Princesses and Ponies

It’s official – I’m getting the little girl I always wanted!! I was actually REALLY nervous going into my appointment. I was even shaking a bit! At one point, we were talking about not finding out the sex during the actual ultrasound. We heard a cute story about some people who had the tech write down the sex of the baby on a card, seal it, and give it to the couple when they left. That night they would open the card when it was just the two of them and find out in private. It seemed like a good idea at the time but then we decided that if we were going to find out ahead of time, the actual appointment would be a good time to do it. That way we could actually see those boy/girl parts for ourselves and believe it! The ultrasound itself was amazing, and I still can’t believe how far technology has come that we could see little hands, feet, and even tiny lips through my belly! Our ultrasound tech’s name was Cinnamon, and she was really great about pointing everything out and answering our questions throughout the whole thing. A couple times she would say something like “there’s his hand” or “this is his heart”, so halfway through I figured that she already knew the sex as a boy. So yes, I was SO happy at then end when she showed us that it was a girl. I started crying immediately and Kyle told Cinnamon that she had made me the happiest girl ever. I cried for at least a half hour after the appointment and every time we called a family member to tell them. When we got back to the car, Kyle pulled a card out and gave it to me. It said “congrats on our new baby girl”. Yes, he had one for a boy also. :)

Profile of baby girl Carpenter!

I also started feeling the baby kick on Monday, which was huge. People kept asking me if I felt her and looking confused when I would say no. I know that it usually starts becoming apparent between 18 and 22 weeks, so I wasn’t in much of a hurry, but this definitely makes it more real! It happened while Kyle and I were sitting at dinner. I suddenly felt like there were bubbles popping or little drum beats deep inside my belly. I got really still and started focusing, realizing what was happening. Tears of excitement also started running down my face, at which point Kyle got a bit worried. Once I told him what I was feeling, he started hoping he could feel it too. Soon enough! About an hour later, we had a 5.7 earthquake, so I think the baby knew something was up.

19 Weeks

New Mom Resolutions #1 - Sunscreen

So Candice and I have decided to start blogging together. One of her passions is safe cleaning and beauty products. Since I became pregnant, I have been taking this a lot more seriously and trying to become informed about what I'm putting in/on my body - and now my baby! As an outlet for this passion/obsession of ours, we decided to chose different products to write about and hopefully educate a bit in the process. Candice is the mastermind, but I'm trying to keep up! :) You can read her version at: http://rupprechtroots.blogspot.com/

What's wrong with conventional sunscreen like Banana Boat, Coppertone and Target brand?
Many contain chemicals and nanoparticles that may be harmful to our endocrine system - and after experiencing how crazy hormones are during pregnancy and especially after childbirth, I'm certain I don't need any additional chemicals affecting my body's ability to regulate hormones.

What are some of the harmful ingredients?
Oxybenzone - a hormone-disrupting compound that penetrates the skin and enters the bloodstream

Vitamin A, retinyl palmitate - used as an antioxidant to slow skin aging, but when applied to the skin in the presence of sunlight, may speed the development of skin tumors and lesions (NTP 2009)

Methylbenzylidene camphor - Strong evidence of hormone disruption and thyroid affects

Octyl methoxycinnamate - Multiple estrogenic effects, Thyroid hormone reductions, hormone-mediated immune effects and moderate rates of skin allergy

And look how many of these baby sunscreens are on the list of worst-protecting sunscreens?!? http://www.ewg.org/2010sunscreen/buyer-beware/

Better ingredients are mineral-based sunscreens that use Zinc Oxide and Titanium Oxide. Yet even these better alternatives have research indicating that inhaled nanoparticles reach organs and cross the placenta and enter the brain. So it's definitely best to avoid any spray sunscreens, even though they are so convenient! The problem with nanoparticles is that can be more chemically reactive and more easily absorbed into the body. However, in the case of zinc oxide and titanium oxide, the EWG (Environmental Working Group) asserts that the benefits of sun protection outweigh the risks of nanoparticles...so more on nanoparticles in a future post.

All of the info about chemical concerns was taken from the EWG website, which has extensive research on skincare products; in fact, they have a database called SkinDeep (http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/) that rates on a 0-10 scale, every type of skin and beauty product you could imagine. 0 is the safest, 10 is the highest risk to health. They have done the same with sunscreens, so we're on a quest to use sunscreens that have the lowest rating possible, while still being affordable and not turning our skin white.

What are better choices? We've tried...
Aubrey Organics Natural Sun SPF 25 Sunscreen for Active Lifestyles (3) - Hard to rub in and makes your skin white
Alba Botanica Sun: Lavender Sunblock SPF 30 (5)
Nature's Gate AquaBlock SPF 50 (3)
Alba Botanica Very Emollient Body Lotion daily shade formula, SPF 16 (6)
Kiss My Face Face Factor, SPF 30 (3)
All Terrain AquaSport SPF 30 (3)

Alba Botanica Green Tea SPF 30 (5)

Candice and I at Coronado Beach. Who knows what kind of sunscreen I wore then!?

Prenatal Yoga

Today I attended my first prenatal yoga class. With my preexisting back problems, stretching and walking are about the only workouts I get. So I figured that taking a yoga class would help with the additional back pain that comes with being preggers. I asked my Dr. about it, and she told me about a class that is offered through the hospital where I am giving birth. They offer several classes a week and the price is great, so I signed up. I loved the class and felt so relaxed afterwards. I'm really excited to continue to explore the benefits through the rest of my pregnancy and labor. The instructor was really great (which always helps) and she recently opened her own studio with her husband. I may try some of her other classes as well, and she even offers classes that you can take with your "birthing partner". I had to explain this to Kyle: your birthing partner is the one who will be with you during labor, i.e. your husband. So even though I am still going strong with my third month straight of "morning sickness", I'm looking forward to a back pain-free pregnancy! :)

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

So I have been VERY into sweets lately. There was even a couple of weeks where I craved donuts every day - and donuts normally gross me out. The girls in our accounting department often bring in baked goods and this has been particularly dangerous. While I still usually default to salty foods, the sugar has been creeping in. The picture below is of some yummy cream cheese brownies that I made last week. I was going through an old stack of Cooking Light magazines and pulling out recipes for my recipe book. After going through about 8 magazines, I realized that I had ONLY pulled out dessert recipes! These brownies are one of my "finds". They can't be that bad though, right? Cooking Light is healthy! :)

Robbed While Maternity Clothes Shopping

This weekend I went shopping at A Pea in The Pod. I have been doing a little online maternity clothes shopping, but this was my first in-person experience. I will start by saying that I knew the store was expensive and wasn’t planning to shop there; I only went because I heard that their maternity bras were reasonably priced. To make the whole story short, the super helpful sales lady tricked me into not only buying the bras but a pair of designer maternity jeans. I’m serious though; she was very helpful and gave me some good tips on shopping for maternity clothes. She also accepted my refusal to buy full-priced jeans and found me a pair “on-sale”. On-sale for designer jeans is still WAY over any price I would ever pay for regular, every-day jeans. Despite the nice sales lady and some comfortable jeans, I walked out of that store feeling awful. I was disappointed in myself for spending the money on something that I would wear for maybe 3 months. I will be taking the jeans back and have decided to stick to my online shopping. Much safer, much better deals, and I can filter out those designer brands!!

Losing My Waistline

So the secret is out. I am preggers – a little over 13 weeks into this. So far it hasn’t been too “magical”, but I hear that the second trimester is where it’s really at. I had a couple weeks of being horribly sick and dehydrated, but my doctor now has me on some meds to help me keep food down and keep myself healthy. I still don’t have much energy, but I hear that is supposed to improve as well.
We have had two doctor’s appointments/two ultrasounds so far. I have to admit that I was caught by complete surprise at the tears running down my cheeks when I heard that first heartbeat at 8 weeks. Incredible! I never thought I would be that way, but it’s amazing the way you feel about things can change in just a few minutes. That’s what hearing that heartbeat and seeing that first image did to me.
The first ultrasound, at 8 weeks, showed the nondescript “peanut” while the second ultrasound (only 4 weeks later) showed incredible development. The image really doesn’t do it justice; the amazing part was seeing the baby rock back and forth on the screen. The profile was so clear. Kyle and I were in complete awe!
I am still feeling pretty crummy, though I do manage to pull out a bit more energy on the weekends. I am starting to “show” a bit, and by that I mean that I appear to now eat donuts every morning for breakfast. This look gets progressively worse throughout the day, and I am now in a stage prior to “the bump” that I am calling “the bloat”. Something else I have learned is that before you even start to show, your hips start to widen. Even though there isn’t yet much to see, I can no longer fit into my pants. This has been really frustrating, as I’m still too small for those belly bands and maternity pants. Ah well, an early joy of pregnancy!

Zoey the Borador

Ok, so I know that I have to start blogging more and really practicing. I thought I could at least get into it by writing about baby Zoey. We picked her up from a Lab Rescue event almost 3 months ago. Although she was said to be a "black lab mix", we have decided that she looks a lot more like a Border Collie. Further internet investigation found this "designer breed" (aka mutt) to be a Borador. We think that she's around 7 months now and, with the help of cousin Chase in Tuscon, she lost her remaining baby teeth a few weeks ago. The cats aren't a big fan, but they seem to be standing up to her a bit better than the did with Oliver. Since she has Border Collie in her, she would like to herd them around the house and sometimes tries to do this to us by biting at our heels. We are enjoying her so much and love having a dog around the house again. Welcome to the family, Zoey!