20 Week US!

It's the moment we've all been waiting for.  OK, well it's the moment that Jon and I have been waiting for!!

The 20 week ultrasound. AKA the anatomy scan. AKA what gender is my baby day!!!!

And yet, our appointment was earlier today, and we still don't know.  Not because the baby wasn't cooperative. Not because the ultrasound tech isn't great (b/c I seriously love her!). But because we had her wrap up the little picture with "It's a Boy" or "It's a Girl" in a sealed envelope so we can find out this weekend in Florida!

While I'm dying (DYING!) to know, I think finding out with our family at the beach will be so much more memorable and special than laying on crinkly paper on the table at the doctor's office.  So even though we have to wait 4 more days to find out, this surprise will be well worth it!

The scan went great. The baby's heart rate is 156.  All body parts were accounted for.  

Little Lerma has a small calcification in the heart, but it is considered a normal variant at this point without evidence of any other calcifications throughout the body or evidence of structural abnormalities to the heart.  We will have a follow-up US in a month just to take a closer look at the heart and make sure no new calcifications show up, but nobody seemed worried about it, so we won't worry either.

Other than that, this baby is the exact opposite of Isabella.  During her scan we couldn't get her to move at all in order to see various parts.  This baby on the other hand WOULD NOT sit still! He/She was always throwing punches, kicking high over their head, twisting, turning and even shaking their head.  We have a mover and a shaker people!

I absolutely love these ultrasounds. It amazes me how detailed you can see the baby, each little finger and toe, the individual chambers of the heart, and movements as small as opening and closing of the mouth! 

Little Lerma #2 we already love you and while we love seeing that squishy little alien like face on screen, we are excited to meet you in 20 or so weeks!

Not a great picture, but you can see the baby's eye sockets, nose and lips at the top center of the picture

Sweet little profile

Kinda hard to tell, but baby's legs are flipped up over his/her head!

Baby was opening and closing his/her mouth repeatedly!

Cute little arm, elbow and hand

Sweet Little Lerma : )

20 Week Bumpdate!

Halfway there!! Yay!!  

Seriously though, how are we halfway there already!? As much as I thought the first 18 weeks dragged by (probably b/c I felt so awful), it has certainly picked up speed and I'm sure there is no slowing down now. Holy Moly!  And finally (finally!) I am feeling better...not entirely great, not totally normal, but OH so much better!

And last time for comparison sake : )

How Big is Baby: The size of a banana

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Weight Gain: +1 over the last 2 weeks, so still down a total of 7lbs

Workouts: Week 18 I was able to get in 6 workouts- one prenatal yoga, one prenatal pilates, 2 walk/runs in the park (1 mile and 2 miles) followed by a TRX strength workout, 1 prenatal cardio dance video, and one insane 1 mile hike up Stone Mountain which was super hard but so much fun!  

Week 19 I took 3 days off from workouts, but had a day of "2 a days" (which wasn't planned but just happened that way) so I still got in 2 park walk/runs (1.2 and 2.6 miles), 2 prenatal strength yoga videos, and 1 prenatal toning yoga video.

Maternity Clothes: Definitely needing maternity shorts and pants. Still loving my summer flowy dresses, normal tanks and regular workout gear. My bump starting at 19 weeks definitely feels and looks much bigger than around this time with the first pregnancy (although comparing the 2 pictures above, I don't know that it is "much" bigger, it certainly feels that way though!).

Belly Button: Innie

Sleep: Pregnancy insomnia started to hit right before 19 weeks. I usually wake up to pee around 3am and have been having a hard time falling back asleep til 4 or 4:30.  Still absolutely loving having the cloud and know that I am much more comfortable with it, but my hip pain is worse than last pregnancy (probably b/c I started out heavier this time around). I feel like I am tossing from side to side a bajillion times a night to take pressure off my hips. 

Cravings: I have been able to expand my diet a little bit more, but nothing crazy! I don't crave things really, but can tolerate certain foods that then tend to be a staple. The last two weeks I am enjoying caprese salads or sandwiches on Ezekiel bread, rice noodles with a bit of cheese, homemade tomato sauce (from our garden tomatoes!) over rice noodles, watermelon, sour cherries, and most fruit in general.  One night we had pizza which was great and one night Indian which was amazing...and leftovers the next day even better! Loving that I can enjoy real food once again!

Aversions:  Beef, chicken, turkey, fish...all make me gag a lot...still!  I was able to eat a few pieces of chicken in the Indian food though (nothing a little spicy butter sauce can't mask!)

What I Missed:  I still am not able to drink my hot morning coffee, and I miss this in the mornings! A few times a week I will drink about a half cup of iced coffee, but it's just not the same. I also missed some red wine on some of our pasta nights. 

Symptoms: Still nauseous and gagging when I don't get great sleep, I had about 4 really rough days in the last 2 weeks with all day long super intense nausea and dry heaving, and no energy, but for the most part these days don't happen quite as often!  I definitely don't have the normal second trimester energy like last time, but certainly am waiting for it! Some mild round ligament pain.  

-->Luckily this time around no constipation (as bad now), bloody noses, stuffiness or dry eyes! So different!

Movement: Yes! This little one is getting stronger by the week! Right around 18 weeks I could feel a few, sporadic kicks with my hands.  Jon got to feel one at about 18.5 weeks.  They don't happen all that often but when they do, it's amazing.  Otherwise, feeling tons of flutters throughout the day, and mostly at night when I lay down, plus a few total twists and turns!

Gender: I'm changing my vote this week to girl, Jon is sticking with girl.

Best Moment this Week: Overall starting to feel better, get out more, enjoy the fresh air, workout (which I love!) and just have fun with Isabella. 

Worst Moment this Week: Some really long, really sick days still.  Plus Jon traveled for 4 days this week and that always stinks to be apart : (

What I am Looking Forward to: We FINALLY get to find out the gender towards the end of this week...seriously CAN'T WAIT!! And, we get to go on family vacation for a week which I am super excited about, and will do the gender reveal there!

Isabella 13 Months!

And just like that, I am now telling people I have a 1 year old...not a "X month old!" That is crazy!  The first year just flew by!  Most times it makes me so sad, but then I look at Isabella and all the things she is learning and doing, and how much more fun she is today vs a newborn little (sweet, snugly, cute!) lump who can't do anything, and I love it!  So with that...

Happy 13 Months Isabella Rae!

Not a good picture...blurry and she's not even looking! Sadly this was the best of like 50! 

11 Month Highlights:

-You are definitely a water baby and love being at the pool! We had several pool days at Mimi's, several at the Leflers, and several right on our deck in your mini pool.  Regardless of size, you loved them all!

-You started hardcore teething about a week after your birthday and it's just been relentless! You are getting 4 upper teeth in all at the same time, and your poor gums are inflamed and red! We can't wait for those babies to pop on through! This had made for some very long days, filled with not much more than fussing and cuddling, rocking and pacifiers (which have stayed in your bed for naps and bedtime only since you were about 7 months!).  Oh, and some serious sleep regression which of course has also been loads of fun for all of us!

-You spent 3 nights with Mimi and Pops so we could go to the Bahamas for our anniversary.  You did great over there and had fun going swimming a few times! The first night you had so much fun you stayed up til almost 9pm, and the second night you went to a party with Mimi and Pops so you went to bed around 8pm. Little lady loving the party life : )

-We celebrated your second 4th of July by going to a food truck and fireworks festival on Friday (July 3rd).  The food was good and you enjoyed the pulled pork and a couple bites of mac-n-cheese.  We didn't stay long enough to see fireworks b/c you were just too tired and certainly wouldn't have slept through it.  Then on Saturday, the Leflers came over and we enjoyed a fun day outside in the small pool and sprinkler!

-You are expanding your vocabulary (or your vocality anyways!) this month.  You started saying "Dada" purposefully which of course he just loves! You also love to say "Uh Oh" when you drop stuff, or just because you think it's fun, and "O Le O Le O Le O" which cracks  us up!

-You aren't walking yet but you are definitely getting closer and closer! You are a champ at pulling up on things, cruising, and transferring from one table to a chair or another surface using one hand.  You also like to let go with both hands to clap or try and grab an object...after about 1-3 seconds you tend to fall on your bottom.  But you always clap once you fall like you are so proud that you stood for a few seconds! So cute!

-Speaking of clapping...you LOVE to do it!! You will clap at any chance you get. I don't know if it's because we always say "YAY!!!" and get excited and clap with you or what, but you have a huge grin and love to do it! That being said, you clap one palm on the top of the other hand...or sometimes one palm just on the thumb of the other hand.  Either way it's cute!

-You had your 12 month doctor appointment at 12.5 months and pretty much hated every second of it! I don't think starting out the appointment with the nurse poking your toes for blood (for a Hgb check) was the best starting point. After that, every person who came in and wanted to do something just freaked you out.  You cried through the weight and length check, you screamed when the doctor was examining you, and oh golly you cried oh so hard and held your breath with your shots (MMR & Pneumococcal).  Speaking of shots, 10 days after the MMR you got a lovely red rash from head to toe and a low grade fever, which is relatively common (well for 10% of kids anyways).  It didn't seem to bother you, but it bothered daddy quite a bit : )

Sleeping: Well good ole teething has brought with it some sleep regression.  That in combination with us being out of town for 3 nights and a few holidays equating to a bit later of bedtimes meant wonky sleep.  I felt like there was no semblance of a routine this month and finally we are starting to get back on track.  A majority of the days she had a hard time falling asleep, and then would wake up from 1-3am or 2-4 am. Oh lovely nights! Most mornings she wakes up at 6:30, and when she is feeling well will happily and quietly play in her crib til 7:30.  But a lot of mornings this month she just feels poopy and wants out right away.  

As for naps those were all over the place to, but at least she took them! Most days she still took 2 naps, although about 1/4 of the time she either would just play in her crib during the second nap, or we would be out and she just wouldn't get a second nap.  Either way, now we seem to be back to 2 naps, each about an hour and a half.  One in the morning usually about 3 hours after she wakes up, and one in the afternoon 2 hours after she wakes from the first.  

Oh you know, just taking laps around the crib during second nap!

Breastfeeding:  On your birthday, we started the weaning process of breastfeeding.  We took out the mid-day feed first, then a week later took out the nighttime feed, and a week after that the morning one. I have to say the whole process was much easier than I had thought it would be, and with the exception of the morning feed, you didn't seem to mind not having it that much. I also think it helped us being gone for 3 mornings right as we weaned the morning feed so you didn't think about it as much (or at least associate seeing me in the morning with it). There was a small part of me that was sad about weaning totally, mostly b/c it just solidifies how fast your first year went.  But the other part of me was very glad to be done, especially knowing I will be doing it all over again in 5 months!

Isabella Loves:

-Swimming

-Being outside and taking walks

-Eating good food...this girl gets excited if it's something she likes!

-Swinging

-Cell phones and remote controls

-Musical toys

-Musical and talking books

-Butterflies, Pigaboo, My First Touch and Feel Book, Snuggle Puppy (all books)

-Dancing with Daddy

-Crawling through her tunnels and playing in the tent

-Climbing on top of us...and anything else she can attempt! 

Favorite foods this month: Cheese (any kind- buffalo, sharp cheddar,smoked cheddar, mozzarella, muenster, colby jack, it seriously doesn't matter!)! Greek yogurt, chopped chicken, scrambled eggs with spinach, cherries, watermelon. She also loves coconut water.

Isabella Hates:

-Shoes

-Teething!

-Not getting fed fast enough...or being done sooner than she wants!

-Door stops (she has a very irrational fear of them when they make noise!)

-Having her face wiped/cleaned

-Standing on grass barefoot

13 Month Stats:

-Height: 29.5 in

-Weight: 18 lb 7 oz

Isabella's Firsts this Month:

-First true word: Dada

-First sleepover at Mimi and Pops (June 26-29th)

This Month in Pictures:

Early morning selfies on the front porch

Throwing her hands up in the air b/c she just loves to swing!

4th of July pool day with the Lefler ladies

Festive on the 4th!

She loves this activity table!

More snuggles with daddy during the day...SO not like her! Poor baby!

Isabella's First Birthday!

First of all, first birthdays are definitely not for the child, but for the parents.  Or, ok, maybe even for the mom! With that being said, I had a great time at Isabella's first birthday, and because we kept it small (just family), short and sweet, I think she did too!

Weekly chalkboard photos that I had taken of Bella all printed out...SO cute to see all together! (minus the one that fell off when I took the pic!)

Bella isn't interested in any one thing enough to come up with a theme, plus I didn't want to go crazy, so I kept it simple and went mostly with the outfit she would be wearing: black with pink polka dots. This made finding plates, napkins, straws and a few small decorations super easy (and cheap, hello dollar store!).

We had the party from 12:30 til 2 which gave us just enough time to eat lunch, open presents, do a "smash cake" and take a few (hundred!) pictures.

For lunch we had buffalo chicken dip with Hawaiian bread to start, then Jimmy Johns sandwiches, chips and dip).

I knew I wanted to do a smash cake for Isabella, but certainly didn't want a regular sugar laden one b/c she's not had sugar yet (other than what's in fresh fruit) and I certainly didn't want to start now.  So I looked up a few healthy recicpes online and combined a few to make my own.  It basically was bananas, unsweeted all natural applesauce, a little bit of whole wheat flour, vanilla and baking powder with a cream cheese frosting (AKA just plain cream cheese with fresh strawberries mixed in).  

Bella didn't really get the concept of it being a smash cake, and mostly because she doesn't like to get dirty! That being said, once we fed her a bite of the cake, she loved it!! I think she would have kept eating til she was blue in the face, but we cut her off after a substantial piece!  

Overall, it was a great little party and I am glad that we had it. I know Bella won't remember a thing from it, but it was memories made for us, and sweet pictures to hold onto for a lifetime! We got her a couple of books and 2 water balls.  Mimi and Pops got her 2 cute outfits (one for 4th of July), an adorable metal shopping cart, and a ball that is now one of her absolute favorite toys.  

Happy first birthday to my funny, fiesty, cuddly, curly haired and long lashed little lady!  We love you more than you know!

18 Week Bumpdate!

Last time around with Isabella

Baby is the Size of: a sweet potato

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Weight Gain: +1 lb this week, so still down 8lb overall.

Workouts: Week 16 I was able to get in 5 workouts...and was super proud of myself! I did 2 prenatal cardio videos, one prenatal yoga, one full body strength, and a very long walk down the beach in the Bahamas (now that's my kind of workout!). 

Week 17 I only got in 2 workouts (prenatal videos on youtube). Bella was teething like crazy and very clingy, and I used her naps to catch up on stuff I got behind on during our vacation. 

Maternity Clothes: Definitely needing maternity shorts except for my 2 to 3 sized too big shorts that still plenty fit.  Otherwise still in regular tanks and summer dresses as well as a good amount of athletic gear!

Belly Button: Innie

Sleep: Let's start with the positive- I slept great on vacation!  Went to bed around 10 pm every night and woke up between 6:30 and 7am.  One night I didn't even wake up to pee!  Now the negative- Bella is teething hard core which translates to her not sleeping well at all...which means most nights I'm up with her for about 2 hours.  Definitely feeling it this week too! So exhausted!

Cravings: I will say I have been craving ice cream this time around which is so weird b/c I wanted nothing to do with anything remotely sweet with the last pregnancy.  Otherwise, I love garden caprese salads, bagels with cream cheese, macaroni and cheese, and the occasional saltines on days where the nausea is bad.  Look at that super well balanced diet (ugh!). And La Croix is my best friend!

Aversions:  Anything not listed above : ( Chicken, turkey and beef particularly make me gag!

What I Missed: Ice cold beer on the beach. Nice cold white wine with dinner on the beach. 

Symptoms: Headaches (mostly in the morning, but some pretty terrible all day ones as well!). Nausea was getting much better until I stopped Diclegis at 17.5 weeks b/c of the horrible way I felt in the morning...then nausea came on full force!  Ugh! Some mild low back and round ligament pain when I work out several days in a row. 

Movement:  Yes, and I love feeling the little flutters!!

Gender: I'm going to say boy this week...Jon says girl. 

Best Moment this Week: We had an amazing anniversary trip to Eleuthera, Bahamas.  We had 2 full days (3 nights) with amazing food, a gorgeous pretty much private beach, crystal clear water, and just the 2 of us...perfection!

Worst Moment this Week: Bella is getting 4 upper teeth = she is miserable, so fussy, low grade temps, clingy, not sleeping = mama is tired!

What I am Looking Forward to:  Finding out the gender...it's killing me not knowing!!