Here's a 15 week picture (1/24/13):
My good friend, Alli, is 5 weeks ahead of me and texted me at work, asking for a picture of my belly. I tried to take the pic myself in the bathroom, but there were too many people going in and out so I felt like a creeper. Good thing my friend Tricia was there to help me out and snap a quick pic :)
Updates:
* we had our 16 week appointment on 1/31. Jeff and I got to hear baby H's heartbeat for the first time. It was the weirdest thing - it sounded like a cross between alien communication and what they hear on those ghost hunter shows when they use those amplifier things. So cool! Baby H's heartbeat was 140, which is totally on point. My blood pressure and sugars were within normal limits as well, even though I had splurged on a coffee a couple hours before (still cutting down on caffeine, but I'm not really a nice person without it. for the sake of my job, friendships, and marriage, I'll keep drinking it in smaller doses :).
* the Down's Syndrome and other genetic testing came back clear. My blood tests for STD's (HIV and such) came back clear as well, for those who were worried ;)
* weight gain at the last appointment was 3 pounds, bringing total weight gain thus far to 3.2 pounds. I've started to get a more pronounced belly so I was expecting way more. Perhaps I'm eating a little too healthy...
* I started seeing a chiropractor twice a week, and the results have been incredible. I went from walking like a super pregnant chick to almost totally normal. I'm going to continue to see her throughout the pregnancy (and maybe after) so that my delivery is as easy as possible. When Mom was in town. we chatted with Michelle at the Sweet Beginnings baby store; she convinced me that seeing a chiropractor was the way to go when she informed us that this particular chiropractor had turned her breech baby and she also had a 30 minute delivery. Sold.
* Jeff and I are going to interview a doula over the next few weeks and decide what birthing class we're going to take. I had been leaning toward the Bradley Method, but the doula our midwife recommended teaches HypnoBirthing/the Mongan Method. After doing research, we'll probably go with the doula and HypnoBirthing so that Jeff can enjoy the experience and not have the stress of being my coach.
* I made my first belly band today. It was relatively easy, but jersey fabric is so frustrating to work with, as it stretches and rolls up, even after I ironed it. My first try turned out well (i.e. it's wearable), but my next effort will be much better, now that I know what I'm doing and how to manipulate the fabric. If I were to purchase more fabric for this project, I would probably get better jersey fabric than the thin stuff at JoAnn. For $7 a yard, I can't really complain, especially when I think I can get between 4-6 belly bands out of 2 yards of fabric. Belly bands run upwards of $15-20 each, so I'll consider this a win. (side note: how many times can I use the word "fabric" in one bullet point?!?!?).
* Jeff and I went to H&M yesterday to check out some gear and spend my gift card from my in-laws. I picked up a sweet pair of gray jeans and a sweet pair of black jeans, both maternity. They look completely ridiculous right now; I'm pretty sure the fitting room attendant was laughing at me. Seriously, if it wasn't for my thighs, the pants would have been on the floor! They're awesome though, and I'm looking forward to wearing them, especially since I've been lamenting the fact that I didn't buy similar ones at Express back in November.
What I've been eating:
This has been a major question I've been getting lately. I've really started to research food, even more so than I used to. I've switched most of my fruits and vegetables to organic, and have really been reading labels to check for artificial preservatives, colors, and flavors. I've also become more attuned to whether products are labeled with non-GMO information. I've learned to read the labels on absolutely everything, as manufacturers will sneak some pretty awful ingredients into things you'd least expect. For example, I was craving cottage cheese last week, so I stopped by Safeway on my way home (it was snowing and I didn't want to go out of my way to Natural Grocers/Vitamin Cottage or Whole Foods) and grabbed some. I got home and read the label, only to discover Polysorbate 80 was listed as an ingredient. After consulting my good friend Google, I found that it has been known to cause anaphylactic shock in pregnant women, as well as contributing to an "increased risk of blood clots, heart attack, heart failure, and of tumor growth or recurrence in patients with certain types of cancer" (thegoodhuman.com, pubmed.com). I took it back to Safeway the next morning, of course. Needless to say, we're staying away from any ingredients that have a number in them. I've also been checking into preservatives as well as any ingredients I'm not familiar with; I checked into a preservative in sausage Jeff was going to buy at Target and found on the US government's website that it has been found to be "slightly toxic" but still okay for consumption. Umm, no? We went to Natural Grocers and bought preservative free sausage. The same happened to us with bread, which is why I now bake my own. We're also joining a CSA so we can ensure we know what is in our food and where it comes from.
My breakfast typically consists of plain yogurt and fruit, oatmeal with fruit, homemade buckwheat groat cereal, or a smoothie. I'm getting a juicer this week (thanks to my MIL who rocks!) so I'll be experimenting more with smoothies :) Lunch is soup, a giant salad, or yogurt. Dinner could be a non-GMO tofu stir fry (watch out for soy products - 90% of them are GMO), a tofu wrap, spinach lasagna, pizza... sometimes we splurge with dinner since Jeff eats "dude food" aka (organic, free-range, nitrate and nitrite free) meat, and I'm so tired that I don't feel like making two meals.
Okay, that was a long food update, but I've had a lot of questions. I hope you skipped it if you already knew the information, or if you were rolling your eyes because you think I've finally gone off the deep end :)
Side note: I'm going to try to blog more frequently, so that it's not word vomit every time I post!
xo,
Breezy
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