Almost Half Way

Yesterday I was 18 weeks, and this week has been pretty good! I went to the dentist yesterday, which was kind of gross but totally necessary. I finally got to see a bunch of friends this past weekend. I was on the move! I suddenly got stressed about names on Sunday morning, and Matt and I made our first list! I had looked at so many names by the end of the day I think my eyes had gone cross. Let me tell ya, naming a child is a lot of pressure! I told everyone I don't want to think about names for another week, and I'm hoping things will just come to me. I have one front runner. It struck me as I was reading a pottery barn catalog. I'm waiting for moments like that vs. scanning and scanning and scanning a baby name app.

How far along? 18 Weeks!

Baby size: the size of a mango according to my app. 5 inches and half a pound.

Weight gain: YES. I didn’t know my exact weight before I got pregnant. My guess is I’ve gained 9-10 lbs by this point. Which I am ok with.

Maternity clothes: fo shizzle! I went shopping on Friday and got quite a few items. But I will say, maternity shopping is hard! I definitely left the store frustrated. Even though I am ok with my weight gain as a number, my whole body has just expanded which makes everything look so weird to me.

Stretch marks: Nope. Using bio oil and checking myself like a maniac.

Sleep: Loving my new boppy pregnancy pillow! But usually waking up once around 3 a.m to go to the bathroom., then 6 a.m. because I am hungry. I have discovered a caffeinated drink I like:‘very berry’ from starbucks, so I can stay up much later than before.

Gender: little diva!

Movement: not yet, but I had the most vivid dream last night that she swiped her foot against my belly. I cant wait for some real, non-dream movement! lol!

Best moment this week: baby shower planning with my sister in law! And getting a really cute onesie and hat in the mail from Jessie B.! And all the hand me downs from Jenn and Jessie D., especially the boppy maternity pillow. seriously. maternity pillows = heaven.

Looking forward to: our 20 week apt! I haven’t had a U/S since our genetic testing and I’m so pumped!

Food cravings: I’m gonna start calling Baby Cook little miss health nut! I’ve really gotten into salads with chipotle ranch dressing, and smoothies. I also have eaten a morning bun from bux almost every day. I hate salty foods, and fast food. Matthew was a notorious picky eater as a child, and sometimes I think she might be like him! Which is adorable :)

Weirdest food I ate this week: my first fast food run in weeks. It was terrible. I truly hate processed foods!

Anything making you queasy or sick: just an empty stomach.

Labor signs: heck no.

What I miss: girl time with wine.

Symptoms: my back aches have come back a little bit. Still got the M/S every morning if I don’t take my 2mg of Zofran.

Workouts: yes! I got in 3 last week! I am loving Andrea Orbeck and prenatal yoga. I need to do better at working out after work. It seems the weekends are when I work out the most.

Things that suck: umm. Not really feeling too sucky about anything this week. I do wish shopping was easier. I have quite a few dresses I need for Lynette's upcoming wedding festivities.

Things that don't suck: little gifts and hand me downs! People love to buy for girls, and your mama friends love to help you!

things that are weird: vivid dreams. and my sudden love for sitcoms. I could watch them all day.

things that make me smile: thinking about her as our little peanut/health nut.

17 weeks.. a few days late

I am doing this post in retrospect because I don’t want to forget! I think this week has been the week where I most tried to get back to a normal schedule and routine. I am still as calm as a cucumber. I also can't find my camera cords - because keeping the house orderly is still a major challenge. And I am not really fretting over my massive to do list..yet. I feel like I will start tackling the to-do at 20 weeks, and for now I'm just mentally figuring out what I need/want to do. I want to enjoy this time before nesting hits hard! Here's my bump on exactly 17 weeks! 

How far along?  17 Weeks!

Baby size:  the size of a sweet potato.  

Weight gain: I didn’t know my exact weight before I got pregnant. My guess is I’ve gained 8-9 lbs by this point. Which I am ok with.

Maternity clothes: fo shizzle!  I wore the same pair of maternity pants almost all week, but desperately need to get them hemmed.

Stretch marks: Nope. Using bio oil and really hoping for the best. My app says this is around the time they start to show up and im pretty terrified.

Sleep:  Yea, sleeping pretty good. I usually wake up once around 3 a.m. to go to the bathroom, then 6 a.m. because I am hungry.

Gender:  little miss. I am still so excited from our gender reveal party.

Movement: not yet.

Best moment this week: finally getting some energy to work out, clean and cook.

Looking forward to: my errand plans for Friday. Im going on a maternity shopping trip with a stop at the alterations place. I am determined to get my wardrobe in order and be a cute prego!

Food cravings: I’ve eaten a lot of hot dogs with wheat buns and baked lays.

Weirdest food I ate this week:  I can’t remember. Probably nothing.

Anything making you queasy or sick:  just waking up in the a.m. Lol.

Labor signs:  heck no.

What I miss:  patio time in the spring with a drink. I can’t wait to be a mom juggling a social life and a cute little baby! Obviously I will have less of a social life, but one that involves an occasional patio/ cocktail sounds amazing to me!

Symptoms:  my back aches and lighting crotch are completely gone. I think little miss moved up my belly and isn’t sitting as low!  Still got the M/S every morning if I don’t take my 2mg of Zofran.

Workouts: yes! I am starting Andrea Orbeck and prenatal yoga on our TV’s youtube app. I am determined to tone my arms and thighs a little bit.

Things that suck: umm. Not really feeling too sucky about anything this week.

Things that don't suck: getting calls from my mom asking if she should buy this or that.  And being a really calm prego. This pregnancy has seriously robbed me of my neurosis, but I am NOT complaining about that one. I love being a calm prego!

 

Things to know about gender reveal parties

Gender parties are kind of a recent development in the baby shower department. I don't think there is anything as exciting as finding out the gender during your pregnancy, with the exception of having the baby! It's pretty crazy to think people used to wait all 9 months to find out what their child was! And now? You can find out as soon as 12 -13 weeks with a blood draw. You can get an extra ultrasound at 16 weeks, or wait for your anatomy scan around 19-20 weeks with your doctor.

Oh the options! I'd definitely saying figuring out the timing is the hard part.

Then the actual party! There are so many different ways you can go about it. You can just invite family. You can invite the world. You can know before, or you can find out on the spot! (Which I personally think is most exciting). You can go all out in decorations, or just buy a cake. I mean it's all up to you! Gender reveal parties don't seem to have a standard way of doing things yet.

So This is what Matt and I did:

We had a genetic testing appointment, (someday I'll write a post on how much I did not enjoy that experience), and the gender blood test was an added service, and complimentary through our doctor.

I waffled big time on whether to even go to genetic testing, and then waffled some more on whether to get the blood test. It felt too soon to know the gender, but I knew a free blood test, which usually costs 100-150 bucks, is quite the steal. It would also prevent us from adding that "extra ultrasound" around 16 weeks. I knew for darn sure I couldn't wait until my 19 week anatomy scan with my dr. That was definitely not happening! So I caved, and we went to Genetic testing, mostly bc I heard the ultrasounds were amazing, and we took the complimentary blood test. Dun dun dun.

Then the waiting game began.

They said they would post the results to a 1800 # within 7-10 business days. The tech told me, oh it's usually sooner, so guess what I did? I planned our party for a weekend that only gave them 9 full business days to post the results. And guess who was having a panic attack when day 9 came and the results still weren't in?!? Me of course!

Well long story short- after pleading with the clinic and bugging my dr. We got the result. Or Matt got the result. I had no idea! And that Friday and Saturday were very, very long days!

Matt was in charge of keeping a REALLY big secret, and of getting the pink or blue balloons in the box, safely to our house. I said "if you tell anyone what is inside my uterus before me, I'll never forgive you." Even though I didn't really think this would be a problem (Remember our Honeymoon?), because I like to be suprised, and Matt likes to keep secrets and surprise me, but you best believe I put the disclaimer out there! Well, because he was laughing and giggling all weekend, and I was having intense dreams about having a boy, I was 100% convinced: I was having a boy.

Then came reveal day! We invited our family and closest friends. Matt told me not to go all out and make a huge fuss (he HATES to be the guest of honor), so we had some snacks and I invited everyone electronically the week of. And exactly 35 minutes after the party started, Matt opened the box for me. 

Was I nervous?! Oh heck yes! I woke up in the middle of the night before, sweating and convinced I should cancel. I stared at the ceiling for an hour thinking "What the heck did I do?!" I told myself: You can't do this! what if your reaction is weird!? What If I just stand there and watch the balloons with stage fright?! All these things were running through my mind. And honestly I almost chickened out weeks before. I told Matt that he should surprise me by himself, and then I can go buy a blue or pink dress for a reveal picture. But Matt kept repeating: "you've always wanted this honey. Stick to the plan." Lord I love that man for making me follow-through!

me saying, ok ok, just open it.

And I'm so glad I did. The videos we have are priceless. I found out I was having a baby girl on March 9, 2014 :) 

So, are reveal parties for everyone? Probably not. But do I think you should have one?! Of course!! What do ya'll think?? Have y'all had one? Do you think it's just one more over the top way to celebrate ourselves? My only point of advice - look for an outfit sooner rather than later. Finding a pink and blue in an outfit is tough!

ps. all my camera cords have gone missing. so I will have to update this post with pictures later.

 

Things that puzzle me

 

This weekend was good. I ate like a horse. Seriously. We hosted a bridal shower for my bestie Lynette, and I couldn’t stop eating. It kind of came out of left field, and while I hope my food aversion continues to lessen, I also hope that I can learn to control myself. Haha. We made a quick trip out to Galveston on Sunday, which was really nice. It was actually sunny, and we had lunch at the country club where were had our wedding reception. It was kind of sentimental to walk into the place with a bump. I told our wedding coordinator “I’m pregnant!” and he replied “I see that!” LOL. But enough about the weekend.

Onto…. things that puzzle pregnant Tess. I will add one disclaimer, I usually don’t write these kinds of posts... but apparently I'm more vocal as a pregnant person. Or I just have more time to watch the news ;)

First off - Where in the heck is this plane??? I don’t know why I’ve been so intrigued and binging on this news story. But seriously?? Where are they? What happened?? I’ve exhausted every scenario from they disappeared into a black hole LOST style, to terrorist high jacking, to pilot suicide. It’s just insane, and sad, and I hope those families can get any kind of resolution soon.

How on earth is ScarJO 5 month preggers?? I read a headline, “ScarJO shows off baby bump” and I’m like what bump??? All I see are boobs. I mean go ScarJO, she's super hot, but yea I’m a month behind you and look way more pregnant LOL.

Why is Lady Gaga so weird? Her latest antics at SXSW are really just enough for me. In case you missed it, mid-song she called an ‘artist’ up to the stage to puke lime green stuff on her. While she rode a mechanic bull? Huh? So disgusting. I think I’m officially banishing lady Gaga from Tessy World from now on. Not that she would care. I can't even a post a picture of this. It's that horrid.

I really like her music, but why does Miley Cyrus not brush her tongue? If it’s going to be front and center for your whole get up, persona, whatever - then keep the thing clean! and no I did not seek this picture out, nor do I really follow her. I'm constantly bombarded with this nastiness whilescrollin' my twitta feed!

I'm done being puzzled :)

Happy Monday Ya’ll.

16 weeks and bumpin' hard

I hope this is my last bathroom selfie, but I am lacking in time my friends!

How far along? I am 16 weeks today! I love Thursdays :)

Baby size: Baby is the size of a turnip, according to my what to expect app! I have yet to watch my weekly video, and it’s often one of my favorite things to do on Thursday.

Weight gain: Oh god. I think I might avoid this question for a little while longer.

Maternity clothes: NO, but I NEED TO GET TO BUYING! My neighbor was laughing at my jeans + belly band situation yesterday. She said “TESS! You need to make the switch girl!” I am actually going shopping today, and have a few pairs of pants that were given to me that I need to get hemmed. And Jenn gave me maternity workout pants that feel like heaven. So I am sure moving in that direction! What’s hard is maternity clothes are just not cute. Asos.com has cute stuff, so hopefully I can shake my maternity clothes fear soon!!!!!

Stretch marks: Not yet. And I started using bio oil about 2 weeks ago!

Sleep: Pretty good. I am starting to take afternoon naps which help me get stuff done around the house.

Gender: It’s a girl! We found out this past weekend at our gender reveal party!

Movement: not yet.

Best moment this week: Definitely finding out what we are having. Gender reveal parties are so much fun!

Looking forward to: Morning sickness being completely gone. I am sure hope it’s over by the 18 week mark. 90% of women are completely done with morning sickness by then, so fingers crossed.

Food cravings: Honestly, I don’t have many cravings. My food aversion has been so bad, it’s more like “what can I eat today that doesn’t sound disgusting?” Which usually equals cinnamon rolls. Go figure.

Weirdest food I ate this week: brown rice with ground turkey meat mixed in.

Anything making you queasy or sick: haha.. too many things make me queasy. The worst is opening the refrigerator, and waking up on an empty stomach. I also cut back on Zofran this week, and I couldn’t believe how queasy I still was. That pill is a lifesaver! But again, I am trying to wean myself off.

Labor signs: def not.

What I miss: Having control over my body and usual laid back eating style. I was never a picky eater. “Tess you want to go get indian food?” “Sure!” Now eating has become SUCH a struggle! It’s been lots of muffins and bagels over here!

Symptoms: Morning sickness, food aversion, backaches if I move around too much and … a very slight “lightning crotch” ..totally TMI but google it if you are curious :)

Workouts: I took a walk on Tuesday. First in a long, long time.

Things that suck: Morning sickness

Things that don't suck: Just overall feeling like you get a hall pass in life :)

 

Prego thoughts

Gosh I want to blog so bad. But it seems like every time I make plans to blog I a) get really bad morning sickness b) can't find my proper cords to upload pics, charge my iPad etc. ect. OR c) generally forget or run out time. 

I really never knew how tired and worn out id be as a pregnant lady. I know my morning sickness has not helped (I'm almost sixteen weeks and it still has not left me completely), but I sincerely didn't realize how little time id have for things! It seems if I can make it through the day with a decent outfit and enough makeup on- and not puke my brains out - then it's a successful day! It's extra successful if I can squeeze in one of the following: laundry, cooking or any type of exercise. Its never more than one of those items, even if I tell myself "I will conquer this day!" 

It's even more hilarious when people ask me if I've got plans for the nursery or potential names. I'm like - "I'm barely making it in my regular life! How can I have those plans yet??" I don't get offended, I just giggle at how slow and laid back I am being at this mom-to-be thing. 

So moving on. We've had our gender reveal party, and its a girl! I really want to write a whole post about it so I don't forget what that whole experience was like, but here is a video my niece created. She's so cute with her 13-year-old-self making movies on iMovie.

 

I did not know, and Matthew knew on Friday. Our party was Sunday, so dancing around that secret was interesting. 

And that's all for now. I've got some mad typos in this post, but oh well. Good night moon! 

So much, so much!

Hey hey hey all my best blog friends! I haven't blogged in a decade. That's because Christmas season happened, and then BOOM. On Christmas Eve -  I found out I was knocked up.  Or, you know, turning into a walking science experiment while growing a human inside of my body.  But more about that later. It's no easy task I assure you!

So, I've posted this to Instagram and Facebook, which technically means it's very old news - but here was our valentine's day announcement to the world that we are having a baby !
 

 

It was seriously the best valentines day I've ever had, and I didn't even do anything but eat a burger and go to bed!

But more about pregnancy later! I have to catch up big time!!!