I'm 30 Now!!

Wow, so it's official, I am now no longer in my twenties. When I hit my 27th birthday, I looked at my future 30 with fear and distaste!

But when it rolled around this year...I have to admit, I was okay with it. In fact, I'm actually excited! I look back at my twenties and see a LOT of growing and learning, with plenty of mistakes. I am 30 with a good arsenal of knowledge and wisdom, and my maturity level is thankfully higher. I feel less confused about life and more sure of myself. I embrace being a woman and I don't look at early twenty youthfulness with a sigh of wistfulness! If anything I shudder at how lost and stupid I was, Laugh Out Loud!!

Now I understand why the movie 13 Going on 30 chose to jump to 30...why such an old age?! Bypass all those years of hard knocks and learning, that's why!

Under the weather, no babysitting, missing out on a paid for concert, unable to drink and not really wanting any gifts, you'd think I had a miserable day...but I didn't. I was super thankful to have the day off, and the one thing that sounded awesome was just to go out and chill with my husband and boys. We did just that and wrapped up the evening with Olive Garden, free cheesecake with a candle, which we all ended up splitting, and everything was juuust right.

I look forward to this decade and have a lot of ideas and goals plus plenty I want to conquer! Here's to a good year. Cheers!

Fit N Fancy 4 Life,

Caroleena

Week 14 of My Pregnancy

Sitting at 14 weeks pregnant now, and also sitting in my 2nd Trimester!! Thinking back on it, time has gone quickly. With holidays coming up as well as leave (yay!!!!), these next couple months will go by oh so quick!

Baby is now the size of a lemon!! She has a fine covering of hair, is around 3 1/2 inches long and apparently now has an itty bitty neck. I am starting to show, still feel in the awkward beer gut stage, but it's getting a bit better.

I'm gearing up for Thanksgiving. Already bought most of my menu items. I'm more interested in food this time around, go figure, so I'll be switching things up a bit! Thinking of doing pumpkin cheesecake and chocolate cream pie with all the typical things. I will confess, healthy options won't be taken into a whole lot of consideration. I'm going for taste, so bring on the butter!!

My biggest challenge this week: I can't really find comfortable clothes to fit into. Major sad face. I am down to maybe 3 pairs of pants, plus a few yoga joggers and comfy Wal*Mart sweats, but it's too early to be going grungy. The pants I do have are fine when I'm standing, but sitting oh my! It feels like I just ate Thanksgiving feast everyday, talk about frustrating and awkward.

SO, before the holidays, I'm going on a mission to find some non maternity, stylish and comfortable clothes to wear. Plus I'll post strategies to keep myself from feeling fat or out of control about my weight and changing body, and instead embracing pregnancy curves and enjoying this journey!

~~Caroleena

Week 15 & 16 of My Pregnancy

Pregnant in Uniform

Good Morning! It has been awhile since I've posted. Lately it's been a struggle due to some family sickness going around, and I was sick earlier this week. It's harder getting through a sickness when I don't take any medication.

 My baby is now the size of an avocado! That's pretty big...I was kinda surprised to find that out. I do see a difference in my belly, and I have strange "jumping" sensations when I twist a certain way or tighten my belly to work my abs. She now has finger and toenails, and is going to double in size in the next few weeks! I'm still wearing the regular Army uniform, but people are starting to comment on my bump...so by January, I'll have to get the maternity uniform...oh dear.

I got really sick. I'm just now pulling out of it. I had a sore throat for 5 days (didn't come back as strep) and a few days later, a really bad eye infection in both eyes that's just now clearing up. I still had to go to work, exhausted and looking like straight booboo! I did end up taking a little children's liquid Tylenol after trying tea, lemon & honey in hot water, throat drops, herbs...nothing seemed to work until the Tylenol. It was miserable! The Dr wasn't much help, just sent me home with more Tylenol and some eye goop that made my eyes feel worse. To say I was frustrated would be an understatement.
   I finally took matters into my own hands and started by eating oranges. I ate about 8 of them in one day. Then I bought some organic kale, took my vitamins 3 times a day and chopped some fresh raw garlic into my tuna salad, plus pushed a gallon of water a day. I can't say for sure that doing this was what cured me, but within a day and a half, my eyes were clearing up and my snot went from dark green to now almost clear. I should've started this all sooner, but I thought my body could handle the sickness and I really didn't prioritize myself like I should have....

I jumped through all the Tricare hoops and have my first Dr appointment set up for December 2nd. I'll be getting an ultrasound and hear her heartbeat! I am excited about that...however, I'm not looking forward to dealing with the Dr and all the questions and possible negativity because my first check up will be at 17 weeks. "Nobody" does this and they typically don't like people who do things the "wrong" way. BUT! I will do my best to keep a positive outlook and give it all a chance. It could be a great experience.

I will make a great effort to keep up on the posts, but with the holiday season it might be a little tough! Have a great Thanksgiving weekend to all.

Fit N Fancy 4 life,

Caroleena

Week 13 of My Pregnancy

It is most of the way through week 13 of my pregnancy. Work has been interesting and I find myself tired and sore in the abdominal area around 3pm! Too soon! (I know I always say that)

Week 13 of My Pregnancy

My baby is about the size of a pea pod, which is a much more human comparison! She has her own set of unique fingerprints formed, and her body is more in proportion with her head...so she looks less like a little balloon with a string body, or a tadpole. She looks less alien and scary.

I think I found a doctor I'll be settling for. I have to go off of what insurance covers, not what I want unfortunately. The goal for this next week is get a referral and an appointment. I'm a bit eager to get checked out and hear the baby's heartbeat! To me that is the moment that reality hits and the connection really begins.

My desire for certain foods in this pregnancy has been all over the place. One day it's a milkshake, the next it's Popeye's Chicken and Mac N Cheese. I'm loving fruit, but most vegetables taste funky to me. I can stand fresh cole slaw mix with avocado, but regular lettuce and spinach is so difficult for me to eat. I know I need to find a way around this! Maybe get a blender and mix my greens in a smoothie.

I've been reading some of the most common pregnancy issues that doctors worry about. I do this to educate myself, which gets rid of fear, but also because there is almost always something that can be done to prevent these issues, usually with a good diet. More on that in future posts....

Fit N Fancy for Life,

Caroleena Kay

How to Prevent Pre-eclampsia

I was reading my book this week, Heart and Hands, and I came across where they go into detail about Pre-eclampsia, which is where blood pressure can skyrocket and the level of protein in urine is high. 

Typically, it occurs after 20 weeks of pregnancy, but sometimes it doesn't develop until later on in the 3rd trimester. As with most of the issues doctors will bring up, there is a way to decrease your odds of getting pre-eclampsia dramatically: by eating about 80-90 grams of good protein a day. 

By good protein, I mean some of these examples:

*Fish Fillet--24 grams

*Greek Yogurt--13 grams

*Peanuts/Cashews--7 grams

*Whole Grain Bread--5 grams/slice

*Cage Free Eggs--6 grams

*Turkey Burger Patti--30 grams

*Chicken Breast, 4oz--22 grams

*Cottage Cheese--12 grams

The awesome thing about these foods is they are low in calories and bad fats, which means you wouldn't be overeating if you ate several of them in one day; you'd have plenty of room for veggies, fruit and small sides to complete your meal. 

When I read this, I realized my diet has been slacking a bit due to life being busy and me being tired. Some of these days I've forgotten my snack or ate lunch way later than I should have. Hence why I try to read a little everyday to keep me on track and refresh these little facts that could save me a lot of heartache later!

I highly recommend the book Heart and Hands, can't say it enough! This one is packed full of detailed information on everything pregnancy, including problems in pregnancy. There are percentages of the likely hood of having a certain issue and then where it comes from as well as ways to prevent it. If you want a home birth, or just an educated pregnancy, regardless of if you're planning unassisted or not, this book is still extremely helpful.

Fit N Fancy for Life,

Caroleena Kay

 

Emergency Childbirth Kit

I've been looking into birth kits and came across this Emergency Childbirth Kit w/ Umbilical Cutter.

It has quite a few helpful items that I'd like to add to what I plan on purchasing. It has umbilical cord clamps and cutter, among other things, plus these are sterile and ready to go. Also, it has a bio hazard bag for the Placenta. Don't freak out at the title emergency childbirth kit, often looking for emergency birthing products can give more thorough results than just home birth. 

I'll keep posting items that I have bought before or plan to buy for this birth! I try to cover everything including a few of the larger emergency scenarios. My job this time around is more stressful, so I'll be taking extra cautious measures because of this. 

Fit N' Fancy for Life,

Caroleena Kay

Empowered by Unassisted Home Birth Stories

Before I made the decision to birth unassisted at home, I read other unassisted home birth stories written by women who had experienced it first hand. This is one of the things that empowered me and helped lead me to decide that I too could do this. 

Here are a couple links to the birth stories I read: 

* Unassisted Childbirth, Laura Shanley's Website


* Birth Stories & Pictures, Birth Without Fear Blog 

Going through these helped build my confidence and paint a picture of what giving birth unassisted at home is like. The stories of women who let their bodies dictate what happened next; stories of women who believed in themselves, believed that giving birth is not something to fear, but is something that is a natural bodily function best left unhindered. 

The more I read, the more I felt ready, and now sitting here preparing for my 4th unassisted home birth, I still enjoy grabbing a cup of coffee and settling in to read success stories. It strengthens my resolve as to why I do this. I tear up at the beauty and peacefulness of home birth. Nothing compares to it and the accomplishment a woman gets from letting go and letting God's design function the way it's suppose to. 

I felt a natural high from the success of my last birth. I was on cloud 9 forever! It has strengthened not only my faith in God, but my faith in myself, as well as given me the pride and fullness of being a woman.   

Fit N Fancy for Life....

Caroleena Kay