Week 24

Thanks for all the great responses to last week's post. It was a lot of fun reminiscing about my pregnancy with Rory and digging through the old photos (haha old photos?!? From four years ago!) Someone suggested that I include what Rory's up to as well as what's going on with the baby (thanks Tia Jackie :0) ). So now I'm going to include a section on Rory.

Rory

The weather here has been a little weird, some days it's nice out and others it's way too windy to go outside. But we are trying to visit the park more and take advantage of the sunny days and take a break from all the baby prepping that's going on in the house.

At the park

That face says it all!

And I have to share this story with you. Over the weekend I had a massive breakout on my cheek (yup, another one due to my pregnancy!). Rory came into our bathroom and pointed to my cheek and said "Mama, it's pink". I told him, "Yeah, Mama has an ouwie". So he leaves the room only to return a few minutes later with the neosporan and a cars bandaid. He then takes the cap off the neosporan and tells me to put some on my cheek. And as I'm doing so, he opens the cars bandaid and places it on my cheek and finishes by saying, "there Mama". I was so touched by how sweet he was that I started to cry.

(No make up Saturday morning!)

Here are a few of the "pieces of art" that Rory created at school recently...

a chick

triangle man

a turtle

Now on to the pregnancy...

I've decided to add a symptom line because I'm starting to experience more and more symptoms. 

How far along? 24 Weeks & 1 Day
Total weight gain/loss: 17 lbs (1/2 a pound of baby, 1/2 a pound of oreos :0))
Maternity clothes? Still rockin' a mixture of both non-maternity and maternity clothes
Stretch marks? Still keeping my fingers crossed! And I bought the best smelling mango-scented body butter cream yesterday. It may be my new obsession.
Sleep: Great, when the baby's not moving around. But I've started to get leg cramps late at night/early morning that wake me from my sleep. Such a bummer, they are annoying!
Best moment this week: My doctor's appointment yesterday where I heard the baby's heartbeat. I knew the baby was fine because she's (or he's) been moving like crazy, but hearing the heartbeat is always a great reassurance that the baby is strong.
Have you told family and friends: Yes!
Miss Anything? My Subway sandwich :0(
Movement: OH YEAH! It use to be only at night when I was settling down for the night. But the last few days the baby has been moving at all hours of the night and it's making it hard to fall asleep. And I felt the baby pretty much all day yesterday. 
Food cravings: my Subway sandwich. The cravings have settled down a lot lately. Although I made turkey meatballs the other night and I've been eating them as if they're candy. They are so good!!!

Anything making you queasy or sick: fast food <----- Still
Symptoms: Leg and feet cramps almost every night. And I was hoping this was a myth, but I'm afraid not... grey hair!!! Yikes! I've discovered three of those little stinkers in the last month or so. Hmmm... no bueno!

Have you started to show yet: Um, yeah! 

Gender prediction: Still think the baby is a girl. 

Labor Signs: Nope!
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On and really loose. 
Happy or Moody most of the time: HAPPY!
Looking forward to: Just continuing all the baby prepping. I'll post pics when it's all done. But the nursery is going to be last on the list, so it's gonna be a couple more months before it's done. 

Week 23

I thought I'd do a post on the comparison between my pregnancy with Rory and little Baby H since I've had some people ask what the differences in the two pregnancies have been. And they have been two different experiences. Besides it' s kinda my way of recording a little bit more of my pregnancy with Rory. I definitely was not this detailed the first time around.

Comparisons:

1. Hair & Skin
Rory- My hair grew super fast and it was long and thick. From the beginning of my pregnancy it was this way. The only downside was that I suffered from postpartum hair loss not once, but twice. When Rory was four months old my hair started to fall out at an alarming rate. I'm talking about chunks at a time. My hairline was about 3 inches farther back then where it is naturally. I had no idea that postpartum hair loss existed until it happened to me. My hair eventually started to grow back. And then a few months later, it began to fall out again! By the time Rory turned one year old my hair was back to normal. Immediately my skin cleared up and I didn't have a single breakout my entire pregnancy.

Baby H- My hair seems to be growing even slower than usual. The texture and thickness is also the same as when I'm not pregnant. I'm hoping that this means that I won't have to suffer from postpartum hair loss. Fingers are crossed. But I've had a few breakouts. It's definitely not acne, but I've had a half a dozen or so breakouts over the last 5 months :0(

2. Weight Gain
Rory- At this point in my first pregnancy I was well on my way to gaining the 50-60 pounds I did with Rory. (I gained a total of 60+ pounds, but lost 10 of those pounds during the three weeks between I went on maternity leave from work and when Rory was born.) The day Rory was born I was carrying 52 pounds of pregnancy weight. My best guess for my weight gain at 23 weeks was around 30 pounds.

Photo taken minutes before we left for the hospital.
That's me at an additional 52 pounds!

Baby H- My weight gain this time around is much, much slower. I'm at a total weight gain of 16 pounds. Hoping to be in the 35 pound range when I deliver little Baby H.

3. Food Obsession
Rory- I had a mean obsession with guacamole and chips during my first trimester. Even during those first few weeks when I didn't know I was pregnant, I ate guacamole and chips EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. Some days multiple times a day. When I entered into my second trimester my obsession turned to a chili cheese dog. Randy even tried to make me one with a veggie hot dog, but sadly it was not the same. And my body knew it, because I was still craving a chili cheese dog the morning Rory was born as I was being prepped for my C-section.

Baby H- My food obsession this time around is a foot long ham sandwich on white bread with mayo and mustard, lettuce, pickles, and black olives from Subway. Enough said. My mouth is watering just by typing this!

4. Health
Rory- I was never sick with Rory, not a single cold, not a single cough. My energy level was lower though. I worked full time at the time, but I took a nap almost everyday after work. In fact I remember waking up from a long nap when the news of Michael Jackson's death was being reported on the TV (I'm one of those people that always falls asleep watching TV). And I never had any desire to exercise. I even tried to get on the elliptical one afternoon and it felt like torture.

Baby H- I've been sick from day one, going back and forth between a sinus infection, a cough, and congestion. And although I'm no longer working, taking a nap everyday is not an option with a three-year-old running around. I do take an occasional nap every now and then, but I don't feel like I need one as often as I did with Rory. My energy is much higher with Baby H and for the past month or so I've gotten back to exercising again.

5. Pregnancy Symptoms
Rory- With Rory I had severe acid reflux and nothing helped to calm it. I also had mild nausea throughout my pregnancy. I always had a package of saltine crackers near by. And I always felt like I was on fire, like I was literally baking a bun in an oven. But I was pregnant during the miserable Las Vegas summer, which I'm sure had something to do with it. I use to keep a spray bottle of water near, because my legs felt like they were overheating! And finally, my feet swelled to the point where I no longer looked like I had ankles. They somehow just disappeared somewhere between my knees and my toes.

My swollen, pregnant feet at about 26 weeks
(I love how Pinky's tiny little feet are in the picture)

Baby H- Morning sickness hit me so hard in my first trimester and in the first few weeks of my second trimester that I had to take anti-nausea medication. It was nothing like Kate Middleton, but it was still a difficult time. Once the morning sickness ended, heartburn set in. This is definitely more manageable and usually occurs late at night. Swelling and having a feeling of overheating hasn't been an issue so far. I drink a ton of water throughout the day and I know that helps to combat swelling. Plus it's not 115 degrees outside (I'm sure that helps too!)

6. Carrying the Baby
Rory- With Rory I carried him all over. I was just a giant round ball of pregnancy.

Photo taken at 38 weeks, 5 days.
Rory was born 4 days later

Baby H- I'm carrying Baby H more in the front. I've notice that a couple of maternity tank tops I wore with Rory are becoming a little short in the front, almost to the point that they barely cover my bump.

How far along? 23 Weeks & 1 Day
Total weight gain/loss: 16 lbs (I workout just so I can eat oreos & milk at night :0))
Maternity clothes? Still rockin' a mixture of both non-maternity and maternity clothes
Stretch marks? Maybe :0( It's hard to tell right now. But Randy has reassured me that I can get any removal treatment needed if necessary. I hoping that all the lotions and creams will help. 
Sleep: Pregnancy: Great! 
Best moment this week: Every time I feel the baby move becomes the best moment. It's a feeling like no other!
Have you told family and friends: Yes!
Miss Anything? My Subway sandwich :0(
Movement: A lot more. 
Food cravings: my Subway sandwich and every once in a while, coffee.

Anything making you queasy or sick: fast food
Have you started to show yet: Oh yeah! 

Gender prediction: Still think the baby is a girl. 
Labor Signs: Nope!
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On and still loose. 
Happy or Moody most of the time: HAPPY!
Looking forward to: My doctor's appointment next week. And more baby prepping! We are moving right along and it's so exciting... a lot work, but so exciting.

Staying on the healthy road

Trying to stay on track with eating a little bit better isn't as difficult as I thought, but I find myself making the same meals and snacks. What can I say, I'm a creature of habit. If it ain't broke why fix it, right? However I managed to come up with a few more new meals and snacks to help us stay on track.

Honey flavored greek yogurt with grapes, strawberries & bananas

Chocolate peanut butter banana smoothies
(We sometimes have these by themselves for snacks, but I will also have these with eggs for breakfast)

Baked potato with homemade salsa
(I know it's not the prettiest, but very delicious)
(It's not a jumbo potato, it's on a salad plate :0) )

I've also made a few adjustments to my exercise routine. Most of it was working for me, but I started to notice that on the days that I was scheduled to do cardio on the elliptical I was finding ways to avoid it or simply get out of it. I like the elliptical, but  lets face it, it can be extremely boring. I used to wait until Rory was asleep, whether during a nap or at night, to get on the elliptical. But more times than none, he would wake up before I was done or I would just be too tired to do it. I would tell myself that I would definitely make up the missed cardio session the next day. But then that would lead to me missing the following day's workout because I just didn't want to do the cardio I swore I would do. So I decided to move the elliptical workouts to the mornings that I didn't have to leave the house early. Fortunately  for me that's only two days a week. By moving my cardio sessions to the morning, it gives me plenty of time to complete them and eliminates my excuse that I'm too tired to do them. The two days that I can't do the elliptical in the morning, I decided to move my pregnancy DVD to those days. It has cardio built into it so I don't need to do the elliptical. And even though I don't have to be anywhere on Sunday mornings, to even out my routine, I decided to do my pregnancy DVD instead of the elliptical. Here is my revised routine:

Monday morning: Elliptical 20 mins

Monday afternoon: Pilates Legs

Tuesday: Pregnancy DVD

Wednesday morning: Elliptical 20 mins

Wednesday afternoon: Pilates Arms

Thursday: Pregnancy DVD

Friday morning: Elliptical 20 mins

Friday afternoon: Pilates Legs

Saturday morning: Elliptical 20 mins
Saturday afternoon: Pilates Arms

Sunday: Pregnancy DVD

Week 22

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

How far along? 22 Weeks & 2 Days
Total weight gain/loss: 15 lbs (still gonna blame the oreo cookies and the Valentine's Day chocolates)
Maternity clothes? Still rockin' a mixture of both non-maternity and maternity clothes
Stretch marks? I hope not, but I may have found two tiny ones. It's hard to tell since my limited view point. Regardless, you know I've already started to look into laser treatment removal. 
Sleep: Pregnancy: Still good! Mommy of a 3-year-old: Still not great. Does someone want to volunteer to be my night nanny? Pay: none, Hours: suck, Benefits: an adorable little boy who thinks asking for juice 5x a night is a fun game
Best moment this week: Today. Celebrating Valentine's Day with my boys. I even started a felt chair envelope for little baby H so that she or he has one too for all their V'Day goodies next year!
Have you told family and friends: Yes!
Miss Anything? I STILL miss my Subway sandwich. I can tell you where all the Subways are within a 5 mile radius of the house. And let me tell you, there are A LOT!
Movement: Yup! Still moving around like a ballerina, or maybe a swimmer 
Food cravings: homemade chili, my homemade vegetable noodle soup, homemade salsa, tortilla chips with sour cream, and my Subway sandwich

Anything making you queasy or sick: fast food
Have you started to show yet: Oh yeah! 

Gender prediction: Still think the baby is a girl. 
Labor Signs: Nope!
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On and still loose. 
Happy or Moody most of the time: mostly happy!
Looking forward to: Just more baby prepping around the house.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

I hope everyone is having a LOVE-ly Valentine's Day!!! I'm pretty lucky because I get to share this day this two handsome men. Every holiday becomes a little more special because Rory is now at an age where he can get involve in decorating and making crafts. Here are some pictures of how we celebrated our special day.

Rory making some valentines

Cookies

Made with chocolate hearts

Rory & I made a paper heart garland

Felt heart garland in the living room

Be Mine Garland in the dining room

Rory's Valentine's Day picture

My Valentine's Day chair envelope

My gifts from my guys didn't fit in my chair envelope

Randy's Valentine's Day chair envelope filled with goodies

Rory's Valentine's Day chair envelope filled with his goodies

Our Valentine's Day breakfast:
Heart shaped cinnamon rolls & heart shaped strawberries with "chocolate covered strawberries" smoothies

Rory's valentines for his teachers & friends at school
Super simple: valentine card with a fun-size bag of m&m's 

Week 21

We are in full baby-prepping swing here at Casa Harrington! For anyone who has two or more kids, I'm not sure if this happened to you, but Little Baby H has thrown our house in full organization mode. When Rory came along he just seemed to slip into the natural order of the house. But with the second it's not just the nursery we need to get in order. The need for a nursery has caused a domino effect with all the rooms upstairs. Rory is currently using the crib mattress with his toddler bed and his dresser is not techniquically his. It's a family piece of furniture that all Harrington babies use. So he will be passing those items on to the baby and now his room needs to be upgraded from a toddler's room to a big boy's room. Wow! Rory is now a kid! But because Rory is still pretty young and he isn't going to have much of a say in his new room decor, we decided to hold off on buying him all new furniture. He will get a new twin bed, but we decided until we have a better idea of how much dresser space he needs we're going to wait on investing in a dresser and nightstand. Instead he is going to get our current dresser and nightstands. Which means... we are going to get new furniture for our bedroom!!! And these are the rooms that we haven't even started on. For the past month or so we've been working on the office. The nursery was Randy's music room and it's been quite a project moving his stuff into the office and reorganizing it to accommodate both of us. Step 1 of the domino reorganizing process.

This week my pesky hacking cough and congestion have come back. Keeping my fingers crossed that these aren't signs of a looming sinus infection! And my heartburn is edging its way to the top of the list of annoying pregnancy symptoms. I was expecting this though. When I was pregnant with Rory my heartburn was much worse. And at the very short birthing class we took, the instructor told us that the heartburn would be there until the moment the baby was born. And she was absolutely right. So I know I have 4+ months of heartburn ahead of me. It absolutely sucks, but I'll survive. I'm trying to stay away from any sort of medication, even my doctor-approved over-the-counter ones, so milk (with oreo cookies :) ) and cups of ice have been my go-to remedies.

How far along? 21 Weeks & 4 Days
Total weight gain/loss: 14 lbs (those darn oreo cookies!)
Maternity clothes? a couple of pairs of maternity leggings and some maternity tops. I finally bought a pair of maternity jeans and a few more tops.
Stretch marks? No and I've become a little more obsessive about applying lotions and creams on my growing bump.
Sleep: Pregnancy: Still good! Mommy of a 3-year-old: Not so great
Best moment this week: Shopping for maternity clothes with Rory. It's really funny when he approves or disapproves of something I've pulled from the rack. Needless to say that I didn't get anything he said no to.   
Have you told family and friends: Yes!
Miss Anything? I STILL miss my Subway sandwich. I have the urge to call my doctor and ask if one sandwich is OK. But I know that if she says yes, one sandwich will turn into a one-a-day sandwich. I rather not open that can.
Movement: Yes, more and more. And it's the little butterfly-like feeling movement. No sharp kicks or jabs just yet. Maybe I have a little ballerina in my belly
Food cravings: homemade chili, my homemade vegetable noodle soup, homemade salsa, banana laffy taffy and my Subway sandwich

Anything making you queasy or sick: fast food
Have you started to show yet: Oh yeah! 

Gender prediction: Still think the baby is a girl. 
Labor Signs: Nope!
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On and still loose. 
Happy or Moody most of the time: mostly happy!
Looking forward to: Valentine's Day! I know this isn't baby related, but this is the first Valentine's Day Rory will be at school and I'm really excited to create help him create his valentines for his friends.

On the road to a healthier February

Well I'm usually not one to blog about food, but after last week's post about trying to eat better and exercise more I thought this was a good way to keep me accountable to continue. I'm not sure how often I will be updating on our menu choices, but I feel compelled to come up with new ways to add more produce to our meals. Besides it does take some creativity to keep a picky 3 year old interested in food. Here are some of the our meals and a snack from the last couple of days...

Chocolate pancakes with bananas

Cinnamon french toast with apples

Steak and veggie kabobs made with ribeye steaks, tomatoes, bell peppers, onions & mushrooms
(with King's Hawaiian sweets rolls)

Homemade salsa with celery

Week 20

I can't believe it, but we are at the halfway point! I'm not going to lie, I've been really nervous about the baby through the first half of this pregnancy. I don't know why I feel like this because I never worried about Rory when I was pregnant with him. But after the ultrasound appointment am I extremely relieved to say that our little baby is doing fantastic! And the doctor was very happy with the baby's growth and development. WooHoo! We could not ask for anything more!!!!!!

How far along? 20 Weeks & 3 Days
Total weight gain/loss: 12 lbs 
Maternity clothes? a couple of pairs of maternity leggings and some maternity tops. Still rocking the same clothes. I can't wait until the weather warms up a little so that I can change up the wardrobe. 
Stretch marks? Not so far, keeping my fingers crossed
Sleep: Still good!
Best moment this week: Seeing little Baby H at our ultrasound appointment. And let me tell you it was extremely hard not to ask the gender of our little baby.   
Have you told family and friends: Yes!
Miss Anything? I still miss my Subway sandwich. I guess it's going to be like the massive desire for a chili cheese dog I had when I was pregnant with Rory. 
Movement: Yes, more and more. And at the ultrasound I learned that I'm feeling little Baby H's tiny little feet move around under my ribs.   
Food cravings: Apples, strawberries, homemade chili, my homemade vegetable noodle soup, homemade salsa, and banana laffy taffy. Super Yum Yum! And that darn Subway sandwich

Anything making you queasy or sick: Fast food is still off the menu
Have you started to show yet: Oh yeah! 

Gender prediction: Girl (Rory has switched sides again and told me that the baby is a girl.)
Labor Signs: No and I'm not showing any signs of early labor!!! YAY1
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On and still loose. 
Happy or Moody most of the time: Still feeling happy!
Looking forward to: Just continuing to feel little baby's movements!