Paradise day #3, April 28, 2012

This was probably my favorite day that we spent in Maui. My birthday was pretty awesome too but this day was pretty incredible. We decided to get up first thing and go on a hike on west Maui. Conincidentally, it was the same hike we went on in August after our wedding (see post on that hike here). We wanted to do it again because it was so awesome and I was only slightly hesitant as I knew what we were in for so I was a little concerned that at 6 months pregnant it was going to be rough.

Beginning of the trail...I believe it is about 7 miles round trip. Before we started, we had to get really good at peeing in the wilderness. Or rather, YOURS TRULY, had to get really good at peeing in the wilderness since at that time I had not peed in about 1.2 hours and that is about my max time of not peeing in this preggo state. Fortunately, one of my good friends taught me the best pee trick when you are in the woods. Unfortunately for me, it requires a tree and there were none of those around. Needless to say, we made it to the trail head with empty bladders. Probably more than I really needed to say about that...

A view of the valley as we got in to the hike. What we love about this hike is that it starts off farmy (thus the no tree thing), then gets into trees (like our Washington woods), then opens into these types of views, and eventually you get to the top of these peaks where you have views of the whole island. It's pretty amazing.

My cute husband hiking... Maui coastline in the background.

And another...

Beautiful Maui coast...

And mountains...

Eventually we made it to the top where a nice guy from Florida took our picture. And yep, I sure did hike in a bikini again. And white shorts (last time it was a white bikini). No shame in hikining in a bikini at 6 months preggo. It was hot!

And one more shot... we looked at our watches and couldn't believe it but we made it to the top in the same amount of time as we did when I was not pregnant in August. YES! Not that that was an expectation but I was still pretty impressed with myself although I will say that it was SO much harder being pregnant and attempting to hike.

We continued our drive around the west point of Maui... it's a pretty cool drive but also, there is an AMAZING banana bread stand that we (me) had to stop at again. First part of the drive: Hawaii cows.

And gorgeous views!

One more shot of the amazing scenery.  We eventually made it around the island, got our banana bread, and headed straight to the eastside where we packed up snacks, drinks, and beach gear (this time complete with umbrella) and went to the ocean where we spent the remainder of the day. Only at one point did it get a little traumatic as I failed big time at going under a wave and instead let it completely mutilate me... the waves were really big that day and one came at me and I was sort of an idiot and just watched it. Flipped around, had a wild ride, got the beejebus scared out of me all while Justin sat and watched my feet flip around in the air. Regardless, it was still a pretty amazing few hours at the ocean.  

A shot of Justin in the water right before sunset (and a few more to follow)...

(not sure what the gray thing is all about... iphone photo)...

After watching the sunset, we headed home to grill vegetables and steaks and relaxed for the evening. It was pretty amazing.

Week 26

We are edging closer and closer to 7 months. It blows my mind at how fast these 9-10 months are going by. Some days it seems like forever, but mostly it feels like the next thing I know, he is going to be here. Crazy.

Week 26 picture, view 1

Week 26 picture, view 2

And week 25 picture. Looks funny compared to week 26- I think the baby must have been sitting funny to make my stomach pooch out more in week 25. Pretty cute.

How I'm feeling?

Pretty much just quite large.

I also had some weird sort of cold thing this week. It wasn't a full blown cold but for a good day I was convinced that it was going to be. I sneezed about 4,000,000 times an hour and felt a bit like crap (achy and just wanted chicken noodle soup for one night) but nothing ever materialized. I did eat some raw garlic so maybe that was just enough to get me over the hurdle between actually getting sick and not getting sick. I'm glad I stayed on the healthy side... I can't remember the last time I had a cold and I would not like to add that to my "things I did while pregnant" list. No thanks.

This week marks the end of the "honeymoon" trimester and starts the beginning of the last trimester... what is known to be the really uncomfortable one. We shall see, but somehow I think that's probably an entirely accurate description.

How I'm changing?

The whole belly button inverting and hair thickness things are still blowing my mind this week. Both are products of continued hormones and continuing to get larger. It's also getting harder and harder to bend over, you know, even to put socks on.

I also experienced my first braxton hicks contraction. Weird. It's very odd as you basically just feel your belly get really tight. Also a necessary sign that your body is preparing itself for labor.

 

What I'm eating?

After I mentioned pitas in last week's blog post, they made a comeback to my diet. Sounded so good. So, I ate quite a few pitas last week with hummus and veggies. Delish.Other than that, pretty much just been eating normally.

Weight I'm gaining? 

I am officially part of the 140 club. Oh man. Everything says that I should have gained 16-22 pounds by now... um, check. From here on out, apparently I'm supposed to gain 1/2 inch in belly size a WEEK. Seriously?

How I'm sleeping?

Great, really nothing too notable here. The baby seems to get active right before I go to sleep but it hasn't seem to impair my ability to fall asleep. I guess I'm just going to sleep well while I still can.

What's the baby doing?

-The baby is 14 inches and 1.75 pounds, or the size of a hothouse cucumber

-The baby's lungs and brain continue to develop more and more and he can hear outside voices better and sense light 

-Basically from here on out, everything is developed, the baby is just growing and preparing for the outside world.

What we are doing to prepare for the baby?

-We are still in our baby classes which manage to freak me out on a weekly basis. Since it is a natural birthing class, there is really no holding back on what has or hasn't happened in labor to the "general" population of women who go through labor. Some things seem manageable, others just seem beyond comprehension until I actually live through it. What it comes down to is that I really just have no idea what to expect out of my labor and that thought alone, as someone who likes control, scares the bejeebus out of me. We are still debating a doula....

-We also went to our midwives for our monthly appointment. It was also the glucose test. And WOW. Yuck. That stuff was SO sweet. Again, it's an optional test but one they look for you to have done if you get transferred to a hospital so better to be safe than sorry. Also good to know if you are prone to gestational diabetes so you can modify your diet. I got no call back which was the sign for all clear. But WOAH. That stuff gave me such a headache. I'm pretty sure I haven't eaten or drank that much sugar in YEARS.

-We've also wrapped up our registry stuff for the most part and have our three registries down- Amazon, Buy buy baby (a midwest store that is owned by Bed Bath and Beyond), and Target. I'm still not totally sure that we have all the bases covered or really, totally what we were doing, but at least we have something. I will say that when we were in Missouri and registering at Buy buy baby, the people there were extremely helpful and informative.

Random thoughts on pregnancy (pregnancy brain?)

I totally freaked out at the midwives this week because as I was leaving, the midwife said "well, we'll see you in two weeks." Huh? I'm on a monthly schedule. She says, "nope, you are now on the every two weeks schedule-it's that time. Welcome to the 3rd trimester." It was a total whack into reality, one that I wasn't quite prepared for...but, here we are and we need to get cracking. The second trimester went entirely way too fast and I'm sure the third will too. Time to get this party started (meaning, get our shit organized so that we are ready to meet this little guy).

Paradise day #2, April 27, 2012

Ah, these pictures make me miss Hawaii. Especially as it pours down rain in Seattle...

The second day in Maui, we got up and since we had no food in the condo, we decided to go out for breakfast. We first drove past a rather highly rated placed that basically looked like a shack that could cave in on itself at any minute. Being that I am sort of sensitive (or maybe snobby) to what I deem as "weird" hole in the walls, we ventured elsewhere. We settled on Duo, a place renowed for the breakfast buffet and it actually ended up being a great choice as we got to walk along the beachfront to the restaurant.

...and we had a pretty great view once we were there.

Another shot of Justin... we both decided on the buffet since it got such stellar reviews and even for $35 a pop, it was pretty amazing. I am still drooling over the pancakes I had that the guy there made for me right in front of my face, complete with coconut syrup. AMAZING.

A picture of Justin before we walked back to our car. After breakfast, we headed to Safeway to pick up some necessary snacks and food. We had decided to have a beach day so we also needed some beach snacks.

Complete with rum for some fruity drinks for Justin... and of course, once we got home, he had to try them out to make sure they were ok.

Apparently rum at 10am does not taste so fabulous. We then packed up and headed straight to the beach. We were sort of dumb, though, as we didn't bring our umbrella and it was totally sunny on this day. So of course, we both got decently burnt despite coating on the sunscreen (apparently pregnant women are more prone to sunburn?? Who knew). We spent a big chunk of the day running in and out of the ocean and reading by the ocean before saying enough was enough and heading home to relax on the lanai out of the sun.

Evenutally we made the decision to walk to dinner. We had looked at Duo's menu for dinner at breakfast and it was in both of our heads. So, yes, we went back to the same place for dinner as we had gone for breakfast. I had the great idea to walk there...I figured it was a good idea since we hadn't done much all day and it was really only 1.5 miles each way.

It was an absolutely goregous sunset walk there... 

And one more...

And once there we settled in for the evening...glass of wine for Justin, sparkling water for me. Then, I had fish and Justin also had some fish along with some local Maui beef that was amazing. I always forget to take pictures of the food part but luckily this isn't a food blog so who cares.

We also had a great sunset at the restaurant.

And we ended the night with a GIANT thing of cotton candy (that, truthfully, we didn't touch but it's one of the things the restaurant hands out, like bread....interesting). We then realized we had to walk 1.5 miles home on full stomachs, in the dark. IT.WAS.MISERABLE. I think if Justin wasn't so miserable himself, he would have gloated about how right he was in that it was not a smart idea to walk to dinner. But luckily he didn't do that as I was in too much pain and probably would have decked him if he had even tried to gloat. I wore flip flops and my feet are unaccustomed to such exposed footwear. So much so, that by the time I got home both of the bottoms of my feet were bleeding and I had giant blisters on them. But, we made it (barely) and cuddled the rest of the night... along with something that we heard in our condo that we thought was a bird squaking. We thought maybe either our condo was haunted or the bird had gotten in through the eaves and was going to die there. It was a little freaky and we both felt bad for it. More on the bird thing in later Hawaii posts.

Paradise 2012, day #1.

So, I mentioned in an earlier post that we made it to Maui again this year. It was a bit of a pre-baby getaway plus a 30th birthday celebration for me.

It all started out on the morning of April 26, 2012 when we left beautiful Seattle. Ha. Ha. Haha.

After a long 6 hour flight (aka: misery for the preggo lady which ended in swollen ankles), we arrived. Ahhhh. It felt so good to be there... in warmth, sun, and without stress. We got our jeep, took the top off and promptly headed to our favorite natural foods store to get some foods for a picnic by the beach.

A bit later we got to our condo, changed clothes and headed out for a walk. It was gorgeous. I can't even explain how awesome it is to bask in the sun after being in rain and cold for so long (and truly, Seattle has had a pretty decent winter but in my mind nothing beats 80 degrees and totally sunny).

A view of the coast on our walk. I seriously love the ocean. When I'm in labor and need to relax, I will picture being here, I can almost guarantee it.

More shots of palm trees and tropics. Love.

After walking around and getting sufficiently sweaty and more sun than we've gotten in, oh, 8 months, we decided to head out to dinner. We wanted something fairly low key but not totally resort-like (we stay in Wailea by all of the resorts so the resorts are always an easy option). We settled on a natural restaurant that got rave reviews (above is Justin driving to it).

The restaurant is called Monkeypod and it prides itself on making dishes with all local ingredients. It was super cute with live music and great service. Plus, we still had an amazing view of the ocean.

We started off with amazing pesto, spinach butternut squash raviolis... and Justin had a glass of wine (a northwest wine, actually). AMAZING. I then was in a mild food coma so stopped taking pictures but it was SO good. I would have eaten there every day and would have been totally happy about it.

At the end of the night? This. Does it get much better?

Week 25

Week 25. Woah. And WHAAA...? How did we get so far into this?

25 weeks.

25 weeks, view #2. Um, I popped out. I thought I had popped out before, this gives a whole new definition to the word.

And 24 weeks for comparison. See? 25 weeks = pop!

How I'm feeling?

I am seriously in awe of this belly. Seriously. I kept saying there's no way I'm going to get bigger, you know, because I'm delusional. I'm definitely getting bigger. And bigger. And bigger. I think that it's entirely possible that because of this growth this week, I felt like shit. And I mean total and complete shit. Let's put it this way: on Saturday I took a nap. I literally do not remember the last time I napped. I get sick and I don't nap. I know, I'm weird, I just really don't nap. But I did this week. I was feeling awful.

I also actually officially admitted that I can't run anymore. I sort of half-ass said this last week but I thought that maybe I still could run. Again, delusional. I ran for about 2 minutes before I realized that it's over and I need to get a grip on reality. I then went back to my old friend, the bike. Still no fun, but hey it's something. I continued to lift weights this week (or rather, resumed lifting since I hadn't lifted in about 2 weeks between Hawaii and trying to get to Hawaii). I think that lifting contributed to my tiredness... my whole body hurt. A good hurt, but still. I did three straight days of pretty hard core weight lifting and then a day of cardio so I was feeling it.

I also had a resurgence of pregnancy brain or perhaps my husband is just rubbing off on me: I completely lost my keys this week. No where to be located. For a good day or more. As Justin is typically the key loser, he loved it. Turns out I left them just sitting in an open gym locker (he had driven home). Brilliant!

How I'm changing?

Well, it's official: my belly button has gone in the other direction. Pretty soon it will be fully inverted and popped out. It totally weirds me out that this happens. I guess I should take out my belly button ring soon.

Oh, and my hair is seriously THICK. Pretty awesome but not the part where it will all fall out after baby.

And another thing: my uterus is now the size of a soccer ball, or at least that is what all of the pregnancy sites tell me. REALLY? That seems HUGE. But also believable.

 

What I'm eating?

I'm eating pretty much anything at this point although I've decided once again in my pregnancy that peanut butter just doesn't sound good. Ever since we've gotten back from Hawaii, I really haven't eaten much of it which is very odd for me. Other than that, pretty much nothing notable. I was thinking the other day about my various phases of pregnancy foods. Still on a bit of a mexican kick now but we've come a long ways from the childhood foods, to the pickles, to the pitas....

Weight I'm gaining? 

139, holding steady.... I have a feeling next week is going to be the big 140 marker.

How I'm sleeping?

Pretty good, although we did get up to fly to Iowa at 2 freaking 30 am this week. That. sucked. But I was able to sleep a bit on the plane so I made it through. 

What's the baby doing?

-The baby is 13.5 inches, the size of a rutabaga and 1.5 pounds

-The baby's body parts are becoming more proportional to each other and baby fat is continuing to fill in the baby's skin.

-More and more hair is growing and it actually has color and texture

-That's about it for the kid...he's just growing and hanging out.

What we are doing to prepare for the baby?

-We went to our first baby class this week. It's a baby class that is driven for natural births (so not like the lamaze classes that most people have heard of). It was recommended by our midwives and we were thoroughly impressed. It's 3 hours every Tuesday night for 6 weeks. The first class was all about introductions and some basic birthing information. Some of the statistics they gave were just CRAZY (IE: first time moms push for 2-3 hours... really?!) I think it is going to be a great class and really help us to prepare even more for the whole process of welcoming this kid into the world.

-We also attempted to register. I say attempted because OMG. What IS all that crap? There are 400 million options of everything and half the stuff I don't even know what it is but I'm fairly sure we don't need half of it. I think I still need to research some before we're totally there on this one...

Random thoughts on pregnancy (pregnancy brain?)

I've been reading a book about breastfeeding (by Ina May Gaskin, probably the nation's most famous midwife). I've decided that I am most freaked out by the breastfeeding thing. I just had no idea that it would be so complicated. I mean, you have boobs, the baby sucks. Should be easy, right? Apparently it's not. I mean, I think we'll muddle through it but WOW. I just had no idea that it could possibly be so INVOLVED. I think I have a lot to learn in the next, well, 15-16 weeks.

Week 24

This post is a little bit (like a week) late... blame trying to catch up from Hawaii coupled with another trip to the midwest and I am totally behind. In fact, I just told someone today I was only 24 weeks pregnant when tomorrow I will be 26 weeks. There goes those two weeks! Luckily, thanks to handy iphones, I still have all notes from week 24 so here is the back track:

Week 24, view 1.

Week 24, view 2.

And week 23 for comparison...sidenote: I MISS HAWAII.

How I'm feeling?

Huge. I'm just going to say this from here on out, deal?

Week 24 was spent partly in Hawaii. I discussed some of it in the week 23 post but here's the remainder: while in Hawaii, we spent a lot of time at the ocean. You know what? Pregnant people have more sensitive skin. WHO KNEW. I swear, I put on about a bottle of sunscreen every 2.5 seconds but I still burned the hell out of myself. I even had a hat on and we sat under an umbrella. TORCHED. Part of this was due to when we hiked through lava fields (meaning no shade) for about 10 miles... it was windy so I didn't even think I could burn. Yep, I burned. Bad. Skin cancer risk = increased. Whoops.

We also went on the same hike we went on in August last year after we got married. We did it pretty much in the same amount of time that we did last August. For 6 months pregnant that's pretty good. I will say it was MUCH harder. MUCH.

Also: swimming is awesome. Your body feels weightless.

How I'm changing?

I have noticed that my hair has finally caught on to the whole pregnancy thing... it's thick and luscious! YES!

 

What I'm eating?

I ate my weight in pancakes in Hawaii. They were AMAZING. Definitely an indulgence but seriously awesome. Other than that, I spent much of the time in Hawaii eating fish and other Hawaiian foods. One of my favorite dinners there was grilling out on our lanai with Justin- some steak and vegetables. It was not really a typical Hawaiian meal but after a day of hiking and playing in the ocean, it was so good.

Weight I'm gaining? 

I weighed myself post Hawaii and was at 138, about where I expected...I think maybe part of that is the pancakes. I am almost to the 140 club which still blows my mind. If I was "supposed" to be 120 when I started, does that mean I've only gained 20 pounds? We are going to go with that. My starting weight seems to be creeping up the more weight I gain... funny how that happens.

How I'm sleeping? 

Pretty awesome... I think the vacation has something to do with it.

What's the baby doing?

-The baby is 12.5 inches long or the size of a piece of corn and weighs 1.25 pounds. Um, that means my kid is a FOOT long?? No way.

-The baby's respiratory system continues to grow and develop in preparation for breathing even though for now most of the oxygen still comes from the placenta.

-The baby still has translucent skin but that will change soon.

-If the baby is born, he/she is officially considered viable if born (meaning it would live).

What we are doing to prepare for the baby?

-Nothing! We were on vacation! (so we were mostly enjoying this last long distance pre-baby trip).  Yeah, we should probably get on the ball for doing stuff soon... post Hawaii...

Random thoughts on pregnancy (pregnancy brain?)

We decided while in Hawaii that post baby we are going to fly my parents out to Washington or give Justin's parents a "treat" to stay at our house with the baby so we can go on post-baby alone vacations. I think this is a genius idea!

Where we've been...

I think everyone already knows... but Thursday April 26 we left this:

BARF.

For this:

A nice little birthday and pre-baby vacation. Full report on the trip coming soon. Especially if the weather continues to be crappy in Seattle and I need to remind myself that there IS sun somewhere out there...

Week 23

Week 23, from Hawaii. Jumping right in with pictures.

View #1. And yes, I was definitely the preggo lady in a bikini. Whatever.

View #2.

And 22 weeks for comparison.

How I'm feeling?

Huge. A constant. 

I also had a resurgence of small bladder syndrome this week. When we were in Orcas, I had to pee about 4 million times. Part of the issue could have been that I took a shot of cranberry juice which really cleared me out. Or it could have just been the way the baby was sitting on my bladder. Either way, I have never peed so much in my life. It made the 6 hour plane ride to Hawaii interesting as well, especially since I had a window seat. Sorry, annoying pregnant lady coming through... 400 times in an hour.  

We have hiked several times and I feel really good for almost being 6 months pregnant. Still some pelvic bone pain which the midwife told me is normal as your bones are softening and shifting. I've officially stopped running. Just shy of 6 months and it is no longer an option, I've conceded. In 4 months, I'll be hitting the pavement again I hope.

Other than that, feeling great. Again, I can totally see how this is the "best" part of pregnancy. You are getting huge but aren't technically huge HUGE yet and you don't feel the tiredness and yuck of the first trimester anymore.

How I'm changing?

I don't really think I've changed very dramatically this week other than I'm getting bigger. The bigger my stomach gets, the smaller my ass and boobs look so that's one good thing of the growing stomach.

 

What I'm eating?

Since we have gotten to Hawaii, I've eaten the normal Hawaii foods... fish, breakfasts, etc. The only thing missing from this trip is alcoholic fruity drinks but the non-alcoholic versions have been tasty. I decided before I left for Hawaii that I am CRAVING mexican food. And not spicy Mexican food as was normal in my pre-pregnancy days but rice, beans, cilantro, pico de gallo and beef (I KNOW, who am I?) all mixed together. Like a giant Chipotle burrito bowl. I pretty much crave this every night without exception.

Weight I'm gaining? 

I still don't really know... haven't weighed myself. Probably around 135-136 still. I will weigh myself post- Hawaii which might be a terrible idea since this week is my birthday week and I am definitely eating cake...and pancakes.

How I'm sleeping? 

Pretty great. The issue with sleeping this week has nothing to do with pregnancy but more to do with the 3 hour time change from Hawaii to Seattle...meaning, we are waking up at 3:30am Hawaii time.

What's the baby doing?

-The baby is about 11.5 inches long or the size of a large mango and now weighs over a pound (so it grew .5 inches and gained .1 pound this week? Sheesh. And sidenote- logistically, I am still boggled by the fact that something that big is in my stomach).

-The baby is picking up it's activity and as it gets bigger, you feel it more often and more intensely (NO KIDDING. He is big enough now, that you can actually see my stomach move as he moves. It's pretty funny.)

-Blood vessels in the lungs are developing to prepare for breathing and the hearing is becoming more keen

-The pancreas is kicking into gear this week also

-Good news this week is that the baby is ALMOST to the point where he would have a fighting chance of surviving if he were to be born this early.

-Mostly the baby continues to grow and grow and is moving all about (seems like this will be the constant until birth).

What we are doing to prepare for the baby?

-We went to our midwife this week and everything looks great. They measured my stomach for the first time and I am at 23 (I am not sure if this is inches, cm, or mm) but the number should correlate with the number of weeks pregnant I am, so, right on target. The heartbeat is still around 160 which is right where it should be. We talked more about the birth and they are big proponents of not cutting the cord until it stops pulsing, feeding right away, and handing the baby right to me for skin to skin contact. A big plus of using midwives as hospitals don't always practice these things. Next midwife appointment is the appointment where I drink the sugary crap to test for my risk of gestational diabetes. It doesn't sound fun, and it is optional, but we're doing it in the case that I do have to go to the hospital for some emergency during labor (the hospital will assume you have gestational diabetes if you have nothing that shows you tested negative which will often put you as "high risk" in the eyes of the hospital even if I truly don't have diabetes. So, better to just do it and not have to worry about the what ifs).

Random thoughts on pregnancy (pregnancy brain?)

Flying while pregnant is not super fun. I peed a lot and my feet and legs got super swollen (pregnant ladies are more prone to blood clots, but luckily I just had the negative side affect of swollen legs and feet). We have two more flights before baby- one in a couple of weeks back to Iowa/Missouri and then another in June at 7 months back to Missouri. At least we won't have anymore 6 hour flights, at least not pre-baby. I'm thinking a post baby trip back to Hawaii might be a good idea.....