Many Beginnings

Thursday was the beginning of the moving and kicking. I finally felt baby move. Now I can feel baby when I'm really still and paying attention. It feels like butterflies for now. Kind of weird.
Today was the beginning of prenatal yoga. I bought a yoga and pilates video last week, and I started the yoga video today. It was great. I need to work up to doing the entire 50 minutes, but you can feel the stretch and the openness. It's supposed to be about getting ready for birth and stretching muscles and controlled breathing, but I couldn't help laughing when we started doing Kegel exercises (that's exercises for down there). It's supposed to keep down there strong, but it's so funny.
Before I got pregnant, I was going to hot yoga, which was fantastic, and since I was flexible I was able to focus on deeper poses. Being pregnant is a whole different story. It feels like I've never stretched a muscle in my life. It's a challenge to stretch and control my breathing now. I love it.
Today was also the beginning of waking up a few minutes earlier for work. In my first trimester it was a struggle to wake up at 630 to get to work at 830. Now, because the kiddies are back in school and traffic is awful I need to wake up a little earlier. I woke up at 545 this morning, which is now really easy for me. I've actually been waking up at 5; I just don't want to get out of bed. Books and blogs say you have more energy in your second trimester, and it's true. I liking it. I just need to find enough things to do so I'm tired by bed time.
On another note, I went shopping for shoes today, and found the most comfortable shoes ever. They are Liz Claiborne, slip in, square toe, with a small 1/2 in heel. They're like butta. I think I'll be wearing these til I give birth. More shopping to be done tomorrow too. We're finally getting furniture in the house. It's living room and master bedroom for now, but once we find out (next Tuesday) whether we're having a girl or boy we'll be getting baby furniture. I have some things picked out for budgeting purposes.

It's been 2 weeks since my last pictures. Tell me; any changes? I think I'm doing good. I'm at 18 weeks and have gained 6 pounds. Not bad!

Decor

I've been thinking a ton about how to decorate the baby's nursery. Even though we don't know the sex of the baby yet, we're not going to either extreme. The room will be jungle themed and so cute. At the end of the month, Marcus and I will get paint for the room, and I will begin drawing ideas for the mural my mom will help me paint.
So, for sure I want to draw a giraffe and an elephant. What other animal(s) would be easy to draw? A tree would look good too.
I've seen a lot of decor and linen with cute animal prints. I'm excited!!!
Another thing we definitely need is a ceiling fan b/c we gotta have one. And, I know we won't need it right now, but will we need a humidifier or dehumidifier? I guess a dehummidifier makes sense since Houston is already hummid.
I'll have pictures once we start.

The Good, the Bad, the Food

I love being pregnant. I can eat anything. Yes, I'm eating fruits and veggies, but now I don't feel guilty eating ice cream or hot wings and fries when I have a craving for it. Also, my mom and I found some Salvadorian cheese at a meat market, and I bought it b/c I really like eating cheese. I never imagined that it would be so amazingly delicious. It's like I was eating it for the first time. I told my mom to take half home b/c it was a lot, but I'm glad she forgot. Yummo!
Something that comes with all the good cravings is the disgust of some foods. I usually love corn. Plain, salt and pepper, hot sauce... I'd eat it. Now, I can take one bite and I'm done. Appetite is gone. Does this mean Baby won't like corn?
Another is leftovers. Marcus and I were really good about have leftovers from the night before for lunch. Now, not so much; a lot of the times the smell gets to me, and I'll just go and get Subway, Pei wei, or Chipotle. Yes, it gets pricey, but what else am I gonna do at the moment. Baby's hungry! And, I'm getting better at making food that I can eat the next day.

Maternity Leave

My boss will be on maternity leave in a couple of weeks which is forcing me to think about it early. I'm not sure what to do, what is enough time, and what terms to set. She is very flexible, and she's already said that I need to put family first.
I know I roughly have around 30 sick days accumulated, and since it'll be the beginning of the year, I'll have 10 vacation days. That's about 8 weeks; is that enough time?
And what about once that time is up? Unfortunately, my workplace doesn't pay for anything beyond sick and vacation time. So, will we be able to afford my being out for a few more weeks? If I go back part time, should I go back for 2 or 3 days a week, go back for half days or go back full time....what? Ahhhh! So many things to think about, and we have 5 months to set it and save up for it.
When I go back, will we be able to afford a nanny, or will we have to stick my child in daycare?
But, it's not only about me, Marcus will be checking at his job to see what their policy is. This baby's his too.

Doctor's appointment today

Our appointment went well today. I've gain 3 pounds in a month; which is really good. We heard the heart beat again, and this time it was more pronounced than last month. The heart beat was between 140 and 150 beats per minute. The doc said that next month we'll find out if it's a girl or boy. We're so excited.

You never really now how your body will change with pregnancy. No one's pregnancy stories can prepare you for what your own body will experience. Now I'm even more hungry than usual. I'll drink milk before I go to bed and I'll wake up at 2 am for a snack. I'll eat cereal or a slice of bread with peanut butter. It's a different kind of hunger when pregnant. It's so hard to ignore and just fall asleep. I'm not as sleepy as I was in my first trimester; I just need to make sure I go to sleep at 10ish to last the entire next day.

Oh, Marcus is starting to talk to the baby too. He'll rub my tummy and say "hello" or "This is your dad talking." It's cute. I never thought that he would start interacting with Baby so soon. I figured that dads don't really have the same connection that moms do b/c they don't go through the same that moms do. I love it.

I have finally taken pictures to see what I look like now. I think I just look fatter instead of prego. It's ok. I know what's in my body.

OMG Clothes

So, my clothes, especially pants, are getting tighter. I was able to just put a rubber band around the buttons of my pants, but now I can barely zip up. Today I was able to wear a skirt I had in the back of my closet that is stretch, and I actually got complements. I've been thinking about what I'm going to wear tomorrow because I don't have anything that fits for my bottom half. Ugh!
I know, I just need to buy clothes, but it's hard to just buy clothes that I'll only wear for a few months. I don't like wearing skirts or dresses, but I think that's where the better investment is. Either way, I'll be going to the store this weekend. Just let me get through 2 more days, baby.
even though I feel crappy, Marcus makes all the difference. He constantly tells me how great I look. Today he told me how beautiful I looked, and that I'm looking better everyday. Of course, I started crying.
This evening my stomach feels funny. Is it gas or the baby's movements?

More food, please!

I am always hungry. I thought being nauseous was bad, but being hungry all the time is worse. I know to eat 300 more calories, but when you're working for eight hrs and driving 2 hrs everyday, how do you do it? The other part that makes it bad is the fact that leftovers make me loose my appetite. So what can I premake that won't make me gag? On the upside, I'm able to eat meat again; yay!