Been so long

I know, I know, I have been quite lazy with my posts.

So, now I am 7 months pregnant and officially in my third last trimester. I can't believe how fast time is flying and that I only have a few months left until our family will have another member.
I am definitely feeling her kick now and know that it's not gas. She likes to hang out near my bladder which causes me to go a lot more frequent than I need to, which I guess is better than crushing my lungs.
We are currently house hunting, so even though we have pretty much all the major furniture for the nursery, nothing is set up, so sorry, no pics at this time.


Working Out
I am feeling good and am no longer running, but instead, briskly walking. When I am at the gym, I still strength train and use the normal lbs that I used pre-preggars and  I do at least a 20 min walk on the treadmill.  When I am out on a trail it's about 2.5-3 miles..which is almost an hour. Those long walks outside are tough, not because they're exhausting, but because there are no restrooms close by. I do have days where I am completely exhausted though, but I guess that's normal. I will still keep active and work until my water breaks.


NBC The Biggest Loser

So if you caught last season's The Biggest Loser, the lady I am pictured with may look familiar. She is Ada Wong and when I watched her last season, I could not have been more inspired and touched.
She goes to my gym and her trainer, who is also at my gym, holds a run every 4 weeks, so I was able to get out and meet her.

My new Vibram FiveFingers

My old ones finally gave away last week and so I just got these pair and tested them out this morning. I seriously should get some sort of royalties for being a VFF spokeswoman because each time I wear them, someone asks me how I like them.

Team Pink!

Sorry it's been so long since my last post. But I just wanted to start with telling everyone that it's a girl!!!

We are very excited because it just makes the whole experience more real.
We're finally starting to buy things for the nursery and after realizing how little room we have with about 20% of the baby stuff, we knew that it was time to start house shopping again.

Home Shopping
Well, we went to look at about 4 homes and fell in love with one. We loved it so much, we placed an offer. Unfortunately, the seller is now pending with another buyer, but if they fall through, we are the next on the list. So now the house hunting continues.

Zombie
Yes, all of my wonderful energy is now gone. For the past week, I have felt like a zombie all day long. I have so little energy that I haven't even been to the gym all week to workout.
On and on top of the lack of energy I have, I am experiencing hot flashes. These aren't really hot flashes because they never go away! I thought this was supposed to the be the honeymoon period?

Oblivious
Yet again, I think I must be oblivious or not really know what a kick feels like because I don't feel a thing. I had Dan place his head next to my belly and he was able to hear her kick and move around. Boo

This is a picture of my ginormous belly, partially resembling a planet. Also pictured here is Roxy, she is my brother's English Bulldog. A great perk at working here is that we can bring dogs into work.

And the gender is..............????

So today we got to go in and find out what sex baby is so that we can stop calling it an "it".
The exciting experience was sucked away by the intern lab tech because she didn't know what she was doing. She also had the TV screen facing her, so I was unable to see anything. She did say that baby was very active...I will have to take her word for it.
I ended up staring at the ceiling for 40 min until the professional came, took some pics and adjusted the TV screen so that I can see it.

So this little picture is the clearest one we have. At this time, baby was actually moving it's mouth as if it was talking.

OMG ARE YOU EXCITED!!!!!
So, for those of you that are big Sex and the City fans you can follow what I am saying. So while Miranda was pregnant, she said that everyone around her seemed a lot more excited than she was. I thought she was cold-hearted when I saw that episode. Well, I now know what she is going through. It's not that I am not excited, it's just hard to feel a connection at this point in time.
Obviously with my body constantly changing, I do know that a baby is in there, but if it wasn't for the ultrasounds, I would have no clue because I don't feel any movement. So a lot of people around me are ecstatic with joy and ask me if I am excited and I try really hard to fake my extreme enthusiasm.
I know it will change the later I get into my pregnancy because by then, I should feel baby kicking. Again, it's not that I am not excited, it's because I don't really feel anything.


Male Personal Trainers
So Monday was the last day I was with the trainer..and thank goodness it was my last. I am sure he is a very good trainer for non-pregnant people, but since he's a guy and never gave birth..he has NO IDEA what I am going through.
He worked me as hard as he would a normal person. I was panting and sweating so hard that I was too tired to do anything the next day. Listen, I like to get tone like the next person, but I am pregnant and kinda want and need to take it easy. I thought that I would be benefiting from his workouts, but instead it made me hate the gym even more.

Umm, what was I going to say?

Call it pregnancy amnesia, momnesia, or mommy brain...whatever it is...I have it.  I have heard about this so-called myth where for some reason, you lose track of your memory. I was for sure thinking that this will never EVER happen to me because I am uber organized, I plan everything ahead of time, and I have lists for things.

Well, unfortunately, I am hit with it. I find myself forgetting to do things...sometimes important things.

For example, our insurance lady wanted me to fill out a bank routing form to give back to her. Since all of my checks are at home, I would have to bring in my check the following day so that I can fax her the information. This email was sent to me on Monday. I finally faxed her the info on Thurs.

Another instance, a rep asked me if I could email him some information regarding our demo calls. I was happy to oblige and was intending to do that right when I got back to my desk. Fast forward to the end of the day where he reminds me to send him the info.

And sadly enough, as much as I love eat....I forget to eat my midday snack..which I truly pay for with the lightheadedness and extreme hunger later in the day.

Loving the energy
I cannot believe how much energy I have now. I have been very consistent at the gym and am finally able to do my strength training exercises with the normal 12lb-15lb dumbbells. I met with a personal trainer and he showed me some really good routines to do while I am pregnant. I am seeing him again tonight, to which I am not looking forward to. The trainer kicked my butt last week and I know he is not showing any mercy on me tonight.

On Sat I was able to finally get outside for a nice 4 mile run. The weather here is just beautiful, it was 74 degrees all weekend. The run was easy and it felt really good to be out there again, doing what I love. I got a few smiles and nods from fellow runners when they saw me run (like a turtle) with my big belly.

ADD cravings are back

Yup, when I am in charge of grocery shopping and I do it alone before I have eaten, it's never a pretty site. A few months ago, I went nuts and bought every gross processed food you could think of. I wasn't THAT bad this time around, but I did get some mini frozen pork egg rolls and a large ice cream turtle pie. The pork egg rolls were great, but after a slice of the turtle pie, I realized that I didn't want it anymore.
This has pretty much been the norm. Just come over and check out my freezer full of food that I don't want.


Lions, tigers and marathons oh my!
So my love of running 26.2 miles have not diminished even though I am pretty much benched from doing that sort of distance for the time being. After watching Al and Merideth from The Today Show, show clips of their NYC Marathon experience, it lit the fire for my desire to get out and tackle it again.
I signed up for the NYC marathon which takes place year from this month, but since NYC happens to be the largest participating marathon in the world, admittance is based on a lottery system. So, I will find out if I am accepted in April. Fingers crossed!!!! And, what better way to lose the baby weight than to train for a marathon.

Nesting
So, I have heard of this phenomena but really didn't think it would hit me because:

1. At the time I was researching pregancies, I was a walking, tired zombie and couldn't fathom cleaning.
2. Even though I am a neat person, I will not bend over backwards to spic and span the entire house.

So this weekend, the first thing I did when I work up was clean. I cleaned EVERYTHING. Sure it was a little exhausting afterward, but that didn't seem to stop me. I do hear stories of women taking off the knobs of their cupboards to clean them...but I highly doubt I would be that bad.

Baby stuff
Since we don't know the sex yet, it's hard to go out and buy cute little outfits. I did however, find this cute towel and hand puppet. When I saw the picture, I couldn't resist.

As for the big stuff like the nursery furniture....I have a generous friend that is giving us her unused crib. And to help save more money, hubby and I will be hitting the flea markets for the dressers. I actually prefer the flea market because even though it will cost us a few hundred bucks, since the furniture is a bit old, it will be made with real wood..not like the cheap wood they use nowadays.
Since Dan likes projects, he will be removing the paint from all the furniture and staining them. Once we get all the stuff, I will post before, during, and after pics of this project.

I've always been a DIY kinda gal. It's a lot of fun, saves you money, and it really allows you to personalize the item.

Here are some pics I took of wedding decor I made. In order, pomanders, centerpieces, bridal party bouquets.

Is that the baby moving or gas?

Well, I am about 16 1/2 weeks along....and baby is the size of an avocado. They say you can start feeling the baby move around about now. I have no idea if baby is moving or if I just ate too much and my tummy is trying to digest it all.

I would like to welcome my energy back with open arms. I am starting to not only workout more, but I am able to start cleaning the house like a mad women. I still go to bed around 9:30, but the energy I have during the day is just amazing.  So now, I am debating to sign up for the Turkey Trot. They offer a 10k and a 5k, so if I can talk my husband into doing this with me, I will give that Baby on Board sign one last go.

In order for people to not mistake me for a fatty at the gym, I went ahead and made some shirts.
It's kinda hard to read, but it says "Baby Bump" I have a few others as well that read "Running for Two and Sweating for Two" I purchased one for about $40 online and figured that they pretty much ripped me off. So I went to Michael's got some iron on letters and made them. I saved about 50%.

My Vibrams were in the wash that day, so I had to wear the Asics. 

4 months....already?

Wow, it seemed like just yesterday where baby was the size of an appleseed and I had no idea what I was in for.
These past 4 months have gone by so quick. Before I know it, I'll be changing diapers and be deprived of sleep.

Now that the 2nd trimester has come, I noticed that my energy is slowing creeping back. I am now able to hit the gym after work and lift weights like I used to. I kinda have to since my nice runner legs are now ricotta cheese-filled thunder thighs.  My nausea has pretty much gone as well. But, don't be fooled, once the pregnancy Gods taketh, they giveth. Oh yeah.

Welcome to back pain.
I had the worst sciatica which is lower back pain near the tail bone. It hurt so bad to turn around to put my car in reverse. It was so bad, I started to cry one morning while trying to flat iron my hair. Well, thank goodness my insurance covered chiropractic visits because wow....the pain is gone. And.....my painful headaches are gone too.

Another pain that I can't get rid of is the on in my tailbone. This usually occurs when I sit for too long. I have no idea how to get around it except to lean forward at my desk...or sit on a donut.
Hummm..what else...Oh, I really hate bending over to get things. It's not painful but I just can't breathe and when I do stand up, I am so out of breath.

Where to put baby
Well, like many working mothers out there, we have to go through the process of finding an infant day care center that is not only affordable, but reputable. I had no idea that there would be wait lists for this sorta thing and If I didn't just happen to Google it the other day, I would have waited until the baby was about a month old. 
So let the research begin.

Halloween
This past weekend we attended a really fun Halloween party. I got the dates mixed up in my head and was stuck at the party store without a clue as what to wear. The costumes are just ridiculous for women. It's like really....they managed to turn a friggen construction worker's costume into something really slutty looking? Since nothing would fit me in the store beside a pumpkin costume or  bottle of ketchup costume, I decided to just make my own.
I grew up playing games like Streetfighter and Mortal Kombat, which became my inspiration. Since Mortal Kombat was 'in" over 10 years ago.....they weren't going to carry any of the costumes.

I decided to go as Princess Katana...minus the fans because psi(s) are so much cooler.  Even though I a pregnant doesn't mean that I have to dress up all frumpy looking.

So here is my pregnant ninja costume. I am pregnant ninja because in this touch economy, even ninjas still have to work..even while pregnant.