Big Brother

I know that things around here have been pretty quiet this summer. Well, there has been a good reason for that...

Our family is growing by one. He/She will be joining us sometime in January!!!

We are thrilled to be adding a squishy little winter baby to our clan and I am very happy to say that I am finally feeling better.

I am 20 weeks! Hooray. 

I am one of those people who pregnancy is very hard on them in the beginning. I have really bad morning ALL DAY sickness and have trouble keeping a lot of foods down. These first few months were all about survival over here... and let me tell you- second time around, the exhaustion is out of this world!

15 weeks I finally started feeling better, most of the time. :)

16 weeks I felt baby move for the first time.

19 weeks Geoff felt the baby move as well. 

Tomorrow we go in for our ultrasound and find out if we are adding another Boy or a little Girl to our family. 

Anyways, I hope to start posting again more often but I am not going to stress myself out over it either. Thanks for anyone still reading along for hanging in here with me all this time. :)

Maternity photos

Way back when I was pregnant, my BFF Courtney made a trip to come and see me before Logan arrived. She and I met in college, at The Ohio State University, where we were both Photography majors. :)

The good thing about having a photographer BFF is she took Maternity photos for us while we visited Boston one afternoon.
The bad thing about having a photographer BFF is that I was last priority for my photos to be edited and sent out. I guess that's the price you pay... ;)

I was so excited to have her visit me when I was still feeling fairly good and mobile. We had a great time walking around Boston and eating lots of good food!
We just got these in the mail and I couldn't resist sharing... so, here are some pretty photos of me with my big pregnant belly!!! (I can not believe my little boy was all squished in there).

All photos are property of Elson Photography.
Courtney takes photos out of the Columbus, OH area. If you would like to reach her you can check out more of her wonderful photography and contact her on her website. (Tell her Megan sent you)

Guest post- Tips for a Healthy Pregnancy

Happy Weekend everyone... since Geoff is flying and I am on "Mom duty" all day, I have a guest post for you!
Fellow blogger Katie Moore, over at her blog Moore From Katie, is an active blogger who discusses the topics of, motherhood, children, fitness, health and all other things Mommy. She enjoys writing, blogging, and meeting new people! You can follow her on twitter, @moorekm26. So enjoy and go check her out!
           
Tips For A Healthy Pregnancy

I walked into a local department store yesterday and noticed a man, mid-sneeze, walking towards the cart corral.  As he lost his battle with holding the sneeze back, he immediately brought his hands up to his face and caught all the watery spray with them.  I watched in horror as he used the same hands to grab a cart, without a tissue in sight.  Patting my purse in relief, I felt grateful for the sanitizing wipes I was toting around for just this reason.  It instantly flashed me back to my pregnancy, where I took many steps to remain healthy and germ free!

Several friends had told me to be grateful that my baby bump will be gone before summer and shared their miseries of being larger than life during the hottest months of the year. They had assured me that my sweater loving self looked even cuter with my round belly than without, but being pregnant during cold season had its own challenges.  Not the least of which was fighting off germs everywhere I go.  With people coughing and sneezing all around me, I became vigilant in my quest to stay healthy throughout my winter pregnancy. 

My first line of attack was my nutrition.  While I followed my doctor's recommendations (I talk to my doctor about everything; breastfeeding, cord blood banking, delivery options and more) regarding my diet and taking my prenatal vitamins regularly, I also concentrated on getting a good amount of Vitamin C.  Even though I usually love a good, juicy orange, my dry winter lips were sensitive to the citric acid in them.  Instead, I snacked on sweet red bell peppers, which are an amazing source for this immune-boosting vitamin.  It was one of my strongest cravings and one I didn’t mind giving in to!

The cold and flu season months are usually busy for me and have me out and about more than usual.  This means I was constantly in contact with people and some of those individuals don't seem to mind sharing their germs; thus, my affinity for a travel-sized container of sanitizing wipes.  I've also treated myself to pocket-sized hand sanitizers in several delicious fragrances. I use these in lieu of the sink when using a public restroom and have found I prefer these to washing my hands in the grimy sinks.

My friends assured me that my germ awareness was just one of many changes that come with being a mom.  Even now, I’ve become more aware of staying healthy and beating the germs!


Thanks Katie for the post! 

 

37 weeks and life changes

I can not believe that I am already halfway through my 37th week. I really feel like this third trimester has flown by. At the same time, each day that passes gets a little harder. I'm not moving as quick as I was, I feel bigger and bigger, I am having more trouble sleeping through the night... you get the picture. While I have been lucky enough to not suffer through heartburn, indigestion, swollen feet and legs (my fingers occasionally swell)... I feel generally how I thought I would this late in the game. Mainly tired. Luckily for me, I have a wonderful husband who has been doing his best to be my biggest supporter during this time and making me laugh through all the fun and not so fun experiences pregnancy brings.

Thebump.com tells me that I have 16 days left until my due date. 16 days. Physically I am ready for this to be over. I'm sure I will miss the kicks and movements I have been feeling for months but I can not wait to be able to normally get up out of bed and not have to roll off the side. Mentally however, I've been feeling more and more nervous as the count gets shorter. There is a constant to-do list of things I would like to accomplish before our life gets turned upside down and as excited as I am to meet this little guy who we have already fallen in love with, I feel it's only normal to be a little scared of the unknown.

I haven't really shared a whole lot of my daily flying adventures with you this year. Between being pregnant and just plain ole sick, how I bid for trips drastically changed. No longer did I seek out exciting long overnights but instead shorter days and comfy hotel beds. On top of that I switched to part time flying in September and this month, my doctors took me out at 36 weeks. In reality, I haven't stepped foot on an airplane since late October. This isn't going to change anytime soon either. My company has a very generous leave for new parents and I will be out for about a year. While I know what a complete blessing this is that we have this option and we are able to afford for me to stay at home for that long, it's also a little scary for me to think about. For the past 6 years I have been a flight attendant at two different airlines with the freedom to come and go as I please. To say this is a life changing event is an understatement. Not only are we adding a baby to our family, but my role in life and our marriage is completely changing. Anyways, as nervous as I am... I am twice as excited to meet our baby for the first time!

So for the next 16 days (or however long I have until he is here) I will be doing my best to enjoy this time in my life when I have so much to be thankful for and so much to look forward to... both the known and unknown.

Happy Halloween from my baby to you

Hope everyone is recovering from the storms and the wild weather (some of my friends back in Ohio had snow!) and had a wonderful and safe Halloween!

I became a bit jealous when I saw all the cute baby Halloween outfits out there this year and knew I wouldn't be able to dress my baby up in one until next year. Instead, we dressed him up a different way... as a baby skeleton. :)

Happy Halloween!!!

31 weeks

So September flew by... literally I have no idea where it went to and I just realized we are halfway through October people!!! This is insane. I guess the fact that I have been super busy with life had something to do with. The past few weeks followed like this-

Work, Week in Cincinnati to visit/my two baby showers, back to work, MOVE, work again, long weekend in South Carolina for my friends wedding, back to unpack boxes and work again. Yikes!

I'll get to all the fun things soon enough (and yes I am totally ok with being months behind on my blog. I've learned to let go right now) so here's a recap of where I am at with the pregnancy! :)

I have not only entered into my third trimester but also officially popped. No longer do people wonder if I have a belly or I am pregnant... I think it is pretty obvious. My energy levels have been pretty good and I only feel really tired when I do to much in a day. (I'm looking at you moving day and my 12 hour work days)  I'm trying to get better at scaling back just a bit since my body has no problems showing me how I can't keep up like I used to anymore.

I feel our little boy move and shake my belly everyday now. It's amazing to read each week how he is growing... I can't believe I have something so big hanging out inside of me. It's getting harder to get up off the ground and to stand up from the couch and chairs. Sometimes I get a cramping feeling when I get up too quickly which my doctor said was round ligament pain. No Braxton Hicks contractions here yet!

I am still wearing my wedding rings and I haven't swelled much at all. I started taking prenatal yoga last month... it's a six week class and I already wish it was longer! I haven't been craving too many things lately but I have been hungry... I think I am going to gain the bulk of my weight in this last trimester. :)

This week we are finally going to purchase a lot of the things for baby that we still need and hopefully I can get the nursery started... I have an insane nesting urge going on right now and I really want to run with it incase it goes away.

Anyways, off to enjoy the beautiful fall days while they are still around!

Week 22- Hello baby...

Where is the time flying to?
Well, I can honestly say I am feeling 100% better than I have felt in the past few months. The last week of July was a turnaround point for me. I went back to work, had my 20 wk appointment and then we took off for over a week to Seattle to visit with family!

Right now I'm feeling great. I am still tired and sleeping as much as possible. I haven't been sick for over two weeks and the pain in my hips I was getting at night has settled down. (However, I do think that has something to do with our new temperpedic mattress!!!) I've been going on 3 mile walks everyday I can and hope to add in a few pregnancy dvds I ordered off amazon.

The most exciting things these past weeks have been feeling the baby kick- Geoff has caught it a few times and finding out our little nugget is a BOY!!!

I feel bigger everyday and know that I still have a long ways to go! :) The photo is from the beach in Oregon and I'm a proud 21 weeks here. I've found a week by week breakdown to be too much for me right now flying a full schedule, trying to take care of myself and having time for family and friends. I'll update most likely every few weeks- hope you don't mind all the baby/body talk for now. :)

My Pregnancy Journey (Hello week 18! and a talk about health

Well hello! (Don't mind my makeup-less photo)

I went back and forth on whether I was going to include weekly updates on my pregnancy and body changes on my blog for quite some time. I decided since this is sort of my journal on life and I've written about my family and friends, highs and lows, jobs and vacations before so why wouldn't I share this time with you.

I'm going to be completely honest with you for a minute. When I found out I was pregnant, I was so excited! I had chatted with a co-worker when we decided to start trying for a family and she gushed about how it was so great to be pregnant because she was the healthiest she has ever been... she ate well, took care of herself and has three gorgeous kids (well grown-ups) to show for it. I was stoked! I had already set it up in my mind how my pregnancy was going to go... (silly silly me)

I started off the first few weeks carving out time to exercise on my layovers, really thinking about what I was eating and getting 7-8 hours of sleep a night. Then one day, it all changed...
I got hit with morning sickness All Day Long. For all of May I was exhausted, I was nauseous all the time, I had bad food and smell aversions (goodbye morning coffee and even chicken for a while). Being around smoke or going into a grocery store was torture for me. I went from a fruits and veggies diet to potatoes, bagels and red meat. Then in June I went from feeling nauseous to hugging the toilet. Everyone kept telling me that after the first trimester it all goes away and you feel great. I hit second trimester and my sick was still going strong. Work was bearable but long days on the plane made me get sicker and brewing coffee would still send me straight to the lav. (yuck)
Then when I thought it was starting to get just a bit better (hello July!) and I was pretty much at my wits end and missing "normal" life (no exercise) I got hit with a horrible sinus and ear infection sending me to Urgent Care and googling the heck out of whether the antibiotics they had me on was anything to worry about. (I also had previously imagined myself not taking any medicine over the course of my pregnancy) There is This is where I am now... hopefully at the tail end of this all as I finish my meds.

Don't get me wrong, I feel blessed to be pregnant! It's been really hard both mentally and physically feeling so out of whack for a few months but when I hear my baby's heartbeat or look at our first ultrasound photos I know that all this is completely worth it.

Growing a life inside my body has made me really think long and hard about health. I think and worry alot about the health of my baby but also being so sick has made me really think about my health as well. Looking back I feel proud of my body and what I have put it through the past few years... traveling the world, running a few half and full marathons, bikram yoga, changing my eating habits to healthier choices. I almost feel bad because as amazing as all of those things felt I don't think I gave my body the credit it really deserved. I remember so many times comparing myself to other women, wanting smaller thighs and a tighter core. I have called myself fat and large at times, felt self concious and ashamed. If I could go back, I would take every mean and bad word to myself back and give myself a huge hug. Our bodies are amazing if you treat it right and take care of it.

These past 2 weeks especially I've left the apartment a handful of times, I missed my Great Aunt's surprise birthday party in Dayton because I can't fly right now and I've watched more Netflix and tv than should ever be allowed. No matter how full and fun my life is, without my health- I can not enjoy any of it.
So, as the weeks go by and I grow my little nugget, I will be trying to take it easier on myself and concentrating on being as healthy as I can be. (with a few deserts adding in for good measure) I feel like my blog is slowly changing but it's because I am slowly changing. Thanks for coming along with me so far on my journey!