Good morning and happy Monday!
I just finished up a delicious plate of peanut butter toast, fresh fruit, and a cup of coffee. I’m ready to get this recap posted so I can head out on my walk this afternoon. My goal is to continue walking my 2-3 miles every day, and this warm weather is making it super easy for me! I didn’t do as much walking over the weekend, but I’ll make up for it this week. Leo also makes it tough to skip walks because he follows me around the house with the cutest begging eyes that I cannot say no to.
I finished my second-trimester recap yesterday, and that will go live tomorrow! If there are any questions you’d like me to add in there, make sure to leave them in my comment second on this blog so that I can add them!
On Monday morning, I headed out for a chilly Valentine’s Day walk with Leo and a friend. We did 3.5 miles, and I was so proud of myself for pushing through! Towards the third mile, my bladder feels like it’s going to explode from the pressure, even if I don’t have to pee. My doctor said that was normal and to take it slow or stop and sit if I had to. I have been trying that, and it does work. Our neighborhood has a lot of benches, so I’ll take a quick little five-minute break. My doctor said he was proud of me for continuing the walks and to try to keep them up until my due date! He said it can really help with delivery and complications while pregnant. That was enough motivation for me.
When I got back from my walk, I downed some ice water, fresh fruit, and some leftover deviled eggs from Super Bowl Sunday. I had even more water for lunch with avocado toast and peanut butter banana bites. I don’t go anywhere in the house without this cup! I have been downing 5-8 refills a day. I also bring it to bed with me just in case I wake up thirsty in the middle of the night. I purchased it at my local Target, and I plan to buy a few more.
Since Valentine’s Day was on Monday, I decided to make one of Kyle’s favorite meals for dinner! I wanted to surprise him when he got home, and it was my turn to cook since last year he made one of the best steak dinners. I posted the recipe on my TikTok, but I will do a separate post. 
The creamy chicken cavatelli was so good and even better as leftovers! Kyle said it was one of the best pasta he’s ever had! It pays off to cook from scratch The pasta had all of his favorite things, a white sauce, grilled chicken, cavatelli, and cooked spinach. 
I also picked us up some dessert cookies at Crumbl. We are obsessed with their classic almond pink sugar cookie! Even when they have specialty flavors, the pink one is the best! We usually keep it in the freezer and take bites from it throughout the week.
After dinner, we finished up a few episodes of Love is Blind on Netflix.
I was on a sweet and savory kick Tuesday. For lunch, I had peanut butter toast, avocado toast, and fresh fruit. I spent most of the day filming a few recipes and catching up on blogs.
Leo and I escaped for a 3-mile walk on Tuesday afternoon! It was beautiful outside.
I was so nervous about my glucose test on Wednesday morning. I had so many people messaging me about how the drink made them throw up, it made them incredibly sick, and how easy it was to fail. I did not want to fail because the thought of having GD is scary, and the three-hour glucose test did not sound fun.
You have five minutes to down an 8-ounce sugary glucose drink when you get there. I chose the orange flavor and had so much anxiety about what it would taste like. UM, don’t believe everything you read on the internet (the irony as I type my experience ) because the glucose drink was shockingly delicious. Sweet? Yes! But, it was tasty and fruity. I finished it in about 35 seconds.
After the test, I had a quick appointment with the doctor. We checked the baby’s heartbeat, did some measurements, and everything looked great! I had about 35-minutes before my glucose timer went off, so I just sat in the lobby with my AirPods and a podcast. I didn’t experience any of the sick side effects from the glucose, and I felt pretty dang normal! Later, when I got home, I was a little tired, but that could be due to the lack of sleep I had that night.
After the timer goes off, you do a quick blood test, and then you get to go home! I did have Kyle drop me off and pick me up just because so many people told me to have someone else drive. I would have been fine driving, but I guess it’s good to note just in case you don’t react the same.
I got my results back the next day, and I passed! That 24-hours of not knowing whether you failed or passed is the hardest part. The range is 65-139, and I was so nervous about being at 140 and having to take the 3-hour test. Shockingly, my results were at a 62. I tried to read up on why my levels were in the lower range, but I guess that can be normal too.
So if you have the glucose test coming up, DO NOT FEAR IT!
I made fresh fruit, avocado toast, sausage, and eggs for late breakfast. The doctor told me to eat something high in protein, good fats, and complex carbs to prevent sugar crashes. I ended up making delicious sugar-free/low-carb muffins to have for later!
It’s that time of year when I spend time just walking around the house to see what is coming up in the garden! My daffodils and tulips from last year are all making an appearance.
I had more energy later, so I took Leo on a mile walk, and then for dinner, I made a cheese quesadilla with some grapes.
I made another quesadilla for breakfast on Friday, but this one was stuffed with avocado, chicken, and cheddar cheese. I had a mint Larabar and fruit on the side. 
I met up with my friend, Kelsey, on Friday afternoon for a long walk! We did the greenway and Freedom Park! 
We went 4-miles (that’s including the walk to the ice cream shop and bakery )
I picked up some weekend treats to have in the house. The oatmeal ginger cookie sandwich was one of the best things I’ve ever had! I plan to grab more this week when I’m in the area. If you live in Charlotte, do yourself a favor and try that cookie! It’s the top three cookies I’ve ever eaten. 
After the walk, I had a wild berry lavender ice cream scoop from Jeni’s. This was the first trim trying Jeni’s in person! It was so good The flavor was refreshing and a perfect way to end a long walk. 
I picked up Chopt for dinner. After the ice cream and cookies, I needed to get some more greens in my life. Here is my go-to order at Chopt.
I planted a few more bulbs in some bare spots on Saturday morning. Most of the bulbs sprouted and came up perfectly, but a few were duds. I just pulled them out of the ground and put some mature ones sprouting up.
Tux and Leo love their morning zoomies! He’s the silliest and most playful early in the morning. He runs up and wants to hop and pounce all over. I’ll never get tired of watching him play. 
Kyle and I had our 4-hour birthing/newborn class on Saturday morning through our hospital. It was so good and informative! I loved taking a course through the hospital because they share what to expect, give you a tour, and you feel a bit more prepared hearing it come from them because all hospitals do things differently.
After the class, I made some coffee and started reading Lactivate. I have not stopped reading labor and newborn books. I’m obsessed with taking in as much information as I can. This book was so good, and I feel like it had so much information, not the “breastfeeding know it all” type of book. I loved it. I’ll share all of the books I’m reading or have read in my 2nd-trimester recap. 
I had to pick up more tulips when I saw they were only a dollar at Walmart! 
One of my favorite things is when the baby kicks and moves around, which is 80% of my day. I can now feel their limbs sweeping across my stomach, and it’s the craziest thing. I love just watching my belly move around from the outside. Pregnancy has been pretty incredible to experience (aside from the first-trimester sickness and awful back pain )
I was in the mood to cook up some breakfast on Sunday, so I texted my parents to see if they wanted to come over! I made sweet potato breakfast hash (here’s the recipe! I used real sausage instead of the vegetarian this time) and blueberry muffin crumble cake with a cinnamon r0ll crust! 
The breakfast was delicious! I may end up making some of that hash again to have as meal prep for the week.
I spent the afternoon putting together a little corner in the house with my hospital bag and some of the things I’ve purchased. Now that everything else is done, my hospital bag is one of the only things left. There are so many amazing resources for what to pack! I’ll share mine in a few weeks.
Around 3:30, I took a deep dive onto the couch and fell asleep for a few hours. I think I’m finally getting back into my sleepy nap moods. I’ve heard that this is to be expected in the third trimester!
We had pizza and watched Love is Blind before heading to bed!
