13 Weeks

I have resorted to the faithful bathroom selfie for this week because the husband is gone again and will be back next Tuesday.

How far along? 13weeks, 2 days

Total weight gain/loss: none so far

Maternity clothes? I have bought a couple of shirts but I haven't sported any yet and my mom sent me a couple that I am pretty excited to wear. I am ready to start showing!!

Stretch marks? No

Sleep: Great so far!

Best moment this week: Our next appointment isn't until I am 15 weeks and we couldn't get a heartbeat at 10 weeks so we ordered a Sonoline B fetal doppler and picked up the heartbeat which was a steady 155 BPM. It was AMAZING!! I listen to our little one every day.

Have you told family and friends: Yes!

Miss Anything? Old Mexican Inn and I am not liking that my slacks just aren't cutting it anymore. They are way too constrictive and I really wish I could wear yoga pants all day.

Movement: No

Food cravings: TEX MEX

Anything making you queasy or sick: Zoey. She stinks so bad she makes me gag.

Have you started to show yet: Yes, just a little.

Gender prediction: Girl

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: I am particularly moody today

Weekly Wisdom: It is probably a good idea to begin a healthy diet before becoming pregnant because, as the saying goes, old habits die hard. I am so used to eating whatever I want and I love Taco Bell but I so badly try to eat nutritious meals and lots of veggies and fruits.

First Trimester

I know that every pregnancy is different and some preggies suffer their entire pregnancy while others find it smooth sailing. I have had bouts of nausea that still plague me today when I am taking out the trash or driving by mushroom corner. I hope these suggestions are able to help new preggies soothe some of the most common pregnancy symptoms.

 

Ginger Ale and Lays potato chips were my saving grace when I couldn't get up off the couch to save my life. In the beginning I was trying to drink ginger ale in big gulps and it wasn't helping me so I started sipping it just a little at a time and it really took the edge off my nausea.

Think of morning sickness as a serious hangover and how you would normally treat that hangover is what usually works. I bought whole grain crackers before I found out I was preggies to start my health kick so I can't vouch for actual saltines but I am sure they would have been a help as well. The whole grain did work out fine for not having much salt on them.

Okay, so maybe a lemon is a little out there but the scent of lemon or lavender is something some women swear by. I, on the other hand, like to eat lemons with salt and it helped me so much when I could not stomach a single thing.

Preggie Pops can be found at Babies 'R Us which is where I purchases mine but you can also find them online. When I felt a bout of nausea coming on I would pop one of these in my mouth and it would go away almost immediately. While it may not work for everyone it did work for me and all you need is one package. I still have plenty left.

I cannot express how necessary it is to have TUMS! It is ridiculous how much your body changes when you become pregnant and that includes a new or worse case of indigestion and heartburn. I suffer from indigestion after eating EVERYTHING!!! I literally carry several mini packages of TUMS in my purse because it can happen anytime of the day.

I had a headache for two weeks straight during my 7th through 9th weeks of pregnancy and I am pretty sure it had everything to do with the fact that my hormones were raging. I started a regimen of using my humidifier every night as well as rinsing out my nose with NeilMed. My headache was gone the next day and I haven't had a problem since. Also, stuffy/dry noses are common toward the end of the first trimester so it doesn't hurt to have one.

What worked for you when you were suffering from common pregnancy symptoms?

12 weeks

How far along? 12 Weeks, 1 day

Total weight gain/loss: none so far

Maternity clothes? I have a couple of plain long sleeved shirts from Target and some leggings!

Stretch marks? No

Sleep: I could go for a nap after work but I wait until bedtime now and I am sleeping pretty soundly through the night.

Best moment this week: Robert came home after a month long trip to Yakima.

Have you told family and friends: Yes!

Miss Anything? Wine, sushi, and eating pizza without having a tummy ache :(

Movement: No

Food cravings: None so far but I am really digging Pho right now.

Anything making you queasy or sick: We live close to this area called Mushroom Corner because there is literally a mushroom farm down the street. It smells AWFUL!!! I can't get from the vehicle to inside a store with gagging vigorously.

Have you started to show yet: I have a little bloated gut that looks like I just finished up at a buffet.

Gender prediction: Girl

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy :))

Weekly Wisdom: Start a daily exercise that you can stick to. I have yet to start making my way to the gym and I really wish I could find the motivation to walk around the neighborhood.

Looking forward to: Having a baby bump and finding out the gender.

 We finally announced to the world (aka Facebook) that we are expecting! It was so hard to keep it a secret when one after another preggies were popping up out of the woodworks announcing they were expecting from 5 weeks to 11 weeks pregnant. Here I was at 12 weeks pregnant patiently waiting for my husband to get home so we could announce the news!!

For some reason (call me old fashioned) I really wanted to get the news out to the people that were most important to me first so I came up with this card idea to share the news with them. I created my postcard, went to the post office and bought stamps, and cut each one to mail them out. Then... I called everyone and told them the news over the phone. Ha! I mailed out the cards anyway in the hopes that they would arrive before the Facebook announcement. Everyone was super excited for a new baby!!

yummy Rump Roast

My mother-in-law makes some mean roast! I haven't made roast before so I was determined to attempt my first go at it. The husband & I decided NO MORE EATING OUT so I have been experimenting with different recipes lately .

I really wanted to try this recipe BUT after we found out we were preggies we couldn't use the Pepsi. Darn. I am a big veggie fan so I put a little twist on the recipe and hope it comes out as good as it sounded on this blog!

I shall call it Preggie Safe Rump Roast. :) You'll need:

• Rump Roast
•  two garlic cloves
•  two russet potatoes
• one onion
• McCormick Slow Cookers packet
• Aus Jus packet
• Worcestershire sauce 

 

 

 

 

I peeled and chopped up the carrots and potatoes and tossed them in the crock pot with the rump roast. I minced the garlic and sliced up half the onion and added  that as well. I then mixed the McCormick Slow Cooker packet with a little over one cup of water and poured it over the roast.

I decided last minute to add a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce because I have seen it added to other crock pot recipes such as this one. I was a little inspired by the both. I then set the crock pot on low for 8 hours or if you are short on time you can set it to high for 4-5 hours.

Okay, so I'm no crock pot connoisseur but I think this recipe came out pretty good. My husband We didn't have the patience to wait the full 8 hours so the potatoes and some of the thicker carrots were a little undercooked. I think I should have chosen one recipe over the other because I believe the can of soda makes a big difference.

 Solution: Cook the rest of the roast on high for another hour for leftovers :)

 And for dessert ladies and gentlemen:

 

My husband brought home cupcakes today!! They are from Bonjour Cupcakes, ooh la la! I am CRAZY about cupcakes. A preggie woman has got to have her sweets, right?

Nursery Inspiration

I have been drawn mainly to white cribs and I simply can't get enough of the chevron print! Here are a couple of ideas that have inspired me. I love the light colors, gold frames, and chevron rugs.

{Image via black&white chevron rug & grey&white chevron rug}
 

Isn't this Narnia quote the cutest!! I just have to have it and if we have a boy I am going to have it made in different colors. You can find it here on Etsy. I have a couple of more masculine ideas for the nursery that include dark wood for a baby boy.

I am really digging the whimsical woodsy feel right now & I am absolutely in love with this mobile! I have to make one of my own so I may need to learn how to crochet soon.

{Image via ontobaby}

More must-haves and inspiration from Etsy are cute print outs and furry crochet woodsy creatures.
 



 

 

The Big Reveal!

I know I will most definitely not be one of those fortunate women whose first trimester was heavenly. I wish I could say otherwise, but sinus headaches and nausea have been a daily occurrence for almost two weeks. Humidifiers, hot compresses, Vicks rub, and crackers have been my best friend for the past couple of days. Enough about my misery! Let's get on to the good stuff because it has been a while since my last post.

We had our first appointment on Friday, October 5, where we were finally able to see our little peanut. The X-ray specialist kept saying the baby would look like a little grain of rice and there wouldn't be much of a profile. After she took all of the necessary measurements she turned the screen toward me where I was able to see the teeny tiny profile and a friggin' heartbeat!!

 

It probably looks like a little blob to everyone, but I see a little head and a little body! The little heartbeat was a strong 145 BPM and my husband was able to see peanut do a little jiggle.

 

 It was so hard to keep this a secret from our family and originally we were planning on not telling anyone until 12 weeks. We were too excited to keep it a secret any longer so we planned a skype date with our families this past weekend.

 

 My family was up first and since I am so awful at keeping secrets my dad already had a hunch that we had some big news. We chatted for a little bit then pulled up the picture so they could see it on our screen. There were a couple of seconds of silence before my mom started screaming in excitement and crying. My mother-in-law was shown a framed sonogram and it took her a little while to put the pieces together. I believe her exact words were, "ooh my.. ooh my... oh my goodness!" It was priceless!

 

My husband will be gone for a little over a month so we will begin to take belly pics at 11 weeks when my bump will begin to show.

 

7 Weeks

Apparently what I thought was a food aversion to pickles was just a sensitive sense of smell because I have now learned what a true food aversion is. My food aversions are leftovers and eating the same meal more than once (I'll explain). This is truly sad because I make meals that my husband & I can eat for a couple of days. It is seriously a chore for me to attempt to have leftovers.

Eating the same meals more than once.The other day I really felt like I could devour some Japanese food. All I could think of all day was how good chicken teryaki and a shrimp tempura roll sounded. As soon as my husband got home we headed out for dinner at Osaka (my favorite Japanese place so far) and we enjoyed gyozas, chicken teryaki, tempura, white rice, and a shrimp tempura roll. So unhealthy. I was one happy preggie lady until we were on our way home and suddenly just thinking about what I just ate made me want to throw up. The same goes for pretty much every meal we eat.

I am pretty crazy about food so it has been very difficult for me to change my eating habits but I am determined to stay away from fast food and soft drinks. Here is what my food choices looks like on most days:
I found this in Fit Pregnancy Magazine and have customized it to what we have in stock and what I feel like eating.

I have one cheat day also known as date night, but lately I have been eating lots of soups when we eat out. I think it is easier on my tummy.

As much as I try so hard to stay with this food routine it is often difficult for me to make the right choices. Example: yesterday was so NOT a cheat day and I bought a King size Snickers bar and potato chips then we had pizza  for dinner because the return of our favorite show Once Upon a Time came on. It is kind of a tradition. I think I make up for my bad choices by taking Zoey (our 2 yr old Shih-tzu mix) on a 30 minute walk everyday.

Isn't she cute? She is a little heathen.

I struggled with a place to take our monthly pictures and I was searching vigorously for a frame that I could make into a chalkboard. It is not as easy as crafters make it seem to find the perfect frame to refurbish! Today during my nap, the blinds were making too much noise from the wind so I pulled them all the way up and began admiring how the leaves were changing colors for the fall season.

Then it hit me!! If I take my monthly pictures next to the window I can hopefully capture the changing seasons here in Washington and my growing belly. I am excited to see the outcome!

Here I am at 7 weeks & 3 days :) Baby White is the size of a blueberry this week!!

Crowd Pleaser Chicken

I was a little pessimistic as to how this pasta would come out because I wasn't too pleased with the rump roast recipe I tried the other night. I will post the rump roast recipe later but I just had to post this Crowd Pleaser Chicken recipe I found on Pinterest from Crock-a-doodle-do.

After reading some of the feedback in the comments section, I decided to not follow the cooking directions exactly. Here is what I used:

• two chicken breast
• 12 oz box of Ronzoni bow ties
• 1/2 cup bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup onion, diced
•  4 oz canned mushrooms
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 can cream of chicken
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup Mexican mix cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon basil
• 1/2 cup small curd cottage cheese

I boiled the chicken breasts until they were done and chopped them up. I mixed all of the ingredients together in the crock pot while the chicken was cooking and let all the bow ties soak up the juices. I did not cook the bow ties before putting them in the crock pot. I topped the mixture with some extra cheese because the hubby & I LOVE cheese!! :) I put it on high for 4 hours and because the hubby was running late I set it to Keep Warm for the last hour or so.

It came out so good! She wasn't kidding when she said it was a crowd pleaser! I have a picky eater on my hands (something I hope peanut doesn't inherit) and he ate TWO servings. 

Food Aversions

After doing a little research about the foods that I should avoid, I found out that us preggies pretty much have to be vegetarians. No more sushi, fish, eggs, sausage, hot dogs, deli turkey, deli ham, or certain types of "soft"cheese. The list goes on and on.

Oh, and did I mention coffee!! We just invested in a Keurig. If you haven't heard of these bad boys they are only the best invention ever for coffee lovers. Needless to say, we headed to Wal-mart and bought hot chocolate K-cups so I can pretend to be drinking coffee with the husband.

In the first six weeks I found that I have animal-like senses when it comes to smells and every scent is tenfold!! I was digging in the fridge the other day and decided that a pickle was the perfect snack of the hour. I opened the jar of pickles and was overwhelmed by the smell of VINEGAR. So overwhelmed, I might add, that I nearly cried. I. am. serious. I was almost in tears because my love for pickles was taken away from me in a matter of seconds. Speaking of smells..

The Tuesday before my husband and I found out that we were preggies we decided to visit the Washington State Fair. I was feeling a little nauseous but I chalked it up to the coffee I had just had. Our first stop was the livestock barn where we enjoyed seeing a couple of different breeds of cows.

It wasn't until we got to the dairy cow section that the powerful scent of cow dung and whatever else was floating in the air made me gag repeatedly. I had to hold my breath until we were clear of any lingering smells. That should have screamed,

"YOU ARE PREGNANT!"

We spent the rest of our time at the fair pigging out on elephant ears, curly fries, and enjoying some of the rides. Here is a view from the very top of the ferris wheel :)

I just want to add that I ate that pickle with mucho gusto despite my adverse reaction. I'll show you pregnancy!!

What food aversions did you experience during pregnancy?

 

 

 

Surprise!!

Friday evening, September 14, while stressing over the fact that I had been breaking out like a teenager in love, I sat up on the couch and felt the need to take a preggie test right there and then.
I looked at my husband and said, "There is something wrong with me. Something is not right with my body!" So I went to the restroom and took a pregnancy test. I was washing my hands when I looked over and low and behold:

I am sad to say that I put no thought what so ever on how I would approach my husband with a positive pregnancy test! I literally ran out of the bathroom screaming that we were pregnant. After he saw the proof that I was knocked up we hugged and cried over our excitement. Then we went to the local Walgreens and purchased more preggie tests to seal the deal!

My husband & I were not actively trying but taking the "see what happens" method. We were moving far from our homeland of Texas to the West coast of Washington so we still hadn't fully decided whether we wanted to wait or not.

Although we were completely shocked when we found out, we are both very excited to begin this new chapter of parenthood and become a family of three.

So we will start with our first prego pic... we are almost 6 weeks in this picture.