16 Weeks

How far along: 16 Weeks.

How big is baby: The size of an Avacado

Total weight gain: Same as last week

Sleep:  This week it’s actually been pretty decent. Once I finally got over being sick I was able to get some rest. I still wake up every time I have to roll over, that’s annoying, but comes with the territory.

Best moment of the week: Finding out the sex of Baby Lundberg and getting to see it suck its thumb. I will say that Baby L was very sleepy and basically cuddled my placenta the whole time haha. I can’t believe how incredibly beautiful my child already is. February can’t come soon enough.

Food Cravings:  Honestly food has just become a chore. If I’m not forcing myself to just eat something cause I’m hungry I’m trying my hardest to resist the random box of cookies that magically made their way into my office EH. Temptation is hard when you’re pregnant. I am determined though to have a healthy weight gain this pregnancy.

Food Aversions: Still salads and veggies….. this makes it really hard when all you really eat are vegetables and fruit. It’s causing me to make some bad choices definitely.

Symptoms: Forgetfulness has already kicked in haha. Oh I guess I should call it pregnancy brain?  

Mood: This week I was emotional, what’s new?

Movement: More and more little movements. It’s weird how fast remembering these things comes back to you. Baby L went crazy a couple nights ago while I was sitting on the couch.

What I’m looking forward to:  Tonight!! We are having our gender reveal BBQ where we are telling the kids, my parents, and lots of family/friends. Bella has been chanting around the house it’s a girrrrrrllll it’s a girrrrllll. Meanwhile, Ezra screams NOOO it’s a BOYYYY. Everyone has their bets, I can’t wait to reveal tonight. Y’all will know next Friday haha. I have made some delicious vanilla cupcakes with a vanilla buttercream filling of either pink or blue…… Recipe to follow next week.

Baby L's beautiful face

15 weeks

How far along: 15 Weeks.

How big is baby: The size of an Apple

Total weight gain: A little less than 10 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Oh yes. Literally everything I own was so uncomfortable to wear. Even with the hair tie hack, I had to throw in the towel and buy some maternity pants, tanks, and a decent amount of leggings. I never thought I’d say this, but THANK GOD FOR LEGGINGS.

Sleep:  What is this again? Especially this week being sick AND pregnant has not been great. I’m waking up every hour to roll over. Tonight, after getting the ok from my obgyn, I will be taking some Benadryl and praying for rest.

Best moment of the week: Hearing baby’s heartbeat, a lovely 150 (everyone has officially guess it’s a girl except for Ryan….he won’t break). Also, tonight we will be attending a Blake Shelton concert courtesy of Ms. Allyson J. We are excited about that.

Food Cravings:  Nothing really. Being sick everything tastes pretty bland. I’ve been on an orange IV the last week.

Food Aversions: Sadly salads and veggie dishes. Hopefully I start just craving veggies in the next couple weeks, which would make life so much easier.

Symptoms: Honestly not a lot. My growing tummy would be the most obvious.

Mood: Happy, annoyed, excited, sad, loving, scared……can I say everything? Haha. My mood is completely dependent on what I’m watching and who I’m around.

Movement: Barely there kicks that are more like thumps. Usually when I’m sitting at my desk or on my couch.

What I’m looking forward to:  Monday!!! We get to find out if our baby is a lady or a mister!!!! We are having a little gender reveal BBQ as well for family and friends. Can’t wait to share it with you all!!

I'm still alive, I promise!!!!

First off, I am terribly sorry for the hiatus. This summer was packed full to the brim. It was started by the departure of a family that is so dear to me. My best friend Allyson and her beautiful family moved away to Georgia. As a child with a retired father that basically grew up on the Air Force base, this is nothing new to me. It was always the case I’d make a new best friend only to have their family get orders by the end of the year, and I would heart-breakingly cry my eyes out all summer, only to have the process repeat itself the next year. This scar had somewhat healed itself in the last 18 years and this move definitely disturbed it. Even though she’s hundreds of miles apart I know that we will leave off with our SNL inside humor and love for books the minute we are together again. I managed to successfully pull off a surprise going away party for them (barely….John, her husband, tried his best to ruin the surprise) and we had an amazing time.

Right after this we got some amazing news that was so exciting and scary to hear. We found out that we were expecting a baby. The reason I say this is so exciting and scary have to do with the last year that we have experienced. You see Ryan, my husband, and I have been trying to conceive a baby since June of 2013. We were actually successful twice, but sadly lost both babies. No one likes to talk about miscarriage and I never knew how hard of a subject it was until it happened to me. Last June was when we found out we were expecting our first little bundle and, after having two successful pregnancies resulting in my beautiful children, I was so in love and excited. About the second week in July is when I lost the baby and I never knew how hard that would be until it happened. I didn’t know having a miscarriage could throw you into a state of depression and anxiety. I’m so thankful that I had my family and loving husband to take care of me through that time, they were the only things that were able to sort of snap me out of that.

We started trying again a couple months later and again were blessed with a pregnancy in November. I felt so good about this one and just knew that everything was going to be ok, that we were finally going to get our miracle child!! January 10^th we lost our 2^nd baby. I took this one a lot better than I did the first time, although emotionally it never gets any easier for yourself or your spouse.

Ryan and I decided we were going to wait to try again until the summer and just enjoy our little family. Unfortunately I was still suffering with the aftereffects of the miscarriages and my anxiety. In about March I had decided that I wanted to do something about it and I was going to see a counselor.  It was about this time that my boss had started to lose a ton of weight and shared with me about this superfood that his wife and him have found success with gaining back their health. Me, being ever the sceptic, told him I wanted to look into this. I was already eating a “vegan”like lifestyle. I didn’t consume dairy, meat or processed foods. I tried to eat raw vegetables and fruits at all times, and I hardly ever consumed sugar. I also worked out on a regular basis. Once I looked at the results that 100’s of real people all around the world and many local to Spokane, I couldn’t believe the healing qualities of this superfood and cleanse. I made the choice to try it in the hopes that it would help me to conceive and maybe drop a couple lbs. I was amazed at week two with not only the weight I had dropped, but my mind had so much clarity it was like I was 100% me, not the 70% I had been running on. I had little to no anxiety and energy for days! I never knew that I was missing out on that. I was ecstatic. I remember going shooting with Ryan one day and he looked at me and said, “Natalie you just seem really calm and happy lately”. If you knew what I was suffering through before you’d know this was a huge compliment. I had canceled my counseling appointment and was looking forward to life. We decided in May to go ahead and try again.

Me at my smallest right before I got pregnant

On June 26^th we finally got those 2 pink lines that I wanted to see so badly. Since then we have dealt with so much uncertainty with not wanting to get our hopes up. We are now successfully 15 weeks pregnant, and so in love with our life and what it has to bring. I truly believe proper nutrition and cellular cleansing helped me get my baby. I’ve praised Jesus for bringing the people into my life (Jerrod and Sarah) who introduced this to me and led me to Isagenix.

 Me currently @ 15 weeks pregnant

Now, onto more current items, Bella has started 2^nd grade and Ezra Kindergarten. They absolutely love being back in school (I have the only child that counted down the days till Summer ended and school started). I’m so thankful I have kids that enjoy learning, Bella has even complained that her teacher is babying her and needs to give them harder reading material. How is she my child again?!?! Haha, I definitely was not as eager a student when I was her age.

This blog might be changing a little bit, I’m hoping to post more for one. I will also be adding some more personal life events to it as well. Lots of pregnancy talk (sorry in advance), as I realized that since this may be my last pregnancy I should probably document it, and what better way than through my blog? I will still be adding random recipes, especially as pumpkin seasons is upon us. This weeks will be the Vanilla bean Plum Bars I made from my father’s plum tree.

I hope you all have an amazing week, you’ll be hearing from me a lot more in the near future. To anyone that reads this and has gone through or is going through a miscarriage and thinks they have no one to talk to, please please please message me! You really don’t have to go through this alone! You are not bothering me I promise.