10 Weeks

Posted in Team Trader Baby (TTB) by teamtradermom

I’m officially 10 weeks pregnant today. First of all let me just say that it feels SO good to have this out in the open. Keeping it a secret for over a month was really hard. I feel so free now!

With Isabella my pregnancy was extremely easy. No morning sickness. No heartburn. Overall I felt great! The only issue I had was MAJOR cankles toward the end.

(Jennifer Christensen Photography)

They say every pregnancy is different and this one certainly has been. The morning sickness started about a month ago. I thought I was getting the flu as I was also really achy, tired and chilled. I took a few afternoons off work to nap and I ate a lot of bagels (that seemed to be the only thing that sounded good).

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Eventually I figured out what was really going on and read up on how to deal. I started eating small micro meals every hour or so. It was amazing to me just how quickly I could go from STARVING to utterly stuffed. One day I ate half of a Weight Watchers Smart Ones frozen meal and was so full I was miserable. Half! And those things are small anyway!

After a couple weeks dealing with that, the acid reflux kicked in.

(source)

I’ve had an ulcer since high school so I’ve been dealing with acid reflux for many years. Usually it kicks in if I’ve gone too long without eating and my stomach is empty. Pop some TUMS and I’m good to go.

Not this time around. No amount of TUMS seemed to touch it. It got really bad one day when I accidently ordered an enchilada that turned out to be spicy. I don’t deal well with spicy food anyway but this one really hurt my gut. The heartburn was so bad I literally thought I was having a heart attack. Called my OBGYN and she recommended 2 Pepcid every day with a swig of Gaviscon at night to manage it. After a few hours of suffering the meds kicked in and it’s been working well ever since. Thank goodness! I do have to be faithful still with my eating and medication or it’ll flair back up but overall, it’s much better. I’m hoping it subsides or goes away altogether as I get in to the 2nd trimester.

The tiredness has gotten better too. This is the first week where I feel like I have energy. There were days when I literally felt like a shell of a person with absolutely nothing left. Just blinking seemed like too much work. Someone pointed out to me that I might be more tired this time because I have a toddler at home, which obviously wasn’t the case before.

No I don’t put her in the dog kennel so that I can take a nap…she crawled in there of her own free will. Although, it’s something to think about…Samson would be a great baby-sitter!

I definitely remember days with my first pregnancy where I would just lay around and not do anything but read or watch TV. Yeah, those glory days are gone my friends. CJ has been great about taking Isabella off to play on the times where I just can’t do anything but sit or lie down. He’s putt in some long days and it’s much appreciated.

I’m already seeing changes with my body too. With Isabella I don’t think I noticed much in the way of a protruding belly until 18 weeks or so. I’m already starting to see one with this baby.

Here I am at 8 weeks with Isabella.

That’s pretty much how I looked already back then. I didn’t start out with a flat stomach. (Don’t ask me why I’m making a peace sign. Or why I look annoyed. Also, what’s with that hair? Note: don’t take prosperity pictures right after working out…)

Here I am today, with baby #2, at 10 weeks.

Pardon the bathroom shot. CJ wasn’t here to take it for me so I had to make do. At least my hair looks good!

See how my belly looks a little bigger and rounder than 3 years ago? It’s not a hug difference, which makes me happy. I guess what it looks like and what it feels like are 2 different things!

I am bound and determined though not to gain as much weight this time around. With the first pregnancy I gained 60 pounds. That was about 30 too many.

Here I am at the very end.

My Lord I was huge. I didn’t realize just how big I was then but I can definitely see it looking back! (That mark on my forehead was from a surgery I had to remove some skin cancer)

So far I’m gaining 1 lb per week. If that continues for the remaining 30 weeks, I’ll be on track. I’m still working out every day and playing volleyball so that will be a big help.

The big question everyone has been asking is if we’re going to find out the gender of the baby. We did with Isabella so personally, I want this one to be a surprise. CJ wants to find out though. We’re still in negotiations and have plenty of time to decide though I think the scales tip in my favor since, you know, I’m carrying the kid and all.

I think that’s about it! I will try and provide weekly updates as things progress, with belly shots, cravings and any other oddities, along with Isabella stories! Here’ s to the journey!

11Sep2012

It Only Took a Year

Over a year ago I bought Isabella a shirt. I was both excited and nervous about buying it as I didn’t want to be presumptuous. Unfortunately, shortly after I made the purchase, life happened and she wasn’t able to wear it. I put the shirt away and waited for another day.

It’s been hanging in the back of her closet ever since. There was one day when her Grandpa put it on her after she spilled on another shirt. He didn’t know that the time wasn’t right. I took it off her soon after he left.

Now, a year later, the time has finally come for her to put it on and wear it with pride.

Around April 10th of next year, Miss Isabella will take on a new role as big sister as we welcome a new baby in to our family!

I am currently 10 weeks along. We’ve known for just over a month but didn’t dare say anything given our history of early miscarriage. Our first doctor appointment was 2 weeks ago. That’s when we got this beautiful picture.

Doc said everything looked excellent and baby was on track. Still, I was a bit apprehensive given my “advanced age” (who knew 35 was advanced?) and history so she suggested I come back in 2 weeks instead of the typical 4.

I went back in today, for my 10 week appointment. It was at the 10 week appointment last August that we got the devastating news that we had lost that baby. Part of me was terrified of repeating that day. Yet part of me was confident things would be different this time.

And they were!

Doctor was able to hear the heartbeat with the Doppler machine right away and it was very strong. Her exact words were, “It doesn’t get any better than that.”

Isabella was with us at the 8 week appointment and as we were leaving she looked down my shirt and said, “I don’t see a baby.” I told her it was in my tummy. “Did you eat it?” she asked. Her reaction to this whole thing has been quite amusing. She asks me every day if the baby is here yet. One day I heard her say from the other room, “Well, I better poop before the baby comes.”

So we can now shout it from the rooftops and proclaim to the world – Team Trader is having a baby!

4Sep2012

Out with the Old + Labor Day Weekend Fun!

Posted in Family, House and Home by teamtradermom

I like to have really nice things in our house. But I don’t like paying high prices for them. This is often a conundrum as it seems the things I like most tend to be out of budget and I’m left to dream.

Unless I can score a good clearance deal!

That was the case last week. We bought a new patio set!

Our old set was just that – old. We’d had it for 3 years and over that time the umbrella broke, as did one of the chairs, and the table top was permanently marked up.

It made our patio look junky.

I wanted something more “grown up”. Something comfortable and functional but with an air of sophistication.

And of course it had to be kid and dog friendly.

So I started watching the sales and low and behold, I saw one that was exactly like what I was looking for, on end of season clearance for 60% off.

I dragged CJ and Isabella to Sears and we ended up with this Ty Pennington set that at full price retails for around $1200 (with the loveseat, 2 chairs, coffee table and 2 ottomans).

Guess how much we paid?

$425 smacks. That’s right; we got a 6 piece set for almost 70% off. It was on sale already plus they added an extra 10% discount because it was the floor model and last one in the store.

We love it – and Samson approves too! Not only is it comfy and gives us way more seating but it also makes the whole patio look more put together.

Isabella digs it too!

I would like to jazz it up a bit with some brighter colored pillows and add some decorative touches to the table – like flowers or something. Maybe even an outdoor rug. I’m watching the sales now to buy stuff but most likely will wait until next year to put it out since cool Fall weather is right around the corner (Dear God please!) and we’d end up bringing most of it inside anyway.

—-

The Labor Day weekend was a busy one for us. It started with the patio set being delivered Friday afternoon (yeah!) and then we headed downtown to spend the evening walking around Heartland of America Park.

The purpose of going was to show Isabella the big “rainbow fountain” they have but unbeknownst to us, it was broken. While that was a disappointment for sure, we still enjoyed the beautiful evening by walking around the lake.

We saw lots of ducks and swans.

And were able to catch the sunset behind the buildings of downtown Omaha.

Isabella did her best Olympic winner pose as she pretended those rocks were medal podiums.

Saturday we were up bright and early for Isabella’s dance class.

I wish I could say she loved it and show you pictures of her dancing around in her leotard. Instead, I will report that she basically sits against the wall for the whole class and refuses to participate.

This week was a little better. She at least stayed in the room with the kids and participated in one game. Last week she clung to me the whole time. *sigh* I guess it’s a process.

But for at least trying, we rewarded her with a trip to Fontenelle Forest to see their Dino Quest exhibit.

She had fun walking through the forest and seeing the replica dinosaur displays.

She also enjoyed the children’s activity area.

At one point she was getting tired from all the walking, plus it was humid out, and she basically sat down and wouldn’t go any further.

So Daddy carried her for a little bit and she was happier.

They also have an indoor exhibit that was fun. Isabella especially liked dressing up in costume.

This dinosaur head was so top heavy that she had to hold it up to keep it from flopping over.

GROWL!

Saturday night we went out for ice cream and then I drove around trying to find a fountain for her to look at since we had such a disappointment with the rainbow one. We finally came upon one at a nearby hospital and it had a little trail to walk around it. Perfect! As we pulled up, in the darkness of 8:00 pm, we saw a group of 3 girls standing on the grass by the lake. One had a blanket and one had a basket. They looked at us as we parked and then they quickly jumped in their car and drove off. No idea what they were doing but it was obviously no good, hence their quick getaway. The only thing I can figure it that they were about to go skinny dipping or something.

Sunday was spent at the beach for the last day of pick-up sand volleyball and Monday was a family day over at my sister’s new pad.

It was a very fun and family filled weekend – and I was able to nap every single day! Score!

How was your holiday weekend?

24Aug2012

Singing for Her Supper

Posted in Isabella/Munchkin by teamtradermom

Isabella loves to sing. She always has. It’s usually pretty random too.

Here’s a video of her singing the “Stoplight Song” in the car the other night.

In case you didn’t know what the colors mean…

Right after I shot this, she asked me when it would be on YouTube. I guess the answer turned out to be “one week.”

Tonight, during dinner, she broke out in to the Olympic anthem. Now, the Olympics were over like almost a month ago and we certainly haven’t been singing the song. But she felt the need to bust it out.

(You may need to turn up the volume for this one)

Makes me yearn for male athlete abs once again

I’m just impressed that she actually remembered it!

Just thought I would share those little snippets of our life – and her singing talents. My mom tells me over and over that Munchkin “has music in her”. Indeed she does. I’m counting down the days until her first record contract when the big bucks start rolling in. Toddlers and Tour Buses anyone?

15Aug2012

Sitting Pretty

Posted in House and Home by teamtradermom

I finally did it! I can now cross another item off my Resolutions List for 2012. Namely, create a sitting room within the master bedroom.

And the best part, I didn’t have to spend a dime!

Here’s how the side of our room looked before:

Pretty empty…

Here’s a view of it from the other side of the room, looking across the bed.

(Let’s all play “Pretend” and imagine the bed being perfectly made, with no toys on it shall we?)

I’ve been spending the better part of the year looking around for the perfect chair and table to fill up that space. I wanted it to be a reading corner so the chair had to be comfortable for reading (either a rocker or big armchair) and the table had to be functional yet cute. Every time I wen to a thrift store, I looked at their furniture but never found anything I liked.

Then one day this happened.

CJ’s dad brought over this rocking chair that he no longer needed. It’s in really good shape and needs no work. There are a few scratches on the seat, which the pillows I tossed on there cover up nicely. So we put it in the living room, in place of the old rocker.

I like the contrast in color that it adds to the room. It feel cleaner and more grown up too.

So now I had an extra rocking chair that would be perfect for the bedroom!

Check!

Then, while in the basement today with Isabella, I gazed upon an end table that was tucked back in the corner and realized it could work great for the bedroom! Just needed some touching up. So I dragged it, along with a few decorative items and a tablecloth upstairs.

Here’s how it all came together.

The chair works well as is and tucks in to the corner perfectly. I covered the table up with the tablecloth and put the bowl and candle on it. Then I tucked the little plant in to the corner for some greenery.

I’m really happy with how it turned out. And so is Isabella, obviously.

We also added in an area rug that had also been collecting dust in the basement.

(Remember, we’re still in Pretend World where the bed is made!!)

It adds just the extra something that the room needed.

Here’s how the 2 new additions look together.

The room looks that much more finished and cozy.

Is it done? No. I’d like to maybe change out the cushions on the chair, and probably the pillow too, and add balls or something to fill up the red bowl. Will probably add a little figurine to the table too. Oh and the bulb in the lamp needs to be changed to something brighter so that we can see better.

But overall, it’s a definite improvement and am super excited to cross this off my to do list. I’m particularly pleased that we were able to reuse items we already had! Bonus!

If you liked this, you might also like:

Master! | New Additions | Little Touches