21 Day Fix Round 3

Hey everyone! I know a lot of you, well, some of you had said they wanted me to keep updating the blog on how my fitness journey with the 21 Day fix was going. I'm proud to say it's still GOING!

After I wrote my last post about phase two I totally took my foot off the gas. I got satisfied for a second because I was seeing results. So for my second round I did one week on, one week off (and gained what I'd lost during week one) and then one week on (where I lost it again.) Boo. It was kind of a bust! I was so frustrated with myself.   It kinda made me wake up though and realize I'm not interested in quitting and that I'm setting out to make this my lifestyle! I had a pretty long break between my second and third rounds and I was really nervous about that.  I decided I'd just keep on and maintain my weight until the next round. And I DID! I even ended it one pound lighter. During that little break was when I really let it sink in and showed that I wanted this to be a lifestyle change. The only thing I didn't do so well on was keeping up my exercise.

Round 3 started October 5th. I have been totally pumped this round. And at the same time.. guys, I'm SO TIRED of being fat! I'm stuck somewhere between totally frustrated with my body and absolutely determined and motivated to KILL this round. This time I grocery shopped and meal prepped like a crazy person. IT. HAS. BEEN. AMAZING. AMAZEBALLLLLS! (who made that up? Oh wait, Perez Hilton, I actually know, how sad is that?!)  Seriously though it has been so great! I don't have to wonder what I'm gonna eat and I don't have to cook dinner every night its awesome!  I made breakfast mini egg muffins or quiches, whichever you prefer to call them.  My mom has a great recipe for delicious mini quiches, I wanted something like that but all of the recipes I found online that were 21 Day fix approved didn't have much to them except eggs and veggies. So I patterned mine after my moms with healthy substitutions. They turned out great and have been perfect for Danny to just heat up before heading out for the day. I also did tons of black beans in the crock pot, cilantro lime rice, salsa chicken in the crock pot, 50 turkey meatballs, and cut up veggies salads and froze cut up fruit. I have made a grain and veggie here and there to go with meatballs but that's about all I've had to do.

Oh. I'm all gluten free now. Gluten free, dairy free, fried food free, sugar free... trying to stay away from corn or red meats too. And I think I'm going to cut out fruit until I have the weight off. Being pre-diabetic and knowing how fruit just turns to glucose I'd rather just get the weight off and worry about fruit later.  And so far as dairy I do still have greek yogurt and low fat cheese in moderation. Just no cows milk.. or fatty cheeses or sugary yogurts.

I've struggled to control my blood sugar lately and It's really getting to me. I'm starting to feel like this phase of my life, when it comes to my health is at cross road. I really want to get things in check. I have too many health problems that interfere with living my life on a daily basis. I just want to live damnit. I really need to take care of what I can control right NOW. I hope I can do this. My motto this round is "Diet like your life depends on it, because in many ways it does." Another one i'm really digging is "If you don't want to have to start over stop quitting." I've thought a lot during this round of what it would be like to reach my fitness goals. Of how that would feel. In truth I suppose during the first and second rounds I hadn't given it much thought because I didn't know if I could do this. But after seeing before and after pictures of SO MANY people who have lost so much weight i'm just like, hey, if they can do this I  can too! I've done plenty of hard things and I can do this.

For workouts I have been trying out a few other programs on beach body on demand. I did CIZE and TURBOFIRE. Both were fun, both killed me. I did the Turbofire today actually! Today was leg day and I seriously hate it so I do something else rather than avoiding exercise all together on leg day haha. It was crazy hard. But I am stronger than I think and it felt SO GOOD to finish it! I haven't felt that way in a long long time and it was really awesome.

I really like shakeology but we just cannot afford it. I've been dong lots of research on protein shakes and saw others suggested Vega One as a replacement for shako. It's not cheap but it's more of a reasonable price. It's all plant based, gluten free, no GMO, full of superfoods and antioxidents and probiotics.. it actually has less sodium and sugar and more protein than shakeology. It's just too bad I hate how it tastes.. ha, I've only tried vanila chai though and i'm hoping when I try chocolate I will find it more palatable.

Well there's my update! If any of you are considering joining us on this journey please do! That would be awesome! Plus, why not? Why not be your best self? xoxo

My determined face after turbofire :P

21 Day Fix

Getting back on the bloggin' band wagon is so hard if you've not written in a while! You just have NO IDEA where to start.
So first, why was I gone so long?

Cause I was pregnant and then had this sweet face ^! 

No, not planning on blogging about the birth.  The pregnancy, labor and recovery were all so much worse and more painful that I just don't want to recall it all. I just want to kiss this sweet face, and live like a human again.  

Chase Elias Tracy was born on June 1 2015. He is the sweetest, most easy going little baby. I love his blue eyes like daddy, his sweet smile and adorable dimple in his chin. We are so blessed to have him in our lives. It's been hard for me to watch him grow so quickly knowing that i'm not considering another pregnancy unless I can get my IC and pelvic issues treated. OR not for a few years until our kids are old enough that they don't need me to care for them 24/7.

So we are finally, after moving every 3 months or so over the past year, settled.  We are in Rexburg Idaho, Danny is excited to start classes at BYU-I in a couple of weeks. I hope we'll be in this apartment until he graduates. I told him he's only allowed to accept internships in the area cause i'm sick of moving and I am NOT doing this parenting thing without him again! 

Since Chase was born I have been so grateful to have my body back. I can load a dishwasher, walk, do laundry and lift my kids all without crying in pain or vomiting! It's amazing! I still will just stop whatever i'm doing and be filled with gratitude for the health I have right now! I've been flipping furniture and having fun with chalk paint. I have some decorative chalk paint jars in a few boutiques and hopefully they do well. I plan on posting some of my chalk paint projects soon. 

21 Day Fix

Danny and I lived on fast food through the majority of Chase's pregnancy because I was unable to do much of anything let alone cook! Even though my weight was about the same as when I conceived I was/am still very over weight, unhealthy and out of shape. Danny had gained weight as well since finishing his time in the army and no longer working out. He committed to get healthy with me.  Guys, it's so scary to start something like this. I was NOT at all looking forward to it. I didn't feel ready. Its so hard to have that reality check of how far gone your body is (so far as fitness level and physical ability and strength) as well as really facing the reality of my size. When Chase turned 2 months I decided it was time to address the weight issue again. The after baby water retention weight loss had slowed down and even though I was scared and didn't feel ready I approached Jessie, a former roommate who is now a Beachbody coach. She had sold me shakology and the 21 Day Fix program while I was pregnant. I told her I was ready and asked to be added to her next 21 Day Fix  challenge Facebook group. It started August 3. 

What's the 21 Day Fix? 

The 21 Day Fix is a diet plan (sorry, I know I called it a diet.. ) based on the idea that it takes a person 21 days to kick an old habits and to establish good ones. It's clean eating at its basics with containers to help with portion control.  It comes with colored containers that correlate to different food groups. 

Purple- Fruits

Green- Vegetables

Red- Protein

Yellow - Carbs/starches

Blue- Healthy Fats and Cheese

Orange- oils, nuts, healthy dressings

I am in the highest calorie bracket and I get 6 containers of green (veggies), 4 purple (fruits), 6 red (protein), 4 yellow (carbs), 1 blue (cheese/ fat), 1 orange (fat's, healthy oils). And then there's also a teaspoon option you can have 6 of a day and that's where like your nut butters and things come in. 

Along with that I chose to drink Shakeology, a meal replacement shake. There are all sorts of claims you can find online about what an awesome, nutrition packed product it is.

The program also comes with a workout DVD. There are 30 minute workouts and you do one EVERY DAY! Cardio, pilates, Yoga, upper body, lower body.. 

My review of the plan? Love it.  The beach body coaches really stress that it's not a diet, its a lifestyle change. It took me a few days to really grasp that concept and let it sink in. I was viewing it like any other diet i'd tried and quit. I really am trying to wrap my mind around making these changes long term for our family.  I need rules and I need a network that keeps me accountable. I have had a pretty good idea of how to eat healthy, I've counted calories and things in the past but I have a hard time eating enough veggies, eat too many calories even in healthy food,  and I love my healthy treats and whole grain carbs. I need those little containers. Most of the times i've lost weight in the past I was on a very very low calorie diet. This plan, if you follow it has you STUFFED with vegetables, fruits, and protein. It's so hard to  get all of the food in! But I really try to so that my metabolism will rev up. So its really helped me to eat more of the RIGHT foods. Instead of just less food all together. Being a part of the challenge groups helps me a lot. I get to check in every day and do the daily challenges. None of my groups have been super active or involved, that's been kind of a bummer, but I still get excited to post that I did the assignments so that's helped me. When I don't want to work out and I see that the daily challenge is to post a sweaty workout pic I DO IT. So that's been just what I need. Shakeology is super expensive, we all know that. I don't know if I can say its worth it.. but personally I think its a great product and I love it. Its the best chocolate flavored protein shake i've ever had. I don't feel a super boost of energy or anything from it.. and i'm not sure about their claims that it is like eating all of the foods they say it is in one drink, but it seriously is a great product. It helped me keep my blood sugar down during my pregnancy and helped me get nutrients when I couldn't keep anything down. I also love having a chocolatey kind of "treat" on the 21 day fix that is my shakeology.  

21 Day Fix Round 1 

Starting our 21 Day Fix we were so busy I was unable to plan and meal prep like I wanted to. I was pretty overwhelmed for the first few days. It took about a week to get comfortable with understanding the portions and "rules" to the plan. I just didn't know what to make, but eventually we got in a routine and did pretty well.  We really stuck to the plan strictly on our first round. We did perfectly the first 2 weeks and during week 3 we moved and things slipped a little. My weight kind of just jumped all over and I wasn't seeing the results I wanted with that first round. I got discouraged a lot and felt really down about how out of shape I was. But we kept going until things got thrown off. I lost about 12ish lbs.   I stopped breastfeeding shortly before we started and my weight shot up about 10 lbs right before we started. I was so bummed to start out that much higher, but it came back off. I also hadn't really gotten all level with hormones and cycles and things right after my baby. I had a foot injury and had to baby it during the workouts. I didn't go super ham on my workouts.. I was pretty  careful to start out slow and focus on just pushing play and doing SOMETHING every day. As long as I did some working out I was happy. 

Danny has been so awesome. He's being doing it right along with me and I am so grateful to have his support. No one had ever done that for me before. It's really amazing. We always find something to laugh about during our workouts and we eat healthy meals together. It makes things so much easier and we get to celebrate our success together too. 

21 Day Fix Round 2

We took a break for about a week and just started round 2 five days ago. It's been going fine, we didn't have groceries to start out again! Everyone always stresses that you need to meal prep to succeed and I do agree but I also think that if you can't do things perfectly and don't have time to prep you can still do your best that day even if it's not going to be a perfect day, instead of throwing it all out the window for the "tomorrow" that never comes. Danny has loosened up a little bit on the rules.. he kind of freaked out a little at first if  I didn't measure perfectly or used salt lol. But it's not always easy to measure perfectly when cooking meals. So we do our best and are HONEST about the amounts. The truth is as long as you're controlling your portions and eating 99% clean foods you don't have to be absolutely perfect to get results. KEEP GOING. And keep working out! 

I have seen my strength increase a lot during this second round. I don't have to do only modified moves anymore and that's been awesome. Being able to do more of the workout also just helps me improve and increase my strength even more. I found out the hard way though what moves to avoid that cause pelvic pain. 

Today I took some pictures of myself in the same outfit as I wore for my before pics on round 1.  The results are awesome!  I had gained a few pounds back to start out this round between rounds but I'm down 13 lbs total and you can TOTALLY tell in my pics! It's so awesome. It's really motivated me and gotten me so excited. I almost started crying I was so stoked! Maybe someday I'll share the pics with you. I have gone down a pant size, I can fit my hand around my calf again, I have more energy and my tummy is shrinking! So is my mama pooch. YAY! 

I have been doing some video's documenting my journey and posting them on youtube. I'm really putting myself out there as another way of being accountable. 

Here's my channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/user/mship27/videos

Belly Cream (Pregnancy stretch marks!)

This week our little baby boy seems to have really grown! I woke up one morning with my tummy feeling so huge, heavy and tight. He also seemed to be far up into my rib cage as well as low in my pelvis. I showed Danny after he got off work and he even was like "Woa... baby HAS grown!" Usually he says he can't tell when I show him things like that, not seeing me every day! Well, you know what comes along with baby growth; STRETCH MARKS. I haven't worried about it too much this being my second I figured, hey, they're already there right? Well... now THOSE marks are getting longer and burning and itching! So today I decided to whip up my own little belly cream. I remember paying like 40$ for the "good" kind at motherhood maternity when I was pregnant with Rowan. This probably cost me .. well the whole jar of Shea butter was 8$ and I only used 1/4 of it, then my jar was 85 cents and then the oils!

Here's the recipe:

1/4 Cup Shea Butter
6 drops of each:
                -Frankincense
                -Gentle Baby
                -Lavender

I scooped the shea butter into a bowl, microwaved it for a few seconds to soften then added my oils and whipped it up!

Rowan's Room

I read a blog post a couple of days ago on enjoying this stage with your child. You know the type. The type that make you feel guilty, like you can't possibly enjoy them enough amongst all of the stressful tantrums, messes, and sticky fingers. Because you can't get time back. Because you still have to buy groceries, fix meals, do dishes and laundry... I usually really hate these kinds of articles. Just because I have bad days doesn't mean I don't enjoy our little son. Hindsight is 20/20 for everyone and I know i'll miss these days. I even miss yesterday but I only have today. This article at least gave some tips that I hadn't considered before and some of them I actually liked and didn't come with a healthy helping of guilt! One of the suggestions was to take a photo of your child's room because it won't be something you remember. So today after cleaning his room and organizing all of his toys again- he's been tearing the place apart during "nap time" since getting a toddler bed, I took some pics! It was fun and his room is nothing amazing, but, I enjoyed photographing it and am glad i'll get to look back on these. After taking a few photo's from my own perspective I took a few from how Rowan sees his room. Enjoy!

Essential Oils/ Homeopathic Healing

I wanted to share my journey with Essential Oils and natural healing with you so far. First of all, I have a little bit of a wrap sheet when it comes to health problems. In no way am I anti modern medicine. More than anything I wish the two fields would come together to treat the body as a whole in the best way possible. Anyway, after having antibiotics shoved down my throat for my sinus problems for a few years, not getting better, having them totally mess up my system and just having one surgery after another I decided to go see a naturopath.  I was extremely skeptical. But I was also desperate. I couldn't function, was throwing up any new antibiotics, my body wasn't responding to them and i'd become quite depressed. So my mom took me to see a naturopath that was in Rexburg. She doesn't really do the homeopathic healing thing, but she took me. I didn't tell him ANYTHING about myself or my health problems. He proceeded to use *muscle testing to diagnose my health issues. He named all of the existing ones I knew I had and then some.  He knew I had pre-diabetes, thyroid problems, infection and a lot of other things.  One of the diagnosis was an imbalance in my body was caused by candida. An overgrowth of yeast in my body due to a compromised immune system that no longer could fight as the good flora in my body had been wiped out so many times by antibiotics. I saw him for a few years.  Gradually my health got better and better. I still struggle with sinusitis but seeing that doctor was my first experience with a full body, homeopathic approach to healing. At one point he pinpointed some things I needed to forgive others for that were holding me back in my own relationships.  I didn't understand why over and over i'd fall for these guys that didn't care about me and used me while having someone else in mind. After working with him to forgive my heart was opened and I met Danny shortly after.  All through this process I still remained a little bit of a skeptic. Granted, the supplements weren't always a magic fix but almost always I felt much better as I worked with him to get my systems back in order.   Mostly I was skeptical because I just can't see  or the solid proof of the technique. But I do believe that the spirit and body make up the soul and that one effects the other. He helped me to improve my health and I was in a good place at the time I met Danny.

*Muscle Testing:

Based on the concept of internal energy fundamental to traditional Chinese medicine, muscle testing is a noninvasive way of evaluating the body’s imbalances and assessing its needs. It involves testing the body’s responses when applying slight pressure to a large muscle, to provide information on energy blockages, the functioning of the organs, nutritional deficiencies, and food sensitivities, among other things. It can also be used to test the body’s responses to herbs and other remedies.

Fast forward a couple of years. A friend of mine became certified in the body code. I still considered myself an open minded skeptic at that point but again, I saw results. And often times I KNEW where she was going with things. Just like i'd know what medicines my body needed when my naturopath would "ask" my body.  While Danny was deployed I went through a lot of different emotions. I missed him terribly, pregnancy was hard and  I struggled. The strongest emotion I felt in his absence was abandonment. Know what emotion has come up again and again as my friend does work for little Rowan? Yup. Abandonment that he felt while in the womb. Anyway she's helped us a lot with different things and just like my naturopath she has pinpointed specific emotions and toxins tied to specific times in my life that I knew exactly what she was talking about. Some pretty personal and emotional or spiritual. I know that the main belief behind the body code is understanding how our emotions effect our body and cause ailments. It involves releasing those negative feelings and toxins within us to restore health. I still don't understand quite how all of the body code works but my friend sent me a book on it called "Feelings Buried Alive" I plan on reading very soon.

I've continued to try and steer clear of antibiotics whenever I can. At one point in our marriage I was diagnosed with a bladder disease and told to take an antibiotic after each time my husband and I were intimate. This frustrated me beyond belief.  I knew what would happen if I followed the doctors orders and I refused to do it. Danny was frustrated that I didn't listen to the doctor but you know what? I've found much more relief for that condition by watching what I eat than I ever did with medication.  Although I do suffer from my existing health issues I don't get sick from bugs near as often as I used to. My immune system has come back somewhat and its really been a blessing.

Now we come to essential oils. I was in the same frame of mind with them as with the naturopath and his muscle testing, and the body code. Skeptical.  Again, because I didn't understand them. I kind of have one foot in both camps. I eat clean sometimes. I use natural organic stuff  and steer clear of toxins sometimes… but I also take a lot of medication. And I HATE it. I had been interested in learning about essential oils for some time and after having a few suggested to me, just in passing for pregnancy related issues I decided to try them. I ran into a deal on baby steals and ordered 4 oils. But I couldn't find out ANY information on the oils, how to use them or if the company even existed. The more I poked around on line the more I began to wonder if these oils were even any good. Eventually I ordered a Starter Kit from Young Living. It came with a diffuser and 11 different oils to try along with some samples and a lot of information on how to use them.  I took me a little bit of time to trust that the oils could do the job. I found myself taking tylenol along WITH my oils for a headache.  I started using their resources to find out what oils to treat what ailment and started using them regularly. But I still wasn't sold, mainly wasn't sure I wanted to pay so much. I found one company out of Idaho and ordered a few of them. And… they just didn't seem to help that much. I researched the company and just wasn't convinced. So I started really digging into what made a pure pure therapeutic grade oil, how they worked, the science behind the oils and so on. After understanding Young Livings Seed To Seal Promise and doing my own little tests on my Idaho oils I decided I'd stick with Young Living.

So how have the oils I got in my starter kit helped me?

Headaches: Pan Away and peppermint often help with headaches, depending on what kind.

Neck pain: Pan Away

Sinus pain and headaches: Moving to FL has been so hard on my allergies. Its green and lush and blooming outside and basically poison for me. Along with my sinus problems being magnified by pregnancy its been a real issue. So what helps? The Allergy Trio. Peppermint, Lemon, and Lavender. If I dutifully apply this to my forehead, nose and behind my ears I DO NOT experience the awful sinus pain in my face or sinus headaches that have been so constant.

Sore throat: Constant post nasal drip means I usually sore throat. I apply purification to my neck in front of my throat and its gone. Just gone. It seems like magic and still is crazy to me but wow. It WORKS.

IC/bladder disease: I haven't treated many flares with oils but Lemongrass on my tummy helps as well as drinking the NingXia  Red.

Asthma attacks: Allergy blend plus a blend called R.C.

Congestion: Allergy blend, or just peppermint.

Acne: Ugh. Pregnancy has given me the worst acne of my life! I made a little moisturizer cream with Frankincense, Tea Tree oil, Purification.. and lavender? I can't remember now. I use it to remove my makeup and to moisturize. Now to kill those nasty zit spots I am using strait tea tree oil also to treat the zits. It seems to be helping.

Pregnancy Carpel Tunnel: Yeah. I've used Valor, pan away, lemongrass and peppermint. All to either reduce swelling or treat pain. It's dong much better.

Husband snoring: Valor.

A cold: Rowan had a cold and I put thieves on the bottom of his feet to fight it and boost his immune system.


Depression: Joy and grapefruit

WOW. I'm sure I could keep going if I could remember how many of them I've used! I really hope to have essential oils help me to come off of my medications after baby boy 2.0 is born. I'm really seeing how amazing and effective they are and i'm working to eliminate medications use only these pure, healthy, natural, oils.  Its so exciting! To think… if I could not have to take 2 allergy meds, metformin, levothyroxine and then all of the others i'm on for pregnancy? It'd be so awesome! 

My Gallery Wall- On a Budget

Those of you who are my Facebook friends might remember me asking you to share your gallery walls! Thank you for sharing if you did, you all definitely got the wheels turning.

I've wanted to do a Gallery wall for some time now. I just love being able to share a few pictures of our family along with other things of interesting textures. I actually love any kind of collage on the wall- plates, empty painted frames… my only thing is BALANCE. Some people have it some people don't.

Most of the gallery walls I really loved I found on pinterest- just like every craft I do now days right? So I saw elements from each that I really liked and decided on what i'd like to incorporate.

-Beautiful white frames with decorative edges
-Pops of color
-Mirrors
-Letters
-Empty frames..maybe

So how do you do a gallery wall without breaking the bank?

I wasn't sure honestly! I told Danny that even though I wanted to do this I fully expected it to end up being pretty pricy. Gorgeous unique frames can be very expensive. Of course this is what every husband loves to hear right! No. Not at all. But he was a trooper and believes in my dreams and all that for gallery walls so we went to Michaels to see what we could find.  We both downloaded their app so at least we could use coupons. I was pleased to find out their frames were on sale! They were buy one get one half off I think. So I walked down isles and isles of frames and found none at all that had the look or feel I wanted in white.

Danny had ventured over into the wood craft section and was letting Rowan entertain himself with a little wooden rocking chair when he came across some frames! He called me over and I was so excited to see the selection of raw wood frames they had. And they were very reasonably priced.  Like around 5$ plus or minus a couple of bucks depending on the size. I picked out a few frames with the orientation of my photos in mind and also chose a T for our last name from the same area. I did find a couple of mirrors there I liked but they were 10$ each and I just couldn't do it.  So I went home and got busy on my project. If you've noticed me do little furniture facelift jobs with a blue and coral-y color I used those same paint cans for my pop of color frames. I wanted them to match my living room and didn't want to buy new paint so there you go.
Here's one style of raw wood frame that I purchased to put our family initial in. I painted it really well with one layer of my blue chalk pain. Buuut I started feeling like it was a little too intensely blue for one of my biggest frames so I dabbed my sponge brush in a teeny bit of white and just drug it over the edges in little streaks. It softened it up just enough and gave it a great shabby chic feel!

 The rest of my frames I painted white with one coral frame and the word family to add more colors that would tie the Gallery Wall in with the rest of my living room's decor.  Here's what I had after just my frames were painted.

Once I got to this point I selected the sizes and photo's I wanted for each frame and ordered them online through Sam's Club. Then I went hunting for the pieces to complete the wall. I went to Ross … I was really sick that day and not at all feeling like shopping but we only have one small table and it was covered in frames. With a toddler in the house I knew it would be a matter of time before he got ahold of one and ruined it. So I wanted my table back and to have the gallery wall up asap. I was lucky to find a set of three white framed mirrors at Ross for around 10$ as well as a little quote block.  In the end I like it but I think if i'd been feeling better I would have spent more time looking for more items that I was crazier about. 

Now according to pinterest you must trace every frame and map it out on our wall first in paper and then you will know just where to put your frames and bla bla bla too much work. Just lay them out on the floor and arrange them until you like it. Take photo's so you can see it from a different perspective. 

And here it is! I think I did tweak a couple more things after hanging it. Just to make it a little more balanced but I expected to! Love it, it's just been hardtop keep Rowan from grabbing the lower ones! Sorry my pics aren't very good. Poor lighting. So in the end, aside from our mounted family photo Danny and I figured the whole thing cost us around 40$. Not bad! 

This one is my most favorite :) 

Boy #2

I cannot believe this baby is another boy! I mean I KNOW what the odds were, but, still for some reason i'm constantly still having to stop my mind from wondering to gold moccasins with bows and cute little frilly outfits and dreamy pinks and gold for a nursery.  We were really hoping for a girl "tried" for a girl and this pregnancy has been so much harder that I kind of thought it may be! I maintained that I didn't KNOW ever, but, sure enough i'm still surprised.

We were able to find a sitter for Rowan for this last appointment and sonogram. A nice family in the ward (one he likes to visit during sacrament) took care of him while we went to the appointments. We were there for almost 3 hours after everything was said and done, we were really grateful he hadn't had to sit through that. It was our midway anatomy scan. At first we weren't sure we were going to get to find out, baby had his legs crossed for the majority of the scan. Once the US tech got down to only a couple more things to check and us still not having seen she asked me to move to my side to see if me changing positions would get the little one to change his own position. Sure enough she got a clear picture of the bottom and I could tell right away that if this baby were a girl… well… there was NO way this baby was a girl. After she zoomed and focus his little man-ness was quite apparent! Another boy!

If you look at the ultrasound photos from my last post you'll see baby's hand up by his mouth. He had his hand up near his mouth again this time so i'm starting to wonder if he'll be a thumb sucker. That would be precious!

Its hard to have all of your family and friends so far away when it comes to revealing the gender of your baby. I had all of these grand ideas that involved secret deliveries and mailing DIY scratch cards … but in the end I realized I wouldn't have patience for any of that and decided a photo would  be best. A photo half of my family didn't get because it didn't load. Oh well.  We announced it with photo's of Rowan "holding" a giant blue smiley lolly pop.  In reality want to know what happened? He woke up super grumpy from his nap. So I took him outside hoping to cheer him up and eventually get the photo's I wanted. He stayed grumpy outside. Jabbering/yelling at the neighbors dog who kept barking at him through the fence. He didn't want ANYTHING to do with holding a giant sucker. Ironic considering he'd swiped a sucker from the candy store in the mall and popped in into his mouth before we'd even noticed. Anyway so my photo's were super staged. Every time I tried to get him to hold it he'd slap it out of my hand or throw it on the ground! So much attitude this one. I love the black and white photo. I wish i'd not cut off his head so much and I did have ones with more of him in the photo but I couldn't resist using that one because of his pouty lip. Life is SO hard when you're only 19 months old and your mom wants you to hold and lick a giant lolly pop! UGH! He's so funny!





















We've had a girl name picked out since we were dating but these boys.. we struggle with naming our boys! At this point we don't have any idea what we will call him. I mean i've had a list that i'm constantly adding names to and removing names from just as quickly but nothing has really stood out. I'm sure something will feel fitting before he's here. Or at least when he arrives.

This pregnancy has been so hard. I think part of it is that I had been pregnant only 3 months before, but we'd lost that pregnancy. So its like i've been pregnant, sick and miserable for almost a year but still have 4 months to go before I get to hold our baby. The zofran seems to be helping less and less. The docs tried increasing my dose and that didn't help so now they're having me take B6 with it and that doesn't change anything either. I knew it wouldn't but said i'd try it. I feel nausea most of the day still and still throw up most days at least once.  I have constant headaches and sinus pressure and pain. My bladder disease is really starting to flare now that the baby has gotten up there in size and it will continue to agitate it. I have round ligament and back pain accompanied by swelling from my bladder that makes it hard to do much. I had these issues with my last pregnancy as well but its all been magnified by my already stretched out muscles. There's nothing they can do for pain and I couldn't find a urogynocologist that would take my insurance. I've had trouble with being extremely out of breath from very early on in the pregnancy if I do anything.  I told my doc and I guess that's  sign of stress on my heart so I'm supposed to see a cardiologist soon. I also have what I think must be pregnancy carpel tunnel.  my hands and wrists go numb if they're not laying flat by my side while sleeping or if I raise them at all during the day, talking on the phone, holding Rowan or whatever. It seems to be worse in my right hand. I told the doc but she just said "that happens to me too." Well… for me it's only been an issue during pregnancy and I don't think you can blame it on a pinched nerve if your hands are numb just resting on your chest while sleeping rather than down at your side…. They're making me test my blood sugar too 5 times a day! Its outrageous and my fingers are aching. I'm pre- diabetic, have been since I was an eighth grader and take metformin. They're treating me as though I were diabetic though. Kind of irritated by that. But I understand how important it is for things to stay level and not to be constantly flooding the developing baby with too much sugar.  You should have seen/heard her reaction when she asked if I tested my blood sugar and did I have a monitor. I said I did have one but was not currently testing.  She clearly thought I was an idiot. But you see… the army just handing it to me. Right before we moved. They have me no direction or instruction on what should be done. I did look up the ranges for normal, pre-diabetic, and diabetic blood sugar levels and tested for a week or so. Just for myself to see what caused spikes and things. She was pretty skeptical of the testing I had done too when I said i'd looked up the number ranges because I couldn't quote the numbers to her.  Funny thing, at the end she just handed me a chart and gave me no instruction on what numbers to look for either.

While we were at our appointment I expressed concerns to the doctor about my nutrition.  I have a hard time eating most of the time because I feel so yucky. And getting in protein is especially hard. The easiest things to get and keep down are quick carbs, which is not at all good for keeping blood sugar stable. Or getting all of the actual nutrients and vitamins and minerals you need. The doctor basically said that because my baby measured fine it was up to me if I wanted to try something else (like a high nutrition protein meal replacement shake that was approved for pregnancy).  This surprised me, but I think from her perspective she just looked at me and thought 'Well, it doesn't look like you're starving." and Said "You're weights been stable and the baby is normal so …" thanks doc. I hope I don't get her again and especially hope she doesn't deliver. I think they have you see whoever is open at this place. She was pretty condescending.



Sigh, lots of pricked fingers and doctors appointments in my future. We are definitely taking a break after I have this baby.