15 weeks!!!

Wow.. Today makes us 15 weeks pregnant... I swear the weeks are just going by faster and faster. It is starting to scare me that in 5 months our family of four will be a family of five...Aaron and I have always wanted three children but let's face it.... If the first two would have been a boy and a girl then we would have been done because of all of the complications that I had during my pregnancies. We are on cloud nine that we are progressing further and further into this pregnancy with no problems.. (fingers crossed that it stays that way.)
This weekend I forced myself to go clothes shopping because I got really tired of washing and drying the same pair of jeans because they were the ONLY pair that I could fit into comfortably. I thought my shopping experience would be more miserable than it actually was though. I was able to find some really good deals on NON maternity clothes and the even better news is that I will hopefully be able to wear these same jeans after I have this little bundle until I can fit into my "skinny" jeans!! (unlike maternity jeans that will just get tossed because after you have a baby maternity pants just look gross on..) Note: for any of you prego or non prego friends.... Old Navy has some really cute tops and shorts (and I am not a shorts fan!!)
I am still feeling a little under the weather from the little bug that welcomed itself into our house last week so hopefully it will pass soon.. The good news is that the scale actually went down a pound bringing the weight gain back down to 5 pounds so far.... (I'll take that!!)

Here is a look at what our little bundle is up to this week!! Enjoy!

How your baby's growing:

Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (about the size of an apple). She's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. Her legs are growing longer than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs. Although her eyelids are still fused shut, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but she is forming taste buds. Finally, if you have an ultrasound this week, you may be able to find out whether your baby's a boy or a girl! (Don't be too disappointed if it remains a mystery, though. Nailing down your baby's sex depends on the clarity of the picture and on your baby's position. He or she may be modestly curled up or turned in such a way as to "hide the goods.")

what our little one looks like this week!!

my growing belly at 15 weeks!!

baby belly at 15 weeks!!

Butterfly Kisses!!!

What an exciting time for me... I am feeling this bundle of joy move around in my belly for the first time and it is melting my heart. It really amazes me at how this precious life is only 4 inches long and weighing in roughly at 2 1/2 ounces and yet I can feel the life that she/he has turned into.
All of this fluttering started Friday evening... There have been a couple of times a few weeks ago that there were one or two little "thumps" here and there but Friday night this little tumbler decided that she/he was making her/himself known.
Of course Aaron can't feel this yet and I can't wait until he can. He was so funny Friday night when I YELLED across the room for him to come here... He probably thought I had fallen down our stairs or something more extreme... but nope... It was me feeling this baby... I had him put his hand on my stomach for probably 5 minutes..... It was frustrating for me because I can feel this little one so why can't he?!?!!? I kept saying... "I know you felt that.." His response... "No.. I didn't feel that one either.." That continued until I finally gave up...
I am also getting really anxious about Evan and Landon feeling their sister/brother moving around. More so for Evan since he is at the age where he really understands that mommy has a baby in her belly. He didn't fully understand that when I was pregnant with Landon so I am excited that he will get to be more involved this time as well.
I'm sure that by the end of this pregnancy the kicking and tumbling will go from being "cute" to "hurting" but I am going to try my hardest to soak it all in. I am just so thankful to God for allowing me the honor and privilege to be the mommy to the three most precious gifts a mom could ever ask for.
You can't explain the little movements to anyone with them ever being able to fully understand that mommy/baby bond. There is nothing that I wouldn't do for this precious gift and that will never change. I am a better person because of my children and I am so fortunate that I get to experience these "butterfly kisses" yet again!! Thank you God for all of my miracles....

this isn't my belly but wow!! What a precious little miracle that is!!!

Craving of the week!!

Ugghhh... This has not been a fun week to have cravings. There seems to have been a "bug" that entered our house and it still hasn't quite left yet.  I have really only wanted bland things to eat this week because for one I can't taste anything because my head feels like an oversized balloon and two everyone else in this house isn't feeling up to eating much either.
So as I was walking through the grocery store the other day it was really hard for me to decide on something that I felt would be satisfying.... BUT... I did manage to find two things that seemed appealing... I'm glad I got them because they are oh so good!!!! So, here we go!!

Craving number one....

Cranberry grape juice... It tastes yummy!!

Craving number two.......

Pistachios nuts.... they are addicting!!!!

Until next week.... Happy Eating everyone!!

"Mommy, I don't want another brother!!"

Boy oh boy did I have an interesting conversation with my almost 4 year old the other day. You see, Evan (my oldest) has always been my cuddle bug and he would do anything for his mommy!! He is a momma's boy for sure. He has always been this way and people are often amazed that he listens(for the most part) after I ask him to do something ONE time. He uses his manners like EVERY boy should. It is yes mam, no mam, yes sir, no sir, please and thank you. I am very big on using manners and showing respect and my children will do the same.
Well.... I pray they do.. Landon(my now middle child) is a terror.. I love him to pieces but he is a terror. He doesn't listen, he could care less about time-out, he tortures Evan, and it is his way or the highway.... he does however say yes mam, no mam, please, and thank you.... but that is beside the point. The fact of the matter is that my two boys are polar opposites and I think this is why Evan and I had the conversation that we did the other day. It went a little something like this!!!
Evan and I were sitting on the couch the other day and he started rubbing my belly and talking to the baby. (it was adorable) Then all of a sudden out of nowhere he looked up at me and said, "Mommy! I don't want another brother." I was a little caught off guard. I asked him why he didn't want another brother. His response. "because I already have one of those." I chuckled a little and said something along the lines of "Well buddy... Mommy doesn't know if it is a brother or sister yet and it might be a brother..."  THAT WAS THE WRONG THING TO SAY BECAUSE HE ALMOST WENT INTO CARDIAC ARREST!!!!
But WHY Mommy????????????  I want a baby sister... I really DON'T want a baby brother.. (the freak out continued for 10 minutes..)
I think he is scared to death that if he has another brother that he will be just like Landon. (I think I have the same fear.) That might sound mean to some of you but you have never been in a store when he has a meltdown, been in a doctor's office when HE decides that he no longer wants to wait, been at a birthday party when he screams at the TOP of his lungs DOWN NOW... referring that you better let him down right then or there would be hell to pay, play musical chairs from 7:30-10:00 pm because he thinks it is funny to get out of his bed every five minutes and go in his brother's room to try and wake him up........ I could go on and on but I think you get the point....
So... every night when Evan says his prayers he prays for a baby sister. Not a brother ... but a sister.. He prays HARD too.... Eyes closed tight with a serious face...
I think this conversation led me to have my first baby nightmare last night... I dreamed that I was getting my ultrasound and for some reason my mom was the technician.... and what popped up.. Yeap... you guessed it.. The famous little turtle that pops up to let you know it is a boy... In my dream I panicked saying things along the lines of, "I don't want another boy.. I can't handle another boy.. Please God not a another boy....." (kind of like how Evan panicked the other day..)
After I panicked for a few minutes I was able to calm down a little when my mom (the technician) started laughing and told me that it wasn't a boy.. It was after all a girl... (She had placed a fake ultrasound screen on the tv)    SIGH OF RELIEF!!!

Now.. don't get me wrong.. another little boy would be wonderful (I may panic often) but it would still be wonderful.... but for Evan's sake and my sanity.... Please Lord let PINK vibes be in my favor....

My two little loves!! Can't you tell which one is the terror?!?! (Sweet but still a terror!!)

Second Trimester!!!

I am officially in my second trimester and I can't believe it. This pregnancy is just going by too fast.... I had my 14 week appointment today and here are the things that took place. (besides waiting an hour with a screaming toddler who didn't want to sit in his stroller after the first 5 minutes we were there.... uurrgggh)

Blood Pressure: 133/76- great news because this time with both boys my blood pressure was in the 150s/high 80s!!!
Weight gain- 3 pounds which brings grand total to 6 pounds so far!! (not too bad!!)
 Baby's heartbeat- varied from 158-165 and seemed to stay at 163!! (at our 9 week ultrasound the heartbeat was 182!!)

Our next appointment will be in 4 weeks (18 week appointment) and then on April 4th (20 weeks) we find out PINK or BLUE!!

A few things I have noticed in the past few weeks are:
1- the small amount of nausea that I had is GONE!!
2- smells don't bother me nearly as much... unless it is a good smell and then it is more than likely that I want whatever it is to eat or drink!!
3-I am not nearly as tired... thank goodness because I was beginning to feel like a walking zombie!
4- I PEE ALL OF  THE TIME... but that isn't likely to go away any time soon!
5- food cravings are only getting worse.. If I think I want it... I HAVE to have it!!
6- my clothes and bras are beginning to get quite uncomfortable!!


Here is what is going on with the baby this week!!! (courtesy of babycenter)

Welcome to the second trimester! This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb. Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him -- a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb. In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches -- about the size of a lemon -- and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces.

Here are a few belly shots from today... 14 weeks 0 days!!

front shot... see the "bulge!?!?"

 side shot

another side shot

Craving of the week!!

This week has been a bit weird.. There have been foods that I thought I wanted really bad but as soon as I took the first bite I was like, "NOPE... Baby doesn't want that!!" For instance. Today at Target I saw a bag of crunchy Cheetos and I was drawn to them. I had to buy the bag. There was no other option.... BUT as soon as I opened the bag I gagged... My mouth started watering and I knew what was going to happen if I sniffed in the direction of that bag again. So.... that was a FAIL!! The next FAIL was a bowl of cereal. I usually LOVE cereal BUT not this week. I made a bowl of Special K Red Berries and after one bite it went down the disposal...

There were however a few items that my taste buds seemed to LOVE this week!!! The first one is just weird to me...  It sounds gross and usually I would NOT eat anything like this except for on nights I was watching sports on t.v........but for some reason I have to have it EVERY day... and I am not kidding... EVERY day.... with that said.... Here is craving # 1 for this week!!!

yeap... fat free ruffles WITH french onion dip... I know.. it sounds gross but it is SO good!!!

And craving # 2 is something that I just happened to come across at the drive thru the other day..(because I have been way too lazy to cook ANYTHING lately...) Needless to say.. Since then, I have been back 2 more times this week and I can bet you almost anything I will be back tomorrow after I pick Evan up from preschool to get my fix again!!!

Chic Fil A Southwest chicken salad with fat free honey mustard dressing!!! (I know.... I am failing miserably at this veganish/vegetarianish thing... BUT.. what the baby wants... the baby gets!!)

Until next week... Happy Eating Everyone!!

Thank you first trimester!!

Wow..... I'm already 1/3 of the way through this pregnancy. That just seems crazy to me. I feel like I should be 8 weeks but nope I am 13 weeks and 3 days along... which means my first trimester is a couple of shut eyes away from being over. I can't complain about my first trimester at all because it has really been a breeze.....
You see, my first two pregnancies went something like this....

Evan-  I started throwing up at 6 weeks and 1 day. (I threw up on average 5-7 times a day.) This lasted until I was 17 weeks and 4 days.... Yes, I counted the days... 
At 9 weeks and 3 days I was put in the hospital for dehydration. I was then placed on FOUR different medications to help with the sickness but nothing helped... not even Zofran (what they give cancer patients for nausea.)
At  24 weeks, I fell down stairs while working which put me in the hospital with pre-term labor. The doctors stopped the labor but I stayed in the hospital for 2 days.
At 26 weeks I was diagnosed with high blood pressure which turned into pre clampsia at 32 weeks of pregnancy. This meant complete bed rest for me at home until 36 weeks... Then I was put on bedrest in the hospital until I was induced at 37 weeks 4 days.
I was in labor for 14 hours and pushed for 1 1/2 hours. I was also given the epidural THREE times because the oh so smart anesthesiologist missed my spine the first two times..... Urrgghhh. I still get mad thinking about that!!


Landon-  I started throwing up at 5 weeks and 4 days. ( I threw up on average 5-10 times a day.) This lasted until I was 18 weeks and 5 days...  Yeap.... I threw up LONGER this pregnancy!!
At 11 weeks and 2 days I was put in the hospital for severe dehydration and I stayed in the hospital for 5 days. (I was then put on 3 different medications... and if you guessed right... NONE of them worked!!)
At 15 weeks my blood pressure was pretty high and they kept an eye on it. It didn't seem to get too wacko until around 28 weeks.
At 32 weeks my blood count became really low and this meant I had to go to the lab 2-3 times a week to get blood drawn out of my arms... This in turn made me look like a druggy because both arms were black and blue from the needles. This took place 2-3 times a week, every week from 32 weeks to 38 weeks.
At 32 weeks I was placed on bedrest AGAIN... Thankfully they let me stay at home on bedrest under the condition that I took my blood pressure 3-5 times a day and recorded them all.
At 33 weeks the doctors realized that I had too much amniotic fluid which meant more trips to the doctor for more tests!!
A  had to go to the doctor 2-4 times a week.... This was ANNOYING!!!
So at 38 weeks exactly, I was induced with Landon!! and YEAP.. I had to get the epidural THREE times again because a different anesthesiologist couldn't get it right the first two times either....
Thankfully this labor was only 8 hours and I pushed for 8 minutes!!


I am HOPING and PRAYING that since this pregnancy has been so different thus far, maybe just maybe everything else will be a breeze. Fingers and toes crossed!!

So THANK YOU First Trimester for being so kind to me. I greatly appreciate being able to eat and drink whatever this little baby desires. I don't however appreciate the 6 pound weight gain so far....
I do have ONE small request though.. If there is any way that you could allow me to sleep for more than 2 hours at a time without having to get up to go tinkle I would really appreciate it.

Sincerely,
Ashley Hughes

Oh Split!!!

Today has been one of those days I guess you could say. For starters, I woke up late...really late.... and Evan had preschool this morning. I had to run around like a chicken with my head cut off because I had approximately 25 minutes to get both boys dressed, brush their teeth, and  food shoved down their throats. This meant that I was "that" mom dropping her child off at preschool looking like a hot mess... (still in my pajamas and my hair looked like a rats nest.)
When I got back home and walked in the door I realized that I forgot to drop my dog off at the boarding place since we are going out of town this weekend so... back in the car I went (yes, in my pajamas) and I drove like a bat out of hell to get the dog dropped off in time.  (I barely made it BUT I made it)
Finally.... we returned home again and I was able to take a shower. (kind of... I did have a 22 month old opening my shower door every 5 seconds to play peek-a-boo with me and in the meantime water went all over the floor.)
After taking a not so relaxing shower it was time to get dressed.
Now that I am almost 13 weeks prego this is a task that can take hours at a time to complete.
I have yet to venture out and buy maternity clothes for numerous reasons. I also gave all of my old maternity clothes away because I lost a bunch of weight last year so none of it would fit anyway.
As I was looking through my "not pregnant" clothes I decided on a pair of my "skinny"jeans. (not the actual skinny jeans that stick to every inch of your body but my size 2 jeans that I never thought I would be "skinny" enough to wear.) That's why I call them my skinny jeans!! So "skinny" jeans and a tank top with a sweater over it is what the consensus was until this happened!!

Yeap.. That's right. They split right down the middle as I was doing one of those bouncing up and down numbers trying to get them above my badonka donk. (Instant tears appeared and I couldn't stop them for 2 reasons). 1-these are my FAVORITE jeans and now they are destroyed. 2-I officially feel like a beached whale.
So now that I feel like a tub of lard I believe I will sulk my sorrows in a bowl of Special K cereal and then take my 3 year old to the doctor because he is screaming that his ear hurts so my guess is that he will have an ear infection!!!!  I guess you can say that my day is DOOMED!!!

Happy Weekend Everyone!!

Craving of the week!!

As far as the baby and food goes this week, we are all good!! I am pretty sure the baby hit a growth spurt (going from .25 ounce to .75 ounce and in turn that made my scale go up approximately 1 pound this week putting the grand total weight gain at 4.3 pounds thus far.
That couldn't possibly have anything to do with my cravings right?? Nah- it's all baby.. 

If I add together the following things I should get 4.3 pounds right??

1. Increased bladder size 

2.Increased uterus size

3 Increased boob size

4.Increased blood volume

5.Increased craving size!!

This week I have really had the usual food cravings that I've had all along with ONE exception and what a grand exception it is. You know it is a craving when you take a shower, get the kids ready (when it's 25 degrees outside) hop in the car, and drive 30 minutes just to eat what the baby wants!! =)

Plus, Aaron's office is 2 minutes from my craving spot so I can always call him up for a lunch "date" so I can get my craving fix in.

So here we go! The craving of the week belongs to McAllister's Deli and these TWO items are a MUST have when I go there.

1. LARGE sweet tea with lemon

2. Build your own deli sandwich as follows- Harvest wheat bread, smoked turkey(I know, I know.. It's meat), lettuce, tomato, pickles, roasted red peppers, cucumbers, bell peppers, and honey mustard on the side.

Oh me oh my, it is scrumptious!!!

The vegetable chili was alright, but the sandwich was/is amazing!!

I think  I needed a refill!!

Oh Yoga!!

This whole pregnancy I have been telling myself that I am going to stay in shape and be a fit prego woman.. My solution to staying fit was to put in my yoga dvd every other day and complete it without interruption.
12 weeks into my pregnancy and I finally put in the dvd. Yes, I know.. almost a trimester later and I finally started exercising.
I really have no excuse OTHER than I have TWO toddlers who require my attention 24/7 which makes me exhausted before 10 am on a daily basis. Not to mention that this baby has pretty much sucked the living life out of me too but other than that, I am great!!
As I was sitting on the couch yesterday afternoon my sweet hubby announced that he was going to go for a run.( I had mentioned to him days prior that every time he worked out I would do yoga.) In order to stick to my word I had to get my lazy bum off of the couch and pretend to be somewhat excited about doing downward dog for an hour when all I wanted to do was stay on the couch and sip my sweet tea from McAllisters. (The hubby brought me home an entire gallon yesterday!! YES!!)
So out the door he went and to the floor I went.
Step One: wipe the dust off of the dvd and place it in the dvd player- check
Step Two: begin workout- check
Step Three: do entire workout without interruption- FAILED!!

About 15 minutes into the dvd my sweet and rambunctious 22 month old toddler decided it was time for a piggy back ride while I was in some weird pose that I can't even pronounce. (I couldn't tell him no so oops... there went approximately 5 minutes off of my workout.)
After I so kindly finished the piggy back ride I got back into the zone and started the lunges. - I really don't remember lunges hurting so bad back in high school.
Then it was time for the relaxation part(my favorite part!) What do you know. My little man decided that this was not a relaxation time for mommy but rather a time for him to do airplane. (You know.. when you lift your little one up in the air with your legs and pretend they are an airplane.)
Instead of pausing the dvd like I should have, I just let it keep playing. After all, I was still getting a workout lifting a 22 pound toddler in the air right? There was however nothing relaxing about it!
After that, I just gave up and started dinner while sipping on my sweet tea. I realize now that my sweet tea probably did more than just cancel out my 30 minute workout. Oh well. I will do better today!

Conclusion to working out- workout during nap time so that I can get my zen time on!!!

On a lighter note, we are 12 weeks pregnant now!! I am hoping this means my energy will somewhat return to me soon!! Enjoy the picture!!

12 weeks 1 day prego!!!

Date night with the hubby=vegan mission failed!!

After watching Oprah's show last week on being a vegan I strangely had the urge to all of a sudden become a vegan!! I didn't think it would be real hard seeing that I already don't eat beef or pork and I really don't care for cheese. How hard could it be right?
All week  I had been carefully picking and choosing what to eat and what not to eat. I will admit that I slipped up a few times but I couldn't resist. The build your own deli sandwich at McAllisters  was just too tempting and too delicious. So there, strike one against me. (That was on Thursday)
Friday was a success. No meat, dairy, or any other products that came from animals. Fast forward 24 hours and that is where the bomb exploded.
You see, I have been wanting to go out to a nice dinner for quite some time and with 2 rambunctious toddlers that just isn't possible.- Red Robin isn't exactly my idea of a nice, fancy dinner. So last night my mother in law and sister in law so kindly came into town and babysat while me and the hubby went on our "date!!" 
We wanted to go somewhere different so we headed in the direction of downtown Winston.
First stop- 6th and Vine.- To be honest, I didn't really see anything on the menu that looked good so we decided to just get an appetizer and then we would venture out somewhere else for our meal.
And this is where the BOMB started to drop-
Appetizer- crab and artichoke dip- oh me oh my... It was so good BUT it had crab (which shouldn't count as an animal to begin with) and cheese.
Oh crap! Well if I am going to go all out I better go out with a bang right?
Off to dinner we went. The Chophouse- Yeap, I got a lobster tail (again, it shouldn't count as meat) with steamed asparagus.
We didn't get dessert because let's face it... I had already had way too much to eat.....
Fast forward 2 hours and where were we? Cold Stone Creamery. 
Yeap. I failed AGAIN!!
I got the love it (medium) chocolate delight with a banana on top. So there, I had milk because I had ice cream. (To my credit though, I only ate about 1/10 of it because it was so much)
So Veganism, I must admit.. Although in theory you sound really nice, I don't think you are for me. I think I will try to stick with being a vegetarian.

Side Note-The vegetarianism (is that even a word?) will start after today because we all know that today is the Super Bowl and what Super Bowl would be complete without boneless chicken wings right??

Date night!!! See the bump?? 11 weeks & 5 days!!

My yummy lobster dinner!!

 

 

 

Yeap.. we all know where that weight will end up!!

Craving of the week!!

Well oh well.. What can I say? Another week has come and gone and I am still able to eat!! Yippee!! Now that I only have a little over a week left to go in my first trimester I am feeling quite confident that my appetite isn't going anywhere and that makes me really happy. This week I have found that all kinds of foods taste really good and there are a few that just make my belly turn a little.
I don't eat beef or pork so that leaves me with just seafood, chicken, and turkey to eat. Over the past few weeks I haven't eaten any meat and I have to say that it really doesn't bother me. It is starting to really gross me out to be honest. I'm not sure why but it is. I guess that means lots of beans for me so I can get my protein intake....
On the up side there have been numerous foods that I am finding quite delicious. For starters, I still have my daily dose of strawberry jello- I don't think that will change for the next 6 months!! A few honorable mentions that didn't quite clinch the number one spot this week are as follows- 2. Robert's chicken salad (from Harris Teeter) with pretzels(you have to put the pretzels with it, otherwise it doesn't make the list.) 3.Captain Crunch Berry cereal. 4. A tall caramel apple spice(Starbucks) 5. water with fresh lemon squeezed in it- I know.. I know.. it's only water but oh my goodness it is SO good!!
And the number one spot this week goes to something that will probably rot my teeth out if I don't start eating them in moderation. It is like the gates of heaven opened up when I saw this at Sam's Club the other day. It also made complete sense for me to buy this in bulk since I was wasting $1.00 every day at the check out line of any place I would go. So thank you craving for allowing my sugar intake to be way more than it should be this week. I hope to cut back on you some next week. If not though, you sure are good to eat!!

SKITTLES!!!! Yes, I bought this big box. I couldn't resist!!

When are you due??

Over the weekend the hubby and myself went on a little double date with friends of ours (Claire & Luke) and it was a nice little break from the usual take out or frozen dinner entrees that I have been preparing my family for the last 11 weeks. (I used to cook meals from scratch every day until this baby decided to use more energy than I can make in a day.)
At dinner I was very self-conscious because I still felt like I was at the stage in my pregnancy where people would just stare at me and think mean things to themselves like, "She is so unproportinate, She would be really cute if she could just lose the gut, What is she thinking wearing those jeans with that shirt? She needs to be a size up in both?"
I could feel the stares coming from every direction in the restaurant and it really bothered me. That was until our waitress came to the table and said the words that I have been praying for. She said, "When are you due?"
Hallelujah!!! Thank you Lord. Someone actually knows that I am pregnant. Thank you waitress!!!
This could be due to one of two things. 1-The baby is actually filling my uterus up and pushing it out making it look like I am pregnant. 2- I have been eating way too much and that has pushed my "stomach" out.
I do have to say that now I feel like I actually "look" pregnant and that makes me really happy... or sad... depending on what minute of the day it is!! But overall, it pleases me to know that maybe just maybe people won't give me the "she just ate one too many pieces of key lime pie" look.