20 Weeks

20 weeks (6/26)

I am half way already! This pregnancy has gone by so much faster than the last. I am probably just a little bit busier this time around. Saturday (6/21) we celebrated Kinsley's 2nd birthday. That girl is just amazing. I will have more on that in a different post...hopefully.

All dolled up for birthday dinner

I have been busy working the past week or so. A lady I work with needed to trade nights and I had already picked up a shift at St's so I ended up working 5 days in a row. I just had to keep reminding myself that in one week I would be on vacation. (FYI I'm typing this on vacation, it's pretty amazing). I had my appointment with Kim and again everything sounded great. Kinsley loves to hear the "choo choo".  My weight on the other hand, not so great. :(  I was a little disappointed. I thought I was doing so well this time but I gained 6lbs in two weeks! Yup, that is 3 lbs per week! Several things could have happend: I/the baby had a growth spurt, It is a difference in scales, I hadn't slept in almost 20 hours so my stomach didn't have time to digest, or I just ate too many sweets and fried foods. No matter what I need to be careful not to continue on that 3 lbs per week routine. After vacation, and Fourth of July I will watch my diet a little better...maybe.

Not much longer and we will find out if this baby is a boy or a girl!

Here are a few comparisons for you:

9 weeks

20 weeks




20 weeks with Kinsley

How far along: 20 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: In 2 weeks I doubled my weight gained. Up to 12 now.  *sigh*
Maternity clothes?: Yup! I have had to bump up to Medium t-shirts
Stretch marks?: Nope
Sleep:  I don't do well sleeping during the day. I'm lucky to get 6 hrs, usually it's 4.
Best moment this week: Getting through that 5 day stretch alive!
Movement: Yup. Some days more than others.
Food cravings: I did get that Casey's pizza I was wanting a couple weeks ago!
Gender: We'll know really soon!  AHHH starting to get a little anxious.
What I miss: Sliding through tight spaces. I have hit my belly so many times because I forget it's there
Milestones: Half way!

From BabyCenter:

How your baby's growing:

Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — about the size of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, he's measured from head to toe.)
He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).

17 and 18 Weeks

17 Weeks (and 3 days 6/8)

18 Weeks (and 2 days 6/14)

Well, it has been a pretty uneventful past couple of weeks. The picture on the right is right before Kinsley's 2nd birthday party. It was Chevron themed so I had to wear my teal chevron scarf. I even did a cute chevron design on my toes! Looking at that picture I feel like I have a lot of arch in my back already. I might need to start working on that.
My next appointment with Kim is Monday (6/23). And my ultrasound is on July 3rd! We are planning a gender reveal party that evening so I hope this baby cooperates! Anyone have any guesses?

How far along: 17-18 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 6 lbs gained according to the scale at the gym at almost 18 weeks. Not too bad!
Maternity clothes?: Yup! Maternity shorts are terrible! Looks like its going to be a warm summer. I acutally have one pair of shorts that still fit. I wore them just shortly after I had Kinsley
Stretch marks?: None
Sleep:  I have the craziest dreams! It's quite annoying actually
Best moment this week: Spending quality time with Kinsley and treasuring time with just her.
Movement: YES! Two kicks were hard enough I could actually feel them on my hand!
Food cravings: My aunt mentioned Casey's pizza and it has sounded amazing ever since!
Gender: We'll know soon!
What I miss: Fitting in to my old shorts
Milestones: More and more movement!

From BabyCenter:
Head to rump, your baby is about 5 1/2 inches long, and he weighs almost 7 ounces (about the size of a bell pepper). He's busy flexing his arms and legs — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. His blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and his ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from his head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he's born. If you're having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If you're having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

16 Weeks

16 weeks (5/29)

I have really "popped" the past couple of weeks! A week or so ago I wore a black shirt with a cute teal chevron scarf that I got in San Antnio to church. Just like at Easter, I got a lot of compliments on my scarf. You could tell they were starring straight at my tummy and just didn't want to say anything.

14 weeks (5/18)
What a cute little bump

This baby has already gotten to ride on an airplane twice! Kinsley and I flew to Colorado to celebrate Audrey's 1st birthday! Both Kinsley and the baby did great on the "hairpain" as Kinsley calls it. We had a great few days in Colorado. We went to the mountains on one day and to the Denver Zoo our last day. I found out that Kinsley does not do well in the car for more than 30 minutes :/

Kinsley loves her cousin Audg!

I had my second appointment on 5/20 (14w5d). Everything sounded great and I got to schedule my anatomy ultrasound (where we find out the sex) appointment! I'm a little bummed it's not until July 3rd! First, I will be 21 weeks by then which seems really late. Second, we are going on vacation just a few days before and it would have been nice to do some shopping for the baby. Oh well, I am still excited to find out and preparing Chris for another girl!
Now that I am well into my second trimester I thought it was probably safe to let the world of Facebook know. I have been trying to think of a clever way to share the news and decided to have Kinsley do a little video with her "super sister" shirt on. Here was the script I planned:
Me: Kinsley, what does your shirt say?
Kins: Sister! (she has said this plenty of times before)
Me: Are you going to be a big sister!?
Kins: Yes!
Two words Kinsley, that's all you have to say. It's quite simple really. I tried to get the video one day and after several attempts I decided to give it up and try again another day. A few days later we tried again while Chris was home. She didn't follow the script but I think we got the message across.

How far along: 16 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: Only 3lbs gained at my almost 15 week appointment!
Maternity clothes?: Yup! And I am looking into investing in some shorts!
Stretch marks?: None
Sleep:  I love my body pillow!
Best moment this week: Sharing the news with the world!
Movement: Yes! It's not everyday but the movements are getting stronger and more noticable.
Food cravings: Things definitely taste different this go around. For example, hot turkey and cheese sandwich tastes terrible.
Gender: Preparing Chris for a girl, secretly hoping for a boy. :)
What I miss: Energy! Seriously, I thought I was supposed to feel like a whole new woman as soon as the second trimester hit.
Milestones: Well into the second trimester!

From BabyCenter:

How your baby's growing:

Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.

13 Weeks

13 weeks (5/8)

It is pretty much impossible to hide that belly anymore! On Easter I got a lot of comments on my the shirt I was wearing but I could tell they were trying to figure out if there was a belly under there.  I had my first appointment with Kim just after Easter (4/23 10w 6d). The only thing better than seeing that little pixel flicker on an ultrasound is hearing the heartbeat on the Doppler! It was a strong 140 bpm. When Kinsley heard the heartbeat she said "choo choo train!" At my appointment Kim said she wanted to check another sono in a couple of weeks to check on size. I didn't think much of it at first but then I thought back to when I was pregnant with Kinsley and I didn't remember have a 12 week ultrasound. So then of course I got a little worried about it.  Did my uterus not feel like an almost 11 week uterus? I went for the second ultrasound on 5/6 and everything looked great! I'm sure it was all routine and I was worried about nothing.

It actually looks like a baby!
5/6 12w5d

Sunday May 11th (13w3d) was Mother's Day. With two good sonos and one good appointment out of the way I figured it was time to tell the extended family. I sent most of my aunts a text that said "Happy Mother's day to you from this soon to be mother of two". Of course they were all excited
I've noticed a few things are different with this second pregnancy. First, the time is flying by! Second, I'm not as eager to tell people I'm pregnant. I have the attitude 'if they ask, I'll tell them'.  Third, I don't think I have that "pregnancy glow".  It's more of an "exhausted mom of an almost two year old dullness". The point is, people have been finding out slowly but surely.

How far along: 13 weeks-last week of the 1st trimester!

Total weight gain/loss: Only 1 pound! (At my almost 11 week appointment)

Maternity clothes?: I am in that awkward 'my big jeans don't fit but my maternity pants are too big' stage. Even though they are too big, the maternity pants are way more comfortable!

Stretch marks?: nope

Sleep: I'm thinking it's about time to break out the body pillow!

Best moment this week: Telling more and more people, movement!

Movement: Yes! I have felt movement for a couple of weeks off and on. Sometimes I feel like I'm just imagining it but I'm almost certain that little shrimp is swimming in there.

Food cravings: Tacos, taco salad, chips and queso, Mexican. I might have had it 4 times in one week. 

Gender:  Still thinking girl. (the italics are back!)

What I miss: Caffeine, energy, laying on my stomach.

Milestones: First trimester almost done!

From BabyCenter:
Fingerprints have formed on your baby's tiny fingertips, her veins and organs are clearly visible through her still-thin skin, and her body is starting to catch up with her head — which makes up just a third of her body size now. If you're having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries. Your baby is almost 3 inches long (about the size of a pea pod) and weighs nearly an ounce.
See what your baby looks like this week.
 

9 Weeks

9 weeks (4/10)

Chris and I had a great time in San Antonio. Luckily the nausea and complete exhaustion hadn't kicked in yet. I was certain my aunts, who were with us at the conference, were on to me. I don't know how many times they asked when Kinsley was going to be a big sister! While we were in San Antonio I got a phone call from the Dr's office that they wanted to schedule a 6 week ultrasound. I was so excited to get to see this little bean and make sure everything was fine.
On 3/18 I went in for the ultrasound. It is such a relief to see that little pixel blink! The Heart rate was 112 which is normal for that early. According to my dates I should have been just over 6 weeks. When they did measurements they measured the baby at 5 weeks and 5 days. Just a little earlier, again pretty normal. They gave me a due date of November 13th. Such a relief!

Chillin' with Willie from Duck Dynasty at the Line-X conference.
It's a good think I took the time to curl my hair!

For the past several weeks I have been working on a Shutterfly book for my parents of their two granddaughters. I thought this would be the perfect way to tell them they were getting another grandbaby! I was too early still to feel comfortable enough to make the announcement an official page of the book so I just made a separate page and added it to the back. It was almost perfect timing. We were throwing a 60th birthday party for my dad and Jessica, Chad and Audrey were making a surprise visit. It was the perfect time to tell my whole family at the same time in person. Unfortunately, the book didn't arrive until Monday and of course I didn't have the announcement page ready to slide in there and Chad was leaving that evening. Friday (4/4) the girls spent the day together and got Audrey and Kinsley's Easter pictures taken. That evening we went to Cici's for dinner. Just before everyone was getting ready to leave I gave my Mom and Dad the shutterfly book that had the surprise in the back. Of course my mom wanted to just look at it all later and JanMarie wanted to run next door to Target. People! Don't you understand I'm trying to tell you a secret? Luckily, the page that was inserted in the back of the book fell out. It literally took my mom several minutes looking at the page and me explaining it to her before she realized what the page was saying. Everyone else figured it out right away and were very excited.
Palm Sunday was the following weekend (4/13) and Kim and Josh were going to be in Town. We had Kinsley wear her "Super Sister" shirt to lunch and waited for everyone to catch on. Everyone was very excited! We texted a picture of Kinsley in her "Super Sister" shirt to Nick and Danae.

The "announcement" page

How far along: 9 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: hopefully none yet! :)
Maternity clothes?: Not yet but soon
Stretch marks?: None
Sleep:  I am already having ligament pain when I turn in bed. I didn't get that until my third trimester with Kinsley.
Best moment this week: Sharing the news with family!
Movement: Nope.
Food cravings: Tacos, pizza, anything unhealthy!
Gender: Chris is hoping for a boy
What I miss: Energy, the ability to control my emotions, sleeping all day like I did when I was pregnant with Kinsley
Milestones: A good sono!
From BabyCenter:
New this week: Webbed fingers and toes are poking out from your baby's hands and feet, his eyelids practically cover his eyes, breathing tubes extend from his throat to the branches of his developing lungs, and his "tail" is just about gone. In his brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways. You may be daydreaming about your baby as one sex or the other, but the external genitals still haven't developed enough to reveal whether you're having a boy or a girl. Either way, your baby — about the size of a kidney bean — is constantly moving and shifting, though you still can't feel it.

Round 2

There is no doubt that is positive!

Well, I wasn't expecting to be back quite so soon! I didn't quite have "the itch" yet but Chris and I decided if we wanted our kids to be 2-3 years apart we'd better start thinking about having another one. The first of the year I ran out of my birth control and didn't have anymore refills so I figured it was as good of time as any to just quit taking it.  I had it all planned out, I would get pregnant in May, June or July and have a baby in February, March or April. Kinsley would be a good 2 1/2 years old but not quite 3. Chris and I had a Line-X conference in San Antonio the middle of March. I told him I didn't really want to be pregnant while we were there, and that is when my plan fell apart. The last week of February Chris and I got a nasty stomach bug. It was not fun at all. That weekend I still felt yucky and had to be careful with what I ate and how much. Monday, after my morning workout, I got really nauseous. I thought it was from my illness the week before but was starting to question it a little. I had had other symptoms like increased smell, swelling in my hands, and getting teary-eyed over a silly show. I even commented on my symptoms but eventually passed them off as nothing or reading into it too much. So, Tuesday morning (the day my friend was scheduled to arrive) I got up to go to the gym and no signs of my dear friend. I thought it was probably just early in the day but since I needed to start medication right away I thought I had better double check. Of course I did not have any pregnancy tests at home. So what do I do? I head to Walmart, then the gym, then back home, eat breakfast with Kinsley and wait until Chris leaves before peeing and taking a test. I obviously did not have enough to drink the day before! Before Chris left for work he made a comment about my dear friend not showing her lovely face yet. He was quite concerned since we were going to San Antonio the next week. I assured him she was supposed to come that day but I did buy a pregnancy test just to check. So I took the test and within a minute I can see a faint line. I kept saying "no way! no way!" and then Kinsley started repeating me. I called Chris and of course he doesn't answer! I finally got a hold of him and say "It's totally positive". He couldn't believe it either. The more I looked at it the darker the line got. The whirlwind of emotions started- excitement, disbelief, anxiety all while trying not to get my hopes up too much.

I called the Dr.'s office immediately. They wanted to check labs to confirm pregnancy but did not need to check my progesterone level. She said if I wanted to recheck it in 48 hours I could but they would call me Wednesday to ask all kinds of questions and order more labs. Since I was already on the progesterone with Kinsley they just started me on it again. Chris didn't remember giving me my medication every morning for 2 months with Kinsley. I quickly reminded him and told him that he could do that job again! :) Kinsley and I went to have my blood drawn Tuesday just before lunch. She was so patient and waited very nicely for me to get done. Wednesday afternoon the Dr.'s office called me back and said that the lab to confirm pregnancy was only 86. They wanted repeat it in 48 hours to make sure it was doubling and no other labs or questions would be done until we knew everything was ok. When she said that my heart sank a little, even though this is the exact position I was with Kinsley and I knew it was coming, it was discouraging. 

 

Thursday was my birthday. Kinsley took me shopping in the morning, JanMarie took us to sushi for lunch, Kinsley sent me for a pedicure in the afternoon while she napped at Nana's (Chris's mom), and Chris took us to Paisano's for dinner. It was a great day! While I was out for my pedicure I snuck in a trip to the lab. For some reason I was really nervous about the results, I didn't "feel" pregnant. Even though I wasn't expecting to be pregnant so soon and it wasn't how I had planned it and it came as a complete shock I was already excited and attached to this poppy seed growing inside of me. I didn't want to lose it and start over! I was ok with and excited for a fall baby instead of a spring baby. I tried to be so pt waiting for the results but I couldn't take it anymore, I had to know what they were that day! I called the office and the secretary tells me the results are in but she will have to have Kim's (my midwife) nurse call me back who was not the same nurse I originally talked to. She called me back and told me they weren't in and Kim wasn't in the office so they would have to call me on Friday. I felt like they were lying to me about the results not being in and something must be wrong if they are wanting Kim to call me with the results. Friday came and still no call. I tried to take a nap but I dreamt about not getting the results and having to wait until Monday. I finally called them and they said they had gone up to 280! Woohoo! It more than doubled! No more labs for now.

Birthday dinner

 

Oh my little yellow friend...