24thhhhh WEEK!!!!!

Into the sixth month, the morning sickness returns.  I must say, I feel quite monstrous. Not only do I seem to spit fire, but I tend to so with my mind as well.  At least I do so with the safe confines of my mind.

My appetite is through the roof too!  Seems like everything I eat is never enough.

Whatever you do, do not acquire the Prenatal Yoga video via internet access should you fear for your very sanity.  The lady in the video was like some alien abducted who runs a "seeing eye" storefront.

I am not the pregnant lady lacking the desire for her husband, either. HOWEVER, I feel like I am turning into a sexual predator against my hubby. Poor him.  Things ya'll shall look forward to should you or your wuhman want little hoomans.


Thus ends my 24 weeks update so far...

21 weeks through 23 weeks update....

Okay, so I have been slacking on my updates, yeah yeah.  You tend to get pretty busy when you have a mutant fetus of awesome inside you growing and doing amazing sidekicks and uppercuts to your cervix, bladder, belly button, and right kidney.  He's very precise with which organ or place of the womb he's not pleased with.  Very much like his daddy when trying to get comfortable enough to sleep.

Up to 39 inches around the waist and am at 149lbs.  So, that's a whopping 13lbs so far...I haven't been this heavy in seven years......my word.  But, it is totally worth it.

21 Weeks!

22 Weeks

23 Weeks along...

Been having bad muscle cramps, realized I haven't been eating any bananas-bananananannanananananananananas--sorry, have to get that out of the system.  We finally had new bananas in the commissary on base which took them four weeks, but hey! It's okay!

I started growing and planting orange mint, pepper mint, lavender (from propagation), mesclun, and spinach. Oh, and Japanese chives. The chives were EASILY grown.  They grow more quickly in water by itself, but sturdier in the soil, so I will have to transplant the final two soon.  The lavender looks half dead, but from what I have been reading, that's what most being to look like after trying to transplant from cuttings. I have found mint to grow like weeds. They would make EXCELLENT ground cover near walking paths, so that when you step on them, they will give off a nice minty scent.  I now have 22 pots covering my stairs and hanging from makeshift metal grate.  It looks KINDA tacky, but I haven't had time to crochet pothangers yet.

On the crocheting note, I have completed my baby's jacket! Aside from the buttons, of course. But I think I am just going to turn them into snappies.  Can't seem to find decent buttons to add to his awesome hooded jacket.  I also crocheted the cutest bootie socks!!!  They will come up to his knees. Which should be fine. It's going to get as low as 20 degrees in Germany, don't want my baby a popsicle.

Freaking out about not having enough maternity/fitting clothing.  Tired of wearing the same 10 shirts over and over again. They are shrinking already....

Uhhh....19/20 Week Update

Sorry, the weeks are speeding past faster than I could have imagined.  Finally have been indoctrinated into the housewife mindset.  Cleaning and running almost all the errands now have become...fun?  Guess that's better than being depressed about not having a paying job.  Oh, and I am pregnant. If this house ISN'T clean, then I go running to the nearest binlike object to vomit.

19 Weeks side shot

There is a military ball coming up and I have realized there are no decent maternity formal attire available to middle class customers.  I am NOT going to pay 500 dollars for a damn dress I will wear ONCE.

Seriously.

So, here's some tips to find a dress regardless of maternity:
~Find an empire waist cut dress or one without a fitted midsection.
~Make sure there's some extra flowy fabric around--just enough to cling and drape over the bump.
~Even cocktail dresses with the extra poofy layers added underneath help give more room to the belly.

Examples:
David's Bridal Halter Dress    DB Strapless Chiffon  Ever Pretty Charming   Bowfront Cocktail

Well, time to wrap this update and random rant with my 20 week shot!

Pregger woman hogging your machine...Problem?

Bodybuilding.com blog link--please follow!

This blog post will help give one insight to what is okay and isn't okay for exercising while pregnant. A lot of people are under the impression that women should sleep all day, eat everything in sight and do nothing. Well, they are wrong. Lack of exercise and a bad diet will only increase health risks for the baby and increase the likelihood of pre-eclampsia and other serious health issues related to pregnancy and labor/delivery.

The point is, your body is okay with working with the limit you had before being pregnant. Do not push yourself past it because all of your ligaments and muscle groups are loosening to better redistribute your weight and changes your center of gravity to better hold your womb with your body.  Continuing to push past limits will cause hernias, torn ligaments, sprains, strains and all sorts of mess.

Just because your body wants a swiss cake roll does not mean your body can handle all that sweetness and fats.  The baby only needs an extra 300 calories in general, but a lot of protein is needed along with folic acid.  So, stick with fish, chicken and wonderful soy products. The trick to fighting off sweet-cravings I found so far are bananas, applesauce, carrots, honey butter on whole wheat toast, and ovaltine.

Trust me, I don't want to gain anymore weight than necessary, but you won't be seeing me using the baby as an excuse to eat all the trashy snacks available.  This 27 inch waist went up to 37 mainly due to the baby--well I guess the water also counts towards the baby.

This is my tidbit of info for the day...

The Week of 17...

As I am blessed to be overseas with my husband, it is decidedly better to be stateside than on a remote island 6 hours away from either Europe or the States.  First of all, with all this B.S.ing about Chick-Fil-A, Americans don't know great food, employment in the fast food industry and great customer service when they see it.  I have never met a depressed, tired, or disgruntled person working at a store. Ever. I have been to MANY Chick-Fil-A's and I have seen a huge variety of people of different backgrounds able to get a guaranteed day off during the weekend. We don't have Chick-Fil-A, Popeye's, McDonald's, or anything remotely close to that here.  Consider yourselves spoiled, U.S.

With that out of the way (cravings drive me to extreme anger because they cannot be relieved by the drive thru window), I have been EXTREMELY tired this week so far, along with a lot of sleeping issues. I have been peeing twice in the middle of the night now because I still manage to roll onto my stomach, which pushes Midget right into the bladder. And the kicking. Oh the cute flutter kicks.  So, between excitement, bathroom worries, and hip/back discomfort, it has been a helluva time getting some sleep in. I really need to hit the gym up as well to get me even more tired.

Luckily, my husband and I qualify for WIC. With how much we are spending now with my constant throwing up and desire for milk and veggies and fruit and sammiches, we have been spending almost twice as much as we should.  Hopefully this will cover the outrageous pricing of living overseas on the Euro dollar instead of the good ol' buck.

I should be in Germany for a follow up on the fetal development between 3 Sept and 17 Sept for who knows how long. That would have been exciting, except it was supposed to be 2 weeks from now that they send me and I won't even know the gender of the baby until then.  Seriously, if I was back stateside, all of this would have been taken care of this week. Not 5-7 weeks from now. By the time they find anything wrong, it just might be too late. Thanks, government ran healthcare, thanks.  Anyway, I am also experiencing extreme anger moments. So I apologize for my self-entitled bologna and such.

I have been eating lunch meat, by the way. The trick is for you to get it cut immediately off the uncut round in the deli since most of the stuff that ships here expires in two weeks even with ultra-pasteurization. Also, you can heat the meat. Don't let anyone freak you out too much about lunch meat and cheese.  Cook the hell out of it, cure it with vodka then cook it, whatever you do, it should be okay. I get paranoid about the meat so I throw some vodka on it and let the alcohol cook off after it kills the tiny, microscopic monsters lurking.