How lovely to be a woman

It's no secret that when a woman becomes pregnant, her body starts blossoming in new ways. Over the past 5 1/2 months, I've noticed my body become curvier. ("How lovely to have a figure that's round instead of flat.") In particular - hips, stomach (because that's where the baby lives), and decolletage. Yesterday, I finally took the step of moving to skivvies up one size from what I am used to. I was unsure about this investment...but let me tell you, my body is already thanking me for the extra space!

It will be interesting to see if my body holds some of these new curves after baby arrives, or if everything will go back to normal within a few (ok, many) months.

Baby's trip to Reno/Tahoe

Ryan and I just got back from a wonderful trip to Reno, NV and Lake Tahoe (CA). Thanks to Courtney, Patrick and Courtney's entire family for making us feel welcome! Everyone is anticipating our baby girl's name since we are keeping it a secret.

Ryan and I spent Friday in Reno at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino. Ryan spent some time at the sports book, roulette table and craps table while I got a pre-natal massage. Very relaxing. We met up with friends for dinner and hung out around the hotel/casino that evening. They even had a very fun driving range that everyone tested out!




















On Saturday, we made our way to the west side of Lake Tahoe (CA). There we relaxed on the beach, ate good food, and went on a boat.






































I think that baby Sugar and Spice had a good time. She was kicking up a storm on the plane ride home and hasn't settled down since!

Babymoon

Ryan and I are off tomorrow to vacation in Reno and Lake Tahoe with friends. I am so looking forward to actually relaxing and laying around in that tankini that I bought (non-maternity...I just bought a medium from Target with a bottom and top that both tie so they are adjustable). If I'm feeling good about myself, maybe we'll even take a picture!

Ryan booked me a pre-natal massage at our hotel in Reno tomorrow, so I'm going to jump start the weekend with that. I may even treat myself to a pedicure since it is getting harder to reach those toes to paint them nicely!

We will be sure to take lots of pictures, and I will post them when we are back in Denver mid-next week!

Carrot Top

I am now 21 weeks pregnant (over halfway there!), and Baby Sugar and Spice is about the length of a carrot. She is definitely moving around a lot at night. In fact, last night she was moving so much it was a little uncomfortable. We have started feeling her a little bit on the outside of my belly, and Ryan could feel her kick the same spot multiple times last night.

She tends to wake up right after I eat, so she must like food...or maybe when my stomach is full she gets cramped in there...I'm not sure. :) She's very active, so we may have a future gymnast on our hands.

I've been sleeping better, and I only have to get up once a night for a bathroom visit. I do have a memory foam mattress topper coming in the mail soon, which should help with the hip pain...but that's already been diminishing a bit. I did a prenatal sculpting workout video last night (by a former Cirque du Soleil acrobat), and there were a lot of hip exercises and stretches so I think that helps!

Baby likes music

Over the weekend, Ryan and I took baby Sugar and Spice (in utero) to the Mile High Music Festival in Commerce City. It's two long days and a little pricey, but since it is less than a 10 minute drive down 56th Ave from our townhome I figured it was something we had to do again this year.

We spent 8 hours at the festival on Saturday and almost 10 hours at the festival on Sunday. We saw about 16 bands over the course of the weekend. Baby seemed to like G Love & Special Sauce the best...I could feel her "dancing" during Peace Love Happiness. Seeing The Fray on Sunday night was a great way to end the weekend...with a great Denver band!

Tally Me Banana

We are 20 weeks pregnant - that's halfway! Baby Sugar and Spice is the length of a banana head to toe. Only 20 more weeks to go!

Fashionista

Before we knew the gender of our baby, Ryan and I were very good about not buying anything. In fact, up until Monday (the day of our ultrasound) we had not bought ANYTHING for our expected bundle of joy. So of course right after our ultrasound, I made Ryan take me straight to the store to buy our little Sugar and Spice girl a special girl outfit just from her parents. Here's what we picked:















Front















Back

Can't wait to see what she looks like in her little newborn outfit come December!

Hips Don't Lie

Now that it is impossible and uncomfortable for me to sleep on my stomach, I have assumed the recommended pregnancy sleep position - on my side with a pillow between my knees. This sleep position is supposed to ensure the baby gets maximum blood and nutrients. Little did I know that this would lead to a new problem...HIP PAIN.

For the past week or two, I have been noticing that my hips have been bothering me at night. Now the pain has followed me into the daytime hours too. I've been limping around the office, so I decided to ask my midwife about this. Apparently the problem can be helped with the aid of more pillows. I apparently need a pillow behind my head, behind my back, between my knees and under my belly (once it's big enough to hang on its own). OR, I need to spring for one of those crazy noodle-like pregnancy body pillows. The only problem is that Ryan and I are still sleeping in a full sized bed (yes full as in double bed...smaller than a queen). I'm not sure if a pregnancy body pillow would fit in the bed with us since it is approximately the size of another adult.

Humphrey has already begun to get frustrated with the pillow situation. For the past 2+ years, he has always slept on our bed. But over the past few nights, I have gotten up wondering where he is only to find him downstairs on the big chair or even in the guest bed last night (apparently he thinks he his a guest).

I know you're probably thinking we just need to upgrade to a queen or king bed, but with baby furniture and other baby necessities on the horizon for our little Sugar and Spice we just can't imagine spending the money on a big purchase for ourselves right now. But when I'm 8-9 months pregnant, we may be singing a different tune.

Sugar and Spice

Announcing....baby GIRL Fugler! We had our ultrasound today, and she is measuring right on target for her December 2 due date. She weighs about 11 oz (and I have gained about 9 1/2 lbs total).

I tried not to eat a lot of sugar before this appointment, since she was moving around too much at our last appointment (after I ate a box of Nerds). This time, she slept almost during the whole ultrasound...the tech had to prod her to flip over so we could see all of her parts. They still probably didn't get all of the pictures they needed, so we might just get a second ultrasound when we are further along.

Here are some of our ultrasound pictures. Unfortunately the pictures don't quite capture how cool it was to see baby girl moving around on the screen, but this is the best we can do.

Upside Down Baby - Spine is at the top of the picture, head is on the right and legs/feet are scrunched up on the left. If you look closely at the left side of her head, you can see a little of her profile (nose and lips).

Yawn! - Our baby girl was very tired and kept yawning. Here she is with her mouth wide open. Sorry it looks creepy with all the skeletal stuff, but it was very cute seeing her yawn in action! I think the little dark spot on the bottom right corner is her heart (if I remember correctly).

Baby Girl - Yep, there's the empty spot between her legs. It's a girl!

Baby Feet!

Maternity Style

Maternity clothes have definitely come a long way, but there is still a lot to be desired when shopping for clothes to fit a pregnant body. Department stores used to carry maternity clothes, but I have been noticing that more and more stores are going to an online-only policy for maternity clothes. What about those of us who actually like to try things on before we buy them? My local JC Penney has a sign in the store that directs you to the maternity section, but it turns out that the "maternity section" is the plus-sized section...definitely not what I had in mind.

My local GAP and Old Navy have small maternity sections, but you just can't find everything you need there. Target also has a maternity section, but selection is limited and I frequently find that they are out of the sizes I need.

I've been finding that it is easiest to mix a few nice maternity pieces in with my regular wardrobe. I can make a lot of my regular pants and skirts work with a Bella Band as long as the top I wear is long. Also, I've been shopping for regular clothes in sizes and styles that accommodate my growing and changing body. The dress I am wearing in the picture above is not a maternity dress, but I'm betting the styling will allow me to wear it through the summer. Plus, I don't feel so bad spending money on clothes that I can still wear next summer (because I'm hoping I still won't be wearing my maternity clothes 6 months after birth!).

16 and Pregnant

One of my new guilty pleasures is the MTV show "16 and Pregnant." Each week, the show highlights a different teen mom and goes through her pregnancy, birth and first glimpses of parenthood.

For those of you who may be shocked at MTV for glamorizing teen pregnancy, do not worry. They portray teen pregnancy and parenthood as one of the most un-glamorous things you can imagine. Some of the moms choose to get engaged to the baby's daddy, while others choose to be single moms and not even inform the father that they are pregnant! They deal with rumors at high school, juggling school/jobs/personal lives, and having to grow up much earlier than their friends.

Most of the pregnancy books have been telling me not to watch shows that could cause me to get upset, and they specifically name MTV because pregnant mothers could get worried about how their children will behave when they are teenagers. Honestly...this show makes me think I can certainly be a mother if these girls can do it!

Tomato Baby

I am officially 19 weeks today, and baby is about the size of a large heirloom tomato. This has been a long week because we are awaiting our next midwife appointment and ultrasound on Monday. If baby cooperates, we will know if we are having a boy or a girl!

I have definitely started mixing in maternity clothes with my regular clothes. I have a few nice things to wear to work in addition to some comfy clothes to wear on the weekends. Most of the clothes I have will last me into the fall, and then I'll need to go shopping for a few long sleeve shirts and sweaters and a few pairs of leggings to wear under skirts/dresses/tunics. Until then, I think I'm pretty set for a while!

Once we find out the baby's gender, I'll be ready to start shopping for baby. We want a convertible crib (changes into a toddler bed and then a full sized headboard), a dresser with room for a changing pad on top, and a nice glider rocker for the nursery. However, our nursery room is kind of small, so maybe we should start with the crib and see how much space we have after that!

Contemplating my navel

My belly button has started to do some strange things. Ryan noticed several weeks ago that it was looking different, and he was sure that it would eventually pop out. It's normally a pretty deep belly button, but it has been getting more and more shallow as the weeks go on.

Then this morning I was putting lotion on my belly (see yesterday's post), and I noticed that something strange was going on. I think I might have yelped or something, and then I ran over to Ryan to show him. The top half of my belly button had flipped a little bit and was sticking out! Is this the beginning of the belly button pop?

It stayed like that through half of the morning, and then went back to "normal" after I ate my breakfast burrito (hey, is was $2 Tuesday with the burrito lady!). We'll see if it has any more changes in the days to come.

It puts the lotion on its skin

Apparently baby is currently going through a growth spurt. My "baby bump" has really come out of nowhere in the past week or two, and while people who don't see me that often still cannot tell I am pregnant I am certainly seeing quite a change in my waistline!

I have learned skin itches when it is growing and stretching. While I haven't been growing enough to have any stretch marks (yet), I have noticed that I have been scratching my tummy in my sleep because I wake up with the tell tale red finger marks across my stomach. So I have been very disciplined in putting lotion on every day. Some people swear this keeps stretch marks from forming...we shall see!

"Nesting"

As I mentioned earlier, I think a lot of the pregnancy terms are silly. Now that I am feeling good enough to actually clean the house again, other people (outside of me, Ryan and Humphrey) like to refer to my cleaning as "nesting." Why is it that now that I am pregnant, I can no longer just clean my house because I like things to be clean? Why does there have to be a special term for it? I haven't done my cleaning any differently than I always have. In fact, Ryan and I haven't even touched the room that will be the baby's room. That room is still serving its purpose as Ryan's game room (although he doesn't use it as much since our flat screen tv is downstairs).

Also, why am I being compared to a bird? To me, birds have a much easier birth process than human females do. I have to go through labor...while birds just lay eggs and sit on them.

So feel free to compliment my clean house...just leave the birds out of it. :)

My baby is a potato

I am 18 weeks pregnant today! The baby is 5 1/2 inches long. This is about as long as a large baking potato (mmmm....potato). The baby weighs almost 7 oz.

I supposedly should have gained 10-14 lbs so far. I'm not sure if I'm on target or not. I should find out at my next appointment since my scale at home is never correct (my weight at home is always different from the reading at the dr.'s office).

I'm feeling much better in comparison to a few weeks ago, so I'm hoping the majority of my sickness is behind me. I have been eating much better. Vegetables and fruits are actually sounding good to me again...but still no beef. I tried to have corned beef hash at our local diner a couple of nights ago and had to ask Ryan finish it off for me (which he did without difficulty). Luckily, I had plenty of eggs, hash browns and english muffins on the side to fill me up!