Goodbye 2nd Trimester!

This week marks my final week in the 2nd Trimester-- holy cow, did that fly by?! It was by far the best part of my pregnancy thus far. I'm sure many other mamas and mamas-to-be would agree! The first trimester is full of nausea, tiredness, and bloating. For me, the second trimester brought more reality to the pregnancy-- baby movement, growing belly, finding out the gender, and much more energy! I'm looking forward to the 3rd trimester-- I hope and pray that it goes as smoothly as the rest of my pregnancy. I know this trimester will bring much excitement as time draws closer to Micah arriving-- but I also know I will experience many discomforts too (or at least I've been told/read about). Overall, I am eager to begin another new step in my pregnancy journey & even more eager to begin finishing more things that need to be done before his grand arrival! This journey so far has been one of the biggest blessings I've ever experienced. Before pregnancy I feared that I would be miserable, gain way too much weight, have tons of sickness or issues-- but God has truly blessed me with a wonderful, healthy pregnancy. I can honestly say that I love pregnancy, and am already looking forward to being pregnant again someday in the future!

Now for a little Bumpdate of Weeks 26 & 27....

How far along? 27 Weeks & 2 days

Baby Size: around 14 inches, 2-2.5 lbs., or the size of a Rutabaga!

Total weight gain: about 22 lbs. 

Maternity clothes? Yep! Lots of layers & socks with boots during these colder days make getting dressed somewhat of a workout ;)

Stretch marks? Not yet :)

Sleep: Some nights are better than others. The pillow is helpful, but I still toss and turn some due to my arms falling asleep or hip & back pain. 

Recap of last couple of  weeks: A couple weekends ago we had Matt's friend Josh & his girlfriend Kate in town. It was nice to visit with them & show them around Greenville! We also met our photographer for Micah's newborn pics-- she is the sweetest! She took some maternity photos for us at her family farm & I know they're going to be fabulous. It was a super cold morning, but we had so much fun :) We spent Friday night decorating our house for Christmas-- a bit earlier than usual, but we leave for Indiana the week before Christmas, so we wanted to enjoy the decor for a while! Saturday night I had some girlfriends over for apps & dessert-- I felt like I needed a good girls night in, especially since time is ticking before Micah arrives. I know girls nights will be limited for a couple months, as we settle into a new routine as a family of 3! I also just completed my glucose screening at my 27 week appointment yesterday! It wasn't as bad as everyone hyped it up to be-- now just waiting on my results! We also found a pediatrician's office that we think we will love for Micah :) Things are definitely getting REAL!

Miss Anything? Wine-- girls night was tough not having wine, but thank goodness for sugar/chocolate :)

Movement: Lots and Lots! I'm thinking he will be a soccer player or runner one day ;)

Food cravings: My appetite has definitely increased-- or at least I feel that way! I know part of why I'm feeling like I want to eat more often is because I can't eat a lot at once, so I really just want to eat smaller amounts more frequently! I have been craving fresh fruit, Mexican/spicy foods, & pizza recently--and I am definitely excited about Thanksgiving food this week!!!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Only queasy when I have indigestion after eating too much at once

Gender: BOY!

Labor Signs: No.

Symptoms: Growing Belly, Baby Movement, Some Indigestion, Growing Pains, and recently been suffering from lots of Headaches :(

Belly Button in or out? In (for now-- it might pop out soon enough!)

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Mood: Mostly happy :)

Looking forward to: Family coming to visit for Thanksgiving & working on Micah's nursery! 

 I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

25 Weeks

25 Weeks Down, 15 To Go!!! Here's what's happening in Week 25....


How far along? 25 Weeks 

Baby Size: Around 13 inches (weighing about 1.5-2 lbs.) Or the Size of A Cauliflower

Total weight gain: around 18-19ish lbs. (they're starting to pack on quickly now!)

Maternity clothes? Yep! Still getting away with a few non-maternity tops. I think here soon I want to try to do a maternity style post. I'm having fun trying to create stylish, but comfy outfits! I'm thinking of doing a fall/winter maternity style post, as well as incorporating the balance of work/weekend styles too! 

Stretch marks? Not yet-- but I still have about 15 more weeks to stretch out, so there is still a chance they'll start to pop up!

Sleep: Some nights are better than others. I really need to try to drink much more water in the day & less at night, so I get up less frequently! Overall, I'm still sleeping pretty well thanks to my Snoogle!

Recap of last week: We enjoyed a couple of nights together for some "date" time. Tuesday we had the day off for election day, so that evening we went out to dinner & ran to TJ Maxx and Trader Joe's to run some errands-- well, because doing those things will get harder with a baby. We also had a movie night in & s'mores roasting night this weekend-- nice & relaxing! 

Miss Anything? Nothing really this week...

Movement: Yes :) I forgot to share a cute story from our latest appointment. When the nurse went to find his heartbeat, she was having difficulties because he was so squirmy. He finally started to kick the Doppler whenever she would run it along my belly. It was too cute & funny :) We finally got him to cooperate, and found his sweet little heartbeat-- which has dropped some since the earlier stages of pregnancy, to 148bpm (so maybe this heartbeat wives' tale will end up being true later on in the pregnancy?)

Food cravings: I'm pretty even on my sweet/salty cravings lately. I am so ready to eat Thanksgiving food (which I enjoyed a bit on Wednesday with our church). There's nothing else quite as comforting as mashed potatoes & pumpkin pie! Italian and Mexican cuisine have sounded the best lately too!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope!

Gender: BOY!

Labor Signs: No.

Symptoms: Growing Belly, Baby Movement, Some Indigestion, Growing Pains. 

Belly Button in or out? In.

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Mood: Mostly happy :)

Looking forward to: Having friends in town this weekend & maternity pics! 

Thanks for stopping by for the latest Bumpdate! Have a great week, everyone! :)

Pregnancy Fitness

Before pregnancy, I tried to live a fairly active lifestyle. Because I get bored of the same workouts over & over, I would rotate my workouts with running, Zumba, Piloxing, and various HIIT workouts and strength training. Now that I'm pregnant, I'm trying not to let the "bump" get in the way of my active lifestyle-- but it physically is....getting in the way.

In my first trimester I was super active, I still ran, went to Zumba, continued my HIIT & Strength workouts. We were also traveling a lot, so we did lots of hiking & walking during our vacation.

During my second trimester, I still ran at least once or twice per week up until 17 weeks and went to Zumba at least once or twice per week. Due to being so busy & still feeling tired at 17ish weeks, I began just working out at home. My Zumba gym closed down at the location that was closest to me, so driving over 30 mins there & 30 mins back, and then working out an hour was just not easy for a tired mama-to-be.

I don't know why I stopped running really? Maybe because Matt was too busy to run with me & I hate running alone. However, I recently joined a walking club at one of my schools & that's been nice to at least get moving a couple days per week. I was brave last week (23 weeks preggo) & ran some of my walk because I was the only person that showed up for walking that day. I can say it just feels weird to run with a growing bump! I'm much slower & get out of breath fairly quickly, but it's not impossible!

Before pregnancy I discovered "PopSugar Fitness" a website with free workouts-- and I love it! They have such a great variety & it's super easy to combine several of their short workouts for a total body workout. I searched workouts that seemed preggo friendly & also found a few that were labeled as "Pregnancy" workouts. I wanted to share my top three, go-to videos for my workouts. I will typically do all three in one workout session to get at least 30 mins. of workout in. I always feel great after doing these & feel that I didn't overdo it! If you're preggo & were fairly active before pregnancy, I highly recommend these workouts! (Of course be sure to check with your doc that it's safe for YOU to workout)

10-Minute Prenatal Workout From Heidi Klum's Trainer 


10- Minute Prenatal Arm Workout 


10- Minute Cardio Barre Workout


Stay Fit & Healthy, Mamas!

24 Weeks

This pregnancy is flying by! Already 24 weeks down, 16 to go! I'm really enjoying pregnancy & am secretly sad for it to be getting closer to being over--but at the same time I'm eager to meet our sweet little boy! Now here's a little update on week 24 with baby Micah....

How far along? 24 Weeks 

Baby Size: Around 12 inches (weighing about 1 lb.) Or the Size of An Ear of Corn!

Total weight gain: around 17-17.5ish lbs. 

Maternity clothes? Yes indeed! Again, still always wearing maternity pants-- but can get away with a few of my normal sweaters/shirts & a few maternity sweaters/shirts. Pajamas have become an issue-- I cannot fit into what were once loose, comfy pajama pants. I have been wearing one pair of sweatpants, Matt's basketball/track shorts, and a pair of Matt's PJ pants that are somewhat shorter, so that I feel comfy at night. I would just wear yoga pants to bed, but I need those to work out in, since my running shorts are getting super tight/uncomfortable (only two pairs still sort of fit). I've also been wearing Matt's tshirts to sleep in too-- mine are fitting, but too tight to be comfy enough to sleep in. 

Stretch marks? Not yet! 

Sleep: Pretty good-- I had a cold this week/weekend so I've had a hard time breathing at night. I've also been waking up to hip/pelvic pains (pretty sure it's simply growing pains/round ligament pain). The pains shoot through my hips into my upper leg. Other than that, the pillow does wonders for my comfort at night! 

Recap of last week: Nothing too exciting happened last week. I would say the highlight of the week was when we had our small group over for dinner/study on Wednesday night! Matt has been hard at work with his part-time job (as if teaching wasn't enough hours) and I'm about to start working part-time after school as a Homebound teacher for a couple of students that have temporary medical issues & need to have their tests/assignments given to them at home. Pretty easy, but needless to say, we're busy working & getting ready financially for the baby to arrive (hospital bills to come, crappy maternity leave $, and baby stuff is NOT cheap--so we're planning ahead!) 

Miss Anything? Last week I went for a run, because the weather was super nice. I initially was just going to walk, but I just felt the urge to run (only ran a mile, then walked a mile). It wasn't hard, but it also wasn't as easy as it used to be. I never thought I would say this, but I miss running! 

Movement: Yes! He's super active! I caught a cute video & sent it out to some of my close family-- they loved seeing him kicking my belly like crazy! 

Food cravings: Nothing in particular really. I would say since I've been feeling somewhat sick with a cold this week/weekend, my appetite has been funny. I've really just been trying to eat healthy (for the most part). I've been trying to be really conscious of eating a variety of fruits/veggies & getting enough protein.  

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope!

Gender: BOY!

Labor Signs: No.

Symptoms: Growing Belly, Baby Movement, Some Indigestion, Growing Pains. 

Belly Button in or out? In.

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Mood: Mostly happy :)

Looking forward to: A day off work tomorrow (we get off for Election Day this year!) and this means Matt and I are spending a much needed day together/date night! I'm also super excited to eat Thanksgiving food on Wednesday at Seacoast Church Thanksgiving dinner!