Baby #2: Week 18

I think I'm finally starting to feel the baby kick!  They say second time moms typically feel movement earlier, so I really thought I'd be feeling it for a while now.  I was starting to get super antsy and then I was laying in bed one night and there she was!  I'm really looking forward to when it's more regular and noticeable.

On Tuesday night I had a phone call with my doula Keli.  It was great to touch base and I'm thinking that I'm going to start listening to my Hypnobabies tracks soon.  Last time, I listened to them before bed and they always put me to sleep, so I feel like it's something I can start without making too much of a time commitment.  Leah ordered me some Zenbands, a headband that has flat speakers in it, so I think those will be amazing for listening in bed since the ear buds I used last time were kind of uncomfortable.  Plus the headband can double as an eye mask.  I just got them from her over the weekend, so I'll be starting the tracks soon.  Keli recommended starting by 28 weeks, so I'm in good shape.

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I hit the gym Wednesday morning and I think it overdid it.  We started with 5 rounds of L sit dumbbell presses and building up to a set of 3 heavy thrusters.  The dumbbell presses were easy but I went up to 100 lbs for my thrusters and they felt pretty close to max effort.  I felt fine afterwards and moved on to the workout.  The workout was 25 thrusters (55# for women), 400m run (I did 200m on the rower), 25 pull ups (I did 20), 400m run (200m row), and then 25 thrusters to finish.  55# felt super light after doing 100#, but I still get winded so fast and was already well behind everyone else in the first set of thrusters, so I decided that 200m on the rower was enough.  I was thinking about cutting the pull ups to 15, but they felt ok so I kept going, but then people started coming back from the second run so I cut it at 20.  When I got back on the rower, I was feeling something down in my uterus, so I just kept the rowing nice and easy and made sure my belly had space between my knees.  The thrusters felt fine, so I finished the workout, but my body was definitely telling me that I did too much.  I think I should've kept my heavy thrusters a little bit lighter and did a few less pull ups.  I also think I need to start eating something before the gym.  When I'm not pregnant, I don't like to have anything in my stomach before a 6 am workout, but now my hunger is raging.  Sometimes I will eat a little dry cereal on the way, but I didn't have anything this morning and I had regret.  I need to grab some Clif Bars, they were my go to last time.

The workout Friday was looooong.

I subbed the 400m runs for 10 calories (0.5 mi) on the bike, did squat thrusts for the burpees, and I just skipped the toes to bar all together.  I Rxed the barbell work at 85# and did all the reps and they felt great.

 

The worst part was really just the squat thrust barbell jump overs.  I was not a fan and I think I'm done jumping over any bars after today!  I finished in 35:03 and felt kind of like I may have overdone it again today.  I guess I just need to chill a little bit, just because I can do something doesn't mean I should.  Not the easiest concept for me.

My weekend was spent catching up with some friends via play dates, watching Dave lead church on Father's Day, and being somewhat productive.  Dave did a lot more work than I did this weekend and the office is all but empty!  The walls need to be patched and prepped, but we are getting close to painting.  And I need to pick a color!!!!

I was leaning towards mint green walls with pink and white accents.

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But then I realized Vienna has a lot of purple things already, like blankets people made for her, that I don't want to clash with the room. Dave is still against doing purple walls and I'm not sure how I feel about purple and mint alone together.

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Although I actually love this cacti inspiration!  I had considered mint and navy, but maybe a lighter blue would be more complimentary to any purple that's going to be included.  These two might be my favorite.

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Or maybe I just need something more green, less mint.

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What do you think?!

My Pregnancy: Weeks 18, 19, & 20

Life has been busy and I seemed to fall behind, so I'm lumping some weeks together so I don't miss any!

Week 18:

We spent most of this week in Arizona (I owe you a blog post full of amazing pictures from our trip!) and my most notable pregnancy thing was being super itchy.  I think it was a special combo of stretching skin, healing poison ivy, super dry air, and crappy bar soap.  I was scratching my boobs and belly all week and Dave's cousin's wife kept giving me crap for it.  When we got home, my poison ivy scabs were mostly healed and I got pretty serious lathering up with lotion and I felt immediate relief.

What else?  My hunger was raging and I did not pass up a chance to eat second breakfast when Dave's family was offering.  I felt pretty good on all our hikes, but I could tell towards the end of our 4 mile hike that that was my limit.  I busted a move on the dance floor at the wedding just like normal and it felt great.  I was pretty disappointed when I realized I probably shouldn't go in the hot tub at our rental house, but I stuck my feet and calves in and that was pretty satisfying after a long hike.

Week 19:

I almost forgot to do pics this week, so these kind of suck. They happened at dusk right before week 19 ended.  Oh well.

We had our first Hypnobabies class on Monday.  It was class 2 out of 6, since we missed the first class while we were on our trip.  There are 3 other couples in our class.  We covered nutrition guidelines and an overview of the stages of birth.  Our instructor Keli shared a ton of birth stories and anecdotes with us and class involved a lot of discussion.  Towards the end of class we did some prenatal exercises and then we listened to Keli read a hypnosis script.  I really enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to the rest of the course.

Baby has officially started to occupy my bladder space!  One day I was fine and the next day I suddenly felt like I had to pee all the time.  There's not much in there when I relieve myself, but it sure feels like it.  I can't imagine how bad this is going to get eventually!

I killed it at the gym this week.  Olympic lifting still feels great.  I hit a 115# squat clean, an 80# snatch complex, and some 125# back squats.

I finally felt the baby for the first time!  I was told that it would be super subtle, just a flutter, or even just feel like I had gas, so a few times in the past week or two I would feel something.  But then I'd wonder if it really was just my stomach rumbling and I was trying to convince myself otherwise.  So I just kept waiting to feel something definite.  But while I was driving my car on Tuesday morning, I felt something that was different than before.  It was definitely subtle but unlike anything I had felt.  And then I felt it a couple more times.  Hello baby :)  I can't wait till Dave can feel her!

Week 20:

We had our 20 week ultrasound and it was amazing!  Baby girl was 13 oz and measured perfectly on schedule.  The doctor said the word of the day was normal and that everything looked great.  The ultrasound technology is crazy.  We got to see all her external body parts clearly as well as views of her brain, spine, internal organs, arteries, and even the chambers of her heart.  It was SO cool.  And they surprised us mid ultrasound by turning on the 3D views.  I had no idea that was going to happen.  I generally think 3D ultrasound pictures are lightweight disturbing, but when it's your baby and you can see little lips and a tiny nose... well it's different.  It was such a cool experience and made it even more real.

This week also brought some unpleasant symptoms like some horribly aching feet.  I've been noticing my feet really hurt after being on them for extended periods of time and I typically wear really comfortable footwear so I think it's due to the pregnancy.  My feet don't look swollen yet, so I'm thinking this is going to get a lot worse.  I've also noticed my skin hasn't been great.  My face has been hit or miss, but I have a bunch of blemishes on my chest that are not cute.

Honestly wasn't sure I'd want to put these on the internet or not, but here we go!

It's pretty much a miracle that my boobs fit into a few of my old suits.  I don't think I'll be getting away with that after Memorial Day lol.

Mela is way cuter.  It was her first time at the beach and she loved it, even when she got wrecked by a wave and then rolled face first in the sand to try and dry herself off.

Everyone was texting me Happy Mother's Day and every time I was like who me?  Dave got me a Mother's Day card and wrote a poem in it from the baby.  It was adorable!  Can't believe I'm halfway through this pregnancy.  Time is flying!