Saturday, January 28, 2012

18 weeks

18 weeks pregnant (1/28/12)

I'm just feeling really blessed and lucky this week. I had some productive days at work early in the week, Jack went to school without tears for the first time since Christmas, I'm really loving our new house, I'm loving how many connections we've made and are enjoying in New Orleans, and I've been having a great trip to see my family in SC!

I've missed Jacob the last few days, but it has been GREAT to come home. Since we've lived in NOLA, I've made it a priority to visit SC a few times a year. My parents are great about visiting me and we usually meet up in WY over the holidays, but I also like going "home". I grew up in Florence and it's a small enough town that it's easy to still feel connected. I've also stayed close to two of my high school friends and it's fun to reconnect when I'm in town. Erin and Kate and I do a girls' night and also try to do a play date with our progeny :) I don't know if they noticed anything, but I think it's something to watch 5 small children play together (or rather next to each other) and know that they came from us. Our friendship goes back to grade school, so that's why it's worth noting.

Other benefits of being at home:

#1 - Grammy and Big Papa - Jack loves them both and they love him! Grammy takes great care of him and lets me do things like sleep in, take naps, and read my book :)

#2 - Meals appear in front of me!

#3 - I don't have much to do while Jack is napping so I actually can clean out my inbox or just do nothing.

#4 - I get to see my extended family. I got to attend one of my first family functions in years bc I actually happened to be in town!

#5 - I got to see my beautiful and talented sister Kristen in The Putnam County Spelling Bee - which she ROCKED as Olive Ostrosvsky. (This also resulted in me being an onstage volunteer speller and being introduced as "Courtney Landry, President of her middle school abstinence club - haha baby bump!)

Now I just have to get Jack and me home tomorrow!

Week Eighteen Stats:

How I know I'm pregnant: Backache and little movements throughout the week

Diet:
Food wasn't as much my friend this week, but I still ate a lot of it.

My healthy pregnancy intentions for last week
(how I did):

1) Go to the gym twice (Yes!)

2) Do back strengthening exercises + do my Bradley exercises 4 days (Back exercises - YES! Bradley - not really)

3) Be very well-planned for my solo airplane trip to SC with Jack so it doesn't turn into a stressful experience (NERVOUS about this trip! I've done it before but I wasn't pregnant and Jack wasn't a very big and willful TWO!) (Yes! 1 down and 1 to go)

My healthy pregnancy intentions for this week:

1) Go to the gym 1-2x.

2) Take time throughout the day to do my pelvic tilts to try to stay on top of the backache.

3) Plan out meals for the week that involve COOKING and healthy food.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

17 weeks

17 weeks pregnant - 1/21/12

The weeks are ticking by! Big news of the week was that I felt the baby move for the first time :) I've really been looking forward to this, but wasn't sure when to expect it. I didn't feel Jack till between 18-19 weeks, but last Saturday (16 weeks) I thought I felt the baby at two different points but wasn't sure. Then Sunday, during Sunday School, I felt a popcorn-popping like feeling 3 times in the same spot a few seconds apart - definitely a baby! For the next couple of days, there were more "was that the baby?" feelings, but then yesterday and today I've had more definite feelings. It will be awesome for Jack to be able to feel the baby - he talks into my belly still daily, so it would be great to have the baby kick him back at some point.

I know subsequent pregnancies pop sooner and it seems like other moms feel like they look bigger, but I can't get over the fact that I'm going to be pregnant for more than 5 months! I feel like that doesn't jive with the belly I'm already sporting! I'm hoping it's just a fluke this week, but my back has started to hurt when I'm walking or been on my feet for a while. I know I didn't have this pregnancy symptom till several months later last time, so I'm going to work on some back exercises to see if I can strengthen my back since I know I've got quite a bit of growing still to do!

See pictures below for comparisons between last time and now. In my mind I feel like I'm a lot bigger this time, but maybe not so much?

17 weeks pregnant with baby #2
17 weeks pregnant with Jack

Week Seventeen Stats:

How I know I'm pregnant: Hungry! Serious baby bump; backaches, and movement!


Diet: Everything is yummy right now! (I had been holding on for this moment during those difficult first two months!) There was the Mediterranean food at a dinner we went to this week, the Mexican food we got last night at Felipe's (yum!!), this new cheese I bought from Whole Foods, these coconut cookies Jacob bought me,
and this awesome-looking goat cheese and apple King Cake we just bought at a bakery. (There was also a lot of fruit and whole grains, for the record.)

My healthy pregnancy intentions for last week (how I did):


1) Plan healthy dinners for my family and make sure my hunger urges have healthy foods around to satisfy them. (I cooked 2 nights and we had events two other nights so I felt good about my meal planning this week. I haven't been overindulging in sweets in this pregnancy up until this week when those dang coconut cookies came into my life, but other than that I did well.)

2) Keep doing Bradley exercises: Kegels, pelvic tilts, tailor sitting and squats (Only the pelvic tilts as relief for my backache)

3) Join the Tulane gym thanks to Jacob's student discount! (yes, though brother Jack did not make it a smooth first visit as he cried most of the time :( - he used to love going, so hopefully it was just the fact that he had skipped his nap)

My healthy pregnancy intentions for this week:

1) Go to the gym twice

2) Do back strengthening exercises + do my Bradley exercises 4 days

3) Be very well-planned for my solo airplane trip to SC with Jack so it doesn't turn into a stressful experience (NERVOUS about this trip! I've done it before but I wasn't pregnant and Jack wasn't a very big and willful TWO!)

Saturday, January 14, 2012

16 weeks

16 weeks pregnant - 1/14/12

I am convinced we are having a girl. Convinced to the point that I'm willing to write that down and open myself up to having my intuition publicly proven wrong. With Jack, I "thought" I was having a boy more than a girl based on the fact that my mom was really sick with her 3 daughters, but not with my brother. I was having an easy pregnancy with Jack so it made me think maybe I was having a boy too. That proved to be right obviously :)

Since I have had a much different and more nauseated pregnancy, I think the idea that I'm having a girl this time presented itself and has now had 3 months to really take hold. I sometimes forget no one has actually confirmed this for me. I call the baby "Baby Cora" as does Jack and my mom as well for that matter. (Jacob has not signed on to this name by the way, but Jack and I have!) I also tend to refer to the baby as "she". And I may actually have bought her not one (which could be excusable and easily regifted later) but TWO little girl outfits today!!

I really would love either a girl or boy so this is not a matter of preference, just a strong feeling. I'd say I "feel" like I'm having a girl this time. We're going to find out, so the ultrasound technician will get the honor of validating or disproving my intuition next month!

Week Sixteen Stats:

How I know I'm pregnant:
Biggest signs this week: I unquestionably look pregnant and I have a voracious, but still picky appetite,


Diet:
I ate too much this week to the point where I brought back some afternoon/evening nausea just because my continuous hunger in the morning was leading me to overeating and then feeling ill. I learned my lesson by the end of the week and am feeling better again.

My healthy pregnancy intentions for last week (how I did):


1) Visit midwife on Wednesday to hear heartbeat again (This was really fun to get to hear our baby's heartbeat again. It again confirmed that there is an actual little person developing in there! I've gained 5 lbs total and got a healthy report. My mom and Jack came with me so they also got to "hear the baby.")

2) Deprioritize the house as this week will be busy. Jacob is attending a 7 day intensive start-up week to his MBA and I'm going to a conference for work all day every day. Luckily my mom is arriving today to watch Jack and give him some much needed attention. (This week was even crazier than I imagined as Jacob was gone from 7:30-9 most days and I forgot what it can feel like to work full time days. My mom was awesome and Jack had such a great time with his Grammy. A few house things did get checked off, so we continue to make positive progress with getting settled.)

3) Start my Bradley exercises for REAL! (Did okay with this, did some Kegels and Pelvic tilts - namely bc my back was calling for them!)

My healthy pregnancy intentions for this week:

1) Plan healthy dinners for my family and make sure my hunger urges have healthy foods around to satisfy them.

2) Keep doing Bradley exercises: Kegels, pelvic tilts, tailor sitting and squats

3) Join the Tulane gym thanks to Jacob's student discount!

Saturday, January 07, 2012

15 weeks

15 weeks pregnant (1/7/11)

I've had several moments this week where I've literally laid my head against a wall (or bathroom stall) and thought "this is the hardest job in the world," meaning motherhood. I like to make sense of things so I've been trying to figure out why it's been so hard lately.

I try to avoid stereotypes and I think "terrible twos" sounds like a not very nice label, but...that could be one answer. I acknowledge that a big move with a massive to-do list could definitely be making Jack resentful. I've even wondered if it's me and now that I'm no longer breastfeeding, (something I was doing until 3 months ago) I'm depleted of oxytocin and prolactin and I'm no longer blessed with a cocktail of relaxing hormones!

I just say this all because I think it will help me to read it in the future to hopefully note that motherhood is a series of stages and phases and that difficult ones pass on to really awesome ones. It was helpful that I wrote back in November how great Jack was being while I was so sick and only wanted to lay on the couch. That affirms for me that this is a recent shift and will hopefully be one we get through quickly.

On the other hand, I think I need to own this a little more and start setting myself up for more success. Meaning I need to stop triple tasking, give him more attention, and get us out of the house more. I have been confronted big time with the fact that I thrive on order and I bullheadedly seek it. I need to chill out and just be okay with disorder.

In Jack's sweeter moments, he's just precious about the baby. He lifts up my shirt and says "Hi baby, how are you?" and then proceeds to tell the baby random things like "I saw Frosty the snowman." He knows the baby "can't talk" back but he does try to "tickle" the baby :)

15 weeks and in our guest bathroom - the most together room in the house

Week Fifteen Stats:


How I know I'm pregnant:
I think the nausea is past! I was hesitant to say so last week, but I've definitely felt a lot better this past week :) Nightly peeing, my back hurts some when I go on long walks


Diet:
Eating well-rounded meals now including lentils, cabbage, and kale this week! (not all together)- favorite food is whole wheat bread with melted cheese covered in olive oil and balsamic vinegar and I've been loving the lemonade Jacob made this week

My healthy pregnancy intentions for last week (how I did):


1) Bradley course exercises and Kegels - shooting for at least 3 days this week NOPE

2) Go to my dermatologist to make sure the rash I've been sporting on my belly the last few weeks is nothing to worry about YEP - viral rash, nothing to worry about, but she said it may last a while

3) I feel like maybe I'm getting both me and Jack stressed out by trying to do too much, so I will try not to set too many goals for myself with getting the house together as I will be going back to work this week - NOPE(see above), but the positive is that the house is coming together!

My healthy pregnancy intentions for this week:

1) Visit midwife on Wednesday to hear heartbeat again

2) Deprioritize the house as this week will be busy. Jacob is attending a 7 day intensive start-up week to his MBA and I'm going to a conference for work all day every day. Luckily my mom is arriving today to watch Jack and give him some much needed attention.

3) Start my Bradley exercises for REAL!