My back aches, my skirt's too tight....

"How are you feel?"  Is a question I get a lot!  I usually say "fine" to spare the nice person from knowing my real feelings (and their thoughts of me not being grateful of my pregnancy).  However, I do feel like saying well "my back aches, my skirt's to tight, my booty (now bigger booty and belly) shakes from left to right."

I am truly grateful to be pregnant and know this weight gain is for a wonderful cause (Nick has been great with his encouragment with this; he know my fear of weight), but it does come along with feeling fat.  I don't yet have that "cute" baby bump, but I have gained 5 lbs.  Some of you may be thinking, "5lbs...big deal."  However, I am 5'2'' (on a good day...in heels).  5 lbs on me is 10lbs on a tall person.  I have retired some of my "regular" clothes.  In fact, the outfit I wore here was officially retired on Monday until the winter (too tight..yikes!). 

The only way I know to compare it is...do you know how you feel after eating a big buffet dinner?  You know how you un-do your pants on the ride home to give your belly some room (you know you do it!)?  Well, that is how I feel now, but all day in my regular clothes (I switched over to the trusty leggings today!...Work appropriate? Not sure.). 

My weight gain has been in my mid-section and thighs, so pants are where I feel it the most.  Dr. Villers said a 5 lb weight gain is fine at this stage (15 weeks).  She said that she usually doesn't mind if her patients gain 15 lbs by week 20.  She said with a normal pregnancy, one should expect to gain around 30 lbs total.  I asked her if she would tell me if she thought I was gaining too much.  She said "yes," which makes me feel great.  I like for someone to hold me accountable, and also not let me get too far gone.  She said that 30lbs is a reasonable amount of weight to still be healthy to deliver and manage postpartum when trying to work off that baby weight. 


*For those who are confused by the title, I was a little league cheerleader in my day (it stopped after little league).  The title is part of a cheer we used to do-" My back aches, my skirt's too tight, my booty shakes from left to right, say OOH, AHUH we got that spirit, we do....say OOH, AHUH we got that spirit, we do!

Is it safe to ice-skate while pregnant?

It was raining on Sunday, so we were not able to make it out to the Flowertown Festival in Summerville, SC this weekend.  We didn't want to be stuck inside all day, so we decided to go ice-skating!  I am glad I didn't "goggle" is it safe to go ice-skating while pregnant because this among other things came up telling me how unsafe it is.  Of course, an expert is not going to get on Babycenter.com and tell you "sure...break a leg...get out there!" But honestly, if you "goggle" to see if any activity is safe while pregnant, you will be sitting on your *tushy* for the next 7 months eating ice cream sundaes!

This is where I think us, pregnant ladies, just have to make good judgment.  You know yourself (cluts level), and you know that you aren't going to go out there and use the ice rink like a "slip and slide" as we did when we were kids!

I had business to take care of on Sunday.  I have high expectations for our little one, so we have to start him/her out young (14 weeks gestation).  We are training the next Olympian after all.  We're thinking we'll have the next Apolo Ohno or Dorothy Hamill after our ice skating adventure!

We had tons of fun at the Carolina Ice Palace.  Nick fell down a few times, but he pushed himself to the limits and wasn't scared to fall.  I slowly went around dodging all the little kids with the "ice-skating walkers."

This "sport" really gets the heart rate up.  Since it is 57 degrees in there, I didn't realize I was getting some exercise, as I wasn't sweating.  We took a break, and I could feel my heart was pounding!

For those who know me from Soirées & Shenanigans, you know I didn't go there without a coupon!  Click here to get free skate rentals. 


**Reader Footnote: I felt comfortable going ice-skating this weekend, but I'll have to see in future weeks, as I know my balance will be off with the baby bump.  I'm going to use good judgement each time before putting on a pair of skates.  However, I'm not going to be that person that sits at home and does nothing!

Update: Second OB visit

This is week 15 of my pregnancy, so it was still too early to tell what the baby's sex (darn it!).  At my next appointment (April 30th), they will do another 4D ultrasound and will be able to tell the sex then.  April 30th seems like a long way off, but I am sure it will be here before we know it.

I'm including links to 3 videos taken during this visit.  Videos 1 and 3 are 6-7 minutes long, so grab a bag of popcorn before watching!

The visit was very good all and all!  Our baby still progressing as it should, and everything looks normal. 

Reviewing my list of questions (See Here)



2D ultrasound (Doppler) to check on the baby (check out the difference between this video and the 12 week 4D video...4D really makes a difference!).  Heart rate has slowed from the 170's to 158, which is normal to slow down a bit.  As with the last ultrasound, our baby had its legs crossed again!!



Follow up questions with Dr. Villers and after-visit chat.

Second OB visit

Good Morning....stay tuned to the blog later today.  I have my second OB visit with Dr. Villers at 8:45.  I plan to Flip Video it, and maybe...just maybe we can take a look to see if we can find out the sex of the baby!! 

A few questions on my list so far:
-Headaches (I'm having a lot lately and don't like taking a lot of meds)
-Back Pain on my left side
-Weight gain (where should I expect it beside my belly....pants are fitting tight these days)
-Prenatal Vitamins (I have been taking Prenate Elite, but have Concept OB and Concept DNA samples.  Want to know which is better or if I should stick with the one I am on).
-What to expect next as far as appointments.
-Review bloodwork

Fashion Friday-Leggings

I am a HUGE fan of leggings!  I wasn't at first; it took some convincing for sure (Thanks to my friend, MM!!).  When trying leggings for the first time, make sure you complete the outfit.  Don't just go to the store and slip on a pair without a cute top. You must see it as an outfit.  I am sure if I would have only tried the leggings, I would have been completely "grossed out" at the way I looked and ripped them off (and never looked back).  These were my first "maternity" purchase.  Most leggings come one size fits all, so I am hopefully they will stretch to fit me at 9 months and look as good as they do at 14 weeks (time will tell...I'll keep you posted)!

Here are a few tops I think would be cute to pair with some leggings!

Click Here to view this Pea in the Pod Tunic

Click Here to view the Lavish Tunic by Heidi Klum

Click Here to view Loved By Heidi Klum Dropwaist Tunic

Lions, Tigers and DAYCARE oh my!

I've always heard "rumblings" about getting a child (especially the first) into daycare, but I never paid much attention (after all, that subject didn't pertain to me!). As you know, I found out I was pregnant at 9 weeks, and I really didn't tell anyone (other than those I just can't keep a secret) I was pregnant until 12 weeks.
As soon as I started telling people (especially those with small children), their response was "wow, congratulations; you need to look into daycare." I thought to myself, "are they serious; certainly it isn't a problem. I'm only 12 weeks along, and we don't need daycare right at 6 weeks" because Nick is going to keep our child until March 2011 (our time frame for child care is January 2011-March 2011 since Nick has a light schedule in the winter and would like to stay home with our little one).
Their comments got me thinking; then it got me stressed out! Especially when looking on the internet to find daycares in Charleston, none of these places have a website. We actually found the yellow pages to be the most helpful (talk about stepping back in time) and asking friends where they take their children (and where friends of friends go)!

After my First Trimester Screening appointment, we set out to tour a few daycares. We toured Ashley River Baptist Child Development Center (Savannah Hwy), Little Christian Day School (Wappoo Road), and Charleston Day School (South Windermere). All of these places had its pros and cons, but we would feel comfortable leaving our child at any of these places.

Ashley River Baptist ($160/ week with option of vaca week after 6 mos) is our first choice. We liked how clean the place was, the healthy lunches served, no TV (except for a treat), it comes highly recommend from friends and family, and most of all, the structure they provide (curriculum and schedule).
We put down our $25 deposit to be placed on the waiting list that 12-18 months long (WHAT?!?). Doing the math while sitting in the church office, didn't make me comfortable at all. 18 months from now is June 2011. Although that is our first choice, the director encouraged us to get on 2 other waiting lists.

Since Little Christian Day School ($140/week with no vaca week option) was our second choice, we decided to put down the $60 deposit (which guarantees us a spot anywhere from January-March 2011). We do like this program. Everyone seemed very friendly, the director was very involved with the children, overall the place seemed pretty clean, cheapest ($1,000 less/ year than ARB), and they serve breakfast and lunch to the kids. Some things that made it our second choice was the kids were watching a movie (because it was Friday...not a treat), their menu was not as healthy, and the children's curriculum didn't have structure until 4 years old.

We didn't put a deposit on Charleston Day School ($175/week) since Little Christian said our deposit guarantee us a spot. The ladies who run the newborn room were absolutely fantastic, and they change every child's diaper before letting them go home! We were most impressed with their newborn staff. What made it our third choice, was the location (busy area), the place seemed really dark and was the least clean (by no means was it filthy, so don't get me wrong. I would still leave my child there).

We did call Lutheran Church of the Redeemer's daycare, and their waiting list was so long, they weren't even taking names anymore. I was shocked by that since we weren't asking for daycare until March 2011. She informed me that she has babies that are due in October already on the list. I was thinking to myself "did these women test themselves everyday to see if they were pregnant?"
She did allow me to fill out a waiting list form for their daycare, but it came with no promises. She said she would follow up to let me know if I made it on the waiting list or not after they do their fall enrollment. I went ahead and filled it out since it didn't cost anything. The Lutheran Church would be the only other option if we made it on the list.

I feel pretty good about the daycares that we toured and am certainly glad that we didn't wait any longer to put our name on a list. "Lions, Tigers, and DAYCARES oh my!"

It ain't easy being queasy!

Confession-I stole this title from The Women's Speak Blog.  This blog has a lot of great women topics, so if you have a question, instead of "googling," try this source first (I did, and it worked)!

I am still struggling with this "Afternoon Sickness" (my equivalent to morning sickness).  A girl friend at work sent me to Dr. Jill Mauldin's (a follower of this blog, I may add!) post "It ain't easy being queasy!"

Here are some helpful hints I tried after reading, and it worked!
-Avoid fried!  I've been sick 3 times, and two of them was after (one during) eating fried foods.  I am now going to steer clear of anything fried. 

-Do not lie down for at least 2 hours after eating! After reading this, I thought, she is nuts, and thought to myself "who is going to do that?" Well, let me tell you...after 3 times in a row of getting sick in less than an hour yesterday, I thought I would try this trick to keep down some headache meds.  It worked!!!
The other common thread when I get sick is I get an awful headache.  Keeping down meds was my main motivation yesterday, and this helpful hint got me through it.

-Carbonated clear sodas are a good option!  This is what I used to take my headache meds.  I think a combo of sitting up and drinking some carbonated soda made me get over the "queasy" feeling!