About Me

Hi! I'm Abby. My husband, Carl, and I are happily married since October 2007. Our little family of 2 (well, 3 if you count Chief, the dog) added one more in October 2011 when we welcomed Audrey Elizabeth, our first child into the world. Our life was forever changed. And to add to the joy and excitement, we added another daughter, Clara Marie, in May 2014. I wanted to create this blog originally to document all the milestones throughout my pregnancy with Audrey so we could remember that special time in our lives. And now I get to write all about Audrey and Clara and our life with these amazing "Larson Ladies", which is so much more fun!

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Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Week 14

I did not post last week.  No excuse.  Last week just passed me by.  Maybe it was a subconscious decision to not post on week 13 because it's unlucky.  But that's probably not the case.  13 is not unlucky in the Larson household.  Carl and I were married on the 13th of October.  And that was a very lucky day for me!  That being said, I hope to not skip any more weeks of posting!  Here is a combo of weeks 13 & 14.


How Far Along: 14 weeks and 2 days
Size of baby:  baby is the size of a lemon; about 3 and 1/2 inches
Total Weight Gain/Loss:  This is an unfair question right after Easter weekend at my parents.  My Mom is such a good cook and we really ate!  When I weighed myself yesterday morning, I was 2 pounds up from week 12... so I guess that puts me at 7 pounds total.
Maternity Clothes: I bought a pair of black maternity pants for work at Target last week, and I wore them for the first time today!  I am traveling for work this week, and I didn't want to have to deal with a waistband on an airplane and while sitting in meetings.  They have worked perfectly!  Except I really don't have a true belly yet, so the pants were falling down a bit at the end of the day.  I plan on wearing them a couple more times this week so hopefully they hold out and stay up for just a couple more days.  Or maybe I should just go on an eating binge and create a belly in the next couple days... or maybe not. 
Gender:  I've been having dreams that we're having a girl.  The most vivid dream was last week.  It included me with our little girl.  She was about 2 years old with blonde hair and curls... she was so cute!  I felt so proud in my dream, proud that I was her Mom.  The funny part of the dream is that everyone kept calling the baby girl "Hailey".  And I kept telling everyone that wasn't her name... that we were still deciding on a name for her.  Yup, our 2-year-old baby did not yet have a name. 
Movement:  Nope, not yet
Sleep:  I think I've had a burst of energy, or maybe I just fall asleep on the couch really early, or maybe it's the stress of work.  But I haven't slept all night through without waking at 2am thinking about work (or anything else that's on my mind) in a long time!  Actually, I did sleep pretty well over the weekend at my parents' house.  But other nights, I've woken up for 1 hour to 1 and 1/2 hours at a time in the middle of the night.  Last week was my most stressful week so far at work, so I think it was really weighing on my mind.  Hopefully that will improve soon.  Has to, right?  I need to get my sleep now!
What I miss:   This past week, I've had a couple moments where I've really missed being able to work out HARD.  I miss being out of breath and really making my body work.  I've really been taking my workouts easy.  I decided this week to not join the weight-training program at work for this next 4-week session.  Instead I'm going to add another session of yoga per week.  I still want to keep lifting weights on my own, but I feel like the focus of the work weight-training class is body building and they didn't give me too many options to modify exercises or the routine.  Regularly, the have a Biggest Loser contest at work.  I'm hoping they'll have the contest starting around 2/1/12.  I already want to get in the best shape of my life after the baby comes.  I'm hoping to do what I can during this pregnancy to remain healthy.  This is important to me for a number of reasons, and really one of the most important is so it's not a unbeatable  battle post-pregnancy. 
Cravings:   All of that workout and healthy stuff being said... I haven't been eating the best lately.  As I mentioned, it was quite the weekend of feasting.  I love holidays with the Patton family!  Aside from this weekend, I can say that I'm craving fruit but I'm not craving vegetables.  And I'm just craving unhealthy food in general.  I went to Whole Foods here in CT tonight to pick some stuff up for this week.  I bought apples, grapes, bagels and cream cheese.. and pizza for dinner tonight.  At least it was pizza from Whole Foods - has to be healthy, right?  Riggghhhtt...  I just couldn't bring myself to get any vegetables; they just didn't look appealing.  The only kind of vegetables I like right now are frozen broccoli with cheese.  Doesn't matter how I get my vegetables, just that I get them, right?  :)
Symptoms:  I've been feeling pretty good!  I was nervous about how I would feel this morning.  I usually don't feel well when I don't get much sleep, and I didn't get much sleep last night.  Carl and I went to the Arcade Fire/The National concert last night at the UIC Pavillion and we didn't get home until after midnight.  And the alarm started going off at an early 4:30am so we could get me to the airport on time for my early flight.  But no worries!  I felt really good! 
Best moment this week:  The concert last night was UNREAL.  We had already seen both Arcade Fire and The National at Lollapalooza last summer, but seeing them in a true venue was incredible.  The show, the performance, the energy, the acoustics... holy cow!  Arcade Fire started their set with Ready to Start then went into Keep the Car Running then Haiti.  And this was just the start.  They played all of my favorites!  The whole show was awesome, but the encore really got me...they really pulled out all the stops with Wake Up (my fave!) and Sprawl II (Mountains Between Mountains).  Totally worth the lack of sleep!  (And when do I ever say that??)  I would go see them again anytime, anywhere. 
Best husband quote of the week:  Carl's really been there for me.  He always has.  This morning Carl got up really early with me to take me to the airport.  And he didn't just drop me off... he actually went in with me and went through security with his badge.  Our plan was to get breakfast together, but we mistakenly took "the long way" to the terminal and only had about 10 minutes to scarf down our McDonald's Egg McMuffins before they started boarding my plane.  I'm not an independent traveler... I just haven't flown enough by myself to be really confident with traveling by myself, so it was great to have his support and have him with me this morning. 

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Week 12

How Far Along: 12 weeks and 3 days
Size of baby:  baby is the size of a lime ; a little over 2 inches
Total Weight Gain/Loss:  Since my first Doctor's appointment, I've gained 3.2 lbs.  But I'm up about 5 pounds total from my pre-pregnancy weight. 
Maternity Clothes: Probably pretty soon... but not yet.  My jeans and casual clothes are fine, but my work pants are another story!  I can't button either of my pairs of nice black pants, so I have to use the belly band.  I'll probably have to get a pair of maternity work pants here pretty soon... but other than that, everything else fits okay.
Gender:  We will find out the gender in our "level 2 ultrasound" on June 15th.  Today, the heartbeat was still high at 167 bpm... is this a sign of gender?  Who knows!
Movement:  Nope, not yet
Sleep:  Can't complain!  I feel like I've been sleeping a lot lately.
What I miss:   I don't really think I've missed anything this week.  
Cravings:   I'm a meat and potatoes girl lately!  And anything carbohydrates.  We've been cooking mashed potatoes with a lot lately... but healthy with skim milk and spray butter.  Yummo!  We had porkchops with golden mushroom soup in the Crockpot yesterday for dinner.  Served those with some mashed potatoes.  Holy cow.  :)  And since the weather's been nice this past week, Carl's been cooking on the grill.  We've had steak with A1 sauce... and mashed potatoes.  See a trend?  And burgers and chips when Katie and Frank were over after the Bridal Expo on Sunday.  
Symptoms:  I've been pretty off-and-on this past week.  I skipped yoga last week because I was nauseous and had a headache.  I've been getting headaches pretty frequently.  And one morning last week I actually threw up while I was getting ready for work.  Then I just thought I was going to get sick yesterday morning at work, but I didn't.  Hooray!  I was feeling pretty great until the past couple weeks... but I really think this might be caused by the new time I take my prenatal vitamins.  I had always taken them at night with dinner, but now I take them in the morning since I can make that more of my routine and I am less likely to forget to take them.
Best Moment this week:  We not only got to hear the baby's heartbeat at the doctor's office on Monday night via the Doppler, but we got to see the baby again today at our 12-week ultrasound appointment!  The baby has changed so much from that little tiny peanut in the 8-week ultrasound.  Now, you can really see the shape of the baby... head, legs, feet, belly.  Love it!!!    
 And here's a close-up... kinda...

Best husband quote of the week:  I was reading the 12-week baby update from babycenter.com to Carl on Sunday, and I read that the baby's ears have moved to the side of his/her head and he/she will start to respond to sounds/movements already.  Carl said, "Well that baby probably was moving a lot during the [Cut Copy] concert on Friday night!"  It was pretty loud and we were dancing pretty good.  What a fun concert!!!


Week 12 picture
Note:  This will probably be the ONLY time you see my bare stomach.  Just wanted to show my little "bump".  Although I think my stomach looked like that pre-pregnancy too.  ;)

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Week 11

How Far Along: 11 weeks (today!)
Size of baby:  baby is the size of a fig ; a little over 1 and 1/2 inches
Total Weight Gain/Loss:  That's hard to tell right now... we just got back from a "family style" meal at Maggiano's with my family.  We had A LOT to eat.  :)  But from weighing myself this morning, I think I'm up 2 pounds total.  I feel like my weight fluctuates quite a bit, so it's hard to tell.  I go to the doctor for my 12-week check-up next week, so I'll have more of an exact figure then. 
Maternity Clothes:  My cousin, Keely, is letting me borrow all of her maternity clothes!  She saw my parents when they were at my Aunt's and Uncle's this weekend.  So my parents got the clothes and brought them up to me this weekend when they were in town for Amber's softball games.  I've only been through part of the box of clothes, but so far I can tell there are some really cute things in there!  We'll see when the time will come for me to wear them.  I'm still pretty comfortable in my pre-pegnancy clothes... in fact, I'm wearing my stretchy skinny jeans today.  :)
Gender:  Not yet!
Movement:  Nope, not yet
Sleep:  Sleep has been pretty good!  I always have been a pretty good sleeper.. and still I'm sleeping really well so far.  I get up to go to the bathroom between 3-4 times per night, but I've been falling back asleep right away.  I feel like I do have a lot more energy at night now and I'm not falling asleep so early, so that's good too!
What I miss:  Lunch meat.  It's so easy to grab a sub sandwich for lunch.  There was one night this past week that I really just wanted a sandwich from Jimmy John's, so we had it.  Everything is okay in moderation, right?  Except for alcohol and raw food... I will completely eliminate those! 
Cravings:   So I gave in to french fries this past week.  :-/  I really was feeling under the weather on Thursday night and thought french fries and milkshake right before bed might help.  So Carl was a great husband and made a late night trip to McD's.  It must have worked because I woke up the next morning and felt perfect!
Symptoms:  I've really been lucky and have been feeling great!  There was one exception this week, though... Thursday I woke up not feeling well.  Had something small to eat for breakfast at home before leaving for work (where I usually eat my 2nd breakfast).  That helped a little, but not as much as it normally does.  And then I got a headache that really would not go away all day.  I kept chugging water hoping I was just dehydrated, but I don't think that was it.  Maybe it was sinuses?  Either way, I mainly laid on the couch that night hoping to feel better soon.  So, as I explain in Cravings, Carl made a late night run for fries and milkshake.  That made me feel better.  It always does.  :)
Best Moment this week:  We were dog-sitting one of my good friends' dogs this week.  Chief and "Jordan" really had a good time this week.  Jordan just went home and Chief's been moping around downstairs.  I know that has nothing to do with the baby, but it was a big part of our week.  Jordan was a lot of fun to have at the house!  And I guess I would say this whole pregnancy and baby thing are feeling more real. We've been discussing some plans and finally have some plans in place... financial, home projects that need to happen before the baby comes, etc.  We still have a lot to do, but at least we've got a start! 
Best husband quote of the week:  Me: "We need to discuss names."  Carl: "Good news is we have until October!"  We really are going to be deciding the name of our baby in the hospital.  It's so hard... how do you choose something so important??


Week 11 Picture  
I didn't have my picture taken this week.  Maybe next week for Week 12.