Pregnancy Appetite!

Too bad I’m not one of those women who feel sick and can’t eat during the first trimester.  I’m the woman who eats every 2 hours.  The things that sounds good?  In-n-Out cheeseburgers with grilled onions, cookies, Sun chips, cookies, and did I say cookies? 

Since I’m pregnant, I have an “excuse” to eat for a while, but I am trying to eat as healthy as possible knowing (1) fruits are much better for my baby than chocolate chip cookies, and (2) when I’m trying to lose this baby weight afterwards, it’s going to be a lot harder to skip all these treats if I overdo it now. 

Whether we’re pregnant or not, we often give ourselves license to eat.  You’ve had a stressful day in the office or with the kids.  You worked out so hard so you deserve that bowl of ice cream.  It’s that time of the month so let’s head to See’s Candies.  Sound familiar?

In that moment, let’s (me included) remember this picture:

Okay, I’m pregnant, so at first I thought, “Cool!” 

But after looking again, I say, “Yuck!”   

Don’t let your appetite get the best of you or else you’ll regret eating a skyscraper of a sandwich.  Whenever you want a good visual picture of why you shouldn’t overeat or visit fast food places too much, just look at this picture and think of how you would feel after eating all that.  Pass the Mylanta.

Pregnant Again!

I’m happy to announce I’m pregnant again!  My husband James and I went to West Coast OBGyn today and got the good report.  At 9 weeks along, baby Pellicane has a strong heartbeat, arm and leg buds.  Hurray – we are thrilled and grateful!

Since I miscarried around 9 weeks last fall, I was apprehensive about what the ultrasound would show.  But when I was putting my glamour gown on (the white sheet), I thought of the Bible verse that says “Do not fear, I (God) am with you!” 

When Dr. French said she could see the heart and body forming correctly, I breathed a sigh of relief.  Good!  All this nausea, fatigue, sleepiness, moodiness and hunger is for a worthy cause!  Not to mention I’ve been gaining weight (remember when I blogged about losing 5 pounds by March 15?  That’s off…)  

So, of course I’ll be keeping you posted on baby’s progress.  Due date:  October 23.  “Losing weight after baby” will come in handy for me during the pregnancy and afterwards for sure!  Thanks for all of your love and support!  

Rain

Yesterday when I woke up, I felt tired, headache-y, and very Eeyore like.  I dragged around the house in the morning.  My husband offered to watch the kids if I wanted to go to the gym.  I didn’t want to go but way down deep inside, knew it would be good for you.  So I went, but don’t think I’m superwoman or anything.  Since I just miscarried last week, I’m taking it easy.  I did 15 minutes on an elliptical machine and 15 minutes of light weights. 

While at the gym, I listened to a podcast by Joel Osteen, who is great to listen to if you ever feel down.  He was talking about building a rain storm of God’s blessing over your life.  How do you get God’s blessings to rain down on you?  He said that happens when you choose to praise God.  Whenever you say “thank you God,” it’s like putting water in the clouds above and after awhile the clouds can’t help but burst with blessings upon your life.  

It sure made a lot of sense to me.  Instead of thinking, “Why did I have a miscarriage?” I’m trying to think, “God thank you for the lessons you can teach me through this unborn child.”  And “Thank you for the children you’ve given” and “thank you for your love through all seasons.”  With praise, I’m finding my heart getting a little lighter each day although as I said before, I feel a lot like Eeyore these days from Winnie the Pooh. 

But guess what happened yesterday night in sunny San Diego?  It rained.  And rained.  And I smiled in my bed because I thought of that rain cloud of praise falling down on me.  God’s blessings are here and are coming in the future!

Miscarriage and Grace

When I found out I was pregnant in August, I was so thrilled to share the good news with you.  Of course, a small voice told me to wait to blog about it until I was further along.  But I’ve always thought that miscarriage was something I’d want my friends to know about if it happened.

So it’s with a heavy but peaceful heart that I share my miscarriage with you.  Remember my post a few weeks ago about my doctor saying “Oh my gosh” when she saw my ultrasound?  Turns out what she saw then (an empty sac) didn’t develop into anything else over time.  When I went back last week, the same dreary ultrasound picture appeared.  No heartbeat or tadpole-looking baby.  The sac again was empty.  My pregnancy was unsuccessful.

I was so sad to hear the news.  But I believe God authors life and that He knows exactly what is best  for my family.

My 4-year-old son has been so excited about the baby.  How could I tell him?  God gave me a great idea when I looked at the popcorn we had just popped in the microwave.  I showed him a kernel that hadn’t popped.  I said, “See, we put all of this into the microwave and some of the kernels just don’t pop.  We don’t really know why.  Well, mommy’s baby didn’t pop.” 

To my relief, that explanation has worked very well and isn’t it true?  Sometimes our babies don’t “pop” to become the babies we expected.  But I thank God He has a plan.  Without my faith in Jesus Christ, it would be very difficult to face this miscarriage and the miscarriage I had 2 years ago (at 26 weeks). 

I had a D & C at the hospital on Thursday and all went smoothly.  At church on Sunday, we sang a song called “He Knows My Name.”  I was so touched because that song spoke to me…God sees me and what I’m going through.  I’ll close with some of the lyrics by Tommy Walker:

I have a Maker, He formed My heart

Before even time began, my life was in his hands

He knows my name, He knows my every thought

He sees each tear that falls, and He hears me when I call.

Fudge Covered Marshmellow Cookies

Yup.  I was at the 99 cent store a few weeks ago getting party favors for my son, and I saw them.  The Fudge Covered Marshmellow Cookies.  Without flinching, I threw them in my basket, trying to hide them from my kids.

When I got home that day, after the kids had gone for naps, I ate one of those delicious cookies.  Then another.  Then another.  I ate six!  And the scary part is, I didn’t even feel sick afterwards!  I looked at the label AFTER I ate them.  I think I ate 600 calories of fluff in that one afternoon! 

Well, I share that story to say I’m human and make poor food choices once in a while!  The good news is that 3 weeks later, I still have a few cookies left, saving them for when I really need them, ha ha. 

Tomorrow for my podcast, I’ll be interviewing a mom who will be able to help me curb my cookie cravings for sure.  LaDonna was 48 when she first got pregnant, and she had a perfectly healthy pregnancy due to her amazing raw foods diet.  I don’t expect to transition anytime soon to a raw foods diet, but I sure would like to eat more raw fruits and vegetables during my pregnancy.  No marshmellow pinwheel cookies today…I’ll choose strawberries instead!

What You Don’t Want to Hear at Your First Ultrasound

When the words “Oh my gosh” came out of my doctor’s mouth, I got that terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach.  There was no baby or heartbeat to look at on the ultrasound monitor.

However, turns out there was no reason to panic.  The doctor said I was just not as far along as we thought. 

From my last period, it looked like I was about 8 or 9 weeks pregnant.  But the doctor said from the ultrasound, it looked more like 4 to 5 weeks along.  She said it wasn’t too uncommon for this to happen.  I go back in 2 weeks for another ultrasound when the doctor will set a due date. 

So the good news is that all is well, just baking slower than I thought!  And the bad news is that I’ve already gained 3 pounds and it looks like I’m just at the very beginning of my pregnancy – ug! 

On the way home from the doctor, my 4 year old said, “When I turn 66, I’m going to retire from real estate.”  (He says this because my dad is planning to retire at 66, and my husband is a realtor).  It made me smile and think that every stage of life is to be treasured.  Whether you’re retiring at 66 or just starting out as my 4-5 week old baby is, life is a special gift from God!

When You Don’t Feel Like Exercising

One word to describe me now in my pregnancy:  TIRED.  I love to lay down and take naps these days.  It’s my favorite activity!  When the alarm clock rang this morning and I thought about going to the gym, believe me I didn’t want to go!

But I got dressed and drove to the gym.  I found a bike in the spin class and started pedaling away.  I haven’t really made any friends at the gym yet, so there’s noboby to commiserate with.  As the class went on, I actually found myself having an okay time.  I wasn’t elated or anything, but it wasn’t that bad.    

You know, many times, you just have to bite the bullet and do it.  When you wake up in the morning and know you need to exercise, start moving towards your tennis shoes before your mind hijacks you into doing something else. 

Okay, I’ve done my exercise today…time to take a nap!

Moody!

Yes, I feel moody!  Usually I am a very upbeat and cheerful person.  But since Thursday, I have felt easily discouraged and irritable.  I told my poor husband yesterday that I basically feel sad with bursts of happiness in between! 

I looked online to comfort myself, knowing that being pregnant does weird things to your hormones.  Here’s what I found at WebMD: 

“Hormones appear to play a significant role in the precipitation of emotional issues during pregnancy,” explains Geetha Shivakumar, M.D., an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at the UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.

“Common symptoms are irritability, sadness or anxiety, and they may be [more] prominent in certain months of pregnancy,” Shivakumar adds. For example, the fluctuating levels of estrogen and progesterone in your bloodstream can make you especially moody during the first trimester.

Good!  That made me feel better.  I’m not going crazy.  I just need a nap! 

 

I’m Pregnant Again!

 

Yes, Noelle is going to be a big sister!  Two weeks ago, I took my pregnancy test with fear and trembling (by the way, did you know you can get pregnancy tests at the 99 CENT STORE?  What a bargain!).  It came out positive and hopefully it’s accurate even though it was a cheap test – ha! 

I have my doctor’s appt in a week.  When I called in, they estimated the due date to be tax day…April 15th!  So James will be working on getting our taxes done and I’ll be working on making a baby!  Sounds like a pretty fair division of labor! 

We are thrilled about being pregnant.  In the next 9 months, you’ll see me get bigger and bigger on this blog, and then afterwards, you all will hold me accountable to get smaller and smaller!  I look forward to gaining and then losing weight after baby alongside other moms who read this blog. 

Lastly, I had to show you this picture of Noelle.  Maybe having a baby brother or sister isn’t such a good idea to her.  It looks like she thinks it might be more like a jail sentence! 

Does this mean I have to share?