Cravings / Aversions : Second Trimester

Craving : PB&J

For some reason, I couldn't get enough of them early on in my second trimester. I distinctly remember waking up one night in September probably around 1 a.m. (back when sleeping on my tummy was still an option) and just thinking: PB&J PB&J PB&J, almost zombie-like all the way to the kitchen. After scarfing down 2 sandwiches I went back to bed thinking that would be the end of it. Long story short? Over the course of the next 8 hours I would have a total of 6 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Eventually I gave up on the bread part of the sandwich and simply settled for PB&J.... on a spoon.

Craving : Pistachio Pudding

Sitting on my bed, working on some chemistry homework (balancing equations to be exact), doing nothing at all that would be even remotely linked to pistachio pudding -- and I can't get it out of my head. I tried to tell myself I wasn't hungry. I only had 8 problems left. It could wait. Turns out... it COULDN'T wait. I literally started practically drooling and had to get up and make myself pistachio pudding. There. Mission accomplished. I had made 2 bowls of pudding (1box) and set them into the refrigerator and was then going to resume my chemistry homework to let the pudding settle. I couldn't. All I was able to think about was the delicious taste of the pistachio pudding. Half sprinting to the kitchen, I wrenched open the refrigerator door and gulped down (it was still liquid) one bowl of the absolutely delicious pudding concoction. Deciding that one more bowl wasn't going to be enough, I made up another box of pudding and set those 2 bowls in the refrigerator. By the time I finished doing that, the other bowl of pudding was hard enough to actually be called pudding, and I ate it. Probably about 10 minutes and 4 bowls of pudding later, I was able to resume balancing my equations without any distractions!

Aversion : Cooking hamburger meat

Let me make that a little more clear, it wasn't the cooking part that bothered me; it was the smell. Every time my boyfriend made Hamburger Helper I tried to avoid the kitchen as much as possible. The one and only time I tried cooking hamburger meat during my second trimester I had to cover my face with a dishtowel because the smell just got to me. To me it almost resembled something like cow poop in a barn, it was just horrible! I couldn't even touch hamburger meat at all!

Cravings / Aversions : First Trimester

Aversion : "Surprise Packages"
It was still summertime. Sunshine. Grilled food. My dad likes to cook these things he calls "surprise packages". It's really not a surprise at all. They're hamburger sized pieces of pork topped with cheese, onions, grilled peppers and then wrapped in bacon. He usually throws them on the grill, sometimes cooked over the fire. And he doesn't make them for just our family -- let me tell you. He believes that these masterpieces are so delicious he essentially cooks for the neighborhood and any acquaintance he's ever come into contact with. To the point. It was shortly after I found out I was pregnant when he decided it was that "time of the month" to whip those bad boys up. I remember the smell of them when he brought the steaming platter into the house with that big grin on his face. I will never forget the smell of those pork patties. Sweet, steaming, and horrible. It was all I could do to not throw up right then and there; before I'd even gotten one on my plate, much less into my mouth! Ugh... and the next day. I woke up to grab a glass of milk and there they were. Just sitting there in the refrigerator; taunting me. The smell bothered me so bad, I couldn't even open up the fridge door! In an attempt to rid the house of the odor I pulled my sweatshirt up and put scented lotion right under my nose. I actually got out the backdoor with the platter of them until the stench started coming through the lotion/sweathshirt barrier and I had to drop the platter (not literally) and run into the house where I subsequently got sick in the bathroom. My brother ended up having to take the plate of them out to the other refrigerator in the garage.

The belly

It just keeps getting better! Aside from the large watermelon out front that's keeping me from sleeping soundly through the night, I have now developed the "oh-so-wonderful" pregnancy sign: STRETCH MARKS. At first I thought I would be part of the lucky 10% that dodged them, then I noticed the first small one starting right below my belly button and to the right a little. Apparantly I wasn't lucky enough to avoid them entirely. It makes me so mad! I've been using that cocoa butter lotion and stretch cream stuff since I was 6 weeks pregnant; twice a day, at least! All those days of smelling like a tanning salong for nothing. That just bums me out. I guess I am going to have to gear up because it doesn't look like they're going to show any sign of staying the same size that they are now. Guess I won't be wearing any super sexy bikinis to the beach this summer -- not that I was really planning on that anyways!

Things have been going pretty well around here. Got all of the shower gifts sorted and put away. Christopher is going to be one stylish little boy! Sorted through his clothes and organized the dresser and re-organized the dresser at least 3 times. Definitely have nesting syndrome. Hope it doesn't get much worse! I don't think we'd have enough detergent for me to wash and rewash and wash his clothes over and over.

As the end is getting near I think time is going opposite for me. You know how they say that the end of pregnancy is supposed to take forever? Yeah, .... no. It's going by so quickly. It seems like just yesterday I was 9 weeks along and now here I am 33 weeks -- that's 8 MONTHS! I can't believe it. When people ask me how far along I am it feels so surreal to say 8 months. My belly is a wavepool of movement. I have the feeling he isn't going to stay in there until March 21st. He wants out!!! I will be very surprised if I make it that far. And probably very uncomfortable. I guess I can't really complain too much, though. Besides the stretch marks, which I will complain about until I turn blue! But other than the backache, I have adjusted pretty well to being pregnant. After reading about the horrors of being in the 3rd trimester: constipation, hemorrhoids (eek), super swollen feet, horrible cravings, I can honestly say I've been very lucky not to have any of those. I mean, the occasional swollen feet when I've been doing the dishes for too long, but other than that I am pretty comfortable! I am also pretty happy that I've stayed within my weight gain goal of 30 lbs. I am going to try to maintain that. I don't want to have to lose too much after the baby!

33 weeks + 0 days

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Christmas

Had a wonderful Christmas! Got lots of stuff. PINK lotion, Bath and Body Works, Mary Kay make-up products (loooove it), Satin Hands from Mary Kay, earrings, hats gloves, an industrial sized box of diapers (I am pretty sure there's 300 in there), and my aunt made a tie blanket for the baby :) It was really ironic because I am doing the baby's room in blue and yellow with rubber ducks and the blanket was blue with yellow ducks on one side and just plain yellow on the other! So that worked out really well. I am getting more excited! I picked up a shower gift from a friend the other night and she included a picture frame, which is adorable. I would've never thought of it!

Now I'm chilling in Michigan at my grandparents house. The ride was kind of long. Its a little over a 4 hour drive and that's usually without weather problems. But luckily the roads were clear yesterday. I am glad I didn't drink that much before we left because after the interstate there's about an hour of driving where you barely run into any gas stations and I think it's a little too cold to just hop out of the car and pop a squat in the snow!! The trip here though has been relaxing which I love. We're going shopping today to get baby shower decor and everything. Then maybe hitting up a couple of stores up here. I am thinking about coloring my hair.... but I haven't completely decided yet. I am nervous that I would dye it darker and it would look ridiculous.

Slept pretty good last night! My back has been killing me =( Which isn't any fun so I have to sleep a certain way. Had to take my rings off because my fingers just swelled right up and now are the equivalent to small sausages. Baby's been moving more and more and I found that we must be on opposite schedules. He wants to be awake.... when I am SLEEPING! ...and consequently I am usually awake then too because he does acrobat moves around my belly which is a little distracting. I don't mind though. It's pretty neat to feel him in there.

Well I / We are going to go get ready for the day and shopping.

5:55 AM --- backache

Well.... things would be much better if I could actually sleep. There's a slight chance that will happen before 8 when I am supposed to be awake and getting ready to go to my appointment. I tried moving to the couch even, but no luck. Sitting hurts; sitting on kitchen chairs hurts, I tried all of the chairs in the living room, I can't lie down; on my side, back, or obviously stomach.... so I guess that leaves me with standing?? haha..... Maybe its all the extra boob weight. Because it hurts way up high. Like I really needed them to get bigger! Ugh. I should probably do the dishes. But... they would probably aggravate my backache =) So I think I'll sit here with a pillow behind my back, "good posture", ice cream, and watch "When a Stranger Calls"!

Christmas Cookies

Well, today I continued making Christmas cookies. At first I was really excited about them. Then it just got downright exhausting. The sad fact is that I haven't even got that many to show for it! The cookies I was making turned out to be very delicate and lets face it.... I'm not exactly graceful at removing cookies from the pan. So half of them ended up crumbled and are now sitting in a tupperware container on my counter. I guess those are the ones I WON'T be giving away! Aside from the fact that they ended up in pieces the cookies taste really good. I had to take a few breaks though because my back has been killing me and even bending over to take cookies out of the oven is painful. But I suppose I can't complain because this is really the first time I've been having pregnancy "annoyances" like that.

I have an ultrasound tomorrow morning.... BRIGHT AND EARLY!! 9.15 a.m. I am not looking forward to all of the water I'll be drinking starting around 7. They're doing the ultrasound again because the baby's head was 1 mm (yes that's millimeter) over what their "normal" measurings are. But the doctor and radiologist are confident that it was probably just a technical measuring error. He was moving around so much last time she had a hard time taking his measurements!! I am excited though; I love ultrasounds! They're so much fun. Hopefully I'll get some more pictures to hang on the fridge. I also have my 28 week gestational diabetes test tomorrow and some shots to look forward to.... woo-hoo. I am hoping everything goes well. Alright -- back to cookies and the dishes!