Preggo But I’m Still Doin’ Moves Like Beyonce

If you haven’t seen the baby mama dance, you can check it out at the end of this post (this is where the post title came from btw)! In case you missed it in my last post, yes, I am indeed pregnant with baby number FOUR! Wow, that sure sounds like craziness sometimes when I say it. I know I personally love to read about women’s pregnancies, so I decided I want to share a little bit about mine! Details:
  • Estimated Due Date: August 10, 2020. I am 17.5 weeks pregnant. Fact: all of my boys have made their presence 2-4 weeks early. Also, I have been uber pregnant in the summer for all of them so this will be nothing new! Thank God for AC.
  • I am feeling pretty darn great, all things considered. Minimal symptoms. Energy is starting to come back again. It’s hard to say if I’m actually more tired in this pregnancy or if it’s just the fact that I have three little boys that I am keeping alive on a daily basis? Who knows! Anyway, my bedtime has been around 8:30 pm, wake up around 5 am.
 
  • My appetite is fab. Three meals, snacks, chugging water.
  • Cravings? Mostly healthy foods—salads, fruit, whole grains, cheese of some sort, but also some totally randoms. Enter: Blueberry Pop Tarts. I couldn’t get them out of my head, so finally after three weeks, I gave in and bought some. They taste as good as I remember from childhood. I ate a half a tart a day until the box was gone and enjoyed every single bite. In a perfect world I would have just made some from scratch at home but guess what? It’s not a perfect world! =)
Image result for blueberry pop tart
  • Feelings of content. I have always wondered how women know when it’s going to be their last pregnancy, their last baby. When I was pregnant with Blake I questioned this all of the time. Well, now that I am pregnant with number four, I most definitely know. This is it. This is the last one. I am trying to soak up this pregnancy with every ounce of my being. I am so excited to have an even numbered family! What a weirdo I know.
 
  • What do my boys think? Bode is 5.5 so he gets it and he is SO excited. Ben is 3.5 and kinda gets it but doesn’t really. He understands that Daniel Tiger’s mom had a baby so he kind of knows what’s going to happen. Blake (19 months) obviously has no clue.
 
  • Not finding out the gender. This girl loves a good surprise and although it’s going to be SO hard for me not to know, not to plan, we are not finding out the gender of this baby. We found out with the other three boys and I told Dana if we were to have a fourth, that it was going to be a surprise. Fourth and final = go big or go home. My little boys think it’s a girl. I can’t imagine that to be honest.
 
  • Planning for natural birth. I birthed all three boys naturally, unmedicated. They were all smooth deliveries minus they were all sunny side up so gave me excruciating back labor. The plan going in is unmedicated again however, I have done my pain management research and want to have that in my back pocket this time around. It will definitely be a game time decision. Also, I always go in to labor and deliveries with an open mind because you just never know what’s going to happen.
  What else do you want to know? I’m an open book for the most part so ask away!   As promised, the Baby Mama Dance with Shay Mitchell (I’m a Pretty Little Liars fan!)… *Beware, the song is super catchy!!  
Continue Reading Preggo But I’m Still Doin’ Moves Like Beyonce

My Pregnancy Must-Have Foods

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?

Continue Reading My Pregnancy Must-Have Foods

Pregnancy: Some of the Details

Hello! I am coming off of an insanely amazing weekend. Not only was it a long one, but we also got some super exciting news! More about that in a second.

First and foremost, I want to thank the incredible men and women who serve and protect our country and those who have served in the past. Thank you for your courage, strength, and dedication. Thank you for allowing us to live freely.

In case you may have missed it, I made an exciting announcement on Friday and then I left you all hanging and waiting for the details. It’s time I fill you in on the some of the details of my pregnancy.

When did we find out?

We found out just before we left for our vacation to London and Paris. I had a midwife appointment and I mentioned that there was a slight possibility that I could be pregnant. We both decided that it would be nice for me to know before going to Europe (not that this would change our travel plans) just so I could know to stay away from the champagne, unpasteurized cheeses, undercooked meats, etc. She sent me down to the lab to run a blood test and a few hours later we found out that sure enough we were pregnant!

This is something we have been wanting for a very long time so we were ecstatic to learn the news.

Finding food to eat in Europe was a bit challenging as they don’t pasteurize many of their milks and cheeses or juices. Also, we read that they don’t often wash their produce so I stayed clear of that in restaurants where I couldn’t go rinse it off. I don’t know if any of this is 100% accurate, but we didn’t want to take the risk. Of course we were also dealing with a bit of a language barrier. We learned how to ask for our meats well-done and of course skipped out on the champagne and wine. It was all good though! But I was very happy that I knew that I was pregnant so that I didn’t have to find out later and then worry about all of the things I ate or drank that I maybe shouldn’t have.

 

 

french onion soup

I allowed myself to eat the cheese only if I knew it was scorching hot!

How far along am I?

I am 16, almost 17 weeks. My estimated due date is November 7th/8th.

How have I been feeling?

I can honestly say that I am one of the lucky ones who hasn’t had to deal with morning sickness (knock on wood). I felt nauseous every once in a while in the first trimester but nothing that would send me running to the bathroom.

I was pretty fatigued in the first trimester and would be heading to bed around 8:30 on most nights.

How is my appetite? Any cravings or aversions?

This is a question I love to talk about because it’s food related, duh. In the first trimester, I feel like I could only eat small amounts before getting full. I was starting to notice that when I got hungry I really needed to eat stat. Towards the end of the first trimester and beginning of the second, my appetite went into high drive and I was hungry all of the time and was able to start eating normal sized meals again. Today, I find it best to eat smaller meals and then a few snacks. It sits best with my tummy. I feel my appetite has normalized a little bit, but I am still eating more than I was pre-pregnancy.

Cravings: I was talking to Dana about this one, because I wasn’t too sure if I was truly having any real “cravings.” But then he mentioned how I asked him to pick me up a bag of potato chips and how I had to go get myself a burger one night and then I remembered that yea, I have had a couple cravings. I just don’t get the cravings where I ABSOLUTELY MUST EAT the particular item or I will go crazy. Things just sound good to me and if I can eat them great, if not, that’s okay. I try to go with them because I feel like it’s my body telling me I need something. Chips= sodium. Burger = iron and protein. I have been wanting salty/spicy foods more so than sweet which is odd for me. I have been wanting more red meat than any other meat protein. Another strange one for me.

 

 

taco salad

Aversions: During the first trimester, the thought or smell of chili and coffee made me woozy. Also, chicken in general just wasn’t on my radar. I found that I had a hard time finding foods to eat that sounded or tasted good so often times we would make a meal, I would eat one bite and then have to go make something else because I couldn’t stomach it. Gluten-free pasta was pretty comforting to me. Annie’s mac n’ cheese came to my rescue a few times.

Since the first trimester I feel I am pretty much able to eat anything. My diet is more or less back to my pre-pregnancy diet with tons of fruits and veggies, almond milk, protein (red meat mostly, peanut butter, almond butter, cottage cheese, chicken, fish, beans), whole grains (I have been eating some gluten and seem to be tolerating it well, but still mostly sticking to gluten-free) like quinoa, brown rice tortillas, popcorn, oatmeal, etc. Larabars have been my go-to mid morning snack.

Will I be finding out the gender?

YES! I actually already know it! That’s what all the excitement was about this weekend. We hosted a get together with friends and family which included our gender reveal. We found out at the same time that all of our friends and family found out through a giant balloon popping. The excitement was off the charts! You will have to wait a bit to learn the gender. Any guesses?

moose gender reveal balloons gender reveal balloon

The answer was inside of this balloon!

The bump

I hadn’t decided if I was going to share this or not but I know that when I am reading pregnancy announcements and updates that I LOVE to see the sweet bump updates…soooooo. I am doing this for all of you.

baby bump week 16 pregnancy

I am adjusting to the changes in my body and accommodating my growing bod with elastic waistbands. I am still able to get into some of my normal jeans though! I have yet to purchase a single piece of maternity clothing. I was very fortunate to have a girlfriend who gave me a ton of maternity clothes! This just  means more money to spend on baby! 🙂

Rent the Runway decision

The reason I decided not to go with rent the runway for the upcoming wedding is because I wasn’t confident that the dresses would fit my growing belly. They were SO adorable but I just wasn’t comfortable with it. I have found two dresses since then and have two more to try on from a friend, so I should be set now.

Okay, that’s enough for now. I am so excited to share this excitement with all of you! I will check in from time to time with some more updates!

Gender guesses?! BOY OR GIRL??!

Continue Reading Pregnancy: Some of the Details