9 Weeks to Go!

I just can't believe how close we're really getting. It's insane. Less than 9 weeks until baby boy's due date and some days it still doesn't feel real, like we're really going to have another human being to add to our family at the end of all this. The constant kicks and jabs and the ginormous growth hanging off of my torso should be a good reminder but I still can't fathom the fact that we'll be bringing home another baby. I look at Anna, at how old she's getting, at all that we've already been through in less than 2 years, and to think, we're going to be doing it all over again with someone completely different. Different gender, different personalities, different everything.

Those things scare me.

But then I remember the love that I had for Anna the first time I saw her. My heart just wanted to leap out of my chest. *sigh* There is nothing greater than that feeling. I can't wait to feel that all over again with another little person. I've been told that your heart just gets bigger with every one of your children. Before I even meet him I already believe that statement to be true. I know these next 2 months will just fly by but meeting our little Juice Drop can't come soon enough!

How far along? 31 Weeks

How big is baby? the size of a pineapple and all five of his senses are in working order!

Total weight gain: 31 pounds...and there I go, exceeding the 30 pound mark. My end goal is to have only gained 35-40 pounds. We'll see if I can make it 9 more weeks without going over *fingers crossed*

Maternity clothes? only when I'm in public trying to look nice, otherwise it's gym shorts, tshirts and tank tops

Sleep: It's actually been better this week. No midnight nosebleeds and I'm not dying of heat. But I did have to get up one night 5 times (yes, 5 TIMES!) to go to the bathroom. That was about annoying as ever.

Best moment this week: as always, hearing little guy's heartbeat. Counting down the weeks until I can hear it on this side of my belly :)

Miss Anything? not feeling like an old person (i.e. joint pains, uncontrollable bladder, memory lapse, heartburn, out of breath from walking up a flight of stairs)

Movement: morning, noon, and night ;)

Food cravings: junk, junk, and anything junk  

Gender: baby boy!

Labor Signs: just the usual braxton hicks, nothing crazy this week.

Symptoms: major heartburn--it comes on even before I've eaten, braxton hicks, peeing all the time, out of breath, and my favorite: baby kicks! Something new this week, back and rib pain have started. Ugh!

Belly Button in or out? out

Happy or Moody most of the time: pretty happy! 

Looking forward to: meeting baby Baylis Rue and seeing his very happy (albeit tired) parents this weekend!

Tuckered Out

I realize that the only blog posting I've been doing lately is of my weekly bumpdates. And I have no other excuse than I.Am.Tired. Let me rephrase, I.AM.EXHAUSTED. Third trimester hit with full force. By the time Anna goes to sleep at night my whole body aches and I just want to sit in bed with a huge bowl of ice cream and binge watch "The Office" (for the millionth time). For all you mothers who have more than one child to chase around and a huge baby bump, YOU ARE MY HEROS! I don't know how you do it! Based on how I'm feeling lately Juice Drop numero dos may be numero last. I'm venting over my exhaustion now but I can only imagine what I'll feel like when baby boy finally arrives. I'm at least able to currently get 8 consecutive hours of sleep at night--if you don't count the getting up every 3 hours to pee, which I'm sure is just prepping me for what's to come. That'll be a long lost memory come October. Until then I'll enjoy the time I have now after Anna goes to sleep to rest, relax, put up my feet, and dream happy dreams of our beautiful children.

Is is just me or does my belly look HUGE?! And I have 10 more weeks of this!!!

How far along? 30 Weeks

How big is baby? the size of a cucumber (huh?? How does he goes from the size of an eggplant two weeks ago to the size of a cucumber?) His brain is getting wrinklier to make way for all that brain tissue, and he's strong enough to grasp a finger!

Total weight gain: 29 pounds

Maternity clothes? only when I'm in public trying to look nice, otherwise it's gym shorts, tshirts and tank tops

Sleep: what's that? It's a lose, lose, lose situation for me. We're keeping the A/C set high to save money so that makes our bedroom like a furnace. We have the fan turned on which keeps the room cool but dries me out so I have nosebleeds. Not to mention getting up 5 times in one night, being obnoxiously uncomfortable, and baby boy throwing a dance party in my belly. It's just the worst. 

Best moment this week: spending time with great friends (Emily, Susan, and Laura) and laughing so hard my chest hurt after. One of the best feelings. Also the same night, introducing Emily and Laura to Cook Out milkshakes at 11 pm. No regrets (except when I literally fell into bed that night).

Miss Anything? not feeling exhausted all the time 

Movement: morning, noon, and night ;)

Food cravings: junk, junk, and anything junk  

Gender: baby boy!

Labor Signs: just the usual braxton hicks, nothing crazy this week.

Symptoms: major heartburn--it comes on even before I've eaten, braxton hicks, peeing all the time, out of breath, and my favorite: baby kicks! 

Belly Button in or out? out

Happy or Moody most of the time: pretty happy! 

Looking forward to: hearing Juice Drop's heartbeat this Friday (it never gets old!) and working to finish our bedroom and nursery before soccer season starts in 3 weeks!

Staying Fit at 29 Weeks Pregnant (a Bumpdate!)

I'm starting to get looks. Well I guess I've been getting looks for a few months now. But these looks are different. These looks are when I go to the YMCA and I'm sweating on the elliptical or breathing through my bicep curls. I've also received several comments, "is that ok for the baby?" "are you sure all that jumping around is good for you and the baby?" "how are you doing that?" And every time I reassure these sweet people that "yes, it's ok for the baby, as long as I feel good the jumping is good, and I'm doing it just like how you're doing it." I'm pregnant, not disabled! 

I didn't workout when I was pregnant with Anna as much as I do this time around. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that we didn't have a Y membership last time. Plus having free childcare for an hour gives me a great reason to get my butt to the gym! And let me tell you on the days I workout I feel great and on the days I don't get to the gym I feel lethargic and want to just eat ice cream and watch movies all day.

I've got a pretty good routine going. Some weeks are different than others. Some weeks I don't make it to the gym as much as I'd like. Some weeks I take classes and others I go through my own circuit. Whatever I end up doing I try to workout at least 3 times a week. The classes I take at the Y are:

Wednesdays: Athletic Conditioning or Kickboxing
Thursdays: Barre Fusion 
Fridays: Athletic Conditioning

At the beginning of the week or when I'm not able to get to a class I either do a Tabata workout or do a little cardio and weight training.

Tabata Workout (this workout consists of 5 tabatas. A tabata is doing an exercise at high intensity for 20 seconds followed by 10 seconds of rest. This is repeated 8 times for a total of 4 minutes. Rest for 1 minute after each for a total of 25 minutes):

Tabata #1
jumping jacks
mountain climbers
jumping lunges
step jumps
repeat 1x

Tabata #2
reverse lunge to front kick (do opposite next set)
push ups
burpees
sprint step toes taps
repeat 1x

Tabata #3
skaters
hand walks (do opposite next set)
high knees
side step jumps (do opposite next set)
repeat 1x

Tabata #4
wide high knees
squat jumps
up/down plank
forward and backward sprints
repeat 1x

Tabata #5
plank pike jumps
scissors with a twist
front and back jumps
jump rope
repeat 1x

This workout will get you sweating! And it's quick and easy to do anywhere. I did this while we were at the lake house for our babymoon and on the beach in Florida. You don't need a gym to do this Tabata.

The other workout I do is a little longer than the Tabata but I've loved it. It really gets my heart pumping and I can feel the muscles working.

15 minutes on sit down stationary bike, resistance 10 (I still have yet to do the whole 15 minutes at a resistance of 10--super hard!)
20 squats
20 calf raises
20 plie squats (I sometimes hold a 10 lb kettle bell too)
20 lunges (repeat the above lower body exercises 1x)
15 minutes on elliptical (5 min forward resistance 6, 5 min backward squatting low resistance 10, 5 min forward resistance 6)
20 push ups
20 bicep curls
20 shoulder press
20 tricep dips (repeat the above upper body exercises 1x)
10 minute walk cool down on treadmill

Love it! So that is how I'm staying fit during this pregnancy (plus trying to eat right when my cravings aren't coercing me!) and I'm feeling great! I hear that a fit pregnancy leads to a smooth delivery and I'm really hoping that's true. I'd love for this labor and delivery to be much easier than what I had with Anna. So fingers crossed all this working out is worth it!

**Disclaimer:

...Now for a bumpdate :)

Oh, hey, pretty excited about my hair that I got done earlier this week!
Starting the ombre with a few highlights on top :)

How far along? 29 Weeks

How big is baby? the baby is the size of an acorn squash--another vegetable I'm not too familiar with but it's gotta be huge. I mean look at that belly! He's growing fat deposits under his skin and his energy is surging because of it. I can tell with all the movement going on in there! Ouch! 

Total weight gain: 29 pounds--so close to how much I gained with Anna and I still have 11 weeks left! I'm chalking it up to gaining muscle this time around with all the iron I've been pumping ;)

Maternity clothes? only when I'm in public trying to look nice, otherwise it's gym shorts, tshirts and tank tops

Sleep: hasn't been great. Still getting up several times a night to pee. Baby is moving constantly. And it's hot.   

Best moment this week: spending time with a few friends I hadn't seen in almost a month! It was so good to catch up and begin seeing each other on a weekly basis again.

Miss Anything? being able to pick Anna up so easily. I miss that tremendously. I'm still able to hold her but it takes a lot of effort.  

Movement: morning, noon, and night ;)

Food cravings: junk, junk, and anything junk  

Gender: baby boy!

Labor Signs: braxton hicks have slowed down since last week but I did talk to my midwife about my intense BH's. She said everything I thought she was going to say (rest and water) but she also said I could take Benadryl to help loosen the contractions. Who knew?! P.S. make sure you talk with your dr. or midwife before you do that!

Symptoms: major heartburn--it comes on even before I've eaten, braxton hicks, peeing all the time, out of breath, and my favorite: baby kicks! 

Belly Button in or out? out

Happy or Moody most of the time: pretty happy! 

Looking forward to: beginning Girls Nights again in our neighborhood! We start back up tomorrow and I can't wait to hang out with the girls and my volunteers (who are more like good friends)!

I'd love to hear from you! How do you like to stay fit while pregnant? 

Hello There 3rd Trimester, It's So Nice to See You!

Folks, we are officially in the 3rd trimester! The homestretch! The last 12 weeks! It's crazy to think that in just 3 short months we'll have another little one to chase around and cuddle and kiss to no end. Every time I hold Anna I think about how soon it'll be when she won't be the only one I'll be holding. It's bittersweet. Don't get me wrong, I'm over the moon excited to finally be able to hold my sweet baby boy but Anna and I have had almost 2 good years of just she, her Daddy and I. I'm trying to savor these final weeks because in reality Travis and I will be the only ones who remember when it was just us three. *tear*

I was a little confused when I read that Juice Drop is the size of an eggplant this week. I thought eggplants were kind of small. Until we stopped in Trader Joe's this morning for our weekly grocery run and saw just how massive these things are! I can definitely believe Juice Drop is the size of an eggplant now especially knowing how hard he kicks and punches! Sometimes I feel like he's going to punch right through my skin! 

It feels so good to be posting about being in the third trimester! I feel like I've been taking pictures of my bump forever. I'm so ready for our little guy to be outside of my belly and the only pictures I'll be taking are of him (and Anna still of course ;)

How far along? 28 Weeks

How big is baby? the baby is a size of an eggplant. He's starting to develop more fat so his wrinkly skin is getting more smooth and his lungs are mature enough that if he had to come now he'd most likely survive. Let's just hope he stays in there though for another 9 weeks at least!

Total weight gain: 24 pounds

Maternity clothes? only when I'm in public trying to look nice, otherwise it's gym shorts, tshirts and tank tops

Sleep: got a pregnancy pillow and it's been a total sleep changer! 

Best moment this week: getting to celebrate our dear friends' and their baby at their baby shower. We can't wait to finally meet their little guy in a few weeks!

Miss Anything? not feeling like absolute crap after I eat a big meal. My eyes are definitely bigger than my stomach these days and all I want to do is eat, eat, eat but my body's saying no, no, no!

Movement: morning, noon, and night ;)

Food cravings: chocolate!!  

Gender: baby boy!

Labor Signs: I've left this one out on the previous posts because I thought it was a little early to be talking of labor signs but now that I'm in the 3rd trimester and last night I had enough braxton hicks for me to worry I thought it'd be good to add this back in. So yeah, last night I had braxton hicks for almost 3 hours pretty consistently and they were uncomfy until I fell asleep. I researched before I went to bed what I should do and it said if you have more than 6 in an hour to call your dr/midwife. Well I definitely had more than 6 in a hour! But it was so late I didn't feel like calling. I decided to see if I could sleep it off and thankfully this morning they had subsided. I will definitely be talking with my midwife at my appointment later this week to see what I should do if they come on that strong again in the future.

Symptoms: major heartburn--it comes on even before I've eaten, braxton hicks, peeing all the time, out of breath, and my favorite: baby kicks! 

Belly Button in or out? out

Happy or Moody most of the time: I was kind of moody this week. I stress over the littlest of things and then I can become a total you know what. Thankfully Travis can snap me back into reality pretty quickly. He's a great guy to put up with so much! 

Looking forward to: finishing the nursery and our bedroom soon! I'm still in nesting mode!

There's that 3rd trimester bump. Can't wait until he's on the outside of my belly!