PregTASTIC podcasts ROCK!

Maria, one of my loyal readers, recommended I listen to a podcast called PregTASTIC by women who are pregnant. I listened to one of the more recent podcasts, episode #77, titled "PregTASTIC Pregnancy Resources." It had a lot of interesting information about where to shop for various items and what books they enjoyed.

Sites and products I learned about from the podcast:

• Felicite.com – online registry where you can bring any gift from any merchant on one site.
• Bumpstyle.com – maternity clothes that don’t suck, original artwork from Portland artists.
• Ecochildsplay.com – a site to look on to make sure your toys are safe
• Baby Bargains – book has a new edition every year and explains why a product is good and why it isn’t. One of the PregTASTIC women checked everything on her registry in it.
• Baby Hawk - baby slings.
• Halo sleep slack

Recommended books:

• I’m pregnant now what do I eat – simple recipes.
• Belly Book – by trimester journal.
• Pregnancy Journal – day by day journal.
• Unofficial guide to having a baby – things to ask your doctor.

Check out PregTASTIC's podcast and tell me what you think.

Movement to make me smile

On Tuesday night, as my husband and I were vegging on the couch, watching TV, I felt this vibration and pressure inside my belly. Could it be? The moment I've been waiting for the last few weeks... Many pregnancy Web sites and books say some women feel the baby as early as 12 weeks. However, most women in their first pregnancy feel the baby between 16-22 weeks or so. The feeling happened three or four more times and then it was gone. During it, I told my husband, "I think I'm feeling the baby move for the first time!" I'm glad he was there to share in the moment.

If I had any doubt what I felt Tuesday evening, yesterday afternoon confirmed my belief. As I was sitting in front of my computer at my corporate job, I was typing away and all of a sudden felt the same, feathery vibration, almost like a flutter as decribed by other women. So exciting and reassuring to know that our baby is moving around and is safe.

Check out The Mommy Diary blog on PregnancyWeekly.com - once you sign up, it posts the week you're in on your PW home page, so this post is about her 17th week. The author also feels the baby move this week and describes it similarly to me. Very reassuring to hear others going through the same thing.

Yoga does a body good

"Each body is a universe, as good a universe as you could conceive." -- Swami Amar Jyoti

This quote was the lead for day 92 in Meditations from the Mat, which I try to read daily but usually a few times a week. After 30 minutes of yoga this morning, the excerpt really resonated with me.

"The postures and the breath form a bridge between the wisdom of the mind and the wisdom of the body. A divine spark is kindled, and the resulting fire is our spiritual transformation." The author is speaking about svadhyaya, or self study, and through yoga we embrace the universe inside of us through the asanas and pranayama (postures and breath).

Yoga teaches me to embrace and love myself for who I am in this moment. As you may know from past posts, I'm having a bit of a hard time accepting the new shape my body is taking through my pregnancy. My husband took a few photos of me last night to document the bump, and I look so BIG! He swears I look bigger in the photos (God love him) and reassures me that I look fine, which helps. However, this chapter from the book really put it together for me that I'm okay as I am, in this moment.

Tis' the season for Zen

Yoga Journal magazine is an awesome resource and its Web site is packed with information. I believe the site recently had a redesign and now has a way to build a pose or asana sequence with coordinating photos - pretty cool.

I am signed up for every e-mail newsletter YJ online offers, including one it sends weekly for a "dose of yoga tips, information and advice." Last week's was titled the "Yogi's Holiday Guide to the Holidays" and had some interesting article/ideas on how to cope through this typically stressful season.

One was called Gifts for the Greedless and had a bunch of great ideas for gift giving by type of person (college student, children, golfers, etc.), and I thought this one was great for me and my husband, since we're soon to be new parents:

For Parents: Zen Parenting: The Art of Learning What You Already Know, by Judith Costello and Jurgen Haver (Robins Lane). A thought-provoking meditation on child-rearing as sadhana (practice).

Hopefully my husband isn't reading my blog because this book may be in his stocking!

The bump IS showing

All right, I give! The bump is showing! I didn't notice it really showing under my clothes until tonight when I changed into my yoga garb before I taught my power-vinyasa class. I was wearing my regular clothes but used the belly band as an expander between my tank and capris. As I looked at myself in the mirror, I realized, I look like a pregnant woman! OMG! This is really happening... I'm with child, I have a bun in the oven, the rabbit done died - I'm going to have a baby. Reality has set in.

Enough about my bump - I'm a bit obsessive about it, aren't I? I received another shipment of EBay maternity clothes; 31 pieces for $46, shipping included. A bit of a gamble since there was only one photo posted, and it was folded up. However the seller had a strong rating and said it was "awesome" so I thought, what the heck! So happy I took the risk. Lots of Motherhood and Old Navy Maternity. Cute, long-sleeve tops, although some of the pants were short, which will definitely not work for me, but all in all, a great deal.

My question is, when do I start wearing the maternity clothes? My old clothes still fit, especially with the assistance of the belly band... What's the rule of thumb on this?

"The bargain that yields mutual satisfaction is the only one that is apt to be repeated." - B. C. Forbes