Baby is the size of a(n): Acorn squash. One of the apps says cucumber again. That’s one giant cuke.
Due date: Sept 3rd, 2016
Total weight gain: I finally stepped on the scale at the doctor’s office. 22 lbs. Not bad, cruising along at the perfect weight.
Sleep: I am definitely still sleeping. Over the weekend, on Saturday, I made a lot of fabulous plans – but after I woke up and ran by my office to grab something, I slept for most of the rest of the day. It makes me feel bad – I skipped a workout and a going away party, but I was so tired.
Best moment this week: We bought a crib! It’s sitting in the box on the floor. We went to Target last weekend to look at some things, and the cribs and furniture were okay, and we almost went with one there, but once we went to Babies R Us, and then Buy Buy Baby, the cribs really weren’t much more expensive, but they seemed more solid, and definitely had some embellishments that were a little prettier.
Food cravings: Still sparkling things. And lots of fruit. Lots of smoothies, lots of avocados, lots of things that are easy to eat and easy to digest.
Food aversions: Someone stuck a California Roll in front of me with soy sauce and everything, and the smell of the soy sauce nearly killed me. I cooked some stir fry noodles and veggie last night? Same thing. Soy sauce is not my friend.
Symptoms: I did go the the chiropractor at the end of last week to relieve some of the pressure on my SI joint. The relief was immediate, so I am going to go back again tomorrow to get adjusted.
Looking forward to: Idk, there is a lot going on. We’re going to Lake Street Dive on Friday, and we plan to hit up Baby Emporium (or some baby store) again this weekend. It’s sort of becoming our thing we do!
This (last?) weekend went by entirely too fast. I could have extended it at least by one day, but that’s never really how things work, right?
So, many weeks ago, a friend of mine, Erin, decided that she wanted to run her first half-marathon. After discussing it in the group chat (my primary source of news and entertainment throughout the week), Erin and Liz decided that they would run the More/Shape Women’s Half Marathon in NYC. The rest of us decided to tag along, and make something of a weekend of it and spectate the race.
Really, the weekend started on Thursday evening. Because I knew I’d be in the airport for a good chunk of the day on Friday, I needed to put in some hours of work after my class on Thursday night, and I set about to do that. I sent emails and worked on May’s schedule into the night, slept for a few hour, and made it up for my 5:45am Pump class. From there, I ran home, showered, packed, and called an Uber to get me to the airport, where I proceeded to sleep through two flights. By the time I made it to Jersey and to the house in Sayreville, I was exhausted again, and napped on the couch until folks started arriving home from work. My aunt made us an amazing meal, and my cousin and I attempted to watch the first epi of Kimmy Schmidt before I completely passed out so hard, I had to keep myself from panicking when I didn’t realize where I was the next morning. I lazed around on Saturday, went to the park for a walk with my cousin, and got out the door for dinner with race friends in the city.
I friggin FORGOT how annoying it is to drive into the city, btws. A ride that was supposed to take me like 40 minutes, ended up taking well over an hour when I got stuck in traffic in the Holland tunnel. Blah. But we grabbed some italian, grabbed some ice cream from Big Gay Ice Cream, and headed to the hotel to hit the sack for our 5:45am wake up the next morning for the race. After heading to the start (and spotting Sara Bareilles and Padma Lakshmi), we saw the girls off for the start, around 6 miles, and then squatted at a Pain Quotedian and met a friend of mine from camp to meet the girls at the finish. We surprised Erin at dinner the night before with these shirts we had made, so we all wore them, and made sure we snapped pics.
Check out these shirts we made for her!All of
We finished the day with some burgers, (a ridiculously hearty black bean for me), annd parted ways back at the hotel.
I did not leave without the parking garage losing my car and Andrew and Ryan having to find it. I did my best not to panic and remember that if they lost the car, there were really worse things in the world, and that it could totally end up being a funny story. Fortunately, we didn’t have to make it quite that far.
And now, I’m here sitting in the airport late, waiting for my last flight home, where I can shower and get into my own bed.
We’re halfway through the pregnancy, and I’m enjoying these updates. Full disclosure – I had a full – on breakdown in the airport today. I’m overwhelmed, I feel disgusting, my skin is really broken out, and generally, I did not feel like myself today. Fair warning, please just know that this sort of feeling is not abnormal once in a while during pregnancy, and I think it will pass.
Baby is the size of a: Banana. Last week was a mango, so I’m not really understanding how exactly that’s growth because I feel like bananas are really skinny, and mangoes are really fat. Idk, interpret that banana however you’d like.
Due date: Sept 3rd, 2016
Total weight gain: I have no idea. Definitely on the higher end of the range I talked about last week. Maybe 12-14 lbs?
Sleep: Sleep is still okay, but I am waking up early every morning still to go to the bathroom. I am struggling with this one. I spent a lot of the weekend traveling, and I felt like I could not stop going to the bathroom. So I’m fighting this battle when I’m out to stay hydrated and not have to go to restrooms constantly.
Best moment this week: I went to Jersey, then into the City to visit some friends and family. One of my friends was running her first half-marathon, so we went and made a day of it. The race began in Central Park, and it was a positively beautiful day. I am glad I went.
Food cravings: Sparking anything. I ordered a HUGE bottle of soda water while we were waiting at the race, and managed to down every single delicious drop. (I definitely needed a bathroom break after that.)
Food aversions: Meat is kinda grossing me out. In the beginning of the pregnancy, I managed a few turkey sandwiches, and chicken sandwich here and there, but for some reason, the thought wasn’t doing it for me. I’ve been dealing with a little bit of reflux, and I don’t know if that is somehow contributing.
Symptoms: The constant bathroom thing! It’s literally constant.
Looking forward to: Sleeping in my own bed tonight. I miss it.
Total weight gain: I weighed myself early last week and it’s looking to be close to about 10 lbs or so? I can be super obsessive about the scale, either way, so I’ve made it a point not to weight myself obsessively every single morning.
Sleep: Sleep is still good. You guys are going to get tired of this refrain, but I wake up every morning with my urge to pee SO desperate, I nearly die. My older running friends say that’s a thing as you age, so that’s something we all have to look forward to.
Best moment this week: I managed to get active every single day this week due to the fact I was in a Fitbit steps competition all week with some folks I know. I lost, came in second, but it kept me moving every day and hitting my goals.
Food cravings: I had some nachos last night. TOTALLY regret it though. The beans/cheese are really too much for me, and I woke up feeling kinda crappy. I can do more like nacho salad type things, but the nachos themselves just won’t work.
Food aversions: The same. Cooking meat, and fish are just not interesting to me.
Symptoms: One really gross thing happened this week, and I will let that just be a really fun surprise should you find yourself pregnant. And my boobs are enormous. Absolutely enormous. It’s unreal. Do they make this size?
Looking forward to: Sunday. I will officially be 19 weeks then, but we will get to find out if we are having a boy or a girl! We are having a few people over to play yard games and to find out with us. I am really really anxious about the scan – that’s where they pick up if anything appears abnormal, so that’s been bothering me the last few days.
I texted Chelsie (the woman who not only convinced me to take a pregnancy test back in December cause she knows what’s up, but who has been an absolute guru throughout this process), and I asked her if she knew of a way to make something more loafy, and less cakey. She gave me an answer before she was like, “wait…what are you doing…” and I confessed that I really wanted to eat Funfetti. She encouraged me to just make funfetti, but we did find a recipe for fufetti banana bread, which is either going to be really disgusting or awesome. I will let you know.
I spent last weekend (kinda a gross weekend, weather-wise) in DC. I’m still working on convincing Austin that we need to move there. Lately, I’ve been thinking that it may be a cool place to raise an interracial child. Not that Raleigh is a bad place, Raleigh is actually pretty progressive, but I think a big move one of these years may be in the cards for us.
On Friday, I drove up and went straight to the Rent the Runway storefront, which they have in DC, and New York City. I had to pick something up for a gala I was attending since all of my stuff fits pretty snug. The girl was very sweet – I told her that I just needed something in my size. She brought out a few choices and I think I went with something I found already in the dressing room from the shopper before.
The store was cool – you pick something, and they run back and grab it in your size for you to rent, similarly to the website. It was a godsend for me.
After that, I drove to my friend Jeff’s, and we Uber-ed over to the gala. I met Katie Couric, and I really wanted to stick around and chat with her longer, but suffice it to say that she was a lovely, lovely woman with a really sharp sense of humor. I hope our paths cross again, because she was just that fantastic. And little! Everyone is so much shorter in person than you think!
I hate hate hate flats on fancy occasions, but felt good in them since my feet were kind of exhausted. If I could live in workout clothes, I totally would!
Leading up to the weekend, Jeff and I had planned to go to Soul Cycle on Saturday morning with friends. The first time I’d gone, I was a little mehhh on it. The class itself was really good, but I’d gone in Georgetown, and it was a very homogeneous crowd, which made me really uncomfortable, almost as if there was some purposeful reason that there were no people of color there. This time, I went to the Mt. Vernon location, technically Chinatown, and it was FULL of people of color. We actually went to a Beyonce vs. Rihanna class on Sunday, and it was probably about half black people, Asians, and Indians. It was so, SO cool to be in a place where black women are working out, and I was right in the thick of it!
By the way, check out the way that Soul tricks you into leaving your phone in your locker.
We need this at the Y. There was a woman sipping a coffee and checking her phone the entire class again this morning until I really turned the heat up. The rest of the class can thank that woman for how much I beat up on them today.
Saturday evening, I met up with Scott (who’s been mentioned a few times here), and he took me to the coolest little party, a bourbon tasting party. I sipped on water with the other pregnant girl, and we actually had a blast. And Sunday, we met up with even more friends for brunch at some amazing bread and cheese place. DC has zero shortage of good places to eat.
Sunday evening, after another Soul class (the Beyonce vs Rihanna class), my check engine light came on, despite the fact I had just taken the car in for maintenance on Tuesday. After a few calls to my poor husband (who probably was panicking with his pregnant wife wandering around the city with a broken car), we decided to get the car towed to the dealership in Alexandria.
The tow truck driver was really kind, and I rode down with him to the dealership, and then caught an Uber to a nearby hotel. Long long story short, the car had some sort of valve issues that made it not super drive-able, and on Monday, instead of working from work, I worked from Centerline Digital, where I’d met a friend for lunch.
Side note about that – the people from Centerline were ridiculously nice to me, and they had no reason to be. In addition to my friend, Andrew, multiple people, after hearing what had happened with my car, offered for me to sit in a conference room or an office to work there, instead of finding my way to another coffee shop with all of my bags. I am so thankful for that. That’s kinda southern hospitality, right?
Baby is the size of a: I have to check the app and come back to this question lol. I, however, am the size of a small whale. No I’m not. My uterus just feels like it.
A pear. Baby is the size of a pear.
Due date: Sept 3rd, 2016
Total weight gain: No clue. Probably still in like the 5lb range. I have a little bit of a belly and my chest is huge – to the point that I need a few new bras because I’m really really uncomfortable in some of the old, not as supportive ones that I used to be able to throw on for yoga.
Sleep: Great. I still need to get up to go to the bathroom early in the morning, but good.
Best moment this week: Austin said I had a spark. I think my energy has all but returned. I taught a Step and then a Zumba class on Saturday back to back, and cleaned without the desperate need for a nap.
Food cravings: Nothing really. I ate a salad today that was bomb, and I had to trick myself into eating it by saying “quick, make this salad before you change your mind!”.
Food aversions: Just stinky cooking meat. That makes me ill.
Symptoms: None really. I am feeling very fat, but no illness.
Looking forward to: Getting done with the glucose test. Because of a very poor family history with diabetes, both Type I and Type II, I have to be tested twice instead of the one standard test. The test isn’t particularly fun or tasty, but whatever it takes to keep the baby healthy, right?
Hi! I hope you had a great weekend. I miss you. Lots of fun things this week!
Baby is the size of a: Large Lemon
Due date: Sept 3rd, 2016
Total weight gain: I have gained in total, 5ish pounds, but that really fluctuates depending on what I eat/drink.
Sleep: Not as constant. I can get through the day without a nap. My night time sleep is usually interrupted by a bathroom break in the early hours of the morning.
Best moment this week: Definitely more energy. I got through a pretty good workout on Friday with Jill, and it felt good to actually do something that I can draw some strength and energy from. I also taught another Pump on Friday morning – so I feel like some of my mom fog is lifting.
Food cravings: Not a whole lot. I would like some pickle chips. But they’re too hard to acquire and hard on the stomach.
Food aversions: Cooking meat. The smell is so appalling to me. I feel like I can particularly smell blood in red meat, which is so scary.
Symptoms: Just tired, and a little lazy 🙂
Looking forward to: More blogging this week. You guys into it?
This weekend was literally bananas. The last weekend that I said that, was probably in the spring when I had a race scheduled every weekend, but rest assured, this past weekend picked up again, and I’m hoping we slow down a teensy tinsy bit before we blink and the year is up. First up!
On Friday night, despite some disgusting weather, we were paid a visit but some friends. Earl and Austin used to be roomies, and once Earl and his wife met, and I met my husband, those two got married, and moved to Columbia, SC last year. They got pregnant, had baby Lillian, and came to visit on Friday. The baby was so sweet, and the best part was that our cat is bigger than that sweet baby. Isn’t that totally freaky? I had a good time holding her though, and I loved being able to walk her around and give mom a break. We’re really happy for those two!
Tupelo Honey
So, can I be honest? I went to the original Tupelo Honey Cafe the first time I went to Asheville with my husband a few years ago. I think I remember it being the bomb, and it wasn’t super crowded because we went during the middle of the week. They opened one in Raleigh, and I’m afraid it isn’t the same. Both times I’ve gone, I’ve been a little so-so on the food, almost as if there wasn’t enough flavor. I may stick to Flying Biscuit in the future when I’m down for brunch. Which is pretty much always.
Hornets vs. Knicks
Austin and I had been talking about going to this Knicks game forever – my dad and Tony Sparber are longtime Knicks fans, even though it’s really hard this season. The Knicks are literally the worst team in the league, but I thought the opportunity was too good to pass up. I bought some tickets for me and the hubs off of a Buy/Sell/Trade page on Facebook, and off we went!
Ever wonder if black people tan? The answer is YES. I start to look a little pale in the winter, and I am SO ready for some sun. I look like a vampire version of myself! My skin looks so much healthier when I’m all chocolaty!I went to school with this girl! I actually lived in her house in 2009 with a few roomies!
Both teams played horribly. Prior to us going to the game, Earl, baby Lillian’s dad, predicted that the game would end in the 70s, which is ridiculous for an NBA game. But he was so right. Carmelo wasn’t playing because he played for like 40-some-odd minutes the night before, and Kemba Walker didn’t play at all, I’m pretty sure. So it was kind of like watching 3-year-olds play. But it was so fun to be there, and something that I would definitely do again.
I’m officially swimming through all of my workouts. The heat and humidity in North Carolina is absolutely unbearable – both classes I taught last week were nuts, and then on my run on Sunday evening, sweat was literally dripping down my nose,and into my eyes. I’m desperately continuing to run, and hoping that my heat training will turn into something good by the end of the summer.
So on Sunday morning, I woke up early, and we had some friends over for brunch.
I got the idea a couple of months back in DC. In DC, a lot of my friends, both married and single, live in these group house type situations, and last time I was there, I went to a brunch at one of the group houses. It was cool, it was kinda like being at Bob Evans, without having to go to Bob Evans. Plus here in the Bible Belt, they can’t serve alcohol out until 12pm, so if you try and go to brunch much earlier you’re all…
Rookie mistake. 😦 😦
Then you have to drag out brunch for a very long time while people glare at you for not giving up your table.
So we decided to do brunch at our place. Wanna see why the South has such a problem with weight?
That would be a biscuit, eggs, some really really good hash brown casserole, some fruit for good measure, scones, and some mimosa. All of which I ate. I ran after cause I felt really bad!
Overactive Blogger 