Those Notorious Cravings and Dislikes... (up to the 25th week)

Everyone knows pregnancy comes with those special cravings, dislikes and other miscellaneous nuances and this pregnancy is no different. While the cliche "pickles and ice cream" craving hasn't hit me yet, although I don't think I'd mind a serving of that sweet and salty combo ;) there are other ones worth mentioning...

First, we'll start with cravings. The list might be small now but I anticipate it will expand here in the near future!

• My main craving - Mexican Food! She loves barbacoa (Chipotle) and spices. It's a no fail solution when someone asks "what does the baby want to eat?" because we know it's all about the baby now :) Also, there is this place by my work that sells these "pork chili verde cheese fries" that taunt me almost weekly! Being that mexican food, and these chili cheese fries aren't of the healthiest nature, I have to refrain from tending to my cravings sometimes but the baby wants what she wants....and I can't necessarily deprive her.... right? ;) So far so good, we found healthy alternatives to suffice her desires for most days and like most of us girls, she gets her "cheat days" haha
• Now, I don't know if I can blame this one on the pregnancy because I have always been one to have a sweet tooth BUT now more than ever I want sweets all day every day! Ice cream, cookies, carrot cakes (with extra icing!!), and more recently (25th week) banana cream pies. I have yet to give in to the cakes and pies craving but I almost always have a supply of ice cream in the freezer and my kitchen staff at work doesn't run short of my white chocolate macadamia nut cookies :) Again, another craving I have to limit my portions but baby girl is a bugger sometimes when she doesn't get what she wants... I mentioned her movements, yea, she kicks like no other!
• On to some of the more healthy cravings... she looooovvvveeesss fruit. Honeydew melon, strawberries, cantelope and pineapple to be specific. We could eat that all day long and be happy campers! In fact, it has become part of my daily kitchen request - a side of fruit that we tend to munch on throughout the day. This week (25th week) we have been eating lots of bananas (they help with those midnight charlie horses/leg cramps!) and oranges.
• Lastly, I think about 85% of my mornings since I became pregnant have consisted of wheat toast with peanut butter and a yogurt. I don't know if it is the peanut butter or the toast and one would think I'd get sick of it but nope! Every morning when I wake up, for the most part, she is asking for wheat toast with peanut butter. Sometimes of course she wants waffles, pancakes or cereal, but wheat toast and peanut butter are always a sure hit! So, see, she's not that much of a junk food eater... she has a sense of healthy eating too ;)

And of course, we have to mention the dislikes. This list is much shorter...

• Since pretty much day one, no chicken! The sight of chicken, the smell of chicken, grilled, fried, baked, boiled, raw (especially raw!)... my tummy turns. She is in no way interested in eating that precious bird... I was thinking maybe I have a vegetarian on my hands but nope, she does like the red meats (sorry Grandma Powell and Auntie Jenny haha). And she isn't one for veggies...
• Before pregnancy I loved vegetables in all forms, especially raw and dipped in ranch but steamed, grilled or cooked any way was always one of my favorites. Unfortunately, early in the first trimester, I discovered that eating cucumbers, brocolli, or salads, pretty much anything green, made me sick. And not just sick while eating and shortly after, but sick for a couple days. So we have had to work around that with, for example carrots and yellow squash instead of green squash (if we can find it). Fortunately though, into my 20th week I was able to finally eat a salad! And it was soooo so yummy. How I took those for granted before. She still isn't too keen on raw green veggies but I've managed to muscle down steamed veggies here and there just fine so we are making progress!
• Another thing... pizza. Who doesn't like pizza? This baby definitely doesn't like pizza. And she tortures me for hours if I ever attempt to eat it! So guess what, after she is born, I want a big pizza party! haha

That's about it for now... I am sure I will add more to this rounding out my second trimester and into my third. Friends have already prepped Matt for those midnight cravings that will supposedly send him out to the streets in the middle of the night; he's not too excited for that :)

Some pregnancy pics...

22 weeks along...

23 weeks along...

25 weeks along... 

Second Trimester...

This trimester got off to a good start... nausea no longer an issue, energy seems to be coming back and migraines seem to be fading. Oh, and those emotional tantrums and tearful explosions were a little more manageable ;) Doctor's appointment on May 25th (second one which would still be considered first trimester, 12 weeks along) shows a very active baby; moving so much the doctor has a hard time catching up to find the heartbeat with the sonogram instrument! Good sign for health reasons but parents beware haha Everything sounded great, heart beat still pumping at about 160 beats per minute and mommy-to-be finally gained a pound. 

It was around my 14th week I started to notice a pooch. Well, let's be honest, it was more than just a "pooch", it was a belly in the making. Clothes were still fitting but they were tighter than normal so next stop, bigger pants! My sister Shannon and I decided to go buy some shirts and pants that weren't quite maternity but were a couple sizes bigger than what I normally wear to give my belly room to grow into. Also, they have this new thing out called a "belly band" that literally wraps around your pants so on that fateful morning when you can no longer button your pants, you strap on the belly band and it holds them up for you while providing the comfort of maternity pants! Greatest invention. Still into my 25th week I am able to wear my pre pregnancy jeans because of this lil gadget. I mentioned in the first trimester I had to remind myself I was pregnant because of no physical signs... well that was no longer the case here! Buying bigger clothes and seeing the belly form day by day was reality enough :) 

Now we sit and wait for our ultrasound appointment to make sure the baby is healthy and of course to find out the sex!! Matt finally came around to wanting to know the sex for fear the baby was a girl.... he felt he would have to mentally prepare for that haha. From day one I thought it was a girl but funny enough he and I only had a boy name picked out. The ultrasound was scheduled for July 9th (one day after Grandma Powell's birthday and one day before mine... a great bday present!). My oldest sister came with us along with her three kids (16 year old nephew, 9 year old niece and 5 year old nephew). First the tech asks me to go in alone while she does the diagnostic portion of the ultrasound. Having had to drink a lot of water and hold my bladder for this procedure, the ultrasound instrument pushing on my belly was not very comfortable! While laying there, I look at the tech's expressions for any insight as to what she might be seeing on the screen since I couldn't view the screen. She kept letting out sighs, tilting her head and readjusting the instrument. All these signs would lead one to be concerned that maybe something is wrong but no, with a full bladder I was completely sure that the problem was an active baby moving so much that she couldn't get the still shots she needed. Sure enough, she finally said she was having difficulty because the baby was moving so much! Again... parents beware ;) Once that is done, she leaves to bring family in to find out the sex of the baby. For this part she turns the screen so we can all see... to see our baby, more human like than the first ultrasound, moving it's head, arms and kicking like crazy was the most amazing feeling. My niece saw how much she was kicking and immediately said "soccer player!" :) It took a few attempts to get a good view of that "tell all region" but low and behold, it's a girl! I immediately glance at Matt's face and he is in disbelief. He's not sure what to think at that point.

While it took a couple days, or weeks for that matter, for Matt to accept we were having a girl, I think he is now embracing it. He knows she will be "Daddy's Little Girl" and will have him wrapped so tight around her pinkie. I am so excited for them to meet :) We still have yet to finalize her name so for now she is "Baby Girl Powell". 

First Trimester...

My first trimester went relatively smooth. Once news gets out that you are expecting, you always hear the "horror" stories of morning sickness, fatigue, sensitivity to smells, foods, etc... Lucky for me, 6 weeks of minor nausea and extreme fatigue putting me to bed by 7pm every night was about it for me. Nothing some crackers, ginger drinks, 7UP and 10 hour nights of sleep couldn't cure! AND it only lasted 6 weeks! BUT the one thing I did experience were migraines. Having suffered migraines since a very young age, I was used to popping some ibuprofren, drinking lots of caffein and taking a nap to cure the pain....unfortunately two of the three were no longer an option and Tylenol gives me adverse affects so let the suffering begin! There was a period I was getting 2 migraines a week... debilitating migraines that would leave me bed ridden. Into the second trimester though, these would eventually fade. Still I consider myself to have probably one of the easiest pregnancies ever recorded in history ;) 

Now that the first trimester was coming to an end it was time to tell my boss and co-workers. They were all just as excited as family and friends! And since that day have been spoiling me with food and treats. Turns out I am not the only one who is pregnant though! This seems to be the start of another baby boom which is odd considering the recession and all but that's how it seems to be working out. So the few of us in the office (and those I know outside of the office) who are expecting have been able to share stories and experiences. It's been helpful to say the least! 

Having not gained weight, the reality of being pregnant didn't really settle in during the first trimester. Although we knew that there was definitely a growing baby in there, I had to sometimes remind myself that I was pregnant and each time the thought crossed my mind was just as surreal as the moment we found out. Aside from the minor nausea and fatigue, there were no other physical symptoms of pregnancy but wow, did the emotional symptoms kick in ten fold! Not being a cryer on a normal day, I found myself crying over spilled milk... The slightest lyric of death, heartbreak, even joy and happiness had me bawling like a baby, if something didn't go exactly as I wanted or planned, there were the waterworks and/or angry tantrums and poor Matt had to deal with the brunt of it even if it wasn't his fault (sorry babe). This fluctuation in emotions had me questioning my sanity at times but then Matt and I would get a moment of brief sanity and he'd help me realize it's just the pregnancy. Thank you to him for being so understanding and patient!! :)

Overall, the first trimester was easier than expected and the excitement for the changes and new developments during the second trimester was kicking in. I very much was waiting for the day the doc scheduled the ultrasound to find out the sex of the baby but Matt on the other hand wanted it to be a surprise on the day of delivery. I promised him I would keep it a secret if I found out but curiosity got the best of him when friends decided to taunt him with the thought of having a girl (he desperately wanted a boy)... 

From the beginning...

It was a Sunday morning, April 18th to be exact when Matt and I discovered that our lives were changing... for the better of course...and it was a big surprise, but a pleasant one! To be honest, we had no inclination to test for pregnancy until our friend Yvette decided to "joke" about the possibility the night before when I wasn't feeling so well and with no good explanation. Considering we had our playoff games for soccer scheduled this particular Sunday, we figured maybe taking a test would be ideal... sure enough! There we saw two pink lines...to our utter surprise. Once the initial shock faded, and the second test came back with the same two pink lines (for confirmation of course) the planning began. The next day doctor's appointments were scheduled and the many changes to take place in order to provide a good, healthy growing environment for the lil one began. The realm of emotions that swarmed over us are hard to describe but for mommy-to-be, anxiousness was the overwhelming emotion - anxious to see the doc, to hear the heartbeat, to hear that beautiful date of the baby's expected arrival and jumping forward to finding out the sex.

The picture above is the first ultrasound at our first doctor's appointment. Estimated 8 weeks, 2 days, April 29th (original due date was Dec 7th but after the 18 week ultrasound, they bumped it up a day). Although the tests were confirmation that there was a beautiful little being in my belly, seeing this ultrasound and hearing her heartbeat at 163 beats per minutes was so surreal. It was love at first sight! Matt's eyes lit up and he grinned this grin which was so expressive that pretty much summed up all emotions into one expression.

Finally, almost two weeks of this information to ourselves, we can tell close friends and family!! It was so hard keeping it a secret but seeing and hearing the excitement from friends and family upon the news of our newly expected baby were moments I wish I could have recorded and archived to replay over and over again and for our baby girl to hear when she is older. She has lots of people excited and anxious to meet her...