Only 1.5 weeks left of the second trimester. Where does the time go?
How I’m feeling: Happy and content most of the time (sometimes I feel downright euphoric), with a tinge of pms-like moodiness that rears its ugly head every now and then, hah. Sleep has been a challenge lately. Baby girl likes to wake me up more and more with her grooves and it’s hard to fall back asleep. I have a feeling these dance parties are going to turn into regular feeding wake-ups once she’s here! I suppose it’s good preparation for my body to start being up throughout the night. I’ve noticed that she has a pretty regular sleep/wake pattern forming already. She sleeps a lot in the morning, is up on and off in the afternoon, and then nighttime is full out party time. Always active after meal times too. Some days she is less active while others she is more active. It’s been really interesting to watch her patterns unfold. I talk to her whenever I feel her awake during the day and we have fun poking each other back and forth.
My right rib pain is still quite brutal and it makes all my other preggo symptoms seem non-existent. The rib and back rib pain is the worst in the late afternoon and evening as I can’t sit for long stretches at a time (nor can I sit in the car for longer than 5-10 minutes without pain). It feels like a knife is wedged in there…that’s the only way I can describe it. As it turns out, my mom had really bad rib pain with both her pregnancies too! Maybe we have small rib cages or babies that love to snuggle into the ribs? My doc said the ribs can’t start the healing process until she’s out, so I guess I have a few months of this at least. Everyone has something, right?
It’s challenging to: Shave my legs, put on shoes, get out of bed/off the couch, paint toe nails, fit through narrow passages, etc. Sometimes I turn sideways to fit through a narrow passage and then I’m like, wait a second…I can’t fit through that!
Loving: My changing body. I’m now that nekkid pregnant lady staring at herself in the mirror thinking how amazing it all is. ps- can I keep the new boobs please? bahaha.
Most looking forward to: Holding our baby for the very first time! It makes me teary just thinking about it.
Craving this week: COOKIE DOUGH. In caps because it’s that obnoxious of a craving. I started off by making the healthy cookie dough balls from my cookbook. Then I made my vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe and dug into the dough with a spoon before forcing myself to bake the dough into cookies just so I could retain some form of respect for myself. I also made two cookie dough recipes for the blog. So yes, full out cookie dough craving around these parts! I also had a random craving for a tuna salad sandwich this week, so I whipped up my Perfected Chickpea Salad Sandwich (with extra dill pickles!) from the OSG cookbook and it rocked my face off. Veganaise is the bomb. I’m now on a chickpea salad kick and making it for lunch every day. Dark chocolate is also back. I didn’t want anything to do with chocolate for the first 4 months of my pregnancy so it’s been fun to enjoy it again. Also back: Salads after a long period of not wanting anything to do with ’em. I’m eating salads in mixing bowls the size of my head. That’s how I roll. Also, grapes and smoothies….every single day.
Enjoying: Staying active, morning walks, weight routine. American Ninja Warrior and Million Dollar Listing New York (heh). Sketchie’s antics. Kicking up my feet when my body wants rest. Eric on guitar. He’s been playing the guitar and singing for me and baby at night. She seems to enjoy music, but the verdict on my singing is still out. Current song favs: Brown Eyed Girl, If I Had a Million Dollars, House of the Rising Sun, American Pie, Black Bird, Say Something.
Until next week!
xo
Awww, you look wonderful! I don’t know if it’s the angle, but I see a bigger difference from last week’s post to this week’s compared to previous week-to-week posts :)
I’m just out of/at the end of my 1st trimester (some say week 13 marks the 2nd, others say the END of week 13… who knows!), so I love having a “preview” of what’s to come from you!
I’m so excited to start legitimately showing soon. I still just look like I ate far too much. So awkward! Is it vain that I’m least looking forward to the difficulty shaving my legs? At least it won’t be shorts season when I’m into my 3rd trimester! Would you trust Eric to shave them for you? Hahaha
Glad to hear everything is going well! I am 24 weeks and have the same all or nothing veggie obsession complete with epic salads. Oh, and I just went out to make chickpea tuna today! So yummy. Thanks for sharing!
I agree, there is a big difference in the size of your bump from this week to last.
And I don’t know what it is with babies waiting until nighttime to start going crazy. I do ultrasound for a living and I always struggle with getting certain pictures because I can’t get the baby to move. Then the moms always say the same thing, come bed time they’re boppin’ around in there!
I love reading your updates because I am 10 weeks behind you! Sleeping is already a challenge for me, so I’m pretty like o__O about what’s to come.
I haven’t had super specific cravings yet, though I’m curious as to what they will be.
I just made your chickpea salad sandwich and it was delicious :) My meat-loving husband who hasn’t exactly been loving my dinners lately also fell in love!
Glad that you’re feeling good (except for the rib pain!) :). And “can I keep the new blobs please?” lol!
PS–have you made your cookie dough energy larabars back from 2012 (early 2013?–not sure, but the previous post is Most Popular Recipes of 2012…) anyways, those always seem to help my cookie dough cravings. ;)
Lol–just realized autocorrect changed boobs to blobs. Ha!
Bahaha, this made me giggle/cackle. Blobs is a pretty accurate autocorrect!
lol! gotta love autocorrect ;)
I haven’t made those bars yet, but now I’m thinking I’m going to have to. They are awesome to stash in the freezer – probably a good energy bar to have on hand when the baby is here too! In case anyone is interested, here is the recipe: http://ohsheglows.com/2013/01/16/homemade-chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-larabars/
I’m sure you have more than your share of advice; but… i had some nasty rib cage pain when I was preggo. Getting down on my hands and knees was often enough to manage it – let my ribs spread out and gave the baby some room or something like that. I also found icing my ribs to help; but probably talk to your doc first, I’m not sure if it’s one of those things that’s only safe if the baby is in a certain position. (My doctor told me that if the baby didn’t like the cold, he would move away. He moved, it felt wonderful!)
Also, you look so beautiful. Love these updates.
Thank you Rachael!
I’ve been icing here and there and getting down on hands and knees as well. I haven’t had much relief from doing those, but even if it helps a bit I will keep at it!
Have you tried acupuncture yet? Some pregnant ladies swear by it for multiple issues, but I have never been pregnant or been to an acupuncturist :-)
You really do glow! Enjoy the euphoric joy you are feeling! The progesterone kick is fabulous. However, once that baby is born, it plummets…I wasn’t prepared for it…so just an FYI. And then a silly tip in an effort to manage the rib and back pain. It was helpful for me to simply get on my hands and knees for a bit. It provided some relief. Sketchie might love it too! And the best tip of advice I received was for the birth process…Here it is: When you are at the intense part of labor, when you are having a contraction and your belly and everything is as hard as a rock during that contraction, focus on relaxing your bottom. When the old nurse gave me this tip, everything progressed quickly. When I went for my second child’s birth, I focused this tip right away and my sweet baby boy was born just 40 minutes after I got to the hospital. Enjoy what remains of your pregnancy…it’s all such a miracle.
Thanks for the tips Kimmie! I haven’t heard of the relaxing your bottom before – I’ll have to try that one out :) Do you mean your butt specifically or your entire bottom half (including legs)?
I meant the bottom, as in, where the baby will come out. The nurse explained that when you are having a contraction during labor and delivery, it’s natural to want to tense up “down there”. She said focusing on keeping it relaxed allows things to move along quicker. It makes sense. Also, during the pushing part of delivery, my doctor put his finger on my butt/anus and said that is where I should focus my push. It made a world of difference. FYI, my son, my second child, was 9 lbs. 12 oz. I am grateful it all went fast and smoothly with both of my babies. Enjoy all the kicking and movement now, I missed it when the baby was out.
Oh, and about me talking about the progesterone crash…I don’t mean to make that scary, mostly I just wish I had known so I would have understood it better. I was so weepy after my first child was born (about 4-5 days after getting home from the hospital). I couldn’t understand what was happening. I am a joyful and happy person, so this phase bummed me out.
very interesting! I was just reading something similar in the Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth the other night. She was talking about how important it is to relax the bottom half (they even shake the legs/butt to loosen them up).
I’ve heard that about crying a lot the first few weeks…my girlfriend even warned Eric about it just so he knows it’s normal. ;)
I wish I would have known this tip! Might have helped with my LO; maybe it will help with our second–if I’m brave enough :)
Lol, what is it about the Barenaked Ladies and babies?! My dad plays their music for my son (7.5 months old) and he just loves it. I find it hilarious :-)
By the way, I tried your vegan taco recipe the other night – delicious!
Hi Angela!! I have really enjoyed following your pregnancy posts!! I am 30 weeks now and have the EXACT knife in the back ribcage feeling as you are describing. At least we know we aren’t alone…. it sounds like a pretty common thing. I just keep telling myself it’s temporary.
Hang in there!!
PS. Love your recipes… I make probably 2-3 of them a week, at least :)
Hey Rachel, Congrats on your pregnancy! Oh there is comfort in numbers, right? I felt so much better when I realized my mom struggled with it too (at least, it’s normal) – hang in there too. I keep telling my husband that this intense pain is prepping me to be able to handle labour more graciously. haha. We’ll see…
Good to hear about you and bubba’s updates :)
Yes, I’d suffered from brutal rib pain in my first and second trimester and would feel like my baby has hold my rib tightly but surprisingly it’s gone in my third trimester (I’ve finished 30 weeks, YAY!). But, the back rib pain is still there and it get worsen when I stand/sit prolong time in kitchen or anywhere. Taking a break in between my chores and I found it’s quite helpful otherwise I would die with my back rib pain. Can’t explain how painful it would be!
I hope your rib pain would go away once you finish your 2nd trimester. You look perfectly fit and healthy and seems like you have not put any unnecessary weight on :) Good luck with further journey :-)
So glad your pain has subsided…I’m hoping for the same, but not holding my breath!
Looking good! Sorry to hear about your rib pain…hang in there!
No wonder you’re feeling confident–what a gorgeous mama to be! Aren’t our bodies freaking ah-mazing?!
Just to ease your mind a little bit, those middle of the night dance parties don’t necessarily mean anything for after she’s born. I have a 17-month-old who did the exact same thing the whole time I was pregnant. After she was born we got in a nighttime routine within the first few weeks and never had any trouble at night. I still had to wake up but as long as I changed her, fed her and, put her back down without turning any lights on she slept fine.
And as for the boobs, I kept them the whole time she was nursing :-) They’ve just recently gone back to normal.
Well that’s nice! There’s always hope right? hah.
You are looking fabulous Angela – it is amazing to see how much your baby girl is growing!! I hear you on the cookie dough cravings (even though I am not pregnant) – I get them whenever it’s that time of the month, haha! I am loving the cookie dough from your cookbook by the way!!
Ohhhhhhhh goodness. I just love love love reading these updates. Though I must admit, I get slightly jealous. My body does not want to make a baby yet, I guess, despite my husband and I trying as much as we can ;-) hah! Soon enough, Soon enough…I must remind myself.
You are just so adorable. My sister-in-law just had her first baby, a little girl, and I’ve like reading your recaps of each week and comparing them to the things that she felt.
I’m so excited for the post where we get to meet her. Keep the updates coming and I’ll pray that the rib pain subsides a bit.
I just love these updates! I am 17 weeks pregnant this week with our first baby. I’m still feeling really good, with high energy most days, and able to keep up with most of my pre pregnancy routines again. During the first tri I battled all day nausea. Now I almost feel ‘too good’ which is weird.
Um yeah, the boobs are ginormous! I can’t imagine them getting bigger. I went from a B to DD already. My husbands says that he thinks my boobs will outgrow the belly. Ha, yeah right! I hope not!
I am just starting to be able to enjoy chocolate again. I used to love deep 85% dark chocolate bars before and now, the smell of them is horrific! I had a piece of chocolate cake the other day that was ‘okay’. I guess fruit is my jam for pregnancy. Lots of watermelon, strawberries, and raspberries!!
I’ve heard a lot of women can’t eat chocolate during their pregnancy…I never would have guessed that it would happen to me though! I can finally eat it again, but like you I’d still much rather have juicy fruit.
Yay for 26 weeks! I had some weird rib pain a while back too that was crazy painful. Luckily it went away after a day or so though. I think feeling the kicks and communicating with baby is the best part! I’ll be 33 weeks tomorrow and I’m getting so excited to meet him! Made another batch of your Glo bars this weekend to get through the week :)
you are getting so close…exciting! Totally agree with you on the kicks/communication being the best part. I will miss them!
Hi- first off, I really enjoy your recipes. They’ve inspired many healthy sweets and treats that my kids love. I made your chocolate zucchini muffins with coconut fat whipped cream for my 3 year old’s birthday and they were a hit. My sweet little nephew has many severe food allergies and he was actually able to eat these, he was so happy. So thank you for your continued inspiration and creativity, you are truly a beautiful person!
I also wanted to comment on the rib/back pain because I had the same thing with both of my pregnancies. I also felt it made any other pregnancy ailments non-existent because it hurts so bad, especially sitting (add to that nobody wants to let a pregnant woman stand). I found laying on tennis balls, chiropractic adjustments, cold compress and sitting on a meditation pillow or exercise ball really helped for those evening hours. Best of luck!
Angela,
Congratulations on your baby, you look fantastic! I wanted to comment on the rib pain in case it helps you. I had the same thing from about week 16 till then end when I was pregnant… and unfortunately I had a job where I had to sit for 8-9 hours a day. It was excruciating! I put ice and heat on it, and got massage as often as possible. But the one thing that really helped was seeing a physical therapist. She felt my ribs and said that my daughter had literally separated my ribs from each other, so no wonder it was so painful. She wrapped tape really tight around my ribs though and my pain was gone! It did eventually come back a bit, but not as bad at all with the taping – it was like a miracle! She showed me how to do it and I had my husband re-tape me every few days. Just thought I would share in case it can help. Good luck to you!
hi Sarah, oh wow I wouldnt have thought to try a PT.. thanks for the idea! nothing else has been helping me so I might have to try this option out.
I hope it helps! Reading your post made my ribs hurt, so I had to say something :)