Monthly Archives: December 2011

Hi there! How are you on this last Thursday of the year? I am doing pretty well. I am about to start Christmas part 2 as Brian’s family is coming into town today so we get to celebrate Christmas all over again!

Today is my last day of teaching fitness classes at the YMCA until after the baby is born and I have fully recovered. To be honest, I’m not too sad about it! As my size has increased over the past 33 weeks it has gotten increasingly more difficult to teach classes. Since the second trimester I haven’t been able to do much core work when I taught group strength and sitting on the cycling bike has gotten REALLY uncomfortable! There have even when a few times when I’ve gotten dizzy while teaching which is always a little scary. I also have been feeling pretty exhausted after teaching. It’s a little more demanding then when you are just working out on your own, both mentally and physically. However, I feel really good about the fact that I have been able to teach up to 33 weeks and plan on continuing to exercise until I go into labor or until I physically can’t. I do plan on making some changes to my routine for the rest of my pregnancy. I’ll get back to those in bit.

A few weeks ago Heather wrote about some of the reactions she has received  exercising while pregnant as well as debunking some myths about pregnancy and exercise.  I have received nothing but positive responses to exercising while pregnant. People even go out of their way to to tell me how awesome it is that I am exercising telling me how good it is for me in regards to labor, delivery and recovery. One guy even said I was his inspiration because twice in one day he saw me at the Y (once lifting weights and once at yoga). I honestly feel like I am anomaly and I don’t really get why. I mean, I too don’t see other pregnant women working out at the Y. I don’t know if there just aren’t that many pregnant women out there or if pregnant women just don’t work out. I don’t understand why either. I mean everything I’ve read recommends that women exercise while pregnant and I know I certainly I feel better after I’ve gotten some exercise. I knew, even before I got pregnant, that I wanted to continue to exercise. In fact I had hoped to continue running and doing Zumba but learned pretty quickly to listen to my body and know when to cut back. This has probably been the most important thing I’ve learned while exercising. Learning how strong my body is but also learning to listen to my body.

As for the next six weeks of my pregnancy I still plan to exercise but to lessen the intensity of my workouts. Here is my plan for now

Monday:Yoga

Tuesday: Swim

Wednesday Yoga

Thursday: Strength train and/or light cardio (either walking or elliptical)

Friday: Swim

Saturday: Strength train and/or light cardio or rest

Sunday: Rest, maybe yoga

Of course this will change based on how I am feeling on any given day.

So how about you? Did you exercise while pregnant? If you’ve never been pregnant do you ever see pregnant women exercising? What do you think about exercising while pregnant?

Well hi there! How was your Christmas? Mine was quite delightful. I did take a few pictures but spent most of my time just enjoying the company of family and friends.

I can’t believe another week has gone by and we are one week closer to meeting our little guy. You are not going to believe how big he is this week. He’s the size of a pineapple!!

I remember a few months ago reading Emily’s  33 week update and just couldn’t imagine my baby being the size of a pineapple (I was only 16 weeks and he was only the size of an avocado!) but here we are! He’s a little over 17 inches long and just over 4lbs. And I can certainly tell! He is taking up every inch of space inside of me!

(Brian says my belly looks bigger if I don’t turn my head towards the camera)

I’m still feeling lots of kicks and they seem even stronger now that there is less room in there. I have even been able to see him moving through my clothes. He likes to hang out on my right side and I hardly ever feel him on the left. The midwife confirmed that ,”there is a lot of baby on the right side.” She also confirmed what I suspected, that he is in the anterior position meaning that his legs are towards my back.

(Source)

So I guess those ripples I see moving across my belly are his little butt pressing against me. The midwife also confirmed that his head is down so he is in the perfect position for birth, not let’s just hope he stays that way for the next 7 weeks or so!

Other than telling me what position the baby was in my blood pressure was fine, the heartbeat sounded good, my belly was measuring right on track and I was up a few more pounds but she didn’t seem to concerned. It was a pretty short appointment. I think I mentioned before that I am trying to meet most of the midwives at our hospital. I know I wasn’t with her very long but I wasn’t too fond of this particular midwife. She was all business and didn’t seem very personable. Granted I didn’t really have any questions or concerns but I still felt more comfortable with the other two I have met. I really hope this particular midwife isn’t on call when I do go into labor but really there is nothing I can do about it.

I definitely crossed a threshold and can tell just how much my body has changed and how I need to start slowing down, A LOT! Yesterday was my day off and I usually do my weekly cleaning. I also decided to accomplish one of my many “nesting” chores, cleaning out the cabinet in our bathroom as well as deep cleaning the bathroom itself. I also thought that since our fridge was pretty empty I should clean that out and give it a good wipe down. I thought I was doing pretty good. Sure is was uncomfortable scrubbing the floor on my hands and knees and bending over to put stuff away but I took breaks and felt pretty good about all I accomplished. But when I was  finished I felt like I had just run 12 miles! My hips and feet were killing me and I was so tired! I could barely take the dog for a walk around the block. I spent the rest of the day evening laying down and taking it easy. Brian even had to run to the Co-Op for me to buy our weekly produce. I definitely over did it! I still felt pretty sore and tired this morning but a few laps in the pool helped me loosen up and feel a little better. It really is time for me to slow down. Even though I have more “chores” I’d like to accomplish before the baby comes I’ll need to pace myself. I just can’t be the rock star cleaning machine I use to be.

Other than feeling like I need to slow down I feel okay. Still tired and feeling big and like my belly is very full and tight but overall no other annoying or unusual symptoms.

That’s it from me for this week. To close I’ll give you a run down of a few numbers:

Number of days until due date: 49 (!)

Number of days until next midwife appointment: 13 (going every other week now)

Number of days until next shower: 18

Number of hours a day I could watch my belly roll: infinite!!

Hey there! Are we ready for Christmas yet? Hard to believe it is just a few days away! As I mentioned in my last post I hadn’t made much progress on our nursery since Brian assembled the crib and dresser. After my shower a couple weekends ago I pretty much put all my gifts in the room and quietly shut the door until I had time to work on organizing everything. It was a DIASTER!

The main problem was I didn’t have a place to put everything because even though I cleaned out the closet in this room a little  over a year a ago it still had a bunch of junk in it. Mainly in the nice deep drawers which I knew would be perfect for storage.

Today was my day to work at the Y and since I don’t have to work on my thesis any more, in between teaching classes I worked on cleaning out this closet and getting things organized. I even washed up the new clothes and blankets. Now everything has a place and I know just exactly what I have.

I didn’t put everything away, I wanted to leave the cute diaper/baby supply cake my friends made for my shower up. Eventually I will get a changing pad for the top of the dresser and organize more diaper supplies. Maybe I can even get Brian to put some shelves above the dresser.

I still left our nice, dressy clothes on the left side of the closet since I didn’t think the baby needed more than half the closet. I cleaned out the shelves so I could put the baby blankets, sheets, and towels on them.

Of course the car-seats will need to be installed in the cars. Seriously, I had no idea how complicated car-seats were. I read the instruction manual and I got a head ache! I’m not exactly sure where we will keep the swing, and I still need to find a place for the bassinet (not pictured). I still don’t have EVERYTHING I need but at least I feel a little more organized and somewhat ready. I definitely need some artwork for the bare walls but I’m not very good at that stuff. Maybe a wall decal?? At least now when I have my next shower I’ll know where I want to put stuff.

It’s getting there! Slowly put surely. Sometimes I feel like I have a lot of time to get ready but other times I feel a little panicked. I just hope the little guy doesn’t make an early arrival! I really do love how it’s all coming together. It just makes it seem so much more real! A little person is going to live in this room!! CAN. NOT. WAIT!

Hey there! Wow week 32! Some how my due date seems so close yet so far away all at the same time! I guess “they” say you can go two weeks early or two weeks later than you due date so that means any where between 6 and 10 weeks! 6 definitely seems to short and 10 seems way too long! Let’s hope baby comes right on time, 8 weeks seems just about right!

My sources say that the baby is about the size of a jicama but I did not go searching for one of those for the photo shoot! In case you’re wondering how big that is it is 3.75lbs and 16.5inches long. That seems like a pretty big growth spurt from last week.

A woman in the locker room at the YMCA commented that she thinks within the last few weeks I’ve really “popped.” I would have to agree. That belly is large and in charge!

I am actually wearing a non-maternity sweater that still “fits.”  I am definitely feeling similar to how I felt during the first trimester. I find myself getting really tired in the middle of day and longing to go home from work, put on my comfy clothes, and go to bed! On the other hand if I do too much in one day I get worn out pretty quickly. If I’m on my feet too long I can definitely start to feel the extra weight I’m carrying around. It’s all about finding balance. I have been trying to go to bed early and get as much sleep as I can. I am also feeling uncomfortable, just being so big and having the baby take up so much space. Other than that I’m doing pretty great. Just experiencing the common side effects of the end of pregnancy.

Brian put together the stroller and the swing we got at my shower but other than that I haven’t done too much in the way of getting the nursery in order or organizing or putting away the gifts. I have grand plans for that later this week. I actually have a whole list of “nesting” chores I’d like to get done before the baby comes, hope my energy holds up.

Other than that not much new. I “borrowed” Brian’s new Packer’s jersey to wear during the game this weekend. It fit my belly perfectly!

However, half way through the game Brian said I had to take it off because they were losing and it was bad luck! I might try wearing it again next weekend, I don’t believe in luck!

Until next time!

Hello! Today was a very big day for me! I graduated with my Master’s degree in Servant Leadership from Viterbo University. So glad that my little guy got to share the day with me!

I just love this picture!

All day I kept saying, “I just can’t believe I’m graduating again!” When I graduated with my undergrad degree 9 years ago I never thought about getting a Master’s degree. When I joined the Master’s in Servant Leadership program a little over two years ago I was just looking for a change in my life. I had been told that the program would be a good fit for me and it was! I just kept taking classes, reading, reading, reading, writing papers, and before I knew it I was writing my thesis. Writing my thesis was definitely challenging but I actually really enjoyed the process. Last weekend I presented my research to the faculty and my classmates.

Tom, one of my teachers and actually a life long friend and mentor.

Sister Georgia and Matthew my advisers for my research. I also had them as teachers.

And today I got to celebrate all that hard work and dedication! I actually really LOVED my Master’s program. It’s hard to describe it actually. I took away so much from the lectures, the books I had to read, and most of all from the stories and experiences of my classmates. Not only did I learn about a unique style of leadership but I changed my outlook and my attitude towards how I approach the work I do at the Church and really how I live my life.

Today someone asked me what I am going to do with my degree. Honestly right now I don’t really know, I’m going to focus on having my baby and learning how to be a mom. I do know that the things I’ve learned will stay with me and guide me not only in my professional life but also in my personal life and my relationship with others.

Now, some more fun pictures from the day!

Brian and me! He was such a great source of support to me!

Brian, his mom, and me!

Me and my mom!

My mom and dad with me.

My brother, mom, me, and dad!

Last spring when I sat down with my adviser to figure out what courses I needed to take and when, my goal was to graduate this winter. I prefer winter graduation (I finished my undergrad in December) since there are less people and its short not to mention all the Christmas decorations. At the time I had not idea I would be having a baby in February! Everything seemed to work out just perfectly! Now I plan to focus all my extra time on getting ready for this baby!

It was a great day and a wonderful celebration! It feels good to be done!

Wow! Here we are 31 weeks pregnant only 9 (or less or more) until we get to meet this little guy! So excited!

This week my baby is a little over 3lbs and over 16 inches long. About the size of this 3lb. bag of clementine’s.

There is no doubt in my mind about his size. I definitely feel like he is taking up A LOT of room in there. My belly is really getting in the way now even in the simple every day actions of getting up from the couch, rolling over in bed, or just sitting at my desk. I can not imagine what I will feel like in nine weeks! I am definitely feeling the third trimester. I get really tired these days and just can’t wait to put comfy clothes on an relax.

Baby has been very active this week. His kicks and rolls have been particularly strong .

I went to a midwife appointment yesterday and also met with a nurse. The nurse went over a lot of things I already knew about in regards to preterm labor, what to do when labor actually happens, my birth plan and a whole bunch of other things related to “the big day.” I can’t really say I learned anything I didn’t know. I met a new midwife yesterday. There are 10 midwifes associated with our hospital. Six of them work at the clinic closest to our home but any one of the 10 could be on call when I go into labor. I’m trying to meet at least the six at my regular location. I really like the one I’ve been seeing as well as the new one I met yesterday. Every thing looked good yesterday except for one thing, it seems I have maxed out on the amount of weight I am “suppose to” gain. Yep, that’s right, I’ve gained 35lbs. I asked her if this is a problem and her advice was that as long as I am not eating a ton of junk (which I am not) and still exercising (which I am) my body will do what it needs to do to grow an appropriate sized baby. She asked me to think of some ways to cut back on unnecessary sugary foods such as juices, pop, and other foods. I do agree that my indulgences have greatly increases from when I wasn’t pregnant and I plan on cutting back on my nightly bowl of ice cream as well as drinking regular pop when we go out to eat. I’m not too worried about this since I am over all healthy. Not to mention two women at the Y compliment me on how good I look and how great it was that I was exercising while pregnant. The baby is measuring right on track and I don’t feel like I’ve gained weight anywhere except in my belly.

From here on out I will visit the midwives every other week and eventually every week. I can’t believe we are getting that close!!

I will leave you with some more pictures from my baby shower this weekend. Now that my thesis is finished I hope to get things more organized in the nursery and share some pictures with you!

My mother-in-law and childhood neighbor Judy

“The Girls” who I go out with on “girls night” Becky, Emily, and Nicole, with Nicole’s little guy John. He was so cute at the shower and really got into all the games!

My good friends from high school Aleecia, Marianne, and Betsy. Marianne was one of the gals who helped plan my shower.

My sister-in-law Raina and her mom Judy

Another good friend from high school Amy and her Mom Jean, also hostesses of my shower.

Opening presents!

What a great day!

Hey friends! See! I told you I’d be writing more now that my thesis is nearly complete! Just a few fun things to share with you.

Early on in my pregnancy I had a HUGE craving for an egg salad sandwich. This was odd because it is usually something I don’t even consider eating. Fortunately we were watching my parents house while they were away and they said to take anything perishable we found in the fridge. Well, I just happened to find two hardboiled eggs and created a sandwich that week. A few days later Jenna posted this recipe for a simple egg salad sandwich. I saved the recipe but kind of forgot about it, that is until this weekend, when one of the snacks at my baby shower was egg salad sandwiches. I knew I just had to make some for my lunches this week and fortunately I had some eggs that needed to be used up. I think the best part about egg salad is you can tweak it to your taste.  Similarly to Jenna I do not like to put a bunch of crunchy things like onions or celery in my egg salad.  I used her recipe but made a few changes.

Pregnancy Craving Egg Salad Sandwich

Makes 4 Sandwiches

Ingredients

• 8 Hard Boiled Eggs
• 4 TBSP of Mayo
• 2 tsp. white wine vinegar
• 2 tsp. spicy brown mustard
• 2 tsp. honey mustard
• 1/4 tsp. of smoked paprika
• Sprinkle of salt
• Sprinkle of pepper

Directions

• Slice eggs and mash
• Add remaining ingredients and mix well

Not gonna lie, when I mixed this up last night and taste tested it I wanted to eat the whole bowl!

A nice healthy lunch! Egg salad sandwich on whole wheat with romaine lettuce, served with raw veggies, dill dip, grapes and a glass of milk.

It hit the spot!

Now for an added bonus! This morning I was going to attend a Group Strength class but when I got to the YMCA they informed us that the instructor couldn’t make it because of bad weather. Normally when she can’t come I get called to sub but I guess by the time she realized she couldn’t make it it was too late. Needless to say I didn’t bring any of my music or written up workouts. I considered heading home but headed down to the Wellness Center and made up my own full body strength training workout. I don’t always share these with you but I thought it was so good I would write it down so I could do it again and maybe use it in my classes.

Please remember to consult your physician before doing any physical activity.

60 Minute total body workout

Equipment: Hand weights, band, mat

5 Minute light cardio for warm-up (I walked on the treadmill)

Lower Body: Do 3 sets, 12-15 reps of each exercise choosing weights that feel challenging by the last few reps (#’s in parenthesis are the weights I used)

1. Regular squats (15)

2. Calf raises (15)

3. Deadlifts (15)

4. Plié squat (15)

5. Curtsy Lunge (15)

6. Resistance Band Lateral Pyramid Band Walk: take 2 side steps to the right, then left. Then take 4 steps, 6, and 8. Then work your way back down 8-6-4-2

Upper Body: Do 3 sets, 12-15 reps of each exercise choosing weights that feel challenging by the last few reps (#’s in parenthesis are the weights I used)

1. Bicep curls (10)

2. Overhead tricep press (10)

3. Reverse Flies (12)

4. Bench press (12) (I did these on an incline because I’m pregnant but you can do them lying flat if you are not pregnant)

5. Lateral Raise (8)

6. Standing Oblique Crunch (12)

10 Minutes Core and Stretch (I just stretched since I can’t do too many core exercises these days!)

Hope your week is off to a good start! I’ll be back tomorrow with a Baby Sneaker update!

Hi there! Well, yesterday was quite the day! Not only did I present the research from my thesis paper to some of the faculty and students at my grad school but I also had my first baby shower!

First of all my thesis presentation went REALLY well! Honestly I wasn’t too nervous but there was a little doubt in the back of my mind as to how it would all go. I have heard other people give there presentations but it’s a whole different story when you are trying to present your own work. I have never really done anything like this so I didn’t really know if I was doing it “right.” All I knew was that I worked really hard and gave it my best. I guess that was all I needed to do! My advisers and classmates were all very complimentary. They said that I was able to summarize all the work in my paper very well and also generated a lot of really good questions which means my topic was of interest and could lead to other research. I have to meet with my advisers one more time tomorrow and make a few changes to my final draft as well as some grammar and spelling fixes then I’ll submit my final paper and REALLY be done!

It felt so good to have my presentation done so that I could relax and celebrate my baby with my very good friends and family.

My very best friends from high school  showered me and my baby with love! I only took a few pictures but my mom took a ton so I hope to share those with you soon.

Isn’t that the most darling diaper cake?! I invited my girlfriends  from high school and their moms, my girlfriends who live in town, some of my neighbors from when I was growing up, my sister-in-law and her mom, and of course my mom and mother-in-law. We played some pretty fun games including identify the melted candy bar in the diaper and a game my friend Marianne thought up where the guests made a baby out of toilet paper. It was pretty funny! I got a TON of wonderful presents all of which I know will be useful when the little guy comes. And of course there was yummy food like these cake balls that looked like babies!

It was such a great party and I felt so loved and so special! I am so blessed to have such great friends and family!

Hopefully now that my thesis work is done I’ll be able to blog more and maybe even get back in the kitchen to share some recipes! Or maybe I’ll just take it easy as I get ready for baby!

Have a great start to your week!

HOL-Y COW! 30 weeks! I can hardly believe there is a 3 where there use to be a 2! Someone asked me yesterday how much longer and I said, “10 weeks!” some how 10 doesn’t seem like very many to me all the sudden! Plus it could potentially be less!!

This week baby is almost 3lbs and almost 16 inches long! The sources I read compares his size to that of a cabbage but like I said on week 28 I do NOT like cabbage (I guess that week it was suppose to be a Chinese cabbage, I’m not even sure what that is!). So, I had Brian find me another one of his “critters” to compare our baby’s size to. Here ya go!

Hard to believe that in the next 10 weeks the baby will double in size (or possibly be even larger!).

He is certainly making his size known to me with all his kicks and jabs! Sometimes I can actually see my belly move from the outside when he kicks. It’s kind  of crazy and if you blink you think you are just imagining things. I spend a few minutes every night watching my belly for those little pulses. It’s so amazing and makes everything more real!

I’m still feeling pretty good. I will say that during the second trimester I felt so good that I constantly thought to myself, “I love being pregnant! I think I could be pregnant forever!” Now, I am definitely glad there is an end in site! Really I just feel large and doing normal things like getting up from the couch or sitting and working at the computer for too long are uncomfortable. These are just minor annoyances and I feel very lucky that I haven’t had too many terrible awful pregnancy symptoms. I guess I am just looking forward to feeling “normal” again although I have accepted the fact that what use to be “normal” will be no more and I will have to adjust to the “new normal.”

I have definitely felt more emotional this week. The other day I was rough housing with Izzy and I must have pulled her ear a little to hard and she yelped! I felt SO bad I almost started crying! She seems to have forgiven me though!

I do worry about how she’ll feel when the baby comes. She has been our “baby” for five years so I am sure it will take some adjusting. I think she will be just fine with the baby because she is the sweetest dog ever! I haven’t ever heard her growl or snap at another person or another dog. She’s just a little rough and excitable and at 100lbs that can get a little crazy! It will definitely be interesting!

I also find myself getting emotional and anxious when thinking about what life with a baby will be like. Emotional because I just can’t wait until he is here and we can meet him and hold him. Anxious because, well, he’s a baby! I honestly have no idea what life will be like with baby and I have your typical worries that every new mom has! I know that life as I know it will never be the same and that is sometimes hard to wrap my head around.

That’s about it from me for now! For the past few days my life has been pretty consumed with my thesis which I am presenting this Saturday!!! After my presentation is my first baby shower and I CAN NOT WAIT!

Hope you are having a great week! I might be back later this week with a post about my husband and some of the funny things he’s said throughout my pregnancy!

Hey there! How are you on this Saturday? Over here it is VERY gloomy rainy and cold out! The perfect type of weather to make you want to stay inside and work on your master’s thesis which is exactly what I’ve been doing alllllllll day! The good news is, the end is in sight, I think!

Last night I got to go out with a very special group of ladies!

We haven’t gone out for “girls’ night” in a VERY long time. If you’d liked to read about some of other “girl’s nights” check out these posts:

Oh Yes It’s Ladies Night!

That’s Amore!

Girl’s Night Out!

Last night was the first time that I had been out with the girls since becoming pregnant. You see, I am the only one in our group who does not have children. I’ll admit sometimes it was hard to go out and hear about all the “kid stuff” when  and I didn’t have kids and really wanted to but I always knew that these gals would always be there to support me no matter up. Plus we talk about so much more than kids and always have such a good time laughing and usually closing the restaurant down (like we did last night!). But last night was definitely different, I probably listened a little more carefully taking in all the advice I could. I know these women will provide invaluable advice as I figure out how to be a mom. They all such awesome moms and I am so lucky to have them as friends! I can’t wait to share my adventure of motherhood with them.

I am such a bad food blogger though! I didn’t take any pictures of our food! We went out to Edwardo’s Pizza Wagon which specializes in wood-fired pizza’s. I had the Spinach Wild Mushroom pizza which had fresh spinach, sautéed shiitake and oyster mushrooms, roma tomatoes, basil pesto, Fontina, Mozzarella and Provolone cheeses, oregano and thyme so good!

Maybe I forgot to take pictures because I was to excited about all the cute gifts my girlfriends brought for my baby!

Look at all those cute clothes and the great bath items for my baby AND me! Displayed on the new rug I picked out for the nursery. I still don’t have it placed quite where I want it but I will be sure to show you the completed look once it’s done.

In other news it appears the Green Bay Packer’s are recruiting my baby boy AND my husband!

Just kidding! These were gifts from our friend Joe!

Since the day we found out we were having a little boy Brian has been joking that we are going to name him Clay Matthew after the famous linebacker for the Green Bay Packers. I told him that the only way that will happen is if I go into labor early and the baby is born during the Super Bowl, of which the Packers are playing, and win AND if Clay Matthews is the MVP! So, no, that is not the name we have chosen for our son but it is super cute to tell people that. We don’t have one name picked out yet and are kind of waiting until we meet him to decide.

That’s about it from me! My brain is totally fried from working on that paper. I plan on spending the rest of the night on the couch watching tv and vegging out!