Favorite Foods and Working Out

Breakfast has pretty much been the same every morning, with the exception of adding a smoothie every other day. I love my eggs. They are my favorite thing to eat and believe it or not, bacon is second. My body just really wants that choline I guess. Sometimes when I'm done with breakfast I think, maybe I could just do the egg part again. I haven't had too much trouble with the greens. Spinach is my first choice, but I know kale is better. I try to switch off every once in a while. I even tried taking some sauteed mushrooms and leftover kielbasa and adding it to the kale mix. Good move.

Favorite Foods
Most of the time the food we are really drawn to or have strong cravings for contain some nutrient that our body is telling us it needs. I think the first thing is pretty obvious, as it is something I have every morning (see above pics).
Cholula- This is something I used to eat back in college days and decided to recently buy a bottle because I remember loving it's smoky flavor. It's not a very hot sauce, but the taste is amazing. I have been regularly dousing my eggs with it in the morning, but now I'm starting to lighten it up a bit and appreciate the taste of the actual eggs.
Seaweed salad- I bought a container of this at Costco and had to pry myself away from eating it all in one sitting. It is a little on the sweeter side and has an alkaline feeling in my stomach which makes it good for me to eat when feeling a little nauseous. Seaweed has numerous beneficial nutrients including:  iodine, calcium, vitamins A and B-12, protein and fiber. I have been worried a little about my calcium levels because I haven't had broccoli in a while and I know that it is the best source of calcium of all green plants. But wait! Actually, seaweed is the best source. I really just found this out after having decided we should have broccoli with dinner. Broccoli contains 1 third of the amount of calcium compared to a portion of seaweed that is 35% smaller. Now I know why I want it so bad.
Horseradish mustard- We bought this at whole foods (it's their brand) and I can't find enough excuses to eat it! I love it. What could possibly be in it that I need? Besides boosting the body's intake of certain vitamins and minerals it also contains small amounts of selenium, magnesium, phosphorus and calcium. The mustard seeds themselves have insignificant amounts of various vitamins and minerals as well. This one may just be a typical vinegar/salt craving.
Pickles and Tahini- This is my substitute for pickles and peanut butter. By no means is this a craving I developed while being pregnant. The combination of pickles and pb has been around since I was a kid and my dad used to make it into sandwiches. I loved it then and still do, but since I don't eat peanut butter I had to find a comparable substitute. Tahini had the right salty alkaline qualities to offset the crisp, cool dill pickle. Sesame seeds are also on some lists for superfoods during pregnancy because they contain high levels of calcium besides their contribution to daily needs of thiamin, phosphorus and copper.
It's funny how I thought I wasn't getting enough calcium.
Lamb- The lamb meatballs we made the other night were amazing as usual and of course go extremely well with the homemade baba ghanouj and tahini I've been eating. It would seem as though I'm on a middle-eastern kick. The lamb is obviously helping with the high amounts of iron a pregnant woman needs to keep up energy levels while growing all that extra blood. I am truly lucky that we have access to such high quality lamb through our CSA with Herondale Farm.
Tomatoes- I have been eating quite a lot of tomatoes lately. I don't know if it is because we have access to so many during this time of year, or if I'm just drawn to their sweetness. I really like the little grape tomatoes I can pop in my mouth like candy. We have also been buying some heirloom tomatoes from farms and some of these are just amazing sliced and eaten as is. The flavor is crazy sometimes, like it has been seasoned. All it takes is a little splash of balsamic or a pinch of salt and I could eat a bowl full of tomato salad. I am definitely missing the luxury of goat or feta or buffalo mozzarella cheese bits though.  :(
Taken from LiveStrong.com:
"Like most vegetables, the tomato is nutrient-rich, supplying your body with essential vitamins and minerals needed for good health. A 1 cup serving of chopped or sliced tomatoes contains 25 mg of vitamin C, 27 mcg of folate, 1,499 IU of vitamin A and 427 mg of potassium. Vitamin C is necessary for the formation of collagen, and the support protein for your skin and ligaments. Folate is a B vitamin necessary for the formation of red blood cells and DNA. Vitamin A supports growth and health of teeth and bones. Potassium is a mineral needed for proper heart function and muscle contractions."

Besides the above foods, I have of course been having cravings of milk and cheese and soft, squishy rolls with onions on them and all the other things I see at the store. I smell all the cheeses on display at Whole Foods and daydream about my favorite sharp cheddar to the point of almost tasting it. I smelled a baguette the other night and was having a really hard time walking away from it. I'm pretty sure I seem like a crazy person... but it is worth it. I smell my husband's sangria, barrels of roasted coffee beans and anything that has an aroma to stop me in my tracks. It's always only the things I can't have. Sometimes I think if I smell it long enough I can recall that smell and imaginary taste later when sitting on the couch imagining my future re-introduction to these foods. It makes my mouth water and I almost start chewing on my own tongue. I decided that as soon as I can eat bread and cheese again I will get myself a baguette and a good hunk of cheese and put slices of the cheese in the baguette and eat it just like I did in France at 16 years old. The way I figure it is, if I breastfeed for a year after my due date I only 560 days until I can have this dream come true. If I breastfeed for 1 1/2 years that makes 742 days. Geez. That's not a bummer....

For lunch today I had leftover spaghetti squash with meat sauce and a little seaweed salad for some greens. This meat sauce is a total comfort food for me. I can't get enough of it! Definitely gonna have a huge stash of this for when the baby comes. Below is a picture of a dinner we had with sausage and organic farm peppers and an heirloom tomato and arugula salad on the side. Also another favorite meal maybe because it is so extremely easy.

Working Out
I finally got off of my lazy ass yesterday and went to the gym again. I haven't been feeling as exhausted during the day as I was before, so now I really have no excuse for not working out.

Yesterdays WOD:
Squat cleans- I did 5 at 65lbs. - 5 at 85 lbs. - 5 at 105 lbs.

10 chin ups (I did ring rows)
15 sec Support hold on the rings

3 rounds (I only completed 2 in the time allowed)

Barbell Complex:
5 – Deadlift
2 – Hang power clean
2 – Front squat
2 – Front rack lunge (alt legs)
2 – Hang power clean
5 – Deadlift

***10 rounds***

-The entire complex must be unbroken. If the bar is dumped at any time, the round must be started over
-increase the weight by 5-10 lbs each round

I did 8 rounds total: 5 rounds at 65 lbs. - 1 at 85 lbs. - 1 at 75 lbs. - 1 at 65 lbs.

We got to see our little guy/girl on Tuesday at a sonogram appointment. I will get into detail in the next post.

Dinner tonight is fish and broccoli. We bought some wild Hake at Costco. It is a mild white fish and comes in a long skinny piece that reminded me of fish and chips.

Breastfeeding

This morning I started off my breakfast with a chocolate, banana, almond butter and coconut shake. Not too shabby, right? This is something I have found gets my digestive system moving a little bit (helps me poop) before I put some solid food in it. I will hopefully be getting some more of the powdered greens (chocolate flavored this time) to add to the mix to make it more effective. A little while after this I had my usual breakfast with eggs, a wilted green, a piece of the best batch of bacon we've gotten from Herondale Farm and a couple of tomatoes because they are sweet and delicious on top of giving me extra vitamin C and other benefits. I have also stopped taking probiotics in the morning to curb the nausea that they seem to cause.

Breastfeeding
I certainly don't want to pass judgement on anyone about their personal choices but I happened to be a pretty opinionated person and this is an attempt at a warning that my following comments may offend those who choose not to breastfeed.
The only two reasons I can come up with that are acceptable for not breast-feeding your child are: 1. if you physically cannot do it (be it a health problem, impossibility to latch, being a male/male couple, etc...) and 2. complete ignorance about it, which is barely acceptable.
Why when you choose to be a mother (hopefully it is a conscious decision) would you not want to give your baby the best start in life that is available to them? First of all, let's just take a look at the difference between breastmilk and formula under a microscope.

Here is another example of how much breastmilk contains in comparison with formula and cow's milk.
What are the benefits of breastfeeding you ask?

Benefits of breastfeeding for the baby
1. A 50% less cases of ear infections for infants EBF (exclusively breastfed) at least 3 - 6 months
2. A 42% less chance of eczema for infants EBF at least 3 months
3. Babies have 64% less vomiting and diarrhea with any breastfeeding vs. none
4. A 72% less rate of lower respiratory tract infections/like pneumonia, bronchiolitis and
    hospitalization with EBF at least 4 months
5. Asthma is less 40% for children who were breastfed at least 3months
6. Obesity is less 4-24%
7. Type 1 Diabetes is less 19-27% for infants breastfed at least 3months
8. Type 2 Diabetes is less 39% with any breastfeeding vs. none
9. Cancer: ALL less 19% with breastfeeding at least 6 months; AML less 15% with breastfeeding
    at least 6 months (these are two kinds of leukemia’s that affect children)
10. SIDS less 36% with any breastfeeding vs. none

Benefits of breastfeeding for the mother
1. Type 2 Diabetes is less 4-12% for each year of breastfeeding for women without a
    history of gestational Diabetes
2. Pre-menopausal breast cancer less 4.3-28% for each year of breastfeeding
3. Ovarian cancer less 21% for any vs. no breastfeeding and evidence for dose response (i.e.
    greater protection with more breastfeeding)
4. Post-partum depression occurs less for short breastfeeding moms vs. no breastfeeding

Those are just the more scientific facts. Let's talk about all the other things:

-A woman's body will return to pre-pregnancy shape much faster than a non-breastfeeding mother because a feeding mother burns a ton of extra calories as well as she is producing a hormone while doing it that causes her uterus to shrink back to normal size much faster.

-It's free! How can you argue with that? It costs nothing but what you feed yourself and it's always there. You never have to mix up formula, warm a bottle and test it before feeding your baby at 3 am. Plus you will have less bottles to clean.

-Breastfeeding provides your baby with the perfect balance of fat, protein, vitamins and provides preparation of the digestive system for future feeding. You cannot simulate this mix with anything else because it is alive with white protective bloodcells.

-You will have better bonding with your baby and more time to do it. This is preventative of postpartum depression.

-Your baby will be smarter! Not just because of the nutrients you are providing but also because of the time you are spending with your newborn.
-Your baby will most likely sleep better at night as your milk supplies him/her with melatonin during those evening feeding sessions.

Here are two great sources of in depth information on the subject from Web MD and the University of Rochester Medical Center.

Here is a very important read about why a mother may have trouble with breastfeeding because of her baby's tongue. This is an unfortunate situation to find yourself in and thankfully this very smart mother did all of the research for us. You can bet that my husband got his tongue checked by me after reading this and my baby can expect the same thing when it comes out.

For lunch I ate leftover lamb meatballs with homemade baba ghanouj, horseradish mustard, red onion and pickles on top of arugula. Sounds like a weird combo, but it was delicious!

For dinner, we met some friends at Joe's Crab Shack. My sister-in-law told me about their buckets of shrimp and crab and I'd been thinking about it ever since. How could I not try that? Well, the place is a little hokey but the food was good and it was a fun experience. I think that the specific bucket I ordered didn't have enough seasoning on it, as I was trying to be super-primal. Also, the lobster wasn't as worth the work as the crab. Next time I will order differently, but I would do it again.

Food and A Couple of Things

Breakfast has been pretty much the same as always: 2 eggs, some bacon, some wilted greens, water and vitamins. I did have someone suggest that I take my vitamins later in the day because of the slight nausea I was feeling. I actually ended up taking them at lunch and realized that perhaps dinner would be better. But, of all the vitamins I take, the probiotic seems to be the culprit in upsetting my stomach. We might have to try another brand as my husband is adamant that I take them with every meal.
We've had a couple of fun meals in the last few days.

On Wednesday night we went to Peter Luger Steakhouse to celebrate our 1 year anniversary. We had the most amazing (non-pastured) bacon pictured above, followed by a 36 oz steak for two being polished off in the photo below. I did feel guilty eating grain-fed beef and non-pastured bacon. It tasted amazing as is expected of this famous place. 

This breakfast includes a little salmon patty from the batch of homemade salmon burgers we made on Thursday night.

I made a batch of homemade baba ghanouj by roasting an organic eggplant and blending it in the food processor with some seasoning. This is an easy dip for veggies and should be a constant staple in our fridge.

Saturday afternoon I had a hankering for baking and needed to eat lunch, so I decided to play around with a recipe for pizza dough. I also really just wanted something bready with olive oil on it. I was pretty pleased with the way this turned out, so I will make it again tomorrow for my husband's birthday. In the version below, I did not have any tomato sauce so I blended some basil, spinach, roasted garlic, olive oil, splash of lemon and a little sea salt in the bullet to make a type of pesto sauce. To the top of this I added sliced tomato, red onion and portobello mushroom slices. I did not have any meat handy unfortunately so I followed up the four pieces with a leftover salmon burger. Big mistake. I've been eating too much lately and this was one of those times.

Last night we made orange chicken and wilted bok choy. This was also a whim project and came out pretty tasty but was a big difference from the inspiration dish with it's slimy coated pieces of chicken (gross but yummy). 

I followed this meal up with an amazing fruit salad that had pieces of watermelon, pluot, blueberries and golden raisins, covered with a mixture of homemade peach preserves and a splash of coconut milk. I also added a lite dusting of stevia to make sure it was super sweet. It was pretty damned satisfying. 

A Couple of Things
1. Mosquitos seriously bug. It has been that time of year for a while and I feel like I am walking bait. I don't know if it's because I am growing blood or because I smell different or both. I really feel like mosquitos favor me a hell of alot more than everyone else especially because they never used to be that interested in me. According to this article it is true that pregnant women attract more of these blood-suckers. However, it is not proven and they can only make guesses about why it seems true. While looking for answers I was also coming across articles about west nile virus and malaria. Great. I think I will definitely be purchasing a clip on mosquito repellant or start applying some oils of naturally repelling plants. I do have Dr. Bronner's eucalyptus oil soap. It might not hurt to start using this as a bodywash or just dabbing a tiny bit on the backs of my knees, ankles and inside of the elbow (just figuring these places give off more heat and will cover my legs which get bit the most). We took our dogs to a dog beach the other day and literally walked a 100 yard mosquito gauntlet. My legs look like a braille map of pink constellations.
2. Constipation is a wonderful part of pregnancy. Yes, that is sarcasm and yes, I'm talking about poop... or lack thereof. I have had this problem starting with the grain-fed steak dinner. It is suspect and probably not a huge surprise that changing the quality of my food would cause such trouble. I am not having a meal like this (a kind of quality "cheat") for a while because of how I feel now. It's really been a frustrating last couple of days as I continue to put food in and nothing comes out. I did have my little container of greens that contained psyllium husk and seemed to help with the situation, but we ran out. Not to mention that most of the time if you are not regular to begin with the psyllium tends to add to the problem and just cause bloating. Granted, I did eat at Fette Sau today and had even more amazing bacon than the piece I already showed you. But this is it for low quality meat. No more. Hopefully I will get back on track and be regular again. I apologize for this information, but a person just doesn't feel so hot when they are stuffed up with waste and it really goes to show that what you eat can have a big difference on how your system operates.
3. Symptoms like the faint nausea can possibly be diverted with moving around the time in which I take my vitamins as discussed earlier.
Now, I don't know if this is a pregnancy thing or what, but the other night I had a nose-bleed. Of course my reaction, to be a little dramatic, was to yell "I'm anemic!" I really haven't had a bloody nose in a long time. The last time was at 10,000 ft above sea-level in a super dry climate. It's pretty darn humid where I am now and I remain a little baffled. So, let's just blame it on pregnancy.
Another thing I've got going on is constant burping. My husband yells at me every time I do it, as if I can control it. You know what I say? Tough shit.
This is something that seems to be just recently happening and could certainly be caused by what I'm eating. At first I thought it was happening because of the shredded yam I used in our salmon patties, but I was going again pretty good today and had no salmon at all. It could be the fish oil, although I'm not getting any fishy flavor coming up. It just seems I am full of gas and it's coming out the more controllable end (for now). It's possible my body is just having trouble accommodating the food that continues to go in and not come out.
4. Overeating was bound to happen at some point and having a kitchen stocked with fun stuff to play with doesn't seem to help. The first step is admitting it, right? Checking out my thigh-size in the mirror this morning was checking back into reality for a second. I realize this past week has gotten out of control, but now I know what I have to do to get back on track. I will not overstuff myself. I will be consistent with my workouts again (I worked out on Wednesday, Friday and plan to get in on Sunday).  My usual every-other-day system is back in effect. I will stop eating poor quality foods and cut down on the fruit. Hopefully I can still weigh in at 157 lbs at my Aug. 27th doctors appointment.

Working Out Weekend and Travel

I was at my crossfit training seminar this weekend and it was exhausting. I haven't felt this way in a long time. Both nights I wanted to come home and go right to bed (at 6:30 pm).
Generally I get a little tired spell around noon and try to take a little nap for about 30 minutes to an hour. Without these on Saturday and Sunday, I was surprised I made it through the lectures.
I brought a couple of pieces of fruit just incase I needed a sugar boost at some point. It definitely helped for the test! Their was a ton of movement going on as well as lecturing, so I definitely got my work outs in.

Working Out Weekend
We worked on (in depth) our air squat, front squat and overhead squat on Saturday. Later that day we also went over the shoulder press, push press and push jerk. Then at the end of the day we did "Fran" which is customary for the level 1 certification. My time was 6 minutes 35 seconds with 35 lbs. and jumping pullups. Not impressive by any means, but after an entire day of working on movements, I was satisfied to not push it.

Sunday we worked on our deadlift, sumo deadlift high-pull and medicine-ball cleans. Wow, was I a mess. I feel like I've never worked these muscles before even though I've been doing all the movements for almost a year. My legs are still burning. After all of that hard work we did a ten minute amrap WOD (as-many-rounds-as-possible/workout of the day). I moved pretty slowly and having not had any mid-day nap was struggling to push myself through the movements.

Travel
I am spending the week in Las Vegas with my sister and a couple of friends. The hardest part of being here is feeding myself and I realize I will have to make some exceptions. Tuesday morning I had an omelette with organic eggs, veggies and chicken sausage. It came with fresh fruit (some or all organic) and potatoes but I had tomato slices instead. This was at the Canyon Ranch Grill at the Palazzo. Their water was infused with lemon and was surprisingly good. This really impressed me for some reason. I will definitely go back here. For lunch my sister and I will be gorging on corned beef and pastrami at the Carnegie Delicatessen at the Mirage. I cannot account for their meat source, as it is most probably grain-fed and full of antibiotics and hormones, but I will follow up this rare cheat with some fish oil.

Liver

I ate a smaller breakfast today- 2 eggs, 1 piece of bacon, a little bit of arugula and onion in my eggs and a couple of slices of tomato and avocado. Oh yes, and I added more Cholula, which still seemed to be not enough. I love that smoky flavor.

Not much going on today. It's 90 degrees and there's a crazy storm outside. I had another burger salad for lunch and we got our CSA meat for the month. I have been excited to see what form of lamb we are getting because I've been craving it since we had lamb-burgers last time around. Turns out we are having lamb sausage and peppers for dinner with a salad of course. Yum!

Liver
We also got plenty of chicken liver, so my husband made liver paté. Liver is important as a source of iron, folic acid and vitamin A. I agreed that I would add this to my diet and hopefully he did a great job and it tastes better than I imagine. I didn't grow up on the stuff, so we'll see.
In a guest post on Mark's Daily Apple by Chris Kresser he counts liver as number one in his list of superfoods for pregnant women:
 "1. Liver. Ounce for ounce, liver is one of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet. It’s loaded with fat soluble vitamins like retinol (pre-formed vitamin A) that are crucial for reproductive health, and difficult to obtain elsewhere in the diet. Liver is also a great source of highly absorbable iron, which helps prevent miscarriage and maternal anemia, and B12, which is required for proper formation of red blood cells and DNA. Liver is also a good source of bioavailable protein, zinc, and folate."

It looks better than it tastes, which doesn't say much. My husband did a good job though. I think I can get used to it if I find a good recipe for a primal cracker to spread it on.

Watching the Clock

I had wilted organic spinach, breakfast sausage and 2 eggs this morning. I didn't have a smoothie yesterday or this morning but I might have one as a pre-lunch snack. We bought a bunch of bananas that are now super ripe and I am considering making primal banana-nut gingerbread. That just sounds awesome.

*Sidenote: Constipation can be a problem when you are pregnant. Of course, it depends on what you are eating. More fruits and veggies will definitely help with that problem. More greens may also make your (pardon the scientific term) poop look a little more like plant-life. If you choose to supplement your diet with the greens recommended in my other post, be aware that they have a little bit of psyllium  husk in there. This aids in a slight flushing of your system so-to-speak. If you are more likely used to a backed-up system, this may actually just add to the problem. Make sure you are having regular movements before adding this to your diet.

Watching the Clock
Ever since I found out I was pregnant, the time can't go by fast enough. I'm sure it will pick up pretty soon, but I am antsy as hell to get to that first doctor's appointment. I don't know if it's because I don't really know for sure how far along I am, or if it's because I want to be closer to telling more people that I'm having a baby! So, each day my responsibility is to make sure I eat the right things and then what?
I feel like I'm on permanent vacation... passing the time in between meals. I stare at the same picture in my Sprout app hoping that I might see something different than the last time I looked at it. Well, at least it will change again on Wednesday, even though I've already read that page too. I guess I will clean the house.
Only moments later, I read this post. I guess I should be glad I can still do everything I want to except gorge on crazy cheat food.

I ate leftover taco meat in red cabbage shells for lunch. I swear I can eat these all day long. That's an "arnold palmer" in the glass (that's iced tea mixed with lemonade, for those of you who don't know what that is). A couple hours later I was feeling hungry again, so I had a smoothie with a banana, blueberries, coconut milk and half a scoop of greens. I feel like I'm hungry all the time. Even if my stomach feels full, there's still that little nagging hollow feeling just above it. Could be boredom. ;)

Dinner is bar-b-que pork chops and wilted greens and baby broccoli with roasted garlic.

Oh the Heat, Working out and Iced Tea

Today I am foregoing the smoothie. It has fruit in it, which I don't want to have too much of because of the natural sugars. I may save that for my post-workout snack. This breakfast includes 2 eggs, breakfast sausage, wilted kale with red onion, avocado and tomato. I found a peach rooibos herbal tea to satisfy my need for a different flavored water.

The Heat
These temperatures have been keeping me indoors within air-shot of our wonderful air-conditioner. Today it's not so bad, but yesterday we topped out at around 100 degrees. One of the things I remember from science class, whether it was in college or high-school, was that when your body starts reaching temperatures like 104 or higher your DNA starts to unravel. I always picture the double helix starting to break apart at the middle of each ladder rung and the whole thing unzipping. This is really what happens and it causes problems that are as serious as it sounds. This is not only why it is dangerous for anyone to ever have a fever that high, but why you have to pay attention to your body temperature in extreme heat. Can you imagine what could happen to your tiny fetus? No thanks.
Obviously you need to make sure you are not overheating during exercise by drinking plenty of water and being willing to stop if you get too hot.
With thoughts of next summer's heat, I wanted to remember this great post on how to keep your newborn cool.

Working Out
Today's WOD:

1 rep max thruster (I did 125 lbs)

Death by Thrusters

1 Thruster the first minute, 2 the 2nd minute, 3 the third minute etc… Continue until you are unable to complete the set number of thrusters within the minute.

Rx: 135/95

I did 8 rounds + 8 in round 9 (with 65 lbs)

Iced Tea
Since I have to give up all coffee whatsoever, this is a beverage I will be expecting to drink a ton of, in various combinations with ACV or fruit juice or both. The most important thing about the types of teas you select is that they say "herbal" on the box. This means they contain no caffeine. If a box doesn't say anything to indicate the caffeine level, forget it. Ginger tea is always recommended mainly for easing the stomach. I use it to make my ACV zinger drinks. The other one I have now is the peach rooibos, which is a red herbal tea. It also has a little cinnamon, cardamom, clove, ginger and stevia mixed in. As a hot tea, it would be good to make a tea-latte with coconut milk instead of dairy. I've been drinking it iced and it has a mild earthy flavor to it.
Another tea I happen to have in my cupboard is Organic Raspberry Leaf. I bought this months ago to help naturally ease menstrual cramps. Lo and behold, it actually worked! It turns out that it recommended *during pregnancy. It is caffeine free and supposedly helps with irregular menstruation, cramps and pregnancy as well as toning the uterus. That's awesome! I haven't had a cup just yet since I've learned I am expecting. I am still glad to feel the cramps just to know that everything is working properly. I may find out that it helps with the stretching of the uterus and give it a shot one day.
Another thing I would like to try is lavender tea mixed with a little lemonade. Yum.

Lunch was leftover grass-fed roast from some nights back, followed a couple hours later by an organic salad.
Dinner was my new favorite item, which we had only a week ago because it is my new favorite, tacos.
Grass-fed beef tacos with tomato, avocado, red onion in a cabbage shell. You can't see all the toppings because it's easier to put them under the meat. A side salad with homemade caesar dressing and some more peach tea wrapped it all up for this complete dinner. We have plenty of leftovers for the week too.

Working Out (in general)

For breakfast I had an organic smoothie with greens, 2 organic eggs, breakfast sausage, and wilted kale.
It's not a smaller meal, just a bigger plate.

Working Out
Yesterday's workout was tough. It was about 95 degrees out and I was sweating before I even started.
I think most pregnant women are afraid to push themselves to exercise during their pregnancy. You always picture a room full of pregnant women doing yoga or something where they are sitting on the ground. I have nothing against yoga, but if you are sitting, you are probably not really "working out."
The good thing about CrossFit is that you are always glad you did it, even when you are sore the next day or two. For me, I want to be in the best shape possible when I am pregnant. I want excellent core strength so that when it comes to pushing out a baby, it only takes a couple of good pushes. I have also been reading that women who are already in great physical fitness tend to carry their babies high and tight, like a basketball. These are the type of women that don't look pregnant until they turn to the side. Yes please!
There can be risks to doing too much. Obviously you don't want to push yourself until hyperventilation or hypoxia. Your baby needs the oxygen as much as you do. A common rule is that your heart rate shouldn't be above a 140 if you are exercising. There are specific movements you shouldn't do, and the list goes on....
I think the best way to work out is with common sense. This list has a couple things to consider that pretty much fall under common sense.

For myself, I am just going to listen to my body. If there is a specific movement I don't feel comfortable doing because I am worried about it being harmful even during this first trimester (or just because I hate doing it - like kettle-bell swings), I am just not going to do it. I may try to substitute something similar in movement. If I am doing a met-con and I want to stop for a rest, I will. I will not even pay attention to the clock for my wods. I'm not competing. I am just trying to get a good workout. I am not going to let myself breathe too hard or get anywhere near dizzy. I will drink nearly all of my 32 oz bottle of water to keep myself cool and hydrated. I will also take a mid-wod pee-break if I damn well feel like it. That's it. That is all I need to do.

I feel good about exercising and I am already feeling that it is making a difference. If it were that easy to lose a baby from doing exercise - American teens would be in way better shape and the abortion clinics would go out of business.

Lunch today was 2 Applegate Farms hot dogs, some homemade sauerkraut and red onion. I was a little too lazy to make a salad. For dinner we had pastured chicken legs (from our CSA) with sauteed organic leeks, collard greens, spinach and chard with a little salad on the side. For dessert I had a piece of a chocolate bar that is sweetened with stevia. I am cherishing it because my husband says I need to stop eating chocolate. I made him do some research on decaf coffee and he found out how much caffeine is in chocolate. I knew it would come to that. Wah wahhhhh......

Greens, Working out Breaking the News

Today instead of having greens on my plate, I had them in my drink. Two eggs, bacon, breakfast sausage and a smoothie made for the perfect sized meal. The (organic) smoothie had half of a banana, a small handful of blueberries, a splash of orange juice, half of a cup of coconut milk, water and a scoop of greens. 

Greens

This stuff truly is Amazing Grass (the name of the company). I would highly recommend it to anyone who does not like to eat greens, but you gotta put it in a smoothie or you will not like it. If you drink it just stirred into a liquid, it may seem a little gritty. It is sweetened with stevia at least. Just take a look at the nutritional content:

Working Out
Today's CrossFit WOD:

Back Squats
5 - 5 - 5  (I did 115 - 145 - 155 lbs.)
__________

30 meters broad jump
30 meters crab crawl
30 meters overhead (25 lb) plate lunges

*3 rounds
followed by 100 abmat situps

my time: 14+ minutes


Afer the gym we came home and had some leftover roast from the other night and an organic salad with homemade ranch dressing. Okay, I might have overdone it on the amount of salad....

Breaking the News
I was having a little extra faith in the mail system today in hopes that we would get calls from one or both sets of parents about the arrival of their "pee-packages." Well, it happened late in the afternoon and everyone was ecstatic, of course. I also called my grandmother and told her that she would be a GREAT-grandmother. She let out quite a scream out of her own excitement. I'm glad.

For dinner we had grass-fed london broil (from our CSA) and roasted organic veggies. Very good!

Doing the math and Getting crazy

Breakfast is not getting any more exciting, with the exception of adding fruit. Two organic eggs, primal breakfast sausage, organic greens and veggies, an organic banana, vitamins and water. The amount of food might be getting a little bigger than necessary. Although I woke up pretty hungry.

Doing the math
Last night we discovered that I am 5 weeks along. I wasn't happy with just guessing that I was 4 weeks because that was the last time I had a period. So, I decided to look it up online. Turns out that all medical professionals count from the first day of the last period and conception is about two weeks into the "pregnancy." According to the Pregnancy Association, it is counted this way because that is when the body begins to prepare for pregnancy.
I also downloaded the app Sprout to follow along with the process. It's a cool app that shows you where you are weekly and what parts of the fetus are forming as well as allowing you to log doctor's appointments, your weight and other things.

For lunch we (not the fetus and I - my husband and I) had a salad, some leftover roast from the other night (grass-fed with organic greens) and split an organic peach and nectarine. I am so excited to be eating fruit! Stone fruits have always been my favorite and I can't wait for organic apricots!

Getting crazy
Today we drove out of the city to some state parks to take the doggies on a hike and have a beautiful day outdoors. While we were driving, I was talking with my husband and trying to get him to understand something from my perspective. The fact that he was not understanding me properly got me so worked up. In a matter of seconds I was feeling like I had been so betrayed and I could feel my heart starting to beat faster. I was one thread of sanity away from going into a bawling fit. Luckily, I was so surprised by my own reaction that I saw I was having a hormonal freak-out. I quietly talked myself down inside my head. Is this really what I have to look forward to? I feel sorry for my husband.
Thinking back, it makes me laugh when I compare it to a scene in 30rock. Hilarious!

For dinner, my husband and I had wild mahi-mahi and roasted organic veggies with a tahini based asian-type sauce all over it. We had left-over hot and sour soup broth and for dessert, dark chocolate coconut ice-cream with fresh sliced organic strawberries. Heavenly!

Sweets and Snacks

This morning I had breakfast sausage, 2 eggs and a warm kale salad: some sauteed red onions, kale and tomato slices cooked in the grease from the sausage. I thought the kale was going to be bitter, but it actually turned out a little sweet. I'm not sure if it's because the red onions are sweet or if it gets that way when cooked a little longer. It actually tasted good. The vitamins I have there are the same ones I have every morning: 3 fish oil, 1 vitamin D, 1 big prenatal and a little multivitamin. 

Ah yes, and a banana. This is the first banana I've had in possibly over a year. It was good, but not mind-blowing and thankfully I didn't have a sugar crash afterward.

Sweets
We've been making coconut milk ice-cream and ices. They don't last long because my husband likes to plow through the whole container in one sitting. The last batch we made was chocolate cherry. We use coconut milk from the can for ice-cream and coconut milk from the carton for ices. This is all done with the Cuisinart ice-cream maker we paid $30 for at Costco. Great deal and endless hours of fun! Actually it only takes minutes to whip up a batch.

Snacks
I just need crunchy things. It has always been this way since chips fell off the primal food list... not that I ate that many chips to begin with. You do always miss the things you never cared about before, just because you can't have them. So, I eat nuts. We've tried to cut down on the nut intake because it can be overdone. It's a tough one. I was very pleased to see that almonds are on the 100's list for the first trimester and Trader Joe's has organic dry-roasted ones. It's the pistachios that are hard to get away from. TJ's also has a bag of shelled lightly salted pistachios and we never fail to go through the bag in a couple days.
I've bought two huge organic yams so I can make this chip recipe. I do not have a dehydrator, so I will be doing it in the oven. It seems like a bunch of work for something I may devour in 20 minutes... but we shall see.
Still searching for good snacks...

For lunch today I had a frankfurter from our meat CSA with a little organic ketchup, organic mustard and homemade sauerkraut. I wasn't that hungry and ate late in the day. Probably because of the banana I added to breakfast and the tons of ginger/lemon water I was drinking.
For dinner we ate wild salmon with organic baby broccoli and caesar salad with organic kale added in.
I also had a mug of homemade pork broth from pork bones we got from our meat guy. Bone broth is extremely good for you. It is full of amazing nutrients and helps with the immune system. More on this later.

Losing weight and Telling our Parents (Almost)

Today's breakfast was 2 organic eggs, 2 slices of Trader Joe's bacon (anti-biotic/hormone free), and some wilted organic kale and spinach greens. The bitterness of the kale was masked by the bacon grease I cooked it in. I drank ginger and orange-juice infused water and took the usual vitamins.

Losing weight
After the "last supper" of sushi for lunch on Thursday, I became 100% primal to the best of my ability.
For the next 8 or so months of pregnancy and 2 or less years of breast-feeding, I will be eating no dairy, drinking no coffee, or alcohol, and eating only natural sugars from fruits. There will be only organic, grass-fed, pastured, anti-biotic/hormone free and sweetened with stevia or xylitol. It has been 4 days and I am optimistic about getting through it all without a hitch. We shall see what happens when the hormones really take over.
The last time I ate this way was when we first started trying and I thought that if there could be something inside me, I should not take any chances. Flash forward a couple months to me vowing to love cheese and coffee until the pee-stick told me my time had come. During that time, I did see a significant change in my body. The crossfit workouts were twice as effective because I was eating the perfect diet. Every single day I did a workout, the next morning would be like Christmas morning with me running to the bathroom mirror to see what new smaller body I was in. It was glorious!
This was the time that I knew, if I truly wanted to get the body I wished for, I had already found the combination. Primal diet and crossfit.... where were you when I was in high-school?
SO..... I am working the combination. Not to lose weight but to be as close to 100% perfect health for my little zygote. The side-effect seems to be a better body (in both ways).
Now, people may think... this is unhealthy behavior, talking about losing weight when you are trying to grow a life. Well, the fact is, women only gain about 3-5 pounds in the first trimester and if I only lose 5 or 10 pounds of fat I will have enough left to do the job.

Telling our parents
I'd been trying to come up with creative ways to break the news to my parents for a while now (before there was any news). We ended up buying two boxes that looked like books and I made new covers for them. We then included a pee-stick in each box. Yes, it may be a little weird... but trust me I can think of weirder. I was going to make my dad a paperweight pee-stick cast in resin. It was just a little too much work since I'm dying to tell them.
My in-laws already have 2 grandchildren, but for my parents this is a first. I know it's gonna be emotional even though they know we've been trying. I still get elated when I really think about a little life growing inside me. It seems a little unreal. My father-in-laws birthday is on Saturday and he is getting a pee-stick as his present. My dad's birthday was in the beginning of June, so his is a "belated birthday gift." I told my mom to call me when they get the package... hoping to get them on video chat opening the box. We shall see......

Lunch today was leftover hot and sour seafood soup and dinner was grass-fed top-round beef roast (from our CSA) with organic collard greens and chard. We also had sweet potato fries I made from organic sweet potatoes. I ate too much.... but it was so tasty.

*I also take a probiotic with my dinner every night.

Symptoms, Waiting Room and Working out

For breakfast I had more organic spinach, 2 eggs scrambled with various organic veggies and a breakfast sausage patty. The new prenatal vitamin, a multi, vitamin D and fish oil were washed down with ginger infused water.

Symptoms
I'm really trying to make a point of listening to my body. Given that I am pretty much a housewife, I have the luxury of doing whatever my body needs me to do.
    Cramping- This started the day before I found out I was pregnant and has continued ever since. Unable to get into a doctor (because I don't have one here yet) to find out why this was happening, I decided to look online. I found a forum conversation of women who were just finding out about their own pregnancies and experiencing the same thing. It's not a consistent pain. It comes and goes, and if I stand up maybe it will come again or rolling over might set it off. The pain is also not extreme. For the most part, it is a dull feeling like muscle-soreness. Every once in a while it gets strong enough to make me stop moving altogether until it subsides. This, as I found from reading the exchanges in the forum, is completely normal and is explained by the stretching of the uterus.
    Headaches- I have only had a couple of very mild headaches starting in the morning and tapering off throughout the day.
    Fatigue- I find myself having moments where I feel like I need to just lay down and take a nap. It usually happens a couple hours after I have been up and doing things. I don't really take a full-on nap most of the time. It does feel nice just to lay down for a bit and close my eyes. I also find myself pretty wiped out by the end of the day.
    Sleep- There have been changes in my sleep for sure. A couple of weeks ago I decided that I was going to start waking up at 8:30 am every day, just to get more use of my time. I also felt a little guilty about sleeping-in seeing as my husband was waking up to go to work at either 5 am or 7 am. It was pretty hard the first couple days, but then I found myself waking up 30 - 45 minutes before my alarm was to go off. These times I woke up naturally and didn't feel groggy or like I missed out on that extra time. It seems to be getting earlier and earlier that I am waking up without an alarm and feeling ready to start my day. I usually complain about sleep because my husband and I need different things to be super comfortable and I rarely say "I had a really good night of sleep." I tend to get colder and don't like when my side of the bed starts to get too soft. If only I could afford a sleep-number! But now, my sleep feels so much more restful. I am dreaming vividly enough to remember the dreams when I wake up.
I don't know if it's because the author of this book said vivid dreams are common with pregnancy, and I am paying more attention to them, or if she's just right.
    Breasts- Getting larger and annoyingly sore.... need I say more. For women who didn't have much to begin with, this may be a blessing... but for the previously "blessed" this is a curse. As if it wasn't hard enough to find a comfortable bra, now I have to find something to jam these balloons into that will not add to their increasing size. They don't really seem to make bras without padding somewhere in it. Yeah, like it's really possible to "push-up" double D's.
    Urination- This is way more than I expected for a first trimester thing. I totally expected that it was gonna happen when the baby got big and started lounging on my bladder. I really don't pee this often... but maybe I'm just hyper-aware of it? Could be my imagination, but it seems much more frequent.

Waiting Room
So we, my husband and I, sat in a walk-in medical center waiting room for 2 and a half hours this morning. I don't know if he was just protecting his zygote, but my husband just about lost it with the number of morons hacking and coughing all over themselves. One lady came in that most certainly had tuberculosis. I'm pretty sure even the physician's assistants (I'm really being generous with the credentials of the girls in the back) sent her away. Later he kept referring to one guy who was clearly overweight and saying to his likewise overweight daughter that they could go eat at Wendy's. The guy literally sounded like he had so much fat that it was in his throat while he was talking. If that doesn't deter people from fast-food.... I don't know what will.
All in all, we waited and eventually I peed in a cup for someone with some sort of medical degree to tell me I am indeed pregnant. The whole lovely process cost us $95. I had been hoping to get a blood-test to find out how far along I am, but the doc said I could just do it when I see an obstetrician and save myself the money. He said to assume I am 4 weeks along because it was 4 weeks since my last period. I don't know about you... but that math seems weird, especially since ovulation is somewhere in the middle. But hey, I'm a pregnant lady, not a doctor.
The most helpful part of the visit was that we found out how to remedy the whole "no insurance" thing. I have an appointment with an OB at 2:15 pm on July 30th. They make the appointment for after a woman is 8 weeks along (or as I'd like to say - 2 months). Turns out, they will take care of all the insurance paperwork at the time of the appointment and it is done and in full effect. Woohoo! This is how it works in this state- get pregnant = get insured.
I am grateful.

Working Out
Today's CrossFit WOD:

1 K row for time (4 minutes 8 seconds... NICE!)

Bench Press

5 - 5 - 5 (I did 75 - 85 - 95)
__________

5 Muscle-Up (I did 15 pull-ups and 15 ring-dips)

10 Front Squat (I used 85, the Rx was 95)

30 Double-Under (got my personal record of 12 unbroken)

4 rounds for time (I did 3 because I thought it was 3.... oops!)

This felt good and I just wanted to get through it. I didn't really hustle that much and made sure my breath never really got away from me.

Prenatal Vitamins

Today's breakfast: 2 eggs from a friend's hens, homemade pork breakfast sausage, wilted organic spinach and some organic avocado slices.... washed down with a little apple cider vinegar and orange juice zinger (this is my own name for this drink).

The thing about eating greens to get more iron, is that you have to eat it with vitamin C for maximum absorption. Obviously with this meal there is no problem there. The spinach itself has a good amount of vitamin C along with the splash of orange juice in this drink.

Vitamins (and Minerals)
One of the helpful things in my 100's book is the list of vitamins he has included for the first trimester.
We took this information to the store for prenatal vitamins. Knowing that iron was a key vitamin, we looked for that amount first. The one we liked the most had no weird and unnecessary ingredients like excess soy, wheat, sugar.... etc. except for a tiny bit of soy lecithin probably used to keep it all together in pill form. This was Prenatal One Multivitamin, which came with 150 servings and was pretty fairly priced (no more than $35).
When compared to the list in the book, most of the vitamins and minerals were included in the perfect amount or well over the daily value. There were a couple differences that will need to be supplemented in other ways.
Choline in the pill was 10mg and the recommended daily value is 450mg. That's a huge difference for such an important vitamin. Choline is a huge contributor to helping the brain develop and luckily 2 eggs fullfil about half the daily requirement.
Potassium was lacking by about 2,290 mg and the calcium level was under by about 800 mg as well as slight deficiencies in Vitamin K, chloride, phosphorus, magnesium, iodine and fluoride.
Again, these are things we can supplement in other ways and this prenatal vitamin still seemed like a great choice.

For lunch I had leftover cabbage shell tacos from last night. So good!

No workout today.

For dinner we had an organic salad and I re-created hot and sour seafood soup from our sushi lunch the other day. I used zucchini as noodles, shrimp, cod, mushrooms and onions. This was a recipe that I will definitely have to record one of these days. It is also an excellent meal for a person who is sick.

Iron, Working out and Apple Cider Vinegar

Iron
The book I mentioned in the last post, The 100 Healthiest Foods to Eat During Pregnancy by Jonny Bowden Ph.D. C.N.S. and Allison Tannis MS, has a great list of what vitamins you should be taking in your first trimester. One of the major supplements a pregnant woman needs is iron. It not only keeps your energy levels up but it is obviously needed for red blood cells and circulation. Apparently I will create 4 more pounds of blood throughout this endeavor. May not sound crazy to some, but I picture 4 lbs. of blood in bags on a counter and think that it seems a little surprising.
So spinach, according to this book, is a great source of iron. I am also reading that pretty soon I may want to vomit when I look at food or smell it or think about it or hear about it.....
I decided to take advantage and eat what I can, while I still can.
This morning for breakfast I had my 2 eggs and 2 pieces of bacon as usual and a handful of spinach wilted with sauteed red onion on the side. It was good and I will try to get it in every morning as long as I can stand it.

Working Out
Todays CrossFit WOD:
Scaled down - more because of 95 degree heat than anything and a little headache

10 min.
EMOTM (every minute on the minute)
2 clean and jerks 85 lbs. (rx was 105 for me)

Row
Jumping air squat
1 arm kettlebell clean and jerk 1/2 pood (rx was 1 pood)
Thruster 55 lbs. (rx was 65)
Flying push-ups
Rest

1 minute of each for 3 rounds
total rep score: 176

Apple Cider Vinegar and lunch
Today's lunch will be 2 hot dogs from our meat CSA (always pastured pork) with organic ketchup and organic mustard and an organic salad with organic balsamic and olive oil that is also, you guessed it, organic. I will be drinking water and doing extra peeing today as seems to be the trend. I will also be making an apple cider beverage that I am addicted to.
This apple cider beverage contains about 1/2 tbsp Braggs organic and unfiltered apple cider vinegar, a splash of organic orange juice (any fruit juice is amazing) and a little bit of stevia sweetened to taste. It is the most refreshing and amazing, sweet tart beverage! I recently became addicted to this over my usual several cups of iced coffee. What great timing too. I have been trying to read up on ACV to see if it's possible to overdo it, especially when pregnant.
After reading this article saying that the majority of the health claims and cures made about ACV are unsupported, I looked for others that would report the damage it causes. The biggest concern about drinking it is for contact with bacteria in the unfiltered and unpasteurized vinegar. I have been drinking fermented drinks for a while with no problem and believe that I am healthy enough to not have to worry about it. As long as it's not hurting me or my zygote, I am okay with it. I found nothing addressing it in my 100's book either.
The following info came from the Bragg Live Foods website:

10 - Is Apple Cider Vinegar safe to take during pregnancy?

Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar is safe to take during and after pregnancy. It helps to rid the body of toxins and may even help with any complications that may arise or have arisen with the pregnancy. It supports regularity and promotes digestion.

11 - Is it possible to take too much Apple Cider Vinegar?

There is no clear limit as to how much Apple Cider Vinegar an individual can or should ingest. However, one should remember that, as with anything in life, one can have "too much of a good thing". It is recommended that an individual take the ACV cocktail three times a day for maximum results. The cocktail consists of 1 to 2 tsps. organic raw ACV mixed with 1 to 2 tsps. raw honey in a glass of distilled water.

INTERNAL BENEFITS/EXTERNAL BENEFITS:

Rich in enzymes & potassium
Support a healthy immune system
Helps control weight
Promotes digestion & ph Balance
Helps soothe dry throats
Helps remove body sludge toxins
Helps maintain healthy skin
Helps promote youthful, healthy bodies
Soothes irritated skin
Relieves muscle pain from exercise

Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar
pH = 3.075
Concentration/Strength = 63 grain
Acetic Acid = 5.14 %
Potassium = 11mg/Tbsp. <2% DRV / RD



Naturally Gluten Free

Dinner
We ate grass-fed beef tacos on organic cabbage with all the other organic fixings (except cheese). I also made a spanish rice out of cauliflower which turned out awesome!

Here we go....

Okay. So I was expecting a period and just had some cramping instead, all day Thursday. I even said to one of the girls at the crossfit gym that if I did the day's workout, it would probably make me start my period. Nothing happened all day and I was continuously checking every time I wiped when I peed. I completely was unaware of the fact that I had peed way more times that day than normal. So when my husband got home at around 11pm, we ate dinner... watched some tv shows and then started to clean up for bedtime. I had to pee again, so I went upstairs thinking "Maybe I'll just pee on a stick." I truly did not expect any difference from the other 20 or so I'd wasted money on.
I decided to turn it over so I couldn't see and set it down while I went into the bedroom for a few minutes. When I came back and looked, I was disappointed because I just saw two lines and no plus sign. Then I glanced over to the key and saw that two lines meant "pregnant." Instead of skipping a heartbeat, I had a really big one that sent extra blood flowing into my head and I'm pretty sure my eyes bugged out for a second. I don't know what I said afterward, but I came running down the stairs to my husband (who was zombie-like tired at this point) and he thought something was really wrong. I showed him the stick and he seemed to think I had doctored the stick somehow or that it was broken. In all fairness, it was past midnight at this point.
It was very exciting and I wasn't able to go to sleep for some time that night. I was thinking and planning and fantasizing.

So, yesterday became day one of diet strictness. I will have to relinquish that block of raw gruyere in the fridge that I was almost done with. Gonna have to dump the half-n-half and say goodbye to coffee, which I did about a week ago when I ran out of my favorite espresso beans. Sadly, I will also not be enjoying the pork potstickers I have been gazing at and saving for a designated "cheat" moment. "Wah Wahhhhhhhh....."

For breakfast I had 2 eggs and 2 pieces of bacon as usual (always organic eggs and anti-biotic/hormone free bacon- at the very least). My husband cooked my eggs with a bunch of veggies thrown in as a scramble, which I don't really like but of course I ate it. He says "you're gonna have to have greens every day with your breakfast" and I said, "I will find a better way." I took my standard vitamins which have included folic acid since we started trying in November, fish oil, a multi and vitamin D. For the most part there have been a couple others in there and I think we must be low on some.
Obviously the number of vitamins will be beefed up soon.

We went and had sushi for lunch. We enjoyed some hot and sour soup, seaweed salad, a sashimi sampler and a roll (which had very little rice) with what seemed like 7 different types of fish on it. It was a little bit of a celebratory meal. Afterward we went to Barnes and Nobles and picked up two books which I am already a huge fan of:

Do Chocolate Lovers Have Sweeter Babies?: The Surprising Science of Pregnancy by Jena Pincott

and

The 100 Healthiest Foods to Eat During Pregnancy by Jonny Bowden Ph.D. C.N.S. and Allison Tannis MS

I've already started both of them and am very excited.

For dinner we ate pastured pork spareribs that came in our meat CSA and caesar salad with the husband's homemade dressing. Homemade sugar and dairy-free vanilla-chip cream ices (it's a new york thing) for dessert and then we called it a night.

I was still a little crampy all day. It was mainly a tightening feeling inside. I also had some seriously lethal gas and was peeing all day. I also peed on another stick and the second line was a little more faint than the last one, but I'm not worried. Going to sign up for insurance on Monday morning and try to get into a doctor's office if only to confirm that I am indeed pregnant and hopefully find out how on earth this could have happened? (just kidding)