9 more Working Days...

9 working days until Maternity leave.  Thank goodness!  I am ready.  This whole work thing really gets in the way of other stuff.  

I used to get up at 3:30 a few mornings a week so that I could go to the gym at 4:00 and get my workout done.  However, with this wonderful pregnancy insomnia, I just. can't. do. it.  I am awake a few time a night as it is, and not getting great sleep, so the 3:30 alarm just isn't happening.  

Which means I have to squeeze my gym time into the evening- also when we have baseball, scouts, meetings, puppy class, etc.  It's hard.  

Anyhow- I made it to the gym Thursday for Ujam!  Yay, and again Sunday- cardio and weights.  Bringing my grand total to 4 days last week.  I'll take it!  

I did NOT make it there yesterday however, we were out all day enjoying the day off and time got away from me. I did do a good amount of walking though. But now I realize that I wish I would have squeeze a workout in somewhere- because today isn’t going to happen either.  We have Scouts, Baseball AND puppy class all at once this evening.  So as I said, 9 more days…. 9 more days of juggling.  Then I can breathe.  Once I am on leave I can get up and go first thing in the morning and then get on with my day- and I can’t wait. In the mean time I am just going to do my best.  I will get to the gym tomorrow and hopefully Thursday and Friday, too.  Saturday is Lilah’s birthday party- so It’s bound to be a busy day- but if I plan well I can make it a priority in the morning.  If I can stick to that I will still hit my 4 days.... we will see.

Now, food.  I’ve actually done Okay!  I’ve stuck to my 80% rule rather well…(80% real food). And I only slipped once on the fast food- Had a sausage biscuit from Carl’s Jr. yesterday.  Damn it.  I can only be so strong!  I did some shopping this weekend and got some staples- so I should be ok this week as well- I hope.

The main thing though, is I’m getting back in the right frame of mind.  I’m making a conscious effort to plan my workouts into my day, and thinking twice when making food choices instead of eating whatever whenever because I think I can. 

Oh!  I also got some a peek at a fun new program courtesy of Katie, and I am excited to try it.  Have you heard of the Fit Girl 28-day jump start?  I’ve been following them for a while- and after reading the program I am thinking I will use it post-partum.  Check it out if you haven’t heard of it…. And if you have- or have tried it- please share your experience and results! 

Accountability? Motivation? Will Power? Are you out there somewhere...?

It's only been 2.5 years since my last post.....that's not terrible. What can I say- that toddler takes up a lot of time!  Have you ever potty trained a toddler?  How about a puppy?  Now put that together and do them simultaneously!  Boy does that keep you on your toes- I blamed the puppy for the wet spot on the carpet last night just to realize it was the 2 legged child who was actually guilty.  I'm just going to put them both out back on the lawn in a Xpen. 

Anyhow, as I sit here 34 weeks pregnant with our new bundle, and WAY over my weight gain goal- I think about how much better I did with my last pregnancy- and one of the things I did differently was blog during it- helped with the accountability.  It may be too late this go round, but either way I need to get back on track, so here goes nothing.

34 weeks pregnant. Yep.  Bringing the grand total to 2 adults, 4 kids (3 girls and a boy), 1 cat, 1 puppy, 6 hens, and 4 ducks.  E I E I O.

In the mist of all that, life has gotten busy and I've let things blur my focus, I'm honestly disappointed that I've slacked off so much, but instead of beating myself up over it, I'm hoping back on the accountability train and doing something about it.  

I spent 10 days in the hospital in April for my third Spontaneous Pnuemothorax.  I ended up having Thoracoscopy with VATS and Pluerodesis- in other words I had lung surgery with  the camera and they removed some lung tissue, then covered the lung in Talc so it would stick to my chest wall and *hopefully* not collapse anymore- or if it does- not as severely.  

That being said- it derailed my physical activity for WEEKS.... and weeks... and weeks... Like, I literally just got back to the gym week before last, and it's embarrassing how out of shape I am!  But- I made a commitment to myself Monday to get to the gym as many evenings this week as I can.  It's busy at home with the end of the year in full swing, puppy school, Scouts, baseball etc.... So I went Monday- did Arms (Shoulders- my fav!) and then went to Ujam (have you gone, if not, DO IT!!!)  Tuesday Andrew had his Science fair and open house, and they puppy had class- so no gym.  Yesterday I went and did 25 minute on the treadmill- 5 walking, 5 "jogging" I use quotes because some peoples walking may be faster than that  jogging was... repeat, followed by 10 minutes on the elliptical.  Then I did some weights-back and shoulders (yes, again).  Tonight is iffy- there's a parent meeting for next years seniors- depends if I can get Ari to cover that for me... if so I'll catch Ujam most likely. Then I'll go Saturday morning- maybe do one of my old interval workouts....  If tonight doesn't happen that will only give me 3 days this week, which isn't great- but it's better than last week!

I've also decided that just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean it's ok to have that cookie... and that donut... and that piece of candy... and that Milkshake... and that order of French fries...and that poptart... and cake.....oh, and tacos- shrimp tacos, beef tacos.....OMG for real though- out of control.  I've cut myself off from fast food period- and decided it's time to get back to clean eating- at least 80%.  So we are dwindling down the last of the crap at the house and this weekend I will stock up and meal prep and be prepared to succeed next week.  I'll be revisiting my dusty pinterest board "real food" and collecting some old recipe favorites. I can do this!

So there you have it- stay tuned for updates- wish me luck- pray for my will power and self control.... or even join me in setting some new goals!

Jalapeno Popper Quiche and Baby Beef and Veggies

My sweet girl has been anything but sweet today, however I still managed to get dinner pre made, and stock the freezer with a new food option for her.

For us I made Jalapeno Popper Quiche.

Bacon Jalapeno Popper Quiche

Adapted from Real Housemoms http://www.realhousemoms.com/bacon-jalapeno-popper-quiche/

 

Ingredients

• Two low carb tortillas
• ½ cup cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 jalapenos, diced (deseed for less heat)
• 1 jalapeno, sliced into rounds (for top) (I mostly deseeded these as well)
• 3 slices bacon, cooked crisp and coarsley chopped
• ½ cup whipping cream
• ½ cup half-and-half
• 5 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• salt
• ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
• optional-light sour cream

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Line bottom of dish (9x9 pyrex is what I used) with tortillas
3. warm tortillas in the microwave for 1-2 minutes
4. While the crust is hot, spread the cream cheese all over the bottom as evenly as possible
5. Sprinkle the diced jalapenos over the cream cheese (the rounds are for garnish later on)
6. Put the cream and half-and-half into a small pot and put it over medium heat about 5 minutes or until tiny bubbles appear around the edges. Scald (where you bring it to just under the boiling point) until very hot, but not boiling
7. Beat the eggs together in a bowl
8. Add the hot cream mixture to the eggs, whisking constantly to combine
9. Add the paprika, salt and bacon
10. Pour into the crust and bake for 30 minutes
11. Remove from oven, arrange the jalapeno slices on top, sprinkle with cheese and bake until the cheese has melted and turned golden brown, about 15-20 minutes (the original recipe said 12-15 minutes, but I did closer to 20. Check at 12 minutes, every couple of minutes)

Going in the oven....

Almost done, just need to top with cheese...

I have made this before, and it's a hit with everyone.  I'd like to make it crustless, and I planned to today, but I forgot that the cream cheese is spread onto the crust, so I couldn't figure out a way to do it without using SOMETHING as a base under the cream cheese.

While that was in the oven I prepared the food for the baby "stew".  I guess it's really beef and veggies, but it looks like stew :)  a few notes on my recipe below...1. I made this up, I didn't find it anywhere with rave reviews, it's just my own trial and error. 2. I used frozen green beans because it's what I had. 3. I used all natural 100% organic vegetable stock my Swansons.

 Baby Beef and Veggies

1 lb sirloin steak

1.5 cups carrots

1.5 cups cut green beans

4 cups vegetable stock

• Cube sirlion into 1 inch cubes
• Combine beef and veggies in a good size pot with half the vegetable stock, heat on low.  Bring to simmer and cover.
• Add more stock as needed.
• Simmer for 1-2 hours, until meat is tender.
• Transfer to blender/baby bullet and puree to desired consitency, add stock as needed.
• pour into storage containers and freeze

One other note, this was too much for my baby bullet to handle.  It froze up on me twice to I finally transferred to to my big blender and finished up the job.

The above recipe made these 17 (approximately) 2.5 ounce servings. Since they are in the picture, lets talk about the containers.  I gave some container info and preference in my last blog, since then I have ordered and used these.  I scored 20 on Ebay for $7.99.  They are 2.7 ounces, bpa free, and freezer/microwave safe.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/20-Plastic-Containers-Lids-Baby-Food-Storage-Condiment-Small-Crafts-etc-/261314004999?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cd7874807

So there you go... those are my two morning accomplishments.  Now back to my screaming little angel  :)

Baby Food and Slow Cooker Recipes

I know, I know.  It's been forever.  I have a laundry list of excuses, mostly, I can't find the time to sit down and put the ideas on the screen.  I think at least once a day "oh I should blog that" and then the day is over and I didn't do it!

Anyhow, I have a very rare moment where Lilah is sleeping, and I have gotten a lot of "chores" done today so I thought I'd take a break and write for a little bit.

I decided while I was pregnant that I wanted to make Lilah's baby food.  I try very hard to make sure the kids don't eat uber processed foods (TRY, we are FAR from perfect, and they do eat some processed food, but I do my best) so I figured I should do the same for Lilah. We got the Baby Bullet as a gift, and I LOVE it.  We had a regular bullet, and I was just going to use that if we didn't get the baby one, but it was about 6 years old, and on it's last leg... and the baby one comes with food storage containers.

Lilah is a good eater... that's an understatement, she is an eating champ.  It's what she loves to do.  So we got the green light from the Doctor right before 4 months to start giving her real food.  her first food was avocado, followed by bananas, then peas, and carrots.  As of today she has also had pumpkin, sweet potato, chicken, pears, potato, apples, blueberries, butternut squash, and broccoli.

Then only guidelines I was given by her doctor were no citrus, no fish, no dairy, no rice, and apples only from Washington or Oregon.  Apparently Apples, grapes, and rice can have arsenic in them because it's in the water used to grown them.  She said that the water used to grow them in WA and OR doesn't have that problem so they are ok.  Why take chances, so I only buy apples grown in WA if they are going to be used for the baby food.

So, for the veggies, I steam them, but them in the bullet with a little bit of water, and turn it on.  Then I spoon it into the containers, and freeze!  Some of the containers have individual cups that you take out of the freezer one at a time.  These are my favorite.  Others are like ice cube trays.  So you can pop them all out and put the in a freezer bag and then take them out of there as you need them.  This is just more work to me, so I don't care for it as much.  The bullet comes with a set of both kinds, and I purchased sets of both kids because I didn't know what I would like.  I have what is shown in the bullet picture above, along with these :

These are Baby Brezza, I got them at Target, and I love them.  

These are by Munchkin, also from target, but I think Walmart sells them as well.  They get the job done, but each portion is half the size, and you have to do some work to get them out of the trays.

So, aside from the health benefits, and knowing exactly what your baby is eating, lets talk cost.  A good example is what I made on Monday.  I spent $1.50 on a Butternut Squash, $.99 on spinach, and $3.99 on a bag of apples (5 lbs). I got 23 servings of food out of the squash and spinach alone, and about 20 out of the apples (I'm guessing because I froze it in larger containers because all my baby ones were used).  So for $6.48 I got about 43 servings of baby food.  At the store the small jars are $.65-.90 cents each, so 43 would cost me $27.95- 38.70.  HUGE savings, and it only took me about an hour of work to prepare it all.  The apples cooked in the crock pot for 5 hours, but I don't count that as time I "worked" on making the food.

Lastly, variety.  I have checked about 5 stores here in town, and when it comes to stage one (and some stage 2) foods, there isn't a whole lot of different options.  I want her to be able to try everything I can think of, and when I make it myself, she can!

Ok, so now let me share two recipes I have tried recently for the people in the house that can walk, talk, and chew.  Like usual they are from 100daysofrealfood.com.  And like usual, they are delicious!

First, Pork Carnitas.  YUM!  I followed the recipe exactly, but before serving, I shredded the meat, then seared it in a pan on the stove, I've always like a little crisp on my carnitas.  They were a hit with the whole family, and a new "regular" on our meal rotation.

http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/08/01/recipe-pork-carnitas-tacos-with-tomatillo-salsa/

Pork Carnitas Tacos

SERVES: 8 – 10

 

ADAPTED FROM MARCELA VALLADOLID

INGREDIENTS

• 2 to 2 ½ lbs pork shoulder or Boston butt roast, cut into 5 or 6 small pieces (in Charlotte we use pork from Grateful Growers Farm, which is sold at the Matthews Farmers’ Market and Hillbilly Produce)
• 3 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 onion, cut into 6 or 8 chunks
• 3 garlic cloves, whole
• 1 recipe tomatillo salsa (use recipe below or can be purchased at Trader Joe’s)
• 1 ½ recipes whole-grain corn tortillas
• 2 avocados, sliced
• Fresh cilantro

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Mix together oregano, pepper, salt, and cumin and rub on outside of pork pieces in bottom of slow cooker.
2. Throw onion and garlic on top of pork.
3. Slow cook on low for 6 – 8 hours or until meat is falling apart.
4. When finished discard the onion and garlic. Drain meat and shred with a fork.
5. Serve warm with tortillas, tomatillo salsa, avocados and cilantro.

Second, her recipe for Flank Steak fajitas.  We aren't fans of cooked bell peppers, so I didn't make fajitas with the meat, instead we had tacos.  But, the flavor of the meet was amazing, another home run hit with the whole family, and another addition to the dinner rotation. I'll post her original recipe, the only thing I did different was not add the bell peppers.

https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/12/19/recipe-slow-cooker-flank-steak-fajitas/

Slow Cooker Flank Steak Fajitas

SERVES: 5-6

 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 ½ lbs flank steak, preferably grass fed (we buy ours from Baucom’s Best at the Matthews Farmers’ Market)
• 1 ½ teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce, preferably the low-sodium variety
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 – 5 bell peppers, any color
• 1 onion

Other fajita fixings:

• Whole-wheat tortillas, grated cheese, fresh sliced avocado, cilantro, lime slices, fresh spinach leaves, sour cream, hot peppers, etc.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Mix together the dry spices with a fork including the chili powder, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper.
2. Rub the spice mixture over all sides of the flank steak and place it in the bottom of the slow cooker. Sprinkle the soy sauce on top.
3. Top the flank steak with the diced jalapeno and minced garlic. Slice the bell peppers and onion and throw those on top of the steak as well.
4. Turn the slow cooker onto HIGH and cook for 5 – 6 hours or until the steak can easily be shredded with two forks.
5. Drain the meat and peppers well then serve with the recommended fajita “fixings” (listed above).
   Enjoy!

And the pics of these two meals, are hers from her site.  Like I said, I've been slacking, I haven't even been taking many pictures.  I will try harder, I promise.  Enjoy!

The Reason this all started.....

As I mentioned in one of my first blogs, I was having trouble getting pregnant, even with fertility treatments.  My Doctors told me I needed to lose weight and get healthy if I wanted this to happen.... they thought they'd never see me again, let alone a baby.....  Well, Here she is!  My Reason for starting this whole journey.  My precious baby girl, Lilah Inez Baugus.
  

She was born June 13th at 12:47 pm

7 lbs 1 oz and 18.5 inches long.

She is perfect, and our little family is now complete.  AND all this hard work, and this long long long wait, were 150% worth it.  I over came things I NEVER thought I would, I accomplished things I never though I could, and I surprised a lot of people... Including my doctors! And myself!

My due date was June 15th.  I went to the doctor Wednesday June 12th for my (hopefully) last check up.  I was mentally done, I was feeling ok, aside from not sleeping well, but I was ready to have my body back to myself, and meet my little girl!  I was 2-3 cm and 80% that afternoon.  We discussed scraping the membrane, but Doctor advised that it can cause very painful unproductive contractions, and she prefers not to do it,  So I trusted her advice, and went home disappointed.  I had read every wives tale I could find, and tried almost all of them, too.  The only one I hadn't tried, that I was willing to, was eating pineapple.  So that afternoon I got myself some pineapple and ate it around 6:00pm that evening.  I have no clue if that is relevant, but it sure is odd that I started having contractions a little after 10:00 pm that night!  I didn't even know that's what I was having until about 11:30 when I realized it was repetitive, and intensifying.  I woke Ari up around midnight, and just let him know I was having them, and they were about 6-7 minutes apart.  I tried to get some rest, but I couldn't fall asleep. I laid in bed, and timed the contractions for about another hour,  Around 1:00 am I woke Ari up again and told him they were 4-5 minutes apart now and we decided to head to the hospital. I wanted to labor as long as possible at home, but I was told to go to the hospital when the contraction got to 4 minutes apart. So that's what we did.  When we got to Labor and delivery they checked my cervix and hooked me up to the monitors.  I was still 3 cm and 80 %,  they couldn't get the monitors to catch a steady stream of the babies heartbeat, and it wasn't reading my contractions.  The nurse could feel them when she touched my stomach, but the machine was not picking them up.  So I had to lay there for what seemed like eternity trying to get a solid 20 minutes stretch of good readings.  I was miserable.  The pain was getting worse, and one of my main plans was NOT to labor in bed.  I was finally able to move to the birthing ball, I just had to stay next to the machines.  That helped a little, but I really wanted to walk.  Around 5:00 am they checked me again, and I think at that point I was at 4 cm and Dr Jang had been called.  My contractions were extremely erratic at that point, but were definitely intensifying, They finally decided to admit me and get me my own room. Or so I thought.....!  It was another 2 or so hours!  And they made me spend it in bed on the monitors.  I was miserable.  I kept telling Ari that the reason I wanted to do this without an epidural was so that I wasn't confined to my bed.  Speaking of that, the nurse kept PUSHING pain meds, and telling me "Well this is going to be a really long road for you if you don't take anything"... "if you are already in this much pain you should take something"... etc.  So encouraging.  I kept telling her I could handle it a lot better If I could get out of the damn bed!  We didn't get along well :)  

By the time Dr. Jang came in around 7:00 I was in tears, I was frustrated, tired, and in pain.  She checked me and voila, I was at 7 cm!  Woo hoo!  And she told them to let me out of the damn bed!  Thank goodness for her, I love that lady.  Now we were in business, they moved us right away, and I was free to move around and do what I wanted to do to manage the pain.  When she came back to check on me about 30 minutes later and I was calm and smiling she was pleasantly surprised!  I told her all it took was them letting me out of that bed!  I labored for a few more hours.  Mom and Dad were there with us now, and Ari was updating everyone via text.  I'd say it was a little before noon and I was just about at my breaking point as far as pain went.  I had been doing a lot of walking, and then bending over the bed and rocking and breathing through the contractions.  I was getting 2 at a time back to back now though, and they were rough.  I decided I wanted to try a narcotic for a little relief.  I'd been laboring for over 12 hours, and awake for over 24... I was running out of steam.  Dr. Jang said to check me again, and If I was under 9 cm I could have something.  I was 8.5...... So they gave me a half dose.... about 20 mins later Dr. Jang said it was time to break my water, and that was going to really kick up the contractions..... thanks a lot!  Great timing!  I had JUST started feeling the tiniest bit of relief, lol.  Oh well.  So anywho, she broke my water, and it was like 30 mins later that it was time to push.... I think.... something like that, it all runs together at this point.  Everything went really fast from there, thank goodness.  I pushed for about 30 mins I think... the cord was wrapped around her neck, and she had meconium in her waters, so they were rushed to get her out of there... They ended up having to use the vacuum, and out she came.  What a whirlwind experience..... I remember hearing Dr. Jang ask for the vacuum and feeling a sense of panic and concern, and then pushing like once more, and seeing this blue little person coming at my chest!  She was here..... she was really here.  I couldn't believe it. Even after carrying her for all those months, I still couldn't believe that this little tiny person was mine.  So there you have it, that's my story... the condensed non graphic version :)

I hope that someone out there that is at the end of their rope, and thinks they will never be able to have a baby, reads this and sees there IS hope, you just have to work for it!

Sometimes dinner is just late...

and it's totally worth it.

Monday nights the kids have inline skating class at 6:00 pm, normally I try to do a quick easy dinner before we go, otherwise it's past bedtime by the time we are done eating and they shower and all that. 

It didn't happen tonight.

I planned to grill carne asada, and I didn't get to start it until we got home from lessons.  It was 7:30 by the time we sat down to eat. Oops.  But, we did just that, we sat down together, out back on the patio, and had a wonderful time just talking and enjoying the meal that put us behind schedule, and I am thankful that it did.  Had I done an easy dinner they would have sat at the counter and ate quickly before we left, and I would have eaten alone later on sometime.  So it was 100% worth being a little behind schedule to enjoy a healthy home made meal, together.

So the moral of the story, sometimes it's ok to veer a little off course, and break away from the routine. Make memories, give your kids that extra time, I'm sure it means more to them than eating an hour earlier does. :)

Here is the recipe for the carne asada marinade, I used this on almost 3 lbs of meat.

1/2 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup lime juice
1/2 cup soy sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbl chili powder
1 tbl cayenne
1 tbl cumin
1 tbl black pepper
1 bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped
1/3 cup olive oil

Mix it all together and let it sit for 5 hours or over night

I served it with pinto beans and home made guacamole.  Yum!  

33 weeks down, 7 to go!

Eek!  7 weeks!  That's it!  I have to say, it's flown by, just like everyone warned me that it would.  But I have also been very lucky with my pregnancy, other than some sleepless nights, heartburn, and a few  other symptoms here and there I've had a very easy go of it!

So I thought I would do a little recap of my "progress"....

I can't remember my exact weight the week I found out I was pregnant, but I want to say it was around 165-167.  My first Doctor appointment was at week 7.5 and their scale weighed me at 172.  At my appointment this last Monday I weighed in on the same scale at 190.  So according to them, I have gained 18 pounds, according to me I'd say more like 20.  I didn't want to gain more than 25, so I have to keep it in check these next 7 weeks!

I have a pretty regular eating schedule.... I have a whey protein shake (with 6 ounces of unsweetened almond milk, and 6 ounces of water) and half caff coffee for breakfast between 7:00 and 8:00, a snack around 10, usually a protein oatmeal square, light n fit greek yogurt, or cottage cheese.  Around 12 i usually eat again, a small salad, or a hard boiled egg and cheese, or an english muffin with peanut butter, something like that, and between 2 and 3 I usually have another snack, a protein bar, cheese, an apple....  that gets me through the work Day.  When I get home, around 5:00, I tend to have another small snack, string cheese, an egg, a bar, and then go work out.  Then after work out is dinner.  So I basically try to get about 200-300 calories in every 2 hours.  Now, don't get me wrong, there are days where this goes out the window, and I over do it... Panda Express has been my best friend and my nemesis lately.  But, I have tried to make good choices even there... I let myself go once a week, and I get soup (90 calories) and an Egg roll (200 calories)  If I go for dinner Sometimes I add Cream cheese rangoons as a treat, yum! Oh, and brownies, damn brownies, they haunt me and sabotage me almost weekly.....  :/

So, as far as exercise.... Tuesday's I do 45 minutes of muscle condition  preceded by 20-30 minutes of the elliptical if I can get to the gym early enough,  Wednesdays I do 40 minutes of cardio, usually intervals on the elliptical  same with Thursdays, and if I can make it, also on Fridays.  Saturdays I do 40 minutes again of muscle conditioning, with a little cardio if I get there early.  Today and Thursday I did my elliptical time, and I also added 3 tabatas on the treadmill.  I can't run for long sets anymore so it's nice to get some quick sprints in with short breaks, I get my heart pumping, and my body going, with out the long duration.   As you can see, this is MUCH different from my pre pregnant work out schedule!  I was working out about 10-12 hours a week before... let me tell you though, I can't wait to get back to that!

And lastly, here is a picture comparison... after thought, I should have done a full length "now" shot, oops.  Maybe I'll do it again in a few weeks... The before picture is the day I found out I was pregnant.  The now picture is last weekend, 32 weeks.  Aside from the obvious belly area, I have also noticed a gain in my thighs and upper arms, and the damn pooch area right under my belly.  All were problem areas pre pregnancy as well...

So there you have it, that's what 20 pounds (give or take 2) looks like....  Like I said, I'll try and do it again in a couple weeks, and do a full body shot.