Pregnancy A Second Time Around

Here I am, almost 22 weeks along, and laying her while Vivian naps thinking how this pregnancy has been different thus far.

The saying is true, "no two pregnancies are the same."  Which means, this labor and delivery will not be like Vivian's.  Her's was quick.  From starting pitocin to the time she was born, 7 hours.  They say the second is usually faster!  I'm already getting nervous and anxious about round two of this experience. 

Differences thus far:

#1:  Finding out I was pregnant a lot sooner than with Vivian.  With her, I was almost into my second trimester!

^^ few days before finding out I was pregnant. 

#2:  Morning Sickness!  Let me just say, I would not wish this on my worst enemy.  It was horrible.  Couldn't keep anything down and all I could do was campout on the couch as much as possible.  With that being said, do you know how hard that is to do when you're a stay-at-home mom to a toddler?  Almost impossible!   My Dr actually Rx'd me Diclegis which is a miracle drug.  I wouldn't have survived my first trimester without it!  I had zero morning sickness with Viv, hence one of the reasons why I didn't know I was pregnant.

   

^^ during my sickly day.

#3:  Exhausted.  You think your tired the first go around...wait until you add a toddler into the mix. Fatigue × 10!

#4:  Not working out like I did with Vivian.  I think I've excersized maybe 4-5 times vs working out almost everyday with her.  Chasing around and picking up/carrying  an almost 19 month old  is enough workout for me.  

#5:  Eating.  With Viv, I was eating super healthy.  No fast food, nothing fried, fruits and veggies everyday.  This one, not so much.  I snack mostly with this pregnancy and eating more sweets and not enough veggies more than I should. I guess mentally I'm preparing myself for gestational diabetes  like I did with Vivian.  I've already taken the glucose test twice.  Failed the 1 hour, past the 2 hour when I first found out I was pregnant.  When I met with Dr a week ago for baby girl having a choroid plexus cyst, he said he'll be seeing me in the next 7 or so weeks because he said I will fail the glucose test again.   We will see if he's right or wrong.  If they don't diagnose me, I will start eating better with the occasional sweets here and there.

^^ first go around with GDM.

#6:  Movement.  I feel more movement with this little girl than Vivian.  I have an anterior placenta which simply means I won't feel movement like someone who doesn't.  Its more muffled and fsint.  I think I felt Vivian a total of 5 or 6 times.  I feel this baby girl mostly at night in bed.  Faint movement and little punches.

#7:  Feeling pregnant.  I keep forgetting I'm preggo.  With Vivian keeping me busy, putting our house on the market, constant cleaning just in case someone wants to see our house and house hunting, this keeps my mind off of baby.  Sorry little girl :( Once by belly gets bigger, making it more difficult for Vivian to nap on me, bending over giving her a bath, etc, then I will feel more pregnant.

#8:  Caffeine.  As soon as I found out I was pregnant with Vivian, I cut out all caffeine.  With this pregnancy, I have a cup of coffee every morning so I can function for the day.

#9:  Sleep.  I mostly sleep on my right side instead of left vs only sleeping on my left side like before.  I even wake up during the night finding myself on my back or stomach.  

#10. Hair and Boobs.  My hair did not fall out with Vivian, but this go around it is falling out by the handful.  So annoying!  As for the boobs, hello!  They were no where close to being this big with Vivian.  When I was producing milk, yes, but geez.  Living in nursing bras already.  

I'm curious how the rest of the pregnancy will go.  Hopefully it will go by quickly like the first half!!!   

      

Toddler Muffins

We have been going through a picky stage right at the moment.  We eat breakfast like a champ, but lunch and dinner havem been a challenge.  Takes only a few bites and then she's done.  It is frustrating, but I know she isn't going to starve.  

One good thing is she's a little muffin girl.  The great thing about muffins, you can add lots of healthy fruits and veggies and your little one won't even notice.  Fabulous!

Vivian LOVED these muffins.  She ate 3 back-to-back after they came out of the oven.  These were your regular size muffins as well, not mini muffins.  They really are THAT good!  Loaded with fruit and veggies.

I didn't take any pictures, but they're muffins.  Nothing spectacular.

The BEST Toddler Muffins via here

Ingredients

1 cup brown sugar

⅓ cup of plain or vanilla yogurt (heaping cup)

⅓ cup unsweetened applesauce

¼ cup butter, softened

3 eggs

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 cup finely shredded carrots (about 2 medium carrots)

2-3 very ripe bananas, smashed (the riper the better)

1 cup quick oats

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp baking soda

2½ tsp cinnamon

⅛ tsp nutmeg (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Cream together: sugar, yogurt, applesauce and butter

Add eggs, pumpkin, carrots, and bananas

Mix well add all dry ingredients: oats, wheat flour, all-purpose flour, salt, soda, cinnamon and nutmeg

Mix until combined

Scoop batter into greased mini or regular muffin tins. Can use cupcake liners if you prefer. Recipe can make 48 mini muffins or 20-24 regular size muffins.

Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes for mini-muffins or 15-18 or until toothpick comes out clean for regular size muffins.

Remove from pans and cool on cooling rack.   

20 Weeks

How Far along are you: 20 weeks.  20 weeks with Vivian.

Weight Gain:  8 lbs.  Started at 114.6, weighed 122 the other day.

Maternity Clothes: I bought a few tops from Target the other day and they are definitely more comfortable to wear than my regular tops.  Living in my J.Crew leggings and yoga pants.

Food Craving:  Been on a orange kick this week.

Food Aversion:  Nope.

How Are You Feeling:  Great! 

How Are You Sleeping:  Much better now that I'm using my body pillow. 

Miss Anything:  Nope.

Any Discomforts:  Not too much.  Mild cramping here and there.

Any Movement:  I feel little scratches here and there still.  No big movements.  Found out I have an anterior placenta which means I will feel less kicks and movement.  I rarely felt Vivian when I was pregnant with her and that's probably why, but no one told me. 

Symptoms:  Nose bleeding in the am are back.  I've had a few Braxton Hicks.

Labor Signs:  No

Gender:  Girl!!!  At our anatomy scan, we found out she has a choriod plexus cyst.  They go away the majority of the time, but will have to meet with the high risk doctor as protocol.  Her anatomy scan was perfect otherwise.  

Mood:  Happy 

Excited For Anything:  My Mom is coming the end of the week.  Also, we are about to put our house on the matket.   Our realtor is coming on Saturday to look at it and see how much we can sell it for.  I've been a cleaning maniac...OCD overdrive!!! 

It's A...

GIRL!!!

We are beyond excited!  I honestly thought we were having a boy since my symptoms have been completely different than with Vivian. 

I was wrong!

Definitely going to save us on some $$$ since she's due in May and Vivian was born in June.  All of Vivian's clothes will be in season with baby girl.  The clothes will be slightly stained...oh well. Sorry kiddo.

Here's to an EXCITING New Year!!

Banana Oat Greek Yogurt Muffins

Vivian loves muffins, as do I!  I was going to make some blueberry muffins, but remembered pinning a flourless and no sugar recipe.  I wanted to go a little healthy since we've been eating lots of sweets lately.

This recipe was super easy to make!

Banana Oat Greek Yogurt Muffins
(Makes 12 muffins)

Ingredients
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 ripe bananas
2 eggs
2 cups rolled oats (old fashioned or quick)
¼ cup brown sugar
1½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ cup chocolate chips, mini or regular

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400F and prepare a muffin pan by spraying cavities with cooking spray or lining them with paper liners**. Set aside.

Add all ingredients except for chocolate chips to a blender or food processor and process on high until oats are broken down and batter is smooth and creamy. I used my Beaba Babycook to blend everything together.  I first blended the oats first, then add each ingredient one-by-one blending.  Stir in chocolate chips by hand.

Pour batter into prepared muffin pan, filling each cavity until it is about ¾ full. Optional: sprinkle a few chocolate chips over the top of each muffin.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the tops of your muffins are set and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool in pan for ~10 minutes before removing. Store in an air-tight container for up to a week.

Notes

** If using paper liners, you'll want to spray them with cooking spray as well, since the lack of oil in these muffins could make them stick to the liners after baking.

Christmas 2014 pt 2 (Christmas Day)

I slept horrible Christmas Eve.  I don't know if was excitement for the next day or what, but I probably got a total of 4 hours of sleep.  

I got up at 6 am to start making this breakfast casserole for B.  It took a little time to prepare since I'm slow at prepping and another 30 minutes or so to bake.  I'm such a good wife, ha!

Just before 7 am I heard Vivian doing her morning jibber jabber on the monitor.  I got B up so we could get her out of the crib together.

She loves handing be all her babies before getting out of her crib.  So stinking cute!!

We wished her a Merry Christmas and told her that Santa came that night and left her lots of gifts.  

B and I got into the living room before Vivian to capture her face with the camcorder and camera.  She knew something was up!  Her little face lite up!

 Two books were left unwrapped next to her stocking.  She went straight for the books.  Obviously.  

Then she went for the stocking and pulled out each item one at a time and placed each one on her table.  This process took a little time since Santa had that stocking stuffed.

^^bath bubbles^^

^^piggy paint ^^

After getting everything out of her stocking, she moved it from the table to her highchair.  Strange little booger.

^^ car seat ^^

Then she wanted to read us her book.

Vivian reading 

Then it was time to open some presents.

^^Chica and Star plush dolls^^

^^Minnie Mouse bangle bracelets ^^

^^ Her favorite out of the bunch, Elmo who actually hugs ^^  She was a happy camper when she saw him.  Loved hugging him and kissing him.  

^^ Alex Jr Tots Finger Paint^^

^^Smocks and finger paint paper and tray^^

^^Washable markers, crayons and floor pad^^

^^t-shirt^^

^^ Elmo Boo Boo Sticker Book and Doc McStuffins sticker book ^^

Even Santa came to see Mr. Brody.

After opening Vivian's gifts, I made my Mom's little bread.  Pure sugar, but so incredibly good.  Still love it to this day and so did Vivian.  She kept going "mmmm" after each bite :) This will be part of our Christmas morning tradition.

Little Bread recipe

For your EGG MIXTURE (whisk 4 eggs...1 tbs of cinnamon...1 tsp milk in a shallow bowl...stir before each bread dip).  Make sure to use WHITE BREAD, not whole wheat bread.

For your POWDERED SUGAR MIXTURE ( 1 cup powdered sugar...2 tbs cinnamon...mix well)

FRYING BREAD (turn oven eye on low-medium heat...add 1 and 1/2 tbs of butter to each 2 slices of bread...make sure the bread is wet enough so the sugar mixture will stick...may have to rub more butter on them)

After your bread is done frying, coat bread with the powdered sugar mixture until well coated.  Cut the bread into four squares, hence why they are called little bread.  I usually add a little more powdered sugar mixture after cutting when on my plate for a little extra sugar. 

This recipe makes about 6 slices of bread.

After breakfast, B and I opened our gifts.  I got B a 

Kindle Fire HDX 7 which was upgraded to the 64 GB, a cover case and a couple of boxer shorts.  

He also got a gift card and shirt from his parents.

He got me lots of goodies.  A Keurig, a carousel holder, muffin and brownie pan from Anthropologie and a candle from Anthropologie.

My Mom got us a year membership to the aquarium and a couple of pair of leggings from J.Crew.  B's Mom got me the most comfortable pair of maternity pj's from A Pea In A Pod.

We had a FANTASTIC Christmas!!

^^18.5 weeks pregnant^^

After opening our gifts, Vivian was back to playing with her toys and trying on a couple of things.

And painted our piggies :)

 Next Christmas will be even more special having Vivian and our little boy or girl.  The Good Lord has truly blessed my little family!!!

 

 

19 Weeks

How Far along are you: 19 weeks 1 day (19 weeks with Vivian)

Weight Gain:  9 lbs.  Started at 114.6, weighed 123.4 this am after eating breakfast.

Maternity Clothes: I'm wearing a few maternity tops and wearing my J.Crew leggings almost everyday

Food Cravings: Still major sweet tooth, but wanting to eat more salads. Hummus and dill dip.

Food Aversion:  Nope.

How Are You Feeling:  Great! 

How Are You Sleeping:  Much better now that I'm using my body pillow. 

Miss Anything:  Nope.

Any Discomforts:  Not too much.  

Any Movement:  I feel little scratches here and there still.  No big movements.

Symptoms:  Nose bleeding in the am are back.  I've had a few Braxton Hicks.

Labor Signs:  No

Gender:  Not yet.

Mood:  Happy 

Excited For Anything:  We find what we are having on Wednesday!  Happy New Year to us!!!