Feeling Good - Month 4

week 15

Sooooooo....I totally forgot to set my alarm last night after playing volleyball, then coming home and catching up on Amazing Race and Castle. Oops. I flew out of bed the minute Karl's alarm went off - an hour later than mine usually goes off. Any other week, and I wouldn't have been able to move as fast as I did. But I'm baaack. I'm feeling really good, though very tired. I'm going to try hitting up the gym this week too. I have an appointment with my trainer on Sunday. He says he has a good article on exercise and pregnancy for me to read.

Me at 15 weeks! Baby K is the size of an apple.

Friday I took off work but still got up at 6:00 a.m. so I could write most of the morning, which felt so great. I decided last minute to take the day off. I have some major revising to do that I've been putting off since I've been feeling so up and down. Then I got in my car and drove 4.5 hours to surprise my dad. He was meeting some friends for dinner with my mom, and I wanted to give him a big 60th b-day hug. I've been missing my parents a lot and my dad has been asking Karl if my belly is getting big. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to show him in person. I arrived as they were getting ready to sit. His face was priceless. Worth the drive. Everyone wanted to see my belly - unfortunately there's not much to show. I showed them and they were like..."where is it??" Still no big bump, and I'm okay with that. But after Karl took this picture of me, he said, "Oh yeah, you're definitely getting big." Thanks sweetie.

The weekend was a fun time to spend some alone time with my parents and talk about baby K and the future. My mom and I went shopping just to browse and check out all the baby stuff out there. Oh boy, did we have fun. It's so funny because I was so giddy about our wedding and my mom was just kind of all calm and chill. But now with the baby, she's the super giddy one and is all smiles and is picking out clothes and toys and ohhing and ahhing. It's so fun. We bought some "yellow" and "green" outfits that were totally adorable and had a real nice time. I can't wait to do that again!!! I now have some major researching to do on cribs, strollers, car seats and such. There are so many things out there.

And as of now Karl and I have planned not to find out what we're having. It'll make labor better, right? Ha!

New Cravings

• V8
• oranges

Crazy dreams

• Dreamt I had a boy - but he was autistic.
• Dreamt I was lost in a castle and burnt some random man's face off with a pot of soup.
• I've been dreaming of a lot of random men I have never met in my life. Most have dark hair, side burns and facial hair. All are screaming at me for some reason or another.
• Dreamt my grandpa asked my dad to put him down with a shot of poison and I had to watch (I woke up crying on that one).
• Dreamt a John Deere tractor took out my Mazda 6 and my cousin Rob jumped in and kept driving it into a tree over and over...
• Dreamt I stabbed my brother Mark in the crotch with a knife and then Karl and I were shot by machine guns.

Intuition
I feel like I have this crazy new level of intuition. Like I know things are going to happen before they happen. It's weird. Maybe it's all in my head, but so far the feeling I get inside hasn't let me down.

That's all I have for now but more to come.

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Doing too Much - Lesson Learned: Month 4

week 14

Welcome to the second trimester! This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb. Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him -- a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb. In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches -- about the size of a lemon -- and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces.

I'm throwing myself a party here....whoop whoop! Made it to second trimester!!! Hollaaaa!

It all started on Sunday. I decided since I spent most of Saturday relaxing (felt super guilty), minus the couple hours of playing disc golf with my cousin Rob and climbing all these crazy hills, I would go nutso with cleaning on Sunday. We're talking vacuuming three levels of house and stairs and scrubbing floors and four bathrooms, donating things we really don't need anymore and marching up and down the stairs. Then I remember that only a few work pants still fit me and it's time to check out maternity stores at the Mall of America before it's too late.

Motherhood Maternity
Has some super cute stuff, but was I ticked there were only a few talls in their jeans. Yes, they were around $30, which I thought was great, but the only talls were in large or extra smalls. I tried the larges on and was swimming. Maybe eventually I'll fill them out, but I'm hoping most of the weight goes to the belly.... I became frustrated, plus, nobody wanted to help me and I had no idea what I was doing, so I left.

Next stop New York and Company
My friend Wendy suggested checking out their comfy pants because they come in longs. I knew this since my whole wardrobe is from NY&Co, but I haven't seen any pants without buttons for awhile there - or maybe I just wasn't looking. I mean, I LOVE NY&Co but vowed I'd stay away since they don't sell maternity clothes and I'm mad that I can't pay my bills online (they don't like my password). But I walked in and scored big time.There in the tall section were three stretchy work pants that will last me at least a couple more months! YEAH!!! And they were 45% off. They are called the Hudson pant...they look all fancy but really...no buttons, no zippers...just comfort!!! Check em out! http://www.nyandcompany.com/nyco/browse/subcategory.jsp?categoryId=cat1300006

Next stop Gap
In the way back of Baby Gap is a maternity section. There were definitely some cute stuff and I found some jeans in long! I tried on the shirts first which all looked weird on me because I don't really have a belly yet. But I will be back once that time comes. The jeans were awesome and I bought them. BUT, they were $70 and I'm worried I could grow out of them IF I gain more weight in my thighs and butt, which is probably a given the way I've been eating (yes, I ate an entire Chipotle burrito). Karl's reaction to seeing the pants in the bag was priceless. "What the heck is that stretchy band??? Whoa!"

Next stop Old Navy
I was disappointed by the single wall of maternity clothes. There were no long pants, but there were some long sleeve shirts on sale that I bought three of. I was happy with my purchase.

By the end, I was wiped out and so hungry that I ate an entire foot long sub sandwich. Oops! Monday came and I woke up at 5:00 a.m. so I could have breakfast with my brother Mike, my lovely husband Karl and our favorite pastor, Vern. I don't remember the last time I woke up that early, but I actually felt pretty awake and it felt really great to catch up and have that time together. All our schedules are nuts, so it was just really nice. Have I mentioned how much I miss Vern?

Off to work I went and soon I was flying home to cook dinner so I could make it to the big annual association meeting for our town home. Shocking enough I cooked up some deer meat and it actually tasted really good. Shhhhh.

I'm a member at large and had to be at the association meeting (no getting out of this meeting this time). I get to the meeting, where my brother said he was pretty sure only a few people would show....but I'm thinking, we're raising our monthly dues to $40+ a month, I think there will be more than a few people. I won. Over 30 people showed. Still not enough for quorum, which makes me think we have a few too many renters in our little community. What a stressful meeting that was, and LONG. In the end I decided to resign! I felt weird doing it, like I'm stripping pieces of my identity away, but I really do need to pick the things that are most important to me right now. Time is so valuable and this body isn't as it used to be. And life is about to enter a whole new level of crazy. My head started pounding during the meeting and I realized I was going to play an hour of volleyball next, so I better suck it up.

Quarter to nine at night and I'm racing off to Eden Prairie next to play volleyball. At this point headache is out of control, my eyes are closing and basically I want to curl up on the court and fall asleep. No go. I play for an hour. We win two of the three games. Yeah!!! And I actually hit a ball really hard...really felt my stomach stretch on that one. I roll in to home close to 11 and dive into bed. Karl is still studying but I'm glad he's awake so I can kiss him to pieces.

Tuesday morning comes and I purposely sleep in an extra 45 minutes because I know it's going to be rough. Sorry work, but trust me...you want me awake. And boy, is my body and baby mad at me. I'm so not feeling good. But I survive and head off to Bible study after work. It's refreshing. There are new faces I want to get to know, but I'm too exhausted to ask questions and keep thinking about bed. Wednesday comes and I'm still incredibly wiped out, that I find myself nodding off at work and on the couch when I get home. But at the same time I'm getting super stressed about daycare and figuring out what we want to do. In my head I think things are going to work out, but from what I hear, I need to get my butt moving. I just don't know what to do.

Finally Thursday comes and I'm able to go on a nice long walk after work and decide to take today off (Friday) so I can get some writing done. I love writing. I need writing. So back to revising my book I go and chasing after my dream. It's what I want, but now I have this new mindset that maybe my time and plan is different than God's plan for me. I need to let the control go, but at the same time keep dreaming and trying. I can't give up. It's still going to happen (I feel it in my bones), but it might just take longer to get there. I know I don't have these feelings inside of me for kicks and giggles. They are there to push me and I need to listen to them. So writing here I come!!

More good stuff to come next post!!!

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Hearing the Heartbeat - Month 4

13 weeks

Fingerprints have formed on your baby's tiny fingertips, her veins and organs are clearly visible through her still-thin skin, and her body is starting to catch up with her head -- which makes up just a third of her body size now. If you're having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries. Your baby is almost 3 inches long (the size of a medium shrimp) and weighs nearly an ounce. As you start your second trimester, most of your baby's critical development will be completed and your odds of miscarriage drop considerably. (info found on babycenter.com)

We have now entered the beginning of month four!!! And once I hit week 14 (tomorrow), I will have made it to the beloved second trimester. Yeah!!! This is where I hear some, if not all, of the energy comes back and when I'll start to feel baby K kick...and things become a little more real. I can feel my energy sneaking in from time to time already. I can get out of bed in the morning with my cat-like speed like I used to (no more zombie walking to the bathroom and back and no more peanuts at 4:00 a.m.) I was able to create a website for my uncle on my free time, so that tells me I'm slowly coming back. I still need to get to my book writing, but at least I'm able to send out three AOL articles a week.

Tuesday we had the wonderful opportunity of hearing our baby's heartbeat. WOW. First, we decided on St. Francis hospital in Shakopee to deliver. We met with Dr. Druckman who delivered all two of my friend Jill's babies and the one baby she was a surrogate for. She had nothing but great things to say about him and she is right. We connected with Dr. D instantly and I especially liked him because he told me I was in wonderful shape. Yeah!  And he's funny. I guess I'm hungry for compliments now since I'm not used to growing out of my pants so fast.

I found out my blood pressure is great (90/60) and that I have gained 5 lbs total in my first 13 weeks. Phew. For some reason I thought it'd be a lot more. We had a few questions, especially about heart health since so many people in my family have issues. But he said because I am so healthy and I take such good care of myself, we have little to worry about. But he also suggested going to Methodist in St. Louis Park around 20 weeks to get a more serious heart test done. He also gave me the clearance to go back to running and doing stair stepper and whatever balls-out activity I did before I became pregnant. I swear this being healthy stuff is so so so important!!! This made me soooo happy. I miss my hard workouts because that is where my happy drug comes from!!! It's just finding the motivation to get to the gym that's been hard. Hoping that changes second trimester, but at the same time I do like having more time in the evenings to cook and get other things done. Working out sure eats up time.

Dr. D moved the little recorder around on my belly and before we knew it the room was filled with baby K's little heart pumping. I'm so mad we didn't record it, but maybe there will be a next time where we can do that. What a crazy, awesome sound. Still blows my mind that this little human is growing inside me. I'm having the hardest time wrapping my mind around it all. I know people have baby dreams, but that is one thing I haven't had. So strange. When I was planning for our wedding, I dreamt about that every single night. So why no baby dreams? Sometimes I even forget I'm pregnant and get really scared when I realize I am. Like...oh my God...this is happening! Are you ready for this Christie??? I guess I have to be now! Ha! I guess I feel like I should be planning more but we really haven't. But maybe more so around the holidays.

Doc said baby is sounding healthy!!! Next appointment is scheduled for November 9. We're still undecided if we're going to find out what we're having. We're kind of leaning towards no on this, but that seems to change every day.

Changes in body

• Jeans are really snug around waist.
• Sometimes I have NO control of what happens (was on a nice leisurely walk and was hit with baaad stomach pains. Without getting in too much detail, let's just say I had to call Karl to come pick me up)
• By the time Friday comes, I am exhausted by 4:30 and really want to go to sleep. It is also very easy to fall asleep around 9 every night.

Cravings
No new ones to report of. Just sticking with my healthy cravings I always have and hoping they last. I did buy a bottle of Olive Garden salad dressing so I could stop obsessing about eating there.

Advice
I've received great pieces of advice from a couple people so far:

1. Buy all your bigger items in unisex colors (stroller, crib, changing table, car seat, etc.). If you plan on having more than one kid. This pregnancy might be a boy, but the next one could be a girl. Unless you want to buy all new stuff again. Good point.
2. When you want baby to stop sucking on the nook, cut a piece off of it every few days, Pretty soon there will be nothing to suck and and baby/toddler won't want it anymore.

This week kicks off an insane week. Tomorrow Mike (my bro) and I are meeting up with Pastor Vern for breakfast at 6:30!!!! I sooooo miss him terribly and can't wait to see him. Then I have a full day of work. Then I have our association meeting for our town home and am scared for that since our dues are going up and I'm pretty sure nobody wants to hear that - I know we didn't. So I'll have to do what I can to keep the blood pressure down. Then I have volleyball at 9:15. It's going to be a long long day.

I have promised myself to really enjoy these next six months of relaxing as much as possible. Friends and family will always ask favors of me and I've come to terms with the fact that it's okay to say no because my life is about to become very chaotic. It already has with Karl being back in school. My household chores have doubled again since he can't get to any of his stuff. So that stinks. I just really need to decide what is important to me. I want to get as much rest and relaxation as I can right now because this is the only time I will be able to enjoy silence and sitting for a very long, long, long, long time. And for once, I'm kind of okay with it.

Today I'm hitting up the Mall of America in hopes of finding a few cute maternity outfits. I hear GAP, Old Navy and Motherhood are the places to go. I need pants for sure. I am still able to wear about five or six pairs, but every week the waist is getting tighter and more uncomfortable. We'll see what I come up with!! Pictures soon!

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Asparagus Bow-Tie Pasta

Thank you Kraft!

Asparagus Bow-Tie Pasta
serves 4
(recipe found on Kraft Foods.com)

2 cups farfalle (bow-tie pasta), uncooked. I used whatever was leftover in our cupboard.
1 lb. fresh asparagus spears, trimmed, cut into 1-inch lengths
1/2 cup halved orange pepper strips
1/4 cup julienne-cut oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, undrained
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh oregano
1 cup 2% Mike Shredded Italian Three Cheese Blend

1. Cook pasta in large saucepan as direct on box, omitting salt and adding asparagus to boiling water for the last 2 minutes. Drain.

2. Cook peppers and tomatoes in large skillet on medium-high heat 2 to 3 minutes or until crisp-tender, stirring frequently.

3. Add pasta mixture, broth, cream cheese and oregano to skillet; mix well. Cook and stir 5 minutes or until sauce is slightly thickened. Top with cheese; cook 2 to 3 minutes or until cheese begins to melt.

Karl's reaction: "Oh-la-la. I like this!"

My take: I totally forgot to add meat. Karl was a good sport about it though. I think this would be great with shrimp or chicken.

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Greek-Style Quesadillas

Bringing us back to Greece!

Greek-Style Quesadillas
serves 4
(recipe found in Better Homes and Garden online)

4 - 7 to 8 inch whole wheat flour tortillas
1 cup coarsely shredded purchased roasted chicken
1/2 feta cheese
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
1/4 cup chopped cucumber
1/4 cup grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise
1/4 cup kalamata olives, halved
2 tablespoons whole flat leaf (Italian) parsley leaves
1 tablespoon whole fresh oregano leaves
1/4 bottled Greek vinaigrette salad dressing

1. Coat one side of each tortilla with cooking spray. Place tortillas, sprayed sides down, on a cutting board or waxed paper. Sprinkle with chicken, feta cheese, red onion, cucumber, grape tomatoes, olives, parsely, and oregano. Drizzle with dressing. Fold tortillas in half, pressing gently.

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat for 1 minute. Cook quesadillas, two at a time, over medium heat for 4 to 6 minutes or until light brown, turning once. Remove quesadillas from skillet; place on baking sheets. Keep warm in a 300 degree F oven. Repeat.

Karl's reaction: "Not bad! These are good!"

My take: I was overly tired this day (thanks to pregnancy) so I didn't eat much, but it was very flavorful!



This is a real Greek meal in Santorini, Greece! SO GOOD!

And another...this is octopus! I promise it was good!

And our beloved gyros. Nothing compares to these....ever!



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Easy Lasagna

Easy Lasagna
serves 12
(recipe given to me by an old boss at Braun Intertec)

1 lb ground beef
1 8 oz container ricotta cheese
1 8 oz container cottage cheese
handful of fresh spinach
carton of mushrooms
1 16 oz jar spaghetti sauce
1 6 oz jar tomato sauce
fresh basil
9 lasagna noodles
1 lb mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese (grated)

1. Brown mean, drain off excess fat.

2. Add ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, tomato sauce and spaghetti sauce. Set aside.

3. Cook noodles in boiling, salted water. Grate mozzarella cheese. Rinse and cut spinach, basil and slice mushrooms. Put in bowl together.

4. Place half the noodles in 13x9x2 inch baking dish. Add half the sauce. Add half the veggies. Add half the mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers. Cover last layer with Parmesan cheese.

5. Bake at 350-375 about 30-45 minutes. Until hot and bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Karl's reaction - "Seems like there needs to be more red in here. Like it's missing sauce. But it still is good!"

My take - "I didn't add the tomato sauce because the recipe doesn't call for it, so that's why I added it. Definitely needs more red sauce, but it's easy to make and tastes great!"

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The Good News is Out - Month 3

week 12

The most dramatic development this week: Reflexes. Your baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, his toes will curl, his eye muscles will clench, and his mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if you prod your abdomen, your baby will squirm in response, although you won't be able to feel it. His intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into his abdominal cavity about now, and his kidneys will begin excreting urine into his bladder. From crown to rump, your baby-to-be is just over two inches long (about the size of a lime) and weighs half an ounce. (http://www.babycenter.com/)

Ahh, we can both breathe a sigh of relief now that our awesome news is out to the world. Boy, did we find out some cool stuff once we made that announcement. For one, a million of my friends are pregnant too!!!

• My BFF She-Dawg is due in February.
• My awesome hair stylist (and soon to be full-time stylist when I become a famous writer some day...he, he) is due February 16.
• My awesome friend Wendy is due in early March.
• Two great friends I played volleyball with at UW-Whitewater are due. One in April and one in May!
• My friend Amy is due in May.
• One of Karl's coworkers and my new cool friend is due TWO days after me!!!
• Am I missing someone? I feel like I am....

It's so much fun when you can share your pains, worries, concerns with someone else, especially new timers cuz it's like what the H is going on with me right now!? HA! I also love texting and emailing my friends who also just had babies because they are offering up tons of great advice.

New food cravings -

• Honeycrisp apples. I need at least one a day. Thank you University of Minnesota for coming up with the most delicious apples ever. I really need to send them a thank you letter. I think I'm going to do that!
• Olive Garden. I dream of the soup, salad and breadsticks. Going there tonight. Can't wait!

New things I've noticed -

• At week 12 I figured I'd be almost over the hump in the feeling bad department, but this week was actually kind of hard. The only thing I changed in my diet was I ran out of acidophilus vitamins, so I'm wondering if that's why I'm feeling more nauseous than usual? Nothing is coating my stomach.
• I eat...a lot and non-stop! How I'm not the size of a house yet, I do not know???
• I love pomegranates and they are making their comeback in October already...yee-yah!!!

Typical day of eating:

Breakfast -
One or two eggs for breakfast
One or two pieces of whole wheat toast.
Flaxseed and Nutella.
Grapefruit
Water. Lots of water

By the time I get into work, I'm starving.

Snack time begins
Greek yogurt (lots of protein).
Few minutes later I'm hungry again. (yes, I'm serious)
I have a banana
I eat a small baggie of walnuts
I get hungry again
I have string cheese

LUNCH time!
Usually leftovers from the night before. Bigger portions than normal (and I'm good until 3)

Snack time again!!!
My beloved honeycrisp apple

Dinner
Some healthy recipe and larger portions

Hoping I'll be okay! I haven't been that great with walking this week. Why? Welllll because I'm in bed by 7:15. What on earth!?!?!? I couldn't even hold my head up at the dinner table the other night. So messed up.

So work was super cool about the news, which made me feel like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders!! Very happy about this. They are willing to work with me and I'm willing to work with them. Yeah! Karl's work seemed very happy for him too! Phew, that worry is over with for now.

We were just so excited to get the response we did from family and friends. You guys are making this so much fun!!!!!

Questions I'm faced with:
1. Should we find out the sex of the baby?
2. Daycare? Nanny? In-house? A center? Akkkk!!! This is going to be so so so hard!!! I can't even imagine doing this!!!!

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