26 weeks!

Yay!  We've made it to 26 weeks.  Not that I didn't think we wouldn't, but it's always hard knowing the battle premature babies face.  So, please keep baking R2D2!

I'm in Boston right now for a pediatric conference, and lo and behold, another hotel photo.  As far as I know of, this is the last travel R2D2 and I will be doing until sometime after she's born.

I'm discovering more of the "joys" of pregnancy.  I've been having soreness and discomfort in my female parts.  I was looking up some of the things it could be, and I'm pretty darn sure I have varicose veins down there.  Sounds lovely, right?  Turns out, about 10% of women get them and most of the time they go away after delivery.  I haven't been very diligent about sleeping on my left side, so that's my goal.  I have an OB appointment this week, so of course I'll bring that up then too.

Maternity Clothes

I don't know if I have any other tall pregnant people reading, but I figured I'd write about my maternity clothes experience.

I'm 5'10", have wide hips and a small waist. I have a difficult time finding regular clothes normally, it was a little of challenge maternity wise, for sure. Firstly, I like the full panel pants better than low-riding. The low-riding ones were great towards the end of 1st and beginning of 2nd trimesters. However, once I really got a belly, I noticed my crotch kept riding down. JCPenney is my usual go to for tall clothes. I did not like their maternity dress pants at all - the waist band fell right at the belly button. I did get a pair of underbelly jeans there which worked for a little.

Jeans wise, I was so happy to find that Motherhood carried long jeans in the store! They're not perfect, but they work.

When I first found out I was pregnant again, I bought some dresses from Motherhood at the outlet center. The long dresses are fine, but the short dresses are just way to short for me. I wear leggings underneath, so that works.

My favorite store for maternity clothes is definitely Gap! I wish I had a closer Gap Maternity, but ordering off line has been working.

These are my black slacks! They are $70 full price, but I think I got them on sale for about $50. It's more than the $25-30 I usually pay from JCP, but they were the only slacks I could find long enough. And let me tell you, they're long!! I also love that I can wash them and don't need to iron them afterward. Shirt wise, I absolutely, absolutely love Gap's pure body!

They are definitely more of a casual shirt, but I still wear it to work. The fabric is so soft! I was surprised I like my maternity tops to be more fitted than flowing. Being concerned about my body, I hardly ever wear fitted shirts. Ends up, I love showing my baby bump. Really, I find the fitted shirts easily show why I look more round and I think some of the non-fitting maternity tops just look like I'm trying to hide extra weight. I wish I had bought more than one pure body long sleeve shirt, but they don't have anymore online :( Another reason I love this shirt is because it has a super long torso! Excellent for this tall girl.

I'm in Boston for a conference and was super excited to find out there was a Gap maternity pretty darn close. I ending up buying this dress and a sweater today.

I may actually wear it to conference tomorrow instead of what I packed.  I love the material, the fit, and that it doesn't look like I'm wearing a mini skirt.

I've tried  Old Navy, but once I felt Gap's fabric, I couldn't go back.

So, those are my favorites! I'd love to find a jean skirt for the summer, but I don't like Motherhood's or Gap's. Of course I have more clothes I'm rotating through. I've been very fortunate to have a friend lend me some clothes and my mom does great at yard sales and thrift stores finding me clothes. Overall, definitely check out the clearance racks, but don't be afraid to splurge for a couple of things, you'll appreciate it on "fat days."

Oh, and when they say buy your pre-pregnancy size, they mean it. I bought a couple of shirts off the clearance rack a couple of years ago and they're just way too big.

Sizzling Sixteen

Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Yes, the Stephanie Plum books are predictable, but they're also a load of fun to listen to in the car. This installment didn't add anything new, and if you're not tired of the same story, different day, go ahead and pick it up!

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Felt Flower Pins

Today we celebrated the upcoming marriage of this lovely couple. For all of our showers, the future bride volunteered to make rose pins out of ribbon for the bridesmaids and mothers. We couldn't not make some form of flower pin for her shower. Unfortunately, before she got engaged, she never gave any of us the directions as to how to make the pin. I thought I about taking one of mine part, but then I realized I didn't want to reinvent the wheel. Instead, I opted to go for the something that looked fairly simple and had a tutorial online.

I made these felt flowers using the tutorial found on The Crafted Sparrow. I used a hot glue gun, as instructed, but if I were going to make these for clothes or a head band, I probably would sew the felt instead. I used the template to make the rose and then I free-handed a leaf template. Glued the leaves to the back of the flower and then glued on a pin. Over all, I'm quite pleased at how they turned out.  Fortunately, the bride liked them just as much too!

Bathroom Update

It's starting to look like a bathroom again! I can't believe I thought it would be done in 1 week. We're reaching the end of week 3 now and while the end is in site, I still don't think we'll be able to take advantage of it until next week.

And after two weeks with Joe's aunt and uncle, we happily have Winston back! Damn, I missed that dog. I love this picture of his bed head.

Crossed

Crossed by Ally Condie

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sometimes the second book in a trilogy is just a spacer, but I really enjoyed this one. Condie introduced some new characters, which I think added depth to the story. I'm not very verbose, but long story short, I really enjoyed this book too.

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24 weeks and thoughts on DIY quilt

As of today, Sunday night, I'm 24 weeks, 2 days. While some expecting women are excited to reach 24 weeks, it actually makes me a little more nervous. Yes, 24 weeks is concerned viability, but I've been in the NICU taking care of those 24 weekers and it's not an easy life for the baby. The odds are against them, they need lots and lots of help to live, and sometimes the outcome isn't quite what you expect. I think I'll feel more comfortable once I reach 28-30 weeks. It's tough, because it's the gray zone now.

I asked Joe to take this picture and while I didn't think it would turn out as a silhouette, I'm going with it. The more maternity pictures I take, the more I realize I need to work on my posture. I feel like I've popped finally, but I also feel like this picture makes my bump look a littler larger than it is.

Most recently, I'm craving ice cream and chocolate, but not chocolate ice cream. Thus far I've gained 14 pounds, which is supposedly on track. I worked out twice this week and fortunately I'm starting to feel less out of breath.

I mentioned a couple of posts ago I'm attempting the bedding for R2D2's nursery. I've successfully finished the crib skirt, woo hoo, but I'm still working on the quilt.
Here's a pic of the front of the first quilt I attempted. I'm not a fan of the green butterfly squares (too yellow-green) and the seams don't really quite match all that well, so I attempted an easier pattern. My goal was to finish it tonight, but, yeah, I'm still working on it. I'm very glad I'm making her bedding, but I need to stop thinking I can just dominate stuff I've never tried. I've never quilted and for some reason I thought I could do miter corners and make the look nice. Yeah, ditched that idea. Then I thought I could do pretty free motion quilting, yeah, that was even worse than the mitered corners. Eventually I'll have more final photos and Joe will have my sewing stuff out of the basement, but I must be patient.

Out of Breath, and It's Going to Get Worse

I used to be quite in shape, then residency started and I haven't put working out back into my routine. I'm happy when I work out 3 times a week, but it's usually only twice and it's nothing near as strenuous as I used to do. While I miss being in shape, I know it's in my power to get back there and I just haven't had the motivation.

I'm starting to feel the effects of pregnancy though. I've never gotten short of breath walking up a flight of stairs. Well, today I am. I could blame it on working out less, but I'm still sticking to my 2-3 times a week, so the only thing that has really changed is me carrying R2D2. I hate this feeling. Tomorrow is my last work day of vacation, and I'm determined to do another work out this week. I'm not quite a sedentary person, but I guess not sitting still is not quite enough.

Any suggestions for rewarding myself when I do work out three times a week?

Oh, and here's a picture of our little gal. I'm happy today say I no longer have placenta previa, so here's hoping for a vaginal delivery! Joe doesn't like the 3D images, but I do like seeing her face.

Outhouses and Bathroom Remodel

A couple of months ago, I researched going to the Caribbean for a babymoon. We saved our wedding money for a honeymoon, which have yet to go on, so I thought it was a perfect time for a babymoon. The thing is, we're practical homeowners. We've really been wanting to redo our bathroom and that would cost a little more than we were going to spend on the baby moon. So, low and behold, we're redoing our bathroom. I had some great "before" photos on my camera that I lost, so we'll have to work with some mid-before.

There was a ton of wall paper that these pictures don't capture. If you're thinking about putting wall paper in your home, please don't! Your future home-buyers will thank you. Right now, our bathroom is completely gutted. I mean completely. Our toilet is hanging out in the the dining room.

We're fortunate to have another bathroom in the basement, but let me tell you, it's far in the middle of the night! Being pregnant I have to pee quite often. I can't remember the last time I slept through the night without waking up to pee. The past two nights I've grumbled about my trek downstairs, and then I remembered people used to have to go outside to pee. I couldn't imaging being pregnant and having an outhouse. I definitely think I would just keep a pail under my bed :p.

Angelology

Angelology by Danielle Trussoni

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. From the description it's hard to tell if this was going to be overtly religious or not. Well, it wasn't. It was a nice mystery with an unique story line. I really enjoyed the characters and I am looking forward to seeing what happens in the next book.

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Pregnancy Ramblings

Here's a photo from 22 weeks. I'm finally starting to notice a bump.

Although I've been on vacation, I still haven't gotten as much done as I would like. That's always the case though, isn't it?

I had my first prenatal massage. I'm glad in the beginning of my pregnancy I didn't tell the masseuse I was pregnant. I have really tense lower back muscles and he said he couldn't work on them with my pre-natal. Regardless it was still relaxing.

This weekend I went to NYC for a bachelorette party. I am definitely not a city person. Too many people and too many yucky smells. Ends up I left my wristlet on the bus on the way back. It had my camera in it with my pictures from the weekend. That's the worst part. The bus company thought they found it but couldn't look in to confirm, so we drove 1.5 hours to DC to see that it wasn't mine. I had my hopes up all day yesterday. The funny think is, my mom said she left her purse somewhere while she was pregnant too. Guess it's pregnancy brain. I'm just glad I only took the essentials and didn't have to go through losing my real wallet.

I'm not a fan that strollers are designed for shorter women.

I've really been slacking with blogging. I know it probably won't pick up anytime soon. My hobbies always go in waves.