9 Weeks

9 Weeks:

I have determined that the shape of my belly depends completely upon what time of the day I am looking at it, and what I have eaten that day.  In the morning it seems relatively flat...  But by the end of the day it feels like I have a small cantaloupe hiding in there and I feel all round and full!  I almost feel like there is less room in there for the food that I eat so it just makes everything stick out...  I have been eating slightly more than usual lately but not nearly enough to make it stick out the way it has started to.  These photos were taken mid-day so it's kind of halfway between "flat" and "I-ate-a-whole-cautaloupe" sized... I am sure to everyone else I look normal but I can definitely tell a difference...

9 Week Stats:

•  Baby has graduated from embryo to fetus status!  Also, I have entered my third month of pregnancy!
•  The baby is now the size of a green olive and measures around .9 inches and weighs about .07 ounces
• The eyes are fully formed, but the eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks
• The baby's organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks
• The placenta is developed enough now to take over most of the critical job of producing hormones

Little green olive baby

Symptoms:

Still feeling great!!  Sleeping pretty good considering I have been getting up 1-3 times during the night to pee.  Energy levels are almost always excellent.  Lucy and I have been getting in our runs/walks every morning.  Breasts are ever-growing and I seriously need to buy some bigger bras... 

No new cravings this week...  No food aversions either.  And still no morning sickness or nausea, yay!  I want to believe if I was going to have that it would have hit me by now.

I guess you could say I have had a few mood swings lately...  Last night I became extremely mad at Erik for releasing a VERY smelly fart right when he got into bed.  I was very dramatic and told him it was going to make me sick to smell it, and demanded he get the fan and point it at me to blow the smell away.  I then threatened to wake him up if he released any more of those super-smelly farts in his sleep.  Looking back I have to laugh at the situation, but at the time I was acting completely irrational!  (Sorry honey!) Can I blame the pregnancy hormones for that one?  ;)

I think in the past I have mentioned that I can be quite impatient at times....  Actually I think I once did a whole blog post about it... Anyway, earlier this week (Thursday to be exact - the day I believe I started my 9th week of pregnancy) I decided I couldn't wait until the midwife appointment and decided to use the doppler at work and try to find the baby's heartbeat.  Of course I waited until it was just me and one other nurse who works the evening shift, and she knows that I am pregnant...  Well unfortunately I couldn't find it.  I didn't listen for too long and it was kind of difficult to lay completely flat and cover all parts of my lower abdomen without being able to see what I was doing so maybe that was the cause.  Most likely though, it's still too early.  Midwife appt in 10 days!  Hopefully Sprout (baby's temporary name - thanks to my sisters bf Mitch who came up with it) will cooperate at the appointment and let us hear it then.

Starting at around 4 weeks (actually within a couple of days of finding out about the pregnancy) I started using my homemade face cream on my already enlarged breasts once I realized they were only going to keep getting bigger and stretch marks could be in my future...  Probably around week six I started using it on my belly as well.  One of the main ingredients is cocoa butter which is known to prevent stretch marks...  Not knowing if it was going to help much when things really start to stretch, I ordered a bottle of Earth Mama Angel Baby Natural Stretch Oil this week.  

I have only used it a couple of times since it just arrived yesterday, but I already love the light scent and it goes on wonderfully.  It is not nearly as oily as the homemade cream I have been using, so I can put it on in the morning without it getting all over my clothes.

Certified vegan, cruelty free, and labeled zero toxins!

It received excellent reviews on Amazon, as well it was much cheaper to order from there.  Only $12 for 4oz which should last a couple of months.  Of course at this point I have no idea how effective it will be, but I plan to keep using it everyday and will let y'all know in 6 or 7 months if it worked! 

Next weekend we will be in D.C. visiting Erik's family so the weekly update photos will be taken in a new location!

DIY Face Cream

I came across this "recipe" for homemade face cream a few months ago on one of my favorite blogs: Eating Bird Food.

I have been wanting to try it out but decided to wait until my current face cream ran out so I could refill the little jar it came in.  I made this yesterday and used it for the first time last night.  I have to say, I am really impressed at how nicely it worked!  I was a little nervous at first using such an oily product on my face.  My skin is very dry but gets oily throughout the day.  I put it on after my shower last night and it soaked in completely within 5 minutes, and didn't look or feel oily at all.  I handed it to Erik and told him to test it with me, and I couldn't believe how excited he got about the smell!  As he was rubbing it in, he took in a big deep breath and proclaimed "this smells like.... a delicious granola bar!"  haha...  So I think we will both be using this as our nighttime face cream...  :)

Here is how to make it:

Homemade Face Cream:

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 2½ tablespoons cocoa butter (I used about 2/3 of the stick since it's hard to measure)
• ½ tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation (modified to how I made it):

1. First find two bowls or drinking glasses, one small and one large.  I use a small juice glass and glass salad bowl.  Measure ingredients, add all to small drinking glass. 
2. Fill larger bowl with hot (near boiling) water, about 2/3 full.  Place smaller glass inside, being careful not to get water in it.
3. Allow ingredients to melt together.  Mix occasionally with spoon.  I think it took about 5 or 6 minutes for everything to melt completely.  You may need to change out the water once to keep everything hot.
4. When it is all melted together, pour into the container you plan to keep the face cream in.
5. Depending on the temperature, the mixture may solidify similar to how coconut oil/cocoa butter do on their own. In the winter the cream will usually be solid. You just have to use your finger to get a little bit out of the jar, rub it around in your palms or between your fingers to warm it up a bit and then apply.

Here is what it loos like in it's melted state:

Let it sit out at room temp for 30 minutes to an hour, and it will look like this:

I found this cream very easy (and fun) to make.  It cost less than $3 for the entire batch, which I am sure will last many months.  A little bit of cream goes a long way!  It would be even less expensive if you could find the cocoa butter stick on sale.  I paid $2.50 at Whole Foods, but I think Rite Aid has them on sale sometimes for $0.99 each.  I love that all of the ingredients are 100% natural, and environmentally friendly.  Good for the body and the planet!