Week 28 - subtitle - THIRD TRIMESTER!

Wooo - finally made it to the third trimester, y'all!  The baby is approximately 14.8 inches long, 2.25 pounds, and approximately the size of a head of Chinese cabbage.  I'm not sure that I've had Chinese cabbage before, but here is a picture:

Here is a run down of all the happenings this past week:

Workouts:

• Monday - yoga!
• Tuesday - 5 mile run/jog
• Wednesday - rest
• Thursday - pregnant lady workout videos!  (This week I tried this one and this one)
• Friday - 5 mile run/jog
• Saturday - 5k race at Busch Gardens
• Sunday - 4 mile run/walk

Speaking of the Busch Gardens 5k, Ben and I both had a really good time at this race.  Previously, the race was only open to friends/family of Busch Gardens employees, but this year they opened the race up to the public.  It was huge!  There were over 1000 people there.  It was a great fundraiser for the Wildlife Conservation Fund, and it was really cool to run through the park.  Even better, the 5k entry included admission to the park for the day.  

This was officially my last race as a pregnant lady!  My goal was to finish under 30 minutes and not fall/slip.  I'm very happy to say that I squeaked in at 29:26 (or 9:30 minute/mile pace).  It was a bittersweet moment to know that it's going to be a long while before I put on another racing bib or cross another finish line, but the payoff in the end is going to be so worth it!

After the race we got cleaned up and prepared to spend the day at Busch Gardens.  The only ride that I am able to go on is the sky ride, which wasn't in operation (womp womp).  But, we had a really good time taking in the shows, checking out the animals, and people watching!  We stayed at the park until 4:00 or so.  It never really rained, but stayed overcast, so it was nice that the park itself wasn't too crowded and the weather was comfortable.

Here were are post-race at IHOP:

Ben petting a wallaby:

Kangaroos so stuffed that they just fell right asleep!

Over-feeding of the kangaroos:

Super ugly emu!

On Sunday, we went back to the hospital for a breastfeeding class.  I was really not feeling like spending two and a half hours in a class on a beautiful Sunday (during the Bucs game, even!), but I knew that it would be good to go and learn.  First, I would like to say that Countryside should NOT have their classes in the basement.  No bueno.

I was surprised that there were so many people in the class (and VERY happy that Ben agreed to attend with me).  There was one other couple that was not finding out the gender of their child, everyone else shared their genders, names, due dates, etc...  I was REALLY surprised that several of the other students were due in December!  Ack!  That is the last thing that I want to be doing when 9 months pregnant.  But, I learned quite a bit and am really glad that we went.  We do have a childbirth/parenting class coming up the first weekend in December as well.

The Lovenox shots were up for refill this week (yes, we are still up to date on the shots), and I was a little nervous that there would be another issue with my insurance and the refill.  Thankfully, the prescription was able to be refilled with no issues this month (woo!).

On Wednesday, we had a doctor's appointment.  The appointment was pretty uneventful.  The doctor was pleased with the baby's growth, my current weight gain, blood pressure, etc..  The baby's heart rate was 154, which is a little higher than it's been in the past (which shoots my boy theory down, as girls typically have higher heart rates).  We will be going back again in two weeks (December 9th) for another appointment.

Finally, we have so many things to be thankful for this year, but I truly thank everyone for their questions, comments, suggestions, and concerns for our new addition arriving soon!  Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!  

Week 27 - subtitle - ACTUAL end of the second trimester

Apparently I was misinformed and thought I was entering my last trimester beginning Week 27; however, Week 28 will be the start of my third trimester.  Either way, it's close!  This week the baby is the size of a head of cauliflower (14.5 inches and approximately 2 pounds).  First time in two weeks that I didn't have to Google a fruit or vegetable to figure out what the heck it was...(for the win!)

This past weekend the baby attended his or her first concert at Water Works Park in Tampa Heights.  The park just recently opened and it was actually the first concert ever performed at this venue.  If you have not been down to the new Riverwalk or visited Ulele, I would highly recommend the trip.  Ulele is owned by Richard Gozmart from the Columbia and all the food is a "vibrant fusion of ingredients from Florida waters".  Ulele is actually a young Native American Princess considered the Tampa version of Pocahontas.

Here is a photo that Ben snapped from our visit Ulele in September with Sonia and Dave:

The location is beautiful and there is a brewery on site that utilizes Ulele spring water to brew their beer.  If you go, make sure you save room for the Candied Duck Bacon Maple Fried Ice Cream (pictured below) which was recently named one of the top five desserts in the Tampa Bay area.  

Anyway, back to the concert.  The River Rock festival was going on with the headliner being Sister Hazel.  Ben and I were talking about going and then his dad mentioned it to us as well.  The venue was really nice, we just brought our chairs and camped out.  The festival was actually a fundraiser for Children with Voices, so all the proceeds went charity (nice!).

I haven't seen Sister Hazel in YEARS and they still put on a great show!  They played quite a bit of their old music, which was really nice!  The one really cool thing about Sister Hazel is that their audience is really broad, so there were a lot of different ages and types of people.  (And the tickets were only $25!)  Here is a shot of the concert as the sun was setting (not Sister Hazel in the picture):

Ben and I also had our hospital tour this week.  I wasn't sure exactly what to expect, but I did make sure to Google some questions that I should ask before the tour and had them handy.  Surprisingly enough, we were the youngest couple there (woo!).  There were four other couples along for the tour with us as well.  Our guide, Marilyn, brought us to the delivery rooms first and we actually got to see their water birthing room.  Oh my.  The tub literally looks like an above-ground pool:

Yeahhh...I'm thinking that's not really an option for me.  Marilyn did tell us about bringing our own towels (old) and wearing clothes that are essentially throw-away.  There were a lot of helpful things that she said that hadn't even occurred to me.  We also got to tour the new wing that was just opened two weeks ago.  No offense, but I wasn't overly impressed.

We spent quite a bit of time going over the paperwork that is going to be required for admitting, any medications, birth certificate, etc...  I was surprised to learn that the hospital doesn't do that many circumcisions anymore.  Apparently, insurance companies figured out that they had to pay the hospital and the doctor versus just the doctor if he/she performed the procedure in office.  Should have known..

Overall, I was really glad that we went on the tour.  I'm hoping that we don't have to stay too long in the hospital, but at least now we know exactly where everything is.  We do have two other classes scheduled for later this month - breastfeeding and parenting/childbirth.   

Here are some other FAQs from this week:

Food cravings: Nothing really specific.  Have been trying to eat lots of fruits and vegetables and drink plenty of water (Smartwater with electrolytes, of course!) and milk.

Food aversions: Hummus!  Oh man, I love hummus so much but I have not been able to eat it since the very moment I got pregnant.  

Movement: Tons and tons of kicking!  Fortunately, the baby has picked up my early morning schedule and doesn't stay up too, too late kicking (so far, anyway).

Workouts:  I've seen been getting in quite a few workouts each week, which do make me feel better.

• Monday: yoga
• Tuesday: 5 mile run/jog (AM before work)
• Wednesday: rest
• Thursday: Workout video for pregnant ladies (one 20 minute cardio and one 20 minute strength training video, but I did not do the crunches in the strength video)
• Friday: 5 mile run/jog (AM before work)
• Saturday: rest
• Sunday: 8 mile run at Flatwoods

Several people have been asking me how much longer I intend on running/working out, and my goal for running is really to make it to 30 weeks/end of December.   I do plan on either walking or maintaining my yoga/workout videos as long as I can.  

Symptoms: Nothing really major.  I've had some minor heartburn and generally I just feel uncomfortable some days, but it's really not been that bad.

Mood: All over the map, as I'm certain Ben will attest to.  There are just some days that I don't really feel like talking to anyone or leaving home.  

Also, we've been noticing how many fox themed things there are lately.  We stopped in to Target on Sunday and could not believe the amount of Christmas foxes there were.  For $60, you can have your very own light up fox (complete with scarf!).

That is all for now - until next week y'all!

26 weeks!

This week we have officially reached the final week of the second trimester.  The baby is approximately 14 inches long and 1.75 pounds or the length of a hothouse cucumber.  Again, I don't know what a hothouse cucumber is, but it appears to be a thinner, longer version of what we all know and love as the cucumber.  Here's a photo:

The baby's lungs and brain are much more developed and can now also hear outside noises, like Ben's voice.  The baby's favorite game to play is after one kick, wait to Ben to put his hand on my stomach and then refuse to follow up with subsequent kicks.  After a little coaxing from Dad, the baby starts kicking again.  We also have less than 100 days (or so) until the baby arrives.  That. is. CRAZY!

Here are the latest and greatest adventures from this week/weekend (another busy one!):

Ben and I have been diligently working on building a baby registry, but there are so much things that we are uneducated about!  Not to mention, some of the "suggested items" seem completely unnecessary (and expensive!).  After much thought, we decided to register at Babies R Us and Amazon (links to our actual registry).  Any suggestions from my mom and/or mom-to-be friends for items that are an absolute must are certainly welcome.

Ben and I ran the Little-Markou Race to Educate (5k) on Saturday morning (11/8) and we both had a good time.  The weather was good and the course is relatively flat.  I was able to run a 28:50 (about 9:18 minute/mile), which I was super happy with.  Ben ran a 24:24 and placed 3rd in his age group.  We got to see quite a few people that we haven't seen in a while and the race swag was unbelievable!  Here is a picture that includes Ben's age group award (glows in the dark!):

We also returned to the home where we got married on Saturday for a BBQ/Fall Festival.  When we walked up, there was a huge tent (pictured below), beer on tap, wine, and more food then we even had at our wedding!  This was the first time that I've been back to the house since our wedding day, and it was awesome.  Del and Diana (the homeowners) treated us like royalty and all of their friends were excited to meet us, since they had heard so much about the wedding and us.

Diana even started welling up talking about future Baby Raposa.  This is a yearly event that they host, so she is excited to have the baby attend next year.  There may have even been jokes about birthing the baby in their horse barn and having a full-service wedding/birthing center....okay, there were.  I even didn't mind so much when Diana rubbed my baby bump (which is something I have only let Ben do so far). It appears that I'm going to have to get a little more comfortable with that as my bump is growing.  Here's a shot of us right in the same spot we sealed the deal:

This week we had a doctor's appointment where I found out that I passed my glucose test (yay!) and my iron levels look good, which means that I'm not anemic (woo!).  The doctor broke that news that visits will now be every 2 weeks versus every 4 weeks.  I was a little surprised, but since this is officially my last week in the second trimester, I guess that is to be expected.

The doctor, Ben, and I myself had a pretty candid conversation about my due date and if/how long past my due date the doctor will allow.  He said that typically around 38 weeks, he will formulate a plan and possibly schedule an induction for the 39th week.  I expressed my concern about the chemicals used to induce labor (mainly pitocin) and how they tend to lead to c-section, especially if the baby isn't "ready".  He listened and didn't really agree or disagree, but said that perhaps my feelings would change by the time I'm 38 weeks pregnant.  Touche', Dr. Ancheta - obviously not his first rodeo.

So, for now, the plan is to wait and see what this baby and my body decides.  Ben was born right on time, my nephew and I were post delivered past our due dates/ late, and my sister and niece were delivered early.  So, it's really a gamble in terms of past family history.  But the doctor will not let me go past 41 weeks.

He also recommended that I drink lots of Smartwater, Gatorade, and/or milk and eat plenty of bananas in order to help with the leg cramping that I've been experiencing lately.  Most people know that I'm a total Smartwater snob, so I'm all about drinking water with extra electrolytes.

That is all for now - lots more coming soon!

Week #25 update!

This week the baby is 1.5 pounds and about 13.5 inches long and approximately the size of a rutabaga.  I've been following along with my phone app each week, and patiently wait to see what fruit/vegetable our baby is compared to each week.  I realized this week that I had no idea what a rutabaga is or what it looks like.  So, for those of you like me here's a photo:

Apparently rutabaga's are often confused with turnips.  This is all very fascinating, right?!  The baby is starting to look a little more proportional and developing hair and even fat.  We definitely have a kicker, and I'm more and more certain that this baby will have Ben's long legs.

I had my glucose test this past Friday morning (Halloween), which was not as bad as I thought it would be.  I did have to drink "the drink" (shown below):

The taste actually wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be (orange flavor).  But basically, you have to drink the entire bottle in 2.5 minutes (UGH!) (Also, they will watch you like a hawk!) and then wait one hour to see how your body processes sugar.  I've essentially become an expert on getting shots/having blood drawn as of late so the blood draw was super easy.  We will not find out the results until we go to the doctor next Tuesday, but if the results are favorable we can move on.  If the sugar levels are high, there is an additional three hour test that will be needed.

Traditionally on Halloween, Ben and I go over to my sister's house to carve pumpkins, give out candy, and hang with our niece and nephew.  I headed over to Emily's school for a little Halloween parade in the afternoon with my sister.  (After we were able to get much-needed and super-relaxing pedicures!)  At first, Emily was Sofia the First (pictured below:)

However, she decided that she wanted to be Princess Elsa from Frozen after coming home.  My nephew, Alex, knew that he was going to be Leonardo since last year.  Here we are after their successful venture of trick or treating: 

They really are a lot of fun to watch develop from babies to toddlers to little miniature adults.  Emily, especially, is very opinionated (which she has been since she entered the world on her own terms).  Being an auntie really is the coolest, hopefully they will think that I'm still cool as they continue to grow up, ;)

Several people have been asking me about how I've been feeling and how I'm still able to keep my energy up to work out in addition to working, cooking, etc...(you know - all the things that you do without thinking about it).  The answer is that I've still been feeling REALLY good.  The days that I do workout, I feel better about myself and actually sleep much better.  I certainly do not work out every day, but here's a little sample of what I did last week:

• Monday: yoga video at home (Check out this site that I use for free yoga videos)
• Tuesday: 5 mile run/jog (before work)
• Wednesday: rest
• Thursday: 5 mile run/jog (before work)
• Friday: rest
• Saturday: 6 mile walk (weather was perfect and took full advantage in the afternoon)
• Sunday: rest (Ben's support crew for Wildhorse)

I just try to do about 30-60 minutes of physical activity 4 to 5 days a week to keep myself feeling good.  

Speaking of Ben's race at Wildhorse, it was nice to have an extra hour to snooze before heading south for him to run the first race in the XTERRA series.  Wildhorse is a race that you really love to hate, because the course is so challenging.  I did not know what my volunteer duty was going to be, but we had to arrive at 6:30 am.  There is a stream crossing that all the distances (4 mile, 10k, 10 mile, and half marathon) have to cross...twice.  Little did I know, the volunteers for the water stops have to cross it as well! 

When the race director told us that we had to cross the stream, I immediately said "heck no!"  It was 41 degrees, and the stream was chest high water.  Luckily, I got to stand on the dry side of the stream and direct runners to and from the start/finish.  It was nice to see Ben and the other racers right at the beginning and then right before the finish.  The second time through the stream crossing, Ben wanted to give me a big hug (which I refused!) but I was able to snap a photo of him before he set off for the finish line (shown here):

The weeks and the weekends have been really busy (typically for this time of year) and time is really flying by.  Thankfully I get a very generous Winter Break from work, and I calculated that I only have 25 more working days this year!  That is completely BANANAS!  I've already been making plans for January, can you believe it?!?  That is all for now, until next week y'all!