It’s so strange to write a recap post without a cup of coffee, but I haven’t had one of those in three months! Warm drinks give me the heebee jeebees. A lot of things give me the heebeejeebees right now, but things are starting to get better! I finally see a little bit of light, but I’m not out of the water just yet.
One thing that has changed is my energy levels. I’m finally able to look at a computer screen and write without my eyes closing within the first few minutes. I kept telling myself I’d write a recap next week when I do something worth writing about, but my life kept going on, and nothing I was doing felt worthy enough to write about. Instead of just waiting and putting recaps off forever, I decided to dive into it today, even if it’s not exciting or blog-worthy. Maybe one of these days, things will get pretty interesting around here. I wish I were one of those people who could create cute content, but right now, I praise myself for just taking a shower or getting out for a walk. SO thank you for bearing with me during this time! It’s been amazing chatting with so many of you on Instagram, and it makes me feel less alone with how I’m feeling.
Sunday routines have been kind of funny around here. As long as I can keep my Unisom and B6 down during the evenings, I feel OK mid-morning. Kyle meal preps on Sunday, and IT’S AWFUL. He tried to do it at 5 am thinking the smell would be gone by the time I woke up, but that smell sends me running to the bathroom. He depends on meal prepping for his week, and so we made a deal that I would leave on Sunday mornings, get some breakfast to go, and maybe try to stop at a store or walk around the park while he cooks and airs out the house! It’s good because it does get me out of the house and makes me feel human again. There’s something about when I’m outside in fresh air or staying busy that keeps me from throwing up. So last Sunday, I picked up breakfast at Le Peep, made a trip to Home Goods, and then spent some time at Target looking for rugs.
One of my favorite mid-morning breakfasts is an English muffin with creamy Skippy peanut butter and clementines. Look at how orange my fingernails are in the bottom corner 😆 It’s from peeling them, but I literally can’t stop eating them! They’re like candy to me right now. I thought it would be a good idea to cover up the orange, so I went with my go-to fall color, “my solar clock is ticking,” by OPI.
One of my anti-nausea foods has been McDonald’s french fries. I don’t know why, but Mcdonald’s diet coke and fries with bbq sauce take all the nasty nausea feelings away, and it actually stays down (which makes taking medication easier!) Whenever I have smoothies, bowls of fruit, yogurt, or cereal, my body is like NOPE, and it doesn’t stay down. I told the doctor about my cravings and how it was hard to keep healthier food down, and she was like, ” you just need to eat no matter what it is.” It’s so common and apparently gets better the farther along in the pregnancy. One week, I was on the veggie + bacon on wheat jimmy John’s sandwich kick! I had one every day for like four days straight. If you haven’t had Jimmy Johns’s wheat bread yet, you’re missing out. It’s THE BEST! We spent some time on Saturday putting the crib together! We are trying to do something for the nursery every week, so we don’t feel rushed to get it done later in the pregnancy. I can’t wait to see the wicker nursery light go up. We decided to do a doggy-themed nursery, and I cannot wait for it to come to life. Cravings shift so fast!
This was the first thing I “cooked” in months! I roasted some spaghetti squash and mixed it with parmesan and pasta sauce.
Someone asked me on Instagram if I could show a bump update. I’m officially 15 weeks, and the bump is finally coming out! My jeans are officially too tight to button, and my leggings are uncomfortable around the waist. I did buy THE MOST COMFORTABLE pajamas at Walmart that I’ve been wearing on repeat lately. The quality is incredible for the set being under $20. I ended up buying four more of them online!
Another breakfast I’ve been craving lately has been brown sugar oatmeal with dates!
On Sunday morning, Kyle and I put the tulip and hyacinths bulbs into the ground! We topped them with 6 inches of soil and a layer of mulch. I cannot wait to see them in the spring! It’s been chilly here, so the perfect time to get them planted. Tomorrow the high is 45-degrees! After doing some Homegoods shopping on Sunday with a friend, I was in survival mode looking for something to eat! I have been craving pretzels and cheese for so long and finally picked one up at Wetzel Pretzel. Annie’s is still the goat, but these hit the spot! Our neighborhood did trick or treating on Sunday evening. We get so many kids! I save the big ones for my favorite littles! 😊 My neighbor and I hung out on the porch handing out candy together. It was fun to see all the kids in their cute costumes, and the weather was perfect. We shared a Hawaiian pizza from Papa Johns, and it was the ideal way to end the sick-free weekend!
I overdid it on the weekend because I was so sick Monday and Tuesday. The only thing I could keep down was mashed potatoes and diet Pepsi from KCF, but that was after taking my emergency Zofran. I usually rely on Unisom and b6, but I’m guaranteed to have a sick day if I can’t keep that down. The only way to cut that cycle is to take a Zofran and get some food in me. Luckily, I’m feeling so much better today, so I think I’ve broken the cycle! I’m still living off mashed potatoes today, but I’m not complaining 😉
It feels good to be back writing again, even if it’s not all blog-worthy! ♥️ It’s the connection that feels good! xo
I’ll have my first trimester recap up on Friday, and I will continue the wedding series soon! xo
Questions for you!
- How did you spend your Halloween?
- What is your favorite Halloween candy?
- How have you been!?
TK says
I’m pregnant as well and during my first trimester all I could eat were French Fries. Maybe something about the slat but it was all that didn’t seem beyond disgusting
Taralynn says
Ahh yes, anything “potato” has my heart right now!
Kelsey Lane says
Your baby bump is so cute! That is all 🙂
Taralynn says
😭 thank youuuuuu
Jennifer says
I spent Halloween running errands, relaxing, and giving candy to trick or treaters!
My favorite Halloween candy changes every year, but this year it was snickers and air heads 😋
Good! Today is my last day of school, and tomorrow I can say I officially have a masters degree! It’s been such a long time coming, but I’m SO happy to be done!
Taralynn says
Oh great, now you have me craving airheads! 😆 Why is the texture so good?
GIRL, YOU DID IT!!!!!
Krista says
I love your idea of doing something new each week for the nursery so you don’t feel rushed later on!!
Halloween was probably our best yet, and the kids were hilarious and so creative. We for sure need more candy next year, at least twice as much!
Taralynn says
We’ve also been using that method when it comes to buying expensive items! That way it doesn’t feel like we are dropping so much money towards the end. ALSO, EBAY IS WHERE IT’S AT! 😂
I’m so happy you had a great Halloween. Always better to be over-prepared with candy! Leftovers mean more for you 😉
Lauren R says
Does Kyle meal prep ground turkey? I am still scarred from early pregnancy and the smell of ground turkey cooking. 🤢. Hope the easier days of pregnancy come your way soon!
Taralynn says
Its ground turkey (🤢) buffalo chicken breast (🤮) rice (hate the smell 🤮) sweet potatoes, and sometimes ground beef (🤮) The smelllll of it all just stinks, and I thought that before I was pregnant lol
Mikaela says
Glad to see you back at it! I spent Halloween joking the group for only about a half mile. I’m 27 weeks and boy my feet are starting to hurt! Plus, I constantly have to pee so, ya know. My time was done! Lol. It gets much easier with the nausea usually around 15 or 16 weeks so just hang on. Good things are coming!
Taralynn says
Hi, Mikaela!
I’m hoping it gets better!! lately, i have good/&bad days! So starting to see some improvement!
Half a mile is better than I could do right now! 😆
Amanda says
Congrats Taralynn! I’ve been following your blog for so long now! You’ve always inspired me to live my best, healthiest life. I appreciate your honesty and not making us feel like your one of those health nut pregnant women! (haha!)
We are honestly probably the same age (you may be a bit older than me I guess), but it is fun to go through these “phases” of life along side your blog. My husband and I are like you and planning out our first baby (like pretty far ahead). It’s still in the works for us, but I’m so excited for you! Love the doggie theme. =)
Taralynn says
Thank you, Amanda!
Honestly, I told myself “I’m going to eat so healthily while pregnant” and I LAUGH so hard at that now! Being pregnant is like having an alien take over every part of your body lol Maybe I’ll be able to eat healthier later on in the pregnancy, but my body can’t seem to keep healthy things down.
We started talking about / planning financially a few years ago, so you’re never too early to start planning!!
Amanda says
Taralynn,
I always think I’ll eat so healthy too! haha. Yes. I bet it will get better for you. Keeping my fingers crossed for ya!
Agreed! We’ve been talking about baby names for years. It wasn’t until the last year or so that it is finally starting to seem like it could become a reality. Can’t wait to hear more updates! Take good care.
-Amanda
Milena says
Hi Taralynn 🙂 It feels so good to see you here writing again. For me everything you write is so blog-worthy! ♥️
I’m so happy for you and Kyle and this new, exciting chapter! I hope you will feel better during the next pregnancy months!
I had pretty tough 3 months because my boyfriend broke his leg in July and we couldn’t do a lot, we basically spend the summer at home so we didn’t do nothing special for Halloween neither. But the most important thing is that he is recovering very well, and the doctor finally took his plaster cast of! It happened the same day you shared your pregnancy. It was a very positive day because first we went to the doctor and then I read your post on the blog! 🙂 If everything keeps going well, we will go to Paris at the end of the year to celebrate his Birthday, I can’t wait!
Once again, I’m very happy that you are back and wish you my best ♥️
Taralynn says
Hi, Milena!
Thank you so much. That is so so so sweet!
I hope you guys have some fun plans now that he’s on the recovery! You both deserve it.
Paris is going to be AMAZING!!!
Mie says
I don’t care if it’s «blog worthy» or not, I’ve been following your blog since the Tumblr days and I just love the updates on your life no matter what 😊 Glad to hear that you’re starting to feel better, just keep eating the mashed potatoes. Looking forward to updates on the nursery, hopefully some Christmas stuff, and whatever else happens in your life. Welcome back to the recaps, I’ve missed them! ❤️
Taralynn says
Aw than you, Mie! xo
We have family visiting us this thanksgiving, so we’ll definitely be getting that Christmas stuff up around that time and working on the nursery! xoxo
Karie S says
During my second pregnancy, all I wanted was McDonald’s fries. I went and got them the day I found out I was pregnant and sat in my car and said “omg” after every bite! Lol and I ate them the whole time. It’s something about those fries! I’m glad you are slowly starting to feel better! I hope you are on the other side soon. Before you know it, you’ll be due and wondering where the time went!
Taralynn says
Haha it’s truly a strange thing! The fries just help so much with feeling sick, which I WOULD HAVE NEVER BELIEVED! lol ♥️
Jane says
Thank you for keeping your recap so REAL! My pregnancies made me feel nauseated too, and I ate whatever I could… even if it wasn’t the healthiest. Your doctor is right: eat whatever you can! Best wishes to you that you feel better soon. It’ll all be worth it!
Taralynn says
Thank you, Jane!!
Naomi says
That’s so funny because I hated the smell of McDonalds and anything fried! I couldn’t even eat healthy stuff. I’d throw up every time my boyfriend baked a pizza. The smell! I had hyperemesis gravidarum. I couldn’t even keep water down. But it gets better and the end result is so worth everything! Congratulations!!
Taralynn says
I feel ya! there are days when water doesn’t even stay down! I HATE the smell of baking pizza, too! I can eat it but I hate the smell of it cooking!!!
Ashley Girardot says
Omg I feel for you! This was me to a T both pregnancies!! It is so hard! I used to be so jealous of all my friends who had these wonderful pregnancies and I was in literal survival mode!! I have no advice because nothing worked but I will tell you this… holding your sweet little baby In the end makes it all worth it! Hang in there mama you got this!
Fun fact I started following you when I was pregnant with my fist baby five years ago. I was on Pinterest looking for healthy recipes and immediately became obsessed with your blog. It used to motivate me to go on walks even when I didn’t feel that great! So happy for you and your new little family!
Taralynn says
Hi, Ashley!
Oh I feel that. I get extremely jealous of the “I love being pregnant” pregnancies 😆 Survival mode is exactly how it feels right now!! Thank you for your honesty, I really feel like nothing aside from the hard stuff works! 😆 I know it’ll all be so worth it!
How crazy is that!!!!
Ana says
Do you have an update on Tux? I feel like I haven’t seen him in a bit. Hoping he is doing well. So happy for your growing family!
Taralynn says
Hi, Ana! Yes, I just wrote a story about him on my blog! TUX IS DOING AMAZING!!!! ♥️ we love him so much!
Jane says
The things we deal with for our babies! I was beyond sick with mine, and I hope you get relief soon. I was diagnosed with HG and it was awful! Zofran was a lifesaver for me. But the second you meet your baby, it all goes away. Hope you feel better soon and all is well!
Taralynn says
That’s what I hear ♥️ Yes, HG IS terrible! 😭
Courtney Afarian says
Zofran was my savior during my pregnancy with twins! Hang in there, I know it really sucks sometimes!
Taralynn says
Thanks, Courtney!!!!
Jess says
We had excellent weather for Halloween this year! (We live in Ohio) I LOVE LOVE LOVE that your having a baby!!! How exciting!! SO happy for you guys! I was extremely sick with both of my kids. I threw up EVERY DAY! It was awful and if I tried to get off my Zofran I was even worse! But yes eat WHATEVER YOU CAN whenever you can! I LOVE LOVE LOVE veggies and cooking but it was non existent when I was pregnant. Totally normal! Take care and rest!! 🙂
Taralynn says
Hi, Jess!
Your comment is literally as if I wrote it (minus the two pregnancies!) Cooking and veggies sound TERRIBLE! lol
But you made it through it and have amazing kids! I’m going to try to do the same! 😝
Kaitlyn Leger says
One of my worst triggers in my last pregnancy was the smell of garlic. I LOVE garlic…like, “the recipe says to use a one clove? Ok throw the whole thing in” kinda love garlic… I thought I was going to curl up and die everytime I got even a whiff of it. Same thing with coffee for a while. I got sick from a pumpkin spice coffee around week 6-7 and I gave up on that for the rest of the season.
Have you tried preggy pops or psi-bands(target)? Those worked wonders for me. I also had a B-natal lollipop (amazon)that helped with nausea.
My Halloween was spent trick or treating with my husband, 3 year old, and 5 month old. We went to my best friend’s mom’s neighborhood. The kids got some candy, the adults had some beer, and we went on a “ghost hunt” which is basically an Easter egg hunt in the dark with flashlights. It was so cute!
Taralynn says
Hi, Kaitlyn!
It has been the first fall where I have had ZERO PUMPKIN spice! like the thought of it sounds absolutely atrocious! lol Crazy what our bodies go through! I feel ya on the garlic thing too!
I’ve done the pops, but they really only help the taste in my mouth. My issue isn’t necessarily nausea, just the throwing up which sometimes comes out of nowhere!
Sounds like the perfect Halloween!!
Shelby says
I am so glad to see you’re posting again! Just want to send some encouragement that even if you feel that your days and weeks don’t seem to be of blog-worthy content, your readers truly do love to come here and read about what you have been up to! It is impossible to always be doing fun/exciting/blog-worthy things, and some of my favourite blog posts are the down-to-earth, real life posts! Have a beautiful weekend <3
Taralynn says
Thank you, Shelby! That really makes me feel better 😊
Silvia says
I am so happy for you Taralynn! I have been following your blog for years now (I don’t even remember how I stumbled upon it!) and, despite not being a social media person at all!, I look forward to reading about your adventures every week 🙂 It feels almost like I know you in person. This is my first time leaving you a comment, but just wanted to share some love from Amsterdam and wish you the best of luck with your expanding family and your life!
Taralynn says
Thank you so much, Silvia!! ♥️ Comment made my day! xo
sam says
hey, they actually put anti nausea chemicals in mcdonalds food. That’s why you don’t throw up! It’s in the soda and diet soda and other foods because they have so much sugar/ fat you would throw up if you kept drinking it. hoping you feel better soon!
Taralynn says
Well that’s great to know 😆
Nadya says
Hi! I had a similar pregnancy and was diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum: https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/hyperemesis-gravidarum/
Having a name for what was going on made it easier for me to explain what was happening (my co-workers had never seen a pregnant lady like me) and it emotionally made me feel less alone. I was on unisom, B6, and Zofran…you can do this mama! Even if it feels like nothing but laying in bed- you are growing a baby!
I was super healthy before my pregnancy and ran marathons etc but when pregnant only ate: Ice cream sandwiches, McDonald’s French fries and real coke, cinnamon raisin bagels and cream cheese, and the Panera banana strawberry smoothie.
I was so worried that it would impact my baby but my daughter was born healthy and strong and a great eater (she loved to nurse).
Taralynn says
Sounds like we are going through the same!! Yes, my doctor definitely mentioned HG! the Unisom, B6 and Zofran are helping!
Peggy says
Me: Oh it’s definitely a boy, oh no, definitely a girl…wait that’s a boy! Ha! So happy for you what an exciting time. Wishing you all the blessings a boy or girl will deliver!
My hands down favorite Halloween candy Is $100,000 bar.
Taralynn says
Hahaha that is what I keep getting by my cravings! People are like I craved that with my boy or I craved that with my girl! 😆 It’s going to be such a fun surprise!
amazing candy bar!
Harriet says
Hi taralynn, so happy your posting again, and I’m so excited for you both on this incredible journey. Your halloween sounded way better then our very quite one, think we had about 6 kids come trick or treating so I now have a heap of chocolate candy left over, and I’m not complaining about that. It’s crazy to think it’s 50 days till Christmas this year has gone by so fast, I’m kinda ready for it to slow down for a bit before the Christmas season kicks off. Hope you have a fantastic weekend x
Taralynn says
Hi, Harriet!
At least you have all the chocolates leftover! 😋 I cannot believe Christmas and Thanksgiving are so close! I’m delaying all decorating as long as I can 😆 which is rare for me!
Amy says
Hi Taralynn, congratulations!! I have a 6 month old and though my nausea wasn’t nearly as bad as yours, the top things that helped me were: jolly ranchers (sucked on those things like crazy behind a mask all first trimester!), plain Lays chips, and a drink with half a lemon squeezed, a bit of grated fresh ginger, lots of ice and fizzy water (Sodastream or club soda) poured over top! Often times sour things help because it makes you salivate from the sour taste, not from wanting to vomit. You may have heard all of these before, but hoping one of them helps you 🙂