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.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Week 10

I was 10 weeks along on Sunday, so I'm just a couple days behind.  I know I skipped week 9, but really my 10-week and 8-week posts are only about a week and a half apart, so I decided to skip over non-eventful week 9 and post week 10 early in the week.

How Far Along: 10 weeks
Size of baby:  kumquat (I had to include the link because I had no clue what a kumquat was or looked like); a little over 1 inch
Total Weight Gain/Loss:  I'm about the same as I was a couple weeks ago in my post, maybe even a .5 lb less.  I've really only gained 0.5-1 pound so far.  I'm eating quite often (especially breakfast!) and not as healthy as ideal, but overall pretty good.  I think I really did gain some vacation weight that kind of evened out when I got back into my normal lifestyle and eating habits.  
Maternity Clothes:  I bought a BeBand that goes over my pants last night.  I wore it over a pair of my work pants today, and it was really comfortable!  I'm going to wear this for as long as I can!  My cousin, Keely, is generous enough to lend me her maternity clothes.  So I'll start wearing those when I need to.  And I went to shop for new bras last night.. what a nightmare!  I don't think I can do the "cheaper" bras.  I think I'm going to have to go to Victoria's or Von Maur and get some help.  All the ones at JCP looked and fit terrible!  They either pushed me way up in my throat, or were poking into me really bad, or just didn't fit well. Wish me luck...
Gender:  Don't know yet
Movement:  Not yet
Sleep:  I love our new mattress!  It's really comfortable, and I've been sleeping really well.  I do wake up a couple times early in the morning to go to the bathroom, but I can fall right back to sleep.  Still sleeping with the pillow between my knees.. may be investing in a body pillow sometime in the future.  We're not going to have any more room for Chief in bed, which might not be a bad thing!
What I miss:  It wouldn't make me sound like an alcoholic if I said vodka, would it?  :)  One of Carl's work friends got married on Saturday and we went to the wedding.  It was beautiful.. and open bar.  I usually am the one who drives anyway, so I usually take it pretty easy.  But it was weird not being able to have 1 drink!  I totally would have gotten the VTL (vodka, tonic, w/ lime).  And someone at our table asked if I had the signature martini, which she said was pretty good.  I said, "no I haven't tried it; I'm not drinking tonight"... and we just left it at that.  I do feel healthier drinking water a lot. For awhile now, I've really tried to cut out alcohol to eliminate unnecessary calories.  But again it was just really weird not being able to have champagne for the toasts or just 1 cocktail.  It will be worth it.  :)  .  
Cravings:   I'm not as picky as of late, which is good!  I'm just trying to get all my fruits and veggies in, which I think I'm doing a pretty good job of.  But still I just want fast food and grease and french fries!  I still haven't given in to the french fries yet... 
Symptoms:  Feeling great this week!
Best Moment this week:  I just told everyone at work our good news today, which was a lot of fun!  For me and for my father-in-law.  It's his last week at this job in my department before he moves on to a new company, so it's cooling getting to share the news that he's going to be a Grandpa.
Best husband quote of the week:  We've had a couple of "are we ready for this" and "are we really going to do this" conversations this week... and all have ended in "well, I guess we don't have a choice!"  It's kind of funny.  I'm really lucky to have Carl and that we are going through this journey together.  He's level-headed and keeps his cool and is very reassuring that everything is going to be great.  And it will!  :)

Week 10 Picture
Here is a pic of me before the wedding.  It was pretty cold out today... lower 30's, but the sun was shining.  I wanted to wear my black tights and black heels.  Then I realized Chief had eaten all my good black high heels... so these Forever 21 boots would have to do.  
Can you tell I'm pregnant??? Not with those tights on!  :)


Friday, March 18, 2011

Where Our Story Begins...

This is my first post.  Well, obviously... :)  I'm excited to start this blog to document what's going on during this pregnancy. I'm not really sure what to expect, even though I've already read a lot and have had a number of close friends have babies.  I'm hoping that I stay in the moment and really take in everything while still looking toward the future.  I want to be present during this time, very aware of what's going on, and not take anything for granted!

We found out we were pregnant the night of Carl's 30th birthday.  What a present!  Early in our relationship, we said we would have children by the time he turned 30.  30 always sounded so far away.  But it snuck up on us... and I guess baby Larson wanted to hold us accountable to our word.  

It was so wonderful finding this out, but then we had that big secret to keep as we went over to Carl's parents to celebrate his birthday that night.  We wanted to go to the doctor before we got too excited and started telling everyone.  We kept the news to ourselves for a couple weeks, then decided we wanted to share the good news with the people we loved the most.  

We told our parents when I was 7 weeks along.  We were getting ready to leave for Florida on vacation.  We had to drop Chief off at Carl & Joyce's the night before we left.  So we told them we had a gift for them for watching Chief.  They opened the gift bag and pulled out a picture album.  Joyce asked "Ooh, is it filled with pictures of Chief?!"  We told her to open it and find out.  Then she saw a note in one of the picture sleeves that said "Insert picture of grandchild here".  Then she finally got it.  They were really excited to say the least!  The next day, we arrived in Florida at the condo.  My parents had some workers in the condo fixing the HVAC.  We held off as long as we could, then we couldn't wait!  We presented them with a similar gift "for letting us stay there on vacation".  They opened the "brag book" and saw our note inside.  Mom just kept saying "Oh my gosh!"  They were so happy!!  I was really nervous to tell our parents, but it felt so good once we told them!  I was scared to tell anyone else fearing that something might happen to change our situation.  But we knew that if something did happen, we would want the support from our parents so we wanted to tell them first and early on.  

This is the first grandchild on both sides of the family.  This baby is going to be spoiled!!!  

We held off on telling our sisters for about a week after we told our parents.  Real nice of us, right? Tell our parents then tell them not to tell anyone.  We skyped with Amber and Ashley separately and told them that they were going to be aunts.  How fun it was to tell them!!!  Ashley of course cried and made me cry too!  Then, Jennifer came over to our house the next night so we could tell her the good news.  She had this great surprised look on her face and then high-fived Carl. 

Today, I am 8 weeks and 5 days!  
We had our first ultrasound on Wednesday where we got to see our baby for the first time and hear his/her heartbeat.  CRAZY!  I couldn't believe that we could see and hear the baby already.  Can you see the little guy/girl in the ultrasound?  So tiny!  This was definitely the highlight of the pregnancy thus far.  During our appointment, we first met with the nurse practitioner to talk about my medical history and any potential risks.  I was pretty nervous so I was "Gabby Abby".  :)  Our medical history and gene pool looks pretty good, so hopefully this will be smooth sailing.  The only thing that I need to make sure all the doctors and hospital is aware of is that my blood type is A- so they can give me a shot of Rhogam before I deliver.  The nervous chattiness continued even with the ultrasound tech... until we heard the baby's heartbeat.  At which time I couldn't talk because I was going to burst into tears.  My eyes filled up with tears and I knew they would spill over if I said anything.  What an incredible sound.  And to be able to see the flicker of the heartbeat on the monitor, it just blew my mind.  Eventually, I said to the tech, "I can't believe that is our baby!  Especially because I don't feel or look any different!"  And the tech confirmed there is only one baby.  (I was concerned about this.)  One healthy baby whose heart was beating strong at 170bpm.  Incredible.  What a true miracle this is!

That statement to the tech wasn't exactly true... I do feel different.  First, ever since we found out we were pregnant (exactly 1 month ago today!), my boobs have been killing me.  They already have grown so much. I'm going to have to go shopping for bras pretty soon.  And I hear they don't really stop growing until the baby is here.  Oh man.  Also, my pants are getting pretty tight.  I can't tell if it's from "vacation weight" from eating out and eating like crap for over a week straight, or if it really is the baby and my uterus growing.  I occasionally feel a little nauseous.  Usually, it's first thing in the morning before I've eaten anything.  This week has been the worst for the morning.  But sometimes in the evening, I get a little queasy too.  Not physically sick, just a little queasy.  The first couple weeks of the pregnancy, I could feel pulling and some pain down in my abdomen.  I was still trying to keep my normal workout routine, and I was just finishing up a weight session with personal trainers at work.  We were lifting legs and abs and I was really hesitant to move too much or to strain myself too much.  I was squatting with 12.5 pound weights in each hand.  Ha - so light!  I was just trying to protect myself.  It was really strange.  I don't feel the pain in my abdomen anymore.  Some fluttering, but I'm sure that's not the baby yet.  I've been able to continue exercising, although I'm not exercising as often as I would like.  When we were on vacation, I did yoga a couple times and we took long walks along the beach.  I was in fairly good shape prior to getting pregnant, so my body is responding pretty well to the exercising.  But believe me, I haven't really been pushing myself hard.  Since we've gotten back, we've taken a couple walks outside (it's been so nice this week!) and I've been to the gym to do the elliptical and do some weight lifting.  I really want to get in the routine where I can do the elliptical or go for a long walk every day.  And I need to keep up my weight lifting routine so I can carry that baby when he/she arrives! 

Oh, I also have to mention that I have been extra tired ever since the beginning of this pregnancy.  Don't get me wrong, I've always been a good sleeper.  Always needed at least 7 hours of sleep a night.  Consistently would fall asleep on the couch before Carl moves me to bed.  So it's not unusual for me to be tired.  But with this pregnancy... holy cow.  I would fall asleep on the couch between 8-9 at night.  I would hit a wall at work in the afternoon and want to go home and just crash.  During our vacation, I really was able to get a lot of rest!  So I've felt pretty rested this past week.  But still pretty tired.  When is it I'll start nesting and get the burst of energy?  I'm looking forward to it.  And I think Carl is too!  :)

So I think that's all that's happened thus far in the pregnancy.  Whew!  That is a lot.  For the rest of my blog entries, I hope to give a shorter update each week following the format below.  I've borrowed this journal format from a couple other blogs, and I will try and post every week.  Here goes for week 8!  

Pregnancy Highlights:  
How Far Along: 8 weeks
Size of baby:  Kidney bean (or cashew as the ultrasound tech told us); about 1 inch
Total Weight Gain/Loss:  ~1.5 pounds (like I said above, not really sure if this is due to the pregnancy or "vacation weight")
Maternity Clothes:  Not yet.  I think I may purchase some wrap dresses to wear to work so I don't have to deal with pants before I buy maternity clothes.  I'm going to hold off as long as I can.  We'll see how long that is.  :)
Gender:  We have decided that we are going to find out the gender of the baby, and we will of course share that with everyone.  But we won't know for another 10 weeks or so.  
Movement:  I feel some fluttering occasionally, but I think I can attribute that to my diet and digestion.  Not the baby unfortunately yet.  I hear I won't start feeling the baby for awhile.
Sleep:  I'm a stomach sleeper normally.  So it's been an adjustment to switch to sleeping on my side.  I have a pillow that I place between my knees and that's been pretty comfortable and reliable in keeping me on my side at night.  I'm adjusting.  And we just purchased a new mattress, so hopefully I'll be sleeping even better in a few days!  :)
What I miss:  Sleeping on my stomach!!!  And deli meat. When we were in Florida, all I wanted for lunch was a bologna sandwich with Miracle Whip.  Weird.  I think it's because we used to eat bologna sandwiches all the time for lunch down at the condo growing up.
Cravings:  Cheese anything!  Mac n cheese, Cheetos, Mexican food smothered with cheese.  And while we're at it... McDonald's.  I have officially given up french fries and I'm going to stick to it!  I hope.  Really anything fried, cheesy, or and/or high in carbs.  I really haven't felt like fresh produce.  I've been trying to make myself eat vegetables and fruit so I can get those nutrients, but I've become really picky which is strange!
Symptoms:  Some queasiness, but overall feeling okay this week.
Best Moment this week:  Seeing the baby and hearing the heartbeat during the ultrasound.
Best husband quote of the week:  After we heard the baby's heartbeat and saw the baby on the ultrasound, Carl and I were alone in the room for a few minutes.  I said that it just didn't seem real, and Carl replied with "Oh, it seems pretty real now!"

*I'll also try to post a picture pretty regularly, but since I don't look any different than normal I've decided it's not necessary for this week.