4 Month Photos!

I am 18 weeks into my pregnancy and had been feeling great until this weekend.  I've been really tired, kinda nauseous, and a little dizzy this morning.  I was in the process of making homemade waffles with fresh peach slices on top (yum!) and I had to have Mike finish them because I felt like I might faint.  I didn't, thank goodness.  Anyway, my symptoms are probably a combination of pregnancy and being post-night shift.  Back to day shift tomorrow, so after the slight shock to my system of waking up at 5AM, I will hopefully feel better being on a regular schedule again.

But, onto more fun things...my 4 month pregnancy photos!  Mike took them on August 13th.  I've been trying to do them on the 14th of every month, since the 14th of April was the start of my pregnancy, but Mike wasn't going to be home on the 14th, so I cringed and made do with the photos a day early.  A little crazy that that annoyed me?  Probably, but cut me a break; I'm pregnant.  I'm gonna use that excuse as much as possible for the next few months. :)

Anyway, here are the pics!

Oh yeah, I forgot until I looked at them that the other problem with these pics is that I'm wearing my glasses!  We had just gotten back from Seattle the night before and I didn't have my luggage, so I had to use different contact solution that night.  Well, apparently I didn't read the bottle well enough before using it because it is not the kind where you can take your contacts out and put them directly in your eye in the morning.  You have to rinse them first.  Needless to say, I did not, and it burned like you would not believe!  My eye was red for the rest of the day and I had to wear my glasses, which is something that I never do.  Ahhh, the joys of lost luggage.

P.S.  I will also tell Mike to not cut off the top of my head next time!  Pffft!  Where is my sister when I need her???

Ha ha, now that I look, this one isn't centered either, and I can't blame this one on Mike!  I guess it's obvious who got the photography genes in my family.

So there you have it.  4 months along and 5 months to go (or less!).  I'm feeling pretty decent, though getting slightly more uncomfortable.  I can feel my skin stretching and my belly is really tight now, which is a weird feeling.  Glad I got rid of the belly button ring when I did!  To those that know me I am definitely showing, though to a stranger on the street it's not obvious yet.  Still in that kinda awkward stage, but little by little I'm growing!  Mike and I weigh ourselves and measure our waists every Wednesday morning when we wake up, and once a month I measure my breast circumference too.

Starting weight: 127.8 lbs          Current weight: 134.2 lbs

Starting waist: 29 1/2 inches      Current waist: 32 inches

Starting breast: 34 inches           Current breast: 35 3/4 inches

I've gained about 7 pounds so far, about 2 1/2 inches around the waist, and 1 3/4 inches around the breast.  So those are my stats.  I don't really feel like my boobs are growing, but I guess they are according to the measurements.  They do feel heavier though, so I've starting wearing my maternity bras, which have thicker straps and are just all around more comfortable.  I bought two nude colored ones for everyday wear and one black sleep bra, which is soooo comfy.

So in pregnancy news, I've had a few nosebleeds (maybe 2 or 3), and I almost never get nosebleeds.  But, I've read that can be another symptom.  I also got back the results of the penta screen (AFB test), and they were normal!  Yay!  Now we can rest a little bit easier.  Still not sure if I'm going to be billed for that test though.  We'll see.

My next item of pregnancy news is waaayyy more exciting ...I've felt movement!  I think I first felt a little something when we were in Seattle, though I'm still not sure if it was baby movement or my food not sitting right with me, ha ha!  It's hard to tell the difference this early on.  I haven't noticed any movement except at night when I'm laying in bed.  Even then it's very slight.  I told Mike that it feels like pop rocks (remember those?!) in my belly.  Either that, or sometimes it feels like bubbles.  I can't wait until it's noticeable baby movement... and I really can't wait until Mike can feel it too.  He was so cute in Seattle, because when we were laying in bed and I told him that I might've felt some movement he came over to me, put his hand on my stomach, and said "I want to feel!".  Poor guy, he was so excited.  And then I told him that he can't feel it yet.  He looked so dejected. 

So far I am really the only one experiencing the pregnancy, which is normal I know.  But he wants so much to be a part of it, and that is such an endearing characteristic.  He tells me that he wants to know how I'm feeling and when I feel movement.  Last week at the beach I had this weird tightening in my stomach on the one side and I didn't know what it was.  Mike's mom told me it was the baby, which was pretty cool.  Then later that night Mike asked me to describe exactly what it felt like. 

I know that everyone says the woman becomes a mom the day she gets pregnant and the man becomes a dad the day the baby is born (or the day you take the baby home depending on who you ask ;)).  I guess that's the truth because I've had to change my diet and my habits, and not drink alcohol or too much caffeine, and watch which meds I take.  I've felt the cramping, the nausea, the fatigue, the dizziness, the abdominal stretching, and now the movement.  He's changed... nothing.  He's felt....nothing.  I can understand why he feels a little left out of the whole pregnancy thing.  But soon enough he'll be able to feel the baby move too, and then soon after that he'll be able to hold our baby, live and in person!  Then he'll understand. 

Sleeping in in Seattle

Mike and I got back last night from an awesome trip to Seattle!  He had a conference there and we went for 6 days and also classified it as our "babymoon", meaning our last official vacation with just the two of us before the baby comes.  A few of our other friends went out too and we all loved the city!

It was such a relaxing vacation, which is just what I've been needing after how hectic my schedule has been lately.  We slept in until between 8 and 9 every day (which is west coast time mind you, so it's like sleeping until 11 or 12 here!) and then we'd find a great place to get breakfast and some Seattle coffee (I made my mind up that I wasn't gonna have any Starbucks while I was there, just other local coffee).

Mike drinking coffee at one of our favorite breakfast places, Lola.  He became quite the little coffee drinker on this trip and he loved himself some Tully's coffee.  Some other great Seattle coffees that we tried were Stumptown and Cafe Vita.

 My pancakes were to die for and these little gems were ahhhmaaazing....

Yes, these are homemade donuts with a honey and a vanilla spread and they tasted even better than they look.

My other favorite breakfast place.

Those juices were fresh squeezed and delicious!  My was on the left and had oranges, pineapple, and pear.  Mike's had strawberry, pineapple, apple, and banana.  They had Cafe Vita coffee at this joint and my latte was yummy.  So was my actual breakfast (Belgian waffle) by the way.

So anyway, after breakfast Mike would occasionally do conference stuff and I would go shopping.  Let me just tell you that the shopping in downtown Seattle is amazing!  I guess it's a good thing that I'm pregnant, because I couldn't really buy any clothes (but don't worry, I found 2 maternity stores).  However, what I failed to purchase in clothing, I more than made up for in accessories.  Let's see....I got a large brown leather purse to use as a carry on, a gym bag, and a cashmere scarf at Nordstrom Rack.  I got cute flats and a gray leather purse at Aldo.  Some jewelry at Francesca's.  Three books at Barnes and Noble.  And some maternity bras (which are more of a necessity at this point as my regular bras are getting uncomfortable) and a maternity shirt from the maternity stores.  Whew.  All of this and I still had to literally force myself to go back to the hotel.  I could've gone on and on.  Shopping for me is a hit or miss.  Sometimes I want to shop and I don't like anything anywhere.  Other times....well, this is the result of the other times.

Unfortunately my checked bag is still MIA from Seattle and it has a lot of my new stuff in it, so I am feeling some anxiety at this point.  The airline said it would be delivered to my house today, but it has yet to show up and I have been waiting patiently(?) allllll day.  Every car that drives by causes me to run and look out the window only to have my hopes shattered again.  Oh well, as long as I get it back at some point I guess.

We went to some great places for dinner in Seattle.  On the first night we went to Elliott's and had some delicious Seafood right on the water at Elliott Bay.

They are famous for their Dungeness crab and Mike decided to try it out and loved it.

Mike's friend from school (across from me) happened to have a high school acquaintance that lives in Seattle so he suggested this place for dinner and then he took us around for a personal tour of Seattle.  It was a great way to see the city!

A great lookout point he took us to for a view of the city.  Of course, this picture doesn't do it any justice, but it was beautiful, take my word for it.

There were two drawbacks to going to Seattle pregnant.  One: I couldn't partake in as much coffee consumption as I would've liked, and two: I could partake in any of the alcohol consumption.  Mike and his friends went IPA wild in Seattle, like at this bar for example, which had 160 beers on tap!

We went down to Pike Place Market a few times too, which is the famous one in Seattle where they throw the fish.  It was so cool to see and they had a lot of great looking stuff at that market.  The flowers were so gorgeous and vibrant, and cheap!  You could get a really nice bunch for $5!  All of the produce looked amazing as well.

Random crazy bike that was parked down at the market one day.

So we're strolling down Post Alley on our way to Pike Place and what do we see but this gum wall!  Apparently it's famous and I've never heard of it, we just happened to stumble upon it in our travels!  And yes, I did add my current piece of gum to the wall.

The world famous fish throwing place

This sign was right inside the market by the fish place.

Note that the weather looks pretty dreary in some of these pics, but it didn't really bother us.  It drizzled a little bit on about half of the days, but it never really "rained" and it was great to get a break from the 100 degree weather down here.  Most days were in the 60's or low 70's.  Heavenly.

Mike and I down at the Market while he was chatting with my mom.  This day was his 31st birthday!!

We also did an underground tour in Seattle which was just OK.  Downtown Seattle burnt down a long time ago and they built the new city one story on top of the old city, so we got to take a little underground tour and see parts of the old city.  It had the potential to be cool, but our tour guide was wacko, I almost fainted (more on that later), and like Mike said "I'm from PA, I've seen grungy basements before".  

So yeah, we're down there in the basement type thing and I start feeling that all too familiar sensation coming on.  I used to pass out fairly frequently, so I can feel it coming a mile away.  I grab Mike's arm, which he doesn't notice until I'm really digging into it, at which point he whips around and says "WHAT?"  Then he takes one look at my pale face and is like "Oh no, what's wrong with you?".  So I move to the back of the group, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible and kneel down and put my head down.  Kinda hard to be inconspicuous when you're doing that in a disgusting old dirty basement in front of a group of 30 people.  That helped though, thank goodness.  So I didn't actually pass out, but I did draw attention to myself (my worst nightmare) from the tour guide and probably everyone else.  Soooo embarrassing.  So for the rest of the tour I couldn't really pay attention because I was trying so hard not to pass out.  I skipped lunch that day because I was out and about and it was about 5PM by this point, so lesson learned.  Pregnancy and skipping meals do not mix.  I think that was the first time I've skipped a meal since becoming pregnant, and it'll definitely be the last.

We also went to a Seattle Mariners game one of the nights.  Going to a pro baseball game is a ritual for Mike and his friends at these conferences.  He went to one in Cleveland, Denver, and now Seattle.

View of the city from one side of the field

View of the Olympic Mountains from the other side of the field

Then, on our last day Mike and I went out to the Space Needle for a really awesome view of the city.  It was the nicest day we had so far, so the perfect day to go up there.

Mike facing West Seattle and the Olympic Mountains on the other side of the Puget Sound. 

 Side note:  I was wearing my PSU sweatshirt one day and our waiter said to me, "So, you're from around here huh?".  I laughed, thinking he was joking and told him my sweatshirt stood for Penn State.  He then laughed and said there is a college out there called the Puget Sound University, which they call PSU.  I never knew there was another PSU in this country!  So then I continued wearing that sweatshirt everywhere so that everyone would think I was a local.  Haha!

Cool view of the city with Mount Rainier in the background to the left

View of the city and you can see the stadium where we were the night before by my left ear

See, I told you we had a gorgeous day!

I got a pic of our hotel too, just to remember it because it was amazing. 

The Olive 8 (conveniently located at 8th and Olive Streets) is Seattle's "greenest" hotel and had lots of cool features like a huge green area on the roof to prevent rainwater runoff and save money on heating and cooling.  The rooms also had a slot for your key card which is what turned on your lights.  Then when you left the room and took your key, the lights would shut off.  Pretty cool huh?  There was an amazing pool, gym, and spa in the hotel too, all of which I utilized!  I got a "mommy to be" massage which was outstanding.  I would definitely stay in this hotel again and recommend it to anyone else going out to Seattle.

So that's about it for my barrage of pictures and stories from this trip.  We really had such a relaxing time.  No schedules to follow, just got up when we wanted to and played the days by ear.  I really, really loved that about this vacation, and it was a "babymoon" to remember!

P.S.  I just got a call that my bag is on its way!  Yay!

Bridal Shower Weekend!

I just got back from a long weekend in Philly for my sister's bridal shower and I have to say, it went really well!  The bridesmaids and I pulled it off, with the help of my family who contributed some side dishes and helped run errands.  It was a great day and Tina had lots of friends and family there for her, which was awesome!

I headed up to PA on Thursday and Tina and I ate at Bertucci's (yum!) and then went shopping and found the cute purple dress she wore to her shower.

Then on Friday morning the weather was gorgeous, so I decided to head out for a leisurely walk/run.  I have to say that I felt pretty good.  Granted I was basking in the fact that it wasn't 95 degrees by 10 AM like it is in NC right now.  So, I went out for a total of 30 minutes and I probably ran a total of 10 minutes and walked 20, but it still felt good to get out there again.  I wore my HR monitor and kept my HR between 130 and 150 the whole time.

Then, I got brave and finally took my belly button ring out.  Yes, it was harder than I thought (both physically and mentally).  I never really thought of myself as attached to my belly button ring, and I always said that I would just leave it in until I got pregnant, but I discovered that I was oddly attached to that thing.  I mean, I've had it for 11 years!  I kind of felt like it was a symbol of my youth or something and that made it hard to part with.  I even made Tina take pictures to document the occasion.

Before

After

Let me tell you, getting this sucker out was no easy feat!  I thought I would just pry it open with my fingers and pull it out.  Oh no, it was on there tight.  My friend texted me and said to try pliers. ...PLIERS???  That seemed extreme, but turns out, that's what I needed to do.  Tina and I were both hunched over my belly button trying to tag team this whole pliers idea.  And, finally, we got it.

Whew, glad that is over with.  Bye bye cute belly button ring....hello pregnant belly!

Friday evening Tina and I headed to a bridal expo, at which she was a vendor.  It was a pretty cool set-up and my sister had a nice little table at the expo, so hopefully she'll get some business from it.  The only problem was that a lot of brides that go to these expos already have their photographer.  But some didn't, so we'll see how many inquiries she gets.

Tina's old college roommate flew in from Ohio Friday night and we hung out and just chilled all day Saturday, then out for dinner with a bunch of her friends at a cute little Mexican place on Saturday night.

Sunday was......the bridal shower!!!  Though the morning was stressful with the setting up, getting the balloons blown up, Mom getting lost on the way to pick up the food, etc, it was all worth it in the end.  My friend helped us decorate (because we all know how inept I am in that department), one of Tina's friends brought flowers, and everyone chipped in with the food.  Despite the fact that all of us bridesmaids are living in different cities (and I'm in a different state!), we pulled it off and everyone had a great time!  Whew!  Here are some pics from the day:

The food spread

Close up of the cake.  Awesome, right??!

The Bride (mimosa in hand)!

The Bride in her official chair of the day

Bridal bouquet

Outdoor decor

Close up of the gorgeous flowers that one of her friends brought (yes, she is a florist)

Me and my sister...The Bride!

Bride and Groom!

All in all, a great bridal shower and a great overall weekend with my favorite sister.  We discussed our future plans of living next door to each other (like we always do when we get together), and who knows, maybe someday we really will!  I do know that I love my sister a lot and I miss being able to see her all the time.  We'll see what the future holds....Hershey anyone??

A little pregnancy side note: I cringe when I say this for fear of jinxing myself, but the nausea is gone!!  Gone gone, like I wasn't nauseous at all this weekend!  Hopefully it won't creep back into my life, but for now, I am feeling good (if not still a little tired)!

Also, I had looked up that AFP lab test that I was gonna get drawn today while I was at my sister's, and I found out that it is elective, not standard.  I then decided I probably wouldn't do it because it would cost extra and I'm not high risk.  But then, I went to the Ob today to pick up my prenatal vitamin samples and they told me that most insurances cover it and I felt like maybe I should do it.  So I wandered over to the lab next door and had my blood drawn.  Now I just have to wait for the results....and the bill. 

It's gonna be a really busy next few weeks, as I am working the next three days and then flying to Seattle Friday morning.  Getting back from Seattle next Thursday night, then working Friday and Saturday.  Heading to the beach with Mike's fam Sunday morning, getting back Tuesday night, and then working Wed, Thurs, and Fri.  Sooooo, it may be awhile before my next post.  But I haven't abandoned you, my little blog.  Life just gets in the way sometimes :)