Saturday, October 04, 2014

Second Trimester Musings

10/4/2014 - 16 weeks pregnant

On the 2nd trimester and cravings...
 
"The second trimester is when most women feel their best..."  Still waiting over here!  There was a definite improvement around 14 weeks, but I still feel nauseated pretty much from post-lunch till I go to bed.  I just want to crave food and be able to really enjoy it again!

Now what I do crave are liquids.  Not water.  I can drink water until midday, but after the nausea hits, I can only handle sips.  But I crave the following: Izzes (carbonated fruit juice), sweet tea (I limit myself to half sweet tea and half water once or twice a week), and orange juice (but only in the morning when I drink a good 16-20 oz.)  We just returned from Costco, which has rescued me during this budget-conscious time by selling 12 packs of Izzes for a fraction of what they cost anywhere else.

Thankfully the rest of my diet is very healthy; I feel sure all my pregnancy weight is coming directly from calories found in the cup!

I also crave naps.  I did a bit better this week with only three naps.  Up to now, I've been taking five.  I work in the morning, pick up the kids at 1:00, get them napping (Cora) and read-to/resting (Jack) and then I pass out on my bed until Jack wakes me up 30-60 minutes later.  He is increasingly independent, so sometimes he entertains himself beyond his mandated 30 minute quiet period and he is usually pretty patient with me as I revive from my passed out state.

On maternity wear...

I have created all kinds of random rules about maternity wear.

#1 - I wouldn't let myself unpack any maternity clothes until 12 weeks.  I figured if I wasn't telling folks, I shouldn't be looking pregnant.  I made do with flowy shirts and the elastic-band-to-expand-your-pants trick.

#2 - For the next two weeks, I'd opened the maternity box, but felt weird letting myself put on true maternity shirts.  Even though I felt I could easily wear them based on my expanding belly, I felt like it was too early to pack all my normal clothes away.  This was the two weeks of my normal bottoms + a belly band.  Cora soon took to calling the nifty belly bands my "baby covers."  Over the course of the two weeks my pants got to the point of not zipping up even an inch.

#3 - At 14 weeks, I reorganized my closet, putting away most of my normal clothes and unpacking the maternity clothes.  Thanks to donations from my sister, a friend, and two prior pregnancies, I have an impressive collection.  But there are always buts.  The bottoms were all still too big at the moment and I still felt embarrassed at donning full-fledged maternity clothes and then having to answer the "How far along are you?" question with "Oh, I'm 14 weeks."  So I held on about one more week with my normal bottoms and belly bands.  But this past week, I've crossed over and look way more pregnant than I am, but sure feel comfortable!

#4 - I decided to treat myself to a maternity Stitch Fix.  If you are a woman and haven't tried Stitch Fix, you need to.  I'm trying to be nice to myself lately and a Stitch Fix box is just like a gift to yourself.  I updated my online style profile and scheduled a box to arrive right around the time I knew I'd be showing.  Stitch Fix has evolved to feature some maternity lines, but they also send some of their normal styles that would be flattering on both a pregnant or non-pregnant woman.  I received two maternity dresses and three non-maternity items.  I ended up keeping two of the non-maternity items, but expect to be able to wear both throughout my pregnancy.  If you haven't checked out Stitch Fix, do it!

Stitch Fix top - 15 weeks pregnant

I loved everything about this shirt!

Aren't they cute?

New Stitch Fix blazer: baby, what baby?

Oh that baby!  16 weeks pregnant
On sewing...

Because obviously this moment in my life is the right one to ponder a new hobby... I've gotten really interested in sewing recently.  I do not sew.  In fact, I've been known to leave anything that needs mending (even pants with buttons that have fallen off) in a pile until my mom's next visit.  But I'm so inspired by my friend Jessica's sewing projects, both for herself and her kids.  I'd really like to learn soon so I can try my hand at what seems to be a pretty useful hobby while my kids are young.  I aspire to be crafty, but I never learned any handiwork skills.  I'm put off a bit by the fact that you'd probably need a sewing machine even to get started, but still, I'm feeling very inspired over here.

My one sewing project was actually a recent one when all parents in Jack's class were asked to sew clothes for a doll that would be a "wee" version of their own child and used in stories and puppet shows this year.  I pulled out a travel sewing kit and completely winged it.  At least I had good taste in the fabrics!
Jack's "Wee One"
In other news, there continues to be a lot of CRAZY behavior offset by CUTENESS over here!

Cora (still nowhere near potty-trained) now earns pictures when she goes potty!

Fall Soccer


I will never get over them holding hands :)

Miss "I LOVE school!"


2 comments:

Unknown said...

You look stunning in these pics. Truly glowing. Your done headband is amazing!!

Katie Coburn said...

Ditto Leslie's comment! That pink shirt is adorable!