Announcement! Baby Shea 2.0 is coming in June!

Surprise! We are having another baby!

Where to begin… I have been feeling very quiet about this pregnancy. Once I told my people directly, I didn’t feel the need to be vocal about it. We are so excited! But I know so many who have suffered losses over the past year, and I just wanted to keep it closer to home for a while. But since I decided to spend more time sharing on SHED, I’ve found it increasingly difficult NOT to share this massive thing going on in my life. What better time than Valentine’s Day to share the love?

Baby James has no idea what is happening!

How did you find out?

We found out in October, right after we got back from our trip from Colorado. I was definitely not expecting it, so probably were more liberal with our actions than I would’ve been–had I known. Whoops! I thought my cycle was going to start the day we left. And then it didn’t come and didn’t come. Conor thought I was being overly obsessive, but on late day 6 I took 3 tests, and it was a resounding positive! COVID life meant Conor was home, so I didn’t have to keep the news to myself all day. We were both so shocked and happy. Still are, really!

Do you know Baby’s Sex?

We found out in December that baby is a GIRL! I was thinking I was going to boy mom city, so I am very pumped that girl clothes are in our future.

What is the baby’s Due Date?

Baby girl will be joining us sometime in early June! Most likely looking like she will be a gemini! This also means we will have 2 under 2 for more than a month! WAHHHHH

How many weeks are you?

I am 23 weeks. I will be 24 weeks in a few days. More than 1/2 way!

How Has Pregnancy been?

Pregnancy has been different from last time. The first trimester was still exhausting and nauseating, but I haven’t had the baby blues that I did last time. I’ve heard that boys can wreak more havoc on your hormones, which could be the case. In general, I’ve felt in better spirits and ready to take more on. Well, in some ways. In other ways, I’m even more exhausted from chasing after a toddler all day. I’m mostly just happy that I feel more like myself than I did the last time around.

I have also started to show sooner, unsurprisingly! This week, I definitely have been feeling belly! I’ve also had a much stronger sweet tooth this time around!

Do you have a name picked out?

We have several names in the running, but nothing decided yet. We are waiting to share the name (whenever we decide) until baby girl is here!

How has James handled the news?

I don’t think he has any idea what we are talking about! We keep telling him he’s going to have a little sister. He likes to push his stroller around, and we tell him he can push the new baby in the stroller, and he points to pictures of babies when we say that. But overall, I don’t think he really gets it. He’s in for a shock come June!

Is this why you moved?

Yes! We needed more space, ASAP!

Is this why you are only posting pics of carbs?

YUP. When I’m prego all I want are CARBSSSSSS.

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So that’s our big news! Thanks for reading! Let me know if you have any other personal or general pregnancy/baby questions. <3 <3 -AHS

Shed for the Preg: Mid-Pregnancy Update (with some fun prenatal yoga tips!)

I think after my realness posting on the first trimester, I think I gave a lot of people a scare. I wanted to check in and let everyone know that this trimester has been amazing! I’ve felt so good the past couple months! Mentally and physically.

The bump is definitely there! I’ve officially transitioned out of my normal pants and have been living in leggings. It is weird though, because it is still an in-between time and under clothes I think it looks like I’ve just gained a bit of weight. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I’m looking forward to it looking more official!

We had our mid-pregnancy ultrasound this week. It went very well! Baby is tracking on average. We are measuring a bit ahead of schedule, but not by much. I had to go back to get another one because lil’ man wouldn’t give us the proper view of his heart. And that’s right we learned it’s a BOY! We were absolutely shocked but our hearts are bursting! We really, truly believed it was a girl! But now fully readjusted and excited about all things little boy! We should’ve known that it was a boy because last weekend the baby was kicking me like crazy with Conor screaming in the last minute of the IU v Michigan State basketball game. A lil Hoosier fan in the making!

I finally started the process of registering for baby things. I spent 12 hours last weekend researching strollers. YEP. My mind is exploding about the strollers. I also realized that the cribs I like are almost impossible to find in the US. Classic me. I think I’m finally beginning to understand baby gear, which is huge up-leveling for me– and maybe overcoming a huge fear too?! Just another reason for me to get back to my Marie Kondo-ing of our condo! Lastly, beginning to understand this whole Mom tribe thing–I don’t know where I would be without all of my wonderful friends giving me advice!

I’ve been able to get back to my normal eating habits. Lots of eggs, sweet potatoes, greens, avocados, and all of the cucumbers (etc. etc. etc.). So my body is nourished, and has been full of energy! I’ve gotten back to yoga and even have worked in some cardio (more exercise thoughts below).

Cravings:

Still eating a lot of citrus–I’m blood orange and clementine obsessed. I am loving cucumbers (see photos!). I’ve continued to eat cereal and toaster waffles. I am definitely eating more sugar and carbs than my normal diet, but not too much. The actual cravings have not been extreme.

Aversions:

Not much, but still very weird around chicken. I still eat it occasionally as long as its overly seasoned.

Symptoms:

The biggest is nasal congestion. I wake up almost unable to breathe every day. Which is wild because thankfully, I haven’t been sick since the first week in January. This happened when I was in Florida too! Apparently it’s common but I hadn’t heard of it before this.

Acid reflux has kicked in a bit, unfortunately. I need to keep my meals small and more frequent rather than larger and less often.

I also have some low back pain. Nothing too troubling yet. Looking into pregnancy pillows to help solve this.

Every night is a new vivid dream. Every night. Some terrifying, some fun. But every night I’m on a new journey. 😂

Prenatal was my favorite part of yoga teacher training. Maybe it was a bit of foreshadowing?

Exercise:

I’ve been trying to work in movement 4x/week but it’s been slow getting back to my normal routine. I have gotten back to spin class, cardio has felt great! The one downside is that sitting on a bike, I feel like I have to pee the whole time. Yoga continues to be awesome. I’ve added in a couple different prenatal classes into my routine and feel incredible afterwards. That being said, I still need a bit of a push to keep my strength up so I also still go to my favorite regular level 2 yoga class, but have to make some modifications.

In case you are also pregnant and want to go to a regular (meaning not prenatal) yoga class here are some tips of what to avoid and to modify for:

• Avoid hot yoga. Moderately heated (like 80-85 degrees) is fine, but skip the Bikram (105!).

• Avoid intense twists. You can do some gentle twisting if it feels okay to you.

• Avoid poses on your belly like shalabhasana (locust pose) and dhanurasana (bow pose). My guru (aka my favorite instructor) had me do a variation of table pose during this part of class where you extend opposite arms and legs while balancing, and alternate grabbing your foot from above your head. (Does that make sense? If you want more details on this pose send me a DM! 😂)

• Avoid over stretching. Because of the relaxin flowing through our bods “relaxing” our muscles and ligaments, it can be easy to overstretch our ligaments which won’t ever go back to their original shape! So whenever stretching, be sure to engage your muscles to prevent over stretching of your ligaments. (This is also why it can be detrimental wearing flip-flops during the summer months when your pregnant- don’t overstretch those feet ligaments!)

• Some people are fine with extreme back-bending like urdva dhanurasana (wheel pose). I attempted it a couple times because it has always been apart of my practice, but it never felt right. So I finally adjusted to a supported bridge position. It also can cause diastasis recti (where your abs separate)- and no one wants that!

• No need to keep your feet together when bending at the waist, make room for belly! (uttanasana [standing forward bend] or utkatasana [chair] come to mind)

• When going from a position where your head is below your heart, take your time coming back up to standing. Pregnancy can cause haywire on your blood pressure, so you want to give your body time to adjust.

• Your center of gravity has shifted, know that balance poses will feel different. And be careful not to fall!

• Lastly, you are carrying extra weight that wasn’t there before. Your practice won’t look the same, and that’s a good thing! Don’t try to keep up or overdo it. Listen to your body, and rock child’s pose if that’s what you need!

Soooo that ended up being more than a few tips, so I think this is a good place to call it. Thank you all for all of your well wishes for baby BOY Shea and joining me on this journey! xx - AHS