And so it begins...

And so it begins...the morning, or what I like to call, all-day sickness. It started a few days ago right before a morning workout. And this morning right before going to the gym, it was stronger than ever. I really didn't know if I was going to make it through my workout, but I did. I had to sit there on the mat a few times and just rest and that seemed to work, just fine. Thank heavens there was no one at the gym except me and the crazy Sunday Singing Lady (I'm sure you'll hear me talk about her more, but my nickname for her says it all. She sings outloud with her headphones blasting! Dressed in these neon splatter paint pants and the same shirt every Sunday. It says "Fantasy Car Wash" on it in neon pink. She moves from the elliptical to free weights and back to the cardio machines. Singing up a storm. Sometimes I wonder if people think it's me singing when we're near eachother. But it's bad.)


The one thing that has been helping my upset stomach has been fruit. And what I've been craving all of the time are bananas, blueberries, Granny Smith apples and blackberries. I can't seem to get enough bananas. And they really help.

I even have Dark Chocolate Banana Babies stocked up in my freezer for a night-time treat. They are 140 calories of bliss!



I don't remember being this nauseas this early. Tomorrow I will be six weeks. I know that every pregnancy is different but I hope that's a good indication that the morning sickness will not last as long then! A girl can dream, right?

I'm thinking about buying some ginger tea, but haven't found any that sound appealing. I do like gingersnap cookies, but certainly do not need the extra sugars. If you have some other tips and hints to what worked best for your morning sickness, I'd love to hear it.

Otherwise, it looks like I may be buying stock in Chiquita Bananas over the next few months.

My First Time in 5 Months...

Today, I was trying to justify to myself how could do something that I haven't been able to do for over 5 months now. And it wasn't like I couldn't do it during that time period. I most certainly could have. I just chose not to. I saw everyone else doing it. Drew and Will did it. My sister did it. My in-laws did it. But not me. I was the "strong" one and resisted. Or so I thought, until tonight.
I'm talking about none other than eating...

That's correct ladies and gentlemen. Pizza. I have not had a single slice or even a nibble of pizza in over 5 months. But tonight, I did it. I made an educated and planned out decision to eat it. I saved up my calories and enjoyed it!

It wasn't anything fancy. Or from anywhere special. And I could've easily made one at home. But decided that ordering from a local "Take 'N Bake" pizza shoppe would be the easiest and quickest tonight. I ordered the Herb Chicken Mediterranean deLITE Pizza which had all of my favorites...chicken, feta, sundried tomatoes, spinach and garlic. All on a thin crispy crust. And at 180 calories, 9 grams of fat, 15 carbs and 10 grams of protein for EACH slice, it was tasty.

I worked very hard over the past 5 months, I deserved this one piece, right? Well...what about 2 slices, one for me and one for the baby, that's great justification, if I do say so myself. (Or so I told myself as I practically inhaled each slice.)

Did you know that 350 slices of pizza are eaten in America every second? Or that Americans eat about 100 acres of pizza every day? Wow! And I used to be one of those people that would eat pizza a few times at week. Sometimes 3 times. But now after tonight's "pizza-fest," I feel somewhat guilty about it. I feel bloated. And my stomach is a little upset.

It tasted good. But I'm sure it will be a while before I order another one. This bloated feeling makes me a little groggy. Almost like I'm in a pizza coma.

So farewell pizza coma...it's almost my bedtime and you've made me really tired. Go push your slices off on one of the other 310 billion Americans. I won't be seeing you for quite some time.

A New Year's Eve Surprise!

I started my New Year's Eve celebrations at 6:27 a.m. yesterday morning. That's right. I sure love to host a good party! But at that hour, there was no confetti, no party hats and no champagne. But there was a positive pregnancy test. Or two. Or three.

We're having a baby! Baby #2 will be joining us in September 2012 - another fellow Virgo in the Kramer household and Happy Birthday to me!

After I had my few moments of joy while looking at all positive tests, I woke my husband up and he was happy to hear the news as well. Then I had to tell my sister, one of my dear friends and my mother. And later in the morning, we told Drew's parents and sisters as well. Excitement started to pour out through phone calls, text messages and many hugs! I know it's very early in the pregnancy with only being 4 weeks along, but the few people that we told yesterday morning all are very close friends and/or family members. We felt comfortable sharing our news!

So...why the title of this blog as "Pregancy & Pounds: The Good, The Bad and The Pretty?" Over the past 7 months, I have worked hard to lose 66 lbs and 47.25 inches. And just a few days ago, I finished the last cycle of my diet and was starting on maintenance. Actually on December 30th, I weighed in with my nutritionist for the last time. Most of that weight was gained from my last pregnancy (over 2 years ago) and I was determined to get it off for good. Now learning that I was pregnant again, just one day after my last weigh-in, all that kept running through my head was that, "I'm not ballooning up again!"

I am more aware of what goes into my mouth that I need to fuel my body. And going to the gym has also become a part of my routine to be more healthy and fit. I will not gain all of those pounds back that I worked so hard to lose. And believe it or not, I actually have lost 111 lbs since I gave birth to our first child. The day I stepped on the scale at the hospital when I was admitted on 08/07/09 I was 111 lbs heavier than I am today. That's an entire person. WOW!

December 31, 2011 - 4 weeks

This blog will not only be a way to share with our friends and family members details about the pregnancy, but also be an outlet for me to record my thoughts about trying to maintain a healthy weight with Baby #2 and the good, the bad and all of the pretty things throughout the journey over the next nine months. I'm sure you'll find me talk about chocolate cake on here as well (especially since I have been dreaming about it for over 7 months now).

Until then, be happy and healthy!