Family – Page 51 – The Merfett

Merfbaby the Rutabaga

April 11, 2013 The Merfett

Merfbaby is 25 weeks!

Weighing about 1 1/2 pounds about the size of an average rutabaga.

How I’m Feeling: Round. My tummy is sticking out so much more this week, it’s pretty obvious that I’ve moved on from the “is she pregnant, or just packed on the lbs?” I’ve still had some lower back pain so I’m trying to stretch through that. I find that it’s difficult to get into a comfy position on the couch, and I end up switching positions several times. Getting up off the couch is also getting a little harder. To get out of bed I roll on my side, hang my feet off the bed and push myself up with my hands. It’s almost impossible for me to use my abs to pull myself up.

Belly/Weight: Belly is getting bigger! It’s crazy to look at sometimes. I can still see my feet, but probably not for much longer. No stretch marks but I HATE the way my belly button feels. It’s so icky! It’s still an innie, but the top part is pushing out a little and it feels numb and strange, I hate touching it. I’m not looking forward to it popping out. Yucky.

Life Changes: Maternity pants are no fun. I have one pair of jeans and I’m starting to despise them. I’m so much happier and more comfortable in a dress or work out pants. People raved about maternity pants, and yea – I get that they fit, but that’s about it. They sag and fall down, boo. My work out pants hit me right across the lower part of my tummy so I normally tug them down and wear them low. I really like wearing dresses with cardigans, I’m hoping to get some more skirts that I can wear post-baby too. Old Navy has some cute ones, it’s just dumb how expensive all the maternity clothes are! I have two “maternity” shirts and the rest of my shirts are normal. I don’t want to spend money on a bunch of clothes I’ll only wear for another few months. At least with dresses you can wear them after the baby, and with the weather warming up I think I’ll be happier in them. Kelly got me a great pair of lululemon work out capris that fit me perfectly, he’s said I’m allowed to buy another pair and I may have to take him up on the offer. Yes, they are expensive, but I’ll wear them long after Merfbaby arrives.

Movement: All kinds of movement! I don’t think he likes it when I lay on my back, even for a second, so he starts going nuts kicking. Sometimes I poke my tummy a little at night before bed so feel him move before I go to sleep. He surprises me sometimes when his kicks are hard, it takes my breath away a little.

Sleep: I’ve been sleeping hard the past few days. I still wake up in the middle of the night a few times, but I’m feeling rested when my alarm goes off in the morning. I had a depressing thought the other night…at 3am during my nightly potty break I wondered when the next time I’ll be sleeping through the night will be? Um, never. I’ll be up every night from now until Merfbaby arrives, and THEN the fun starts! Maybe when he’s in Jr High?

Cravings: Waffles! I really want an Eggo waffle with syrup. Funny, huh? I may have to make waffles for dinner tomorrow :)

Exercise: We walked around a lot on our vacation, but I haven’t been very active this week. The wind was blowing really hard so I didn’t get my afternoon walks in. And sleeping has sounded so much more enjoyable than a 7am spin class. I did my share of “vacation eating” over the Babymoon, so I’ve been good about getting back on track with lunches and dinners this week though.

Favorite Pregnancy Moment this week: Noticing how much bigger my belly is! On Sunday before we left the Babymoon Kelly took some bump photos and I was amazed at how I really look preggo now. It’s crazy! Our Babymoon was also really amazing. We talked a lot about Merfbaby and our future and all the things we’re looking forward to.

On My Mind: Nesting. Our kitchen is coming together. Merfman has been working hard all week getting things done. The house is a little upside down, but we’ve managed to cook dinner every night. I’m getting anxious about clearing out some clutter and getting the nursery started so I think I’m going to start to work on that over the weekend. Since Merfman is off work for a few more weeks I can have him help me move furniture :)

Family

Babymoon Recap

April 9, 2013 The Merfett

So if you follow me on the big 3 (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) you’ve probably seen all the photos from our Babymoon last week :)

I just wanted to recap and review how wonderful our trip was!

We woke up Thursday morning, packed our bags, got the house in order and made our way out of Burbank. We had plans to stop by a granite showroom on our way out of town to pick out the new countertops for our kitchen. I’m not a huge fan of granite, I don’t get what all the fuss is about, but I know it’s great for re-sale value. Every HGTV show has people that gush over granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. Whatever floats your boat. So we’re doing granite. We left the showroom with two options and price ranges and decided to discuss it over lunch. I was getting hangry so Merfman knew just how to make my little heart go pitter-patter…

Grilled cheese, fries and a chocolate shake from IN N OUT. I was a very happy girl. We talked about counter tops and came to a decision, you’ll have to wait and see what we picked!

After lunch we got back on the road and headed toward Ojai. We arrived almost exactly at check in time and got settled into our amazing room at the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa.

The view from the balcony of our room

We spent time every day sitting on the balcony enjoying the amazing view. Each night we would turn on the gas fireplace and enjoy the cozy room. I told Merfman that this trip confirmed that I need a few things in our someday dream home…a fireplace in our bedroom, a balcony off the master and an amazing view. Easy, yea?

Thursday night we had dinner at the outdoor Oak Grill Restaurant. And we ordered this lovely for dessert:

It was a peanut butter chocolate-something and it was yummy!

Friday we slept in and headed to the Spa after an early lunch.

We had booked a couple’s massage. Deep Tissue for him, baby-mamma for me :) It was AMAZING. I haven’t felt that comfortable and relaxed in months. When you’re preggo you can’t lie on your back since it affects the blood flow to the baby. So, they have you lay on your side with a pillow under your head and one under your opposite leg with a wedge under that. The pillow under your leg helps keep your hips open to take the stress off your back. I wanted to live in that position forever. It was so cozy and comfortable. Pregnant women can agree, finding a comfy resting position is hard!

That night we had dinner reservations at the fancy restaurant, Maravilla.

I got a virgin Pink Moment. It was lemonade, cranberry juice and whipped cream. So fun! The “pink moment” is an Ojai term for the time of day when the sun is just behind the mountains and the ridge turns a pretty pink color.

For dinner I had the diver sea scallops. SO good.

We had an amazing meal topped off with a very “sweet” dessert

We ordered the creme brulee and the staff wrote Happy Babymoon! on our plate :)

Saturday we had no plans other than wanting to get off the resort for dinner. We slept in, ate breakfast on our balcony, took naps and spent some time reading in the shade by the pool. It was a wonderful relaxing day. We asked for dinner recommendations off property and were directed to Boccali’s.

We wanted something casual, local and low-key. And it was perfect! I got the veggie-lasagna and it was crazy good.

For dessert we saved room for their famous strawberry shortcake

It totally lived up to the hype.

Sunday we grabbed a quick breakfast before checkout and headed home.

Our Babymoon was wonderful, and I stopped several times throughout the trip to savor the memories and amazing views. It was so wonderful to spend time together, relaxing and catching up. No distractions, no emails, phone calls and work to occupy us. I really wanted to take multiple mental photos to look back on in the coming months when we’re up to our elbows in diapers and running on little to no sleep.

Also, I can’t say enough nice things about the staff and people we met on our trip. Our waitress at the Maravilla (Kate) was amazing and so very nice. She even took the time to write us a note with recommendations for fun things to do in town during our trip. The staff at the resort goes above and beyond to make your stay special. I also noticed any staff member you passed while walking the property always said “hello” or “good morning/afternoon/evening” I’m sure it was company policy, but it was a personal touch I really liked.

It was a trip to remember and one we’ll always look back on as our last vacation as a family of 2 :)

Family

Merfbaby the Ear of Corn

April 6, 2013April 8, 2013 The Merfett

Merfbaby is 24 weeks!

The length of an ear of corn!

How I’m Feeling: Pregnant? Ha! I’m feeling good, and not too uncomfortable most of the time. I find that sitting on the couch I get stiff and need to switch positions a few times to stay comfy. Oh, and getting up from the couch is getting a little harder! I also have this funny burning feeling right below my boobs (sorry) and I asked the doctor about it. It’s not heartburn, it’s more surface pain. She said she had it when she was pregnant also, and it’s just stretching and the nerve endings being pulled. It takes a while to go away even after birth, like 3 – 4 months. I doesn’t hurt like crazy, it’s just uncomfortable and I find that rubbing the spot helps. So I look a little odd rubbing the area under my boobs, oh well!

Belly/Weight: My belly is starting to stick out more each week. I had an appointment on Tuesday and I’m up a total of 18 pounds from pre-preg weight. I was much better about eating more veggies last month so I think that helped. So it’s all good! I have my glucose test this month – ick. I’m not too excited about it, but I’ve heard it’s not terrible.

Life Changes: I’ve been a pescetarian, nothing with four legs or feathers…for 3+ years I think? I made the choice this past week to add chicken and turkey back into my diet. I thought about it for a LONG time. And it was the right choice for me for a few reasons. When pregnant, women need 70 g of protein, non – pregnant women need 45 g. My main sources of protein are eggs, beans and rice, dairy and fish. Pregnant women should also limit fish intake to 1 – 2 servings a week due to the levels of mercury in the fish we consume. So I was eating all the eggs and beans I could stand. I was also eating some non-meat substitutes…veggie sausages and things. But when I started looking at all the ingredients listed on each item I started to feel like I was putting complicated foods into “our” bodies and I didn’t like that. So, what does this mean for my diet now? I’m only eating chicken and turkey at home. I’m choosing to purchase organic, hormone-free, antibiotic-free poultry. That’s one of the main reasons why I stopped eating meat, it’s full of icky stuff. Since I don’t have control over the sourcing and quality of meat when we’re eating out I choose to still eat non-meat options. I made ground turkey tacos for dinner earlier this week, and chicken a few nights ago. It wasn’t awful, I didn’t get sick. But I need to work on my chicken cooking skills, for fear of under-cooking I over cooked and dried it out :( I don’t know if I’ll keep eating chicken and turkey after Merfbaby comes, I’ll have to see how I’m feeling.

Movement: Big kicks! Little man is getting stronger. The doctor said the “violent” kicks will happen for a few more weeks, then he’s going to start running out of room so I’ll feel more pushes and jabs.

Sleep: I’ve been sleeping OK. I’ve some early mornings and late nights this week…we got sucked into The Bible one night and stayed up until midnight. Oops. I’m looking forward to sleeping in for the next few days.

Cravings: In N Out :) I got my Starbucks craving covered, and it was ok. Not as amazing as the 4 week build up, meh. Maybe there’ll be a grilled cheese and some fries in my future :)

Exercise: Nothing major this week, we’re planning to take some long walks over the weekend. I got adjusted on Monday so I’m trying to take it easy.

Favorite Pregnancy Moment this week: On Saturday we woke up and started working on names for Merfbaby. We have a total of 4 on the list, but one is a favorite. It was fun to lay in bed and say names out loud back and forth. Some funny matches…Happy and Murphy. Murphy Murphy? or Happy Murphy? How would singing “Happy Birthday” work?

On My Mind: BABYMOON! We’ll be gone Thursday – Sunday and we’re so excited for a weekend of relaxing, beautiful scenery and amazing food :) Oh, and our kitchen is in a minor state of chaos. Merfman is working hard to get things done while I’m at work, and it’s really coming together! There were a few minor issues along the way, but we’re loving the results so far :)