Victoria's Secret Maternity Clothes

I simply adore the clothing from Victoria's Secret.  The quality is great. The selection is enormous. The sales are often to die for.  So many color choices! Amazing! I scour victoriassecret.com at least once a week.

So naturally, I looked there for my first maternity clothing purchases.

Come again????

Yes, I took my first plunge into expandable tummy wear by buying baby doll style tops with sexy empire waists that will continue to show off my narrow rib cage and support my growing cleavage (yay for puberty finally setting in at age 28!) while having enough flowy fabric to last the next couple months PLUS hide the post-baby jelly belly.  And I bought a couple of trapeze-esque styles as well to allow for a clandestine growing belly. Hopefully my coworkers will start to wonder, "Is she pregnant or just wearing a preggo shirt?" rather than, "Look at her trying to fit into that sweater. Is she pregnant or just fat?"

My shipment came yesterday and everything is super comfortable and still sexy!

Take a look at my sexy new wardrobe that will help me wean myself off of super tight, cinched-tummy garb:

Definitely my fav! Need to buy in more colors, for sure.

All of these shirts are currently available on Victoriassecret.com and all images are taken from the site. Click here to browse their tops.

Doctor Visits: An update

I haven’t given too many real details of pregnancy on this blog yet aside from funny anecdotes primarily because it’s easier to be funny for me than show fear or sadness.  So I didn’t post about the bad news we received during our first Dr. visit on December 23^rd.

LUCKILY, the news we received on January 6^th was all positive!

So here’s what happened:

Based on the date of the first day of my last period, PLUS the date that we thought we conceived (Nov. 17^th), we should have been 7 weeks pregnant at our first Dr. visit on December 23^rd.

After looking at the ultrasound, our Doctor said that the size of the embryo was closer to 6 weeks than 7.  After talking with us about alternate dates of conception, we were pretty adamant about Nov. 17^th because we remember having unprotected sex that day and didn’t recall an encounter like that later on that week.

So based on that the Doctor told us that it’s possible his calculations were wrong OR that our embryo had stopped growing. He assured us that we were young and if we lost this baby it wouldn’t mean we couldn’t have children. But he did tell us not to get too excited about the pregnancy yet and he referred us to an imaging center to have a second ultrasound.

The ultrasound on January 6^th showed that the fetus progressed in size the correct amount, so we’re doing fine!

It just means we didn’t conceive when we thought, and that my menstrual cycle was super-wonky that month so I didn’t ovulate at the “right” time based on my period start date—which makes sense because that was the month of my wedding and my period actually came 4 or 5 days EARLY that month.  (Awesome for us since then I didn’t have it on our honeymoon! That would have been a bummer!)

So we’re still cautiously optimistic that the pregnancy is sticking. For a while my husband kept asking me on a daily basis if I still felt pregnant and I did/do!

My official due date is now August 14^th. Tracking due dates based on last period alone it should have been August 10^th. So it’s a difference of 4 days which seems like soooooo not a big deal. But at early stages of development, it’s really important for the baby to stay on track, which I think we are.

Going to the doctor again this Friday, followed by genetic tests the following week so hopefully everything stays on track!!

Fingers crossed J

P.S. Our kid is now the size of a prune. Hence, this photo.

Weekly Weigh-In #3 & 4

Last week: 127lbs (Thanks to Colace for getting rid of my yucky constipation!)

This week: 129lbs (Thanks to eating lots of food and gaining two pounds of fat in my ass and tummy and neck.)

Currently above wedding day weight by 4 pounds. Below normal Ms. Conceived Notion weight by 3 pounds, so I'm slowly getting back to normal. I did commemorate my wedding weight loss by buying a fantastic pair of size 2 jeans while on my honeymoon. Haven't put them on in two weeks--doubt they still fit or will ever fit again, but that's okay--I have photo evidence of my supermodel-esque-ness.

While I've been having nausea and some dry heaves, I haven't actually thrown up at all during the pregnancy and I've been hungry constantly. If I don't eat breakfast within a half hour of waking up I get ravenously hungry, so I've had to alter my morning schedule to allow for eating on the way to the subway instead of once I get to work. 

I'm also craving saturated-fat-dense foods like crazy. This week, I'm craving cheese, buffalo wings, ravioli, pesto sauce, chicken parm, milk...

Buffalo Wing Photo Source

Weekly Weigh-In #2: Craptastic!

128.8 lbs.

2 pounds heavier than last week. Still less than my pre-wedding weight. In fact, this weight would have made me really happy 6 months ago. 

But I'm pretty sure the two pounds I gained is mostly due to extreme constipation. Yummy!  It could be partially due eating lots of cheese and chocolate this week, but with the bloating and cramping I feel, I'm sure a lot of heaviness is because I haven't had a good poop since December 9th when I first took the pregnancy test.

Ever since my period was late several weeks ago something got messed up with my #2 cycle.  I was concerned only because I poop like clockwork after my Starbucks every morning. So this was another indicator to me that I might be pregnant.

Literally 5 minutes after we saw the positive pregnancy test results on December 9th, I had the extreme urge to go.

When I came back to bed, while we were freaking out about the impending baby, I announced, "Haha, I'm literally scared sh*tless!"

This actually broke the ice and made us stop freaking out for a moment because we started having one of our silly bickering fights...it went something like this.

"Babe, I'm scared sh*tless! That's so funny! That actually happens!"

"No, if you were scared sh*tless, you wouldn't be able to sh*t. Like, all of a sudden, there would be no sh*t."

"You're totally wrong. The expression came about because you lose your bowels when you're really scared. Even when you die, you just sh*t. It just happens."

"No, you're wrong."

This went on for a little while longer and I partially thought my husband was just arguing for arguments sake, but I wasn't sure whether he was trying to bother me or actually that mistaken.  Finally, my best argument came to me:

"Then why do people say 'That scared the crap out of me'?"

"That's different."

This time he was joking. He knew I proved him wrong. And it was hilarious. To us.

Now I'm just hoping that the anxiety I'm feeling about having our first OB appointment on Wednesday inspires a nice poop between now and then :(


Gross Constipation Image Source

Review: "What to Expect" Induces Nausea

Like any savvy pregnant chick would, I trolled my iPhone's app store for cool pregnancy applications. I know there's a chance that my embryo won't be viable, so instead of downloading tons of apps that I would have to later delete if I lost the baby, I went for the free "What to Expect" Pregnancy Tracker app. (Ya know, based on that ridiculously popular book that compares fetuses to fruit.)

So I haven't had any morning sickness or crazy mood swings with my pregnancy (yet) but this application is starting to induce them.

According to the tracking calendar, I'm in the beginning of my 7th week, and already my embryo has been described as a future "prince (or princess)". It has already been the size of a poppy seed, then an orange seed, then a sweet pea, and is now moving into the blueberry phase. They've alluded to the bond between mother and child being built that we will last a lifetime and given me the image of cradling my baby in my arms.

HELLO?? What if I have a miscarriage?  Is it really appropriate for the quintessential pregnancy book to force such emotional language on us before we've even been to the doctor to see if our pregnancy is viable?

It just seems so wrong to me.

Well, I go to the doctor next Wednesday. I will find out then if the little blueberry has a heartbeat.  THEN I will feel comfortable "oohing" and "aahing" over my soon-to-be baby.

Here are some of my favorite sickeningly sweet quotes seem just a little too presumptuous. My emphasis added...

From Week 4, just after fertilization: "Your baby has found its home -- your uterous. Once there, it burrows into your uterine lining and implants -- making that unbreakable connection to you that'll last the next eight months (and a lifetime after that)."

From Week 5, when most women take a pregnancy test: "One of the first systems to be operational is the circulatory...along with its companion organ: the heart. Your baby's heart is made up of two tiny channels called heart tubes...When those tubes fuse together, your baby will have a fully functioning heart (though it almost certainly already has a grip on yours)."  "In fact, you're fewer than eight months away from holding a real prince (or princess) in your arms."

From Week 6, when the baby is the size of a pea: "During fetal development, practitioners measure embryos as small as yours from precious little crown to cute little rump."  

Luckily, Week 7, which I'm up to now isn't that bad. It just refers to my little one as a "budding genius" which is 100% accurate.

Weekly Weigh-In #1

126.8 lbs.

We'll see how long I feel comfortable advertising my weight, even anonymously...

Cravings... Before I Knew I Was Preggo...

Last Saturday night in NYC, it was 30 degrees with freezing rain. I had plans to go to Arlene's Grocery, but couldn't bear the thought of leaving the house so I canceled my plans to stay home at catch up on Lost Season 5 while my husband was out with his friends.

At some point in the evening I had an intense craving for calorie-dense Italian food and a smokey red wine. I just couldn't think of anything better than sipping a glass or two of wine, so I got dressed for the first time all day and went to the wine store.  I was sooooooo content that evening.

The next day, all I could think about was drinking more wine. So I had a big glass Sunday evening also with my leftovers from Ottomanelli's Cafe.

Then it dawned on me. What if my body is craving wine because it knows this is the last time I can drink it?

At this point, I was still waiting for my period to come. My cycle was a little off the prior month so I wasn't sure if my iPhone's Free Menstrual Calendar (FMC)* app was accurate. If it was accurate, then my period was 4 days late.

On Monday, I was hungrier than usual. My commute home from Soho to the UES takes 45-60 minutes, and on Monday night I couldn't wait to get home before eating a snack. I was still thinking about my weird wine craving as I went into the Sunrise Mart for some salmon sushi and seaweed salad.  I quickly ate there and then headed uptown for my actual meal.

As soon as I left Sunrise Mart, I thought "Oh SH*T. I'm definitely pregnant." I had another "bad food" craving. Sushi is another no-no for preggers, so I had a profound feeling that some higher power was telling me to eat it while I was still oblivious...

Fast forward to Tuesday. Period was now 6 days late, and I had the day off from work.

It was the perfect Manhattan winter day. The cold and wind from the weekend subsided, the sun was out, and the air was a crisp 45 degrees. When I walked out of my apartment building and the fresh air hit me, I thought, "Ahhh, today would be a great day to go to the park, bum a cigarette or two and sit on a bench to people watch."

Oh God, now I was craving cigarettes. I haven't bummed a cigarette in months!  (Don't worry--I didn't smoke.)

And low and behold, I took the pregnancy test the following day and we know how that turned out. I'm glad I got my bad girl cravings out of the way before I could officially feel guilty about them.





*I was using the FMC (which I cutely referred to in conversation with my hubby as the "F*ck Me Calendar") to avoid pregnancy by using what I guess you'd call the Rhythm Method. Let's just say we think we conceived on the day AFTER my FMC said I stopped being fertile.