2nd Trimester Baby #2 - Weeks 14, 15 and 16

So I have been super slacking on the pregnancy updates lately. Why is this? Well, on top of being super busy ALWAYS... this pregnancy has been... insanely uneventful. I thought my first pregnancy was as easy as it got... well somehow this one has been even easier and thus way less "exciting". As I have said before though...this is not something I am complaining about ;).

Major events: KHS homecoming; Beau's 2nd Birthday Party; Our 3rd Wedding Anniversary!

Size of baby: Lemon

Sleep: Bad. So tired...I just still can't believe that I'm already up 1-3 times per night to pee. Gah!!

Cravings: None

Aversions: None

Movement: Since I started feeling Heidi move right around 14 weeks, I have been trying to pay EXTRA attention this last week to see if I can feel baby moving...There have been a few moments prior where I thought MAYBE... but those moments usually aren't validated until you get that first real JAB. And that came on the night of our 3 year anniversary! So exciting! We were just sitting on the couch and I felt a tiny "flick" from the inside and I was positive that at that time it was baby. 

Belly button in or out? In!

Weight gain: 5ish lbs. 

Missing: Sleep. And white wine sometimes. Also, cold deli meat sandwiches! Listeria is commonly found in deli meat (among other things) and pregnant ladies aren't supposed to consume deli meat unless it is heated to "steaming"... most normal healthy people can fight listeria off no problem (and maybe not even know it) but during pregnancy, the immune system is somewhat compromised and listeria can be deadly to the fetus. Sometimes I just risk it and give in to the temptation, but when I actually sit and think about what the potential risk is... it's just not worth it.

Hardest part of this week: At my 12 week appointment, my doctor told me that I am a carrier for Cystic Fibrosis. (For some reason, this was not something that we tested for during my first pregnancy.) I have been so overwhelmed, stressed out and consumed by this news. Ryan went in to get some bloodwork done so that we can determine whether he is also a carrier. (1 out of every 25 caucasians is a carrier for CF. If BOTH parents are carriers than each pregnancy has a 1 in 4 chance of resulting in a child who HAS CF.) It was so scary to hear my doctor say words like "genetic counseling" and "amniocentesis"... I just wasn't expecting any surprises (at least of this sort) after already having one baby. I told myself I wouldn't do any research, or google searches or anything like that until we knew the results of Ryan's tests and what our chances of having a child with this disease were. We turned to our church small group and asked for prayer and I also asked the ladies in my bible study and friends in our church play group to pray for us. This kind of leads me to the best part of my week...

Best part of this week: After our "people" started praying for us, I felt this wave of relief come over me. It truly was a weight lifted off of my shoulders and I no longer felt like I was trapped in this swarm of "what if" stress. I started sleeping again (well, as well as I could anyway!) and no longer was just laying in bed at night thinking about all of the possibile outcomes, how this would affect our future family planning, etc. I have NEVER felt prayer in this particular way before. God gave me this strength and faith that I didn't know I had and I trusted Him fully with the situation. That feeling of submission, release and TRUE PEACE was like nothing I had experienced directly and so immediately before. Anyway, we finally found out this week that Ryan is NOT a carrier for Cystic Fibrosis - this was an incredible incredible relief. I am SO grateful to all who were praying for us and that God heard our prayers! I am not usually one to ask for prayer, or volunteer some random struggle or issue that I am dealing with during "prayer request" times, but I do think that God was using this experience to teach me the importance of prayer - not only praying ourselves, but having others pray FOR us. 

Looking forward to: Finding out the gender! (Although, I do feel less impatient about it this go-round. I'm pumped, but I'm not feeling desperately anxious.) 

Emotions: Luckily, I feel like the negative emotions (aka extreme moodiness/anger/frustration) have subsided. I feel much more like my normal self, although I do remember being much more weepy in my second trimester with Heidi... so I am bracing myself for that!

Major events: Birth Without Fear Conference!

Size of baby: Apple

Sleep: Still not great... but I am noticing a slight increase in energy. It was difficult for me during the first trimester to determine whether I was just tired from being a person/mom or if it was actually the pregnancy that was contributing most to that... I can now say definitely that MOST of that had to do with being pregnant - which is good news! Glad to feel less exhausted now...

Cravings: None

Aversions: None! 

Movement: Meh... a few little pops here and there, but at this point I pretty much have to be sitting/laying very still in a quiet room in order for there to be a chance to feel anything... and even then it's no guarantee! It's strange going through this now after having already gone through it once. I forget that things aren't immediately like they are in the end, if that makes sense. My memories of being pregnant are mostly of what it is like to be pregnant in the end - so super roly poly, baby constantly moving and squirming and taking up 90% of your torso, not being able to bend in the middle... all of that. I forget that pretty much the first half of pregnancy isn't really THAT different than not being pregnant (at least for my 2 pregnancies so far)!

Belly button in or out? In!

Weight gain: 5 lbs.

Missing: Not much...

Best part of this week: Getting to spend a whole day talking and learning about pregnancy, birth, babies, motherhood and how to support each other at the BWF conference meet up! And also getting to spend time with sweet friends - coffee dates and going to the Woodlands Children's Museum!

Hardest part of this week: Nothing specific

Looking forward to: SUPER looking forward to our gender ultrasound day - not only because we will find out the gender but because Ryan is staying home from work and we are planning a really nice day together! We get to drop Heidi off at MDO together, go to brunch, go to our Dr. appt., pick Heidi up together... etc! I'm really excited to spend the day together!

Emotions: Excitement!

Major events: Gender ultrasound; Baylor football game vs. WVU

Size of baby: Avocado

Sleep: Meh. 

Cravings: None

Aversions: Fish (specifically Salmon, but also shrimp... since that's what we usually eat when we are eating seafood)... mostly just the smell at this point... Anything that smells kind of fishy is magnified times 1,000... and to me it just smells like dirty rotting fish that has been sitting in a plastic bag in the sun for 3 weeks. It's too strong yuck! But I will still eat it after it's cooked...

Movement: Yes! Not regularly yet but... definitely some movement...

Belly button in or out? In woo woo!

Weight gain: 5-7 lbs.

Missing: Nothing I suppose...

Best part of this week: Gender ultrasound - Woo Woo! (Click HERE for the results!!!!) and getting to spend some time meeting other "young couples" at a dinner hosted by the pastor of a church we have been attending!

Hardest part of this week: This was a great week!

Looking forward to: Naming our baby! Ryan is a classic over thinker so he refuses to commit until a zillion hours of consideration have been put into this... I guess we still have a few months to decide... but I want baby to have a name NOW!

Emotions: Feeling happy! Pregnancy is totally my jam and I am so excited to do it again!

2nd Trimester - Weeks 14 and 15

Okay, so I am finally almost caught up!  I must say... it's true what they say:  The 2nd trimester is AWESOME!  I really don't even feel pregnant.  

Major events: My bday and our BBQ; Turkey Trot 10K; Thanksgiving

Size of baby: Lemon

Sleep: Bad as usual.

Cravings: None

Aversions: None

Movement: I THINK so.  

Belly button in or out? In

Missing: RAW OYSTERS.  (Yes, you read that right.  I LOVE raw oysters and HATE that I am missing oyster "season".)  Guess I will have to wait until next September.  Boo.

Best part of this week: Finally making this news 100% PUBLIC! 

Hardest part of this week: Other than not being able to sleep for longer than 3 hours at a time, no real "hard" parts about this week.  It was fabulous!

Looking forward to: Gender ultrasound next week

Emotions: SO happy to tell all of our friends!  Also, I am surprisingly feeling more emotional now than I did in my first trimester.  I have never been much of a crier, but if poor Ryan (bless his heart. No seriously.) says not the exact right thing... I just might cry.  Even just walking around Hobby Lobby listening to the Christmas music playing over the speakers makes me want to cry.

Major events: GENDER ULTRASOUND!

Size of baby: Apple

Sleep: Waking up every 2 hours to pee (sucks)

Cravings: None

Aversions: None 

Movement: Yes.  Undoubtedly.  (And it's awesome! And freaky.)

Belly button in or out? In

Missing: Sleep. And (yes I know I have a LONG road ahead of me) but my small belly.  I already miss my flat stomach :(

Best part of this week: Keeping the gender a secret just between us for a few days :)

Hardest part of this week: Keeping the gender a secret just between us for a few days.  Hehe.

Looking forward to: Having a very small not-a-big-deal party on Sunday to reveal the gender

Emotions: Happy.

We're Pregnant!

It’s true!  We are expecting.  And we couldn't be more excited.  While it seems that everyone else “had a feeling” or “knew this would happen soon”…Ryan and I were more surprised than anyone!  (I’m pretty sure my sister knew I was pregnant before I did!) 

With this news comes a lot of questions and curiosity.  I know that whenever I find out someone that I know is pregnant I go into major FBI detective mode to try and learn all the details!  Since I just LOVE hearing about (and learning from) other women’s pregnancy experiences, I thought this would be a great way for me to share our journey through this with you!  Disclaimer: Anyone who knows me knows – I’m not shy!  I have always been an open person, and will answer pretty much any question (and honestly!)  While this is a fabulous way for us to share with you, we also want to document these happenings for ourselves so that we can always look back and remember what life was like now!  Although, I will try and refrain from sharing TOO much, there might be a few TMI moments.  I will try to give you a heads up when those moments are approaching, so (Grandma, sisters, mom, dudes or whoever) if you are uncomfortable with knowing a little too much you can skip ahead. :)

Now to answer some of the basic burning questions!

Due Date: May 23^rd

How many weeks along am I now: 14 weeks (For those who like to count in months, I am a little over 3 months, and just into my second trimester)

How big is Baby Kresta: The size of a lemon, about 3 ½ inches from head to booty!

Boy or Girl: I am hoping for a girl (the day before we found out, I had a dream that we had a baby girl…) but I am kind of feeling like it’s a boy right now.  That changes frequently though.  Ryan doesn’t seem to feel pulled one way or another.  We are hoping to find out very soon!

Morning sickness: Minute 1 of week 6 I felt a wave come over my whole body and for about 30 seconds I was sure I was about to throw up.  Then, just like that it was gone again. For the next couple of weeks, I was nauseous constantly (morning, noon and night).  Around week 8 or 9, it let up a little bit and began to come and go randomly.  Thankfully, I never actually threw up… but it was VERY difficult to find food that actually sounds appealing. (Even if I was not nauseous, pretty much everything sounded gross to me.)  I have been feeling GREAT the last several weeks!

Exhaustion: Up until week 9 or 10, I was sleeping ALL the time.  No really.  ALL morning, ALL day and ALL night (except to get up to pee several times per night – that started right away!)  However, sleeping through the night has been difficult.  I started waking up at 3:45 wide awake, unable to go back to sleep for hours.  So, around week 10 I started forcing myself out of bed and limiting myself to 1 nap during the day.  It helps about 50% of the time.

Belly: Barely showing.  I always thought pregnant bellies were hard right from the beginning, so even though I am definitely a lot thicker around the middle, it doesn't feel like I am TRULY showing yet because my (bigger) belly is still so squishy! After I eat though, it’s HUGE (and by huge I mean, twice as large as my normal post-meal food baby).  This probably not how it actually works, but I feel like my growing uterus is squishing all of my other organs upwards making my stomach EXTRA giant after I eat. 

How did we find out: There were a few things that seemed “off” but I was feeling what I *thought* (and what could have actually been) car sickness.  I didn't really think much of it, but decided to take a pregnancy test just to be sure…totally NOT expecting to see what I saw!  I will go more into detail about all of this later.

Why did we wait to share the news: A lot of pressure rides on the first trimester. It is the most delicate time in a pregnancy and the time during which most miscarriages occur.  (Obviously, we would be extremely sad should something like that happen, but I also trust my body to recognize when something is not right with the growing baby.  We both feel that if a miscarriage occurs it’s because it needs to.)  This is why we decided to tell family and a few close friends pretty early on (and by early on I mean the absolute first chance that we got!)  It was SOO insanely hard to not tell everyone we knew the second we found out!  It’s fun to spread out the excitement though.  It truly felt like an eternity from the time we found out to the time when we could share the news with the world.

Planned: Yes and No. This wasn't the timing we had expected, but by practicing Natural Family Planning (NFP), we are always saying YES to God and His plan for our family.

Ultrasound at 8 weeks!  The doctor had zoomed in SUPER close!  The circle thing on the right is the yolk sac, and the head is right next to that.  Then the rear end/foot paddles are on the far left!