Our Babymoon

8/22/11

Our Alaskan cruise was fan-freaking-tastic.  BBH was on PERFECT behavior.  He may have even made up for all of the grief that he caused me on the Disney trip back in May!  I experienced zero puking episodes and zero nausea.  I didn't even experience the acid reflux that started plaguing me the week before the trip.  The reflux did return with a vengeance on my flight home, but I was thrilled that it didn't bother me while on vacation.  My mom, dad and Blake all took more naps than I did.  I felt rested and energetic for the entire week.  Yay for experiencing some 2nd trimester bliss (which I previously thought was a myth)!

The weather was beautiful and cool.  It did rain in Juneau, but the remainder of the ports and days at sea were perfect.  Temperatures hovered in the 50s and 60s for most of the trip.  Needless to say, many groans were heard on the plane home when the pilot announced that it was 101 degrees at DFW (at 9:30 p.m., nonetheless). 

The food on the ship was really, really good.  I ate ice cream a MINIMUM of once a day.  The four of us began to affectionately call the trip "the Ice Cream Cruise," as we all pigged out on it daily.  Pure bliss for a preggo like me.  I also ate soup daily (a prior pregnancy craving, as I am sure you know by now).  Between the soups and the ice cream, I was a very happy girl (and BBH was a happy little fetus).  That being said, I'm NOT excited about my next weigh-in at the doctor's appointment.  I'll be lucky if I gained less than 10 pounds on that cruise.  I don't even know whether I'm experiencing cravings at this point in my pregnancy... I ate so much and so often on the cruise, that my body didn't have time to want or crave anything in particular.  Now that I'm back to reality (and hopefully back to eating smaller quantities of nutritious food), we'll see whether any cravings kick back into gear.

I also gambled... a lot... at the ship's casino.  I probably played around 10 hours-worth of Black Jack during those 7 days.  I ended up dead even.  I consider that a major win.  Bingo was played (and lost) several times by the Moses/Halpern clan.  I think it was rigged.

We got to see tons of interesting wildlife on the trip including: seals, sea lions, sea otters, salmon (jumping out of the water), bald eagles, black bears (Ro and Blake), LOTS of whales and puffins (to name a few).  As always, Blake got some awesome photos.

What Blake and I did NOT do on the cruise: Pick a name for our baby boy.  Several awful names were thrown out by my father (thanks "BudMo"!) such as "Bastion" and "Blane," but I think Blake and I are better off sticking to our short-list.  I'm still holding out for *****, but I haven't been able to starve Blake out yet. 

Pictures to come!

8/21/11

General Pregnancy Update:

How far along: 22(ish) weeks

How big is baby: According to The Bump website, baby is the size of a papaya this week.  I'm unfamiliar with papayas but I certainly wouldn't have guessed that a papaya is bigger than a cantelope...  In terms of weight, baby has almost certainly exceeded the 1 pound mark (seeing as though he was already 12 oz. as of my 20 week appointment).  Grow little man, grow!

Total weight gain: As of my last OB appointment, I had gained approx. 7.5 pounds.  However, I have since spent 7 days on a cruise gorging myself with ice-cream and other delicacies (See Babymoon Post).  I'll pat myself on the back if I didn't gain an extra ten pounds in that week alone.  Here's to hoping that the scale treats me well at my next appointment...

Belly button; Stretch Marks: I'm still an "innie" but unless I'm imagining things, my belly button is starting to shallow out.  No stretch marks... yet.

Last Dr's Appt: I already recapped my last appointment in a prior post, so I won't bore you with repeat details.  My next appointment is on September 6th.

Maternity clothes: Exclusively (other than a few work dreseses). I dig maternity clothes. 

How am I feeling: I feel fantastic!  No more nausea and no more puking.  My energy level is even fairly high!  I'm going to hang on to this 2nd trimester blissful period for dear life and pray that third trimester woes (read: insomnia, sciatica, back pain, etc. etc.) stay FAR, FAR AWAY.  I am experiencing moderate acid reflux on an almost daily basis as of about 2 weeks ago.  Although it is bothersome, I'll take it any day over the morning sickness.  It's manageable.

Mood Swings and Food Cravings: Mood is pretty stable and I haven't experienced any definitive cravings in the last 2 or 3 weeks other than being generally hungry most of the time.  My fixation on dark chocolate has returned, but I can't call that a pregnancy craving since it plagued me pre-pregnancy as well. 

Milestones: Baby dances around and kicks quite a bit now!  On Friday, August 12th (21 weeks exactly), Blake FINALLY felt the baby kick.  Although I've been feeling kicks consistently for several weeks, it was too sporadic and I could never manage to get Blake's hand on my belly fast enough.  He has been able to feel baby boy's kicks a couple more times since then.  Mom has felt him too!

What I'm looking forward to: Moving into the new house and starting to register/shop for baby/set up the nursery.  The house is move-in ready and we are simply waiting for shower door installations (Hurry Up AJAX!).  We may be able to start sleeping in the new house as soon as tomorrow night!  I'll be sure to post some pictures of the house ASAP.

Preparations and decisions being made: My BFFs have begun planning my shower.  They have also begun to harass me re: Baby Boy Halpern's name and nursery theme(s).  I have been entirely useless.  Blake and I still don't have a name picked and I haven't had a chance to shop for crib bedding (which I want to do before committing to a color scheme or theme).  Despite the harassment (which I actually quite enjoy anyway), I'm stoked that they have begun shower planning.  So exciting! 

Baby Boy stole my sweet-tooth

8-5-2011

Perhaps the strangest thing about this pregnancy has been my lack of a sweet tooth. For the first 18 weeks of pregnancy, I was entirely uninterested in sweets. If you are reading this blog, it probably means that you know me. If you know me, then you obviously know that I'm a chocolate-fiend. Dark chocolate to be exact. But I'm not a complete dessert snob. I'll eat most sweets without any hesitation. However, for my entire first trimester and a good chunk of my second trimster, I simply wasn't interested. I thumbed my nose on a daily basis at the tub of chocolate candy that my law firm keeps in the break room. I literally didn't eat a single piece for 18 weeks straight. Prior to pregnancy, I had to limit myself to 2 small pieces a day. What a weird, weird change. I guess I was too busy craving pickles and salty things.

What gives Baby? Suddenly I hit the 18 week mark and I want sweets again? Yum... ice-cream. Yum... chocolate covered pomegranate candies from Costco. Yum... cookies and cake and donuts and candy. Darn you sweet tooth! This certainly won't help my weight gain during the remainder of my pregnancy.

Oh well... what can a pregnant girl do? Certainly, if Baby wants me to start eating sweets again then I can't refuse. Baby gets what baby wants. Spoiled little guy.

P.S. Baby is half-baked today! Can't believe I'm halfway through my pregnancy. Baby is the size of a freaking cantelope this week!

August 5, 2011

Baby boy is half-baked today!

I can't believe that my pregnancy is half-way over. I have at least one exciting update: I have not puked since July 29th, which means I have officially had an entire pukeless week. It is a freaking miracle! Thanks for finally letting up on your mama, BBH!

General Pregnancy Update:


How far along: 20 weeks

How big is baby: According to my anatomy ultrasound, baby weighs 12 ounces and measures exactly on track. The Bump tells me that he is now the size of a cantelope, which I find a bit hard to believe.

Total weight gain: I've gained 7.5 pounds. I'm quite pleased with my weight gain at this point and a bit more hopeful that my body won't completely blimp up during this pregnancy. Let's just wait and see what kind of damage is done on the Alaskan cruise (I leave in less than a week!). I fully intend to indulge.

Belly button & Stretch Marks: No strange belly button mutations or stretchies yet (thank god!). I'm happy to sport a normal "innie" for as long as possible.

Last Dr's Appt: My last appointment was August 8th (I came back to add this part a few days after initiating my 20 week blog post since my doctor appointment wasn't until 20 weeks, 3 days). It went really well. I enjoyed seeing Baby Boy during the anatomy scan, and it was very interesting to examine each of his organs. I saw the 4 chambers of his heart, his brain, profile, kidneys, bladder, etc. The ultrasound machine makes baby (and his parts) look huge, but in reality, his heart is only the size of a quarter right now! I also had a nice visit with Dr. Bradford. She is happy with my weight gain. She also signed off (officially) on my Alaskan cruise. She is thrilled that I have finally bid the morning-sickness farewell and that I am only getting headaches once or twice a week (rather than daily).  ***See bottom of page for pics from the anatomy scan***

Maternity clothes: I have fully converted to maternity clothes with the exception of a few regular work dresses that are still working. I'm still in love with my maternity jeans and have bought a second pair.

How am I feeling: Oh my god... so much better. I haven't puked in over a week. My headaches are much less frequent. My appetite is at full force. Energy level is pretty good (I still tire easily but don't need naps like I did during 1st tri).

Mood Swings and Food Cravings: I think I am past my pickle cravings, but I am still enjoying yellow mustard and soup. As you will see from a separate blog post, my sweet-tooth is back and I'm digging icecream. Not yogurt. ICE-CREAM. Baby likes the real deal.

Milestones: I can feel baby move and kick daily now. I love it! I consider my lack of morning-sickness a major milestone too.

What I'm looking forward to: I'm looking forward to getting out of this heat! It has been over 100 degrees for 30+ days now, and I'm freaking sick of it (as is the rest of the state of Texas). Alaska, here I come!

Preparations and decisions being made: We've moved out of the Townhouse and into my parents' house (temporarily). Hopefully we'll be moved into the new house within 2 weeks from now. I can't wait! Once we move, i'll start nursery planning/decorating. We also have a pretty great "short list" of names for BBH but haven't settled on anything yet. My friends and my mom's friends have started discussing my baby shower(s), and I'm so excited!

Label probably unnecessary... picture speaks for itself