Good morning! Liana is eating a snack so I thought I throw together another blog post before she's up running around again.

I am twenty weeks pregnant today, and already half way to labor and delivery! My pregnancy seems to be flying by because we've only recently gone public, but it also seems like such a long time until we get to meet our new little one. I am both scared and excited. Will I enjoy being a mother of two (under two)? It will be hard, but I know I will get the hang of it. Liana was a pretty chill newborn, so maybe this baby will be too. And eventually they will play together and I will watch as Liana teaches her new sibling everything she knows. I'll watch them play, laugh, fight, and cry together. And I will love the heck out of them along the way. Will I be able to focus my attention equally among them? Realistically, probably not. I can try my hardest, but it might not be necessary. Newborns sleep quite a bit so I imagine I'll have plenty of time to spend with Liana at that stage. I also imagine Liana pulling her rank as diva and demanding the attention be on her at times. I'm not exactly looking forward to that stage, but I won't fight the inevitable.
I have had such an odd array of cravings this time around. Last time my first craving was [bread and butter] pickles and lots of cake and ice cream. This time it's been completely random. And when a craving comes on, I desperately want the taste in my mouth as soon as possible. I went through a 'no chocolate' phase, and didn't want a single thing that had chocolate in it. Right now it is the complete opposite. I wake up every morning wishing I can a chocolate bar to munch on for breakfast! I've made chocolate muffins, a 'brownie in a mug', hot chocolate in the morning to bring to work, chocolate milk, and dark chocolate chip waffles. As I type this I'm remembering that I've used all of the cocoa powder and am contemplating a trip to the supermarket later. Besides chocolate, I've also craved homefries, cake, starbursts, french fries, cake, hummus, berries, peanut butter, cake..... well you get the picture.


When I was pregnant with Liana, I had gained 8 1/2 pounds by 20 weeks. As of today, I've gained about 3 pounds. However, after having Liana, I never returned to my pre-pregnancy weight; I kept about 10 pounds on me. And just because I've only gained 3 pounds, that doesn't mean I don't have the roundest little belly already. It is much bigger than it was at 20 weeks last time, and the baby is already measuring bigger as well. I'm expecting to gain about the same amount as last time (I'm really trying to to go overboard with the cake!).

I've had a few other pesky symptoms, my first being food aversions. I had been having a grilled veggie wrap almost daily for lunch at work for over a week straight. Then one day I just couldn't eat it. I took a bite and had to force myself to swallow it. It was the exact same wrap I had been enjoying all along, but suddenly the smell made me want to vomit.

Next, some sneaky acne decided to pop up in clusters around my chin and jaw line. That was lovely.

I've also had fairly awful round ligament pains. There was a week where I couldn't walk without limping, and I couldn't carry Liana without wincing in pain. I had to sit down to put on pants and shoes. I felt like something underneath my belly was tearing a part. I talked to my doctor about it and eventually (and thankfully) it subsided. Now I only get little twinges once in a while.

I never had allergies until I was pregnant with Liana. I never realized how good I had it. And they're ten times worse during pregnancy. I've been taking allergy pills almost every single day since I became pregnant. And I still have a terrible stuffy nose, sneezing fits, and itchy and watery eyes. Gross!

And a good night's sleep... what's that? I wake almost nightly to move my belly every time I want to roll over. I tend to fall asleep while Ashton is watching tv or playing a video game, and if I happen to wake up in the night and the tv is off I usually have a difficult time falling back asleep.

Yes, we did find out the sex of the baby... or should I say, Ashton found out. He really wanted to know (he says he has 'planning' to do), but I wasn't sure I wanted to know just yet. This will probably be my last child, and the last time I find out the sex of a baby I am carrying. I'm just not ready to give that moment up so easily.

However, I will admit that with only one of us knowing the baby's sex, it really throws off our name game. I am constantly searching for names and making lists, but Ashton doesn't quite like many (or any) of the names that I have chosen. He is also having a hard time coming up with and suggesting names because he knows whether to look for only boy or only girl names, and doesn't want to reveal the secret (although I do have my suspicions!).


Stay tuned for my 5 month pregnancy update in two weeks!

You can read my 20 week update from my pregnancy with Liana by clicking [here].

"Emergency" third trimester ultrasound.

On Monday at my appointment with my midwife, she did her usually pocking and prodding of my tummy to check on baby's relative size and position. She measured my fundal height at 36 weeks (I was 36 weeks, 1 day), and noted that I have been measuring small for the past 3 appointments. After feeling the baby, she expressed additional concern that she may have been mistaking Roo's hips for her shoulders, and that the baby might actually be breech. So we scheduled a late ultrasound for two days later (today) to asses Roo's growth and position. Those 48 hours seemed to crawl by. I just wanted to know that my baby was getting the nutrients she needed and that her growth pattern was normal, and that she wasn't breech.

My midwife warned me that if it was determined the baby has a slowed growth rate, that we would need to schedule an induction. In addition to that, if she has a slowed growth rate AND was breech, they would most likely schedule a c-section. HOW TERRIFYING. All I could think of was how much I wanted to naturally experience the surprise of labor and everything that childbirth has to offer. I'm sure there are mothers out there thinking I'm nuts, but I don't care about the pain or feeling like it will never be over. I want to go into labor when my baby is ready and dilate on my own and push her out when I get the urge. All without medical intervention and especially without any medication.
Long story short, the ultrasound report (shown above) came back completely normal. They did estimate her to be a bit small for her gestational age, but she is in the 18th percentile so they aren't overly concerned ("Normal" is between the 10th and 90th percentile). They checked on the development of her heart, stomach, bladder, and brain, as well as the condition of my ovaries, cervix, placenta, and the umbilical cord. Everything came back with great results. My tiny baby girl is perfectly healthy and developing just as she should be! :) And yes, they reported her position as "vertex" which means she is head down and ready to engage. I couldn't be happier.

37 week update

How far along? 37 weeks.
Total weight gain? 25 lbs. I actually lost 2 lbs this past week.
Stretch marks? Still on the look out for new ones, but none so far.
Best moment this week? The baby shower on Saturday! Everything was amazing, my mom did such a fantastic job planning it. I had a lot of fun and it was so nice to see my family. Now I can't wait to bring my little roo to family events in the future. :)

Veggie Galaxy

To celebrate baby's well-being and the end to a very stressful 48 hours for myself and Ashton, we treated ourselves to a scrumptious vegan lunch at Veggie Galaxy in Cambridge! I had the stuffed French toast (who can go wrong when breakfast is served all day?!) and Ashton chose the bacon tempeh burger--both of which were AMAZING. And at the end of our meal we snagged a chocolate peanut butter frappe to go!

Okay so I admit, my blog has been pretty boring lately, since my last three posts have only been my weekly updates. We have been so busy with the move and I have added a few extra hours to my work week.... still! But alas, we are all moved in to our new home (although we are still unpacking). I love it here so much, so far. We have neat little ledges that go along the entire wall in the living room and both bedrooms. I would love to have lots of pictures and decorations (maybe candles too!) on the one in the living room. And I hope to have Roo's books on the one in her room, among other things. Currently baby's room is set up as storage area because we don't have a lot of her things yet (baby shower is March 29th!) and we're still setting up the rest of the rooms, so in the meantime everything left over is in there. I'll be sure to make another post soon about the updates to our new place along with some pictures when we are done unpacking. But for now, here's my.....

35 week update!

How far along? 35 weeks.
Total weight gain? 26 lbs.
Stretch marks? Same as last week.
Best moment this week? Moving!!! Of course I wouldn't have been able to help so I was actually relieved that I spent the day at work and didn't have to stand around looking like a helpless kitten. Although, I would have liked to hang out with my Mom again. I can't wait to get everything set up the way we want it and just enjoy being in our new home, and preparing for the arrival of our little one.

I will hopefully be posting more this week as there are plenty of things I am dying to update about! I hope to see you soon!

How far along? 31 weeks.
Total weight gain? 20-21 lbs.
Stretch marks? None on my belly.
Best moment this week? Feeling up to working a few extra hours last Thursday to count inventory after already working a regular 8 hour shift. I'm also working six days this week and feel pretty good about it, so far!

How far along? 29 weeks.
Total weight gain? 19 lbs.
Stretch marks? Well. The thing is.... I have yet to figure out what these dark shapes and lines are that are under my boobs. They are getting too big so that I can't see them for myself but I noticed these lines for the first time in the mirror this afternoon before my shower. So devastating! I still have to show Ashton later. But anyway, they could be stretch marks?! :( As soon as I got out of the shower I ferociously slathered myself in my body butter because I felt guilty about skipping out on it recently.
Best moment this week? I had another appointment with my midwife (our appointments have switched from every 4 weeks to every 2 weeks now!). Everything checked out great as always and she was super surprised that I am still wearing regular jeans and can button them up normally! She finally mentioned the Tdap vaccine, which I have to get back to her about at our appointment next week but I haven't gotten around to really researching that yet, oops!

My most recent to-do list:

1. Signing up for a labor and delivery class and a breastfeeding class
2. Finally having that conversation with my doctor about delivering at Brigham and Women's
3. Calling my Maternity Support nurse for my 2nd appointment
4. Finishing up Roo's block set since I've been putting it off for a bit now
5. Continuing my failed attempts to get a hold of my landlord so I can get out of my stinking lease!

What I ate this week:

I completely missed taking pictures of our Indian inspired dish with multi-grain rice and grilled asparagus! But as you can see, my little squash actually got to have some butternut squash this week! :) I hope she loves veggies!!!

First, I'm going to show you the other side of my belly with my little (but growing) turtle. This picture was taken 3 weeks ago (@ 25 weeks). Does this side make me look fat? Hahha. :)


Now I'd really like to revisit a topic that many people tried drilling terrible thoughts and fears into my head about (and then I ranted about profusely on here). And that is: the flu shot. This will be much shorter than my past discussion, I promise.

So basically I was told back in October that my immune system was compromised significantly due to my pregnancy and that If I did not get a flu shot, I would almost definitely get the flu. And, if I get the flu, that it would be the worst flu in the world and could potentially be fatal to my baby, and even myself. I read this on multiple websites, and both my doctor and midwife warned me of the risks. I did additional research (click here to read my previous post) and decided it wasn't for me so I politely declined every time I was asked. (At least twice by my midwife, the one and only time I decided to see my actual OB doc, three times by the nurses that took my vitals at each appointment, and by my maternity nurse during our telephone appointment.) The funny and ironic thing is what happened (and didn't happen) over the course of the next three and a half months:

1. I did NOT receive a flu shot, while many other people I know did.
2. Several of my coworkers (both in my dept and others around the store) got the flu and were out of work for days. Even ones that got the flu shot.
3. I've noticed when several friends on my Facebook feed contracted the flu. Again, even some who got the shot.
4. A few ladies in my birth group mentioned having to see other doctors or midwives temporarily because their OB doc contracted the flu. (I'll bet you a million bucks that they got vaccinated, too!)
5. Articles have been circulating the web that I have stumbled upon or that have come across my FB and Twitter feeds about how wrong doctors were this year as to what strains of the flu they included in the vaccine. They were apparently wrong about one particular strand that has been pretty sneaky and making it's way around pretty much terrorizing people's immune systems.
6. Seeing how many other people were getting the flu and reading those articles got kind of scary and only for a second did I doubt my decision. Then I realized that while this was all happening, there was one thing that didn't happen: I HAVE YET TO GET THE FLU.

Now I am not saying that flu season is over and that I will definitely not get it, I'm just putting this into perspective for anyone else who thought I was nuts for not getting vaccinated. The flu shot isn't even helping a ton of people who are getting it anyway because a particular strain was not included in the vaccine. Also, I haven't felt even for a second that my immune system has been compromised. I'm sure it's not in tip-top pre-pregnancy shape, but I eat healthier than most people I know and, although I am no expert, I'm pretty sure what you put into your body has a lot to do with how it responds to outside threats. My body has treated me well thus far, and even if I somehow do get the flu I will know that getting that shot would not have prevented it.

Now, on to my 28 week update!

How far along? 28 weeks.
Total weight gain? Over 17 pounds.
Stretch marks? Nope.
Best moment this week? Baby's first hiccups! My gosh, she is adorable. Also, I am halfway through her block set. :)

How far along? 27 weeks.
Total weight gain? 16-17 pounds.
Stretch marks? None.

How far along? 26 weeks, 1 day.
Total weight gain? 16 pounds, according to my OB appt earlier!
Stretch marks? None.

How far along? 25 weeks.
Total weight gain? Almost 15 pounds. This baby is getting massive, and quick!
Stretch marks? None.