From rutabaga to squash to coconut, oh my!

Since BIG seems to be the theme of my blog posts this week, I want to report on another BIG thing - my BIG baby!

This week I had an ultrasound at 32 weeks to check on my low placenta... It was seriously .1 cm lower than it is supposed to be. What's up placenta? Get a move on!

Anyway, I was more excited to see the little guy in my belly... or should I say BIG guy in my belly! He is measuring 5 pounds already! OMG, that sounds really big when I still have 8 weeks to go! My husband literally gave me his condolences... really?!

Thebump.com says at 32 weeks pregnant, your baby is the size of a squash, weighing in at 2.5 to 3.8 pounds. 

From 33-36 weeks, your baby's the size of a durian (what the hell is that anyway?), butternut squash, coconut, or honey dew, weighing about 4.2 to 5.8 pounds. That's more like it! So maybe we are a week ahead of schedule?!

I don't know why we were so surprised! Looking back, he has been bigger than average at every ultrasound we've had. At 20 weeks, he was measuring in the 69th percentile. (Who knew they even had percentiles for fetuses?!) Maybe our shock was due to the fact that 5 pounds sounds like the size of a real baby versus a head of cabbage or a rutabaga as we imagined him before. 

I asked my Doctor about his weight and what to expect when expecting a MONSTER baby. She admitted it sounded bigger than usual. But they definitely won't induce labor early just because the baby is larger since it creates an increased chance of having a C-Section. But if he is larger than 11 pounds, they may offer a C-Section when the time comes. Are we seriously talking about 11 pounds as if it's an option?

Obviously, big or small, watermelon or coconut, as long as he is healthy, that is what matters! (But I won't complain if he decides to show his face a week earlier and a pound lighter. Fingers-crossed!)

Big City = Big Baby Shower!

You haven't seen gift bags until you've attended the Big City Moms' Biggest Baby Shower Ever event in NYC! I left with a ton of stuff. Seriously, check out this photo! 

In addition to the standard (GIANT) gift bag filled with bottles, booties, hats, nursery decor, organic snacks, lotions, coupons, books, and more, I also left with a Britax carrier, two Bright Starts Mombo feeding pillows (somehow my husband walked out with an extra one), and a Diaper Genie Deluxe. 

Although my husband insists these things weren't "free" because we bought tickets to the event, I still crossed the carrier, feeding pillow, and diaper genie off my registry!

The trade show-like event took place Wednesday at the Metropolitan Pavilion in NYC. Over 100 vendors had products on display for expecting moms (and dads). 

In addition to the big players in the industry like Skip Hop, Britax, Chicco, UPPAbaby, Fisher Price, Moby Wrap, and Baby Jogger, it was interesting to meet some of the other new innovative companies out there: 

Sage Spoonfuls - Liza Huber had a great demo table displaying her cookbook and products for making easy and healthy baby food. Plus, her mom, Susan Lucci, was on hand supporting her daughter. That was nice! The cookbook had user-friendly recipes made from a variety of fruits, veggies, and meats. I added the book to my registry.

Magnificent Baby - Immediately caught my eye with their magnetic closures on baby onesies, jammies, and gowns. Seriously, not even Dad could mess this up! So smart!

Baby Brezza - One-step baby food maker was pretty impressive! You can steam and puree in the same appliance! Looks like a super time saver!

Belly Bandid - This is the belly flattening wrap for post-pregnancy that Kourtney Kardashian endorses. I'm curious if it makes a real difference versus not wearing it. Any thoughts on this?

The Honest Company - As if Jessica Alba isn't busy enough, she founded this all natural line of products for baby, mom, and home. I'm really looking forward to trying the fragrance-free lotion because my skin has been so sensitive during pregnancy!

You also had your choice of seminars throughout the evening featuring the following speakers:

Tia Mowry - discussing her book Oh, Baby!, the highs (and lows) of preganacy

Dr. Bob Sears - Everything you need to know about Colic

Dr. Alan Greene - Good Taste Begins with Mom: Developing a Healthy Eater Right from the Start

Jessica Alba - The Honest Company

Melissa Joan Hart - Business of Being Born

For those of you who know me, you already know the celebrity sightings were my favorite part of the event! Seriously though, it's great to see successful women who are also involved mothers! Clearly these stars have better things to do than make appearances in a room full of crazy pregnant ladies (ie: Jessica Alba was just at the Met Costume Gala a few days before). So it leads me to believe, they really care about the topics they were promoting!

That goes for all the entrepreneurial moms demonstrating their products at the event. You know they probably came up with the idea at their kitchen table in the middle of the night somewhere between birth and the first year. It's inspiring! I'd love to be able to do the same! You never know what motherhood may bring!

Thanks Big City Moms!

My tea party shower in the city

This past weekend, I was joined by friends and family for my baby shower at Lady Mendl’s Tea Salon at the Inn at Irving Place.

As we all know, space is the biggest challenge for New Yorkers. I couldn't host a traditional shower in my apartment due to a max capacity of 4 people. So finding a venue that could accommodate a flock of excitable women "Ooooing and Ahhhing" over baby things became the first priority. With a guest list of approximately 20, it was no easy task to simply make a lunch reservation.

I explored a few different restaurants and tea parlors looking for a venue that could provide a private space and a suitable ambiance for a baby shower including Alice’s Tea Cup and Sprinkles Cupcakes before selecting Lady Mendl’s Tea Salon.

A traditional 5 course English tea service – a first for most of us – in a private salon in a beautiful Victorian inn made for a truly perfect shower!

The Elsie de Wolfe salon was reserved for my guests for 3 hours (so we had plenty of time for chatting, eating, game playing, and opening gifts). I loved the gold walls and Victorian décor and the formal china table settings laid out for us made it very elegant. For city folk and out-of-towners alike, the tea party was a unique occasion for us to dress in our Sunday best and even show off our best interpretation of an English hat or head piece.

The 5 course tea service included:

Champagne Cocktail

Butternut Squash Amuse Bouche (a mini quiche)

Tea Sandwiches:

Smoked Salmon with Dill Cream Cheese on Pumpernickel

Cucumber with Mint Crème Fraiche on Brioche

Classic Egg Salad on Rye

Smoked Turkey & Cranberry on Seven Grain

Scones with Devonshire Clotted Cream & Strawberry Preserves

Cake with Raspberry Coulis

Assorted Cookies & Chocolate Covered Strawberries

And of course, freshly seeped teas throughout.

My lovely hosts (two friends and mother-in-law) personalized the event with games including celebrity baby names quiz, guess how round my belly is, and how many animal crackers in a tea pot. They had a framed ultrasound image of our baby and asked guests to sign the matting (like a guest book). For favors, each guest took home a tea cup and saucer containing candies and customized tea bags printed with my baby’s name and due date. It was the cutest thing ever!

In the end, New York City pleasantly surprised me by offering a totally unique baby shower experience! While defying the mold of a traditional baby shower, I think all my guests agree it was fun to try something totally new!

Sun, sand, and sea. Ahhhh... This is the life!

I was lucky enough to go on a baby-moon or “last getaway” before the baby arrives. My husband and I spent the last 5 days in Aruba: relaxing on the beach, sipping sweet drinks, and eating delicious food (“one happy island” as they say).

I did my fare share of research on how to prepare for the beach while pregnant. The biggest thing I heard from my yoga buddies was to drink A LOT of water to stay hydrated. Naturally, my Doctor also said to stay out of the sun because skin is more sensitive during pregnancy.

I packed my plastic water bottle, 50 SPF, aloe, sunglasses, and hat in hopes of protecting myself from the sun while not avoiding the sun all together. This is a beach vacation after all, I’m expecting to come home with a tan.

The only real challenge I faced was finding adequate swim attire. (This should be a whole other blog post really. TBA.) The challenge of finding a fashionable yet supportive swim suit was a bitch. I won’t even mention the distress my husband endured trying to balance the numerous purchases, exchanges, and returns in our checking account.

We stayed at the Westin Resort on Palm Beach where all the high rise resorts are located (the RIU, Radisson, Hyatt, Occidental, Marriot, Holiday Inn, the whole gang was there). It really is the best and most popular location because everything you could need was within walking distance. You could walk along the beach in front of the resorts for about 2 miles and find a ton of tiki bars, restaurants, and water sport rentals. Or walk on the street side of the resorts for about 2 miles and find a slew of touristy shops and restaurants, even a Hooters and Senior Frogs.

I think it’s important to note how our baby-moon differed from a typical pre-pregnancy vacation:

Early to bed, early to rise: We woke up naturally around 7am every day. What the heck? This is vacation! Maybe going to bed around 9pm and not being hung-over had something to do with it. Well I won’t complain about more day light hours. Plus we had to reserve our palabra by 8am.

Shade vs Sun: Beach time was spent under a beach palabra (umbrella) versus coated in oil and baking in the sun. Unavoidably, I did spend some time in the sun, and despite the SPF 50, I left Aruba with mild sun poison on my belly and hands to prove it.

R&R: Our daily itinerary centered around doing nothing. We didn’t schedule a jeep tour, horseback riding, jet-skiing, tennis, or golf. It may sound like a snooze-fest to adventure tourists, but perfect for preggers like me. My husband actually read a complete novel for the first time in a year. I laid on the beach, swam in the pool, did yoga, got a massage, walked on the beach, napped, and practiced my photography. We signed up for a 3 hour snorkeling trip on a catamaran, but sadly, the waves were too rough and they cancelled the tour. Safety first!

Drinking: I had my doubts about virgin cocktails (what’s the point, right?). Well, those lime daiquiris and Oreo mudslides really hit the spot when I was fighting to stay cool. And they were half the price of alcoholic drinks, cha-ching! Another great thing about Aruba is they have the second largest water treatment facility in the world (I swear I read that somewhere), so I had unlimited refills of tap water and ice versus paying for bottled water, cha-ching!

Nightlife: Or lack of in our case. Nothing shouted my name more than a nightly rerun of ‘Law and Order: SVU’. We steered clear of the casinos and dance clubs. Honestly, Aruba isn’t a terribly happening place at night anyway. It’s not Cancun, and I don’t even remember seeing spring breakers. Our fellow beach goers were mostly families and couples. And call me prude, but the resort’s nightly Magic & Comedy Show did not lure me in.

Besides having a great vacation, I’m so happy my husband and I scheduled time for just us. It was our first vacation with just the two of us in over a year. Although baby was ever present (in the form of kicking my ribs), we were on our own schedule without worrying about anyone other than each other.

We also realized how lucky we are to have a really low key pregnancy without sickness or complications (besides the rash factor), and considering our “fast-paced” lifestyle in NYC, being pregnant hasn’t slowed me down THAT much (knock on wood).

Now, let the next (and last) 10 weeks of baby showers, birthing classes, and Doctors appointments begin!

  

My obsession with prenatal yoga

There are a lot of things I can't do now that I'm pregnant (rollerblading and skiing to name a few). So I was thrilled to find a prenatal yoga class that I LOVE! Initially, I had my doubts. I've practiced basic yoga a few times before, but never considered myself a devoted yogi. Mainly, I didn’t want to walk into a class of crunchy granola earth mothers.

I picked Yoga Vida in Union Square because of the great reviews on Yelp.com. The class is 90 minutes every Sunday. From my very first class at 14 weeks, I was hooked. 

First, Cat the instructor is super informed on how pregnancy affects our bodies and she is a certified doula on top of her yoga training. Every pose and stretch in yoga is specifically designed with a pregnant woman’s body in mind. For example, at the beginning of class, we go around and introduce ourselves and share any ailments we’ve been experiencing like lower back pain, leg cramps, the usual. Cat usually responds with a medical explanation as to why we are experience those aches and pains (growing uterus, sacroiliac joint pain, pressure on our sciatic nerve – see don’t I sound smart?!) and which poses will help us stretch or eliminate the discomfort or which poses to modify as to not irritate it.

Second, it’s nice to be in a room of my peers. I don’t just feel like the whining pregnant lady, I feel like one of many whining pregnant ladies. It’s also comforting to know other preggies are experiencing the same symptoms as me. Plus, I’m making pregnant friends which will come in handy when we are all new moms around the same time.

Third, there is an element of mediation and relaxation involved. At the beginning and end of each class, we have about 5 minutes of total quiet and relaxation where we clear our minds and just be still. Throughout class, we are instructed to think about our babies and how each pose affects their position too. I leave yoga feeling so relaxed and happy (until I hear the honking taxi’s on the street outside).

Fourth, Cat explains how many of the positions can be brought into labor to help move the baby into the right spot to advance labor. The breathing can be applied to labor too. Not like crazy “hee hee hooo” Lamaze breathing, just conscious equal parts inhale and exhale to try to stay focused on the present moment instead of screaming and stressing out.

After 12 weeks of attendance, I recognize the regulars now. It’s fun to see how all of our bodies are growing  and when someone doesn’t make it to class in late pregnancy, I wonder if she had her baby. One day, that will be me and I’ll have to remember to email Cat to tell her my zen baby has arrived.

They never told me about a rash

This could be worse than labor, (I'll let you know in 3 months)! I discovered a red, bumpy, itchy rash on the back of my legs. The next morning, it had spread to my butt cheeks as well. I promptly bought some Cortizone 10 that didn't really help relieve the itch at all. This was so weird! I turned to Google, searching "pregnancy rash". Ugh, to my horror, this was an actual thing "chronic hives-like rash" that happens to 1 out of 200 women during pregnancy, 70% of them expecting boys (did I mention I'm having a boy)! It's abbreviated PUPPP. You can wikipedia it.

By evening of day 2, I was slathering A+D ointment on top of Cortizone 10 followed by sitting on a nice cold ice pack. It was intolerable to say the least! This routine continued every 2 hours through the night, in the attempt of getting some relief. In the morning, I went to a neighborhood urgent care clinic. The doctor diagnosed it as a contact allergic reaction (but to what? it's winter, and my white legs haven't seen the light of day in months). I mentioned PUPPP and after she Googled it herself, she said "well you learn something new everyday". Knowing the only cure for the PUPPP rash is labor, I broke down sobbing in tears on the street. I was only 23 weeks, how could I wait that long!?

Do I have to tell you that the $10 ounce size tube of prescription topical steroid cream did nothing? Not to mention, I could have emptied the entire little tube on one ass cheek! I had to take matters into my own hands! I turned back to the world wide web... Babycenter.com had an extensive message board thread on this topic. I could literally see the tears on the screen as hundreds of women asked each other for cures and shared their attempts at remedying the rash from hell.

After tallying the most common solutions, I bought "Grandpa's Pine Tar Soap" and all natural aloe vera gelly from a health store. After lathering with this brown bar of soap from the 1800's, I had temporary relief. The aloe cooled the hot surface of the rash. I still was sitting on ice, finding solstice in being numb in general. Thank goodness it was the weekend, so I could treat the rash every few hours, shower every 5 hours, refresh my ice pack, and air out my tush in the comfort of my own home.

Drying the rash out helped way more than any moisture cream or lotion. I also took Benadyrl to help me sleep at night (I prayed I made it at least 4 hours at a time). Although I emailed my "pregnancy council" of 10 girlfriends, none of them had experienced any kind of rash. =(

On day 6, I had a flare up! Why!? It had been going so well! I think this was honestly stress induced (from work)! My trusted home remedies weren't providing any relief and I stayed home from work the next day. I tried Sarna cream, poison ivy cream, diaper rash cream, and Aveno oatmeal bath in my fight to battle the itch. Willing to try ANYTHING, I searched for "home remedies" or "holistic rash treatments" online. I found convincing testimonials on Earth Clinic by people swearing by Apple Cider Vinegar, Coconut Oil, and Aloe Vera to treat any rash, eczema or acne. At this point, I would have asked my husband to pee on me, if it would have helped!

After showering with Grandpa's Soap, I applied pure Apple Cider Vinegar to the rash. It burned a little from me scratching, but about an hour later, I felt okay. I slept through the night and the next morning, the rash was 50% better! I could not believe it! I continued using ACV in the morning and evening after bathing with the soap. It's been 2 weeks and my rash is completely cured! It's still hasn't completely disappeared, but it is not raised, inflamed, red or itchy. I later read the ingredients in Grandpa's Soap included Coconut Oil - what are the odds!?

This could have been the worst experience of my pregnancy life (I hope nothing is worse than this anyway)! But I have some pretty strong take-aways... A) All natural/organic foods/remedies did wonders that medicine could not do. B) I will approach my son's future diaper rash with a new educated perspective. I like to try an all natural cream versus medicated. My friend loves Emily's Skin Soothers (I'm looking forward to trying it on my dog's itchy feet too). C) I'm avoiding all medicated creams or even body lotions with fragrance for the rest of my pregnancy. D) I'm washing all my clothes, sheets, and towels with baby detergent Dreft for the rest of my pregnancy. E) When my son is born, I will cherish the sleepless nights WITHOUT pain, at least I will not be trying to scratch my ass off!

We all know pregnancy does crazy ass shit to your body, so whether it was PUPPP or a legitimate contact allergic reaction, I'm not sure. (My OBGYN doesn't seem to think it was PUPPP). If my skin wants to be just as sensitive as my emotions, I will treat it with care.

*Thank you also to my own Grandma who recommend vinegar as an old all-natural rash treatment and my mother-in-law who suggested aloe vera worked on her niece's diaper rash that was untreatable by medicated products.