22 weeks!

I haven't been blogging much lately. Things have been so busy at work that I'm typically pretty tired by the time I get home and ready to eat dinner, watch a couple of shows and go to bed. I love being busy at work though, so no complaints here. Even though I have four months left at work, I feel like I'm trying to get as much done as possible before I leave for 12 weeks, so that may be a part of it too.

This has nothing to do with my 22 week update, but I wanted to share my weekly hair routine since I had some ladies ask about it when I posted the photo below of my fourth day hair on Instagram over the weekend.  I guess it's somewhat baby-related though since having a hair routine that doesn't take a lot of time every week is beneficial for any new mom (or anyone, for that matter, baby or not).

If you've been following my blog for awhile, you know that I wash my hair just twice a week. Over the years, I've trained it to not get so oily, enabling me to go longer between washes and it's one of the best decisions I've made because it means less time washing, styling and overall messing with my hair (you can read my original hair washing post here). 

I'm especially thankful for a quick routine with a baby on the way because, believe me, I would not have time to wash and style my hair every day or even every other day with a baby to care for (heck, I don't even want to spend that much time washing/blowdrying it now!) Just as a recap, here's my weekly routine:

Monday- wash and blow-dry my hair, set in velcro rollers. Total time (including full shower/washing hair/blow drying: about 35 minutes). It helps to have a really great hairdryer that dries hair quickly. I use the CHI touch hairdryer and I also love my Elchim hairdryer. It's incredible what a difference it makes time-wise to use a professional dryer. 

Tuesday- I either keep it straight (just run a brush through it) or I curl it. Curling it with a curling iron (3-4 curls on each side) takes me 6-7 minutes total.

Wednesday- if I kept it straight, I will usually curl it, so another 6-7 minutes. I also spray some dry shampoo on the roots. If it's already curled, I might spend 2-3 minutes touching up the front pieces with the curling iron and then just run my fingers though it.

Thursday- same as Monday- wash, blowdry, set in velcro rollers for shape/volume

Friday- curl with curling iron 

Saturday & Sunday- Brush out curls and use texture cream to revive curls a bit. I no longer style my hair with heat on weekends.  I just wake up, brush out the curls and use a tiny bit of texture cream to "scrunch" through the ends which seems to revive my curls and make them loose and flowy. It takes less than a minute. My hair seems to hold curl well enough to maintain a loose-wave look, but if you have really straight hair naturally, this may not be an option.

I know this routine isn't doable for everyone (it completely depends on your hair type/how much time you want to spend) but that's what I do every week and it's been working well.  Once the baby is here and I go back to work, I may switch to washing and blowdrying my hair at night those two days so that I don't have to do it in the morning, but we will see. Overall, I think I spend a lot less time on my hair weekly than someone who washes daily/every other day and then blow-dries.  I definitely spend more time on it than someone with a wash-and-go style, but I've long accepted that I don't have a wash-and-go hair type (I'm seriously envious of you gals who can air dry your hair and have nice, smooth-looking locks!) 

UPDATE: I had a few ladies ask in the comments what I do with my hair on days I don't wash it. When I shower, I wrap my hair in a towel, turban-style, so that I avoid getting it wet in the shower and also because the cotton is breathable whereas a plastic shower cap is not, and can cause frizz. I take pretty short showers (a few minutes) just to wash my body, so this trick works perfectly for me.

The other thing I was asked about was what I do with my hair when I sleep. I use a clip to secure it into a big ballerina bun on top of my head. I make it loose so it's comfortable. I find that wearing your hair high on your head as you sleeps helps keep volume intact. I actually used to sleep with it down, but I noticed when I clipped it up my style seemed to remain intact better and it was more comfortable overall.

If you're a mom (or soon-to-be mom)---please feel free to leave me a comment about how you streamlined your morning routine, especially if you went/are going back to work. I realize that in the grand scheme of things, this is really not an important issue, but I'll be focused on so many other (much more important) things once the baby is here that I'd love to know all of your mom/baby morning routine tips now. I absolutely love reading your comments and advice every week :) 

How far along? 22 weeks (I do these a week behind as a recap of the previous week, so I'm actually 23 weeks today.)

Total weight gain/loss: About 5 lbs so far. I will find out my total weight gain so far at my 24 week appointment.

Maternity clothes? I'm still wearing maternity pants and my regular clothes.  Now that it's warming up, I can't wait to start wearing dresses and skirts again. I have been avoiding them for the last couple of months because I hate wearing tights now. Even the non-control top ones feel uncomfortable after a couple of hours. Once I can go bare-legged, I'm breaking out the dresses and skirts again (whichever ones still fit, that is, haha). 

Stretch marks? I'm continuing to use Belli's Elasticity Belly Oil, Mamma Mio Tummy Rub and Mustela double-action stretch mark cream in rotation, at night only.

Symptoms: I felt good this week. A little tired, but overall I'm feeling good.

Sleep: Still using my Snoogle and have been sleeping pretty well this week, save a few nights.

Best moment this week: Getting our first baby furniture delivery. Our dresser arrived and we are so happy with it!  I can't wait to order the rest of room's furniture and accessories and start putting it all together. 

Have you told family and friends: Yes!

Miss Anything? Not having to pee all the time.

Movement: Still feeling movement daily---I always notice she kicks around the same times everyday.

Food cravings: Ice cream, butterfingers (and butterfingers mixed into ice cream)...mmmmmmm.......

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really.


Have you started to show yet: Definitely! I haven't noticed a lot of change in my belly size this week though.

Baby is a: Girl!

Belly Button in or out? Still in.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy---though still the occasional cranky morning.

Looking forward to: Hitting the 24-week mark and painting the nursery (we are going to tape it off this weekend!)

 Thank you for reading and for all of my pregnant readers, please feel free to check in below as well and let me know how your pregnancy is going :) I also welcome everyone's advice and comments about pregnancy!