Nutrition & Exercise During Pregnancy: 1st & 2nd Trimester

Ya, I'm going there. A little over a week since I ranted about gaining eight pounds in four weeks, but I think that I have learned a few lessons in the last 6 months and to be honest, I don't want to forget them next time around! 

This is completely MY outlook and my approach on exercise and nutrition. By no means am I saying I'm a health and fitness expert, but I just want to document what has, and hasn't, worked for me. 

For starters, I'm a "Weight Watcher". I joined WW over 3 years ago and the plan helped me lose 25-30 pounds, focus on healthy and whole eating, and definitely aided in my new found love of exercise (and by new, I mean new prior to pregnancy...).

I always thought about how my eating habits would change when I was pregnant. Would I resort back to eating portions that are too large or stop exercising entirely? Would I throw all I've learned about eating the right amount of dairy and healthy fats each day?

Thankfully, when I found out I was pregnant, I was in the mindset, and am again now, that what I put into my body goes to our baby girl. Would I want to feed her fast food, high-fat meals with little to no nutritional value? Lots of sugar and minimal fruits and vegetables? Certainly not, so I focused on buying and eating foods that are good for the both of us, and that would also create a well-rounded palette for her. 

Hubs and I rarely go out to eat. We do on special occasions, and we used to frequent nights out a lot more when I could drink with him. I love to cook, and still do even at almost 31 weeks pregnant, so we haven't felt the need to take advantage of going out to eat. 

I'll break down my advice by trimester. Here goes. 

First Trimester

In the first trimester, I continued to eat as I normally did, instead following WW's maintenance program instead of their weight loss program. I wanted to make sure I focused on eating the right foods, and not getting into the "eating for two" mindset that so often comes with pregnancy. 

Around 7 weeks, the queasiness started. I had to force myself to eat my daily points as nothing, and I mean nothing, sounded appetizing. I had a major aversion to sweets, so I couldn't even try to get in my daily caloric intake that way. I stuck with things like Trader Joe's Macaroni and Cheese, saltines, chicken noodle soup, ginger ale, cereal (like Chex & Cheerio's), baked potatoes, chicken breast, grilled cheese, etc. My menu was pretty bland and I needed to keep it that way to avoid throwing up. 

As for working out, that came to a major, major halt. I had zero energy and was in bed by 8:15 most nights. I came home from work around 4:30, laid on the couch, made dinner, and forced myself to stay awake until an "acceptable" bed time. 

I participated in yoga twice a week, from week 8 through week 18, and it was tough to get there most nights. Thankfully yoga is very relaxing not as physically demanding as some of my other workouts, so I guess I wasn't entirely inactive during the first trimester. 

I swear as soon as the books say you'll start to feel better, I did. 14 weeks and I was like a brand new woman (as far as eating goes. Energy? not so much....) Hello second trimester! 

Second Trimester

I first started feeling better right around Halloween. I still had an aversion to sweets, so I didn't take advantage of all the candy that was laying around. I slowly started adding more normal foods back into my diet, and throughout November I felt better than ever. Thanksgiving dinner never tasted SO good! 

I still struggled with low energy, but my appetite was back on track and being able to eat foods that were higher in protein and nutritional value helped give me a little more energy. 

Around Christmas time, my aversion to sweets lifted. HA! I enjoyed a lot of cookies and cakes but still kept my weight gain to a minimum. As of my December 27 doctor's appointment, I was up a total of 8 pounds. At 21 weeks, I was right on track with where my doctor wanted me to be as far as gaining 25-35 pounds. 

I tried, I really did, to work out. But the weekends and days off were filled with festivities and getting to the gym wasn't on the top of my to do list. In January, I started forcing myself to do some sort of physical activity, whether at my work's fitness center or our gym, to help increase my energy. I would feel really good after finishing my work out, but less than an hour later, I was crashing. 

I mentioned my fatigue to my doctor at my appointment in January, and he obviously didn't bat an eye. I'm pregnant, I'm supposed to be tired. I had gained 4 pounds in 4 weeks, for a total of 12 pounds gained. I was impressed with myself, and probably went overboard thinking I had this whole pregnancy weight gain down pat. I took my glucose test that same day, and got a call the next to say I was mildly anemic. LIGHT BULB! No wonder I've been feeling like a zombie! I always wondered who these women were who had this boost of energy in the second trimester. As soon as I started my iron supplements, I was really feel great. My appetite and my energy levels were picking up.

I was starting to work out more frequently, 3-4 times a week, doing some high-energy cardio workouts on the elliptical. I'm now wondering if my increase in activity caused an increase in my appetite, which wasn't being filled by healthy foods, and ultimately leading to that 8 pound gain. 

Here is an example of a typical menu in the second trimester:

Breakfast: Cereal and almond milk (Chex, Cheerios, Special K)

Snack: Banana, greek yogurt

Lunch: Salad with light dressing and grilled chicken breast, string cheese

Snack: Chocolate, granola bar

Dinner: Pork tenderloin, brown rice, and a roasted veggie

Snack: Probably more chocolate, ice cream, or a sweet snack. Marshmallow's roasted over the stove? Been there, done that! 

Towards the end of the second trimester, I stopped caring as much about what I was putting into my body and feed our babe. A lot of sweets started making their way into my diet and I started having the mindset of eating for two, so to speak. I wasn't consuming 4,000 calories a day by any means, but I was definitely ignoring my hunger signals and indulging much more frequently in high sugar foods. Since I want our little one to be as healthy as she can be, I checked myself back into the right mindset and so far have been happy with the results! 

More to come on the third trimester! 

Nursery Updates!

I'm really excited about all of the progress we've made in the nursery this past week. It's finally starting to come together and is looking exactly how I imagined! 

One of the easiest projects was the blinged out hangers from this post. I stole two of Hubs' Ikea pant hangers since we already had them on hand. Apparently hanger theft is a big deal in our household because he wasn't happy with me ;) But seriously, these babies are only $.99 a piece, so between the two hangers and the gold sequin ribbon, this project cost around $8!. 

This spool has 3 feet of sequin ribbon. Each hanger required 1 foot of ribbon. I simply used my hot glue gun to glue the ribbon to the front of the pant hanger, and voila! 

  

The finished product! 

We also purchased and installed the light fixture for the nursery. I took some pictures without the light on since it's hard to see the gold and crystal detail when the light is shining through. 

Without the light on...

What do you think?? It reflects such a pretty light on the walls. It really glams up the space, which is what we  I was going for! A shout out to my Hubs who installed this...My arms were burning just watching him work on it! 

Finally, this isn't the final reveal of this project , but I did make some gold tip white feathers to add to it. Not sure how we're going to do that, but I'll find a way! 

I used this Martha Stewart Metallic Paint in Gold.

Brushed on an angle and followed the natural lines of the feather to get this final result! If I end up not using them on the ombré art, I'll definitely find a place for them in the nursery. 

Up next is the tutorial for the crib mobile, inspired by the mobile in this post. I finished it up last night and I think Hubs is pretty impressed with my work!  

30 Weeks!

Hola! I can't believe we've hit 30 weeks this week. Considering March is rolling on in in just a few days, I think it's safe to say that we're in the home stretch. Hubs and I had an uber productive weekend finishing up some things that we needed for the nursery. We picked out and installed her light fixture. We ended up with a gold and crystal flush mount piece so that we didn't lose a lot of headway with a chandelier. 

I had the day off yesterday, so I crafted up a storm. I finished up the gold bling hangers from this post, and started working on the DIY crib mobile. I'm SO excited with how this is turning out. Can't wait to post the final product. 

I also picked up some white feathers to doll up the DIY ombré art from this post, so I'll post those pictures when I finish that up as well. 

I picked up two white picture frames for the Love and Oh La La pictures from this post. We're hoping to hang them once we decide on the final layout of the room. 

Overall, we had a really productive weekend and I'm feeling more and more ready for her arrival. Our shower is next weekend, so I think we'll be starting on the nesting train! 

I'm also was working on a little "Thank You" for our shower hosts, so more on that after the shower next week :) 

And now for this weeks bumpdate! 

How far along?: 30 weeks

Weight gained?: 20+ pounds

Showing yet?: Yes

Stretch Marks?: Not yet!

Clothes?: Maternity clothes all the way. 

Cravings?: Nothing... Cut back on sweets last week though...

Aversions?: None

Sleep?:  Great lately!

Gender?:  Girl!

Movement?: Yes...although I had to pull out my Doppler last week because she wasn't as active as she had been.

Symptoms?: Stuffy nose, linea nigra, back pain...

Miss Anything?: Cute spring and summer clothes, sitting for long periods of time without feeling any back pain, not being hormonal all the time ;)

Wedding Rings on or off?: On

Belly Button in or out?: In

On Having A Daughter

Since Hubs and I found out our wee one was going to be a little girl, we've been on cloud 9. We both were adamant that she was a he, so when the technician said "you see these three lines right here?", our hearts skipped a beat. A few minutes later, he still hadn't taken his eyes off the screen, so I asked if he was okay. Still staring at the screen, he replied "yes". 

When we left the ultrasound office and started walking to grab a coffee, he was so sweet in his concerns about having a girl.

Hi, Princess! 

"She's going to get MARRIED some day!"

" But you're my princess...I can't have two!" To which I replied, "Don't worry, I get promoted to Queen", with a cackle smile. 

I'll never forget those words. Nothing about how boys are easier, boys are all he knows, girls are needy and dramatic. He fell in love with her right then and there, and never looked back. 

Since we waited a few days to tell our friends and family, my mind was racing with different thoughts of having a girl. Can I handle it? I know how I was growing up...can't be TOO bad. But then there are THOSE girls, she can't and won't be one of those girls...Thank the LORD for Andy and his patience.

I decided to head out shopping and figured that purchasing her first girly outfit would help me "bond" with her. 

Aside from the fashion, the frills, headbands, pinks and purples, I'm excited to raise this little one with poise, class, sophistication, sass, spunk, confidence and lots of sarcasm. I want to kiss boo-boo's because she's a little rough around the edges and likes to play in the mud with the neighborhood boys. I want to take her shopping for her first school dance, and console her when she has her first heartbreak. But what I ultimately want is a HAPPY girl, one who does things because they make her happy.

All these thoughts about having a girl over the last two and a half months led me to a conversation I had with a new co-worker yesterday. 

For the first time in the last two and a half months, I said the word daughter. It was said casually, like "once I come back from leave, my sister will watch my daughter until she starts back to work". 

I don't know what her response was, as I repeated to myself "I'm going to have a daughter". It's bizarre to me that I've never said it before, or maybe it just didn't resonate with me like it did yesterday. 

My mom, with her daughter, on my wedding day.

Everyone asks "Do you know what you're having?" and you respond with "It's a girl!". But somehow, saying the words "my daughter" made my heart stop and I realized how big, how huge this is. I know the same would happen if we were to be expecting a boy, and saying "my son"...so maybe it's the "OMG this is really happening, we're going to have a child, be parents, call each other mom and dad" that's really the big, "aha" moment. That I don't know. 

But I couldn't be more excited, and more ready, to welcome our daughter into the world. A little over 10 weeks to go and if she decided to come today, we'd be ready. Scared, but ready. I can't wait to see her, kiss her, and hold her in my arms, and watch her daddy fall more in love with her than he already is. And me? I can't wait to fall more in love with HIM, after watching him with her. 

Birth Announcements

I like to use this blog as a space to collect my ideas and to-do's. Kind of like my own Pinterest without all the searching and computer freezing. I thought I'd share and save some of my favorite birth announcements so that I can easily access them when the time comes.

 figure that once we get our princess' newborn pictures done, we can order them up and send them off!

I also found a suggestion on The Bump to print the address labels ahead of time so that you have even less to do once you are ready to send them out.  I may or may not have already done this! ;)

Pink Chevron-Gold Dot -Pink Monogram-Pink Diamonds-

Pink Chrysanthemum-Pink Chevron 2

So which do you like?

Baby Brine Style: St. Patty's Day!

Baby girl is a lucky one in that she's a part of  three AMAZING heritages (as far as my side goes...Hubs doesn't really know WHAT he is!). 1/4 Italian (Hello vino, pasta, and gelato...), 1/2 German (Oktoberfest, anyone?) and 1/4 Irish (St. Patty's Day...enough said!).

Obviously we've got a lot of alcohol in our bloods, and I couldn't prouder! This will be my first sober St. Patty's Day in quite awhile, but I did find some really cute St. Patrick's Day ensembles for your little one! I die when I see bloomers with matching headbands!

Shamrock Sleeper-Daddy's Lucky Charm Set-Green & White Sleeper-Shabby Green Headband-Green Pants-Ruffle Bloomers

Baby Brine Style: Coming Home Outfit!

A few weeks ago, Hubs and I were out at Macy's shopping with my parents, sister, brother-in-law, and brother for my Dad's birthday. We decided to peruse the baby section, and came across the most adorable navy and white sateen dress. I knew it was perfect for baby girl's first car ride home! Hubs picked out the pink cardigan for a little pop of color, and we received those white tights as a gift from a friend. They are soooo tiny. I die. I'm loving the Navy Patent Leather Bow Tie shoes from Old Navy, although I'm still on the fence about buying them. Finally, we will be bringing two headbands, which I posted about here. If baby girl is bald/blonde, we'll be using the navy headband. If she has dark hair, we'll put on the white with rhinestones. I know, way too much thought put into a friggin' headband, but since baby girl's name will ALSO be decided upon her arrival, I figured her headband should be too :) I cannot WAIT to see our little princess in this sweet, tiny, adorable little ensemble! 

Navy & White Dress-Pink Cardigan-White Tights -Navy Patent Leather Bow Tie Shoes

29 weeks!

Just came back from my 29 week check up. The Doc's scale says I'm up 8 pounds in 4 weeks. I had a mini meltdown once the nurse left the room, and thankfully my wonderful mother was there to support me. I guess we're never too old to need love & support from our moms! :)

By no means am I saying I'm going to be "dieting" throughout the next 11 weeks, but I think an increase in activity while I have the energy and a decrease in unhealthy foods is in order. I think I've forgotten that baby girl is getting the nutrients that I'm consuming, and right now she needs to be taking in good, healthy foods. Is it too soon to give up sweets for Lent?? ;)

Anyway, here is this weeks bumpdate. Doc says she's measuring right on track, even though I'm carrying small(er), due to my long torso. HR was 130, which is considered normal, but I think little one must have been snoozing because it's typically closer to 150. 

How far along?: 29 weeks

Weight gained?: 20 pounds

Showing yet?: Yes

Stretch Marks?: Nope, using lots of cream though!

Clothes?: Maternity clothes all the way. 

Cravings?: Nothing really...going to try cutting back on the sweets and junk from now until May! 

Aversions?: Nothing...If I put sweets here, will I not crave them?? ;)

Sleep?:  I'd say 4-5 good nights a week... the other nights are horrendous. 

Gender?:  Girl!

Movement?: Yes...Hubs got to feel my belly shake this weekend. 

Symptoms?: Stuffy nose, linea nigra, back pain...

Miss Anything?: Cute spring and summer clothes, sitting for long periods of time without feeling any back pain

Wedding Rings on or off?: On

Belly Button in or out?: In

Baby Brine Style: Nursery Ombré Art

The prints from SSPrintShop came in and I am in LOVE!

I'm a huge fan of Friday's (not sure who isn't...). I'm not sure if there's anything better than waking up to your alarm, and getting to shut it off for the next 2 days. I smile every time I turn that sucker off. 

Back in early January, Hubs and I signed up for some classes at the hospital where we'll be delivery Baby Brine. Somehow, 5 weeks have flown by and here we are, ready to learn if we've got what it takes! 

Since I'm a weeknight lightweight, the classes offered during the week were just plain out of the question. No way was I going to be learning how to swaddle a baby at 9:00 at night. 

We decided to take both the Prenatal Breastfeeding and Baby Care classes on the same day. Two and a half hours of breastfeeding, one hour break, and three hours of baby care. I think I'll be ready for a nap by the time we make it home. 

All-in-all, I'm looking forward to them both. I think Hubs will get quite uncomfortable during the breastfeed class, and I'm not sure how many men attend it along side their pregnant ladies, but there was no way he was getting out of this one! Plus, he's the thorough one in our marriage, so he'll probably remember all the little things that might help once Baby Brine is here. 

Anywho, I was off on Monday and got to work on some projects that I've been putting aside. I'm not an artist by any means, but give me a blank canvas and some paint and I'll doodle something up. I love the look of ombré art, and I figured it was simple enough to give it a whirl. 

We had some leftover paint samples from the nursery, so I started off using the darkest color at the top.

I added some white to that color, and blended about 2/3 of the way down the canvas.

I took white acrylic paint and from the bottom up, blended it into the light pink. I used the same brush so that the white really did lightly blend into the pink, giving the ombré look. I ended up with this look, and I wasn't enthused because the top half looked the same color. I went through my paint supplies and grabbed some red acrylic paint. 

 I added some red paint to the initial pink color, to get the darkest hue in the group. I would say this took me about 20 minutes to finish, and it looks so cute in her room. I have some finishing touches to add to it, and I will post the final product when I post her room reveal! 

DIY Pottery Barn Valentine's Day Table Runner

Happy Valentine's Day, lovers!! As promised, I spent the weekend (one weekend late, I know) crafting up some fun Valentine's Day projects. I found this table runner at Pottery Barn, and thought it was super cute and totally something I could make. More often than not, I look at something in a store and say "Oh My God I love this. I could totally make it."

I went to JoAnn Fabric's and grabbed my supplies:

1.5 yards of burlap

1/3 yard Valentine's Day fabric

1 roll of stitch witchery (1/2 inch wide)

scissors (obviously I had these at home...)

Ready to start!

I started out by "hemming" the sides of the burlap. I'm not so OCD about straight lines, but if you are, you may want to pin along the sides to ensure a straight line. I winged it and it turned out just fine! I love stitch witchery...it is SO easy to hem a piece of fabric without setting up the sewing machine! Once I finished the burlap, I cut out the themed fabric. I opted for the following designs:

Once the cut outs were done, I started adding them to the burlap. I used the stitch witchery for this as well, as the width of the tape was the same as the letters. For the hearts, I did as best as I could to get the tape as close to the edges.  

LOVE on one end... 

Hearts in the middle...

Finished product! Place-mats are from Kohl's, last year.  

 Head of the table, where Hubs sits! 

Insert flowers from your Hubby in the middle :) 

Enjoy! 

Valentine's Day Sugar Cookies!

Growing up, my great aunt, who was a nun, would make the most amazingly thin, delicious sugar cookies for Christmas and Easter. When she passed away in 2008, my Grandma started taking over the daunting, time consuming task. Over the last few years, she's asked us, the women in the family, to help her out. 

Somehow I became the patient, detailed one, who would ultimately inherit the recipe, cookie cutters and sugar sprinkles.

Last year, I found these adorable Conversation Heart Cookies from Cupcakes and Cashmere, but never had the time to make them. I had purchased the large heart cookie cutter and stored it away with the rest. This year, I was determined to make them! It ended up being a two day process, only because I started the cut outs late Monday afternoon and didn't know how long it would take to ice them all. 

The recipe I used for the sugar cookies is my Great Aunt's. Not sure if I'm allowed to share, but what Gram doesn't know won't hurt her...

Sugar Cookie Recipe:

1 pound (16 oz) sugar

1 pound (4 sticks) of room temperature butter

3 eggs

4 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

5-6 cups of flour

1. Cream sugar and butter until smooth. 

2. Add eggs and vanilla until well blended

3. Add flour, one cup at a time, along with salt and baking powder until you have a doughy consistency. I generally use 6 cups of flour for the dough itself. You'll use the remaining flour to roll out the dough and cut out the cookies. 

4. Roll dough out to 1/4 inch thickness, and cut out shapes.

5. Bake at 375 degrees for 4 minutes, then switch racks, and bake another 2-3 minutes. 

Royal Icing Recipe:

(adapted from here and here)

4 cups of powdered sugar

3 TBS meringue powder (mine is Wilton from Michael's)

10 TBS warm water

1 tsp clear vanilla extract

1 tsp clear almond extract

food coloring

Beat on low for 3 minutes, then on high for 5 minutes, until you get a thick consistency that peaks when you lift up the mixer. You can add your food coloring at this step, and mix until well blended. I decided to stick with one color since this was my first attempt at royal icing. I used a small cake icing spatula to spoon the icing into squeeze bottles. I used this consistency to outline the cookies like this:

It took a few tries to get the lines straight. I ended up outlining all 4 dozen cookies before beginning to flood them. In the future, I would recommend doing a tray at a time, and flooding as you go. My outlines hardened, and when I flooded the inside it smudged some of the outside. I did it my way so I could thin out the icing after I finished outlining. 

I added about 4-5 tsp of water to thin the icing out to get the consistency of the flooding icing. I spooned that into another squeeze bottle, and flooded away! I did these 6 cookies at a time so that the icing didn't harden while I was working. 

I used the tip of the squeeze bottle to swirl the icing around the edges and the plain, pink cookies ended up like this:

Finally, I had some of the flooding icing left over and decided to add some more red food coloring to make a darker red hue to add some fun stripes to some of the cookies. In retrospect, I should have added this accent color to a piping bag with a very small tip, since the icing bleeds. 

All in all, they taste delicious, which is the main point of a cookie, but they look cute too. I'll certainly have another go-round at these and will tweak my decorating techniques to hopefully get a cleaner look. 

28 Weeks: Hello 3rd Trimester!

Hi there! I can't believe this week marks the 3rd trimester! I think once we hit 30 I'll be in sheer panic :) 

We had  fun, low key weekend, which involved lots of laying in bed feeling baby girl kick, squirm, and even hiccup. Hubs loves it when he talks to my belly and she goes wild. I guess she's already daddy's little girl! 

Here is this weeks bumpdate: 

How far along?: 28 weeks

Weight gained?: 16 pounds

Showing yet?: Heck yes

Stretch Marks?: Nope, using lots of cream though!

Clothes?: Maternity clothes all the way- living in leggings at night and on the weekends. I am slightly jealous of the cute spring and summer clothes that are now out, since I won't be able to fit into them! 

Cravings?: Nothing really...just trying to avoid overeating and keep eating things that are good for me and the little one. 

Aversions?: Nothing...

Sleep?:  Pretty good. I think I have to throw in the towel on wearing my beloved fleece pajama's. I'm getting too hot when I sleep and I can't get comfortable.

Gender?:  Girl!

Movement?: Yes...mornings and evenings are her favorite. Felt her hiccup yesterday! 

Symptoms?: Stuffy nose, linea nigra...overall minimal! 

Miss Anything?: Cute spring and summer clothes! 

Wedding Rings on or off?: On

Belly Button in or out?: In, getting more and more shallow

Nursery To Do's

Happy Friday! Now that our basement demolition is almost complete, Hubs and I are going to finish up the nursery as best we can, so that once we have our shower, we can go into full on nesting mode. And by we, I mean I...

One of the bigger purchases that remains is the lighting for her room. We both love the idea of a chandelier, but obviously nothing too low that'll get in our way. I love the looks of 1 and 2  but I'm not sure how much headway we'll have. The flush mount option, 5, is a nice alternative for sizing yet still getting the crystal effect. 

Another item that we didn't register for, that I'm so torn about, is her mobile. I think so many of the ones out there look cheap. I found 6 on Etsy, and thought I could use it as inspiration to make my own. The neat thing about this item is that it's a DIY kit. For $25, you get all of the pieces and all you have to do is string it together. If I did it without the kit, I could add some gold metallic and light pink circles to the white. 

Also on the list of things to get is a night stand. I think this gold one, 3, is so fun and it's definitely something I'd use throughout our home after we take the glider/rocker out of the nursery. 

For some wall decor, I'm going to fancy up some pant hangers to highlight some of my favorite outfits, like in 4. I think Ikea sells some nice ones for a couple bucks.