Plans for a Healthy Pregnancy

As a mama-to-be, I have a responsibility to my little fetus to provide the safest and healthiest home as I possibly can for 9 months. While pregnancy seems like it would be a great excuse to be lazy and eat whatever I want, that's not the case. Now more than ever, I need to take care of myself because it's not just my body I'm nurturing, it's the body of my unborn baby as well. Of course, all pregnancies come with some energy limitations and cravings/aversions but these 9 months are far from a free-for-all. 

Over the past several years, my weight has been a bit of a struggle for me. I shared my whole weight loss/gain story in THIS POST awhile back and reading that back now, if I'm being honest, gives me some anxiety. Weight gain is absolutely part of the gig and is essential in growing a healthy baby and I am all on board for that. What makes me nervous is afterwards. With Kenley I gained just over the healthy recommendation of 25-35 pounds and gained 36 pounds but after she was born took terrible care of myself and kept off only 24 of those pounds {which I lost with no effort beyond breastfeeding} leaving me 12 pounds heavier than my pre-pregnancy weight for over a year after Kenley was born. But worse than the number on the scale, I wasn't healthy. I had no energy, felt like crap and had pretty bad self esteem. I worked my butt off for the following year to lose 20 pounds and get myself 8 pounds lighter than I was when I got pregnant the first time. I feel so much better and so much more confident and I never want to get back to that place where I was after Kenley was born.

Therefore, I have some plans and goals in place to help me take care of myself {and my baby} over these next 6 months in hopes of looking and feeling great throughout my pregnancy as well as making my postpartum bounce back easier than it was the last time. 

Utilize MyFitnessPal. Call me crazy, but I kind of like counting calories - it makes nutrition like a little game. Of course counting calories when you are pregnant is a little different than when you are trying to shed pounds but MFP is just as helpful. The first trimester you do not need any extra calories so maintaining your weight is your goal and you will naturally gain a few thanks to extra blood, fluids and that growing zygote. The second trimester you need an additional 300-350 calories and the third trimester another 100-150 on top of that. So I use MFP to calculate those first trimester calories by going into my goals and changing it to "maintain current weight", then it gives me the calories I need my first trimester, then the following trimesters I will go in and manually add those additional cals. I'm not nearly as diligent as adding every little thing as I am when I am trying to lose weight, but it is nice to keep track and see where I am each day. Plus, MFP has a nutrition section where you can track the nutrients {think protein, calcium, vitamin c, and iron which are all super important during pregnancy} you've had, which is super helpful when trying to maintain a well balanced diet. 

Walk/Run/Ride 400 miles. With Kenley I walked over 250 miles which was a doable challenge that kept me moving. This time, now that we have bikes that we love, and I am in much better shape I want to up that goal and push myself a little harder by hitting 400 active miles during this pregnancy.

Curb the caffeine. It's no secret I LOVE my coffee and an occasional mountain dew {I know, I know - such poison} but now is not the time for either. I will definitely keep one cup of coffee as a part of my morning routine because I might actually die if I don't, but that's it. No pop. And only decaf after my one cup in the am. I'm actually really hoping I can try and maintain this after baby is born too, for sure during breastfeeding but beyond as well.  

Take a quality prenatal. Unfortunately, not all vitamins are created equal and some contain some really icky ingredients {like high fructose corn syrup! yuck!} I looked at quite a few and found one I LOVE at a price point that is manageable. I've been taking the Rainbow Light Prenatal One which provides vitamins and minerals in a base of superfood extracts. It has plant-source enzymes, ginger juice and probiotics to make for easy digestion and absorption {it never makes me feel sick} and is 100% natural, vegetarian, vegan, and is free of animal ingredients. It also contains no gluten, soy, yeast, milk, eggs, nuts, fish or shellfish and is lactose-free. Basically, it's the bomb. 

Maintain regular chiro appointments. My number one biggest complaint during my pregnancy with Kenley was back pain, and it only got worse after she was born with nursing and lugging around all her stuff. I've been seeing a chiropractor that I love for almost two years now and plan to continue my appointments throughout this pregnancy.

Splurge on a couple prenatal massages. Rest and relaxation is just as important for mama's health and I think growing a human warrants a massage or two. Again, my back was an issue the first time around so hopefully having a couple massage appointments set up will help compliment the chiro appointments. 

Make workouts fun. I definitely want to take some prenatal yoga classes because I LOVE yoga. I also want to take advantage the free workouts that the Twin Cities Bump Club offers once a month. And I want to spend time with friends while being active - I'm thinking coffee and walking laps at Mall of America might be the trick!

Any ideas, motivation or tips you ladies can contribute would be much appreciated!!! 

OH! And I finally got my FitBit fixed after nearly two months of not having it! So add me as a friend and we can step battle! :) 

{bump two} 13 weeks

 Mom :: +6lbs // Baby :: appx. 3in & 1oz {a peapod!}

Baby's fingers now have fingertips, organs and veins are visible through skin and body is starting to catch up with head!
189 days til Due Date!

Week 13 was a bit of a doozy. After Kenley was sick for most of week 12, I think either the exhaustion of a sick toddler or some of her germs caught up with me and I found myself throwing up every time I put something in my body {yep, even water}. On top of that had the worst headache I have ever experienced. I have never had a migraine, so I'm not sure if that's what it was but it hurt to have my eyes open, light was basically the devil and any noise over a whisper sounded like a gong being gonged right next to my ear. After 24 hours of this, I called my doctor's office to see if I should be concerned. They recommended I head to the emergency room to get checked out and get fluids. CUE PANIC. 1) I am terrified of hospitals - I hate them. 2) Other than the operating room, the ER is the scariest part of the hospital 3) I felt like crap and was not thinking clearly 4) What about baby? Is he/she OK in there?! 

Thankfully, my angel of a mother came immediately over to hang out with Kenley {seriously, what would I do without her???} and Jason was able to cut his work day way short to take me. And so, at 10am on Monday morning I was headed to the ER. 

I was admitted, asked about a million questions, had blood drawn and had an IV hooked up. 

Once those fluids got pumping, I felt almost instant relief. They had also given me a Zofan to help with the nausea. Which - apparently new studies are showing there could be risks attached to the formerly-considered-safe nausea medication. Something the doctor told me after the nurse had already given me a pill. Awesome. Needless to say, I will not be filling that prescription. 

While at the hospital, I also had an ultrasound, which I appreciated so much because naturally the number one concern was the safety and health of my baby. We got to see Ziggy once again squirming away like a wild man/woman in there. It was a very quick and basic ultrasound but we confirmed movement and healthy heartbeat and learned baby is still measuring a week ahead of schedule. They didn't print me a picture, though, which I was bummed about! If I have to spend a day in the ER, I should at least get a souvenir. 

After the ultrasound all my worries disappeared and I was able to rest, take in those fluids and begin to feel better. Thankfully the blood and urine tests came back normal and after 5+ hours in the ER and two bags of fluids, I was free to leave. But not before I nearly passed out while Nurse Gary took out my IV {you guys, seriously, I have issues} and not before my husband took it upon himself to open up my drip to speed up the time because I guess he thinks he's qualified to make that call and mess with medical equipment. It was not a fun way to start the week but I am so grateful for the good care I was given and how quickly I felt better. The doctor isn't exactly sure if it was a bug I caught, a migrane, severe dehydration or all three as they are all related. So all I can do is stay hydrated and hope that it was a one time thing. 

Other than the stint in the ER, this week has been pretty tame. I've been feeling a lot better and even think I might be regaining some energy! I was able to go wedding dress shopping with one of my dear friends, finally get some work done and get started on the very first steps of the nursery! I'm looking forward to our genetic screen ultrasound {today!}, halloween and continuing to work on Kenley's big girl room and the nursery! 

And for nostalgia sake.....

13 weeks with Kenley.

ME Time!

So last week was a bit of a struggle fest around here. Kenley got sick - there was a fever, lots of coughing, so much mucus she barfed and very little sleep. We've been incredibly blessed that Kenley has never really been sick, in fact, this is probably the most sick she's ever been. I thought so often last week about the mamas who have terminally ill children or babies with sicknesses far worse than a bad cold and I honestly don't know how they do it. Of course, when your kiddo is sick, you rally. You do what needs to be done to get them better as fast as possible in the most loving way as possible. I'm sure that's the case for any mom whether it's a head cold or cancer. But having a sick kiddo is tough and exhausting and believe me when I say that I said a lot of prayers for those mamas with truly sick kids because it's hard to imagine how tough that would really be. 

While I was trying to remain grateful and count my blessings, I was also on the verge of checking into a hotel {not kidding}. I too started to feel under the weather and being that I am growing a human while caring for a sick human, I kind of lost my marbles. Kenley and I didn't leave the house for 4 days except for a 20 minute sidewalk chalk episode on the patio which resulted in a coughing fit because of chilly weather. I was exhausted and stir crazy and not feeling so hot and I needed OUT. Thankfully, my husband can see the implosion happening from a mile away and got through his work day super quickly to spend the whole afternoon with Kenley so I could do whatever it was that I wanted! I very seriously considered just sleeping the whole afternoon but knew that if I was at home it would likely not result in rest. And so...I got myself a coffee, got a new hairdo {6 inches gone and that postpartum regrowth is now FINALLY mixed in!!!}, got a little pedicure along with a manicure and did a little shopping. 

As if all that wasn't awesome enough, I also had plans to meet up with my high school girlfriends for dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Rosa Mexicano, and a comedy show. We all grew up in a city called Edina {for those of you non-local readers, for those of you locals go ahead and call me a cake eater, it doesn't bug me} and there is a comedy show currently running that makes fun of our hometown. Edina is known for being a relatively wealthy part of town {though not everyone is filthy rich - believe me!} and gets a lot of flack and stereotypes as a result. The show was pretty funny - a little dumb, very silly, but we were definitely cracking up.  It really was making fun of wealthy housewives as a whole BUT there were some Edina specific one-liners in there that made the show for us. It was a perfectly refreshing girls night and a great way to spend some time out of the house.

As a busy mama it's so easy to let "you time" fall to the wayside, but it's so important! If mama ain't happy ain't nobody happy, right?????

5 Steps for Effective Meal Planning

I grocery shop once a week, typically Wednesdays, and have found that meal planning is absolutely essential to eating healthy, losing weight and saving money at the store. When we fall off track with meal planning and once a week shopping we tend to go out to eat, get take out or quickly buy just enough for one meal and that's when the food bill really racks up -  not to mention when I make poor food decisions. I shared my tips for saving money while grocery shopping a while back, but today I thought I would share what I do to create a healthy meal plan. 

Step 1 :: Inventory. Each week I buy just what we will need for that week but it's inevitable that there is always stuff left over. Whether I change the meal I had planned and use different ingredients or one meal ends up covering us for two nights, whatever the reason, I always have extra ingredients. SO, before I sit down to make my meal plan I take a look at what I still have and come up with meal ideas using those ingredients. For example, let's say I have a pound of ground beef in the freezer, some extra baby spinach and a can of black beans - sounds like the makings for taco salads - all I have to buy is black olives and an avocado. 

Step 2 :: Cartwheel. I do all my grocery shopping at Target because I have a red card {5% off} and can use my Cartwheel. I look through the deals and "pin" anything that I know we like, need or  ould use. I then add these things to my shopping list {so I remember there's a deal} and use these sale items to build off of my meal ideas from the inventory.

Step 3 :: Pinterest. When in doubt, use Pinterest. I have a bunch of different food related boards and refer to them often when looking for meal ideas!

Step 4 :: Spreadsheet/Calendar. I love me a good spreadsheet! I have a meal planning template saved as a Word doc that I use to fill in my plans for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for myself, Jason and Kenley.

Step 5 :: List. After I've got my plan put together I go through meal-by-meal to make sure I have every ingredient I need to buy listed out. I'm also a super spaz and organize it based on the aisle I'm in so I can just shop aisle-by-aisle and cross off the list in order {proof you go to Target too much}. I then e-mail my list to myself so I have it on my phone. This really helps me to only buy what we need and not get sucked in to the black hole of Target, though, let's be honest, I always come home with something NOT on the list but it really does help me stay in control when shopping.

And there you have it! A simple and effective way to plan your meals from week to week. Yes simple! It seems like a lot but really it probably takes me 15 minutes to set up a meal plan and get my grocery list together.

What method(s) do you use to meal plan?

{bump two} the first 12 weeks

I had the very best intentions on getting my FIRST bump update up for Monday {my new week starts on Fridays but I figure I'll post on Mondays} but after being really sick {more on that coming} it just didn't happen. Today I am 12 weeks and 5 days, so I'll catch you up on weeks 0-12 and then get to regular old bump posts every Monday next week.
.............................................

Holy Moly! Bump updates!!! I kind of can't believe I am doing this again! I am so happy to have my weekly updates with Kenley to look back on, so while I have a love/hate relationship with these photos and these posts, I will definitely be doing them again. I've been keeping a note on my phone where I jot down little things as they happen, so I figured why not just convert that note into my first post to get you caught up? So here's what went down these first 12 weeks! 

{I really need to pull out the DSLR for these, these iPhone photos stink.}

08.13.15 {2w6d} - Positive test! Told Jason! Flew to Las Vegas!

08.16.15 {3w2d} - Second positive test in Vegas bathroom. Feeling lots of pain on my right side. 

08.17.15 {3w3d} - Jason's birthday! No appetite. Feeling nauseous. Went to doctor for ultrasound and blood test due to right side pain, have 2 cysts on right ovary and 1 on left, doctor is not concerned but wants to watch. Pregnancy too small to see at this point. 

08.18.15 {3w4d} - Blood test results show HCG level of 102, normal for pregnancy but very early.

08.20.15 {3w6d} - Doctor for another blood test.

08.21.15 {4weeks} - Road trip to Ohio to move my sister to college! Get blood test results in car - normal for pregnancy! Forget prenatals so text Erin {who knew my news pretty much immediately} to pick some up which leads to confusion when CVS doesn't have my brand, so she ends up buying another brand and a pill box to hide the pills in and make pill transfer seamless - dying laughing in the car as a result of pill box snap chat. Trying to keep my secret from my family is not easy! Fake drink @ The Pub in Cincinnati and throughout the weekend in Columbus - officially consider myself a master fake drinker! Told my sister the news in private before leaving. 

08.25.15 {4w3d} - Ultrasound to check cysts, which are still there. Saw what could {hopefully} be the gestational sac and start of yolk sac. Told my mom! 

08.27.15 {4w6d} - First craving - cottage cheese! 

08.30.15 {5w2d} - Moving Day! Said goodbye to our townhouse and unpacked in our new home. I definitely don't recommend moving when you are newly pregnant, if you can help it. 

09.03.15 {5w6d} - 09.05.15 {6w1d} - Fake drink my way through the Gopher Home Opener, the State Fair, our Housewarming Party AND my cousin and her friends being in town. It was a challenge, but like I said, I became a master fake drinker.

09.07.15 {6w3d} - Told Kenley she is going to be a BIG SISTER! 

09.08.15 {6w4d} - Another ultrasound to check cysts. Pregnancy confirmed! Baby is measuring exactly 6w4d and got to see the little heart flickering away! 

09.13.15 {7w2d} - Feeling butterfly like tingling in my low belly. Baby is way too teeny to feel {I think} but I can tell something is going on in there! 

09.15.15 {7w4d} - Modeled for Tzu Tzu, yes modeled! It was crazy and long and kind of painful but also really fun! Excited to see me and Ziggy rocking some gold clothes on our new website! 

That same day I met Carolyn & Andrea for dinner to celebrate the fact that they were just DAYS away from have their second babies which was also the perfect time to share that I was too {in 8 months}. 

09.16.15 {7w5d} - Craving Brisket, Chewy Candy & Chinese Food. So random. 

09.18.15 {8w1d} - Sore boobies! OUCH! 

09.21.15 {8w3d} - Feeling awesome! Lots of energy. 

09.22.15 {8w4d} - Craving milk! Feeling nervous about baby and anxious to finally see my doctor.

09.25.15 - 09.27.15 {9weeks} - Got to be MOH in my BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING! Such an amazing weekend!!! 

09.28.15 {9w3d} - Beyond exhausted! Not feeling so hot. Lasts all week. 

10.01.15 {9w6d} - Never full! Always hungry! 

10.05.15 {10w3d} - First OB appointment, finally! Everything went great until the finale when we were supposed to hear the heartbeat! Because my uterus apparently tilts towards my back, my doctor was unable to find it. It was a little nerve-wracking but my doctor didn't seem overly concerned. Thankfully, they were able to get us right in for an ultrasound where we immediate saw Ziggy's heartbeat pounding away. He/She was wiggling like a maniac! Seriously, this kid was SPAZZING. Kenley thought it was hilarious. We also got to hear the heartbeat which Kenley now emulates "Mom, Ziggy's heart goes beep beep beep beep". We weren't able to get a good photo because of the non-stop squirming but the amazing tech wa able to capture a quick 3D one in between the wiggles. Look at those little feet! And baby was measuring big! 

10.07.15 {10w5d} - Photoshoot with Sara Jayne to  get ready to announce baby!!!!! 

10.12.15 {11w3d} - WENT PUBLIC WITH THE BIG NEWS! So fun, so exciting and so filled with love.

10.13.15 {11w4d} - 10.16.15 {12weeks} -  Me and Kenley get super bad colds. It's the mega-pits. 

weeks 4-8 with Kenley.

weeks 9-12 with Kenley.

Baby Two To Do

When you first find out you are pregnant, there isn't a whole lot you can do but freak out - well that, and make a 10 month to-do list. You guys know how much I love my lists, so while I was impatiently waiting to spread the good news, I put together a little {or massive} list of things we need to do before number two joins our family. I used the same checklist I had used for Kenley, but edited and tweaked  it to work for a second baby! Today I'm sharing the list and then I'll post updates on how I'm chipping away at it throughout these next few months. 

Mamas! Is there anything I am missing?

Big Sister!

So far, Kenley has been the things Big Sisters are made of. I know the transition to family of four likely won't be seamless and will come with challenges, but so far I couldn't be more proud of my first born.

We told Kenley our big news in early September. We had wanted to wait until 12 weeks to be sure all was good with baby but I had an early morning ultrasound on September 8th that we had to bring her to. We knew the ultrasound would provoke a lot of questions, and so we told her about her important new role the night before. We bought her a Big Sister book and made a big deal out of giving it to her!

She was very excited for a new book but was disappointed she only got ONE new book. I knew it would be a little hard to understand exactly what being a big sister entailed but she was excited, asked some questions and then went on her merry way.

The next morning at the ultrasound, she got to see her baby brother or sister and was so sweet about it! She loves looking at that ultrasound picture and pointing out where the baby is.

I thought she may have a hard time grasping that baby is IN mom's belly, but she's totally on it. I think having seen some of my friends pregnant helped a lot with that. Plus, I've been showing her photos of when she was in my belly, which she gets a real kick out of. 

Over the past month and a half she has really gotten into the whole baby thing. She talks to my belly constantly and even interprets for us what Ziggy is saying. For example she'll ask Ziggy "do you want to play with me when you're bigger?" then tell us "Oh, he does!" And, yes, she is certain there is a brother cooking in there! It's always he. Always. My favorite big sister conversation we've had so far, though, went like this:

{and this is word-for-word}

Kenley: "Oh mom, your baby just said he is ready to pop out now."
Me: "Not yet, baby still needs to grow quite a bit."
Kenley: "Oh, he's trickin' me. He's a tricky baby."

I about died. We've had to have a couple conversations about me being her mom and Ziggy's mom, which at first she wasn't too keen on, but now, she loves telling Ziggy that they get to share a mom. I was worried before I even got pregnant how all of this would go and so far I just really couldn't imagine it better. I am loving the time I get to share with Kenley talking about what life will be like when her baby is here and how amazing she will be as a big sister and how silly I will look when my tummy gets all huge. Every night before bed {since we now pretty much have the same bedtime} we snuggle in my bed and she asks to see the baby on my phone. I use the Nurture app which has a cute little illustration of what the baby looks like and she absolutely loves to see the baby and talk about what size it is and how much bigger it will grow.

Yes, I know my screen is brutally cracked. I drop it A LOT. 

Everyone says the second pregnancy is so different because you still have to take care of your first, and that is totally true! However, this pregnancy feels even more special than the first because I get to share it with Kenley. I just know she will adore her little sibling and take on the role of big sister like a champ!

{FAQs} Pregnancy Edition

When you tell someone you are pregnant, it seems there is an automatic series of questions that follow. I did a post like this with Kenley and feel it's a good way to answer all those frequently asked questions at once.
And so...

When are you due? My official due date is April 29th! But as I learned with Kenley, that day means pretty much nothing! So, just hoping to deliver a healthy baby sometime in late April, early May.

Was this planned? Yes and No. As I mentioned yesterday, our plan was to start trying after my best friend's wedding the end of September but after meeting with my doctor and discussing our timeline, I felt worried about how long it may take us to conceive because of my endometriosis. And so, we decided to stop not trying early August to buy us a couple of months, never in my wildest dreams would I have thought we'd be blessed the first time!

Will you find out the gender? Absolutely. This Type A / OCD mama would probably go clinically insane if she had to wait 40 weeks to find out. Our 20 week ultrasound will be sometime in December!

Do you want a boy or girl? I could be cliche and say that we don't care and just want a healthy baby, and while a healthy baby is absolutely our highest hope, we definitely want a baby BOY.  A healthy baby is really truly all that matters and if we are blessed with another girl we will be thrilled but a pudgy little baby boy would be what we would pick if picking were an option.

Do you have names picked out? We have a boy name that we are in love with and have been since way before we were married {we're talking like 5th date conversation here} - so if it's a little man we are set. If it's a girl, we're screwed. It took us 7 months to come up with and agree on Kenley, so if there's a second daughter brewing in there she may just need to be named our boy name.

Will you be sharing the name? I don't think so. We had so much fun revealing the name after Kenley was born. Since we're finding out the gender, it's nice to have a little surprise at the end plus it eliminates any name judgements and comments.

How have you been feeling? For the most part, I've been feeling pretty great. Up until week 10 my only complaint was fatigue. The past couple of weeks though, I've had some bouts of nausea but thankfully haven't had to throw up. I have definitely been beyond tired and typically hit a 7pm bedtime every night. The worst of it, though, has to be my allergies. They've been off the chart and any medication safe to take does absolutely nothing so I just avoid it. Overall, I really am thankful for how good I have felt.

Is Kenley excited to be a big sister? OMG, yes! I have a whole post about the Big Sis coming up tomorrow but I couldn't have anticipated sharing this with her going any better.

Our little family couldn't be more excited and I'm super pumped to be able to share this pregnancy on the blog as I did with Kenley. There will probably be an influx of preggo posts around here but I just can't help it, I'm so happy! 

Finding Out

Thank you all so much for the love yesterday! I really, really can't believe I am pregnant AGAIN! I feel so blessed to be able to go through this amazing experience for a second time and my heart was bursting reading all the notes from my friends across social media. I didn't know what to expect since historically it seems the second baby kind of gets the shaft BUT that is certainly not the case for sweet little baby two, what a loved little one already! 

Our plan for quite some time was to start trying for number two after my best friend's wedding the end of September.  After meeting with my doctor in July and discussing our timeline, I felt worried about how long it may take us to conceive because of my endometriosis. After a super fun {cocktail filled} day on the boat, we decided to stop not trying in early August to buy us a couple of months, never in my wildest dreams would I have thought the first time would be a charm! This little one was just meant to be a part of our family and fast(!) and I am so grateful and feel so blessed. 

I found out I was pregnant on Thursday, August 13th. I had felt really weird for the previous week and based on the timing of things knew there was a chance I could be pregnant. However, I didn't think that it could possibly be true and was certain all the naseousness and tickling feelings in my low belly {anyone else ever feel that?} were just phantom symptoms. 

Because I was heading out of town for my best friend's Las Vegas bachelorette party, I took a test on Wednesday the 12th just to be sure. It was super early but I wanted to be safe. The test was negative. The next morning at about 5:45am, minutes before I had to leave for the airport, I decided to take one more test. After about a minute, the very faintest of second pink lines appeared. 

I could not believe my eyes. Jason was in Kenley's room getting her ready to go and I walked in with my hands over my face in total shock and disbelief. He didn't know I had just taken a test but could clearly tell from my giant eyeballs what was happening. He just looked at me and said "No way." I immediately went into some sort of weird laugh/cry combo. It was the weirdest commotion of emotion. I felt so happy and excited to be having another baby. I felt so in shock that it was all happening again. I felt so bummed out about the timing {hello, Vegas bachelorette party and upcoming BFF wedding?}. And also felt so, so, so relieved that I was able to get pregnant again. 

I quite literally didn't have time to process my emotions because I had a plane to catch. I know Jason and I talked about it in our 15 minute car ride to the airport but I frankly cannot recall a single word we said to each other. As we pulled up to the door I kind of lost it. I just started sobbing. I had just found out I was pregnant and now I was leaving my husband for four days. It was irrational for sure but I just couldn't stop crying. But off I went...to Las Vegas. For a Bachelorette Party. Pregnant. 

Once I had arrived in the desert, I called my friend Christina and told her my news. She would be on her way to Vegas soon, and I enlisted her help to keep my secret safe throughout the weekend. I knew fake drinking was going to be a HUGE challenge however I was only 2 weeks and 6 days pregnant, I had no business getting a positive test and was still processing the information. I definitely wasn't ready to share the news and didn't want to take anything away from my best friend's big weekend. If I'm being honest, I was a mess. I was so nervous and anxious about the weekend and was a giant ball of emotions. 

While laying by the pool with my bestie's now sister-in-laws, waiting for the rest of the girls to arrive, we were having a casual conversation about our kiddos and they asked when I planned on having #2. Apparently my emotions got the best of me and I just couldn't come up with a lie. They busted me instantly. They were SO EXCITED, gave me GIANT hugs and made me so comfortable. I knew right then that keeping this a secret would have ruined the weekend. I didn't want to spend this time stressed out and as soon as Marci & Liza knew, I felt instant relief. Once the rest of the girls arrived, I pulled Libby aside and told her my news followed by everyone else. These girls couldn't have been more supportive and excited for me and it made the weekend really special for me. I was able to celebrate my best friend and have the time of my life without any distractions! Yes, it would have been nice to have a few cocktails but I don't need to be drunk to have a good time. Our weekend in Las Vegas was seriously one of the best times of my life and I will never forget it, for so many reasons. The girls nicknamed the baby "Ziggy the Zygote" and the nickname has stuck!

I woke up Sunday morning, still in Vegas, with a strong desire to take another test. I know any sort of second line means positive {and Jason re-read the test instructions to be sure and we even dug my Wednesday test out of the trash to compare the two. HA!} but for some reason I just needed reassurance. I think I was still in shock and just needed to see a positive test again to really believe it. And so, me and my beloved friend Christina took a walk down the Las Vegas Strip to buy a pregnancy test. The whole thing was so surreal and really, really funny. I took the test in a Las Vegas restroom and Christina and I not so patiently waited to see the word "yes" pop up. Which it did! It was real, I was having another baby! Christina basically forced me into taking a picture with my test and I'm so glad now that she did! 

And that was it. Nothing like a trip to Las Vegas to kick off a pregnancy. But truthfully, it was perfect. I can't wait to tell Ziggy some day about how he or she got the nickname and how mom was dancing on tables at a Las Vegas nightclub, pregnant. PREGNANT!