CSN stores: product review upcoming

You may have heard of CSN stores from the blog world. CSN stores has over 200 stores with a variety of products including dinnerware sets tons of furniture & baby gear, and really anything you could imagine (vitamix? check.)

Definitely check them out for all of your product needs in one place.  I am looking at purchasing the dualie handlebar console for the BOB stroller, and maybe a carseat snap and go stroller.   I can't decide on the snap and go carseat stroller since it would only work for the baby and not for Nick!  I'll be browsing their products and finding some baby gear for sure! Look out for a review soon.

Here are the baby girl and baby boy :)

We're doing well here. The most challenging thing is getting baby kara on a nursing schedule. I have the book baby wise and the second time around I am trying to be more on a schedule than I was with Nick. However, Nick turned out just fine and slept through the night around 10 weeks.  I think the middle of the night feedings are precious. I love my sleep, but it only lasts a short while (those middle of the night feedings) so I don't mind them at all.

1 day post run - feeling good. Maybe my leg muscles are a little bit sore?  I did some light lifting today and will attempt 3 miles tomorrow.  I'm not pushing it, though, because I want to enjoy it, not have to do it.   I remember with Nick being starving all the time and eating in the middle of the night because I was so hungry - not the case so far with little Kara. I'm rarely hungry! 

2 miles and birthday wishes

This morning Bill and my mother in law took Nick to the please touch museum so it was me and the baby hanging out. I decided I should try and run and it felt pretty good. I did 2 miles - our a/c wasn't on so it was way too hot to do any longer and I wanted to start out easy. It was slow and steady with a few walk breaks, but felt good!  I really want to swim. I think it's such a great exercise - but I'm going to wait another week or so.

Things are good here - I'm tired, but I think it will be 10x worse next week when Bill starts a new job.   I'm nervous and we had fun together while he was home and I don't want him to go back to work. I wish he was starting after Labor Day.


A belated happy 30th birthday to Bill - on Saturday! Nick helped Bill to open up some presents. And we enjoyed some ice cream cake :)  To Bill: a great husband and dad - Happy birthday!

the all star dad relaxing on the big day :)

some pictures

Thanks Chari for the photobucket info - I did order more photo storage but still waiting for it to show up. In the meantime, here are some pictures uploaded via Photobucket (Chari's suggestion!)

The baby is so good!  Last night she did a nice 4 hour stretch.

Yesterday I tried to hop on the treadmill to see what it would feel like (after I wrote that blog post).  It was weird, so I got off.  My favorite comment right now is from Michelle Simmons that she swam 9 days after her daughter was born  - Dara Torres did it, so she figured she could too! Only Michelle! I love it!  I would LOVE to go swimming.













This picture shows me what I need to work on - nasty back thighs (see my left thigh there? gross) and posture!  Shoulders back! Sit up straight! Have any good thigh tighteners?? Do share!
That's my sister on the left.

I'm really starting to watch what I'm eating now so that I am sure I'm eating nice and healthy and can drop this baby weight! It's always cool to see the initial weight loss - 15 lbs both times with both babies, but then the hard part is the rest!



I love this picture of Bill and I (and Kara) - it was about an hour after she was born and we look and are so happy! (and exhausted)

Getting back out there

How long did you "rest" after having a baby before you started working out again?
With Nick, I had to start training for Boston so I waited a week and ran a mile. From there, I just kept adding on the mileage until about 2 months out I did my 20 miler. I can't imagine doing 20 miles anytime soon.  I signed up for the Philly 1/2 September 19th - 2 months away. I need to get a training plan together and maybe I'll start next week ? I'm not in a rush but I know it will feel GOOD to be active again! The challenge is going to be finding the time to get to the gym or on the treadmill especially in the first 6 weeks when the baby can't go to the gym's daycare. Even after that, she'll still be little and I'm not so sure I want to bring her to the gym daycare.

How long did you wait and what did you start out with?

I realized that my photo account is maxed out because I have posted so many pictures on my baby blog over the last year and a half so I had to upgrade for more storage. It's being processed now and then I'll be able to post more pictures!

Life with 2

Thank you for all of the well wishes!  Everything is going really well. We are tired, but both kids are great. Kara is a really easy baby so far and Nick has taken on some new independence for the most part.  I'll let you know in 2 weeks how everything is going when Bill is back to work, but for now, everything is going smoothly.  Bill is a great help and our families have been super helpful too.  I feel good - you don't realize that you need to take it easy and relax, but you totally do. If I'm up and about for too long, I feel exhausted and even light-headed.  I have to make sure I'm eating enough - you forget to eat in these first few weeks because there is so much going on.  It's weird because I don't feel like I did THAT much work.  I Marathon recovery seems easier - you are just more sore.  Instead I feel like I'm recovering from being sick - rundown, etc.  Otherwise, I feel like I had the immaculate delivery. Like I wasn't even there for it. I'm not sore at all down below.  My ab muscles and back are a bit sore, but that's it. It's totally ridiculous.  I'd push out a baby everyday if it was that easy everytime!

Nick needs to be distracted and kept busy, but so far isn't super interested in the baby. He gets closer everyday to her and touched her toes last night. The baby is doing really good - mostly eats, stays up for a bit then goes to sleep.

Once I feel rested, I'll try to figure out a way to find the time to workout. Right now I'm resting when Nick is napping - that will probably be when I will workout until the baby is old enough to go to the daycare at the gym w/ Nick. It's so nice not to be pregnant and have the baby on the outside!

 Nick looks like the jolly green giant. He seems HUGE to me now.

I would also like to say that I was terrified of getting the epidural so I was biting my fingers (I do that whenever I get a needle)  and humming a made up song, hahahah. I was so tired but it makes me laugh thinking about that.

And this week so far I've wanted cinnamon sugar toast in the morning. Totally random!

Welcome baby Kara!

Kara Juliette

7/15/10 at 11:03pm

6 lb 7 oz

20 inches long

(9 days early)

Her name was somewhat inspired by Kara Goucher :)

The short - simplest delivery ever. 2 -3 pushes, maybe 2-5 minutes of pushing?  And I felt nothing. As soon as I got the epidural I had no pain and was in heaven. Before that, I wanted to DIE.  

The longer version:

Contractions started 9pm Wednesday night. Slept 2 hours tops on Wednesday night, they were strong but not intense enough that I couldn't talk through them. They were 15 minutes apart.  Since it's the second time, I'm thinking definitely by Thursday morning/noon there will be a baby.  We watched the childbirth video to make sure we knew when to go to the hospital, I ended up calling the doctor to make sure (5 minutes apart - intense contractions).  Thursday morning - took a bath, was pounding food in the middle of the night: 2 Clif Z bars, toast. Ate 2 slices of pizza for breakfast - I'm exhausted and mostly sitting around. Contractions are 10 minutes apart, still not completely strong.We took Nick to the park to get out for a bit but it was really hot out.  Bill and I went to the doctor at 2:30 for my weekly appointment.  We were both kind of hoping they would say I was ready to go to the hospital, but I knew I wasn't in enough pain. The contractions were 5 minutes apart but only 30 seconds long and totally manageable.  I was 3 cm dilated and 90% effaced. Pelvic station +1/+2 - the highest ones.  My doctor is on vacation this week so the doctor said it could be that day, or not. It could also stop. I'm feeling deflated.

Got home - am not a happy camper. Can't sleep because am getting contractions. I took suggestions  for how to speed up labor: walk around, be active, so I took it to the next level and started re-cleaning the floors, vacuuming upstairs again, picking up Nick, and then we went to the pool. The contractions were intensifying for sure, by around 4:30. We basically took a dip and cooled off at the pool, then left and went to my parents. I was miserable there! My sister had come home and brought me ice cream from one of my favorite places on her way home.  We left Nick there and went home, and ended up leaving for the hospital shortly after.  We got into a room around 7:45 and I was having brutal contractions 2-5 minutes apart.  I was grasping the bed rail, Bill was massaging my lower back - the back pain was the worst thing EVER. I wanted to really die. I hated the part where they ask you tons of questions in the beginning and keep the monitor on you and you can't move that much.  Finally around 9:30 the anesthesiologist came and I got the epidural. From then on, I was in heaven. I could have danced around the room if I was allowed. I had to lie flat but I felt nothing.  They broke my water around 10pm, and I progressed super quickly. They checked me and I was at 5 and soon after, I was 9 cm dilated.  Just before 10, the doctor said I would probably have the baby by 11, and I was shocked (and nervous as hell)!

I was just laying there in no pain and feeling NOTHING and they said it might be time. I did one push and they had to get the doctor in because the baby was ready to come out!  It was unbelievable and so easy, maybe 2-5 minutes long. I think they had me to about 2 more major pushes and some 'baby' pushes and she was out.  When her head first came out, the cord was right around her neck. I could see in Bill's face something was wrong, but he said nothing was wrong.  That's when I had to do the baby pushes and the doctor looped it around and she was fine.  I can't believe I couldn't feel any pain whatsoever. I had no tearing at all (had minor w/ Nick) and seriously would have never known she was coming out unless they were telling me. I love you epidural! The doctor said I was made to have babies. Ha.

The difference between this and Nick was that I probably got the epidural too late or it wasn't as good (didn't hit the spot right on) - I don't know but it was a totally different experience.  The good - I felt nothing. The bad - I couldn't get up for a couple of hours - my legs were tingling. With Nick, I had 30 minutes of no pain then the contractions came back. But 1/2 hour after I had him, I was ready to roll. I also could feel my legs the whole time.  I would do it this way again and again.  I think it also helps that the 2 of them have been little babies. I think that I can thank my mom for that? Is that how it works - all of us were pretty small in the 6s also.

Right after that, I thought someone said it was a boy. So I was thrilled asking "It's a boy?" then they showed me the baby and it was a GIRL! I was in semi-shock and I'm not going to lie, I was a little disappointed.  Going in, we felt much better about the boy name and then we had to sleep on it how we would spell Kara - C or K. I wanted the K all along and then in the last week or 2, I kind of started liking the C. Bill was all for the K, so in the morning we decided to go with the K.

My sister and mom came with balloons and flowers and hung out for a little bit then left. It was around midnight.  Nick came this morning for the first time -he seemed super quiet and confused and wanted nothing to do with the baby. This afternoon he went near her to try to give her the bottle, but whenever we try to put him close to the baby, he wants to get away. I think he'll warm up to her. :)

Welcome to the family Kara!

Final pregnancy stats:
Same heart rates as Nick
Cravings were the same except new one: coffee
Felt like I was carrying higher than w/ Nick all along, and all over the place
Tons of heartburn all throughout up to yesterday (way more than with Nick)
Very similar pregnancies - had to stop running around 34 weeks exc 2 miles on this past Tues & Sun
Swam all throughout up until the day before (3000 yds/1 hour 3x/week)
23 lbs gained (22 w/ Nick)
Baby born at 38 weeks and 5 days (9 days early)
pre-race (delivery) fuel - Z bars, toast, pizza (w/Nick too!!), grilled cheese, peanut butter & agave w/ amazing grass, these cookies on HEAB's blog (ridiculous), milk

It's a girl!

Kara Juliette

7/15 at 11:03 pm

6 lb 7 oz

20 inches long

The short of it - the epidural was the best thing EVER for this delivery. I wanted to die before I got it - the back pain was awful.   After going to the pool and staying on my feet most of the afternoon/evening, we got to the hospital and to our room around 7:45. I was still 3 cm and so upset!  Contractions were intense and 3-5 min apart. I got the epidural around 9:30 and they broke my water around 10.  I think I pushed maybe 2 or 3 times,  about 2-5 minutes and felt NOTHING. It was amazing. No tearing and little pain and besides that I've slept 4 hours in the last 2 days, I feel fantastic. It was the easiest delivery I could imagine!  I was convinced at the end it was a boy so it took us some time to get the name together.  Thanks for the well wishes!  I'll write more details later.

still here

I thought last night when I was laying there that by say noon today there would be a baby. Imagine my dismay that I'm still not having strong enough contractions that I can't talk through. I'm 3 cm dilated and 90% effaced but the doctor said the contractions could just stop.  They are 5 minutes apart but not strong enough or long enough - I just squat or bounce and it goes away in about 30 seconds. Was the doctor  telling me it might stop for absolute worst possible scenario??  Ahhh contractions get worse! Baby let's move!!!  I feel like I'm in fake labor now and I'm just waiting around. It 's horrible!

On a thankful note - your descriptions of labor - chain saw was my favorite - CRACKED ME UP!
Thank you!

Any tips to get things moving quicker, let me know! Was thinking of running?  Standing up for a while? What to do.

erratic contractions

I think today's the day??

I started having contractions last night around 9. They've become as close as 10 minutes but as far as 15 minutes. They don't seem to be progressing (they are more intense but not any closer together ) and I just feel like I am sitting around waiting! I probably slept 2 hours tops last night and really wish I took a nap yesterday.  With Nick, it took 27 hours from when I started having contractions (the very start) to when he was born. How long will it take this time? 27 hours would be midnight tonight.  And I already want an epidural.  Don't they have over the counter epidurals you can get and feel nothing?

Here's how I would describe what contractions feel like - an inner tube around your hips/stomach that is piercing and stabbing you all around back to front.  How would you describe them?

Around 1am I was starving and ate toast. 3 am I had 2 clif Z bars and for breakfast I could really go for some pizza.  When I called the doctor to ask when I go to the hospital the 2nd time around, he said when contractions are 5 min apart - I thought that is when you go the first time around. When did you go? My water didn't break last time or this time, otherwise I'd be going to the hospital already.

promo code & recipes round 2

Here's a promo code if you want to try Jay Robb!

2 things I tried again -
protein cake using 2 egg whites  - negative
seed crackers pulsing for about 1 second and keeping the seeds intact - positive!

So the protein cake - it looked awesome - it rose really high, I used one ramekin. But then, on the inside, I could see white from the egg whites. Well, that totally grossed me out so I threw away any parts that had the egg whites in them. I'll do it again the first way w/ the flax!

The seed crackers after 30 minutes:

 Fully baked:

 Comparison from trial #1 (on the right). So much better!

Seed crackers - I pulsed the seeds for about a second. They turned out so much better! The batter seemed more normal (not grey) and was easier to spread and clean up. Do you eat those mary's crackers? I have never tried them, but these ones are really good.

This morning I went swimming - the only thing getting me up in the morning is that I know I can't swim for 6 weeks after the baby comes (which really, totally stinks). Not just for swimming with the master's but also swimming at the pool!  I am so bummed about this!  It didn't feel great this morning and sometimes I try to go back to sleep but this morning I didn't - I should have. The rest of the day I have been so exhausted. Instead of napping, I was making spinach balls and some kale/barley for healthy food to freeze.  Note to self - take the nap next time! I've had some back pain and been a little crampy but then it seems to go away.  Oh well. One minute I'm ready and the next minute I'm nervous about how I'm going to adapt to life with 2 little ones that are not independent - and trying to enjoy the ease of just having one!

A glorious 2 miles & Jay Robb summary

This morning I woke up and tried going on the treadmill. I made it to 8 minutes (only .6 miles) and it wasn't comfortable so I lifted instead.  After lunch while Nick was napping, I tried again and had a glorious 2 mile run. That is a record, I haven't ran that much in about 5 weeks.  It felt really good cardio wise but wasn't all that comfortable in my lower abdomen. I definitely pushed it a bit - the level of comfort and probably won't do too much the rest of the day, but it was worth it!

JAY ROBB
I just wanted to summarize my Jay Robb experience and tell you what I will ultimately use.

There was whey protein, egg white protein and rice protein.
The whey was my favorite in either vanilla or chocolate. It was tasty, went down easy, made great "ice cream" and I thought the ingredients and nutritional facts were stellar.  The egg white protein and rice protein would fight for 2nd, but it wouldn't be close to the whey. Today I mixed the strawberry egg white in the mixer and it still had chunks in it - the taste of the strawberry is definitely tasty, but I preferred the chocolate one, which seemed to mix well. 

Bars: There are 4 bars - cashew coconut - love the combo, very tasty! Fudge brownie - absolutely delicious, and then peanut butter Jay bar and Almond Energy Bar. I am saving the latter two for when I'm in the hospital and need energy or a boost. I'll report back on them but the bars are definitely very tasty and high in protein.  Thumbs up!

I ended up ordering one vanilla whey bag and one chocolate whey bag.  I think if I wanted the rice taste, I would order the chocolate or vanilla rice protein, but it was an iffy taste for me. I think I'd bag the egg white. I think it will be hard to get past the whey and want to order the other two so I'm sticking with the whey! If you have a food allergy or don't do whey, I'd say try either the rice or egg white protein and I would definitely recommend the bars.

If you spend over $25, you get free shipping.  For 12 oz of chocolate/vanilla, the cost was $23.75.  I got one of each so scored free shipping. Thank you Beth at Jay Robb for the opportunity to try these out!

yum yum yum: Protein Cake

Tonight's dessert - Protein ice cream and Protein cake!   I must say I was a bit iffy about the protein cake when I mixed it up and dumped it into 2 large muffin tins (after I realized I didn't have a small loaf pan). Um.. delicious, it was a great dessert and I didn't feel like I was eating junk!  This comes from Chocolate Covered Katie's recipe here.  Her pictures are so much better too, so check that out!

Here's what I used:

CC Katie's Fudge You! Chocolate Protein Cake

• 1/4 cup chocolate protein powder (I used Trader Joe's hemp protein powder - all out of Jay Robb or I would have used that).
• scant 1/4 cup canned pumpkin (I used a bit less than 1/4 c)
• 1 and 1/4 tsp ener-g egg replacer  (I don't have this so I made a flax egg - 1 T flax + 1/4 c water)
• 4 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup water 
• 2 T whole wheat flour (I added this in since I thought the batter was a little thin!)

I added cinnamon and a handful of chocolate chips. I think the egg replacer or even an egg would have made it less moist but still it was super tasty and the consistency was good. It would probably be even better and more cake like with the ener-g or egg.


I baked in a large muffin tin (two of them) at 350 for 30 minutes, then turned off the oven and kept them in for another 10 minutes.  Next time I'll try the 390 that Katie recommends and maybe use the egg.

+ Strawberry protein ice cream with whipped cream and m & m's

Seed Crackers

Today I made these crackers from Averie's recipe. They are delicious, although they don't really look that spectacular - definitely not as good as hers do!  I think my batter was too dry, and that I should have had the vitamix on low, not high. I only blended the seeds for about 5 seconds, maybe even just one pulse and they were ground up majorly. I'll try it again, but for now they do taste good!

Averie's GF Vegan Sweet Seed Crackers
1/3 C Chia Seeds
1/3 C Flax Seeds
1/3 C Sunflower Seeds
1/4 C Agave (or Honey, Maple Syrup, or combo)
1/4 Tsp Allspice (or use cinnamon only or pumpkin pie spice)
1+ Tsp Vanilla Extract
2-4 Tbsp Water if needed

Blend (blender, vitamix or food processor) first 3 ingredients. Add in agave, allspice and vanilla, then water. (I think I added about 4-5 T water and needed more.  It was sticky getting it out of the vitamix and I added more water to help spread it along.) Spread on cookie sheet and cook at 300 for 30 minutes. (My edges got a little burnt). Flip (it stuck a little bit but I did use a silpat sheet) and bake the other side at 300 for 30 minutes (mine didn't make it 30 minutes and I lowered the temperature because it started to look too dark). I'll try this again - I like it more seedy.

I like the idea that this recipe is mainly seeds!

Last night's dessert was a big scoop of pecan/almond/cashew butter with a scoop of chia seeds, a scoop of flax, a swirl of agave and some oats thrown in. It was very yummy! That was followed by my favorite Whole Foods Duplex Cookies (like oreos with one vanilla and one chocolate side).

I ran today!

I did about 2 and a quarter miles today! I did a mile on the treadmill at the gym - with only one stop at 1/2 way for a few seconds. It felt good!  Maybe that will help get things moving along.  We dropped Nick off at the Y playzone and 30 minutes later they came to get me because he wouldn't stop crying. Aww.. it was his 3rd time there this week and I thought he was getting used to it (the other 2 days he seemed to enjoy it!) but today he wasn't into it.  I got in the rest at home while Nick was napping. 

Yesterday I took some almond/pecan/cashew butter + chia seeds + flaxseed + oatmeal and topped it with 'ice cream."  I wanted something nut butterish and it was good!  What's your take on uncooked oats? I wasn't sure if I should cook mu concoction in little balls.  I've made chocolate protein 'ice cream' and strawberry protein 'ice cream' today and last night to go with oats, and I want to make this high protein "cake" at some point. The 'ice cream' makes a huge portion, is very refreshing and keeps you full for a while.  I think I am going to order a chocolate and vanilla whey protein from Jay Robb. What's your favorite protein powder? Before I was using Aria (Trader Joe's sells it).   Maybe once you start telling yourself this stuff is dessert, you don't need the real deal?

Healthy Food; 38 weeks

I forgot to report about my 1st cup of coffee - ever.  I had a cup of decaf coffee a couple of days ago with almond milk and whole milk and some sugar. It hit the spot, but I haven't had one since. Weird craving that day.

I'm in a weird phase right now and besides my need for butter/cheese and bread, which I'll have maybe one time each day, I'm pretty much only into healthy eats. I have no cravings for weird things but I just want healthy stuff (well there was the bag of m & m's that I purchased and TJ's vanilla cake mix that I made into cookies but I'm not even into eating them!). Why couldn't this have been going on the last 38 weeks!?

 the final bowl 

 the ice cream

the crisp

For breakfast, taking inspiration from Heather, I made protein ice cream in the vita-mix with oatmeal blueberry crisp. For the protein ice cream, I used the Jay Robb vanilla rice protein, about 15 ice cubes, 1 cup almond milk + skim milk mixed and 1/3 tsp xanthan gum. I didn't use guar gum because I don't have any and I don't use stevia, but I feel like the protein powder is sweet enough without it. The rice vanilla flavor It was better than the strawberry flavor but still I was iffy about the taste and prefer the whey and egg white proteins.  I put that in the freezer while I waited for the crisp to cook. I took 1/2 cup oatmeal + about 1/2 to 1 cup blueberries and blackberries (they were frozen), 1 tsp coconut oil, 1 tsp flaxseed and a sprinkle of maple syrup. It was inspired by this post: Polly's crisp.  It was a delicious and filling breakfast!  Now for lunch I kind of want some kind of nut or bean concoction so I'm going to look for some easy ideas.



38 weeks
Well - sleeping is frustrating. I have been getting around 6 hours on a good night, maybe 7, and I am one of those people that needs my sleep - 8 hours. I've been cranky! It's not that I can't sleep, it's that I can't fall asleep. And let me tell you, I'm exhausted when I go up to bed. I usually just can't find a position and can't breath! I end up propping myself up and falling asleep 1/2 sitting up and waking up with a sore neck around 4am, then going back to sleep for another hour or 2. Sleeping is the worst right now.

Energy wise - somehow I have it throughout the day and besides doing activities with Nick, I've been doing the cleaning and making small meals to freeze.  I've been working out everyday. My schedule is something like this:
Monday, Wednesday, Friday mornings: Swim
Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday - lift and elliptical/bike
Saturday - yoga

I'm ridiculously slow for swimming now. I feel like I am way behind and half floating. I don't know how people keep their pace up! I never bought a maternity bathing suit so my bathing suits are all stretched out and I need new ones.

Update and Jay Robb Strawberry Rice Protein Powder

Here's my doctor appointment update: The baby's heart rate was 140. I gained another pound. I am 1 cm dilated and 70% effaced.  The doctor said 'not much has changed' but I wasn't effaced at all last week!  With Nick, I was 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced at my last appointment and had him a few days later.  He just said who knows - it could be anytime - now, next week, the week after.  He also said if next week I want to be done, I could get induced the 19th and he would deliver.  He's leaving for vacation for all of next week! Ugh!  I don't want to make it to my next appointment with another doctor - next Friday. Oh well. We'll see!   Also, has anyone been positive for this Group B Strep? I was positive for it and have to get an IV when my water breaks or when I go to the hospital.  It's an infection you can pass on to the baby. Gross.

What is your story with being effaced? Can I be a high percent effaced for a while?  For those of you that don't know what that means, it just means the thickness of the cervix. It was very thick last week and thinned out and at 100%, it is totally thinned out and ready to deliver.


 So I tried another Jay Robb protein powder - and this was the first one that I did not like.

STRAWBERRY RICE PROTEIN POWDER

Ingredients: Whole-grain sprouted brown rice protein concentrate, natural flavor, stevia. 
I went into this one unsure since I am not a fan of strawberry ice cream, strawberry flavored milk or anything like that.  I mixed it with 1 cup of cold water. The smell: Pepto Bismol. The taste: chalky. The after taste was brown rice, I don't think the strawberry came through all that much. I finished it, but had to chase it with juice and food very quickly.   The good news is that it did mix well with just water - so 110/120 calories for all that protein (24g) is not bad.  I'll let you know when I try the next rice one if the taste is similar, but for now - thumbs down, I got in my protein but it wasn't pretty!  

I will also say that after drinking the chocolate egg white protein powder with milk yesterday around noon, I was not hungry again until 5 pm! Very filling!  

Jay Robb - Whey, Egg White and bar

I'm just posting so you know I'm still here. I might be here for another couple of weeks - or not. I don't feel like anything is going on. Every night before I go to bed, I make sure everything is in order and wonder if I'm going to be up in the middle of the night. Not yet!

So far, I've tried the whey vanilla protein powder - made the protein ice cream yesterday. Delicious and sweet.  I ate the protein bar in fudge brownie after lifting today and as part of lunch I had the egg white chocolate powder.  So far, I like all of these.


FUDGE BROWNIE JAY BAR
The fudge brownie bar was really tasty. I could do it for dessert for sure.

The ingredients:
Organic almond butter, organic agave syrup, whey protein crisps, (whey protein isolate, whey protein concentrate, tapioca starch, calcium carbonate), whey protein isolate, hydrolyzed whey protein isolate, xylitol, cocoa powder, gum arabic, almonds, natural flavors, and sea salt.

I had to look up xylitol - it is a sugar alcohol that occurs naturally in some fruits.  Also gum arabic is a stabilizer from what I've read. I like the almond butter, agave and whey protein as top 3 ingredients. It 
tasted like a chocolate bar that was healthy. I love bars.


The facts: Calories 220,Calories from fat: 90, Protein 14g, Total Fat 10g, Saturated Fat 1g, Sodium 150mg, Potassium 233mg, Total Carbohydrate 23g, Dietary Fiber 6g, Sugars 10g


 EGG WHITE PROTEIN - CHOCOLATE
The egg white protein powder in chocolate flavor:
I was a bit iffy with the egg white idea, but I mixed it with some milk, shook it up in the nice cup with circle whisker that came with it and took a drink. Chocolate milk? It was very easy to drink and tasty!

I really like how it has 24g protein and thought the taste was great. If I was counting calories, this would definitely count as a breakfast meal or would go with a small lunch, maybe a salad. When you add the milk and the protein powder, we're talking around 210 calories. I drank it before lunch and had a small lunch and lifted this morning. Hopefully all this protein will get my muscles building. I wasn't really paying attention to my protein intake so this is really helpful.

 The little shaker whisk is adorable by the way!


Ingredients: Egg albumin, xylitol, Cocoa Powder (natural process), Natural Flavor, Xanthan gum, lecithin, Stevia
Calories: 120, Protein: 24g  

So far, I've been thrilled with all 3 of the products that I tried.  Next I want to try mixing the powder with water and try some of the recipes that Beth sent along to try out with the powders.   I'll keep you updated. Also, on the Jay Robb site there is free shipping for all orders $25 and up. I am all about free shipping and hate paying for shipping and it's easy to spend $25!  It cracks me up when I see this guy's face, Jay Robb, on all of the products.

I'm pretty pumped about jump starting a get fit, lose baby weight and eat well plan as soon as this baby decides to arrive. I definitely thought it was going to be this week after how I felt on Monday, but now I feel like it could be months! 

 

Jay Robb protein trial #1, Pancakes

I've pretty much been a maniac kind of just waiting and preparing for my mini vacation (which is my mindset right now) when I go to the hopsital. My house is very close to immaculate. I've been cleaning every corner and finding things to clean that I haven't cleaned in ages. I feel like I wash the floor and vacuum every day. I can't have anything filthy - total nutjob.

Besides the cleaning: cooking. Not real cooking - just quick things that I can freeze and have ready for Nick when we're at the hospital and when we come home. Today I made 3 batches of vegan/gluten free pancakes. These things are awesome and thanks to Averie for coming up with this recipe. I feel like it is totally adaptable and I've been able to use various fruits. Today I didn't have bananas so I used sweet potato puree and apples for the first two batches and sweet potato puree & pears the 3rd batch. I made them mini and they are the perfect size for Nick! Here's the vitamix picture on batch 2 or 3 (why it looks like a total mess with the pear, sweet potato, flax, and almond milk.

here are the pancakes baking away:

and here are my finished pancakes - which I later bagged and put in the freezer:

Then, today I received 2 packages. One was the pedi-egg that Rebecca recommended and I was pumped to scrape dry skin off my feet (sorry, gross).  I couldn't wait for that to come.

Next I have been reading Heather Eats Almond Butter for a while now and she talks alot about Jay Robb protein. I asked them to send me some to try out and it came today!  I've been dying to re-try HEAB's protein ice cream.  I tried it last week and it was too icy. Well, first I popped into the vitamix the Jay Robb Vanilla Whey protein with almond milk, ice cubes, & xanthan gum - um, super tasty! 120 calories for the Jay Robb + 14g protein and here are the ingredients: Cold-processed cross-flow microfiltered whey protein isolate, natural flavor, xanthan gum, lecithin, stevia. It sounds great to me w/ the small list of ingredients. And the best thing is it tasted great too! And cooled me off on this hot as hell day.

I also tried a piece of the fudge brownie protein bar and all I tasted was cocoa. Chocolate. It was so good.  I'm going to do a post when I try all of these comparing them but wanted to tell you about the whey protein. Yum yum!  What kind of protein powder do you use?

birthday treats

I was iffy about going swimming this morning. The past 2 nights due to the heat Nick has been sleeping in our room in the pack and play and last night he woke up a few times and made some noise - then just went back to sleep, but of course it woke me up! So when the clock said 5, I went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, got ready.. and then got back in bed.  I was in bed a few minutes when I decided I was too hungry to go back to sleep anyway, so I got up and grabbed some food and headed out the door.  Lucky for me, today was a guy's birthday that swims in my lane and someone brought dunkin donuts!  I love the chocolate munchkins so after my efforts and getting up, I was rewarded with some of these :) Yippee! Totally worth it to get up!  Today would be a fun day to have a baby: 7-7.

In the mail yesterday, I received a sample of the Clif Granola Bars  in Chocolate Chip Flavor - I must have signed up for a free sample somewhere and it was amazing! I really liked it. It was crunchy and reminded me of those Nature Valley bars that you can crush and put in your yogurt. Kashi makes or made ones similar, but with the chocolate chips and sweetness, it was really good. They come 2 bars in a pack and have 180 calories (per 2 bars), 8g fat, 4g protein.

The ingredients: Organic Rolled Oats, Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Organic Sunflower Oil, Chocolate Chips (Evaporated Cane Juice, Unsweetened Chocolate, Cocoa Butter, Soy Lecithin, Vanilla), Rice Crisp (Rice Flour, Barley Malt Extract, Evaporated Cane Juice, Salt, Calcium Carbonate), Honey, Natural Flavors, Organic Barley Flakes, Organic Rye Flakes, Oat Bran, Oat Fiber, Sea Salt (Real Salt®), Inulin (Chicory Extract).

I have to see where they sell them. Besides that I should stock up on chocolate chip z bars and have been wanting to figure a way to make them - I would like these too - they are awesome!  It looks like you can get them on amazon - $3.99/10 bars + shipping. Look for them in your grocery/natural food store.




During this pregnancy, I've had a craving / interest in coffee. I've had sips of Bill's here and there, but I've never been a coffee drinker. I love the smell and do not like the taste. I have always been a tea drinker but lost interest during both pregnancies. Today I think I am going to have a cup of decaf coffee. My first cup of coffee ever. How weird is that? Do you drink coffee? tea? what is your beverage of choice?

Yesterday I was on a mission for healthy snacks for Nick. I picked up some of the "just blueberries from whole foods but they are not organic and expensive!  I also bought Happy Babies yogurt melts -another rip off.  He'll eat fruit and tempo bars for his snacks, and sometimes crackers and goldfish but the last 2 I see as crap snacks.  I've been making tempo bars (no bake granola bars) at least once every 2 weeks - they store well and I feel they are a healthy snack.  I'm trying to think what else is transportable for healthy snacks.  If you have kids, what do you give them or carry in your bag for when you are out and about?

 Perhaps the biggest rip off of all of my purchases yesterday was these Plum Organics Fruity Fingerfuls - seriously it is like a cup of cereal and dried strawberries (1 cup total of both!) in a bag and it was around $3.50. Never buying that again.

Post baby goals

I'm still here, just so you know!  A part of me thought I was going to wake up with contractions last night, but I was telling the baby that I wanted at the very least a few more days. I have to go food shopping, I have to make sure I've packed my bag properly, clean the kitchen floor, vacuum... so I'm glad that it didn't happen. :)  I'm also wondering if absolute moodiness is a sign of eminent labor. It's bad!! Impatience and moodiness.

I've mentioned some goals before, but after restarting my lifting routine just a few short weeks ago and loving it, I've had a better picture of what I want to do post baby. Unfortunately, much of it will be focusing on losing about 30 lbs. Even though I've been super lucky and haven't gained extra weight with this pregnancy, I was already carrying extra weight from carrying Nick, and even when I got pregnant with Nick, was 6 lbs above my ideal/happy weight.  So, this leaves 21 lbs of pregnancy (so far, could be more) + 6 lbs pre-both pregnancies + 3-5 lbs after Nick = 30ish lbs to lose!

I don't want to get burnt out from running and starting up a routine or training plan too early, so I'm not going to! I am going to run the Philly Distance Run (rock and roll Philly half) in September for fun. No hardcore training, I'll just do the mileage I'm supposed to do to get by. I'll have about 2 months to train.  In the meantime, as soon as I can start swimming post-baby, I am going to hop back in the pool. Swimming has felt great.  I'll also continue to lift 2-3 days a week.  I want to throw in yoga and pilates at least 2x/week and take classes to switch things up.  I still have the goal of the triathlon in the spring, but really should pick one to make it a real goal.  Until then, the remainder of 2010 I am going to focus on getting fit and toned.  Putting all of this together is probably unrealistic having 2 kids to tackle, but I plan on figuring out some kind of routine so that I have this time to myself to get back in shape and lose that weight!

After Nick, I took off a week then I ran a mile. I kept building up the mileage after that and packed on the miles for marathon training. This time around, I'm just going to take it easy. If I feel good and I'm dying to workout, I will!  Is there a good balance that you have found without just running (training for marathons I could never find the time to lift, and swimming took a back seat to running - it was just run run run)?

the signs of labor

What were your signs of eminent labor?

With Nick,I was running on the treadmill and my back started hurting. I made this post the next day at 3pm, and Nick was born the following morning before 7am. It went into my butt and I felt it into the night. I woke up around 3 am with pains and thought I od'ed on peanut butter - it was around the time of the peanut recall. The next day - contractions all through the day, but I just felt constipated, even though I could "go." Once they had a consistency to them, I kind of knew what was going on. Also, I was STARVING. I ate 2 pieces of pizza on my way home from work and a veggie burger and girl scout cookies when I got home. I was like a bottomless pit.

The last few days I've been a bottomless pit. I've been sooo hungry and can't satiate my appetite. Today I swam and my back started hurting. Now, this can be from walking to and from the beach 2x each day (it felt like work!) and picking up Nick. I guess I'll know if I start having contractions. I wonder how much quicker it will go with #2 than it did with #1. I like hearing everyone else's stories!

Um - it is so hot here. It reached 99 today, with 100 expected for tomorrow. The shore provided some relief over the weekend, but now we are back home and our air conditioner cannot even keep up. It's brutal!!

37 weeks at the beach

37 weeks:

Getting up to go to the bathroom 2-3 times a night, minimum
Very very emotional/moody, very little patience and I can cry at the drop of a hat
Ready and not ready - ready to not be pregnant, not ready to have a newborn
Lifting, yoga and swimming are keeping me going, I don't even miss running at all
I'm definitely more low key about the workouts, and as long as I'm staying active, I'm happy

A little uncomfortable at times  - twinges, some pain if I walk too fast or overexert myself
Definitely starting to feel like I just want to sit down and relax often
Totally into chocolate, ice cream, tomato sauce and pizza
Washing my hands 24/7 with Dove soap :)
My belly button isn't an outie, it's basically flattened out (I was freaking out about that)
I'm really looking forward to having a flat stomach!
The 2nd crib is set up and all we need is some wall decor and to move a few things out of the room
At my last appt, weight gain was 21 lbs - so in the end, about the same as with Nick!
The baby at last appointment was 5 lb 9 oz - 30th percentile (nick was 5 lb 12 oz, 45%)
I'm obsessed with having everything clean. I love to clean right now.
I would really love to scrub things w/ powder like laundry powder or any kind of cleaner. ha!

basketball belly

picking up nick is getting tough :)

Happy 4th!