Pregnancy Archives - Page 2 of 3 -

Pregnancy Week 30

Post author:Melanie
Post published:September 1, 2014
Post category:Health / Pregnancy
Post comments:6 Comments

I can’t believe I am actually saying this…I am now 30 weeks! I thought you all might enjoy a little pregnancy update since it’s been a while.

A comparison back at 20 weeks…

And I thought I was big at 20 weeks. Ha!

At 30 weeks, baby is about 3 lbs and 16-17 inches long! He’s getting closer and closer to his birth length and then he will continue to plump up day by day! I am definitely noticing more bumpage these days. I can tell this little guy is growing like crazy.

Symptoms

Braxton Hicks contractions especially when I’ve been on my feet too long or haven’t had enough water. These are never really painful, just uncomfortable. It feels like your abdomen is tightening and it feels very hard, and sometimes accompanied by mild cramps.
Mild back pain (lower and middle): again, if I stand too long or sit too long but it’s the worst at night. I toss and turn about every hour or two at night.
Increased bathroom trips, including 3-4 at night
Increased exhaustion. They weren’t kidding when they say fatigue usually hits in the first and third trimesters. I am needing to slow down and rest more often now.
Restless leg syndrome at night
Sore hips at night

Appetite

GREAT! This is nothing new. I eat three small meals a day plus three (or more) snacks. I focus on getting protein 3x a day as well as at least 5 fruits and veggies. Besides that I make sure I eat a fair amount of whole grains, dairy/calcium usually in the form of almond milk, cheese, and Greek yogurt, and healthy fats like avocado, olive oil, nuts, etc. And it’s time to be real, the sweet tooth has gone crazy.

Which leads me to my next topic: cravings.

I honestly didn’t think I had cravings but when I was at Target I really wanted Oreos. I’m talking double-stuffed Oreos. They are one thing that I pass by in the grocery store every week and think “man, I really want those,” but then I never buy. Well I finally gave in last week and bought them.

You know what, they taste delicious. I’m trying to moderate how many I eat daily. I bought them last Monday and I still have some left so this is a good thing, right? Ice cream has consumed on a weekly basis (once a week that is), and I won’t pass up a piece of chocolate if it is offered at work. I’m REALLY trying not to go crazy with the sugar but goodness it is tough right now.

Not cravings necessarily, but foods I’m loving…

Chocolate peanut butter smoothies
Greek yogurt with honey
Muenster cheese
Hard-boiled eggs
Burgers
Cucumber sandwiches with laughing cow cheese spread
Sugar snap peas
Ice cream
Fruit

What I’m loving about pregnancy right now…

Feeling baby move, kick and hiccup! He hiccups every day and it is the sweetest thing.

Other updates

I passed the glucose tolerance test which means I do not have gestational diabetes and my iron level was excellent!

The nursery is coming along! I haven’t decided if I’m going to share it or keep it a private thing. I will tell you that the walls are gray, the furniture is dark espresso brown, the glider is gray, and the decorations are nautical and chevron! The look and feel of the room is very relaxing which is exactly what I was going for. We are still in the process of searching for an area rug, but besides that it is pretty much done besides filling it up with baby stuff from my upcoming showers!

We start our first birthing classes next month. I have been reading books like it’s my job and am feeling very prepared for birth. It will be good to go to the classes too!

We haven’t 100% settled on a name but we are pretty sure we know. It will be a secret from you all until he arrives. 🙂

That is it for now! I will give ya’ll another pregnancy update in a month or so!!

What are some of your favorite foods right now?

Diet Changes During Pregnancy

Post author:Melanie
Post published:August 13, 2014
Post category:Breakfast / Dinners / Gluten-Free / Pregnancy
Post comments:11 Comments

My appetite currently in pregnancy is great! I’m nearly 28 weeks now. I wake up hungry or famished most mornings, eat breakfast, sometimes eat a snack mid-morning, always eat lunch, a snack in the afternoon usually, dinner, and a snack before bed.

Baby and I get pretty lethargic if we don’t get food when we are hungry, so I try and remember to always pack snacks when I am out and about.

I learned quickly that the snack before bed is a must otherwise I wake up insanely hungry in the middle of the night. My go-to bedtime snack is Greek yogurt with honey. Protein and carbs to tide me over for a while.

My diet has changed a few ways in pregnancy. I am eating more whole grains and not all of them are gluten-free. My body is tolerating the gluten and although I’m not going overboard with it, I am still eating regular bread, cereal, and snacks sometimes.

Also, I never know what I’m going to want to eat which makes planning meals ahead of time nearly a thing of the past. Dinners are usually pretty spontaneous these days. I’m still trying to clean out the freezer too! It’s going well!

Another thing I’m starting to notice, is that I feel much better when I eat smaller meals frequently opposed to large ones less often. This isn’t always completely doable with work, but I do my best. My stomach is getting smooshed and appreciates smaller quantities at a time.

What I’ve Been Eating…

I think this baby gets some pretty tasty eats. Time to check out what I’ve been eating lately. I’m linking up with Jenn today!

One day I was suffering with terrible allergies and had no inclination to make food but I knew I needed food. I had pulled up pizza delivery on the computer and was all ready to order. Then the light bulb went off and I decided I would make my own mini healthier pizza instead, and that it wouldn’t be that much work either.

I topped a gluten-free brown rice tortilla with leftover meaty spaghetti sauce, mozzarella, onions, and green olives. I baked it for 5-10 minutes or so and then broiled it. As simple as it was, it tasted so good. Sometimes simple is best.

I’m STILL drinking this smoothie every.single.morning. Not sick of it yet! This is a record for sure.

We had a perfect green bell pepper from our garden waiting to be used so I bought some farmer’s market tomatoes (we didn’t have enough ripe tomatoes in our garden yet) so that I could make a batch of fresh salsa.

And it was delicious.

I can’t get enough of the frozen spinach cooked to steaming hot with a little butter and salt. Popeye would be so proud.

I’m really enjoying my egg sandwiches still slathered with yellow mustard some time type of cheese.

The southwest salad made an appearance this week! It’s as good as I remembered.

Yesterday I made myself a heaping veggie wrap. I packed it with cucumbers, red onion, banana peppers, pickles, Muenster cheese, spinach and arugula, tomatoes, mustard and mayo. This thing was massive, messy, and SO good!

There’s been a fair share of sweets being consumed lately. My go-to has been ice cream and frozen yogurt. Summertime just screams, “eat ice cream!”

There’s been no lack of good food consumed over here per usual. I haven’t been super creative in the kitchen, but find ways to make do. We’ve been going out to eat more often than before pregnancy too. I’m okay with this though since it’s at most once a week.

What are some of your favorite quick summer meals?

A Friendly Weekend

Post author:Melanie
Post published:August 12, 2014
Post category:Dinners / Events / Friends / Pregnancy / Restaurants / Sweet Treats
Post comments:6 Comments

It’s catch up time! How has everyone been?

My weekend was filled with so much fun that I just had to share.

Thursday: Katie and her cutie son Luke came over to my house with Panera and we enjoyed super good food and even better company. It was so good to see Katie (and Luke too!). I haven’t seen her since March! That’s not okay!

Friday: Friday night was super chill. We got some stuff done around the house if I’m remembering correctly. Oh, and I made a delicious chicken teriyaki stir-fry.

Saturday: We got to meet our friend’s new baby boy (!!), and then got together with a group of friends for a pool party! The sun was out for the first half and then went away. That was probably a good thing though since my since my skin is uber sensitive these days.

Once we got home I was completely wiped. I rested for an hour or so before getting ready for the night…

It was high school reunion time!

We met up with a group of friends at the Red Cow restaurant in Minneapolis.

We split an order of the caramel bacon puffcorn and OMG I would go back just for that stuff. I really do want to go back again some day because their burgers looked amazing. I didn’t get a burger because I had one for lunch and was trying to give baby some more variety and more veggies.

So I opted for the Asian Chicken Salad.

It was good but not the best ever. Oh well you can’t win them all. I still want to go back.

Next up, the reunion at the Urban Eatery in Minneapolis. I was so excited to see my girls and my guys! This was one of the few photos I took the entire night. That’s a good sign I would say. 🙂

It was a lot of fun minus the fact that it was really warm in the room we were in and Mrs. Preggo here was really sweating buckets. I was downing water like it was my job.

On Sunday, we celebrated an upcoming wedding with a couple’s shower for two of our friends who live in California. We ate insanely good food: quiche, monkey bread (which is my FAVORITE), yogurt parfaits, orange juice and ginger ale. Delicious.

It was a fabulous weekend full of friends! I loved it!

I am linking up with Becky‘s Treat Yourself Tuesday because I definitely treated myself to some tasty food and lots of friend time this weekend!

What is your favorite sweet breakfast treat?

I am torn between monkey bread and cinnamon rolls with lots of icing. I can go for a good doughnut from time to time too!

She Sews, She Eats, She Sleeps

Post author:Melanie
Post published:July 29, 2014
Post category:Crafty / Lunch / Pregnancy
Post comments:13 Comments

Hello, hello!

Just poppin’ in to throw a little Treat Yourself Tuesday your way. Once again, I am linking up with Becky!

Treats

Meeting up with my friend Kalley at Whole Foods for lunch on a sunny day!

Then going shopping at Home Goods and finding the perfect organizers to go on the shelves of our changing table. I LOVE Home Goods.

Getting crafty with Stacy and making the little one some cute outfits!

An inchworm onesie…

And a dinosaur sweatshirt!

I felt so accomplished after sewing these sweet things thanks to the help of my sewing coach!

I must have been in a hurry to eat because this photo is totally blurry, but on Saturday Dana and I shopped for a glider for the baby room (we found one!) and stopped at a little café for lunch. I had the buffalo chicken wrap and it was gooooood.

I also treated myself to a new comforter! I hope I like it in person as much as I do in the picture.

ANNNDDD I treated myself to a few more maternity clothes!

I want to know how you treated yourself this week! Leave a comment and let me know!

Pregnancy: 25 Weeks!

Post author:Melanie
Post published:July 25, 2014
Post category:Pregnancy
Post comments:8 Comments

I am….

25 weeks pregnant!

Baby is about 13 inches long, measured crown to foot and 1.5- 1.75 lbs. Babes is starting to plump up now! Yay!

How am I feeling?

GREAT for the most part! My appetite is steady—baby lets me know when I need to eat. I eat often.

I’ve been having some Braxton hicks contractions. I realized I’m probably not drinking enough water so I increased my water intake and those have calmed down a lot. I have some leg cramping at night and some restless leg syndrome. These symptoms are all extra aggravated by not drinking enough fluids. The pregnancy brain thing…it’s real, and it’s happening. I just laugh about it because there is nothing I can do except make a million lists and notes so I don’t forget things!

All in all though, I am one lucky girl to be feeling so well.

Growing body.

You know, I always knew that when you’re pregnant, other body parts grew besides just the tummy region, but man….I didn’t realize just how much! My shorts are all pretty darn tight in the thigh region. My belly is getting bigger by the day and it doesn’t go unnoticed. Clients at work are asking me everyday when I’m due. It’s strange having people look at your face and then look down at your belly, but I know it’s something I need to get used to because it’s not going to change over the next few months. Simple tasks like pedicuring toenails and getting out of bed are starting to become more challenging. The solution to those: go to the salon for pedicures and gracefully roll out of bed. 🙂

What I love.

I love that my body is capable of creating a baby! The human body is incredibly amazing. I love feeling baby move and kick. I love talking to baby and singing to baby. I love knowing that baby is with me when I run errands, go to work, and relax on the couch. I love dreaming of November and holding baby. I love this baby boy so much already.

What’s keeping me busy.

The registry has been keeping me busy, but I think it’s done for the most part. Every once in a while I will add something else in that I think of, but I know I could be done with it right now and be absolutely a-okay.

Planning the nursery has been keeping me busy too. We have a crib and a changing table that were given to us from friends. We just bought a dresser, and I think we have decided on our glider. We started painting and I started some art projects for the walls!

We have been interviewing doulas and decided on our gal after our last meeting last night! This makes me so happy.

Cravings

No real cravings that I can think of, but I am loving all of the fresh fruit and veggies that summer has to offer.

Fifteen weeks to go!

Happy Friday to you all! xoxo

Friday Favs! Flowers, Family, Food.

Post author:Melanie
Post published:July 18, 2014
Post category:Family / Pregnancy / Young Living
Post comments:5 Comments

Happy Friday!

Today I’m linking up with my girl, Katie for Friday Favorites!

1. Homemade lavender shea butter. I will post this recipe on the blog at some point!

2. A day at the lake with family. We spent the day pontooning, playing games, and eating in the sunshine. It was so relaxing and baby bump got a lil’ dose of vitamin D!

3. Absolutely no food aversions to vegetables anymore. Gimme ALL the veggies!

4. Flowers just because and despite my hormonal outbursts. 🙂

5. So this sandwich from Panera was definitely not a favorite of mine due to the serious lack of peanut butter, but, my favorite is that I wrote them an email (and posted on insta and twitter) to explain what happened and they sent me a gift card!

6. Wicked and Disney stations on Pandora. My little guy gets to hear all different kinds of music. I toss in some Christian radio, soothing sounds, hip hop, country, today’s hits, etc. He gets a little taste of it all.

7. Being asked to be a bridesmaid in Betsy’s wedding! The wine in the basket will have to wait a few more months though! 😉

8. Baby kicks! I just can’t get enough.

Happy weekend to you all! Thanks Katie for hosting!

Nesting.

Post author:Melanie
Post published:July 16, 2014
Post category:Home Life / Pregnancy
Post comments:18 Comments

Oh, baby.

Baby is what’s on my mind 24/7 these days. I am now nearly 24 weeks and am realizing quickly how much I would like to do before baby is here. I also continue to remind myself that not everything needs to be done before baby arrives, but considering my personality, I would sure like it to be.

I have fallen knee-deep into nesting mode. Everything I touch in my home I must organize. I spend hours browsing google for the perfect organizers and nursery furniture, making sure to read reviews on everything as I go. I continue to build on my baby registry as I think of more and more things the baby might “need.” I want to clean and get upset when the house doesn’t stay clean. I make endless to-do lists. I’m not complaining though; I kind of like it. 🙂

I’m maybe a little crazy not to mention completely hormonal lately. I read a line from a book called The Girlfriend’s Guide to Pregnancy that my cousin lent to me (one of the hundreds of books I’m reading currently) that was just too perfect not to share:

“It’s as if your emotional engine is stuck at fourth gear and running full throttle all the time. You don’t build up to a feeling so much as arrive at it going ninety miles an hour. Worse yet, your brakes are no good and you’re not sure if the power steering works.”

At the beginning of pregnancy I didn’t feel the whole pregnancy mood swing thing; I even commented just a little over a week ago how I haven’t hardly cried at all. Clearly, I spoke to soon. It just comes out of nowhere. I’ll get super upset about something and then within ten minutes I will be laughing. I feel like I have no control over it but I am trying to be aware of it at least. These things are legit–they’re not just an excuse for us to be crazy I promise!

My family and friends are very patient with me.

To say I’m excited to be a mom would be the understatement of the year. I was born to be a mom. I grew up loving my baby dolls: feeding them, changing them, tucking them into bed, cuddling with them. I even remember holding them underneath my shirt pretending I was pregnant!

I am a nurturer and a lover and I am ecstatic to be able to smother this baby boy with love. I am already so in love.

Dana and I continue to dream of what are baby boy will be like. Ahhh the greatness that occupies my thoughts. 🙂

That’s all for today my friends. Have a fabulous day!

Odds and Ends

Post author:Melanie
Post published:June 30, 2014
Post category:Dinners / Home Improvement / Home Life / Pregnancy / Product Reviews
Post comments:10 Comments

Hola my friends! How was your weekend?

Mine was really truly great however as always went by way too fast.

Our basement is almost finished and it is so exciting to see how it has all come together. We (okay, mostly Dana) spent a good chunk of the weekend continuing to work on the basement and move furniture downstairs. Our guest bedroom is officially moved downstairs which means that we can start working on the nursery upstairs now!

We also teamed up and tackled the weeds in the garden. That was a much-needed job and I am happy to report that all of our plants are doing well! We even had two sugar snap peas; one for each of us. They were crunchy and perfect.

Some other odds and ends…

I caved and bought some more maternity clothes. I tried to go with the basics this time around: dark jeans, shorts, black tee, white tee, long-sleeved grey tee, and I got a few other tops as well! Old Navy and Gap have great maternity wear!

Healing my gut is an ongoing journey, so I made myself another batch of bone broth soup to help soothe and heal. Making bone broth is quite the process in case you didn’t know! I made chicken bone broth but someday I want to make beef bone broth because i think I would enjoy it more (more flavor).

I’ve been trying to be creative with foods again now that I am really into all foods again (no real aversions any more that I can think of). I threw together an old salad staple of mine with some minor adjustments based on what I had in the kitchen: spinach, strawberries, chicken, red onion, parmesan cheese, sliced almonds, and poppy seed dressing. I would have preferred feta cheese but we didn’t have any. And I should have added black beans and avocado. But it was still good.

Dana and I made Saturday night date night and went to Punch pizza for my first time. They serve Neapolitan style pizza and eating their pizza seriously brought me back to our honeymoon in Italy. We got the margherita pizza with olives and mushrooms. We also split a really delicious salad.

The last odd and end:

About the same time I found out I was pregnant, I received a wonderful package from a company called Puro Fairtrade Coffee. As soon as I found out I was pregnant, I stopped drinking caffeine. Not to mention, the thought of coffee made me queasy in the first trimester.

So there I was with three delicious bags of coffee beans along with a sweet little mug sitting in my home to review. I felt so bad I wouldn’t be able to review it myself but asked if it were okay that my husband review it instead, and they agreed that would be absolutely a-okay!

About Puro Fairtrade Coffee

Puro Fairtrade Coffee comes from a company Miko, they are based in Belgium and are one of the oldest coffee roasters in the world (since 1801!). All coffee from Puro is Fairtrade, but uniquely, Puro works in partnership with a rainforest charity called World Land Trust and money from each bag of their coffee is used to buy and protect areas of rainforest in coffee producing countries.

Puro coffee sales to date, have funded the protection of more than 10,000 acres of rainforest across 6 countries.

Although I personally wasn’t able to taste-test the coffee as I gave up caffeine when I became pregnant, Dana, my husband was able to taste and review it for me. He just finished up the last of it a week ago. He really enjoyed the earthiness (but not TOO earthy), bold and rich flavor of the coffee. We both love that the company is fairtrade and feel great about supporting a company with so much compassion and heart.

Sustainability

Their roasting plant in Belgium was placed near to Antwerp, the world’s second largest coffee port and its roof is covered with solar panels providing for all electricity needs. Residual heat from the roasting process is re-directed to power underfloor heating throughout the factory and offices. Coffee chaff generated through roasting is given to local organic farmers for fertilizing their fields.

I love this!

Another partnership in the UK combines used coffee grounds from filter and espresso generated at key client sites with food waste, creating compost. Also….Puro’s coffee foils are even upcycled into bags, flower pots and dresses!

Video

Now you can see why this company is so great! To learn more about their story watch their video: http://vimeo.com/fairtradecoffee/our-story

Online Shop

They have an online shop if you are interested in purchasing: https://www.puroathome.com/

Okay, that’s enough randomness for one day. Have a good one! xoxo

My Pregnancy Must-Have Foods

Post author:Melanie
Post published:June 25, 2014
Post category:Health / Pregnancy
Post comments:9 Comments

Throughout pregnancy, my appetite has gone in waves of normal to crazy hungry, but most of the time I am pretty darn hungry.

My diet isn’t nearly as perfect as I’d like it to be…my latest craze is Mentos candies. I have a whole stash of them in my car. I’d like to eat more salmon and more salads. I’d like to say I’m not eating any processed sugar or any processed foods in general. I can’t say that though.

BUT, I am doing my best given the circumstances (food aversions, cravings, etc.) to nourish my body and baby with healthy foods, and that is still pretty good if you ask me.

Here are some of my must-have pregnancy foods I have been noshing on for the majority of the pregnancy.

Open face egg sandwich on gluten-free waffles. I learnt to make this dish at my Online Prenatal and Childbirth Classes where I also learn a lot more about childbirth and pregnancy. For this dish, I fry an egg (making sure the yolk is cooked through), and place it on a gluten-free waffle with pepper jack cheese and mustard. So, so good.

Greek yogurt sweetened with honey or maple syrup.

Baked potatoes.

Cereal.

Burgers, steak….okay, beef.

Pickles: as cliché as it is.

Raw cocoa bars or Larabars.

Peanut butter on anything: toast, apples, celery, dates, spoon.

My favorite chocolate peanut butter ugly smoothie that I have evvverrrryyy morning. It’s so good I’m still not sick of it! Plus it’s a great way for me to get 2-3 servings of fruits and veggies into my day.

Beans.

String cheese.

Berries. Cherries.

Panera Bread…specifically their broccoli and cheese soup or chicken wild rice with whole grain baguette. OMG.

Quinoa.

Although I’m not SUPER into vegetables, I am still getting at least two servings a day, usually three.

Not too shabby, right?

Pregnant or not, what are your food must-haves?

Pregnancy Update: 20 weeks!

Post author:Melanie
Post published:June 20, 2014
Post category:Health / Pregnancy
Post comments:15 Comments

Wait, what?!

20 weeks! I’m halfway there!

I thought you all might be interested in a bit of an update from pregnant lil’ me.

First up: 20 week bump pic

Compared to 16 weeks…

Baby is now measuring about 10 ounces and 6.5 inches long about the length of a banana!

How am I feeling?

Very normal for the most part and really enjoying being pregnant!
I have days where I am insanely hungry (like yesterday) where no matter what I eat I still seem to be hungry, and then I have more normal days. I always make sure to have snacks on hand; don’t want to embarrass myself by getting “hangry” in front of strangers.
Excited to start working on the nursery. I have some ideas as to how I want to decorate now! More on that later.
Yearning to start “nesting” and getting the house baby-fied.
Starting to look more pregnant and not just blubbery.
Anxious to start feeling movements.
Needing to get used to people noticing my bump now. I see them look at my face and then look at my belly. I don’t always feel like it’s that obvious but I guess it must be.
Super lovey dovey to this baby. I dream of what he looks like and what his personality will be like.

Discomforts

I have to say I have been very lucky (knock on wood) with very minimal discomforts, but I few things I have been noticing lately…

Out of breath a whole lot easier, especially going up hills.
Stiff and achey body all over when I wake up in the morning. It loosens up as I get moving. I sleep with those bed pillows walmart that my mom gave me, all around me and in between my legs and I think that helps a bit.
Stretching and some round ligament pain. I actually welcome this! I love it because since I’m not feeling movement yet, it helps me to know baby is growing.
Calf cramps at night.

Again, NOT complaining!

Cravings?

No serious cravings except for I’m almost always up for a burger still. Lately, my sweet tooth has nearly taken over my savory tooth. I was hoping that this wouldn’t happen. I am still trying to control my sugar intake. It’s tough though. I’m trying to choose foods with natural sugar like dates with peanut butter or Greek yogurt with honey.

Oh, and everytime I see a subway sandwich I drool a little. 😉

Aversions?

I can’t seem to get salmon down the hatch even when I make it my favorite way.

What I’m looking forward to in the coming weeks?

Feeling this boy move!

I am absolutely loving pregnancy. 🙂 Catch up with you again later gators!

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