As I put on my maternity jeans today, I realized that while I hate the fact that I’m still wearing maternity jeans, I’m not exactly doing much about it.  As in I’m seriously lacking the motivation for some reason.

I can rattle off a bajillion reasons why I need to lose this damn baby weight, but I would rather eat a Chick-Fil-A sandwich and waffle fries instead.  Oh, okay I’ll be honest:  I washed the above down with a Dr. Pepper.

My size 10 maternity jeans are feeling a bit snug… in the hips & thigh area, which is no good at all.  It’s actually quite depressing that it’s been 3 months since I had Monkey & I’m still wearing maternity pants.  Sigh.

I decided today that I’m going to do more than just walk in the morning with my neighbor.  This is serious business & I need to get off my lazy ass & do something about this current situation.

No lie but when we were at the pumpkin patch my brother was like “Oh wow, she’s a MILF!”  Now while I don’t aspire to necessarily be a MILF, it would be nice to be recognized as one… instead of the frumpy new mom that I see myself as.

I’ve got showering & not having greasy hair down.  I’ve mastered not having a single dirty dish in the sink ever.  And all of our clothes in the house are clean all of the time (& put away, which is a big accomplishment for me I must say.)  My house is clean, including the kitchen appliances & granite.

But I feel frumpy.

Today I ran out to Target & I just thew my hair in a ponytail (what it is always in).  I will even go as far to admit to cyber-world that I didn’t even brush my hair.  Nope, just throw it up in a pony.  I threw on maternity jeans, flip flops, & a shirt and was out the door.

I will say that I did put on my engagement ring (wedding band still doesn’t fit) for the first time since having Monkey (yay!) & I put on my diamond stud earrings, diamond stud necklace, watch, & pearl & diamond ring on my other hand.  This is all jewelry that I used to wear 24/7, even in the shower & sleeping.  For some reason when I was pregnant, I kept it all in my drawer & wanted the “plain” look, I suppose.

Now it’s time to work on myself.  I should take a little extra time & apply some makeup.  Shoot, I should really take the time to brush my hair too.  Just sayin’.

Operation Get-My-Ass-Into-Shape has officially began.

Once my Chick-Fil-A settles, I’m going to sweat my ass off.  (I’m really hoping that Monkey cooperates & stays asleep.)  I think part of the problem is that I’m in lounge wear when Monkey & I don’t leave the house.  Lounge wear is stretchy & I never feel uncomfortable.

Today in my maternity jeans & fitted shirt, I felt uncomfortable.  This is important people.

So, in conclusion, if I have to make myself feel uncomfortable day & night in order to find my motivation I will do so.  I need to get back to the cute, in shape, not eating fast food (even Chick-Fil-A), makeup-wearing, jewelry-loving girl that I used to be.  I used to walk around with such confidence & now I walk around pulling my shirt down in the back so that no one will spy that I’m wearing maternity jeans.

Yesterday I went into the convenience store to pick up some beer for Tarzan.  Of course I got carded (which I don’t mind one bit), but this time it was different.  The dumb girl behind the counter said, “You look different.  Was this picture from a long time ago?”

Oh I wanted to lie & say that it was, but truth be told, it’s not.  It’s a picture from March 2008.  I was skinny, tan, makeup on, & hair done.  To her I was a chubby, pale, no makeup hiding behind my sunglasses & hair in a pony tail kind of girl.

In the end, this is what made me realize that I’ve turned into someone that I’m not & I need to get back to the girl that I used to be.  I don’t want to be that mom that people say “has let herself go” since having kids.  Another truth:  That is one of my biggest fears about this whole thing.  To master being a mom, but not take proper care of myself.  I’m nipping it in the bud & going to exercise now.

If you want to join in, reply in the comments.  Or if you just want to tell me that you know what I’m talking about, reply.  If you are telling me that you don’t relate to what I’m saying & that you hold the current status of being a MILF, I don’t want to hear from you.  Just kidding… but please be nice.  ;)

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The other night I went out with my best friend.  I was so excited & hardly had time to think about what I was going to wear.  After all, it was my first girl’s night out and I was more excited about that so I really forgot to look in my closet to see what I had to wear.

My friend came over and we looked in my closet, trying to find something for me to wear.  I have a lot of clothes… I mean, a lot.  However I do not own any “fat” clothes.

And since I just had a baby, this really sucks.  Big time.

All of my pants range from a size 2 to a size 6.  All of my shirts are x-small or small.  This is the extent of my closet.

Do you have any idea how frustrating it was to look through tons and tons of cute clothes, while knowing damn well that nothing will fit?  Plus, we were going out that night and what was I going to wear?  I surely didn’t want to sport any maternity wear that night.

I had so many shirts that still had the price tags on them.  I bought them right before finding out I was pregnant, so I never had the chance to wear them.  My friend ripped the tag right off of one and wore it.  Oh, it was so cute!

I tried on shirts and they were too snug for my liking.  I knew that I wouldn’t feel comfortable in them, but the real kicker was my favorite pair of jeans.

I held up said jeans and my friend said, “Those were the jeans that you loved?  They look so small.”  I said, “Just for fun I’m going to try them on.”  (And by “fun”, I really meant “torture”.)

Without one word of a lie, the right pant leg fit only to my right knee.  Oh and I guess I’ll be honest and tell you that they were very tight fitting from my right knee down to my ankle.  Why was it that I was pregnant all over my body instead of just in my stomach?

In fear of ripping my favorite jeans, I quickly took those pants off and asked my friend if she wanted to try them on too.  She was a lot smarter than me and quickly said that she didn’t.  Smart, smart girl.

I found another pair of jeans, skinny ones that looked even smaller.  Seriously they looked like they belonged to an 8th grader.  I did not dare put those bad boys on.

So all of that has been excellent motivation for me to exercise.  I have dealt with the postpartum depression.  I understand Monkey’s schedule right now.  I have mastered getting the dishes & laundry done daily.  I have also conquered my nightly glass of wine that I look forward to daily.

Now I am ready to tackle losing all of this damn baby weight.  It grosses me out to way this much, but to feel so flabby.  Yesterday I went to buy a pair of running shoes & everyone (I mean, everyone) at the store was in shape.  Like really toned, skinny, and just perfect.  Ahhh, that used to be me.  (Insert sad face here.)

Instead of getting all sorry for myself though, it provides great motivation for me.  So today is just another day in which I will exercise.  I am determined to lose this baby weight and be in shape… and hopefully (keeping my fingers crossed) fitting back into my beloved True Religion jeans.

PS – Is anyone interested in an online exercise group on the next post where we can just be held accountable for exercising each day.  It helps me to be accountable & perhaps we can learn a thing or two from one another.  It’ll be fun & I hope that it will motivate you to do a little exercise each day too!

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Now that motherhood has been a part of my life for almost 5 weeks, I feel a little more confident about all things mom and baby related.  Notice I said “a little more confident”… I still have a long ways to go, but looking back to when Monkey was just born, I have come a long way.  There’s still so much for me to learn and room for my confidence to increase tenfold.

Motherhood is so unique that nothing except experience can really prepare you.  You can read books, blogs, or listen to advice from parents, but it will not be the same when you have a child.  It’s just something that you need to figure out on your own according to your needs and your baby’s needs.  I have a feeling that motherhood is a constant learning experience that just makes you into a better mom day after day.

While I have no idea what the future holds or what obstacles will come our way, I do know that there were many things that no one told me about after childbirth, labor and delivery, and coming home with baby and what to expect.  I hope to pass these things onto you so that you won’t be as surprised at some of them like I was.

And in no particular order, here are some things on what to expect after childbirth, labor and delivery, and coming home with baby that no one told me about:

1.  I never expected motherhood to feel so lonely, especially in the beginning.  Talk about being thrown into the unknown world of breastfeeding, poopy diapers, a squirmy newborn, and lack of sleep.  It was a challenge to say the very least.

2.  Unsolicited advice from everyone.  If I had a dime for every time my mom told me that I was started on rice cereal when I was 1 week old because I consumed 32 oz of formula in one night & maybe, just maybe, that would be good for Monkey, I’d be rich.

3.  Feeling possessive over baby, especially with in-laws.  I feel like they are taking time away from me bonding with Monkey and I have no idea why.  I do not feel this way with my mom or my husband.  Perhaps it’s my hormones.

4.  I had no idea that I would do laundry and the dishes at least one time every single day.  (Stock up on dishwashing detergent & Dreft, or whatever detergent you use for your baby’s clothes.)

5.  I never knew that I wouldn’t be able to drive for 6 weeks after giving birth.  And this was a vaginal birth with a minimal tear that required just a couple of stitches.  It made no sense to me really.  The OB on call said that it was in case I was driving and had to brake fast that could be dangerous since I just gave birth.  Despite me not understanding even after this explanation, I still followed and didn’t drive for 6 weeks.

6.  Postpartum bleeding (aka lochia).  Basically bleeding, like a really heavy period, for many days after giving birth.  Once the heavy bleeding stopped, I was greeted with a lighter blood.  This part was a complete surprise to me and one of the things I dreaded the most.  Wearing a pad in your panties constantly really sucks & I felt like I smelled all of the time.  I could do without this postpartum bleeding for sure.  Consider yourself warned.

7.  Feeling like a cow milking all the time.  Not to knock breastfeeding at all, but pumping breastmilk was no fun.  Talk about feeling like a cow being milked.

8.  Hormones being so out of whack and having a hard time emotionally.  Never expected this one at all.  Again not to knock the ladies that suffer from the baby blues and postpartum depression, but I just thought I was strong enough to not suffer from this.  As you and I both know, being strong has nothing to do with it.  And who would have guessed that I would have to be on an anti-depressant for postpartum depression.

9.  The bathroom experience.  This one ties into the postpartum bleeding.  After you go to the bathroom, you have to cleanse yourself and your lady parts with a squirt bottle full of warm water.  Then pat area dry.  Then spray dermoplast on the area.  Then put a pad in your panties.  Then put two witch hazel pads overlapping on the pad that is already in your panties.  Then spray epifoam on the witch hazel pads.  Pull up panties.  Wash hands.  Repeat every single time you have to go to the bathroom.

10.  Being so tired, but not being able to nap during the day.  I think I’ve adjusted for the most part to not sleeping as much as I used to, but in the beginning it was really tough.  I’ve never been a napper before, but I thought that I’d be able to nap after giving birth.  Well, I was wrong.  I would be so freakin’ tired, go lay down in my bed while the baby was napping, even put on a sleep mask to block out the light, and still would not be able to fall asleep.  So frustrating.

11.  Feeling like a supermom to try to get everything done during the day.

12.  Feeling like a guilty mom if I’m not holding little Monkey constantly.

13.  It only took waking up once with leaky boobs & a wet tank for me to remember to wear nursing pads all of the time.

14.  Amazed at the weight loss that seemed to virtually fall off, but feeling so flabby & out of shape & still wearing maternity clothes.

15.  Hearing my baby cry sends shivers down my spine and that crying is only for two seconds until I figure out what it is that he wants.

16.  Getting peed on isn’t nearly as bad or awful as I thought it would be.  I feel proud for shielding the urine from Monkey’s face at my expense.  Getting pooped on is another story though.

17.  If parents or in-laws offer to stay with you and help out after you get home from the hospital, ask questions first.  If they are willing to help out and cook meals, clean up, and let you sleep – say yes!  If they expect you to do that stuff while they hold the baby – think twice about it.  For real.

18.  Think about whether or not you want visitors at the hospital.  I was sure that I did, but then changed my mind once I was in the hospital.  It was too much, with trying to get the hang of breastfeeding, changing diapers, etc.  I had the nurse put a note on the door that said “no visitors please”.  It was necessary to keep my sanity.  (The same goes for when you arrive home too.)

19.  Don’t worry about not returning phone calls immediately.  Tell your husband to call or send out a text letting people know that you are doing just fine, but don’t feel obligated to call anyone back.  At least I didn’t.  Just last week I called my best friend back.  If they are your true friends, even if they haven’t had a baby yet, they will understand.  I promise.

20.  In the hospital, especially when I was breastfeeding, I would feel awful, awful cramps in my stomach.  I was informed that this was my uterus contracting to get back down to its original size and that breastfeeding helps it faster.  The cramping hurt at times and then I would feel & notice a large amount of blood coming out.  The lactation consultant, nursery nurse, and my nurse all told me that it was so normal.

21.  Bowel movements.  I was scared that the first bowel movement would hurt, but it did not at all.  It took about 3 weeks postpartum for me to return back to being, um, regular on a daily basis.  I tried to help things along, even bought & drank prune juice, which is as completely awful as I thought it would be.

22.  Witch hazel pads (or Tucks) feel oh so good down there.

23.  Initially I didn’t want to eat or drink anything after giving birth and for the first weeks after returning home.  I think I was just having a lot of the postpartum blues and that affected my appetite.  Glad to say that it is and has been back to normal for about two weeks.

24.  The first week you come home with baby is the most rough.  Remind yourself that it gets better every day.

25.  It’s ok if you aren’t flowing with joy right away.  I woke up from a nap during the first week & my initial thought was “damn, this is still my life”.

26.  Night sweating.  Talk about going from being 29 years old and in my prime to feeling menopausal overnight.  Night sweating is no fun and still plagues me a few nights a week.  I’m told it’s the blood volume adjusting back to normal and that it should stop soon.  I can only hope.  Tarzan even told me that I soaked his pillow and the sheets the other night.  Gross & that just adds more laundry to wash.

27.  No exercise until my 6 week appointment.  It’s probably a good thing that this is a “rule” because I don’t know how I would have found the time (or energy) to exercise right after Monkey was born.  I’m so completely jealous of those ladies who return to their skinny selves during this period because it just means that they have good genes and I don’t.

28.  When I run errands, I walk around proudly.  Yes, I have a flabby tummy postpartum, but that serves as a reminder that I carried my son for 9 months in a healthy atmosphere and that I have a healthy son waiting for me at home.  There is nothing more empowering than knowing that I survived childbirth and that it was a great experience for me.

29.  I had my tonsils out in 2004 and it hurt so bad.  Someone once told me that having your tonsils out hurt worse than childbirth.  Obviously I couldn’t agree or disagree with them since I hadn’t gone through childbirth then.  Now having gone through childbirth, I can agree that having my tonsils out and the two week recovery period was a lot worse than having my son.  Of course I do owe it all to the epidural.

30.  I have become strangely comfortable with a houseful of clutter & baby items everywhere.

31.  I have also become strangely comfortable with sharing my story of labor and delivery & breastfeeding with people that I hardly know.

32.  Doing laundry & dishes daily has become something I look forward to because it gives my nipples a chance to rest (when I was breastfeeding).

33.  Going out to walk the dog and forgetting to see what I look like before leaving the house happens more often than I would have ever thought.

34.  I thought I was bad about not wanting people to touch my pregnant belly, but lady, don’t you even think about coming close or touching my baby!  Back the eff off.

35.  A lot of the baby stuff I just had to have is still sitting in the unused baby nursery upstairs.

36.  I brought way too much stuff for labor and delivery at the hospital.  I only used maybe a couple of things and the rest was just extra stuff for Tarzan to lug around.

37.  You can never have enough batteries for all of the devices you use to keep your baby quiet, entertained, and asleep.

38.  Two words for future moms that’ll be extremely helpful to you & you’ll thank me for this later: Prune Juice.

39.  Don’t worry about pooping on the delivery table.  I was worried about this and it didn’t happen.  What did happen on my first push though was that I peed.  On the table.  On the nurse.  And on my husband.  My push was so hard that urine literally sprayed out of me.  I had a good laugh about it since I was so worried about the other coming out.  I never even thought of urine flying out and spraying everyone.

40.  Being discharged from the hospital can take an entire day.  Tell your nurse to call your dr. or the dr. on call to get things moving for you.  If hours have passed, annoy her until you get an answer.  And good luck to you if you are being discharged on a weekend.  Seriously.  Plan on waiting for a long time.

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For some time I’ve heard, “Just wait until you get near the end of the third trimester, you will be anxious for the baby to come and you will be bored.”  I honestly never thought I’d be too anxious for my life to change in such a drastic way, but dare I say it, I am.  

(Although, baby T. you just stay in there for at least 3 more weeks.  At the very minimum.  Please.)

Last night while I was bored, I perused a few other pregnancy blogs that I usually read.  While on one, I found this pregnancy survey on a reader’s blog and thought it would be fun to do.  

Hopefully you find it equally interesting…

How did you find out you were pregnant?  By taking a home pregnancy test, of course.  I did have a feeling before that I was pregnant though.

What kind of Pregnancy test did you take?  EPT

How many?  I think 2 boxes, which is 4 tests. Two were negative and 2 were positive.

What were your 1st symptoms?  Sore boobs.  Hands down.

Who did you tell first?  My husband

Who was with you when you found out?  I was alone and was a complete mess after seeing the positive sign.

My 1st reaction:  Not good.  Crying, shaking, and freaking out.  And not in a “I’m excited to be pregnant” kind of way either.  

Was your baby planned?  Nope.  Biggest surprise of my (our) life.

When was the baby conceived?  Halloween night.  Too many jello shots and sex a couple of times (one of the times that I do not remember resulted in said baby.  Classy, right?)

How far were you when you found out?  Seems like so long ago now.  I think I was 5 weeks when I got the positive.

How did your parents react?  Super excited.  They’d been asking us when it would happen for a while so it was great news.

My baby

Due Date:  July 23, 2009

Do you know the sex?  A fabulous little boy

Any names?  We have his first name, but not middle.  Of course, for your sake, it’s baby T.

Any Ultrasounds?  One at my first appointment.  One at 17 weeks (found out the sex) and one at 24 weeks to see the heart better.  I’m guessing another one will be done around 36 weeks to make sure that he is in the normal position for birth.  (Keeping fingers crossed!)

Have you heard the heart beat?  Of course we have!  We hear it at every appointment and I never tire of it.

Who do you think it will look like?  Since he’s a boy, I think he’ll look a lot like Tarzan.  

Will the baby have siblings?  He’ll have a big sister (our dog).

Have you felt the baby move?  Duh.  He moves all of the time.  Best. Feeling. In. The. World.

Miscellaneous

Did you have morning sickness?  Ugh, yes.  Awful and made me think that this pregnancy better be worth it.  (Of course it was worth it looking back now.)

Did you have any cravings?  I’ve basically lived off of cereal, apples, and apple juice.  Only had one weird craving of an egg sandwich with doritos, olives, and pimento cheese.  Despite how gross it sounds, it was delish!

Did you have any mood swings?  Ha!  All of the time.  My husband has been dubbed the pregnancy saint because he’s put up with me.  I’ve been a real b!tch at times and I’ll be the first to admit it.  I am happy to say that it seems like I haven’t had any bad mood swings lately; I’m seeming a lot more needy and lovey instead.  Weird switch for sure.

Are you a high risk pregnancy?  Nope.

Any complications?  Nope.

Formula or Breastfeeding?  I’m going to try to be all about the boob, even though it sort of frightens me.  I know it’s best, so I will definitely try it and hope that it works.

Have you bought anything for the baby yet?  Yep.  He has just about everything he needs, which is amazing considering we just started a few weeks ago.

When did you start to show?  Hmm, I need to look back and see.  Isn’t it funny as fast we forget?  I think maybe around 18 weeks.  Totally guessing though.

How long could you wear your regular clothes?  I bought a few maternity things at 13 weeks for the sheer comfort factor.  I definitely didn’t have a baby bump that early, but I was bloated and opted for comfort.  Best decision.

Will you keep the baby’s clothes?  I haven’t thought about this.  I guess we will until we are finished having kids.

Home or Hospital?  Hospital.  I wanted the hospital experience initially, but I think that we’ll go a different route the next time around.  I think the calmness and not so hospital-y intervention of the alternative will suit me better.

Natural or Medicated birth?  I want the epidural.  For sure.

Who will be in the delivery room with you?  My darling husband, unless he passes out.

Do you think you will need a C-section?  I sure hope not.  I also hope that it all happens when the baby is ready to come out.  Not a fan of being induced either.

Will you cry when you hold the baby for the 1st time?  Of course I will.  I cry at everything and I cannot imagine not crying when I hold my baby in my arms for the first time.  I’m looking forward to it for sure!

What’s the 1st thing you might say to the baby?  Haven’t thought about this.  Maybe “Hi baby T, I’m your mom and I’m glad to meet you.”

Will you let anyone video tape the birth?  I would love Tarzan to tape it, but he isn’t a fan of this at all.  Maybe he’ll come around.  I still have hope.

Are you excited?  While this seems like such a dumb and quite obvious question, yes I am.  Now.  There was a point when I made a shift to the excitement phase because it wasn’t always there.  Well, maybe it was, but the scared feelings outweighed the excited feelings.  Now I can say that I am really excited to be a mom, meet my son, see my husband with our son, and have a new addition to our family.  

Who will help you with the baby after the birth?  My mom will stay with us for however long we need her.  Or get sick of each other and I mean that in the nicest way possible.

What is your favorite thing about being pregnant?  Feeling the baby move.  I love it!

What is the worst thing about being pregnant?  Where should I start?  Feeling large, morning sickness, peeing all of the time, migraines, sweaty feet, lots more hair on my legs, armpits, and belly, pregnancy brain, and I’ll stop there.

What’s one thing you miss doing since being pregnant?  Happy hour.  

Any days you wish you were not pregnant?  Of course not.

Are you ready for a baby?  I think so!  Ready as we’ll ever be

Do you have insurance?  Health insurance, yes.  Maternity insurance, negative.  

How many kids do you want?  We’ll see how the first one goes.  Ideally I’d like a boy and a girl and am willing to try up to 3 kids to get a girl.

Do you talk to the baby?  Eh, not really.  I rub “him” and I talk a lot to Tarzan and my dog so I know he is familiar with my voice, but actually talking to my stomach, not so much.  I have told him I love him a few times.

Do you still feel attractive?  I always thought that I would embrace pregnancy and have a glow to me that was apparent to everyone.  Not really the case though.  I do have days where I feel cute and I have days when I feel like I got run over by a train.  It just depends on my mood.

Have you had your baby shower yet?  This weekend.  Can’t wait.

Do you like kids?  I don’t really think about it.  In general I think they can be cute.  I’m not that kind of girl that fawns over them though.  

How far along are you now?  34 weeks and counting…

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Maternity clothes have really changed since the time my grandmother was pregnant.  While I don’t have a huge belly yet, you can definitely tell that I’m pregnant.  

I prefer maternity shirts that are fitted, it’s just my style and I like that there is no guessing whether or not I’m pregnant.

I was with my grandmother the other day and I was wearing a fitted maternity shirt (my favorite one) with some low-rise maternity jeans.  She asked me in the most serious way, “You’re going to have to get some other maternity shirts when your stomach gets bigger, won’t you?”  

I told her that I would not because the shirt would grow with me.  She was shocked.  I told her that the shirt is supposed to be fitted, but there’s plenty of material left for a growing bump.  She had the funniest look on her face and just could not believe it. 

My mom explained to her that things are quite different now than they were when my grandmother and even my mom were pregnant.  Both of them wore very loose shirts because that’s just what was available to then.  I’m guessing maternity clothes were pretty awful then… at least that’s how they made it sound.

My grandmother especially freaked out when I showed her that my jeans were low-rise.  She said that there was barely anything holding them up.  LOL!  While I do have a pair of the full-panel maternity jeans, I just don’t like them.  I don’t like for my stomach to be covered up.  

I figure that I didn’t wear pants above my belly button before getting pregnant, so why should I start now?

I have always opted for low-rise jeans, even before getting pregnant.  It’s what I’m used to and I’m going to stick to it until I need more support down there.  I’m aware that towards the end of my pregnancy, my bump might be huge and I will need to wear full-panel maternity jeans and different shirts to accommodate my growing bump, but until then, you won’t find me in those kinds of maternity clothes.

Anyways, it was just really funny to see my grandmother’s reaction to my fitted maternity shirt and my low-rise maternity jeans.  

Oh how times have changed!

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Whew, what a busy past couple of days it’s been this week being 21 weeks pregnant.  Good thing that the second trimester energy is not a lie because I’m not sure how I would have functioned this past week.  My favorite part of being pregnant so far has definitely been this past week.  So many milestones have come with being 21 weeks pregnant and it’s been pretty amazing!

First, I wanted to give you a recap about the bachelorette party that I went to.  I will admit that it was not as awful as I expected, but it was still pretty boring.  Our night started off at dinner and of course I enjoyed the yummy Mexican food!  It was my favorite part of the night!  Ha, ha!

After dinner we went out to a few bars.  This was my least favorite part.  I tried to be such a good sport, but really, being in a bar with a bunch of drunk people while pregnant is something that I hope to not do again.  I’m not going to lie, the best part was people watching.  It’s such a different view being on the sober side of things in a bar.

There were these 2 guys that invited us over to their reserved table and they ordered veuve-clicquot champagne (my fav!).  It was a little awkward when they had the waitress pour us all a glass and I told the waitress that I didn’t want any.  Who wouldn’t want some clicquot?!

Immediately one of the guys asked why I was not drinking, to which I replied, “I’m pregnant“.  Oh.

Then he looked down at my hand and said, “You’re married?“, to which I said, “Yes, I am“.  Oh again.

Then he looked around our table to see who else was married/engaged.

Here’s the weirdest part: 3 of us were married, 2 engaged, and 1 in a serious relationship.  We were upfront with them that their champagne ordering smoothness, while nice, would not get them anywhere with us… But this didn’t stop them.  I ended up leaving at midnight (Tarzan picked me up) and the guys had ordered 3 bottles of champagne at $165 per bottle.

Sorry guys reading this, but what suckers they were!  Yes it was nice, but c’mon.  (You don’t know how sad it was to not be drinking my fav kind of bubbly for free too.)

In other news, I am the proud owner of a ton of new maternity clothes.  With everything going on these past few months, I decided to treat myself to a day of pampering, although it never got to that point.  I was far too tired from shopping to get a massage and other things.  Gap, Old Navy, and Banana were having the Friends and Family 30% discount coupon and I fully took advantage of it.

I took a lot of y’alls advice about pregnancy jeans and bought some from Gap. I LOVE THEM!

You all were right; they are so completely awesome and I recommend them to all pregnant ladies.  I bought 3 pairs and a couple of really cute shirts from Gap.  I got some fun summer dresses from Old Navy, not maternity though, which I hope doesn’t come to bite me in the a$$ in the next few months.

The maternity section at my Old Navy is just awful, so I ventured off into the “regular” section because the dresses caught my eye.  I tried on mediums and they were close to fitting my bump, so I ended up getting larges instead.  You know, to grow in.  I also got some great shirts at Motherhood too!

The best part about being pregnant is the fact that I seem to bond with other pregnant girls in the maternity section whenever I go.  Before getting pregnant, I never cared about meeting new friends while shopping.  I was on a mission and that was that.  Well, it’s all changed since being pregnant.  I need pregnant friends that know what I’m going through and even though I’ve begged all of my friends to get knocked up, it’s just not happening.

Anyways, I made a friend while shopping.  She was totally nice and informative about all things baby.  She completely understood my (silly) questions about clothes and she even helped me pick sizes of shirts.  The smalls fit just right, so she suggested that I get mediums to accommodate my growing bump.  She was awesome and I ended up leaving the store with a piece of paper with her number on it.  Now I just need to remember to call her so that we can do lunch or something…

My baby shower has been brought up and I didn’t even need to take any of the great suggestions that you ladies made.  I was talking to one of my friends the other day and she asked me if I thought June was too late and if I could pick some dates for her.  Yay!!  I love that I didn’t have to even bring it up or wonder about it anymore.  Nothing has been set in stone, but she already looked at invitations and I need to get a list over to her soon.  I’m so excited that my friends came through… I knew that they had it in them!

Another great thing about being 21 weeks pregnant is the love I have for Tarzan.  Now, I don’t want to become a sap, but something that happened to me lately.  Obviously, I’ve always loved my husband.  I did marry him after all… but you know how my pregnancy hormones have been in the past.  Those hormones have gone from getting pissed off very easily to being very lovey dovey like all of the time.

It’s a mixture of weirdness and awesomeness all in one.  As you know, we have a really great relationship/marriage.  I am so proud of him on many different levels and I love that I’m carrying his baby.  This pregnancy has deepened my love for him and him for me.  I’ve always heard that the types of people who think pregnancy will make them closer are very wrong because it’s quite the opposite.  Pregnancy hormones make it hard.  Money makes it hard.  The change of having a baby makes it hard.

Well, so far pregnancy has made us closer.  Maybe it just depends on the kind of relationship that you have prior to getting pregnant, but we are so in love with each other and this pregnancy is what is to be credited for that.  We’ve shared our lives with you all since getting our BFP, so you know it hasn’t been an easy ride this whole time.  Difficult times or not, we’ve bonded and been a team throughout it all, and I’m just so grateful that we have that kind of a relationship.  It’s comforting and really nice and I can only imagine what it will be like in the weeks to come!

In addition to expressing my love, you can bet that I’ve been “showing” it too.  That part of our relationship has definitely bounced up and it’s really great!  So, have no fear if you are pregnant and your sex drive is slim to none.  Mine was that way until reaching 21 weeks pregnant and now it’s the completely opposite!

And perhaps the coolest, most amazing thing that has taken place this week in my pregnancy is the fact that I finally felt the baby move.  While it’s not a full kicking feeling just yet, I’ll take what I can get and I’m very happy with feeling him daily.  It’s so nice and something that I could never have imagined guessing what it would be like.

I’ve never been able to relate to “flutters”, but now that I’ve felt him, it’s a proper definition.  It’s like a carbonated feeling.  Or bubbles.  It’s pretty damn awesome and I cannot wait for Tarzan to feel him from the outside!

I guess I’ll leave you with my latest pregnant brain happening.  Last night I came home from getting takeout at PF Chang’s and apparently we slept with the garage open all night long.  I could have sworn that I closed it – I mean, I always do.  Tarzan didn’t open it, so it had to be me.

Oops!

Brought to you by: bachelorette party

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My pregnancy hormones have been a bit out of whack lately, as you know and as most of you can probably relate to.  I cry at anything; when I’m happy, sad, or just need a good cry (which Tarzan absolutely does not understand!).  I get pissed off at almost anything and take just about the majority of things the wrong way and completely out of context.  

On top of crying and getting mad easily, I am also equally cheesy lately.  I’m a complete sap and don’t know where that comes from either.  This pregnancy stuff really messes with my hormones and makes me someone that I completely don’t recognize.  

In addition to all of the various emotions running wild through me, I have a new “story” to share with you.

Today I was shopping for some maternity clothes and I stopped in Sephora.  I love that store and it’s so fun to play with all the many products that are there.  Well, let me rephrase… it used to be fun.

My plan was that I wanted to have a little makeover for my face.  You know, new powder, eye makeup, lip gloss, etc.  I was really excited about this… and I can’t stress that enough.  As I was wondering through Sephora, a guy asked me if I needed help.  He was awesome and we joked a lot about being pregnant and all the fun things that come with it.  

We settled on some Stila products: a primer, moisturizer, and a powder and then we went to play.  I had told him that my skin has been really sensitive and really weird since getting pregnant.  My clear skin is no longer clear (even though he laughed at me when I told him that I self-diagnosed myself with acne, told me that I don’t have anything close to acne, and told me that I have porcelain skin).  He said that I was being too harsh on myself and I quickly asked him if he wanted to be my new BFF.  

Seriously.  

As we were chit-chatting about being pregnant and him working on runway models, he was going to town with my makeover.  Things were looking good and I was so excited about having new makeup.  But that was short-lived.  Very short-lived.

He asked if my skin was burning, to which I replied that it wasn’t.  Then he told me to look in the mirror.  

Oh holy hell, my nose and cheeks were totally red.  Like a really bad crimson color.  In patches on my cheeks.  

This made him nervous.  He told me that he has been doing this for over 10 years and that he has never had anything like this happen.  He was at a lost for words and felt awful.  Obviously, not his fault.  Oh no, blame it on the pregnancy hormones.

He called over some other Sephora people to see if they knew what would have caused this kind of a reaction and I was on display, but not the kind of display that I would have liked.  Oh no, not this time.  I felt like a science project gone really wrong, but luckily I have a great sense of humor and I’m not so completely vain that I can’t handle a little redness.  (OK, a lot of redness, but I was still a really good sport!)

From the past weeks I’ve learned that my skin has changed drastically since becoming pregnant, and sadly, not for the better.  Now it’s this extremely sensitive, do one thing wrong, touch one too many times, or try out something new that is pretty mild and I get a rash.  Or in this instance a “flare up”, as I like to call it.

Sephora sent me home with a bunch of sample products to try to help with the redness and they apologized profusely.  One lady even said that her skin was similar to mine when she was pregnant.  She had redness, some bumps, and just had to be really careful with what she put on her face.  She told me that her OB recommended going sans makeup for a while during her pregnancy and that doing so helped.

Not what I wanted to hear.

Not that I’m this person who wears makeup on a daily basis, because let’s face it, I don’t even get out of my pj’s on a daily basis.  But on the days when I’m going out in public and want to look pretty, I want to wear makeup.  I’m also not the kind of girl that wears a ton of makeup when I put it on.  

In fact, when my new BFF was showing me different products and pointed to the liquid makeup, I told him that it made me nervous.  Perhaps it was that one girl in high school who wore this kind of makeup and it was extremely caked on her face, and she had that infamous makeup line on her jaw.  

C’mon, you know just what I’m talking about!

Anyways, my shopping experience at Sephora did not end well.  I walked in hoping to walk out of the store with new makeup and a good feeling, but sadly, I left empty-handed, complete with a “flare up”.  No extra charge.

P.S. – Oh and since you are seeing this blog post, I’m sure you realize that our blog is not down and going through a change this weekend.  The change will still happen and was cancelled at the last minute, so we are here this weekend.  Happy reading!

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If you are anything like me and you hate the thought or the actual reality of people touching your pregnant belly, then you must get this pregnancy tank!  I love it and am going to place my order as soon as I get finished posting this post.  

I love so many pregnancy shirts and tanks that have messages on them.  I think that people with good sense of humors will think it’s funny; already on Twitter many people have told me that they wish they had this shirt when they were pregnant.  

Of course there might be other people who will scoff at you for wearing it, but whatever, you can’t worry about everyone.  And these are probably the ones who love when strangers rub their pregnant belly.  So strange to me.

I’ll do whatever it takes to protect my belly from being rubbed.  What about you?

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Being halfway into my second trimester, I only have one pair of maternity jeans and they are full panel maternity jeans.  While I know that I didn’t need a pair of full panel maternity jeans since my bump isn’t that big yet, they were on sale a while ago and I couldn’t pass them up.  

In the summers I hardly ever wear jeans; I’m more of a dress kind of girl.  I do know that I’ll need another pair of jeans soon and I’d like to try a different style of maternity jeans this time around.  

I really like the low-rise or the kind of maternity jean that doesn’t have even have a panel, it’s just an elastic waist to appear like it is a regular jean.  I got an email from Old Navy this morning and I see that they have a pair of low-rise maternity jeans on sale.  

Did you like this kind of jean, or did you prefer having the full panel maternity jean that comes up to below your belly button?  

I have a feeling that I will appreciate the full panel once my baby bump is bigger because I’ve heard that it helps keep your pants up.  

I was at Motherhood Maternity about 2 weeks ago and the salesperson told me that their secret belly fit (which is just like my full panel jeans from Old Navy) is what most people prefer.  She said that while the low-rise kind of maternity jean sounds nice, many people have told her that it just wasn’t comfortable on their pregnant belly, or even that it really itched their bump.  

Obviously, I want your opinion on whether or not the low-rise maternity jean is the way to go.  I don’t want to waste money, so any advice you have would be great.  Also, the one pair of maternity jeans I have still fits just fine.  I’m not sure what to expect within the next 6 weeks of the second trimester, isn’t that when you grow the most?  Or am I confusing that with the baby’s growth? 

Did you find that buying maternity clothes, specifically maternity pants, in the middle of the second trimester was a good time, or should I stick with what I have and wait until the third trimester?  

So many questions…

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I’ve always been a huge fan of sexy panties.  My preference has involved lots of lace and thongs in the past.  It’s always made me feel sexy and that’s a good feeling.  

Well, my nice panty selection has come to a screeching halt since being pregnant and now I’m all about comfort…  which, by the way, does not include lace or anything that resembles a thong.  

For real. 

Instead, I have traded Victoria’s Secret for Target and size small for a size large.  It’s true and this is quite depressing.  

A LARGE!

I am completely in favor of getting a larger stomach to house my growing baby boy in.  That’s fine.  In fact, I’m really excited about my ever growing belly.  But, where I draw the line is at the growing butt, arms, and thighs.  And by thighs, I mean the ones that now touch.  Never before in my life have my inner thighs touched, but pregnancy sure has changed that.

I realize that it might sound bad, but it’s a hard thing for me to swallow when I have to wear a size large in underwear and when my inner thighs rub against each other when I wear a dress.  I love dresses and that’s what I usually wear all the time in summer.  I’m not really a shorts kind of gal, so I’m sure completely sure what I will turn to this summer to stay cool.

I can only imagine how the combination of heat, humidity, touching inner thighs, and large underwear will feel… Talk about sexy.  I’m not excited one bit.

Please tell me that I’m not the only one that has experienced these things…

It’s just like all of a sudden I had to go from a s/m to a large.  I decided it was time to go on a hunt for new panties when I was constantly getting wedgies.  No joke.  Ah, the glamour of being 19 weeks pregnant.  It’s SO awesome.  (I’m totally being sarcastic here.)

I decided Target would be better than Victoria’s Secret mainly because we are on the spending less money kick.  I got 5 pairs of “hipster” panties for $15.  Not bad at all.  But where it gets bad is the designs that were available for the kind of panties I was looking for.  No longer was I searching for the cutest and sexiest thong.  Oh no, that, my friends, is a thing of the past!

Now I was looking for normal panties that you used to wear when you were 10 years old… and honestly, I think that me and a 10-year old might be wearing the same ones.  The designs were that awful.  Needless to say, thank God that my husband isn’t in to lingerie and sexiness under the clothes.  If so, I would be in tons of trouble.  

As we were picking through the very limited selection, we were cracking up.  One of the panties I got is yellow and has pink strawberries.  Yes, I said strawberries.  Lovely, right?  

Frankly, it’s embarrassing.  

What 28-year old wants to have strawberries on her panties?  Well, I guess you’re looking at the kind of pregnant girl that will be wearing them.  It’s a sad, sad day.

We were at Target, the price was good, and I was desperate.  Yes, desperate enough to buy panties with strawberries on them.  I must admit that I’m wearing some right now and they are most comfy.  No longer do I get wedgies.  These panties stay in place, nicely covering my whole butt (which is quite a change).

So I guess the moral of my story is that even though I might be wearing panties with strawberries and polka dots on them, I will be comfy… and really, I’d be kidding you if I said that wasn’t my #1 priority right now.  It’s really not too fun to constantly be picking your underwear out of your butt because they don’t fit right.  Just sayin’.

Oh and little Tarzan, please continue growing healthy in my belly, but no need to add anymore unnecessary fat on your mommy’s arms, butt, and thighs.  I really can’t handle it and I don’t like it one bit.  Thanks little man.

And yes, the pictures above are of my panties.  The first two were my favorites back before I was pregnant and when I was still wearing a size small.  The last two are after I got knocked up, grew a larger butt, and had to buy a size large.  Nice.

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