Happy New Year!!!
We had a really low-key week and New Year’s Eve in particular, which was nice and relaxing. We’ve become obsessed with The Great British Bake-Off (aired in the U.S. as The Great British Baking Show because apparently Pillsbury has the term “bake-off” trademarked), and have been binge-watching episodes of it at every opportunity. You can watch it online at PBS.com, and at least one season is on Netflix, so get it in your life!
Despite watching endless episodes of people baking scrumptious treats, this hasn’t caused a huge surge in our consumption of baked goods. Aaron is back to eating Paleo after having indulged in all the same delicious things I’ve been eating while pregnant, so he hasn’t been baking much anymore. So far I’ve only made an effort to get my hands on some French macarons after watching the bakers take on a macaron challenge.
So good! Aside from that craving, I’ve been trying to dial back my treat consumption after a seriously sugary holiday season. My blood test to check for gestational diabetes is this coming week, so… yeah. We’ll see how that goes!
I did a much better job of staying active this week. I walked three miles on the treadmill on Tuesday and got all caught up on Serial. Then, it was so beautiful out for the rest of the week that I did all of my walking outside. Aaron and I went for a five-mile walk together on Thursday (New Year’s Eve, which I took off from work), and I did a solo four-mile walk on Friday (New Year’s Day) and a three-mile walk on Sunday.
Look how pretty! This was from my New Year’s Day morning walk. I did one of my usual running routes and really enjoyed walking it since I was able to take my time and appreciate the beautiful day — even though it was a frigid 28 degrees. Luckily, the route has plenty of hills to keep me warm!
This is truly an “I woke up like this” photo. I try to wear makeup, fix my hair, and look nice for my official weekly photos, so here’s what the opposite end of the spectrum looks like. 🙂
On a related note, one unexpected perk of pregnancy — at least in the second trimester — has been super-clear skin. Before being pregnant, I’d usually have a few minor pimples at any given time. Then my skin noticeably worsened during the first trimester and I had plenty of acne on my face, neck and chest. The worst was when I had two of those horribly painful deep pimples — you know the kind I’m talking about — on my face at the same time. But since the start of the second trimester, I’ve noticed my skin has been incredibly clear. Not perfect, for sure, but about as close as I could hope for! Thanks for that, kid.
I’m still feeling really good, have plenty of energy, and am getting great sleep. The only thing I could complain about is ongoing chest soreness/tenderness, but that’s just part of the gig and I anticipate it being so much worse when I start breastfeeding. So, I’ll just save those complaints for later. 🙂
I will say that I don’t know how naturally well-endowed ladies deal with the, uhhh, growth that happens during pregnancy, because I’m finding it quite annoying and didn’t realize how nice I had it in life as a naturally smaller-chested lady. I ordered some new bras online that are good for both maternity and nursing, so hopefully those will get me comfortably through the end of pregnancy and transition well into my next role as a 24-hour milk machine.
On the nursery front, we finally found crib sheets we like! I ordered fitted crib sheets in three different prints that seem to coordinate well with one cute crib skirt, so I’ll have to see if they really look good together when they arrive.
We also attempted to shop for curtains this weekend and brought home a set that perfectly matched the sheets, but looked pretty crappy once we hung them. I’ve ordered another set that I hope will coordinate well with the sheets rather than match them perfectly, so we’ll see.
I really don’t love decorating and don’t think I’m very good at it, so I’m not aiming for Pinterest perfection; I’m more aiming for a passably cute nursery that’s functional and makes me happy to spend time in it. With a crying baby. Being a milk machine.
I’ll end this update with a cute photo of a very small sample of the items Aaron has been bringing home on a frequent basis.
He looooves picking out clothes and hats and all sorts of things for our kiddo. He’ll hit sale sections of stores on his lunch break or check online for good deals and come home with the cutest stuff. I keep telling him to hold off until after our baby shower in February, but hey, I can’t fault him for being so involved and so excited to be a dad. In fact, it just makes me look forward to seeing him with our baby so much more, knowing he’s going to be the best father.
OK, now I’ll actually end this update with a little story. Aaron went to bed well before midnight on New Year’s Eve, and I tried to stay up but passed out on the couch before waking up at around 11:40. That gave me just enough time to wash my face, brush my teeth, and crawl into bed at exactly midnight, when I woke him up for a quick kiss before settling in to sleep.
As I lay there listening to the fireworks going off outside, I could feel our daughter kicking inside me, and it brought me to tears thinking about how exciting this year will be for our little family. Life will definitely never be the same again, but in the very best way.
Dev on Running 