baby stuff: second trimester wrap-up.

it's time for the second trimester wrap-up! i hit 28 weeks last friday, which means that there are only 12 short weeks left until we get to meet our little mover and shaker. my first trimester wrap-up from way back in january is here, and (spoiler alert) i'm still loving some of the same stuff, with a few new things here and there.

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can i just let you all know how incredibly AMAZING the second trimester has been? there are no words for how much i've loved the past few months. and saying this out loud might be asking for a miserable third trimester, but i would venture to say that i could be pregnant all the time. i love my not so little belly, i love watching and feeling baby z. move around, and i love how well my body has handled the changes. if i didn't love the occasional glass of wine so much, i could do this forever.i know what a brat this makes me. i know that there are countless moms who have terrible pregnancy symptoms, and only do it for the joy of getting that baby at the end. so believe me when i say, having an easy pregnancy is NOT something that i've taken for granted, not for ONE TINY SECOND. i thank God every day that i have been blessed with this experience. hell, i'd probably thank Him for the experience even if i spent the whole nine months bent over the toilet, but it takes a lot less grace to do it this way.energy: i still have a lot of it, and if the last few months are any indication, i'm trying to use it all up before it's gone (it's going slowly but surely). i've been planting our vegetable garden, weeding our perennials, and helping as much as i can with the home improvements that my husband is doing. if we had an extra freezer, i would probably be prematurely stocking that full of freezer meals, but we don't have room for that craziness currently. i'm done traveling for work now, which i couldn't be happier about. airplanes and frequent bathroom breaks and lifting suitcases overhead are not a great combo, so i will happily take on the role as the out of office contact for all my traveling coworkers picking up the slack.food: the second trimester for me was exactly like being not pregnant, food-wise. no cravings, no ravenously hungry feelings, nothing out of the ordinary. yes, i ate a little more than usual, especially food of the frozen and fruity variety (oh kemps strawberry frozen yogurt, how i love thee), but nothing really fun to report. i have two theories on this: 1) that my normal diet is so balanced and healthy that there was no need for me to crave anything (hah!), and 2) more realistically, all of the craziness is going to come out in the third trimester. stay tuned.bump: the little bump isn't so little anymore. i am stretching (literally!) the last use out of my non-maternity shirts, and am trying to get really creative in the combinations of things i wear within my small maternity wardrobe. over the past month or so, baby z. has really popped out, i think it was tired of people thinking mom was just eating big lunches everyday. well, that is not the case anymore. in the last month, i've had at least 5 people a week do a double take at me and say, "i didn't know you were pregnant?!?". (whether they should be saying that or not is a different topic, although i am by no means offended when this happens). meanwhile, Mister Man keeps toning up, so by the time this is over, his belly will have gotten even flatter, and mine will be out of control.favorite products:

• mama bee belly butter: this stuff is still the best. i'm on jar number two, and as my belly grows, i'm just going to go through it faster. i have no stretch marks yet (feel free to punch me), but that's due to good genes, not this belly butter. this just feels great when the belly starts to itch. pregnancy truth: your belly gets itchy in the second trimester. which is weird and annoying. this helps with that.
• snoogle body pillow: i can honestly say that if i didn't have this, i would be sleeping on the couch by myself, or maybe not sleeping at all. i use it to prop my back up so i don't end up rolling onto it in the middle of the night. it makes you feel like you can sleep while relaxing all of your muscles at once, and when you spend all day feeling your muscles strain around your changing shape, there is no better feeling.
• lush products: i switched to lush face products in the second trimester, almost by accident. my sisters had started to use the products around christmas, and now swear by them, so my mom got me started with a few products of my own for my birthday. the products are all natural, which i love, and they actually work, which i find almost never happens with natural face products. so now all our bath and body products are natural, with minimal chemicals, and that makes me happy. if you were wondering, my favorites are the charcoal face soap and the ocean salt scrub.

• maternity pants: i don't know if i'll ever be able to give these up. i mean, i'm sure the feeling of being able to button my pants will be amazing, but maternity pants are SO DAMN COMFORTABLE! stretchy waistbands. what more could you want? i have four pairs: one pair of skinny jeans, one pair of skinny white jeans, one pair of skinny black work pants, and one pair of bootcut black work pants, all from GAP (which, hey GAP, want to sponsor me since i basically have not stopped singing the praises of your maternity clothes since i started wearing them?). those things have gotten some mileage, let me tell you, and they still have to pull their weight for a while yet. but i have faith. they can do it.
• tracy anderson pregnancy dvds: i've still been working out, let's say 3 times a week (sometimes more, sometimes less), and it's been great for me. i rarely break a sweat, but getting my blood moving and loosening up my muscles has been the beneficial part. i fully support the mamas to be that want to keep going hardcore with whatever workout they were doing before they were pregnant, but i can't imagine burning more calories than i already do just by hauling baby z. around, so i don't feel like i need to go balls to the wall with my workouts. i just want to keep myself in decent shape so i can have stamina during delivery, and bonus points if it helps me get back into shape after baby is here. these dvds are my favorite, because they take into account how much energy you have in any given month during the pregnancy, and adjust the intensity of the workout as such. plus, the arm workout she does keeps you toned! i'm pretty sure my arms look better now than they did before i was pregnant. so there's that too.

have a fabulous weekend all!

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