*Ring Ring*

Me: "Hello"

Voice: "Hello, may I speak with Angela please."

Me: "Yes, this is she speaking." (Yes I do answer the phone this way when I have no idea who it is :-P)

Voice:  "Angela this is Terry your Weight Watcher leader calling and I just want to start off my saying that the purpose of this phone call isn't to make anyone feel bad at all, but I just want you to know that you are very missed at our Weight Watchers meeting and I just wanted to make sure that it wasn't anything I did to stop you from coming to our meeting.  I normally don't call our members when they stop coming to our meetings, but you and Lynn and Holly are really missed in our group and since I only knew your first name, me and the staff here went through our member cards trying to find your last name and phone number so I could call you personally and as you can imagine, we have hundreds of members, so it was tough, but I found it!"

Me: "Awwww Terry!  First of all, please know that I would go out of my way to attend one of your meetings.  Secondly, the reason I haven't been attending is really a good and happy reason and that is because we're expecting a baby!  In fact a friend of mine attends another one of your meetings on Tuesdays and she offered to tell you for me this coming week."

Terry: "Oh I am so happy to hear that because it matters to me how you are doing and I would just hate if there was anything that I did to stop you from coming."

Me: "Absolutely not and in fact, you can be sure you'll be seeing me again after the baby comes!"

(....back and forth chit chat ensues...)

Terry: "I am so happy to hear it!  Please pass the same along to Lynn and Holly"

I can't tell you how much it touched me that she went through so much trouble to contact me!  This was not a routine phone call and I could tell that she genuinely meant it.  Clearly she doesn't read the blog! lol The funny thing is that I did want to contact her to tell her that I would no longer be attending, but at the time I could only find a 1-800 number for WW and I was feeling supreme 1st trimester misery and I just didn't have it in me to pursue it further at the time.

She definitely made my day!!  Thank you Terry! ;-)

BabyMama Blogroll

This list of blogs of Moms and Moms-to-be will be accessible through the tab at the top of the site.  If you would like to be added to the blogroll, please email me: angiealltheway@gmail.com and I would be happy to add you :-)

• Adventures of a Breastfeeding Mother
• Alicia Parr
• Babyciabattoni
• Becoming Sarah
• Crazy Mom to Four
• I Know You're In There 
• Kristen's Raw
• Mom-Wife-Triathlet
• Mommy Lace  
• Mommy's Tired
• Nannersbread
• No Girls Allowed (except for Mom)
• Pantene Girl
• ParentsToBe
• Team Hansen
• That Wife
• The Hayne Family
• The Meanest Mom
• The Mommy Chronicles
• This Place is Now a Home
• Twenty One Day Habit 
• Two Pounds a Week
• Randi - Next
• Simmons Family Grows
• Simply Fabulous
• Wine to Whine
• Workout Mommy

Hot Date

Hubby and I have a hot date tonight and I'm soooo looking forward to it.  I am looking forward to going out and enjoying a dinner with my husband and feeling "normal"!  I have been feeling much better the last few weeks, but this week threw me for a few unexpected "relapses" with a few bad stomach days and a bad migrane.  In fact, I was too sick to go to yoga last night and it didn't start to hit me until around 3:00 in the afternoon.  I was looking forward to it all week and it's one of those special classes that you pay for the 8 classes up front too :-( 

*fingers crossed that all goes well today ALL day!* 

We're going to one of my favourite restaurants, The Keg :-)  I'm sooo looking forward to it because I don't get there often and the last time I was there was on my birthday last year that ended up being a huge gong show because I thought that I lost my engagement ring in the bathroom and caused a HUGE scene (totally uncharacteristic of me trust me) and all the while it ended up being that it was the one and ONLY time I had only put on my wedding ring without my engagement ring and have no idea why!  The Keg Manager even had someone remove the drain from the bathroom sink to see if it had fallen down the drain!  Gah! So embarrassing!  The happy ending was that I still had my ring, but it certainly ruined everyone's dinner and my birthday! :-(

So we thought it was time to go back to actually enjoy our meal and celebrate what our new family has in store for us this year.  We both love The Keg and we have never had a bad experience with the food, it's always excellent.  I am a huge fan of their escargot, my love for which is owed to Tasha who introduced me to it years ago while we were in University.  It has been one of my favourite things ever since!  I have no idea what else I'm going to have, but I always know I'm getting the escargot!

One of the reasons we are happy to celebrate is that I am now into the second trimester (although I've read that there's difference's of opinions as to when the second trimester starts, but we're going with it because we have passed the period where miscarriage is most prevalent).  We are happy just to celebrate that in itself.

Today two of our good friends are coming over for the afternoon and they are bringing their little 6 month old over for a visit.  Coincidentally, she and I have the same due date only one year apart.  Their little girl ended up being born 4 days early on my husband's birthday, so it's possible that he could also share his birthday with our little one too :-)


Office topic: I had attempted to post earlier in the week, but for some reason my Windows Live Writer isn't a huge fan of my new template and it crashed on me a few times and I gave up!  To be safe, this one's being written in good ol' blogger!

Off topic: Chandler (my cat) is being a huge pain in the arse lately.  He's always bugging me when I'm trying to sleep and will knock things off my nightstand just to get my attention and it's NOT COOL because I'm already up 5 times a night to use the bathroom and I'm still waking up at 4:00 a.m. unable to get back to sleep until 5:30.  He better bugger off because mama needs her sleep!

Yoga Mamas

Friday night was my first prenatal yoga class and it was a great experience and I know I’m going to love it.  There’s about 7 of us in the class ranging from first trimester to far second (I think).  The first thing I thought when I entered the room was that even though this was my first time laying eyes on these women, most likely I will know them for years to come in one form or another because our babies are going to likely go to school together!  I am assuming this because this is a new class that opened up in my community and would be out of the way for someone to come unless they lived in the area, although it is possible too.  It was kind of neat to think of it that way!

Some of the ladies were already chatting away as if they knew one another, so I kept quiet and didn’t really talk to anyone since it was nearing the beginning of class and just wanted to listen to the other ladies and get a sense of who they are and what I may or may not have in common with them.  A few of them were talking about their “Doulas” and asking each other if they “have theirs” and while I do know what a Doula is (although haven’t really researched it thoroughly), I noticed right away that I wasn’t the only one getting anxious by their conversation because one of the other girls (I think she’s a week behind me) looked confused and asked them what a Doula was.  The reason why this snippet of conversation stressed me out in the first few minutes of class is because while it was comforting to be in a room with real women who were all going through the same things I was, it made me feel like I was “falling behind” in getting prepared! I know that I’m only into my 12th week and that’s why I am still enjoying the “honeymoon” stage of sharing the news with everyone, but it made me feel like soon enough that stage will be over and it will be time to prepare, prepare and prepare some more!

Our instructor was fantastic and I like her a lot!  She’s new to the yoga studio and is from Japan.  In the first class I have already learned so much about prenatal yoga.  Like how many exercise classes are there where she’s recommending and encouraging you to bring snacks! :-D  She explained that in “regular yoga” the object is to “create heat” within the body, while in prenatal yoga, the object is to “cool your body down.”  I found that very interesting!  Lord knows I’m usually feeling warm all the time these days and it’s the dead of Winter (can hardly wait until a hot summer third trimester!)  I’m not exactly sure how the “cooling down” part is achieved at this stage, because many of the poses that we did were much the same as I am used to (sun salutations, runners stretch, legs up the wall, tree pose, table, cat/dog stretch (Love those now.  Apparently these poses can turn your baby around if s/he is breach!), Warrior I, Warrior II, twist (modified and she noted how “not” to do this while pregnant if you’re in a regular class), squats (how not to do this past 36 weeks because it can induce labour) and a few others.  For Shavasana she asked us to lay down on our left side (from legs up the wall), right knee bent and to place the bolster under the bent leg. 

Apparently lying on your left side is best for you and your baby (especially for sleeping), but the only thing about this for me is that I have bursitis in my left hip, so laying on my left side is quite uncomfortable most of the time.  At night, I’m constantly switching left to right.   As if it’s not tough enough to sleep as it is, here I am worrying about my positions and if I’m doing something to harm the baby!  I can already tell these kinds of worries are not going any where soon!  Speaking of tough sleep, for some reason I keep waking up at 4:00 a.m. unable to fall back asleep until around 5:45 and when the alarm goes off at 6:30, I feel completely zonked.  What’s up with that?

I’m already looking forward to starting my Friday evenings with this class for the next two months.  There were many moments when I felt that it already was a wonderful bonding experience with the little one in there :-)

Step Outta Your Google Readers!!

Welcome to the new Angie "with one on the way" :-)

I have much to do to tinker with my widgets, improve and fine tune the links, and this baby mama needs to get to bed, but I couldn't wait to get things started and show ya'll the new general layout and overall re-vamp!!!

I have Lynn to thank for her creative blog brilliance and the husband getting it up and running.  I love yas both!!!  I've only been wanting a new blog layout for like YEARS and here we are!!

It feels so great!  Like getting a new house! Wheeeeeeeeee!!!

Baby Mama Blogroll Call!

WOW you guys, I can’t even BEGIN to tell you how completely touched and floored I was at your response and well wishes for my big news!  WOW!!!

THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF “OUR” HEARTS ;-)
That made me feel like a huge “welcome back” too!  I was sharing your comments with the husband because they are all so special to me and they were for him as well. :-)
To update you a little bit on how the pregnancy has been going, I must admit I am extremely happy to be entering the second trimester because the first one was a rough one for me.  I was miserable the entire time!  Here’s some of what I’ve been experiencing:

• nausea
• indigestion
• acid reflux/heart burn
• headaches
• mood swings
  
• gas
• did I mention nausea?
• food aversions
• food cravings
• thirst
• frequent urination primarily when I’m supposed to be sleeping!

I’m even sporting a “bloaty bump” which is my term for what is happening to my belly at this early stage.  It’s definitely protruding, but it’s not really the baby!  In fact it just looks like a big unflattering muffin top that does not make me feel great I’ll tell ya that!  I’ve already gained about 6 lbs.
Exercise up to this point has been non-existent other than little walks with the pup.  Sooooo I’m all excited that tomorrow is the first night of an 8 week pre-natal yoga class that I signed up for!  It’s starting at the perfect time just as I’m starting to feel better.



Has anyone tried pre-natal yoga before?  If so, what level were you before starting it?  I love yoga, but haven’t practiced in months, so I’m rusty!

Calling Baby Mama Bloggers!

I chuckled at Jaime’s reference to me on her earlier blog today! lol  My new blog should be up and ready hopefully really soon (I’M SOO EXCITED ABOUT IT) and I want to include a new page for a blogroll of baby mama bloggers too!  A few of you mentioned in the comments on my last post that you are also expecting too!  Congratulations to you!  If you have a pregnancy blog or a baby blog and would like to be added to my Baby Mama Blogroll, please leave me a comment with your blog and I’d love to add it!  And I would welcome any suggestions of other blogs that you would recommend also be added too the blog roll.

What are your favourite websites?

Bring on the Baby Mama Bloggies! :-)

Spilling the Beans!

Okay bloggies, ya’ll know that something has been up because you’re all amazing and adorable blog readers and friends.  Your emails have warmed my heart each and every day I have received them when you show me how much support you give and how far the support has reached on this blog.

Thank you!

Now for each and every one of you who has emailed me or commented to show your concern for my very uncharacteristic MIA behaviour, I have responded by telling you that I was doing great and you needn’t worry.  But I couldn’t tell you why just yet.

Now I can :-)

You may remember that I recently found out from my doctor that I do in fact have PCOS.  I found out the results of an ultrasound I had last summer when I went to my doctor just before Christmas because you also may remember that I was feeling miserable (physically and emotionally) and was sure I had an ulcer or some variation of Celiac disease that I termed “Christmasiac disease.”

My doctor told me that while they don’t know definitively what causes PCOS exactly, they do know that there is a link with obesity and insulin resistance.  While I am still “overweight,” I have challenged myself and changed my life and transformed my body to a healthier weight starting from at least 298 lbs.  At the time of my highest weight, I did not know that I had PCOS and that it could play a role in making it difficult in becoming a Mom.

The best advice that my doctor could give was to “eat well and exercise” (among other options that also included some medications that have been successful for some women as well).  All I could think about is “well I’m already doing that” and felt a little defeated.  It didn’t occur to me at the time that she said that, that I had already done my body and my (future) family a tremendous service by doing just that losing over 100 lbs.

The doctor sent me for some tests checking for gastritis, an ulcer, and even hepatitis to explain my miserable state that I was convinced had been brought on by holiday overindulgences or some sort of virus.

In the meantime, there were other things that were important to “rule out” just for the sake of finding out what was wrong with me.  Turns out, it wasn’t just a “possibility” to rule out after all:


Oh yes, bloggies,

I’M GOING TO BE A MOMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why didn't I "know" sooner? As a consequence of PCOS, I have irregular periods and I had no idea I was pregnant, I also didn’t know how far along I was, so we waited to tell anyone until we were able to confirm the details by ultrasound and to get over the first trimester.  Well now I can officially tell you all because I am now 12 weeks pregnant!

I don’t think you all have ANY idea how badly I’ve wanted to share this with you because:

1. I’m a blogger and that’s my instinct!
2. This means that I am no longer attending Weight Watchers and I know that there are some of you wondering about how I am doing in that area (including some of my lovely meetings members)
3. I’m no longer running the Bluenose Half Marathon in May, and consequently…
4. no longer running with the RR Half Clinic
5. I am not participating in the X-Weighted challenge

and I was DYING to explain all of this to you because I hated the thought that you all would think that I fell off the wagon and abandoned you!

Not.possible.  That’s not me!

Plus I SUCK at lying so my plan of action has been to AVOID! lol

So what does this mean for “Angie All The Way?”

Well, like I said before, I am a blogger!  This blog (and YOU) have become SUCH and huge and important part of my life and I could never imagine it missing from my life.

So I’ve decided that while my focus at this point in time will not be on weight loss, it will still most certainly be on maintaining a healthy pregnancy and keeping weight gain where it should be (and for me is only 15-25 lbs).



So I hope that you are all still interested in my new focus over the next few months.  Our baby is due on August 5th :-)

I hope over the next little while I’ll have a new template and new look to the blog too (yes I’ve been saying that for like years, I know).

Thank you all for your amazing support that has helped me achieve what is now so abundantly clear to me as being the ultimate “goal” all along, even if I wasn’t quite aware of it until I was blessed with it.

~Angie (aka Mommy to be)
xoxo

Indian Food At Home (Cheater Style)

I have never cooked Indian food before.  I love it, but have never really tried making it myself.  Well now, that’s not exactly true because one of my favourite recipes out of the Eat, Shrink & Be Merry cookbook is the “Better Butter Chicken” so I guess that counts!

This little genius package caught my eye a little while ago and it’s been in my cupboard waiting for me to give it a try:

That’s right bloggies, that’s all the spices you need to make the Tangy Chickpea Curry!  The downfall of many Indian dishes is that there are so many wonderful flavours and spices, but it can cost an arm and a leg to build your pantry enough to have them on hand and if you don’t cook with them often, they end up not getting used, so this is the perfect solution by Kitchen Guru!

On the back of the package, it tells you what else you need to make the dish (so you can shop while you’re still at the grocery store) and the directions are also on the inside:

AND since I was feeling all “international,” I picked up this package of paste to make Butter Chicken which could NOT have been more simple!

I forgot to take a photo of the instruction and the ingredients, but it was so simple I think all you needed was onions, butter, tomato puree, water, sour cream (I used plain non-fat yogurt and it worked beautifully) and cubed cooked chicken.

The result of both dishes was nothing short of PHENOMENAL! (Served with steaming hot brown basmati rice):

   Nom nom nom!!!

I Love Me Them Vitatops

It’s been a while since I’ve updated you on the ginormous box of Vitalicious products that I received.  To be honest, I had them in our deep freezer and kept forgetting that they were there!

I decided to give this “golden corn” Vitatop a try the other night and I gotta say, I am a MAJOR fan of these products.  They store very well in the freezer and are warm and fluffy when you heat them in the microwave before eating them.

 I love that most of the ingredients I have seen so far in these products are organic and preservative free :-)  A fabulous and healthy 100 calorie treat !

In fact, I think I hear some variety of chocolate calling my name right now :-)

Book Reviews To Come

I was lucky enough to be approached by The Penguin Group and was asked to gave a look at a couple of books and talk about them on the blog.  I had big plans on getting to work and getting through them over the Christmas holidays.  I’m a little late on that plan!

In fact, I’ve been majorly behind on the blog for a while now!  You are all so sweet for checking in on me with your emails and your comments.  Please know that I am doing very well and there’s no need to worry about me at all.  Your concern and genuine support touches me to the very core and I thank you so much!

I have a few preliminary thoughts about The Body Fat Solution that I was going to post right now, but on second thought, I’ve decided to wait until I’ve had the opportunity to read a bit more of the book first.  I am excited about having these books to review and I thank you Penguin Group for the opportunity!

Fighting Against "FAIL"

So lately, I've noticed the use of the word, "FAIL" (usually in CAPS) becoming a regular word in our blogging and twittering vocabulary.  Maybe it originated in an effort to sum up how you felt you performed in less than 140 characters on twitter, but I have to say that every time I see it, it brings about a negative tone so I'm fighting against it!  If you agree with me, I think you should fight too :-)

If you didn't make it to the gym, or didn't follow your plan the way you had hoped, why not try to see it from a more positive perspective that will help you do better next time, perhaps?

Or, maybe you are the type of person who is motivated by seeing those kinds of words, and if so, then to each their own, but for me, you won't see me dropping those F bombs :-D

Clarification: what I am specifically referring to is when people use the word to describe themselves in a negative way.  Lex pointed out to be the Fail Blog which I think is actually pretty funny!

MIA, Alive & Well

Hey there bloggies :-) I just wanted to pipe up to say hello and tell you all that all is well on my end. I haven't been posting over the holidays in an effort to "unplug" and just spend time with the fam (even if most of it was doing nothing at all and just "being" together) which was really nice.

I may be in an out for the next little while, but don't worry, all is well and I've got plenty to say don't worry ;-)