16 Weeks (Round 3)

Are these weekly updates annoying or no? I have really planned to write some other posts (non-pregnancy related even!) but it hasn't happened. I've been having a woe-is-me week. I'm not sure if it's prenatal depression or the blues. I think it's the blues but heightened. I've been feeling down lately and very weepy. There are a lot of things going on in my life that are out of my control and I'm having a hard time with that. I want to know the timing of these big, potentially life-changing things, but a lot of it is out of my hands.  I'm not meaning to be cryptic - it's all mainly job related for me and there's a huge question mark looming in the future. Combine that with setting a new budget based on one possible scenario and the reality of the change hit me hard last night.  These $1000 + payments in student loans each month are really kicking us in the butt. They're the one expense we cannot change in the least and it's a huge part of our budget. Think very hard before deciding to go to law school, friends. 

Ok, enough of that. If you want to go back and read about week 16 from Julian, go here!

How far along? 16 weeks today!

Next OB appointment? August 27 - I'll be 20 weeks and we'll go in for the big anatomy scan. But the plan is to still not find out the baby's sex!

Total weight gain/loss? So thanks to my OB appointment yesterday, it was confirmed that I'm up 6 pounds since the start of this pregnancy. But that's based on my first appointment at 7 weeks, when I'd already gained 2 pounds, so I'm really at 8 pounds up. The doc said anything between 1 and 11 pounds is normal for this far along, so I'll take it.  Not going to lie though, watching the numbers creep up on the scale is still hard on my head. I'm still weighing less than I did at the START of my pregnancies with Lukas and Julian, so I should be happy, right!

Maternity clothes?  I busted out my first maternity skirt this morning. And it is glorious. Plus it was only $6.99 from the Gap so that's a win. I think there are a few non-maternity, low cut shorts and jeans I can get away with for a few more weeks, but otherwise I'm in all maternity bottoms. The belly has popped.

Stretch marks? Nope.

Sleep? Rough. I have a hard time falling asleep at night and then wake up a few times with bad feelings and a dark cloud over my head. Hoping to shake that soon.  Although my naps are restful, so perhaps I should fit a few more of those in.

Best moment last week? Seeing three of my closest friends within a 24 hour time span. We took a quick, last-minute trip up to Atlanta last weekend. We had brunch Saturday with my BFF from law school and I got to love on her sweet baby boy. We spent the rest of the day and night at our good friends' house where the daddies took the kids out and my friend and I sat on her sofa and talked for literally 6 hours straight. I don't have many friends who I can do that with, but she is one of them and I'm so thankful to have her in my life. We talked about ALL.THE.THINGS. And it was good for me. We finished off the weekend with Sunday brunch in our old stomping grounds with my work friend and her husband (who happens to be a fire fighter which is OH SO COOL to 2 little boys).  It was nice to catch up in person and I so wish we still worked next door to each other every day.  Seeing these 3 is always a bright spot in my life.  If only I could convince them all to move to Macon...

Movement? Here and there I feel those sweet baby flutters!

Food cravings? I'm back to craving sushi and had a brief love affair with watermelon and feta earlier this week. Oh, and a spoonful of peanut butter every day! I'm also craving salads, which is strange.

Food aversions? I'm still not digging food after dinner, but I have managed to enjoy two ice cream pops this week and they were delicious.

Gender? I have no idea. I think I'm hopping over to the Team Blue train. My skin is finally clearing up and I think I'm carrying this babe similar to the boys (wide, not out) so I'm going to go ahead and say boy this week.

Labor signs? Nada.

Belly button in/out? In!

What I miss: My positive outlook on life. I do not like being a ho hum person and lately I can't seem to kick this dull sadness. 

What I am looking forward to: My momma and daddy are coming to visit this weekend!  My mom's been in California for about 3 weeks because my grandmother has been ill.  She came back this week and thankfully she's coming to Macon for a visit.

Milestones: Hum, no real milestones this week. I suppose I've popped. Does that count?

15 Weeks. Round 3

Here's my weekly pregnancy recap!  And for comparison, read my round 2, week 15 post here!

How far along? 15 weeks today!

Next OB appointment? Next Wednesday

Total weight gain/loss? I've decided to avoid the scale for a bit. It just messes with my mind too much and I obsess over the amount of weight I've gained. I think checking my weight at my monthly OB appointment will be enough for now. But if I had to venture a guess, I think I've probably packed on 5 or so pounds at this point.

Maternity clothes?  Nope. I have a few pairs of pants and skirts that have had to be put away already, but thanks to my clothes ranging in sizes 2-14 from my prior pregnancies and weight losses, I am able to just move up a size for now. The main reason I haven't switched over to any actual maternity clothes is because the ones I have are way too big.  I'm starting this pregnancy much thinner than the last two, so my maternity clothes don't fit at all.  I bought a few pieces for work on Gap.com yesterday so hopefully those will fit and be my staple go-to bottoms. I have a lot of flowy tops that will grow with me, so I think I'm good in the top department for a while.

Stretch marks? Not yet.

Sleep? I'm still getting up once a night to pee, but otherwise I'm sleeping pretty good. Except for that one bout of insomnia last week, although it may have had something to do with the iced coffee I had at 4pm the prior afternoon. Oops.

Best moment last week? I gave Stitch Fix maternity a try and was pleasantly surprised with the choices. I would've kept everything in the fix but the maxi skirt they sent was NOT maternity and it is already tight on the belly, so it's going back. And they sent this cute bracelet but I just don't think I'll wear it, so back it goes. But I am keeping this adorable navy maternity dress, bright yellow cardigan and grey shirt that will grow with the belly.

Movement? At night when I'm laying down I can feel the little one jumping around.

Food cravings? Natural peanut butter straight out of the jar.

Food aversions? Anything after about 7pm/dinner time. Which is really unfortunately because I am craving these sea salt caramel Talenti ice cream pops I bought a week ago but cannot stomach any food after dinner. It's the strangest thing.

Gender? I'm still going with girl given my broken out face and extremely dry skin.  And the fact that husband and I have started picking a girl name.  But don't worry, we're still going to pick a boy's name too. We just decided we'd start with girl names first. You see, we LOVE picking out names. It's very involved and we make long lists and look up the meaning of all the names and then eliminate from there. We usually wind up with 3-5 names we love.  The front runner from my pregnancy with Julian (before we knew he was a boy, obviously) was Molly. But apparently I never looked up the meaning of Molly.  Well, let me tell you, Molly is now off the list. Molly means bitter. No thank you.  What kind of message would that send to her - your brother's names mean "brings light" and "youthful", but we decided to name you "bitter" - good luck lady!

Labor signs? Nada.

Belly button in/out? In!

What I miss: My black go to work pants. And prosciutto - this no lunch meat unless heated thing is for the birds. 

What I am looking forward to: My husband coming home!  He has been gone all week and the boys and I have missed him!

Milestones: I'm kind of starting to show?!

This is the navy maternity dress and cardigan from Stitch Fix!
(PS don't mind the odd look on my face and messy room, um kay?)

Better Beauty

I just hosted an online social for Beautycounter and shared a lot of information that I thought my blog readers might enjoy.  So here's some more info on this company I adore and this mission I'm so passionate about!

My goal is to introduce you to Beautycounter and our mission of getting safe products in the hands of everyone!  We have two skin care lines, a fabulous line of color cosmetics, a body line, kids products and sunscreen...with more products being developed as we speak! And they are all SAFE.

Beautycounter is an education first company, so I want to start by sharing some facts with you. (I was surprised when I first learned of the lack of regulation in the US with regard to personal care/beauty products. I assumed, like I’m sure many of you do, that if a product is on the market, it must be safe. Surely someone, somewhere has checked to make sure what we’re using is safe!  Wrong!) 

*The EU bans nearly 1400 ingredients from cosmetics,  the United States only bans or restricts ELEVEN! This is crazy and unacceptable. Many companies even have two versions of their products - one with safer ingredients in the EU and others with harmful ingredients in the USA.  

*The Food and Drug Administration does not require that cosmetics ingredients or products be approved before they go on the market, and FDA has no power to recall a product from the market.

*In the US, 1 in 3 women and 1 in 2 men will develop cancer in their lifetime.1

*Difficulty in conceiving and maintaining a pregnancy affected 40% more women in 2002 than in 1982.

*Scientific studies over the past 40 years have fueled the consensus that exposure to toxic chemicals plays a role in the incidence and prevalence of many diseases and disorders in the US.

Since the United States isn't watching out for your health, YOU have to be your own advocate. So let me arm you with two tools to help you avoid toxic ingredients in your products.

The first is the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep database and app. Have you heard of it? The database is here: http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ (but there's also an app for your smartphone!) Here's an explanation of it and why I think it's great to use - go check out your products and see how they compare to Beautycounter.

EWG (the Environmental Working Group) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to protecting human health and the environment.  

Their mission is to empower people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. "EWG drives consumer choice and civic action with its game-changing investigations and research on toxics and environmental health, food and agriculture, and water and energy."  

So the app has a barcode scanner that you can use in the store to scan any product before you buy it to see how its hazard score ranks from 0-10.  It also tells you whether a product has No, Low, Moderate or High Health Concerns for Cancer, Development/Reprotoxicity and Allergies.  You can also search for your current products on the database to see how they score.  It was eye-opening for me to say the least!  My rule of thumb is to stick to products ranked 2 or less (which includes all Beautycounter products).

The second tool is Beautycounter's Never List. This is a list of ingredients that we will NEVER use in our products. EVER. Beautycounter has done extensive research and many of these ingredients are linked to cancer, hormone/endocrine disruptions, skin irritants and allergies. So Beautycouner has banned these ingredients from our products, even though the United States laws have yet to do the same.

I feel good knowing that these ingredients aren't in my products anymore, because they sure used to be before I switched to Beautycounter. Even if you're not sure you're ready to make any changes to your skin care or makeup regimen, I urge you to compare the Never List with the list of ingredients in your current products.

To read more about each of the ingredients on our Never List, go here: http://www.beautycounter.com/the-never-list

Gregg Renfrew, our founder and CEO, started Beautycounter a little over 2 years ago because she wanted to bring beautiful, effective and SAFE products to the marketplace.  She teamed up with celebrity and fashion makeup artist Christy Coleman and they have developed an amazing line of products.  You do not have to sacrifice your safety to get effective, beautiful products.

Check out all our products here: bit.ly/rswanBC

14 Weeks (Round 3)

So my last pregnancy I kept this weekly survey (which admittedly gets sort of obnoxious towards the end) but is a fun way for me to document the pregnancy.  So here we are again. (I started at 13 weeks with Julian and you can read that post here.)

How far along? 14 weeks today!

Next OB appointment? 2 weeks from today

Total weight gain/loss? No clue. Last time I weighed I was up about 3-4 pounds from my pre-preggo weight.  BUT my starting weight this pregnancy is about 13 pounds less than I was with the boys!  So here's hoping I don't become a round cow this time.

Maternity clothes? Not yet, but I have a feeling it's coming. Soon.  This morning I put on a pair of pants for work and within 10 minutes had to change out of them because my bump and the constricting waist band were not getting along.

Stretch marks? No new ones.

Sleep? All over the board. Most nights I still wake up to pee at least once. And last night I jolted out of bed because my foot was asleep and all pins and needles. It took a good five minutes of walking around the room and rubbing my foot to make it go away! I could do without those nightly interruptions.

Best moment last week? Julian turned two! I can't believe my baby boy is two.  And that he won't be my BABY in six months.

Movement? I swear I can feel the baby at night when I'm laying down or when I'm sitting in a chair. It's likely just gas, but I swear it happens.

Food cravings? I can't believe I'm going to admit this, but on our drive up to Michigan we stopped at Taco Bell for lunch one day (hey, you do what you gotta do when you're in the midst of a 14 hour drive with two small children), and I had a taco supreme and it was AH.MAZING. So yea, I've been craving Taco Bell.  Gross, I know.  Do I get points for only indulging once since the Michigan trip?  And that was on the drive home, so technically it doesn't count.  I also can't get enough bacon. But that's true even when I'm not pregnant, so I can't really say it's a craving. Oh and I'm craving sushi. Lots and lots of sushi. And that cooked shit is just not cutting it.

Food aversions? Nothing comes to mind.

Gender? Do I dare say that I think the bean is a girl? Here is my rationale: my skin is HORRIBLE. My face is completely broken out (although it's slowly getting better, or so I thought) and my whole body is dry - my neck is even peeling it's so dry.  I am slathering myself in Beautycounter oil and Body Butter on the regular which is luckily helping keep it in check, but man. Also I feel so frumpy, so I think it's a girl stealing my beauty. I'm also a hot mess of hormonal havoc, so I'm thinking there's double the estrogen up in here.  But, we won't find out until January! That's right, we've decided to hold out and find out the old fashioned way.

Labor signs? Nope 

Belly button in/out? IN. And let's keep it that way!

What I miss: Real, raw sushi.  Bring on the ahi tuna and salmon.  I also miss my energy. I'm hoping it'll come back now that I've hit the 2nd trimester.

What I am looking forward to: Being obviously pregnant as opposed to pudgy. I think I'm close, but I'll be happy to make the leap over to baby bump land. 

Milestones: 2nd trimester baby!

Tres.

In case you missed it, check out the video announcement here!

And so the secret baby posts begin again.  That's right. I'm pregnant with baby #3.  Woo hoo!  Hubs and I are ecstatic and ready for the wild ride that will be our life with 3 kids. Bring on the baby.

Friday, May 1: I was officially 1 day late. So I decided to take a pregnancy test, because, well, why not?  I was about to get on a plane to Denver so I wanted to know if I could have some wine during the trip or not. The digital pregnancy test came back with a clear "Not Pregnant."  Ok, fab.  Bring on the wine. And the Xanax if needed. I stuffed my bag with a bunch of tampons so I'd be prepared for aunt flow's arrival and off I went.

Sunday, May 3rd (10:15pm-ish): I landed in Atlanta in the evening after a great trip to Denver, still period-free. So I decided I'd buy a 3 pack of tests, just in case. I mean, 3 days late was strange for me. But I convinced myself I'd wait until Tuesday to test. But then I got home, chatted with the husband for an hour, and then snuck off to do my thing. A very faint pink line appeared. I was in a bit of shock. Husband was in the shower so I lurked outside until he asked what the heck I was doing. I showed him the stick. He wasn't so sure given the faintness of the line. But I assured him that the box says that any line, no matter how faint, means pregnant. We decided I should test the next day to be sure, not wanting to get excited over nothing.

Monday, May 4th: I woke up and peed on the stick.  Faint line, but not quite as faint as the night before appears.  Definitely pregnant.

Wednesday, May 6th: Dark second line appears (it's a good thing I bought the three pack).  Pregnant. Oh my.

So I totally intended to write something over the past week and a half and have just been busy with life.  Nothing much has been going on in the pregnancy world other than letting the news really sink in.  On that note...There is a baby growing INSIDE of me right now.  How fucking cool is that?  I mean seriously, I am a lucky lady.

Monday, May 18th: I'm 6 weeks and 6 days.  Good Lord that's still a long ways away from 40.  And it's still 6 weeks away from the 2nd trimester. But, so far so good. I don't have too severe of pregnancy side effects other than a wave of nausea here and there.  Oh, well, my face is totally breaking out which is really inconvenient given the fact of my Beautycounter business.  Thankfully we have this awesome Concealer Pen that is doing the trick.  Oh and the gas is back. I hate pregnancy gas.  It is simply foul.

Thursday, May 28, 2015: 7 weeks here.  No, I didn't go back in time. I had my first OB appointment on Tuesday, on what we thought was the 8 week mark based on the calendar.  But the ultrasound said I was only 6 weeks, 5 days on Tuesday based on my measurements.  We saw the baby's heartbeat (and heard it which is so incredibly cool) and so far so good.  But I was a little taken aback by the change in due date (it's now January 14th).  The doctor said this happens and it just means I ovulated late in my cycle, so it's nothing to be worried about.  But to be safe, I go back for a follow up ultrasound on June 10th (when I'll be just shy of 9 weeks).  So it'll be a long two weeks just waiting to make sure the baby is actually growing on track.

I'm exhausted all day long. That's the worst side effect as of now.  Just sheer exhaustion.  A tinge of queasiness hits now and again but not too often, thankfully. My breakouts are subsiding so that's good.  Oh and I am feeling depressed.  Thank you pregnancy hormones.

Tuesday, June 9, 2015: 8 weeks, 5 days. Exhaustion has set in. I am so tired all.the.time. Today I got home from work, turned on a show for the boys and feel asleep on the couch.  Husband is being a superman and doing all the things I can't do right now, like fix dinner, grocery shop and put the boys to bed.  I forget how bad this fatigue is.  It's deep in the bones and requires you to stop whatever you're doing and sit or lay down.  I do hope my energy level comes back up soon.

My face is a lovely mess of blemishes and my hormones are causing me to act crazy. I'm weepy and depressed and anxious. It's an awesome combination, really.  I go back to the OB tomorrow for another ultrasound to check on the bean, so fingers crossed all is well.

Wednesday, June 24, 2015: 10 weeks, 6 days. I had my follow-up ultrasound last week and baby #3 is doing great.  It's on track for a January 14 due date and I was able to let out one sigh of relief to know that things were progressing.  I basically feel like shit.  I have no energy and am always tired.  Yesterday I was anxious all day, which seems to happen now if I have a cup of coffee, which I don't indulge in often.  And I now will not indulge in at all. It's just not worth the heart palpitations.  I also was struck with awful heartburn  yesterday and today.  I didn't realize what it was and more or less freaked myself out pretty bad.  Luckily I was at my parents house and being near your mom when you don't feel good is always a good thing.  This morning I was in so much pain I decided to try some heartburn meds to see if it helped.  Virtually instant relief. I hate taking something but I can't get through the day hunched over in pain and in tears.  I'm hoping this isn't a common occurrence.  I've also realized my waist is nonexistent, my rib cage has widened and my bra is now tight.  Yay for big pregnancy boobs!  Boo for everything else.

Tuesday, June 30, 2015: 11 weeks, 5 days. I think I see the light at the end of the fatigue tunnel. I hope anyway. My face is still a hot mess of zits, my boobs are growing by the day and extremely tender, and the constipation seems to have come for a visit.  But otherwise I'm doing great. No morning sickness and the heartburn from last week seems to have just been a random thing.  I go to my OB tomorrow morning for an appointment and then to the perinatologist Thursday for some more tests.  Here's hoping things keep being boring and normal!

Monday, July 6, 2015: 12 weeks, 4 days.  Almost at the end of the 1st trimester!  Things are going well.  Baby #3 is growing and looking awfully cute. We're on track for a January 14 due date.  I'm starting to feel a little bit more energetic.  We told the boys the news and they seem excited.  At the least, they're not mad.

Monday, July 13, 2016: 13 weeks 4 days. I'm finally starting to feel less exhausted (although I'm thinking the oppressive Georgia heat is partially to blame - I had SO MUCH more energy last week when we were in Michigan) and my face is clearing up!  Woo hoo.  My bump is starting to pop out but not as much as I'd thought given that this is my 3rd time at the rodeo. I figured I'd be huge already. I'm sure it'll happen soon enough.  For now I'm still fitting in my regular clothes, although I'd give that another week or two.  This bump is making my skirt ride up a bit too much today!

Oh and did I mention we are NOT finding out if we're having a boy or girl?!?  We figure it'd be fun to leave it a surprise for this last kiddo.  So what do you think?  Does the babe look like boy #3 to you or a little lady???

A Chat with the Boys

Enjoy!

Last BC Post for a While, I Promise!

I know, I know. I said I was not going to let the blog be overrun by Beautycounter posts and I'm failing in that.  I promise it will slow soon.  I've been working on an upcoming post that has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with Beautycounter, I promise.  And, it's a good post. That I promise too. I'm thinking it'll post later this week, so check back!  But just bear with me for one more Beautycounter post because I can't NOT tell you about this awesome incentive that ends TODAY!

Today is the last day for Beautycounter's 4th of July special! Spend $200 and you will receive a free gift: $74 worth of products (two of these are new, limited – edition products)

-Color Shade Eye Duo in Slipper/Slate (a ballet pink and true gray with a hint of sheen) (new, limited edition)
- Eye Pencil in Navy (new, limited edition)
- High gloss lip shine

These items will automatically be added to your cart. Beautycounter does not do specials like this often, so take advantage while you can!  Now is a great time to restock, give Beautycounter a try for the first time or buy gifts for those you love!

I love this company and our mission. We are trying to get safe products in the hands of everyone.  The United States has not passed a federal law regulating the cosmetics industry since 1938! And while the European Union bans close to 1400 ingredients, the United States only bans ELEVEN. There are known carcinogens in many personal care products and cosmetics on the market today and other ingredients that have been linked to health problems.  You won't find those ingredients in Beautycounter products, and you don't have to sacrifice effectiveness for safety.  Beautiful products CAN be safe.

Give safe beauty a try today!  Let me know if you need help picking out products (we have products for men to use too!) or order online here: bit.ly/rswanBC and with our 60 day return policy, you have nothing to lose!