Third Trimester

Depending on the book you read, websites you check, etc., either this week or next week is the beginning of my third trimester. I have a pregnancy app on my iPod that I’ve been using which says that it’s this week – so I’m going with that! I have high hopes for this trimester. A couple weeks ago, I finally stopped getting sick. This means no more drugs, and I’m thrilled about that! The rest of my body seems to be adjusting well also. For the time being there are no more backaches, no aching hips at night, and the pain from stretching ligaments has eased. If everyone else gets to have a “honeymoon phase” in the second trimester, I’m hoping that the third trimester is my golden time!
The baby has also been a lot more active lately. So much so, that sometimes I feel like my stomach has been used as a punching bag by the end of the day. Supposedly my little princess is on a growth spurt this month, and I’m excited for her to get bigger. I thinking that kicking will be better than the somersaults and flips that she’s doing in there right now! I am also starting to get some slight Braxton Hicks contractions. At first I thought that the baby was cramming her head up against my stomach. I would feel tightness around my belly button and when I put my hand on it, it felt like there was a rock under my skin. After having this same feeling a few times a day for several days, and reading more about this phase of my pregnancy, I’m pretty confident that they are contractions.

So after 6 months of sickness, I’m thinking that my body is finally on track with this pregnancy. I’m so excited for the next 3!!

The Princess and the Pillows

I remember somewhere around her 8th month, Candice posted a picture of her bed. She had one of those Snoogle pillows to sleep with and a body pillow that divided her side of the bed from Kevin’s. This was all helping her get the most comfortable night of rest possible. As someone with back issues, I have always slept with more pillows than “normal”. The current pillow count on my side of the bed these days is getting to be a bit much, however. I did try the Snoogle, as it looked like the perfect solution to both my low back pain and any discomfort I would have with a growing belly. It turned out that it made me even more uncomfortable. I decided that it would be easier to sleep with my own pillow, so I got a version of the Snoogle that doesn’t have a headrest. That still wasn’t comfortable, so I returned yet another pillow and decided to go with my default, the body pillow.
The body pillow worked for a couple weeks, but I found that sleeping on my (recommended) left side was causing me to wake up with a sore left ear. Sigh. So I got a tempurpedic-like pillow that helps my neck stay in position and conforms more to my face.
About a week after this, I started waking up with achy hips. A lot of women in my yoga class talk about having this, but I don’t think I’m quite big enough to experience it yet. I was getting it at night, however, so after a bit of research I decided to purchase a belly wedge. That’s the tiny, striped pillow in the picture below. It props up my belly just enough so that my waist/hips feel supported.
The final pillow came just about a week ago. Again, in my yoga class we do a lot of chest opening exercises to open up the chest and make room for the increased capacity that our lungs need during pregnancy. I started waking up in the middle of the night with a sore sternum (who knew??) from my shoulder falling forward. I’m not sure why this problem has arisen with pregnancy, but I took a feather pillow and wedged it between my side and my arm. Phew! I feel like the Princess and the Pea with this setup! Sleeping with a sore back now seems like nothing, compared to sleeping with a new ache every week.

Luckily we got a king bed not too long ago. Kyle and I both fit comfortably with my 4+ pillows per night!

This all helps, but unfortunately I am still not sleeping that great. I still wake up, wide awake and uncomfortable some nights and can only get back to sleep when I’m sitting upright on the couch. Or sometimes I can prop myself and my legs up in bed and fall back to sleep that way. If this little girl is anything like her mother, Kyle is REALLY going to have his hands full! :)

Preggers Brain

I am getting a bit frustrated with this whole “pregnancy brain” phenomena. It doesn’t seem to matter how many lists I have, or reminders I create on my phone. To top off the forgetfulness, I am moving much slower and get tired very easily. So when I DO remember to do things, it takes twice as long and I get frustrated even more! Sigh. I think there should be a service where pregnant women can rent an assistant for a few months. Or maybe we should get a pre-maternity leave where we are allowed to just run around like chickens with our head cut-off for awhile. Either way, I apologize to all of you who are getting late birthday cards, delayed emails, or just seeing less of me in general lately. (Obviously my blogging is suffering as well.) I promise that I’m doing the best I can to continue functioning normally!

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! :)