24 Weeks, Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!  We had an amazing week with our families.  Here's a little recap of what's been going on:

In all honesty, other then the horrible nausea and fatigue during the first trimester, this pregnancy has been wonderful.  Of course there's a few complaints here and there of this or that, but I think I'm going to be one of those women who really misses being pregnant when the baby is born.  I love feeling the baby kick and bonding with the baby.  Hopefully this feeling isn't coming to an end...

The last couple of nights have been a bit more difficult trying to sleep.  I'm naturally a side/stomach sleeper.  I don't sleep completely on my side, nor completely on my stomach, but somewhere in between.  Well, I think that position is now out of the question.  The best way I think I can describe sleeping with a baby growing in my belly: at times it feels like I'm sleeping on a bag of tennis balls.  Okay, maybe not an entire bag, but at least one or two balls.  I've also noticed that the baby is so much more active at night, kicking and moving around like crazy.  When I'm awake during the day I always try to take a moment with the baby when it's moving around inside, connecting with him/her as much as possible; trying to decipher, "was that a foot kicking, or a hand punching?"  It's become somewhat of a habit.  So, when this is happening in the middle of the night, my hand immediately moves to my belly to connect with our little one.  Well, that's all fine if it's 2:00 in the afternoon, but a 2:00 in the morning it's a totally different story!  Needless to say, I'll be making some adjustments during my sleeping hours to try and get a full 8 hour in.

This week we are at 24 weeks.  Baby is the size of a cantaloupe, the skin is becoming less translucent and more hair is growing on the head.  I had a doctor's appointment the day before Christmas and since Jeremy was working, my mom came to my appointment with me.  I had to do a Glucose Tolerance Test to test for gestational diabetes.  I've heard and read horror stories about how absolutely horrible the drink tastes.  Honestly, it tastes like flat orange soda.  Not so bad.  An hour after I drank it, they took 4 vials of my blood and will be calling me back with the results within the next week.

I loved having my mom there with me, she's such a great supporter.  My dad and grandma had planned on coming, but it didn't end up working out with the sequencing of the test during my appointment.  I'm planning on bringing my grandma to the next appointment though.  We saw the nurse practitioner who weighed me, measured the belly, and let us hear the baby's heartbeat.  I'm measuring at exactly 24 weeks and even though the belly looks big, I'm right on track with my weight.

Last thing to update on is our amazing time spent with our families during Christmas.  I feel like we spend so much time prepping for this day, and then it ends up going by in a flash.  Every Christmas Eve we spend it at my grandmother's house with my family.  This year we went over to Jeremy's parent's house a few days after Christmas.  This is such an amazing time in my life, and very selfishly I absolutely love it.  I can't get enough of the attention and love everyone has for Jeremy and I.  I know once the baby is here, all of that will shift on over to the baby, so while I'm pregnant I'm trying to take full advantage of this!

Christmas at the Bowden's

Christmas at the Rials.  Loved our homemade gifts from Texas and Mike LOVED his Bug-A-Salt!

One of the most wonderful gifts I received this Christmas was a spa evening with my mom.  She got us both massages at Dolce Salon and Spa in Chandler.  How have I waited so long to get a prenatal massage?!?!  It was absolutely amazing, but went by entirely too quickly.  I'm sure you're wondering how on earth does a pregnant woman get a massage?  Well, she started me out on my back, raising the head and foot of the massage table to allow me to get into a very comfortable position, putting pillows all around me to make me as comfortable as possible.  She massaged my neck, then arms and hands, and finally legs and feet.  She evened out the table surface and had me move to my left side, again surrounding me with pillows, and worked on my back.  There were definitely a few spots that were quite tender, especially my low back and hips.  I tried to drink a ton of water after, but was still a bit sore the next day, which was to be expected.  Think I'll have to work this into my schedule at least once a month until baby is here!  I also can't wait to sleep with my Bump Nest Melissa gave me!!!  Hopefully it'll bring me some relief.

All in all we had an absolutely amazing holiday week with our families and couldn't ask for more.  We were completely spoiled, not only with goodies, but with love as well.  See you all next week!

23 Weeks Pregnancy Update

We are at 23 Weeks!  Next week will be the 6 month mark, I can't believe it (I think I say that in every post)!  As you can see baby Rials is measuring in at about 12 inches long.  Not only can baby hear me, he/she can now hear loud noises outside my belly.  The baby's eyes have formed, although their is no pigmentation.  The baby is continuing to move A LOT and my sisters-in-law were both able to feel the baby kick today; although for some reason, whenever my mother-in-law attempted to feel the baby kick there was no movement.

I'm  feeling great.  I've exercised 5 out of 7 days this week.  Jeremy has even gone on a few walks with me, our longest being nearly 3 and a half miles.  My prenatal yoga workout was probably my favorite.  It has a lot to do with connecting with the baby and becoming more in-tune with yourself.  It was nice to step away from everything, and just concentrate on me and the baby for a little while.  I also realized how much flexibility I've lost since becoming pregnant.  I definitely want to continue this in the weeks and months to come.

I have another doctor's appointment coming up this week.  They will be doing a Glucose Tolerance Test which is a one-hour test that screens for gestational diabetes. Most practitioners routinely screen all pregnant women for gestational diabetes.  First, they have you drink a special glucose (sugar) mixture, then you sit and wait.  Exactly one hour later, they'll draw my blood and tested for glucose.  Jeremy will be working, so my mom will be accompanying me to the appointment.

We also had some fun this weekend.  We went to my best friend and her fiance's Christmas party.  Everyone was going to dress up a bit and I had absolutely NO idea what I was going to wear.  Erin actually gave me these maternity pants from J Crew and I LOVE them!  If I could afford it, that's where I would get all my maternity pants from.  I ended up going with a top from Francesca's that still somewhat fit, and a pair of heels.  Pregnant in heels is no joke people!  I did alright in them though (at least I think so anyway).

 

Jeremy and I kissing under the mistletoe

22 Weeks and our 5th Annual Christmas PJ Party and Beer Exchange

First, I get to brag about myself a little bit :)

My first semester back in school went REALLY well!  I ended with a 4.0 and have submitted my application to the Honors Program.  I couldn't be more proud of myself!  I worked extremely hard this fall, and the payoff has been sweet.

Okay, on to the weekend.  We host a yearly Christmas party, and instead of having everyone wear ugly Christmas sweaters, we decided to be different and go with a pajama party theme.  It's great to see every one's style and how they interpret it.  We had Batman make an appearance, and a sock monkey footed pajama as well.

In addition to the pajama party theme, we also do a beer exchange.  This is kind of like a white elephant exchange, but every guest has to bring one bottle of wrapped beer.  Total Wine has a great selection of craft beer, and during the holiday season there are some great new beers that come out such as Bad Santa, Lump of Coal, and this year Rogue's Voodoo Doughnut beer was a BIG hit!

 I've also included some pictures of our decorations around the house, our beautiful tree we chopped down from up North all decorated, and our amazing friends.  It was a great turnout this year with many new faces making an appearance.  We love this tradition and hope to continue it for many years to come.

Our signature cocktail is a home made spiked apple cider.  We used all natural apple juice and put that in the crock pot with some cinnamon sticks, a sachet of cloves, and sliced oranges.  To add a kick, we stir in Captain Morgan Spiced Rum.

We added a few new ornaments this year including some ASU themed and a boomerang from our honeymoon to Australia.  Here's a closeup:

 Last but not least, here we are at week 22.  As you can see baby is weighing in at one pound.  This little baby is growing! 

Pregnancy dreams are in coming in full force.  The latest this week was a dream I had about Jeremy and I going camping.  I wasn't pregnant and it was during the early summer months.  We were up north in the desert/forest trying to find our campsite.  But we got lost along the way.  Suddenly we came upon a group, it was a J Crew photo shoot for their upcoming summer catalog.  I got out to ask for directions and they couldn't be happier to see me!  They said they were down a model and needed me to fill in, threw me a bikini and told me to try it on.  Of course it fit, and the director proceeded to "teach" me how to model for this shoot.

I mean WOW, right?!

Other then the dreams, no other symptoms or cravings to report.  My low back has been a little sore, but I think it's more from prepping for the party then the pregnancy.  Baby is continuing to move and kick a lot.  I absolutely love feeling this little one inside me.  I've found that if I drink and ice cold glass of water and lay flat on my back I can usually coax the baby into some kicks.

My goal for the week is to get moving more!  Jeremy and I went on a walk last night to look at all of the Christmas lights around our neighborhood.  It was so nice to be outside and spend some time with just the hubby and I.  We made lots of plans along the way of things to add to our home next year.

I guess that about sums up the week.  Only 9 days until Christmas!  Boy did that sneak up on me.  We have about half of our shopping done, and fingers crossed I can get the rest knocked out this week with everything wrapped.  

See you all next week!

21 Weeks Pregnant

 We have hit 21 weeks!  I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going; I'm continuing to feel great and have been much more active this week.

We continued our tradition of going to northern Arizona to cut down our Christmas tree with our good friends Mike and Tanya Byrne.  There was much more mud and snow then we expected there to be!  Jeremy's jeep was completely covered in mud by the time we left, he loved it!  After we found our perfect trees we continue the tradition with dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant in Payson. I'll post pictures next week of our tree and home decorated for our annual Christmas party.

Baby update:  kicking like crazy, and now other people are able to feel the kicks as well, which I absolutely love!  Goal this week:  eat better!!!  Other then that, everything is normal and going well.

The boys searching for the perfect tree

We found the perfect tree!

Mike found the perfect tree for him and Tanya

The guys hauling the trees back to the Jeep

Our trees on the roof of the dirty jeep

 We also went hiking this weekend.  What a difference in the weather, huh?!  Jeremy and I have been hiking and mountain biking the San Tan Mountains in the southeast valley for a couple of years now.  Between school work and life I haven't been to the mountain at all since becoming pregnant.  I was excited to finally head out for a morning in the fresh air.  We hiked a fairly hard uphill that kicked my butt!  Boy was it a lot harder then I thought it was going to be.  Jeremy was a trouper though, and took lots 

A little outtake from today's shoot for your pleasure :)

of breaks with me, allowing me to catch my breath as often as I needed.  We started out the hike in jackets, but I worked up a sweat and was peeling off my layers as the elevation increased.  We passed quite a few hikers who gave me very nice compliments, keeping my spirits high and focused on the prize...getting to the top!  Jeremy was able to take some beautiful pictures.




I also added a little gem, Jeremy though he was being funny with this outtake of me putting on some chapstick.

Thanksgiving, 20 weeks, halfway!

What a busy week and it's only Thursday!  Monday we hit the 20 week mark, halfway done!!!  I can't believe I"m already halfway through this pregnancy.  With school, work, and life, it's gone by in a flash.

We had a doctor's appointment Wednesday and got to meet another one of the doctor's in the practice.  At our first appointment they explained that we wouldn't have one single OB throughout the pregnancy.  Since there are 7 doctor's in the practice, and they won't know which doctor will be at the hospital or on call at the time I go into labor, they try to schedule every appointment with a different doctor so you can at least meet everyone.  At first I was uncomfortable with this idea.  How am i supposed to build a relationship with the person that will deliver my child if I'm seeing a different doctor every appointment?  But now that we've been able to meet a few of the doctors I'm much more comfortable with this situation.  Even the male doctors!  Everyone at Maricopa OBGYN has been so nice, supportive, and informative, not to mention how comfortable I am with the doctor's I've met so far.

Anyhow, we were able to hear baby's heartbeat.  I asked the dreaded questions, "Am I gaining too much weight???"  With the reply I expected to hear, but needed to hear, "every pregnancy is different and you're right on track."  (Enter HUGE sigh of relief)  He explained this happens a lot at this point in pregnancy because the baby belly really "pops" during this time.  This made me feel slightly better ;)

We also went to our 3rd and 4th Thanksgiving dinners today.  We start off the second weekend of November with our "Friendsgiving" then go down to Sierra Vista for Bowden Thanksgiving after that, and today, on actual Thanksgiving, we went to my in-laws at noon, and my extended family's for dinner at three.  To say we're full is an enormous understatement!

Next week back to working out and eating healthy!  Here are a few pics from the past few days:

Our past Thankfuls

Current Thankfuls

Jeremy setting up the turkey fryer

Boys in the kitchen

My in-laws

my beautiful sisters-in-law

Thanksgiving at the Lampignano's
(my aunt and uncle)

Week 19

Well....it's obviously been awhile.  I feel like this baby belly showed up out of nowhere!  The past month has been a roller coaster and I will do a blog update with all missed chalkboards later on in December when I have a chance to.  

This weekend we went down to Sierra Vista to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family (The Bowden's).  My parents were there, with Jeremy and I, and my brother Travis and his girlfriend Sam.  My mom had a funeral to attend Saturday morning, so Travis and I did the majority of the prep.  As dinner time quickly came upon us, I had a pregnant hormonal breakdown and cried in the bathroom with Jeremy.  Only one of many to come, I'm sure.  He calmed me down and we proceeded to have a wonderful dinner with my family.

My dad started a new tradition where he picks a poem to read at the start of dinner.  A little background, he is a published poet, and he was very excited to start this new tradition.  I'll have to update later with the title and author of the poem, but it was beautiful, and I loved looking around at the table at our family so intensely listening to his words.

School update: only two and a half weeks to go!!!  I'm so incredibly ready for a break, and have put A LOT of work into this semester.  I'm ready to start organizing this house to get ready for baby, shopping and decorating for Christmas, spending more time with family and friends, and catching up on some reading.

Baby update:  We have our 20 week check up this Wednesday.  I'm so curious to see what my stats are and hear the baby's heartbeat.  As of our last appointment, I had gained 10 pounds...we'll see what the scale says Wednesday.  I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little nervous!  We had an ultrasound two weeks ago, I'll post pics and an update on that wonderful experience in a few weeks.  Baby is the size of a Mango.  At the ultrasound the heartbeat was 160 (average is 150), only Jeremy knows if it's a boy or girl.  I'm still feeling like this little baby is a boy.  We have come up with quite a few girl names...but NO boy names.  Why is naming your child so difficult???  The baby is kicking and I can feel it almost every day.  The kicking continues to feel like bubbles popping to me, but more like bubble gum bubbles rather than bubbles from a bottle that kids blow (if that makes sense).  

Sorry again about my delay in posts, trying to get better at scheduling it in.  See you in a week!

Chalkboard art courtesy of Tanya Byrne

15 Week Pregnancy Update

Tonight is the last night of my 15th week.  Cannot believe tomorrow I will be 4 months pregnant!  I'm so anxious to get to the doctor.  We have an appointment on Wednesday and we'll get to hear the heartbeat again.  Not too much to report on other than that.  I've been feeling almost completely back to my usual self.  So much so that a couple of times this week I have completely forgotten I was pregnant!  Can you believe that?!  My headaches have almost completely gone away.  I've been on the verge of a headache a couple of times, but they haven't turned into really bad ones, which I'm so grateful for!  Nearly no round ligament pain this week.  Minimal heartburn, and not really craving anything special.

Onto baby...  Baby is the size of a baseball (or orange) this week.  I decided to go with baseball as the theme for the chalkboard, rather than orange, because the St. Louis Cardinals are in the World Series.  My dad is originally from St. Louis and is a pretty big fan.  I've even been to their stadium in St. Louis.  So I was pretty excited that I still fit in my Cardinals shirt to pose for the pic.  But by the end of the day, I felt like it was squeezing me to death! Hah.

No movement that I can feel yet, but I am DYING to feel this little babe move.  I'm just ready for another element to be introduced.  It's interesting to see the belly grow, but having movement will add another aspect of realism to the pregnancy.

Jeremy went hunting with a close friend this weekend.  I went down to visit with my family as my grandmother is very ill.  I'm definitely missing my girlfriends though.  We have this really fun "Friends-giving" Thanksgiving themed potluck with our friends every year a couple weeks before the actual Thanksgiving, and I can't wait to see all of our close friends.  Jeremy and I fry a turkey and Jeremy has brewed his Pumpkin Beer for the party as well.  I'll post pics and recipes as the party gets closer.

Guess that's it for now.  See you all in a wee...

14 Week Pregnancy update

Today is the last day of my 14th week.

I started working out again this week and am using a great DVD Program.  It's Tracy Anderson's The Pregnancy Project.  It's only $12 on Amazon right now and includes 9 DVD's!  I haven't done a single squat or lunge and my glutes and hamstrings are so sore!!  Definitely recommend this series if you don't have a gym membership, like working out at home, have minimal space, and don't need a ton of instruction.  She's not the best at explaining some of the exercises, but you can see her do them herself, and you have the option to eliminate her voice and just play the music if you choose.  I did purchase two 3 pound weights from target and in addition use my yoga mat and dining room chair for some of the exercises.  I had a workout partner with me this week:




I'm definitely feeling better.  My nausea has almost completely subsided, although I've still been pretty exhausted at the end of the day.  Headaches are still around and haven't seemed to get much better.  I've continued to experience the round ligament pains, but they're infrequent.  My tail bone has also really started to hurt, and I haven't done anything to it that I can recall.  I'll have to see if that's also a pregnancy symptom.  I have been CRAVING bean burritos, it gets stuck in my brain and I can't think of anything else.  I would be perfectly happy eating a bean burrito for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  I almost forgot!...I also cut nearly 3 inches off my hair this week!  One of my good friends referred me to her hairstylist and I LOVE how it turned out!

Baby is the size of a lemon this week.  Approximate size is 3.4 inches and 1.5 ounces, which is almost double in weight since last week. Baby has the ability to suck his/her thumb and wiggle his/her toes.  We actually agreed on a baby girl's name this week (BIG VICTORY).  So we have one name on the list so far haha.  It's been pretty easy for me to come up with girl names, but I'm struggling with boy names!

This weekend we celebrated my Mother In Law's (MIL) birthday and I absolutely love the gifts we got her.  I heard a lot of good things about this book and thought it would be perfect for her:  Funny, You Don't Look Like A Grandmother.  I'm also a huge fan of ETSY and love buying personalized gifts from here.  We purchased this personalized wooden sign for her as well.



Well that sums up the week.  If everything goes as planned my mom will be coming up this coming weekend and we'll do a little maternity clothes shopping (I'm struggling to get into my non-pregnant clothes right now!)  See you all in a week!

13 Weeks

We are in week 13 and the last day of the first trimester.  Tomorrow will be the start of the Second Trimester!!!  Can't believe we are one third of the way complete.

It's been a busy week, I had two essays and two exams on top of all of my other assignments this week, in addition to working.  I'm continuing to struggle with headaches, and am not finding much relief in anything.  I've read that headaches can be caused from surging hormones, drops in blood sugar, increased blood volume and circulation, stress, lack of sleep, and even dehydration.  So I've been trying really hard to eat consistently, constantly drinking water, and starting back into exercising to decrease my stress.  But fingers crossed, they also say that they should stop during the second trimester.

 I've also been experiencing "round ligament pain."  During pregnancy, the uterus expands from about the size of an apple to the size of a watermelon.  The ligaments that surround and support the uterus and connect it to your groin are collectively called the round ligaments.  These need to stretch and thicken to accommodate that change, and it can hurt!  They're sharp pains in my lower abdomen/hip area when I move to quickly, go from sitting to standing, coughing, or laughing.

Other then that, I'm feeling good.  I've been craving grilled cheese and bean burritos this week (separately, not together).  I also took my belly button ring out this week, it was visibly sticking out from shirts and looked odd, so it had to go...and do people still have their belly button's pierced??  My sense of smell is absolutely ridiculous.  I could smell my professors breath from 20 feet away (that class is in a lecture hall), and I could smell the city paving a road 3 miles away.  Jeremy has had to throw the trash out almost on a daily basis; if he doesn't, I can't even enter the kitchen without dry heaving.

As you can see in the picture, the baby is the size of a peach, has vocal chords and finger prints.  The baby is about 3 inches long and weighs .8 oz.

That sums up the week.  Here are a few pictures from over the weekend from decorating the front yard for Halloween: