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Baby Diamond–Weeks 24 through 29 & A Giveaway

 

bump pic

Happy Thursday! Today I have a bump update and giveaway for you guys. As you can tell from the picture below, now that I have entered the third trimester, I am definitely starting to look and feel very pregnant. There is no denying that I am expecting! In fact, each morning this week passengers on the subway have kindly offered their seats which has been such a sweet and appreciated gesture.

This past month of pregnancy was a whirlwind including some travel, some pain and a wonderful weekend with some of my closest friends and family celebrating Baby Girl Diamond. I want to do a separate post highlighting the wonderful shower as it was such a special day. So, for now, let’s focus on some of the feelings, cravings and thoughts around the past few weeks of pregnancy.  Don’t forget to enter the giveaway at the end of the post, especially if you live near NYC!

Baby Size: Over the past few weeks Baby Girl Diamond has grown and progressed from an eggplant, to a papaya and now a butternut squash.  At 29 weeks she is approxiamately 2.5 pounds and 15 inches in length! She’s doubled in size since week 24 which explains why my bump is growing so rapidly. The above picture was taken two weeks ago during a photo session with the lovely Alexis, and I feel as if I’ve already grown a great deal in just these two weeks.

Weight Gained: As of last week’s appointment I had gained 17 pounds. Even though both my doctor and I are comfortable with this healthy amount of weight gain, it is definitely starting to make me feel a bit awkward as I’ve reached the point where I can feel the burden of carrying the extra weight. By the time I go to bed each night, my legs and feet are swollen and my lower back has started to ache a bit. Based on advice from fellow mothers, I’ve started elevating my feet more often, asking Bo for nightly foot massages and taking more baths.

ashley stretch

Workouts: As I shared earlier this month, I’ve decided to take a break from running. Since I stopped running, about 75% of my pubic pain went away overnight which has allowed me to continue working out six days a week. While many people keep telling me to slow down, I feel best when I workout, especially in the mornings. Now more than ever before the workouts give me an extra boost of energy. Over the past month I’ve been able to maintain my habit of two Orangetheory Park Slope workouts, 1-2 Pilates classes at A-Line Pilates, 1 barre class at XTend Barre, 1-2 swimming workouts at our YMCA and 1 long walk each week. Now that I am in the third trimester, I am being very careful to work with instructors before class to get the modifications needed to stay safe and healthy. I can definitely feel the positive effects of these workouts as I’ve been able to increase the weight that I lift at Orangetheory during pregnancy and am finding each of these workouts to become easier with time, even while I am becoming larger and more awkward.

Cravings: While I’m still constantly thirsty and craving fruit,  some of my other cravings have defintely started to resemble those of a sterotypical pregnant woman. Each night I find myself enjoying a small bowl of ice cream or frozen yogurt. I also craved turkey burgers this week as well as gummy or fruit flavored candy.

Food Aversions: Similar to last month, I’m not having strong aversions except to food that typically induces heart burn as I’m still fighting daily heartburn.

Symptoms: As I mentioned earlier in the post, I just feel large. Even though I know I still have another eleven weeks of growth, I’ve started to feel very awkward and pregnant these past few weeks. I’ve had leg and foot cramps a few times the past week and, depending on where she’s positioned, I feel like my stomach is stretched to it’s edge especially after eating or if I have to go the bathroom. It’s a crazy feeling! I am starting to force myself to slow down a bit, making fewer evening commitments and plans as I grow more tired each week.

Sleep: After a few weeks of frustration with the Snoogle, I switched to using multiple pillows to support my body. I sleep with a long, king sized pillow behind my backside, one pillow under my head, wrap my arms around another pillow and put a fourth between my knees. I’m not sure why, but this has allowed me to sleep far better than the Snoogle as of late. Now, getting in and out of all these pillows is quite a different story. It’s hilarious to watch especially in the middle of the night when I wake up to go to the bathroom.

Wearing: As the belly continues to grow, I’ve found it impossible to wear pre-pregnancy size bottoms, even stretchy workout pants. Luckily, I had one pair of large Nike tights and a few pairs of Brooks bottoms which were previoiusly too large. These have become my go-to workout bottoms while I’ve been living in my Seraphine clothing at work. 

Other Random Thoughts: I can’t believe that in just 11 or 12 weeks we will FINALLY get to meet Baby Girl Diamond. It feels like pregnancy has flown by, but at the same time we are so excited to meet her and can’t wait. It’s crazy to type those words as I still feel like we have SO much to do these next few weeks. Bo and I finally got our act together and made a shared list in Wunderlist so we could keep track of the things we have to do. Here are just a few of the things on our list:

  • Interview and decide on a pediatrician
  • Finish the nursery (install new light/fan, touch-up paint, finish book shelves and hanging art)
  • Organize closets and cabinets in kitchen and upstairs to make room for everything
  • Work with our insurance to order the breast pump
  • Wash all her clothing and organize in drawers/closet
  • Take Baby CPR and car seat class
  • Decide if we’re going to do a maternity photo shoot

Giveaway Time

Now, for any of my readers who are based in the New York Area, I have a great giveaway – free family ticket to the New York Baby Show.

ny baby show

The 2017 New York Baby Show, on May 20 & 21 at Pier 94 will once again be the largest show for new and expectant parents in the country. Now in its 7th year, no other event provides a better experience for thousands of expectant and new families from New York and neighboring counties, seeking a family-friendly jamboree of top brands, great speakers and seminars, big giveaways, and lots of learning, support, bonding, and fun as you make your way into parenthood. I am giving away tickets for you and your family to experience the show. Normal ticket price is $30 per family (for 2 adults and up to 4 children), and $20 per individual. Click here to enter!

Images courtesy of www.alexisdamen.com

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Daily Burn Barre Harmony

 

It isn’t everyday that I have the opportunity to try out a new workout, be the most awkward person in the group and have a blast wth other fun ladies while filming a live workout.

Daily Burn barre harmony group

Alyssa Sparacino  – me – Leslie McDonald – Ali – Kelly Roberts – Ashley Macha

As part of Daily Burn’s press launch for their new barre workout, Barre Harmony, a few of us were invited to give the workout a try during today’s Daily Burn 365 filming.  DB365 is Daily Burn’s latest workout program which features, brand-new 30 minute workouts every SINGLE day at 9 AM.  Available on the Daily Burn 365 page all day, people can do the workout at home any time during the day that works for their schedule.  How fun is that?  In case you haven’t heart of it, Daily Burn is a leading streaming fitness service which offers more than 600 stremaing workouts taught by certified trainers. I’ve had the opportunity to try a number of their workouts over the years since my good friend Theodora is one of Daily Burn’s Senior Managers. In fact, Bo and I streamed Daily Burn’s workouts on a weekly basis, our favorites of which were Inferno Power and 5/10 in Nine workouts.

Their new barre program, Barre Harmony, was created by the talented Becca Pace as a 6-week at home program that will target the burn in 15-40 minute workouts you can stream from home.  The workouts only require a yoga mat, a chair and optional light weights if you want added burn.  Perfect for all abilities, each workout shows modifications to make the workout easier or harder.  Barre Harmony is the first time Daily Burn has featured a barre program and I am sure it’ll become one of their more popular programs due to the great mix of mobility movements, toning, cardio and stretching.

daily burn adjustments

Our group arrived a bit before the live 9AM Daily Burn 365 show began filming in order to go through the moves, understand the show’s flow and get comfortable.  For today’s workout, I was the person showing all the modifications which was a very new role for me. At first, I was self concious of being the person doing the modifications as I’m used to going all out but then I realized that right now, modifications are what allow me to stay active and healthy during this last trimester of pregnancy. You should have seen my face when they told me that doing modifications meant a lot of camera time in order to make sure the people watching at home could follow them. As you guys know, I’m not the most coordinated person in the world so I was worried about messing up but luckily our group spent most of the rehearsal laughing and having fun together which helped calm my nerves.

daily burn bts

Once we started the workout at 9 AM, the workout flew by. I was so focused on the moves and adjustments that I never looked for a clock to check the time. The workout flowed quickly between cardio bursts, strength work and stretching which I appreciated and also helped keep things interesting. The two hosts, JD and Becca kept things light hearted and positive with lots of jokes and postitive reinforcement for both our group and the viewers at home. Also, the below picture is one of the few moments when I wasn’t watching Becca to ensure I was doing the move properly. I found the lack of mirror to be the most challenging aspect of the live workout as I’m accustomed to watching my form and the instructor via a mirror during barre and other workouts.  If you want to see some of the footage from today’s workout, you can watch me in all my awkward glory via their Facebook video.

daily burn donkey

Want to check out Barre Harmony for yourself? You’re in luck as right now you can get a free 30-day trial so you can tuck, pulse, stretch and sweat at home with Barre Harmony!

Thank you to Daily Burn for inviting me to be a part of today’s launch and for the free 30-day trial!

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Healthy Egg Salad Recipe

 

Hey friends! I hope you guys had a great weekend. I have so much to share with you all but lately, as Bo and I have had more on our plate as we prepare for Baby Girl Diamond, I’m really trying to disconnect on the weekends which is when I used to draft a lot of my posts. So, until I have time to dedicate to some lengthy posts, this week’s posts may be a bit shorter than normal. However, I’m doing my best to ensure the posts I do share will be relevant, not solely pregnancy focused and helpful.

Today’s post is a tasty one that was inspired by my friend and fellow blogger, Anne. On Friday, after seeing an egg salad sandwich on her blog earlier that morning, I found myself dreaming of egg salad when it was time to make lunch. Since I was working from home, I had the ability to go into the kitchen and whip up lunch from scratch. Luckily, with a quick glance in the refrigerator, I realized that I had all the ingredients necessary to make a healthy, egg salad sandwich.

This egg salad recipe is not the traditional recipe my mother, grandmother and mother-in-law make that includes Duke’s Mayonaisse. Instead, it’s a healthier version that gets creaminess and extra protein from Greek yogurt and a kick of flavor from roasted red pepper hummus. There are still a few traditional ingredients like celery, since I always like the crunch it provides.

If you haven’t hard-boiled eggs recently or have a hard time peeling your eggs, I highly recommend this blog post as the directions are super clear and worked perfectly.

Healthy Egg Salad Recipe

Healthy Egg Salad

This healthy egg salad recipe uses hummus and Greek yogurt instead of mayonaise, resulting in a protein-packed and flavorful combination. Perfect to enjoy on a sandwich or salad, this will keep you fueled all afternoon.

Yield: Serves 1 or 2 smaller portions

Ingredients:

  • 2 peeled, hard-boiled eggs
  • 1 1/2 stalks celery, diced
  • 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
  • 1/4 cup roasted red pepper hummus
  • 1 teaspoon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon pickle relish
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • Any of your favorite herbs for flavor or kick – red pepper flakes, fresh or dried parsley or oregano, etc.

Directions:

  • Place two, peeled hard boiled eggs in a medium bowl.
  • Cut them or smash/slice with a fork so that they are in tiny, diced pieces.
  • Add celery, Greek yogurt, hummus, mustard, relish, salt, pepper and herbs/spices.
  • Stir until well combined.
  • Serve egg salad on top of salad, your favorite toast or as a sandwich. If you go the sandwich route, a few sliced tomatoes, lettuce and an extra smear of hummus make perfect toppings.
  • Enjoy!
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