card when Neal and I married, or even an email, and I never had a going away lunch when other employees have for moving or even leaving the company.  These things I pointed out in the dream are all true, and they have bothered me, even though they are petty.  Also true, on Monday during the real work day, I was informed they were doing a going away lunch for my boss and another a co-worker, and I wasn't initially informed/invited, but later added to the invite! Strange how these things come back around.

Week 21

• Wednesday  -  Jessica Smith TV 20-Minute Prenatal Total Body Strength Workout
• Thursday – Power Yoga for an hour and 15 min
• Saturday – Yoga in the Park with Energize Evansville & EPY (Evansville Power Yoga) for an hour, the weather was AMAZING! Then Neal and I walked the puppies for 20 minutes
• Sunday  - 30 Minute Dog Walk with the hubby
• Tuesday – Tone it Up Honeymoon Ready Routine x 2 and an attempted dog walk, Walden misbehaved terribly and it ended short :-/

Our Creative Gender Reveal with Silly String

This past weekend, Neal and I were very excited to be able to have a gender reveal with a few local friends here in Evansville.  We've already told our families either in person or via Skype the gender of Baby Bratton.  I also told some of my Knoxville/Middle TN friends the news because I knew they couldn't come to the reveal and we had to wait over a week to have that, and me waiting to tell everyone just wasn't an option. I am, of course, just ecstatic about the little one!

I DIYed these onesise with pre-cut iron on letters found at Hobby Lobby

Our Gender Reveal Party

Neal and I invited a handful of the friends that we have here in Evansville over to our house on Saturday. We knew it would be a small crowd since it was the day before Easter, but were so happy to have the friends that were able to come over to celebrate!!!

The pink and blue flowers I got for $10 and put into mason jars :)

I prepped on Friday, making some drinks and cutting up fruit for fruit pizza.  I made strawberry lemonade and blue raspberry lemonade.  I totally went un-healthy with a lot of my food preparation and went the easier route of getting powders to make my drinks and then just added fresh cut fruit to the drinks.  Typically I'm one who would want to squeeze lemons and puree strawberries to make a delicious drink, but I knew I just needed to give myself a break and take it easy. 

You can see the blue and pink-ish drinks I made behind the pink and blue striped straws I picked up for $1.99 at Michaels!  I have the little chalkboard signs from some Lively Happenings craft shows.  The dip for the fruit pizzas is simply plain Greek Yogurt, a little sugar, and coconut flakes...yum!!! I cut all the fruit myself (including that cute pineapple) to save on money - hello a whole pineapple for 98 cents at Aldi!

In keeping with the easy prep, on Saturday morning, I made brownies and cookies, both from packages.  I simply added some pink M&M's to some of the chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and some blue M&M along with nuts to the other half of that same cookie dough.  I also baked the brownies in the same pan, simply stirring in nuts to 1/2 of the batter right before putting it into the oven.  I wanted to make this as simple as possible.  It's not my normal, I REALLY LOVE baking from scratch, but I just knew I needed to not make a big fuss and let it be.

I also got peanut M&M's and pain M&M's on sale and put them in a blue and a pink container I found in the dollar section at Target (score! I love that section!).  If you haven't caught on yet...I was going with a Blue or Pink theme of "With Nuts" or "No Nuts"...Get it?  (Look again above to see... :) !

I had the onesies I made pinned to one of my shutter boards (best $10 I even spent at Goodwill was on these!) and along side them I had a few ultrasound pictures and stickers so guests could vote their gender!

Sasha was pooped by the end of the night from all the festivities!

Neal and I picked up some pulled pork, smoked sausage, potato salad, and coleslaw as additional food.  We pulled out our Ladder and String game (Red Neck Golf) and the kids that attended enjoyed playing that while we chatted with our friends.

For our reveal, I wanted to do something different, so of course I searched Pinterest and the internet for ideas.  I thought about doing the cake, or the box of balloons, or even getting a piniata to fill with blue or pink candy, but finally I found my plan when I saw a silly string reveal and I LOVED IT!

I knew we weren't going to have many guests, so I bought a modest 6 cans of stilly string.  That stuff is not cheap! I spent almost $3 a can!  It was so worth it though!  I covered the cans with light yellow paper, a little ribbon and the words "Boy or Girl?"  I loved the signage I came up with to go along, "Shake or spray to know baby's gender today!"  Yes, I totally felt clever!

Since we knew the gender, we let our friends take the cans and them spray! Almost everyone had guessed it was a boy, but low and behold, lots of pink silly string came out of the cans!!!

We had Heather and Sarah take a few shots of us after the reveal as well...I can't help it, I love photos!

Neal and I are SO excited to be having a little girl!

Here's a snapshot of us right after we had found out 8 days before, that Baby Bratton is going to be a little girl!  I think it's funny because, in my opinion, Neal looks slightly terrified!  I had TOTALLY though she was a boy and had pretty well convinced Neal the same.

When we had our ultrasound, she was be modest and covering her bits, so much that it took about 20 MORE minutes AFTER doing all the other anatomy checks for them to 99% determine she is in fact a girl!

I hope you enjoyed our little gender reveal!  Thanks for stopping by Lively Happenings blog today!!!

Have you ever been to a gender reveal?  Do you plan to have one if you are pregnant?

How I Told My Husband We Were Pregnant!

Today marks almost 4 months since we found out we were pregnant (December 19^th around 7am in the morning, and then officially confirmed with two more tests the next morning and blood work!)  I had a whirlwind of emotions, most of which were disbelief and happiness!

I originally tested the morning of December 19^th after taking a picture of myself post workout and realizing…hmm I look ‘glowy’.  

Post Workout December 19th, 2013 and Pregnant!!!

We’d been trying to get pregnant, and I knew it was almost close enough to when I could take a test, so I said screw it and took one early.  It was the cheaper CVS brand. I thought I saw a faint blue line, freaked out and sent the picture to my friend, Emily.  She and I both were giddy all day with the idea.  Due to my previous experiences with lacking normal cycles, my doctor said as soon as I thought I was pregnant, to call.  So I did and they said I likely was and told me they set a lab order up for me.  

I wasn't going to tell Neal, but I was freaking out so much, so I called him at work.  He and I both decided to wait one more day, and take more tests. This time I bought more of the cheap ones and one super expensive one that says simply “Pregnant” or “Not Pregnant”. 

I’m not going to lie, Neal and I split a bottle of wine that night knowing it may be the last wine I drink for many many months.  He really didn't believe we were pregnant, I pretty well did, but I knew we were REALLY early on if we were and most women wouldn't even know at this point if they were pregnant unless they were like me, and anxiously checking every month.  We used about ½ of it in our skillet cooked pork chops to sauce it up, and shared the other ½ in our wine glasses from our wedding.

On Friday morning, December 20^th, I woke up with excitement and began my morning routine almost as normal, except this time peeing on two pregnancy tests!  I jumped in the shower, promising myself I wouldn't look at the tests until the appropriate time had passed. I kept opening the curtain to check the time, not looking down at the tests resting soundly on the floor.  5:33 hit, okay 2 more minutes. 5:34 hit, okay one more minute.  Next thing I knew, I looked out and it was actually 5:36, I had passed up 5:35…it was more than enough time to check.  Sure enough, the blue line was MUCH clearer and the other test said “Pregnant”!  I fell to the shower floor, cried, and then quickly composed myself.  I was a woman on a mission.

I got ready as normal, putting my hair in a towel to dry it a little then scrunching it up to curl it. I quickly put on clothes, and woke Neal up the rest of the way before taking the dogs out for their morning potty break and breakfast.  I didn't want Neal to know just yet.  The only difference in my routine was that today, I was sneaking 2 positive pregnancy tests out the bedroom!

Just as Neal had proposed with pancakes topped with M&M’s saying “Will you marry me?”, I had ordered special M&M’s months ahead in preparation for this day!  I made pancakes, put them in the oven, and cleaned up the pancake mess so Neal wouldn't even know I had made them.  I then made our normal week day breakfast of eggs and bacon.  It all was ready just as he was finishing his shower!  Perfect!

So perfect! "Baby Bratton", "Joy!" and  "Coming Soon!" and heart M&Ms!

When Neal came out to breakfast he sat down and said the usual, “Yummy! Thanks for cooking bug!”  And then I said, “Oh wait, I almost forgot, one more thing”.  I was shaking terribly and excited beyond belief and Neal knew immediately as I reached into the oven and pulled out pancakes with colorful M&M’s all over them that we were in fact pregnant!  I brought them to the table, and he stared at them (some had melted, but I brought additional ones that had not) and he was so excited! Neither of us cried, though both of us were filled with happiness!

I told you, I was SUPER shaky! I couldn't even take a picture!

It was perfect!

Later that day, I did get my lab work done, which came back positive! I called Neal with the good news! When he got home from work, he brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers! It was wonderful!

We went out to a sushi dinner that night to celebrate.  I know, I know, you shouldn't eat raw food while pregnant, don't worry, what we got was all cooked and the little baby's now 21 weeks and growing healthy inside of me!

I’ll fill you in next with the cute ways we told our families :)

How have you told your significant other you were pregnant?  If you are still trying to become pregnant, do you have plan?

20 Weeks Pregnant, Half Way There!

HOORAY WE ARE HALF WAY THERE!!!!

This past week was filled with stuff for baby!  We got to see the little one on the ultrasound, all of the growth and development looked great!  We now know the baby's gender and are having a mini reveal on Saturday, hooray!  We toured both St. Mary's and Deaconess here in Evansville and have chosen our hospital.  I purchased 3 fabrics for making 2 crib sheets and 1 skirt.  I've been working on the little one's registries some more.  I've just been so excited!

How far along: 20

Gender: We found out and told our family and some friends!  We’re doing a gender reveal on Saturday, so we’ll announce after that!

Weight gained: 10.4 lbs

Inches gained: About 5.5 around biggest part of belly

Working Out:  Yep! See below! Mostly walking, not too intense.

Clothing Choices:  Loving my maxi’s! I did wear some white pants on Sunday that are pre-pregnancy ones and they fit well…until I had to sit hehe…I unbuttoned and unzipped them the entire car ride home

Stretch marks:  Only those from soccer years ago on the thighs.

Belly button: Inny, but I can tell that it’s closer to popping

Sleep: Pretty good except when Neal and I slept in a twin bed at his parents…my prego pillow + myself + Neal in a twin…not so nice.

Best moment this week:  Seeing our little one on the ultrasound!!!! EEEKKK!!!!

Hardest moment this week:  Keeping baby’s gender a secret, or at least off of social media.  I couldn’t help but tell quite a few friends that won’t be at the reveal.

What I’m missing: I only really crave healthy food, and sometimes, I just want the queso dip out of memory, but I don’t eat it because I know I’ll feel sick.  I know this is a good thing, but by golly if I’m getting Mexican food, I can’t have the salsa because tomatoes and this week I couldn’t have the cheese dip because I just thought I would hurl if I ate it…so no chips for me.

Movement: I feel the little one every day!

Cravings:  Strawberries, I haven’t gone to the store yet, but plan to get some today!

Queasy or sick: Pretty good, I did throw up a very small amount for the first time on Friday morning after drinking a good amount of water and then leaning over to turn on the shower.  Then later that day, after lunch I felt the worst I’ve felt yet and I think it had to do with my lunch choice...hardboiled egg + mayo + chicken + pickles lol

Looking forward to:  Or gender revel on Saturday! It will likely be a small group of people that can make it, but it will still be fun! And then it’ll be out on social media! YAY!

Week 20 Workouts

• Wednesday  -  I know I did something, but I didn’t write it down…oh my brain!  I'm pretty sure it was 1 or 2 Tone it Up routines
• Saturday – 35 Minute Dog Walk
• Sunday  - 35 Minute Dog Walk
• Monday – 10 Minute Prenatal Pilates – did all 5 workouts for a 50 minute workout!
• Tuesday – Jessica Smith TV 20-Minute Prenatal Total Body Strength Workout

19 Weeks Pregnant!

We get to find out the gender of our sweet little one in 2 days!!!  Today's the last day of week 19, tomorrow brings us to Week 20, our 1/2 way mark!  I can hardly believe it!!!

How far along: 19 weeks (by the way, they say baby is supposed to be 6 inches...the size of a Mango, I'm not sure where to find a 6 inch mango!  All I found were about 5 inches at most!  Crazy people...)

Gender: We’ll find out in 2 more days!!!! I’m thinking boy, we’ll see!

Weight gained: 9.6 lbs

Inches gained: About 5.5 around biggest part of belly

Working Out:  Yes! I worked out great this week I believe!  Yoga was fun, to do again, but there were a lot of modifications I had to make since we worked on floor core moves, there was another mama to be in there (she’s 16 weeks) so it was nice to have a companion!

Clothing Choices:  I wore mostly maxi dresses or tights with long shirts this week (I don’t think tights with short shirts are okay except at the gym, sorry!)

Stretch marks:  Only those from soccer years ago on the thighs.

Belly button: Inny, but I did look down once and think it’s already starting to change a little…yikes!

Sleep: I’m loving the maternity pillow still, but my dreams are definitely getting stranger and sometimes scary.  There was one about a roller coster at a wedding and Neal fell off of it, that’s when I woke up…stuff like that…

Best moment this week:  Getting more shelves for the garage and moving some of my craft supplies out there to make room for baby!  I’m moving the entire craft room (currently craft/guest room) into the office where I work all day (I work from home doing IT).  It was so nice to be able to start to feel like there’s a space being made especially for this little one!

Hardest moment this week:  I was at church and the message was from a group in India who is constantly finding the leaders and their families are being beaten, raped, killed and tortured by Hindu and Muslim extremists.  It was a very difficult message to hear, but an important one to see how the church is assisting these families and how they are all pulling out of these extreme situations we don’t see here in America to bring the word of Jesus to their neighbors, building more churches and gathering more followers against all odds.  I know this doesn’t directly relate to baby, but it brought me to alligator tears and hunched over position and I found myself holding tight to Neal with one hand and tight to my belly with another.

What I’m missing: Nothing really this week, I guess a beer during the basketball game we watched at one of Neal’s best friend house did sound nice at the time.

Movement: Yes! This little one is active, I’ve felt movement a lot today!

Cravings:  I really like arugula right now…strange of all things to ‘crave’ I want this greenery in nearly every meal!

Queasy or sick: Feeling good!

Looking forward to:  Our ultrasound on Thursday to check baby’s growth and development as well as gender!!! We are also touring 2 hospitals this week.  I want a natural birth and have considered home birth, but I really do like my doctor and trust him.  He’s very very low intervention, believes in my decisions to not have Pitocin or the Epidural as well as a few other requests.

Week 19

• Wednesday  - Tone it Up Summer Sizzle and Spankin’ Booty routines followed by a dog walk
• Friday – Arm toning at home before and during work when I needed to get some energy going
• Saturday – Working out with Neal at the gym, leg day!
• Sunday  - Did about 2 hours of organizing, moving stuff from my craft room to the garage to make room for baby!  The craft room is moving partially to the garage and partially to my office!  I consider this a workout since I think it’s exhausting walking back and forth and back and forth and organizing!
• Monday – Power Yoga
• Tuesday – Knocked Up Fitness Day 4 and Day 5 #StrongMama Challenges!

18 Weeks Pregnant

Today marks the final day of week 18!  We are only 9 days away from knowing the gender of our little one!

How far along: 18

Gender: I’m feeling more and more like it’s a little boy, we’ll find out in 9 days!

Weight gained: 8 lbs

Inches gained: About 5 around biggest part of belly

Working Out:  Pretty good! I got 2 days of solid strength training, a good day of cardio, another day of what I’ll consider a real-life workout (cleaning garage and yard) and then yoga!

Clothing Choices:  I’m still fitting into my tops alright, I did notice (for the first time) that some of my bras aren’t fitting as well (hooray, I’ve never had much going for me up there!).  On the bottom, when I can I’m in workout pants, when I’m out, I’m wearing maternity jeans or maxi dresses.

Stretch marks:  Only those from soccer years ago on the thighs.

Belly button: Inny

Sleep: I love my maternity pillow!  I have felt a lot more exhausted this week though and I think it’s because my schedule was thrown off at the tail end of the work week by needing to put in 10 hour days W-F, and then after cleaning the garage/yard my allergies kicked in so my eyes are constantly itchy since Sunday, which makes me feel like I should sleep!

Best moment this week:  Feeling baby move daily is so special! I love making Neal rest his hand to try to feel it, he only has slightly felt once.

Hardest moment this week: Feeling exhausted after working in the garage and yard. I wheel barreled 3 trips of very light plant trimmings to the side yard, and by the final trip, I was simply ready to just lay down in the yard. I’ve never really felt that tired before from doing household tasks.

What I’m missing: Wine.

Movement: Yes! This little one is pretty active. Only once was it so much I thought I might hurl, and one other time I think baby hit a nerve, so that hurt.

Cravings:  Nothing really that I’m craving. I mean I want ice cream, but I always want ice cream, pregnant or not.

Queasy or sick: Feeling good!

Looking forward to:  We are going to a weekday childcare facility right down our street tonight and I’m looking forward to learning more about what that’s like.  I honestly wanted the cost of it to be WAY more so that I’d have a better excuse not to work, but as of right now it makes sense for me to stay with my current position as long as they keep me hired on (been contracted for almost 4.5 years now) and continue to work from home.  The child care is right down the road, so I think I’d only do half days (maybe 4-6 hours of baby there) so I can get some solid and productive work in my day.  If this position goes away though, I’m not sure what I’ll do. For me to take a job outside of the home while we have a little one, I’d really want to love the job and not just be taking one just to have a job.  Thankfully, Neal and I are in a position we may have this leniency for a little bit.  We still really need to crunch the number though.  Both Neal and I have weighed me working and not working. I think emotionally it’ll be hard for me to work at first, but then I also wonder if in the long run if I’m not working will it hurt me to jump back into the workforce or become too dependent on my child and vice-versa.  So I guess you could say, I’m looking forward to examining this all more. It’s stressful that I have no control over my current job, and literally don’t know month to month if I’ll have it the next month.  I just don’t think I’ll really know what I want until after the little one is here.

Week 18

• Wednesday  - Leg Day with Neal at the gym
• Friday – 10 min prenatal Pilates, a 20 min dog walk and then chest and bicep with Neal at the gym
• Sunday  - Cleaned out the entire garage (almost completely organized, just waiting to purchase 3 more shelves!) and then trimmed up the plants in the yard for a total of 4 hours
• Monday – 45 min of walking. 25 of those were with the dogs and 20 solo (b/c sometimes you don’t want to walk around w/ dog poo)
• Tuesday – Power Yoga