18 weeks Pregnant...Looking good while pregnant & my first baby bump pictures

So today I am 18 weeks pregnant. In terms of symptoms, there is really nothing new to report. Oh I hurt my wrist/forearm while gardening last week. I have no idea how this happened really. I was planting flowers and pulling weeds on the long weekend in my front yard then I went to my dad's for a birthday BBQ. While I was eating dinner, I noticed that my arm hurt a lot. I looked it up on Google and it sounded like gardeners elbow which apparently can extend down the forearm. I think it is just from not working out as much as usual. My doctor warned me that my ligaments and tendons can become looser while pregnant but I was thinking more in terms of crossfit or heavier weights, not gardening...it is slowly getting better. I have just been resting it. It's nothing serious but still surprising...

So since I don't really have any new symptoms or appointments to discuss this week, I wanted to discuss the topic of "looking good while pregnant" and some tips that have worked for me. First off, I realize that looking good is not the most important thing and that when you are pregnant and when you have a small baby you have way less time, money and energy to worry about this stuff so please don't hate on me for this. I am not the most superficial person in the world but I do find that if I take a bit of time for me and do my makeup and hair etc. I feel more motivated throughout the day and a bit more peppy. 

I am now into my second trimester but I don't really have a clear "baby bump" yet. It is more of a pouch. I look a bit chubby rather than pregnant. I have officially grown out of 4 pairs of my jeans, including my favourite white jeans that I typically wear all summer. I knew this was bound to happen but when the day comes, it is still a bit disappointing. Anyway here are a couple tips that I found that helped me feel a bit better about how I look. These tips are geared more to those pregnant in the summer so sorry for those pregnant in the winter...but number 3 can be done all year: 

• Wear dresses and skirts. You can probably get away with wearing a lot of your pre-pregnancy dresses well through your second trimester. This saves money and I always feel better in a dress rather than sweats. Dresses are usually a lot cooler during the warm summer months also. 
• Depending on how far along you are and how much weight you have gained, wear heels. I know that pregnant women should avoid heels later during pregnancy because your center of gravity changes when you have a big baby bump so trust your own judgement on this one. As I mentioned, I don't have a big baby bump yet so I am still sporting my heels. I prefer wedges. I feel more comfortable in them and I feel they are way more stable then stilettos. The reason I prefer heels is that I feel I have better posture when wearing heels. I also feel like I stand a bit straighter and I also feel like it makes me  look a bit leaner, and more professional.
• Wear lipstick!!! This is one of my new tricks. Overall, I tend to wear pretty neutral make-up to work and on a daily basis. I usually only wear lipstick or eye-liner when I am going out somewhere fancy. Otherwise, I wear mascara, a neutral shadow, foundation, and some blush. However, I found that a pop of colour on the lips just stands out and makes you look a bit more "put together". I have a nice red lipstick that I used a lot during the winter and a reddish pinkish lipstick that I tend to wear more now but I think I might go out  and get a couple more summer colors. I really like wearing bright colors in the summer so I want to get a nice bright pink lipstick. I actually saw this pregnant girl with bright pink lipstick on instagram and thought it looked so cute! Plus at least your lipstick will fit throughout your entire pregnancy! 

According to one one my pregnancy apps, at 18 weeks the baby can hear outside noises. They say that if you sing or read to the baby from this point on, babies will often favor those songs or stories once they are born and find them soothing...

So my first baby bump pictures are posted below. I posted two. One with my tank top down and one with my top up. They were both taken at the same time this morning after breakfast but the picture on the left with my shirt down was zoomed in a bit more and I think it makes my bump look a lot bigger! Oh and my official weigh in at 18 weeks is 128 lbs. I am up 1 lb from my starting weight of 127.

16 weeks pregnant - 1st baby items and 1st maternity clothes haul

So I am 16 weeks pregnant and I have been feeling pretty good this week. I have way more energy this week. I actually stayed up until 2am on Saturday night...like 5 hours past my bedtime and I went to the gym today for the first time in like a month!

So I got my first baby items that I will post below. It is just 1 bottle and a little onsie. I actually got them for free when I bought my maternity clothes. So I still haven't actually bought anything yet. Some people might think I am crazy for not shopping yet but I have been spending the 1st bit just focusing on all my appointments and finding a midwife. The materialistic part of it kinda slipped to the side. Plus for a lot of the items I want to wait until we find out what we are having. I really want to have a gender specific nursery and clothes. The big items such as the stroller, high-chair, car seat, bassinet, etc. I was thinking of getting in neutral colours just so we can use it in the future if we have another baby of the opposite gender. 

We actually hung out with some good friends of ours on the weekend who we haven't seen in a while. They have two kids a boy and a girl and were super generous and offered to sell/lend us a bunch of stuff. There might be a couple of things that I plan to get new but for the most part I am definitely open to getting used items as long as they are in good condition. She was planning to sell some of her stuff on kijiji anyway so hopefully I can buy some stuff off of her. She definitely has great taste in items too! We are planning to meet up after the long weekend (which is next weekend) and then I can go through a bunch of her stuff. I am really excited to see what she has and extremely appreciative of her generous offer. If anyone else is looking to get rid of baby stuff let me know!!! I haven't bought anything so I need like everything!!! 

I am still able to fit into my jeans and other casual clothes but my dress pants are getting snug so I needed maternity clothes for work. So for my first maternity haul, I went to Thyme maternity at our local mall yesterday. I found some stuff a bit pricey so I only got what I needed. I bought white pants, black capri and khaki capri and also black legging capri. My lululemon pants are super tight and made of a heavier material so these are better for summer anyway since they are lightweight! I will post a pic below. I didn't want to buy any tops at Thyme maternity because they were a bit expensive. I checked out Old Navy because the youtube mamas I follow seem to love Old Navy for maternity clothes but I definitely think they have a better selection in the US. First, the tops were super casual. Not really work appropriate and it was hard to find a small or XS. Just a lot of L. Oh well. As of now, my tops still fit. I have some longer tops that I plan on wearing but I also don't want to stretch out my good lululemon tops. When I am really in need of tops, I will go back and see what I can find. Dress season is finally here so I plan on taking advantage of that over the next couple of weeks while I can still wear my regular dresses. I can still fit into all my pre-pregnancy clothes so I am not in too big of a rush.

I actually weighed myself at the gym today and I am back to my starting weight of 127 which means I have gain 1 lb in the last 3 weeks. 

My maternity clothes:

First baby items:

15 weeks pregnant - positive birth meeting, pregnancy scare, finding a midwife and a prenatal massage

So today I am 15 weeks pregnant and this week has been pretty eventful. First, last Wednesday I went to my first positive birth meeting. I heard about it through a friend on facebook. It is for anyone that is looking to discuss birth in a positive manner and to empower mommas-to-be. I was told that it was for anyone whether or not you were planning a home birth or a hospital birth and whether or not you decided to go with a midwife or an OB. However, most people there definitely had a midwife and were planning a home birth. Overall, I really liked the meeting and I plan to go to more meetings in the future. I think they are held the last Wednesday of the month in Barrhaven.

Before attending the meeting I had decided on an OB and I still have my an OB appointment booked for May 26. However, after leaving the meeting I was really wishing that I followed my gut instinct and pursued finding a midwife earlier on. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I really considered a midwife at first but then I saw my family doctor and continued on the path towards having an OB.

After doing further research I knew a midwife would be a better fit for me since I want a natural birth and I really want to avoid unnecessary interventions. I was discouraged when I called around to the 5 midwifery groups in Ottawa and they were all full. However, a few days later I got a call back from Ottawa South midwives and they had an opening. My first midwife appointment is booked for May 20th. I already did some preliminary research and made a list of questions for my midwife. They work in groups of two. I am not sure what to expect since I have already been seeing my GP and have already gotten testing and blood work done. I am keeping my OB appointment until after I see the midwife and I can make sure that it is a good fit. I am super grateful and excited to be seeing a midwife!!! 

So I had a bit of a pregnancy scare on Monday. I had bleeding so I went to the hospital at about 6am. They did blood work and an ultrasound and everything seemed fine. Baby was moving a lot. Apparently I have a small cyst but that is apparently common during pregnancy and is nothing to worry about. We were there for like 10 hours and around some really sick people but at least we got peace of mind that everything is fine. He said there is nothing I could have done to prevent it and really nothing I can do to prevent it in the future...

Today I went for my first prenatal massage. It was really quite similar to a regular massage which I was getting once per month until I got pregnant. Then I took a break during the first trimester just because I was trying to be extra careful. It was good but my allergies were acting up so that was quite embarrassing. She said I could lay on my stomach since I wasn't too far along but I wasn't comfortable so she let me lie on a pregnancy pillow which has a hole in it for your baby bump. The only thing I didn't like about the massage was that I was pretty much laying flat on my back for the 2nd half of the massage and lots of experts say it can be dangerous to lie on your back after the 1st trimester. Apparently it can cut off blood circulation. Next time I will definitely ask to be propped up with pillows...

Good news is that I am finally feeling less nauseous. I really only get nauseous if I go really long periods of time without eating or sometimes when I'm on the bus.