17 Days

...Until we find out if we have a little boy or a little girl brewing in there!  I'm curious to know what everyone thinks I'm having.  So vote on the right before January 16th!

The Skin Care Lineup

The Lineup

I start with the Belli Acne Cleansing Facial Wash.  The safest acne wash during pregnancy because it doesn't contain any salicylic acid.  It smells great and from what I can tell so far (after about 2 months of use) the lactic acid works great for preventing breakouts.

Belli Acne Cleansing Facial Wash

In the mornings, I continue with Sei Bella's Bright Eyes Soothing Gel.  This stuff is awesome and gets rid of all my morning puffiness.

Sei Bella Bright Eyes Soothing Gel

Some days, before I moisturize, I put on some Age Defying Serum.  The stuff smells AWESOME and has a lot of vitamins that are good for the skin.

Sei Bella Timeless Age Defying Serum

Then I finish with the Daytime Delivery Creme, also by Sei Bella.  

Sei Bella Daytime Delivery Creme

In the evenings, instead of the soothing eye gel, I use the eye serum.  Even though I obviously don't have any wrinkles yet, I see no reason not to start caring for my eyes now and hopefully prevent wrinkles.

Sei Bella Wrinkle Release Eye Serum

And I finish with the Night Firming Treatment.

Sei Bella Night Firming Treatment

I love how well all of these products work and how they make my skin feel, but most of all I love knowing that they're all natural and don't have harmful ingredients in them.  I feel like my skin has greatly improved since I've started using them.  I have hardly any breakouts and it even keeps my dry, flakey, pregnancy skin from feeling quite so dry.

Our Last Quiet Christmas

We had a fantastic Christmas this year.  Aside from the fact that James had overnight duty at the station, it was pretty quiet and uneventful.  Thankfully we have great friends here and one of them volunteered to cover the early morning part of his duty so that he could enjoy Christmas morning and go in a little late.  We got up and ate breakfast before diving right into opening gifts.  We got some great gifts as well as a few for the bun in the oven.  So here's my Christmas in some pictures.

Christmas Ornament hand painted by our nephew, Ty

Ultrasound frame from Danielle

Sophie lounging as usual on Christmas morning.

My Snoogle from Naomi & Katie, and it's new cover courtesy of my loving kitties.
This thing is the best thing ever invented for pregnant ladies.

Mama Mio skin care from my parents & brother.

And the best gift this Christmas...my pink Clarisonic Mia 2 from the hubby.
I can just hear my skin saying Hallelujah.

17 Weeks: Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas

Baby size: 5.1 inches, 5.9 ounces, about the size of an onion.  This week the baby's skeleton is hardening and fat is accumulating around it.

How far along: 17 Weeks.

Total weight gain: 7.5 lbs.

Sleep: Pretty good now, but still waking up a lot at night to pee.

Maternity Clothes: Starting to need longer shirts.  I need to go shopping with my Christmas money!

Food cravings : Still no cravings, but I have been eating a lot of salad lately.  And eggs for breakfast.

Food aversions:  None

Symptoms: Having to pee all the time.

Exercise: I was bad this week, I didn't work out at all.

Movement: Still nothing...hopefully soon though!

Belly Button: Still an innie.

Gender: 3 more weeks til we know Blue or Pink!

What I’m looking forward to:  Knowing what we're having so we can start planning the nursery!

What I miss:  Fitting into some of my clothes.  I've had to start a (somewhat large) pile of tops that no longer fit me due to my ever growing tummy and tatas.

16 Weeks

I feel like the belly is starting to protrude a little more this week.

Baby size: 4.6 inches, 3.5 ounces, about the size of an avocado.  This week the baby is starting to be able to hear me.

How far along: 16 Weeks.

Total weight gain: Starting weight: 131.5, Weight gain to date: 6.5 pounds.

Sleep: Sleep was better this week...less heartburn = easier to get to sleep.

Maternity Clothes: Still not a necessity.

Food cravings : Still no cravings.

Food aversions:  None

Symptoms: Less heartburn.

Exercise: Still working out, nothing too strenuous, but I definitely want to keep up with it as much as I can.

Movement: Still no wiggling!  I'm hoping in the next week or so I'll start to feel something!

Belly Button: Still normal.

Gender: Stay tuned for January 16!  Only 4 more weeks!

What I’m looking forward to:  My next appt, Dec 27, where we'll get to hear the heartbeat again!

What I miss:  Not having to pee every 5 mins!

Even bigger dress dilemma...

So I thought my dress problems were over when I secured my rental with Rent the Runway (see this post) over a month ago...

Unfortunately, not.  I got an email this morning (although I couldn't check it til this afternoon) reading "Dear Caitlin, We regret to inform you that due to circumstances beyond our control, the following item from your order is not available for shipment at this time."  They were referring to my dress!!!  I am 3 days away from the Christmas party and NONE of my dresses fit.  They go on to say that I have until 5pm today to tell them 5 alternative dresses, although I can only pick from the leftovers that are available, no matter what price point to switch it for.  

So, I've given them 4 choices and one of them better show up at my door on Thursday or Rent the Runway is going to have one very pissed off pregnant lady to deal with.

Here are the 4 choices in order:

Temperley London, Emerald City Gown 

Peter Soronen, Razzle Dazzle Dress

Peter Soronen, Emerald City Dress

Christian Siriano, Red Carpet Dress

15 Weeks

Baby size: 4 inches, 2.5 ounces, about the size of a naval orange.  The baby's legs are now longer than the arms and all 4 limbs have functional joints!

How far along: 15 Weeks.

Total weight gain: Starting weight: 131.5, Weight gain to date: I'm still at 137.5 this week, so 6 pounds.

Sleep: Sleep is not so great right now.  I have a pregnancy pillow, The Snoogle, but I have so much heartburn at night and the only comfortable position for me to sleep in is the one I'm not supposed to sleep in...on my back =(

Maternity Clothes: Still not really needing maternity pants, but they are definitely more comfortable on those bloated days.

Food cravings : None this week.  I've actually done better with eating this week.  I went to the produce market and got a whole bunch of healthy food for me and the baby.

Food aversions:  Still not eating marinara sauce.

Symptoms: Still lot's of heartburn, but less nausea.  Also, my nose has been really stuffed up.

Exercise: I got my prenatal workout DVDs this week and started those.  I like the workout because it feels like I'm working, but it's not as hard as what I would usually do.  So it's not sucking all of my energy away like the other workouts I was attempting to do.

Movement: Still nothing yet =(  I keep waiting to feel the flutters, but I still can't yet.

Belly Button: Still normal.

Gender: Stay tuned for January 16!  Only 5 more weeks!

What I’m looking forward to:  My next appt, Dec 27, where we'll get to hear the heartbeat again!

What I miss:  Fitting into my shirts!  I need shirts that are a good 6 inches longer than normal.

14 Weeks

And the official beginning of the 2nd trimester!  Now that we've gotten this far, I've decided to change the bump updates a little.  I'm going to start taking the picture in the doorway to the nursery so that as we start to get it ready, you'll be able to see!  Also, I'm going to add a little pregnancy update questionnaire for you guys.

Baby size: 3.4 inches, 1.5 ounces, about the size of a lemon.  The baby has started to suck its thumb, wiggle its toes, and pee!  haha.  He or she is also starting to grow peach fuzz hair all over.

How far along: 14 Weeks.

Total weight gain: My starting weight was 131.5, my weight today is 137.5.  So 6 pounds so far, not too bad.  In my opinion, it's all in my boobs, I've gone up about a cup size and a half.

Sleep: Sometimes I sleep great, sometimes I wake up 5 or 6 or 7 times a night to pee or roll over or because James is crowding me.

Maternity Clothes: I sometimes wear my maternity jeans, but not because my other ones don't fit.  Usually it's because I was too lazy to do laundry and that's all that's clean.  Maternity or longer shirts are becoming a necessity because my ever growing bosom is stretching them all into belly baring tops.

Food cravings : I don't really have any.  I have been really good about not eating junk food and really limiting my intake of sugar.

Food aversions: Mine are weird.  It's never a specific thing that turns me off.  All food in general will just sound bad some of the time.

Symptoms: Heartburn's a bitch!  At night it's SO bad.  I take a couple of tums at night, but sometimes that doesn't even touch it.  Morning sickness is pretty much gone, but every once in awhile in the evenings it makes a return.  I have the driest skin imaginable!  This baby is sucking every ounce of moisture out of my body.  I feel like I'm drinking gallons of water and slathering on lotion every chance I get and I'm still dry as the Sahara desert!

Exercise: I haven't been good lately, due to lack of energy.  But I'm hoping that with this trimester comes more energy so that I can work out more.  I've still been working my abs, which I feel like I can see in the picture still.  And I try to walk when I can.  I ordered some prenatal workout DVDs to try out as well, so we'll see how I like them.

Movement: I have yet to feel the baby move.  I'm really looking forward to that, it will be an exciting moment.

Belly Button: Still normal.  Although, I have a really deep one, so I think it will take a long time to "pop" if it ever does.

Gender: Stay tuned for January 16!

What I’m looking forward to:  Feeling the baby move, meeting him or her for the first time, seeing James hold the baby, decorating the nursery.

What I miss:  Not feeling bloated and having heartburn and nausea all the time.  Other than that, it's been smooth sailing for me!

Christmas Shopping

Just finished my shopping for the most difficult person on my list (James)!  I'm impressed that he beat me this year, my gift has been under the tree for 2 days!