Since I just posted a couple of days ago (I was late on my 26 Weeks post) I thought I would take some time to actually talk about this pregnancy. I normally just post about what we are doing and a bit about how I'm feeling, but I always think of things afterwards and then wish I had written them. Plus, if I am going to do this again, I'd like to have some tips/tricks/etc. to look back on!
So, here are some things I wish I had written about before (or maybe I did and just forgot - prenancy brain!). At 25 weeks I woke up with a killer charlie horse. I know this is normal in pregnancy but this one was the worst I have ever had, I actually woke Ian up writhing in pain in the middle of the night. I asked my yoga teacher about it and she said that if you can flex your foot against something hard like the wall or your hand, when you feel one coming on, it will stop it before it starts. Hard to think of in the middle of the night though! But, I've tried it a few times and it has worked, I just have to remember not to point my toes in the middle of the night, that's what seems to start them! I also have the craziest foot cramps at yoga and sometimes at home, just in the arch of my right foot. It's so crazy that I have to stop whatever I'm doing and attend to it, it like freezes up. For someone so flexible in the past, these cramps are so new to me!
Something that has saved me during this pregnancy is the Clarisonic Mia face cleanser. The first time I was pregnant my skin was horrible so I made sure to get one of these before my 2nd pregnancy to see if it helped. It totally did! I use it once a day, in the morning, for a minute (until it shuts off on it's own) along with their Gentle Hydro Cleanser (summer) and Refining Skin Polish (winter). I haven't had bad skin at all this time around, and I totally credit this little baby for helping me out! Get one, it's worth it!
Food has been a total problem for me lately. I am so sick of everything I eat, but it's good for me so I have to keep eating it. I can't wait until after the baby when I can finally stand fish again and tuna and I will be best friends. As you know, I can't eat gluten/wheat so for extra calories I've had to find things that were good for me and that didn't contain those. It sucks when you can't just sit down and eat a bagel when you're hungry, and you actually have to find something remotely healthy to eat. Every week we prepare our lunch on Sundays and I put together 5 little bags of smoothie ingredients for Ian to make me a smoothie every day at school (he has a blender in his Special Education class!). The smoothie usually has strawberries, blueberries, spinach and Raw protein in it and I used to include greek yogurt but that made it too thick and yucky to drink all at once. For lunch we eat corn, black beans, salsa, cheese, and olives mixed together (we call it "nachos without nachos") and I eat mine with half a bowl of brown rice (so I can get my whole grains). Last year, before I was gluten free and pregnant, we used to sometimes eat our nacho dish, sometimes eat tuna with tomatoes and Italian dressing and sometimes eat burritos. This year, since I can't eat any of that other stuff on a daily basis (and gf burritos are like $3.50 a burrito!) I am stuck with our nacho thing every single day. I feel like if I have to eat it one more time I will DIE, but I have 5 whole weeks of school left, that's 30 more days of it!
So, this is my problem, I'm bored of my food. In the morning I eat a greek yogurt before school (THIS I am also SO sick of, I would die for a yummy Yoplait but it just doesn't have the protien!) and then a breakfast bar that we found at Costco that is just nuts and seeds (so gf) for a snack and then my smoothie before lunch. At lunch, nachos without nachos with rice and then cottage cheese and fruit after school. For dinner I've been craving a ot of meat so we've just been doing grass fed steaks and veggies on the grill or pork and veggies. If I want to have something different, other than this stuff, I am stumped as to what to eat. We don't really have anything else around the house, unless it's junk (and I could totally eat chips all day long!) and I am totally limited when I go out to eat. So, when the OB told me I gained 7 pounds this last month, I was surprised (especially when she told this gf girl to lay off the carbs!) and just sad that I would be back on my boring boring routine of eating this next month. But was I really surprised? All I feel like eating, really, isn't food at all but a Hansen's Creamy Rootbeer and I have to admit I started drinking one a day when my limit was originally just one a day on the weekends.
So I am back to the rootbeer on weekends rule, and we have officially started walking the dogs in the morning (last week was just a trial run), we've actually gone two days in a row this week! Tums are my favorite and I probably take like 4 throughout the day (heartburn is a killer). My Snoogle and I are best friends, I sleep like a rock with it, seriously and it makes Ian so jelly (I gotta get him one!) It is uncomfortable to lay on my back and even my sides are kind of uncomfortable unless I have something propped under my stomach; but that magic pillow makes everything better. Sitting for long periods of time, like in the car or at my desk, hurts my butt (it's like it get sore) and I feel the need to get up and move around so that it doesn't ache or cramp anymore. The doctor asked if my lower back hurt and it doesn't, yet, and I'm feeling pretty good physically although it is getting harder and harder to find clothes that fit. All of my maternity stuff is boring or too small and I think it's about time to go shopping again. I've been trying to make some of my regular stuff work, like t-shirt dresses for school, but they are creeping up in the front. I have gift cards from Christine and my sister-in-law Kelly for a Pea in the Pod and I think I may need to spend them, it's time. I hate to buy clothes for these last couple of months, especially since I'm just going to get bigger, but I'm running out of options. Once school is out I will be fine, I could even lounge in a tank and undies, but since I'm still working I need stuff to dress up in.
Speaking of school, the kids are getting really excited for us. They want to touch my belly all the time, some have even felt the baby girl move, and keep asking me when I'm due (they forget things easily). My friends, Elise and Jody, are even throwing Ian and I a baby shower at work on the 20th, and I'm so excited! We've been talking to the district lately about Ian's leave next year and have had to jump through some hoops we didn't expect. I got all of my paperwork signed for my FMLA leave (I will be out 7/31 to 10/30) and we wanted Ian to be out from 10/31 to 12/14 so he could be home with the baby while I went back, but he isn't entitled to his FMLA leave because we both work for the same district (lame, I know!). So, he has had to request personal leave instead, and with him being a Community Skills Special Education teacher, I'm not so sure they want him to be gone (he's hard to replace). Plus, the district doesn't let you use your sick/personal days for personal leave, even if you have some saved up, it just goes unpaid. So, we are trying to appeal to them to let him at least use his days, but aren't sure how it's going to go. One thing we thought we weren't going to have to worry about but something that ended up being a pain!
This baby girl sure likes to wiggle! She seems to be not only kicking but sliding her leg, foot, elbow, knee (who knows?!) all across my stomach. I see what people mean when they say you get attached to them when they are inside of you, you totally do, it's like none other. I will definitely miss feeling her wriggling around, it is so normal to me now. (And when I first felt it, it freaked me out! Man how things change!) I cannot believe that this Saturday I will be 7 months pregnant and into my 3rd trimester. I'm still trying to take this all in, one day at a time, one moment at a time, but we are getting there. It seems like just yesterday I found out I was pregnant, but then again it seems like time has moved so slowly. We still have so much to do around the house, and time is just ticking away. It will all come together, I'm sure of it, but it does make me a bit anxious when I think of it. My two showers (work and friends/fam) are coming up, our next appointment and ultrasound and then it's summer and baby is here. So crazy. I am treasuring every moment, truly I am, and still feel so happy and lucky to be experiencing all of it.
Last night, Ian must have had enough of me always saying, "Look babe can you see her?" or "Come here babe she's moving around like crazy!" because he gave me a demonstration of what I act like. Except he was "pregnant" with Zipper and showed me how the lemon was going to eventually come out:
Alrighty, back to telling what we've been up to these past couple of days . . .
On Friday, Ian and I decided to go to the Botanical Gardens to see the butterfly exhibit and Christie, Christine and Espen wanted to come with us. It was so much fun, I didn't want to leave the exhibit! There were so many beautiful butterflies, and they all reminded me of my little blueberry, gliding by to say hello. We tried to find the hummingbirds there too, because these always seem to come visit me when I'm outside too, but it was too hot and they weren't around.
(Ian and Espen found a big lizard!)
(I seriously LOVE this!)
(We got photo bombed by a 5 year old!)
(And, everyone on their phones at the end, uploading pics. And Espen being a kitty!)
After the Botanical Gardens Christine and I met Jenny at the nail place for some badly needed pedicures (my toes looked like monster toes!). Espen hung out with us and was SO GOOD the whole time we were there! Ian and Einstein (the parrot) picked me up after and the rest of the night was spent watching a movie on the couch (and falling asleep at 9:30, I'm such a party animal!).
My Dad came back from his trip to Spain and I got to see him for the first time in a couple of weeks Saturday night. Ian had a very late show to play, and I was sad I was going to miss it, but there's no way I could stay up super late and then wake up a couple of hours later to do Easter with the fam. So, my Dad and I decided to do dinner at his house and he sent me this text in the morning:
The next day we were off to Ian's parents' house to celebrate with my mom and Joe, Ian's parents and my sister-in-law, Ashley's parents. We also did our annual Easter Egg Hunt but this year, since my nephew is now two, it was a little different. (Different compared to the craziness of years past - check out my post from last year!) Leith mixed up the eggs (some had cash, others candy and some were empty) and then threw them all over the ground and we raced to pick up as many as we could. I got a lot of eggs (despite being pregnant and having to bend over quickly to get them) but mine were mostly empty or filled with candy. Ian won $45, so did Leith and Ashley and Kelly won $5 each. I am totally fine with the Easter Egg Hunt changing, and just letting the little guys do it from now on, because next year the lemon will be out there crawling around and picking up eggs too!
Our parents took such good care of me at breakfast, making sure I had things to eat. My mom made me my favorite jello dish and a gluten free coffee cake and Patty got me some super yummy gf cinnomon rolls from the Gluten Free Country Store in Gilbert (they were ah-mazing!). Patty also gave us Easter baskets with a ton of stuff in them, including a super cute yellow dress for the lemon! Ian's parents are always so sweet, such incredible hosts, and they take such good care of us. I love them so much, they are truly like a third set of parents for me, a part of my family.
(My mother-in-law, Patty)
(My mom)
(Reggie ADORES his Uncle Ian!)
It was a lovely
weekend spent with all of those we love. Happy Easter everyone (even if
you don't celebrate it and just do family stuff like us)! It's almost Summer!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment