baby bump #2: 1st trimester
Can I just say that I absolutely HATE keeping secrets?! I swear, that was the LONGEST 2 months of my life! But, I'm so glad that the secret is finally out and I can share with you all about our new little addition. We are over the moon excited for this baby!
How long had you been trying - was it as easy as the first time? It definitely took longer than when we were trying with MacKenna, but we were luckily still able to get pregnant pretty quickly. I had my IUD removed in January, but because that caused my periods to be hit or miss, I didn't have all my dates right, so it took us a few months longer than it did the first time. (Side note: The IUD was awesome and I will do it again after this baby. I had little to no period most months and it returned right away after I had it removed.)When did you find out and how did you tell Matt? After not getting pregnant the first few months of trying, I was starting to lose hope and became obsessed with tracking and testing. I tested about 5 days before I was supposed to miss my period (gosh, sorry Dad, for all the period talk) and the test came back half-positive/half-negative? Seriously. It was negative but had the slightest, tiniest blue line that showed up 10 minutes later. So, I decided to test 2 days later - same thing. I was confused and frustrated, so I ended up going to the dollar store during my lunch period and buying a $1 pregnancy test. Totally negative. I was frustrated. The next day I drank a beer. Two days later, my period didn't show up. So, I decided I would test the next morning.Except, I forgot! Good thing because after a terrible evening with MacKenna at gymnastics (in which we had to leave early because she was being a brat), I needed a win. Plus, I promised Matt he could read the test. I ended up buying some not-cheap tests (like I had been using) and as I was setting it down and checking to make sure the control line showed up, I got the positive line I was looking for! Matt came in a minute later and we were able to celebrate together!So, does that mean you conceived while living with your parents? Um, yes. But, technically, they were out of town. :)When did you start telling people? We kept it a secret from everyone until after my first ultrasound right before 8 weeks. We were dying to tell people so we immediately told both of our families that night. We told a few more friends the following week for a couple of reasons, but really waited to announce it to everyone until after our ultrasound this past week.
How far along are you and when is your due date? I am 12 weeks (plus a few days) and am due at the very end of December - December 29th if you want to put a date on it, but there are a few other factors that tell me December 29th isn't going to be when I go. We will see when we get closer to the date. But, I'll talk more about C-sections and VBACs another time.How are you feeling? Exhausted. Nauseous. Exhausted. Tired. Did I mention exhausted? There have been several nights where I've fallen asleep at 7:30 or 8 PM, but it's gotten a little better now that I don't have to wake up at 4 AM. I've also been so much more nauseous than I ever was with MacKenna. Right at 6 weeks, morning all-day sickness hit me pretty hard. I never physically got sick, but sometimes I felt that throwing up would've made me feel better.Last week, I actually started feeling a lot better - still some afternoon nausea and headaches (which is a 2nd trimester nightmare for me, so I'm pumped that it's come back early, lemme tell ya), but my energy levels are much better and I can actually keep my eyes open until 10 PM now!The other symptom that has been horrible for me has been being out of breath. This was one of the reasons I knew I was pregnant before I actually tested. I would be teaching and demonstrating skills and would be totally and completely out of breath. The stairs at my parents house are absolutely killing me! Especially when MacKenna wants me to hold her. Ugh.
Have you had any crazy cravings or aversions? I guess nothing too crazy. I'm actually craving a lot of the same things I was when I was pregnant with MacKenna - lots of carbs (bagels are my personal favorite right now) and cheese. Lots and lots of cheese. And anything refreshing, so my daily smoothies have been absolutely wonderful. And thankfully, water has been a huge hit for me lately as well. Oh, and pickles. Why oh why must I be THAT pregnant girl with the pickle cravings?!As far as aversions, I actually cannot eat a lot of sweets. This was similar to my pregnancy with MacKenna - I just really didn't want anything that would dry out my mouth! So, right now, frozen custard is out of the question. Boo. Ice cream is fine, but frozen custard is just too rich. There are also a lot of smells that are really turning me off as well. But, I'm thankful that I am still eating fairly healthy, except my limited gluten diet has pretty much gone out the window.Are you still running? Obviously - albeit much, much slower, if you couldn't tell from my race recap the other day. But, I want to cover 1st trimester running in a post in itself. Let's just say it is going much better than my pregnancy with MacKenna (trade off for feeling worse?). I've also still been doing some CrossFit and playing volleyball, but my days are numbered with volleyball, obviously.Are you showing yet? Ugh. You know how the first pregnancy, you're just dying to show? Yeah, I wish my belly would slow down a little bit. I had to bust out my belly bands and maternity clothes around 8 weeks, and actually went out an bought a few new pairs of shorts for our California trip. I just want to be comfortable. I haven't gained a ton of weight though, so that's good. I actually hadn't changed weight at the doctors office in the past month, so I'll take that as baby is growing and mama will catch up later.
Are you going to find out what you're having, or are you going to keep it a surprise? We actually already know! Well, we have an envelop marked "gender" for us to read at any time, but it's still sealed shut. We didn't really expect to find out so soon, but we have had a few extra ultrasounds due to some other issues with this pregnancy (I'll talk about later). When she asked if we wanted to know, I immediately said NO! I'm not in as much of a hurry with finding out what this little bean is as I was with MacKenna. Yes, we will probably open it eventually, but I think both of us don't really care what we're having either way, as we think we will probably have more kids in the future. But, if you really want to know, I think it's going to be a boy, and Matt thinks it's going to be a girl. Like I said, I'll be happy either way. Thank goodness I'll have clothes either way too! (My nephew was a December baby last year, so I plan on borrowing a good amount of their baby clothes!)
Baby was sucking his/her thumb during the ultrasound! We could see Baby moving his/her head back and forth while sucking. OMG. So precious! So in love already!
Will you be talking about your pregnancy on the blog? Yes! I am hoping to do weekly updates like I did with MacKenna, probably more for my sake than for yours, but who knows, it might be my last pregnancy and I definitely want to remember it. It's been quite an experience so far...
**Photo credit: All professional photos were taken by Angela Vincent Photography.**