With only 5 weeks left until my due date I can't help but feel anxious, scared and excited all at the same time. I'm excited to meet this little girl that I've been carrying in my belly and excited to start our life with her, I'm anxious to know when she will make her arrival but I'm scared of what labor is going to be like and how much our life is going to change once she's here. I know these are all normal feelings but man is my mind going crazy these days. The past few nights I've had a hard time falling asleep because I have so many things running through my head. I start thinking about how labor is going to feel, wondering when during the day/night it will start and when will I'll know it's time to go to the hospital, will she be late, early or on time, will I end up with a c-section like my mom...oh so many questions. Then I start thinking about what kind of mom I'll be. Will everything just come naturally to me? How will I know how much and how often to feed her, change her diaper? How am I going to function once I have to go back to work having had very little sleep? The questions I have are endless but I guess that's what being a new mom is all about. You learn as you go and everything works out eventually, right? Regardless of how scared I am about everything right now I also cannot wait to be a mommy to this little girl. I feel like God has given me a little girl for so many reasons and one of those reasons being that I get to make up for everything my mom didn't do with and for me growing up. I'm not saying my mom was a "bad mom” because growing up I had everything I needed and more (although I give my dad credit for that), however, she was and still is very selfish. Her selfishness took away a lot of special moments for me and it also prevented us from having a close relationship of doing mother and daughter activities. I can honestly say I’ve never gotten a manicure/pedicure with my mom, never have had a spa day with my mom, I can’t even remember ever going to the movies with her or her taking me out to dinner just the two of us. I can say we went shopping a lot, but that was only because I begged my dad for new clothes and he would give her the credit card to take me shopping and then she would hardly let me pick out a whole lot and would buy herself a ton of new stuff. I never got a sex talk from her, nor could I talk to her about any of the boys I dated or was interested in, heck I couldn’t talk to her about anything. She attended my wedding but didn’t help plan it and wasn’t there until minutes before walking down the aisle. I can go on and on about all the things she didn’t do but really what good does that do me? All I know is that I’m going to do everything my mom didn’t do and more with my daughter. I want her to feel like she can come to me with anything. I want to build a relationship with her that I never had with my mom and take her to do all the things that make you feel girly and special. God is giving me the opportunity to make up for lost time and I can’t wait to be the mom I always wanted my mom to be. I need to start packing my hospital bags within these next few weeks. Any suggestions on some MUST bring items? I don't really have much of a birth plan. People think I'm crazy but I really want to go into this and enjoy the process rather than worry about something not going the way I planned or scaring myself half to death. I know I want to try and labor as much as I can at home where I'm most comfortable and then once the pain becomes unbearable on our way we go. I rather not be induced because I hear it makes labor ten times more painful but if it needs to be done then it needs to be done. If I need an epidural (which I'm sure I will) I WILL get an epidural. I've also prepared myself that I may end up with a c-section just like my mom and while that scares the crap out of me, so does a baby coming out vaginally LOL. That's about as far as my "birth plan" goes, pretty basic huh? Now that I’ve put all my thoughts out there, let’s carry on with my 35 week update. Only 2 weeks left until I’m full term and right about now this little one is doing a lot of growing She’s putting on about 1/2 a lb a week which explains why my stomach feels so incredibly heavy now and why my feet hurt super bad after standing for longer than 10 minutes. While pregnancy has been pretty easy for me I'm soooo ready to be done. I think I'm at the part of pregnancy where everyone says they are done and it's no longer as enjoyable as it once was. I felt GREAT until I hit 34 weeks and then slowly started feeling more tired, sore and uncomfortable. This week has been the most exhausting week I've had during my pregnancy. I feel completely drained, a little bit of swelling coming on, nauseous, sore and the pressure I'm feeling down below when standing is soooo uncomfortable. I'm now getting up to use the restroom twice during the middle of the night and I've had a few sleepless nights that really suck, especially when you have to work the next day. However, I've also had some really awesome nights of sleep like last night and the night before so you never know what you’re gonna get. I'm really looking forward to going on maternity leave so I can relax and nap more often and not feel so stressed because there is so much to do both at work and at home. I honestly feel a bit overwhelmed right now just thinking about all the needs to be done still. Speaking of maternity leave, I had my 34 week check-up last Thursday and my Dr. insists that I stay off my feet for long periods of time. She doesn't want me going into pre-term labor so she said I need to start resting as much as possible. She also wants me to start maternity leave next week, so October 4th will be my last day at work. I've gone back and forth on whether I want to take a whole month off before or work until two weeks before my due date, however, after talking to my doctor I've decided taking a month off (well actually 3 1/2 weeks) before my due date is best. I cannot wait until I'm officially on leave, I am exhausted, not to mention I have so much organizing I have to get done on very little energy. This past weekend was our baby shower. Everything turned out so beautiful thanks to my mother-in-law and best friend and all our other family members that helped put it all together. They really went above and beyond and took care of everything so I didn't have to do a thing. Josh and I feel so blessed. We had about 80 people at our shower and the day went by so quickly that I felt I didn't even have the chance to talk to everyone. We got just about everything we need and more for this little one so we are set! Now I just need to figure out how to organize everything and wash everything. The day after the shower I was so exhausted I felt sick. Thankfully I took the following day off work because there was no possible way I would have been able to function. Every part of my body was sore, my eyes were burning and my feet hurt so badly. I felt so awful that for the first time in 5 years of being married I made my husband a grocery list and had him do our grocery shopping so I could stay home and rest. I'm so thankful for that man, he has helped me so much during this pregnancy with cleaning, doing the dishes every night, picking up dinner the nights I don't feel like cooking and offering to do anything and everything he feels is too much for me. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful husband who truly cares about how I feel and I feel even more blessed to know our daughter is going to have one amazing daddy who will do anything for the both of us. Lately I’ve been missing my crazy workouts that I use to do pre-pregnancy. Maybe it’s because I tend to push myself harder during fall/winter that I’m starting to miss my old workouts and since we are now officially out of summer it makes sense that I’m starting to think about my old workout routines. Last week I did 3 days of cardio and 4 days of lifting (a total of 5 days). Two days of jogging for 45 minutes and 1 day on the bike for 25 minutes. I was super tired every day after work last week so it was really hard to get out there and get my workouts done. I'm pretty sure my jogging days are now over until this little girl arrives (my stomach just feels too heavy now) so I plan on getting in some uphill walking a few days a week from here on out and continuing to try and lift when I can. I really want to try and push myself as long as I can. I figure once I’m on maternity leave it will be a bit easier to make time because I’ll be home all day so I can workout when I feel the best which is usually mid-morning. My husband and I are already coming up with a plan to get back into shape after the baby is born and my doctor approves me working out. I’ll be sure and share that plan with you all once that time comes. What I can share right now it that it will include a few days of insanity, lifting and running. There’s not much more to update as of now, however, I did promise you guys some more maternity photos, so I've shared some more below as well as a 33, 34 and 35 week belly pic. I post most of my belly updates on Instagram (stephani_fitlifehappywife) and share only a few on Facebook. How far along: 35 weeks (almost 9 moths, yikes) Weight Gain: 17 lbs at my last appointment. Stretch Marks: None Belly Button: Flat but starting to pop out a tiny bit. Wedding Rings On/Off: - off for now : ( they were getting tight and I was afraid I'd wake up one morning and not be able to get them off. I feel naked without them! Movement: Lots of movement all day long and nonstop hiccups which feels like a twitch I can't get rid of lol. This little girl is active all throughout the day and less active at night which allows me to sleep pretty well. Her movements are painful these days, I feel like I'm being elbowed from the inside 24/7 and each movement causes me to tense up, it's really hard to relax with how much and how hard she moves. Feeling: Exhausted! Cravings: My mom swore up and down that I would have these crazy cravings eventually but it hasn't happened yet. I still want fruit a lot or anything cold like Thai Tea Boba mMmmm Symptoms: Shortness of breath. It's getting harder to breath the further along I get, especially after meals. I hate the feeling of not being able to breath, it's one thing I definitely won’t miss. I'm also feeling a little nauseous and my feet hurt constantly. I've had a few nights where I've felt some sharp pains down below and cramping in my pelvic area. Missing: Sushi I want sushi BAD. Being comfortable after meals and my hardcore workouts. Hopefully I can do pull-ups, pushups and dips again one day soon. I know it sounds crazy but I miss being able to do them! Looking forward to: Maternity leave so I can relax both physically and mentally. Sleep: Sleep is still better than it was pre-pregnancy, however, it's getting harder to initially fall a sleep at night.
First of all, I cannot believe it is September already OMG! Why oh why did summer come so late. I hate how hot it is, I really do : ( Baby girl is nearly 4 lbs now and we are now 8 weeks away from my estimated due date. Wednesday I had my 8 month checkup and everything is looking good. I've gained a total of 15lbs so far (I didn't gain anything from my last checkup 2 1/2 weeks ago) and my doctor says for being pregnant I don't have a lot of fat on my body. That's always nice to hear, especially considering I’ve missed a few days of working out because the past couple weeks have been busy and it's been incredibly hot. I always get at least 4 days of workouts in, however, I like to shoot for 5/6. These past few weeks went by so fast! Two weeks ago my husband and I had our 4D ultrasound where we got to see our chubby cheeked little girl and from there we went on a little baby moon/anniversary trip to San Diego. The 4D ultrasound was an amazing experience! I highly recommend everyone who is contemplating on doing it to do it. It was so awesome to see all of her features, her eyes open, her fat cheeks, her mouth moving and sucking. The ultrasound lasted 30 minutes and we got a DVD of the whole thing with about 6 songs we got to pick to have on the DVD. We picked some of our favorite country songs and it really makes watching the video that much more special. This little one has been head down for about a month now with not much room to move around. Her head was partially covered by the placenta making it hard to see her real good. I’ll share some of the pictures we got of her below. Our little getaway to San Diego was so amazing! It was a weekend of being on our own little private beach, laying around in our cabana and room services for breakfast, lunch and dinner! We had plans to go out to a nice dinner one night but our room was so relaxing we decided to stay put and just order in room service. We had breakfast on the beach in our cabana every morning and lunch too. We rented a speed boat one day and just had this awesome relaxing weekend of doing nothing but enjoying each other and the beautiful weather! It was such a memorable weekend and much needed. Last week a few of my wonderful co-workers/friends put together a beautiful Dr. Seuss themed baby shower for me. They spoiled me with some really awesome gifts. One thing I have been dying to get is the 4Moms Mamaroo (if you haven’t heard of it, look it up, so awesome) one of my really good friends at work bought it for me! I was so excited! I also got tons of clothes, a few pairs of baby uggs, tons of Dr. Seuss books, blankets, diapers, frames, a super cute diaper cake someone made for me, swaddle blankets, headbands, video monitor, nursing pillow (aka Boppy), A Moby baby carrier (which was so confusing on learning how to use until I looked it up on YouTube lol), etc… and tons of gift cards for Babies “R” Us, Buy Buy Baby and Target. My boss was so thoughtful and on top of getting the baby a few gifts he also gave me a $250 gift card to Lulelemon, how awesome is he!? After arriving home the day of my shower there were also a few gifts left on our porch. One of my best girlfriends who cannot make our shower this month sent us the highchair we registered for and another girlfriend of mine sent us the changing pad and cover we registered for. We still have our big family/friends shower this month. This little girl is going to have so much stuff! My husband and I had so much fun setting up all the gifts we got. This past weekend we had our maternity photos done. It was so hot out the day we did them, like 95 out, ugh! I felt like my makeup was melting off and my hair went flat almost immediately: (Anyhow, I love the photographer we picked. She made us feel so comfortable and made the experience so enjoyable regardless of how hot is was outside. I'm waiting for her to send me the proofs and once she does I will share some of them with you all. I've had lots of Braxton hicks contractions this past week. I told my doctor my stomach has been getting really tight lately and it feels a bit uncomfortable and heavy when it does. She said those are Braxton hicks contractions (very common during this part of pregnancy) and when I feel them I need to stop doing what I’m doing, sit down, rest a little and drink some water/orange juice. I wasn’t aware that I should be resting when I feel them coming on, I usually keep doing what I’m doing. It has been so hot out that working out has really been a challenge for me. I’m still managing 4/5 days a week but boy is it hard to drag by butt into the hot garage and get it done. My cardio is still done on the treadmill jogging at 5.0 for 25/30 minutes 4/5 days a week and I’m still lifting for about 30 minutes 4 days a week as well. For those who have asked what my workout regimen looks like while pregnant, it’s pretty similar to what it was before pregnancy. Doctors say as long as you were working out that way before pregnancy, it’s perfectly fine to continue to do so. However, to start working out in a way you never did before pregnancy while pregnant is not safe. Lucky for me I’ve been a runner for 8/9 years and lifting weights consistently for about 2 years so continuing my routine wasn’t a problem when I found out I was pregnant. I definitely run A LOT slower than I use to but I still manage to jog just fine. My comfortable treadmill speed before pregnancy was 8.2 – 8.5 and now I’m jogging at 5.0 which is about a 12:00 minute mile. I use a belly band when I run to help lift the baby away from my bladder. Without a belly band I would not be able to jog like I do. As far as lifting goes, you can find my typical lifting regimen on Facebook under my pictures in the album labeled “our home gym and workouts”. The only difference in how I lift now is that I do not lift as heavy. I’ve lowered the weight just a little bit (not much, maybe 5/10 lbs depending on which workout it is) and I DO NOT workout ABS at all anymore and haven’t since becoming pregnant. As far as my eating goes, I have to admit it’s pretty boring these days. I pretty much eat the same thing over and over again because once I find something I like I get stuck on it. My breakfast is the same and has pretty much been the same since finding out I was pregnant. One of the most common pregnancy symptoms is constipation. I have yet to deal with constipation because throughout my pregnancy I’ve had a high fiber diet. As most of you know, a high fiber diet mean more carbs. Prior to becoming pregnant I would moderate my carbs and would only eat them in the morning and then taper them off after about noon. One thing I did not want to have to deal with while pregnant was constipation because I know how crappy it makes you feel so I switched my diet up some and increased my fiber intake a lot. Having a high fiber diet during my pregnancy has really helped with my energy levels. Every morning for breakfast I have Fiber One Cereal (the rabbit pellet looking one that’s only 60 calories and contains about 60% of your daily fiber intake) with one whole banana chopped up inside, blueberries, raspberries and almond milk. This is my breakfast staple and has been for the past 8 months. Yes, I am aware that Fiber One isn’t “clean” but that doesn’t bother me one bit because I truly feel this morning combination is what keeps my metabolism up and going all day. For lunch I’ve alternated between two meals most of my pregnancy. Meal one is an open faced sandwich on one slice of Ezekiel bread with mustard, tapatio, spinach, cheese, cucumber, avocado and chicken breast (I buy the pre-cooked ones at Sprouts/ Ralphs because it makes meal prepping 10x easier) with a fruit of some sort, usually green grapes/cherries. Another lunch favorite of mine is 1/2 cup of brown rice topped with a teriyaki chicken breast (I make my own clean sauce for the chicken and my husband BBQs it) topped with a grilled pineapple. As for dinner, most of you know I’ve been on a taco kick almost my whole pregnancy! Thank god my husband doesn’t mind and has been ok with eating them multiple times in a row haha. I use lean ground beef/chicken/turkey (I change the meat I used each week), corn tortillas, chopped spinach as a lettuce replacement, Greek yogurt as a sour cream replacement, tomatoes, tapatio and cheese! I’ve also made my tortilla soup a few times (you can find this recipe on my Facebook page in my “Notes” section), quesadillas (I posted this on Facebook the other day) anything that’s simple, clean and lasts all week so I’m not slaving in the kitchen. My go to snack almost this whole pregnancy has been wheat thins and cheese and I do allow myself little bit of ice cream every other night or so. I've been very fortunate and haven't had any crazy cravings. Usually when I'm craving something it's fruit or some sort.
How far along: 32 weeks and 3 days (8 months, shut up!) Weight Gain: 15 lbs Stretch Marks: None Belly Button: Flat, hoping it stays this way and doesn't push out much further. Also hoping it goes back to normal one day lol Wedding Rings On/Off: - Still on, however, I have noticed it being a bit tighter with this hot weather.Movement: Huge rolling movements still in the same exact spots and they hurt! This is the most she has moved around and the hardest movements I have felt since being pregnant. She's active all day long! She's been in the same position for over a month now. Her head is wedged pretty low within my pelvic area on the left side and I don't feel too much movement there unless I cross my legs a certain way. I'm pretty sure it squishes her because it's the only time I feel her head move. She's usually curled up and I can feel her butt pressed up under my rib cage and I always know when she's stretching because she pushes her feet up against my side and they bulge out. I like to tickle her foot/give it a little grab and it makes her squirm : ) When she's kicking around she tends to kick and push against my ribs and that HURTS! Feeling: Pretty dang good actually aside from this heat. I can honestly say I hardly feel pregnant most days, until I eat a big meal and my belly doubles in size and becomes heavy lol then I get super uncomfortable and it becomes hard to breath. Cravings: Still no real cravings... Symptoms: Nothing new really other than my lungs feel a bit crowded making it hard to breath after meals oh and major hot flashes lol but it's hot as heck so what do you expect : ). No heartburn, pain or feeling uncomfortable yet : ) Shaving my legs and getting in and out of my little sports car is becoming harder though. Missing: Having a drink when I want to. We have gone to so many events this past summer and it sucks not being able to drink with everyone. I'm so happy that there are no more BBQ's, birthdays or holidays until after I have the baby so I can finally enjoy a glass of champagne with everyone. Looking forward to: Our big baby shower this month and maternity leave so I can finally start nesting and figuring out what else we need to buy and get done. Sleep: I really can't complain because I sleep pretty dang good. I only wake up once around 2 a.m. to use the restroom and knock out right away. The hard part is getting comfortable when I first lay down at night, however, once I knock out I'm good the rest of the night. A lot of women say sleep becomes harder around this time of pregnancy. I've been very fortunate thus far and sleep has been amazing for me. I drink about 5/6 water bottles a day but stop drinking water around 7:00 p.m. and I truly think this helps with having multiple bathroom trips in the middle of the night.
Our little one in 4D, poor thing is so squished in my tummy, but she's smiling : )
Work Shower
Super cute diaper cake that one of my friends made me : ) I'm in love with the little uggs!
Slowly adding some pink to our little girl's room
