Hurricane Sandy and Pregnancy Hormones

Man...

I started sharing this blog with the world last week, with ambitious plans of doing one blog per weekday each week.  You know, writing consistently.  And on Monday morning I started writing my first post of the week but ran out of time to finish before I was off to volunteer at the local elementary school where I read to third graders each week.  Figured, no big deal, I'll wrap it up when I get home and then post...

When I got home, our Internet was out. And it stayed out until around 10:00 this morning (it's Wednesday).

We're on the west coast!  A major storm uprooted lives across the country and we had nothing but blue skies and sunshine...but for some reason, our Internet no longer worked.

Hence the delay.  But now I'm back.

Speaking of Hurricane Sandy, I was glued to the TV and Twitter (on my phone since my computer was useless) during it's approach and landing.  My sister lives in NYC and when I finished reading to the kids on Monday, I checked my phone and had a text from her.  It was a group text to our parents, brother and sister-in-law and it said, "They are turning off our power soon.  Will try to send texts when I can. Love you all!"  I read that and then I burst into tears.

Hoboken PATH Station. I used to be there nearly every night.

Listen, we're Florida girls.  We know how to prepare for a hurricane.  So I wasn't too worried about her being properly stocked and protected.  But the idea of not being able to talk to her and hear how it was going where she was, frightened me.  And the pregnancy hormones took over.  Not to mention, her office is in Zone A, which was under mandatory evacuation.  Her apartment is in Zone B...BUT...she lives literally two blocks from where she works.  So it was all a little too close for comfort.  When I heard about the facade being torn off the building in Chelsea, up the street from where she lives, I got more worried.  When I saw the pictures of water pouring out of the elevator at the Hoboken PATH Station - where I used to take the train regularly when I lived in Jersey City - I got more upset.  When I heard about the generator failure at the NYU Hospital and how the NICU babies were being transported down nine flights of dark stairs, with nurses manually pumping oxygen with their hands to keep the babies alive, I thought I'd pass out from sympathy for those babies and their families as I contemplated the nightmare of it.

Visiting my sister in July. Got to tell her in person she was
going to be an aunt.  I'm 8 weeks pregnant here!

I am very happy to report, however, that my sister is doing fine.  She lost power and heard some scary things throughout the night - wind howling, sirens blaring, people screaming - but all is well.  She is staying with a friend near Central Park, who never lost power, until everything is back to normal.

Seriously though...the generator failure at NYU Hospital.  That. Is. My. Nightmare.  I am so, so thankful that everyone was able to be transported safely to another hospital and commend the medical staff and volunteers for their ability to make that happen.  But...wow.  I can't put into words how much that situation terrified me.  And I'm not sure I would have been able to appreciate the magnitude of it if I wasn't currently pregnant.

I am so thankful that my family and friends made it through the storm but I know there is a long road to recovery.  If you are able to help, please visit the American Red Cross and make a donation.  Every little bit helps.

Part Two: Exercising While Pregnant

On Wednesday I talked a bit about how my exercise history has not always been consistent.  But when I knew I wanted to start a family, I was willing to add a bit more discipline to my regimen and I am so thankful that I did!

We found out we were expecting in June and up until then, I had been running regularly.  Of course, fatigue was one of the first things to set in and my running routine was one of the first things to go.  Not only was I just too tired to think about running, it was too hot!  I was paranoid that I would overexert myself in the heat and cause damage during those first crucial weeks.  Luckily, I live in a neighborhood that is perfect for long walks so I adapted my routine and started taking leisurely two and half mile strolls when the sun went down enough and the heat subsided.  Even more luckily, I knew of a DVD program that I wanted to get to help me with my exercise plan.

Sara Haley is an international fitness expert and a certified Pre/Post Natal trainer.  When she was pregnant with her son, she created a DVD series called Expecting More and I was anxious to try it out! I know Sara from my NY days and I had been following the launch of this program, looking forward to the day when I could justify buying it.  The day had come!

The program includes six different workouts, ranging from strength training to cardio to yoga, and it came with a training calendar.  A training calendar!  This was huge.  I need goals when it comes to working out and having a daily goal is even better.  The calendar is divided into trimesters and is on a four week rotation.  She mixes up the workouts throughout the week so that you never get bored.  Um...awesome!

I got my DVDs and started the program in my sixth week of pregnancy.  Before I started though, I broke out my Excel program and made a spreadsheet of each week leading up to my due date.  Then I added the workout that Sara recommended each day, based on the included calendar.  I also added a 30 minute walk/run to each day.  I left room in the margins so that I could check off each day that I completed and keep track of my weight.  Another small fact - I never owned a scale before I got pregnant.  As long as my clothes fit, I felt like I didn't need to know the actual number on the scale.  But now that I'm gaining weight - and I'm supposed to! - I wanted to make sure I was doing so in a healthy way.

I'm now in my 23rd week of pregnancy and have kept up with this program the entire time.  I even brought the DVDs when I traveled to the east coast for three weeks in July.  I'll admit, I wasn't as diligent during those weeks as I've been the rest of the time - there was a gigantic heat wave happening that rendered me practically immobile - but on days that I was feeling up to it (and had good air conditioning!) I took advantage of it.  I haven't gotten bored yet and I've maintained my level of fitness. The great thing about Expecting More is that it was created for women who are used to working out and want to continue to workout while pregnant in a safe way.  Sara was in her third trimester when she filmed Expecting More and it is very encouraging to see her doing everything when she was way more pregnant than me (at least so far)!  And she always reminds you to listen to your body because every day is different.  Some days you'll be able to do all of the reps and "bump it up" and some days you'll take it slower and steadier.  She always shows you modifications so that you can choose the level you need on any particular day.  And she keeps it fun!

So that's how I've exercised while pregnant:  long walks (which are no longer leisurely) and Expecting More.  Usually I do one or the other, depending on how I'm feeling that day.  If I'm feeling extra peppy, I'll do both.  I also still go on a weekly hike with my friend Corinne.  We just go a little slower if it's warm out.

Here are the top six reasons I'm happy that I've worked out throughout this pregnancy:

1. I've felt great!  Aches and pains that are a natural consequence of pregnancy could be much more difficult to deal with if I hadn't been strengthening and conditioning my body while it's been growing.
2. Labor is going to be a marathon.  And when that day gets here, I'll feel more prepared to face it because I've maintained my level of fitness until then.
3. Baby weight is typically lower in moms who workout while pregnant.  I may still end up with a ten pound baby (yowzas) at birth but, statistically, my baby has a good chance of being a more manageable six to seven pounds.
4. Exercise is great for baby!  Studies show that your baby's heart health benefits when you work out.  Not only that but babies whose moms exercised while pregnant tend to have higher IQs.  Smarty-pants.
5. My weight gain has been steady.  And healthy.  And I eat all...day...long.
6.  Kegel reminders!  Sara is great at reminding you throughout your daily workouts to do your kegels!  I've heard that this is one of the most important exercises to help with delivery and post-natal recovery.  And they are easy to forget about.

The general rule of thumb about exercising while pregnant that I've heard is that you can maintain the level of exercise you were used to before getting pregnant, with certain modifications of course.  But if you weren't working out regularly before, you can still start an exercise routine that works for you!  Check out this article from The Mayo Clinic for good tips on how to get started - whether you're used to working out or not.  And, it goes without saying but I'll say it anyway, always check with your doctor before starting any new exercise routine.

Happy work out!

Part One: Exercising While Pregnant

Before I get into the past five months of exercise, while there's been a baby in my belly, I think I better be honest about my exercise history until now:

My exercise history is a spotty one.  I've always been active but I've never been a workout-junkie. Growing up I took dance classes, played basketball and liked playing outside with the neighborhood kids.  As I got older and I had to be more choosy about how to spend extra time, I tended to prioritize exercise lower and lower on the list.  My last semester in college  drove home the idea that I wasn't going to be young (with a good metabolism) forever so I decided I better start some exercise habits if I wanted to be healthy and fit into adulthood.  I signed up for a conditioning class because I figured, if my GPA depends on it, I'll stick with the exercise plan.  And I did.  But.  Did it change my exercise philosophy forever?  Unfortunately, no.  I ended up with the opportunity to move to NYC to pursue my acting dream and did so just five days after graduation.  There was a gym in my apartment building and I would make weekly visits to it.  Notice I say "weekly", not "daily."  Sometimes it was monthly.  I figured I walked a lot living in NY, so it all evened out.  After a couple years of this lackadaisical approach to exercise, I met my husband.  And he was (and is) the workout-junkie I never was.  He faithfully went to the gym every other day, never making excuses to skip it.  His discipline was astounding to me and it ended up being inspiring as well.  I got a membership at his gym.  I started going to classes and running on the elliptical.  Was I as disciplined as him?  Not even close.  But I started to get into a semi-routine and I started to like it.  It always helped if I had a goal though.  When we got engaged, I had a wedding to work toward, with a honeymoon in Jamaica where I planned on being in a bikini most of the day.  Motivation! When we moved to LA, the ever present possibility of a role coming along that I could lose if I wasn't fit enough helped motivate me.  But it only motivated me to an extent. I was still casual with my routines.  As long as I did some sort of activity a couple times a week, I figured I was fine.  I was never going to be cast as the "super-hot chick" anyway.  I'm more of the girl-next-door type and figured it wouldn't kill my career if I didn't have abs of steel.

I give you all this back story so that you know where I'm coming from when I say that getting into a steady exercise routine is not something that has come totally naturally for me.  But I'm in one now!  Here's how I got there:

A race back in April this year.
I had run my fastest time yet and
was clearly excited.  Nerd alert.

My husband and I had been thinking about starting a family for well over a year now.  When we started thinking about it, I decided I should start being more serious about my exercise routine.  Every woman is different, but for me, I knew that I wanted to be fit going into a pregnancy for several reasons:

1. If I was going to be carrying extra weight and growing a human inside of me, I'd better be able to handle it!  
2. The idea of going through labor without being somewhat in shape terrified me.
3. For completely vain reasons, how was I going to get back into shape post-baby in a healthy and timely fashion if I hadn't been in shape to begin with??

At the time when serious baby talk started, my husband had recently gotten back into running and started working toward running in a local 5K.  If I had to go cheer him on at an ungodly hour of the morning, I figured I better be running in it too.  I never loved running but it was a good way to be active, there was a race to work toward and there was the bigger goal of being fit by the time we started trying to conceive.  Slowly but surely I started.  It wasn't always easy.  I won't lie, there was sometimes walking thrown in with the running.  But by the time the race day appeared, I ran faster than I thought I could and would.  And I didn't stop to walk!  Sure, I still got beat by generations older and younger than me but I finished the race.  High off of that experience, one race turned into another, which turned into another and before I knew it, I was running regularly, three miles a day, four to five times a week, and we were doing races together every other month or so.  Because of this shift in my exercising life, I also found that I started to be more active in general.  I would go on weekly hikes with my friend Corinne and I loved snagging up Groupons and Living Social deals for local yoga and barre studios so I could try new classes around town.  It would be about a year and half before we decided it was finally the right time for us to start a family and, by then, I considered myself a runner.

Thank goodness!  I knew that being fit during my pregnancy was a top priority.  I also knew that starting a new workout routine after conceiving wasn't going to work out.  I'd make excuses, I'd be too tired, I'd fall back on old habits and I wouldn't be as fit as I wanted to be.  Being fit and having good workout habits had to be established before we started trying for a baby.  I was ready.

Two months after that picture above was taken...I took a pregnancy test and two lines appeared!  There was a baby on the way!

TO BE CONTINUED...

To get a Flu Shot or not to get a Flu Shot (that is the question)

Alright mamas and health-knowledgeable folks...I'm not sure what to do.

I've never gotten a flu shot before.  Ever.  I know that when the flu shot came around, a lot of people said, "Sign me up!" and they have been getting one regularly ever since.  But not me.  I already talked about my history with drugs and for me the vaccine just never seemed to be a priority.  I'm diligent about washing my hands, I take vitamins, drink OJ nearly every morning, work out, tend to get enough rest and have always felt that if I do these things, then my probability of getting the flu is low.  Of course, I've gotten the flu, even while taking all these measures.  But you tough it out a few days and worry that your brain is boiling from the fever while your husband laughs because your fever is nowhere high enough to be damaging and then you come out the other side.

But I've never been pregnant before.  And this isn't just me that I'm worried about anymore.

When my doctor asked me at our last check-up if I had gotten my flu shot yet I was a little surprised.  "No, never got one before," was my answer.  She then explained that they highly recommend their pregnant patients to get one because the flu can be much more serious when you're pregnant.  I still was hesitant though.  There are a few reasons why.  First - my husband is actually allergic to the flu shot.  He was tested for allergies recently and that was the one thing that showed up as a problem.  And the little person inside of me is part of my husband.  So I worry (not based on any sort of science) that his allergic-dispositions were passed on to our baby.  Could that be a problem?  Could my baby also be allergic? Another reason is that my husband's grandfather actually had a near fatal reaction to getting a flu shot.  So there you go again - the genetics game.  And finally, I kind of look at the flu shot like a fad (again, not based on science, just a feeling).  It's not like it's been around that long.  Millions, heck, billions of women have gone through pregnancy before without getting vaccinated.  So why all of a sudden do I need to?  Just because it exists?  I'm skeptical.

My doctor understood my concerns and gave me a pamphlet with information about why the flu shot is important.  She also mentioned that in 2010 there was a flu epidemic here that had several of her patients hospitalized with the flu, some in ICU, so ever since then they have been more diligent about recommending the vaccine.  She said I could do more research and they could give me the shot at my next appointment if I decided I wanted it.

So I've been researching and asking around.  My friend Yuni who had the twins last year in March (during flu season) did get the flu shot when she was pregnant.  Her husband was insistent about it.  He wanted to make sure all of his girls were protected.  It seems like getting a flu shot is pretty routine for a lot of my friends - as in they just get one every year, just in case.  The CDC has an article with the title, "Pregnant Women Need a Flu Shot!".  Exclamation point.  NOT added by me.  They say that due to our decreased immune system and changes in our hearts and lungs, the flu can affect us more severely and lead to complications, birth defects or preterm death for our babies.  If that doesn't scare me....well, no point in finishing that thought because it DOES scare me.  Also, Baby Boy Scheuerman is due to be born during the height of flu season and even if I do manage to avoid getting sick during my pregnancy, who's to say someone that comes to visit after he arrives doesn't bring germs in that could make him sick?  They say on the CDC website and in the pamphlet that my doctor gave me that getting the vaccine now can protect my baby up to six months after he is born.

All of this is making a good argument for getting the flu shot.  But I do have my concerns that I already went over so I feel like I'm on a seesaw at recess.  Back and forth, back and forth.  To get the flu shot or not.  Right now it seems like the reward to getting it outweighs the risk.  There also is the factor that I volunteer weekly reading to third graders, so I am around young children who like to give me hugs.  And we all know elementary-age kids can carry a lot of germs.

So what are your thoughts??  I'd really like to hear where you stand on the flu-shot-debate that is going on in my head.  Leave a comment and let me know!  And then I'll let you all know which side of the seesaw I end up on...

Speaking of pain...

We went to our first class at the hospital last night, "Labor Pain Relief Class."  It's a complimentary class that they offer to let you know what your options are when it comes to drugs.

Now, I have a bit of a history with drugs.  Which sounds pretty shady, right?  Trust me, it's not.  A brief run down is this:  When I was fifteen, I went into anaphylactic shock and almost died.  Why?  Well, at first they couldn't figure it out.  I went into shock first thing in the morning, without any obvious triggers for such a severe reaction.  I tested negative for food and environmental allergens.  I was literally not allergic to anything.  But the day before my reaction, I had been taking pain relief medications at every 4-6 hour interval because I had a sore throat and bad menstrual cramps.  The theory became that I had a delayed reaction to a developed allergy to aspirin and NSAIDS (Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs, like ibuprofen).  However, they couldn't actually test that theory...because...well, because it could kill me.  So ever since then I've only been able to take Tylenol to relieve pain.  I've gotten really good at "just dealing" with headaches and other aches because acetaminophens aren't always the most effective.  I have to carry around an Epi-Pen and Benadryl in case I have a strange reaction again.  And about a month after my initial reaction, it did happen again.  And the only odd thing I had come into contact with that day was that I had eaten a hot dog.  My allergist at the time theorized that the preservatives in the hot dog had the same chemical makeup as aspirin, so that was why I had a reaction.  I've gone to doctors since then that have said that's an antiquated theory that has since been debunked.  But why then did I have a reaction?  I haven't had a hot dog since.  Or pork bacon.  Or sausage.  Or anything that has similar preservatives.

I miss bacon.

Needless to say, when it comes to childbirth, I have some build in concerns.

With my history, would an epidural be the right choice?  With the stories I've heard about epidurals, do I want to put my baby and/or myself at risk?  I've heard stories about babies being "drugged up" after an epidural birth.  Or women not being able to walk.  Or having chronic back pain.  Or not being able to know when to push because they can't feel anymore.  None of this sounded good to me.  The problem is, being in severe, agonizing pain doesn't sound like a picnic either!

I've talked before about how I've been taking this pregnancy day-by-day and not thinking or planning too much ahead.  But now that I'm creeping up on my sixth month, I figured it's time to start educating myself about when this baby actually makes his debut.  I haven't watched any birthing videos, I've read very minimally about labor and have so far been living in a state of ignorant bliss.  It's time to pop that bliss-bubble.

At the class last night, I learned a lot.  It was taught by a retired obstetrical anesthesiologist, Dr. Wright, who was actually one of the pioneers of epidural medicine.  He was one of the first doctors to use epidural medicine in the 1970s and he treated somewhere between 17-18,000 women.  He and his partner would take 24 hour shifts - one day on, one day off - and stay at the hospital that entire time to treat women as necessary, instead of running back and forth to the hospital as women came in.  And that system is still being used at our hospital.  It's one of the only hospitals in the country that has an in-house obstetrical anesthesiologist at all times.  So these doctors know what they are doing, because they do it all the time and only on laboring women.  Other hospitals usually have a general anesthesiologist that treats patients for all different needs.  Knowing that there are specialized doctors for just this one circumstance - birth - gives me some peace of mind.  He also explained how the epidural works and that, if it's administered correctly, it only takes away the pain.  It should never numb you.  If it does, you have to speak up so that they know to cut back on the dosage.  This way you can push and be in control of the birthing process, if delivering vaginally.  

After hearing everything and reading along with the informative package he gave us, I asked about allergies. If you're allergic, like I am, to other pain relievers, is an epidural safe?  And he assured me that it is.  And that if I'm still concerned, they can do a skin test before administering to ease my mind. But an actual allergy to the epidural is highly unlikely.  

Part of me really wants to go through this birth drug-free though. Just to see if I can do it.  Ok, alright.  Pipe down the laughter out there.  I know that if you're reading this and have given birth and chose an epidural, chances are you are thinking, "Good luck, honey."  Heck, even if you delivered naturally, you might be thinking, "Good luck, honey."  I'm going to research more about delivering naturally though, to see if it could be right for me.  Any good book suggestions?  Or resources in general?  We start our childbirth classes at the hospital at the end of November and I'm really looking forward to that but I'd like to research a bit before then.

I'm still unsure about how I would like to approach the labor process and a big part of that uncertainty is my lack of knowledge.  I'm really glad that we went to the Labor Pain Relief class last night and I learned how they approach epidurals at my hospital.  Now I'm ready to learn more!

A Pain in the...Back

I'm over the halfway mark in my pregnancy, in my fifth month, and I'm about to say something that is sure to infuriate many a woman who have been or are currently pregnant:

I've felt great.

I heard so many horror stories about how hard pregnancy is and, trust me, I have been incredibly lucky with this little guy.  Morning sickness?  Nope.  In the first trimester, I would sometimes feel nauseous in the evening if I delayed eating dinner until too late.  I learned quickly that eating often and regularly was my key to avoiding too many stomach issues, so I did that.  I also was newly pregnant during the hot, hot summer so I drank a TON of water.  I was thirsty ALL THE TIME.  That hasn't changed much but, especially in the beginning, I couldn't get enough water.  In fact, I switched to drinking nearly ONLY water.  I used to drink soda or tea at every meal.  I gave up drinking coffee regularly the year before as a New Year's resolution that I actually stuck with.  I still would drink coffee if I was out for breakfast or meeting a friend at a coffeeshop but I no longer made it at home.  When I became pregnant, all I wanted was water and it quickly replaced all my other beverages.  I'd have juice in the morning, sometimes milk, but the rest of the day I carried around my 32 ounce water bottle and refilled it all the day long.

Mine is a Nalgene Water Bottle. Any bottle
with ounce information will do though! We're
supposed to be drinking AT LEAST 64 ounces
of water a day during pregnancy.

When I was eight weeks pregnant we had a trip planned already to the east coast to visit our families.  First stop was Manhattan for six days, then Baltimore for five then Florida for eight.  This was in JULY.  It was disgustingly humid and hot all along the eastern seaboard this year, breaking weather records for heat.  I was so glad I decided to pack my water bottle on this trip!  While in NY, I met up with my friend Tia, who was eight months pregnant at the time.  I asked her if she had morning sickness at the beginning of her pregnancy and she said she didn't.  She had heard that staying hydrated was the secret to avoiding feeling nauseous and she kept on top of it.  Something about how morning sickness was a result of the influx of hormones in our bodies and how water helped keep everything balanced.  And then I wondered if that is why I had been so lucky up until that point.  I was drinking like a fish (purely H2O though - not the other way that idiom is used).  Also, I know that some women that are struggling with morning sickness can't even get water down so I know that this doesn't work for everyone.  But I think it really helped in my case.  Who knows the next time around though?  Every pregnancy is different.

I also was lucky in that I had planned on this pregnancy and decided to up my fitness level leading up to trying to conceive.  There is a 5K loop around my neighborhood that I ran four to five times during the week, in addition to going on a weekly hike with my friend Corinne.  I attended stretching and yoga classes at my gym.  I was feeling very healthy and when I got pregnant, I had a fitness plan in mind.  I'll tell you ALL about that plan in another post.  It deserves it's own little write up!

I'm letting you know all of this so that I can tell you that all of a sudden - despite exercising regularly and eating right and staying hydrated and all of my best efforts to stay ahead of pregnancy woes - in the past few weeks....my back has started to hurt.  Pretty badly.  The middle of my back aches at the end of the day and my lower back is really struggling.  I was even having some muscle spasms near my tailbone that alternately spasmed and felt like a dull ache when walking.  So all of you who were mad at me for having an easy time with the tougher stuff so far can breathe easier now.  I'm not kissed with fairy dust after all.  Back pain is no joke and I think the most difficult part has been the way it makes me feel so fatigued.  My back starts to hurt and suddenly I feel too tired to stand.  I start asking my husband to "get that pillow for me" or "make me a sandwich" or "hand me that remote that is just out of my reach" - things I would normally do without question on my own - because the effort to move is daunting.

I asked my doctor what I could do to deal with this back pain and she said, unfortunately, not much.  I can take Tylenol and I can rest.  And as I start to get bigger, I may want to invest in a belly support band that lifts the weight in front, alleviating the strain on my back.  I nodded and thanked her because I figured as much.  I also took the next day off from my workout plan because I was concerned that maybe I had aggravated something and I just needed to rest.

Then the following day we went and visited with our friends Kevin and Yuni, who have eighteen month old twin girls (who are the cutest girls you've ever seen!).  Kevin and Yuni are always curious to know how the pregnancy is going, considering they recently went through one of their own.  When I mentioned casually that my back has started to hurt, Yuni's eyes lit up and she said, "Do you want to borrow my belly band??"  And then my eyes lit up!  "You have one??" I replied.  "Of course!" she said.  "It helps a lot."  And then she went to her room and brought it back for me to try on.  I don't feel like I'm carrying that much in the front yet but apparently I am!  (I'm like Gloria on Modern Family: "Manny! I don't need maternity clothes," she wails, as her pants rip).

Here is the support band Yuni has let me borrow!
It's by Loving Comfort and I found it online to buy at Motherhood.com.

When she showed me how to use it, I could tell a difference almost immediately.  I am so excited that she had one I could use and I plan on wearing it during my long walks and on days when I know I'll be on my feet for extended periods of time.  And, of course, as I get bigger, I can see this being a major back-saver.  I'm so glad that I have it to use this early on.  I would have waited a couple months - until the seventh month at least - to pick one of these up and would never have known how much of a difference it could have made at this point.  If you've been having back pain, you might want to look into getting one too.  And if you have a friend that recently gave birth, ask them if they have an extra one collecting dust at home!

Knitting a Baby Blanket

*Disclaimer:  This post may be a snore for those of you who don't knit or care to know anything about knitting.  No offense taken if you skip this one ;)  But!  If you don't knit and always wanted to learn, there are some great resources below!  Disclaimer over.*

I think it was 2009 when I made a New Year's Resolution to learn how to knit.  Why knitting?  I thought it would be a good way to get me away from my computer and a fun way to occupy my thoughts and hands.  I'd have a tangible result of how I spent my downtime.  I'd been wasting so much time scanning Facebook and Go Fug Yourself and Design Sponge and whatever other blog site I was interested in and I had nothing to show for it.  If I knew how to knit, I could put my iPhone away and take part in the time-honored tradition of knitting scarves and hats and other homemade projects for family and friends who would soon tire of receiving these gifts.  I'd have something useful to do when I had downtime on set.  But, most of all, I'd be able to knit a baby blanket for my baby that I hoped to have one day.  Well, 2009 came and went and I never learned how to knit.  Shocker, right?  A New Year's resolution that didn't come to fruition.  But I hadn't given up hope.  So in 2010 I made the resolution again.  Life got a little crazy that year (we had eight weddings in seven different states, among other things) and that resolution got pushed back again.  But a new year happened again and again I made a resolution.  And this time...I did it.  I learned how to knit.  My patient friend Lynn sat with me one afternoon, taught me the basic knit stitch and, before I knew it, I was on my way.  She gave me yarn and some needles to practice on and I took my project home.  After weeks of working, I ended up with an uneven, hole-y...square.  I called it a potholder and that little purple blob has a special place in my heart.  Since then I've continued to practice and even have a few scarves to show for my downtime.  When I wasn't entirely sure of how to cast on or cast off or even tie a slipknot, I found that the HowCast videos were really helpful.  And my projects started to have less mysterious holes and more even sides.  And, now, in 2012, I find myself pregnant with a baby showing up in four months and I realized..."EEK!"  One of the major reasons for wanting to learn to knit was so that I'd be able to knit a blanket for my baby one day.  One day was here!

Without realizing that this was a secret goal of mine, my sister emailed me a link with the subject line "Cute!".  I clicked the link and was taken to this great knitting blog, The Purl Bee, with the blog post title "New Super Easy Baby Blanket." And not only was the blanket "cute" as my sister had said in her email, it actually looked "super easy" just like the title touted.  I had found the baby blanket I would knit for my baby!  And it just landed in my inbox without even really asking.  Sometimes the universe just knows.  Or your sister does...because she is sometimes a little psychic.  So I went to JoAnn Fabrics to get a circular needle (which I had never worked on) and the yarn needed to make the blanket:

I suppose I could have chosen any colors that I wanted but the color scheme that the Purl Bee pattern used looked great to me.  They represented a sunset over an ocean - perfect for this Florida Girl having a California Baby!  And when I started the blanket I still didn't know if this baby was a boy or a girl and I thought the colors worked for either gender.

Starting to knit on circular needles was a challenge.  It took me a few hours to finally get it right.  My yarn kept being connected to the rest of the yarn when I came to the end of my first row, which clearly was going to make some sort of striped tube...not a blanket!  I did some googling and finally figured out that I was starting with the yarn in the wrong hand.  Always make sure your yarn is all on the left needle when you start knitting so that you transfer all the stitches to the right.  Rookie mistake.  Once I got that sorted out, I was able to knit without a problem.

Well, kind of.  In the pattern, it says you knit each color for 22 ridges.  Each ridge represents two rows. I misunderstood what a ridge was and counted two ridges as one.  So when I got to "11 ridges" I thought I was halfway done with my first color.  So I kept knitting.  And then I realized it looked like this stripe was going a little too long.  So I checked back in with the pattern, which (thank goodness!) had a great detailed picture of the finished blanket.  I could count on the picture what a ridge was...and I realized my mistake.  At this point I had 29 real ridges, which meant I had knitted about 14 rows too many.  Not wanting to undo all that work I decided to go ahead and just switch colors then with the first color being a little too long.  I decided I would knit the other colors the right amount of ridges (22) and then for the final color I would knit 29 ridges to give the blanket symmetry.  Ta-da!

But now I had to switch colors.  The one part of the pattern that looked challenging to me (before I ran into my other challenges) was switching colors of yarn. That was something I had never done before.  Thank goodness for eHow!  I found a great how-to video that showed me how to switch colors and it was much easier than I expected!  So easy in fact, that I've already started on my third of seven colors:

This blanket is going to get finished before Baby Boy arrives, for sure - which is something I thought would NOT happen.  But it really is an easy pattern - thanks Purl Bee! - and I'm working on it a bit each day.  I even took it to the dentist's office to work on while I waited and it turns out my hygienist, Doug, is a master knitter.  We bonded over knitting talk.  He was once a professional ballet dancer, his mom is the one who taught him how to knit and he showed me pictures of some baby clothes he did...OhEmGee, y'all.  He is way more advanced than my scarf and blanket adventures.  Something to aspire to!  Maybe the next baby will get cute little knitted clothes from his/her mama...ha!  Who am I kidding?  Once Baby Boy arrives in February I'm pretty sure I won't have tons of time to learn new knitting techniques for years to come!  But at least now I know how to do a baby blanket!

I think I've found our stroller

One of the most stressful things thus far in this pregnancy has been figuring out the best infant car seat/stroller combo to buy.  I know.  That seems silly with all of the things that one could be stressed about when bringing a child into the world.  But this is where my head has allowed me to be stressed.  I have to admit, people seem to be surprised or even a little upset when, earlier in my pregnancy, they would ask, "Do you have a crib picked out?" or "Where are you registering? Have you started your registry?" and my answer to all of these advanced planning questions would be "No."  This seemed to legitimately confuse people.  I would then get asked, "Are you even really pregnant?"  Which would, of course, piss me off upset me (emotions are more extreme when pregnant, dontcha know).  Listen, I get it.  A lot of people find out that they are pregnant and automatically start planning for when the baby comes out.  Chances are they already had plans made before the baby was even conceived.  And while I thought I would fall into that camp, I was surprised to find out that I really wanted to take this pregnancy day by day.  By nature I'm a planner and always thinking years down the line but, for whatever reason, when I found out I was pregnant I wanted time to slow down.  I wanted to enjoy each step along the way to bringing this baby into the world.  And the only way I could think to logically do that was to just go day by day.  The nursery would get planned.  The registry would get made.  The crib would get picked out.  It just didn't have to all happen at once, least of all within weeks of finding out I was pregnant.  When I think about those early days now that I'm 21 weeks along, I think it was a matter of self-preservation.  I found out I was pregnant at the earliest possible time to find out - six days before my missed period.  That means there were a long two months there of making sure that the baby was going to make it past the first trimester.  God forbid the pregnancy wasn't viable, which happens more often than many of us realize.  I think I worried that if I started planning everything out for this baby and then miscarried, I would have been even more devastated.  At least, I think that was the psychology behind my unwillingness to get ahead of myself.

But now that we've had an anatomy scan that showed our little boy is developing normally and healthily, suddenly I feel that planning urge bubbling up.  Don't get me wrong, I've been looking here and there online this whole time.  And when I saw things on Pinterest that other people would pin in regards to babies, I would repin it.  But everything was just wishful thinking or just-in-case...until now. Now I feel like I need to start cracking!  And finding an infant car seat/stroller was my first priority.  Why?  Because if I don't have a car seat installed by the time this baby debuts, I can't take him home!  And I knew I wanted to get a combo with a stroller that can grow with him as he outgrows his infant car seat.

Another thing I knew I wanted was a jogger stroller.  Ideally I wanted a jogger stroller that was durable enough to go on jogs and hikes but also agile enough to operate on a daily, non-workout basis.  I looked around online and would peek at other people's jogger strollers when I'd see them at the mall or in my neighborhood, always trying to catch a glimpse of the brand name.  And then last week I was hiking in Runyon Canyon and I saw a mom with a jogger stroller, pushing her baby up the mountain.  And before I knew it, I was asking her, "Hi! What kind of stroller is that?"  She said, "It's a Baby Trend. It's my sister's.  I borrowed it today to see if I liked it.  Let me tell you, it's a whole different story hiking and pushing a stroller with a baby in it!"  I laughed and thanked her and we parted ways - her huffing and puffing up the hill, as I was lucky enough to be going down it.  I tucked away the brand name of the stroller in the back of my mind.

When I started looking online this week, I first looked at the City Mini Jogger.  I've been reading along on the Little Baby Garvin blog and this is the one that she has and recommends.  It looked good to me but I didn't see the infant car seat option so I decided to keep looking.  The second I typed in "infant car seat jogger combo" the first option that popped up was the Baby Trend brand...which is what the fellow hiker was pushing last week!  I guess I could have automatically typed that brand in to see what they had but, blame it on mommy-brain, I didn't even think of it.  So I was pleased to see it at the top of my search results and checked it out.

I love the look.  I love the price.  And I LOVE that the WalMart site has a video demonstrating how to use it.  That was my main caveat about shopping online.  I figured I would have to go to some stores and test-roll some of these bad boys.  But with the video showing me how it folds, how the car seat snaps in and out and how to adjust the seat, I feel good about it.  Feel good enough to add it to my registry (yes, I've started one!) and honestly, I kind of just want to buy it myself to make sure it doesn't go out of stock anytime soon.  I also love that it has over 100 reviews and the average rating it's received is 4& 4/5ths stars out of 5.  Listen, I'm wary and don't trust many online reviews.  But when the number of reviews is 100+, I let my guard down a little.

So what do you think?  Do think this looks like the right choice, given what I'm looking for?  Do you have any suggestions about a different stroller if not?  Any tips you want to share?  Leave a comment and let me know.  I'm all ears!*

*it would be strange to be actually "all ears" - I'm having weird images pop into my mind that belong in a horror movie.

Welcome a New Mommy Blog to the Block!

Mommy blogs...they are superfluous in this internet landscape and yet, here I am, adding another one to the block.  I hope that this blog ends up being a welcome addition and we have fun on this ride together.  I'm currently expecting my first baby so not only is this a new mommy blog, I'm also a new mommy.  And I couldn't be more excited!  We're having a baby in February and just found out last week that we're having a boy!

My husband and I are thrilled!  I suspected this little booger was a boy from early on so it was nice to see that the mommy instincts are already kicked into high gear.  Although, I guess it was a 50/50 shot either way so maybe I just got lucky ;)

A little about me:  My husband and I have been married for five years and for the past ten years I've been working as an actress in New York and LA.  I'm from Florida originally though and most of my family is still there.  My husband's family is also on the east coast so we are a far ways from most of our family.  It's hard living across the country from them and I think that is just going to be magnified once our little boy arrives.  But more about that later, I'm sure!   

Acting, as you can imagine, isn't exactly a steady gig so while I've been lucky to work pretty consistently this past decade, there have been plenty of non-working times.  When that happens, I like to fall back on my writing.  I received my degree in English from the University of Florida and have been able to freelance blog for work while living in LA.  I've even written a screenplay that I'm shopping around right now.  And in the middle of all this...is the baby!  

I've always wanted to be a mom and finally the timing was right.  I'll be interested to see how being a mom affects my work and my ambition as an actress.  Right now I have a great manager that is excited and happy about my pregnancy so I'm hoping to work until this baby arrives.  Once he gets here, who knows how priorities will shift around!  It will be an adventure, that's for sure, so I thought it would be fun to document.  And now that I'm getting into planning mode - starting registries, planning his nursery, reading everything I can get my eyes on - I thought it could be fun to plan here, talk here, vent here, listen here and learn here...together.  So thanks for stopping by and hope you'll come back!  

This project is just getting started...