Awesome Recipe Alert!!!

Okay so maybe I'm just super hungry (and currently smelling this amazingness cooking on my stove!) but I just love this recipe SO much I can't even stand not sharing it!! It's SO good, creates minimal dirty dishes and is nice and healthy (and can even be paleo if that's your fancy)! I discovered this recipe during my 2015 New Years resolution to cook one new recipe per week for the entire year. I have increased the number of meals in our regular rotation significantly, and this one is DEFINITELY on our list of regulars now!

Here's the link!! Skinny Orange Chicken

Photo courtesy of addapinch.com!!

So a few of my personal notes on this recipe...

- I DO still cook the chicken in coconut oil (I think this really enhances the flavor significantly!) BUT rather than the coconut aminos I prefer just regular old soy sauce. (Probably because I am a sodium junkie, unfortunately...but I love soy sauce! Sue me!)

- I would also recommend at LEAST doubling the amount of sauce you make... because I guarantee you that no matter how much you make it will not be enough! I can never get enough (also you want to have enough for leftovers). I think tonight I quadrupled the amount of sauce partially by accident but I'm pumped for the extra!!

- Allot a minimum of 15-20 minutes for the sauce to reduce. I promise you - it WILL eventually get nice and thick (which is what you want). Thin sauce will still taste okay but it just won't be the same!

- I throw the chicken into the pan with the sauce rather than pouring over. I just like to make sure the chicken is nice and coated, then I'll spoon a little extra on top once served.

- We like to make this with plain steamed broccoli (raw broccoli steamed over boiling water - no oil no butter!) and white or brown rice. Ryan makes rice in a glass bowl in the microwave which is AWESOME and impossible to burn. (For just the 2 of us, he does 2 cups of rice and 4 cups of water for 5 minutes on high 15 minutes on medium.) This is probably a little bit more rice than 2 people need +leftovers but I would rather not run out!

Happy cooking and Happy New Years!

Weeks 23, 24, 25 and 26

Week 23

Major events: Got a Christmas tree, 2 Christmas parties, giant playdate with some mamas and their babies at our house, and our ACTUAL last ultrasound (they weren't able to get everything they needed at our 20 week ultrasound so we got to go back again for another look at 23 weeks!)

Size of baby: A large mango

Sleep: Waking up to pee so. many. times.

Cravings: None

Aversions: None

Movement: Yes! He is definitely becoming much more active (finally)!

Belly button in or out? In

Weight gain: 15 lbs.

Missing: Nothing really right now I suppose...

Best part of this week: Spending time with so many of my close mama friends, and getting to see our baby one last time! (Also, Ryan was supposed to be out of town all week, but ended up having to stay in town and work from home instead - so we got to be together even more than normal this week!)

Hardest part of this week: 

Looking forward to: A one-night getaway next week to San Antonio! I love the Riverwalk at Christmas!

Emotions: Happy for some cooler weather this week! Also, I just LOVE being pregnant during Advent. 

Week 24

Major events: San Antonio for a night away with my hubby! Christmas party with close friends and another Christmas party with church friends

Size of baby: An ear of corn

Sleep: The same. Nothing new or crazy.

Cravings: None

Aversions: None

Movement: Lots of movement... he is getting SO strong! Ryan has been able to feel some BIG kicks!

Belly button in or out? In, but getting strange looking...

Weight gain: 15 lbs.

Missing: Nothing?

Best part of this week: Having a semi-normal routine with more free time has been so nice...I even treated myself to a spontaneous pedicure one day while running errands (and Heidi was at MDO)! It has also been SO great getting to spend time with people I care so much about this week- our "Friends Christmas Party" and alone time with Ryan in San Antonio.

Hardest part of this week: Running got hard this week. When pregnant with Heidi, the downwards pressure resulted in feeling the urge to pee constantly during runs and some intense round ligament pain in my stomach. This time it's different. It's intense pain/cramping in front side of my lower abdomen. I would compare it to menstrual cramps but it's less achy feeling and much more painful. So painful that I can't really run at all - pregnant or not! More on this later...but I am definitely having a hard time with this right now! Hopefully it's not a permanent thing.

Looking forward to: Meeting with a birth photographer in 2 days!!

Emotions: LOVING that it's finally the Christmas season! If only we could get some weather to match that...although it's not looking promising... 

Major events: Met with a birth photographer! (She was already my favorite based on her style - but I enjoyed meeting with her and getting to know her! We will definitely be going with her... fingers crossed for a non-April-2nd baby... she has a wedding booked that day!!) Also went to a young adult Christmas get-together through a new church we have been checking out, took Heidi to look at Christmas lights and got to have lunch with 2 good high school friends, their wives and their babies! 

Size of baby: Rutabaga

Sleep: Same ole same ole.

Cravings: Nothing specific

Aversions: None

Movement:  Yes! I think he is finally getting closer to my belly button haha. He is definitely still VERY low and very much sideways in there though...Not sure when he's gonna run out of room and turn!

Belly button in or out? In

Weight gain: 15 lbs.

Missing: Beer and wine!! Since this weather has been SO disgustingly warm lately, a nice cold beer or glass of chilled white wine sounds sooo good. (I will confess that I have been allowing myself to split a beer with Ryan or have the tiniest splash of wine.)

Best part of this week: Attempted a 2 more runs this week - one of which was in the morning - and felt much better! Guess I will have to start getting off my butt and out of the house early now if I want to get it done! 

Hardest part of this week: Really struggling with the thought of not seeing my family at Christmas this year!

Looking forward to: Picking a name! I basically gave Ryan a short list of MY favorites and told him to add to it or veto but he has YET to get back to me (I am ready to start talking about and commit to names the instant I find out gender). I told him he has a deadline of January... hurry up dude! This baby isn't going to pop out and name itself!! (Ryan did tell me this week that he will tell me his thoughts on a name "sometime" between now and New Years...yay!)

Emotions: Sad this week. Feeling weird and like I just want to run away. Coming to terms with some of the painful feelings that this season seems to sometimes stir up. Also super annoyed that the weather is still so warm (80 and humid - ugh!) Have I mentioned that I don't really have any warm weather maternity clothes?! By the time May rolled around with Heidi, I was pretty much past the point of ANYTHING fitting me (even maternity stuff) and also past the point of caring. I pretty much just wore a loose skirt with a tank top every day... but it's been hard lately! I just want to wear cute tight-fitting sweaters with leggings and boots and scarves and not sweat my ASS off (I have always been a naturally hot and sweaty person as it is) but this weather is making that very difficult...

Major events: Christmas!

Size of baby: Length of a green onion

Sleep: Sleep this week has been totally hit or miss. I had 2 nights of 7+ hours STRAIGHT with NO waking up (it's a miracle!!!) followed by 2 nights of constant waking up. One night I even thought about writing down every single thing that was preventing me from sleeping at that exact moment - because there were SO many things! (Just a few of the many issues preventing me from sleeping/going back to sleep... crazy dreams, starving, have to pee, can only lay on left side comfortably - right side hurts and back and stomach is way too uncomfortable, baby is kicking a TON and is having lots of hiccup episodes keeping me awake, dogs are making a bunch of noise... the list goes on.) Heidi was very active and had lots of hiccups too, but I just don't remember her ever actually keeping me up at night like this. I have also officially reached the point where stomach sleeping (or even half-stomach sleeping) is no longer an option and rolling over and getting out of bed is becoming somewhat of a task, even though I know it gets worse...

Cravings: CHEESEBURGERS

Aversions: None

Movement: YES! He has been moving like crazy and this week was the week of the hiccups! At one point Ryan was able to not only feel each hiccup (strong jabs!) but SEE my belly twitching with each one. (He literally has hiccups as I am writing this post.)

Belly button in or out? In

Weight gain: 18 lbs.

Missing: Champagne and mimosas!!

Best part of this week: Heidi feeling the baby kick, also (kind of) picking a name... Although we haven't committed completely to spelling or a middle name yet so we will be keeping this a secret for a little while longer... but I am excited to share soon!!

Hardest part of this week: This week I have noticed that physical movements are become much more uncomfortable... and by that I mean movements that require some "squishing". Putting on my shoes is starting to feel gross as is anything that I have to bend over to get. I have also been struggling with the running situation a lot this week - it's been so hard! (But I finally had a GREAT 6 mile run!)

Looking forward to: Now that the holidays are almost over, I am excited to finally shift my focus on preparing (physically) for baby boy! 

Emotions: Lots of emotions this week... ups and downs...many of them pertaining to the holiday season.

Christmas Season Pain

Is this season a time of joy or a time of pain for you? This Christmas will probably be the hardest one of my life to date. Often, if feels like more than I can physically and emotionally bear. It's too much for me. I have spent the last month begging Ryan to just let us leave. To spend Christmas away from here so that I don't have to face it. (And to be honest, there is still a part of me holding out that maybe tomorrow we will just pack up and peace out of Houston.) If this time of year brings you anything BUT joy (and a little "healthy" amount of stress) and you just feel like telling someone about it, I would love to chat with you and hear all about it.

This prayer from church this past Sunday helped me a lot. Helped me to not feel quite so alone. And even though I still want nothing more than to run...at least there is hope in Jesus Christ.

"Sometimes we miss the Christmas season. There’s a lot of joy, a lot of excitement, a lot of anticipation for the good good things. One thing that we tend to forget, in the Old Testament between Genesis and Exodus, there were 400 years that passed and for that time God’s people were in slavery. Between the Old and New Testament, another 400 years and God’s people were basically in slavery in Rome in their own land. During those times when they thought of anticipating the coming of the Messiah, it was for freedom. It was that the suffering would end. So often at Christmas we know this can be a lonely and sad time for many people. We know some of those people personally. For many of us, it’s a time that brings great joy and we should celebrate that. It’s amazing and we are blessed to feel that way. For others, the coming of the Messiah means that there’s hope. There’s hope that it won’t always be that way. There’s hope that this broken world we’re in might change…

…Maybe you’re in that time of joy and everything is as it should be and hallelujah. Hallelujah! But maybe you or somebody you know might not be feeling that way this Christmas and maybe we can pray for them. Maybe we can sing these words for them that they would anticipate the coming of the Messiah because it would be a time for hope. A time that assures them that it won’t always be this way…

Father we are grateful, so grateful for the promise of your coming and your coming again. This world is broken, this world has so many problems but you are good and you have promised your salvation. You’ve promised deliverance from all the things that are broken in this world. So Father we love you. We are excited to celebrate your coming. We pray for those who aren’t feeling the excitement and the love this season. We pray that you would show it to them in an amazing way."

- Chad Erb

Thank you for this prayer Chad.

Advent Pregnancy Thoughts

How incredible is it that God has allowed us to play a tiny role in creation? The ability that He has given to women to grow, carry and birth another human life into this world astounds me and I do feel so privileged (dare I say "blessed"?) that he has assigned this role to me. I love every moment when my babies are still inside of me - going everywhere I go, doing everything I do. Feeling another life constantly moving inside of you is beyond words. It's so comforting and truly a physical reminder of God's presence within yourself. What an amazing thing it is to be pregnant?! I could do this forever (although I won't...maybe.)

Being pregnant during Advent always allows me to go deeper. What was it like for Mary when Jesus started getting stronger and stronger in her womb - when she started to see his kicks and jabs from the outside? Did she ever call Joseph over to place his hand on her belly to feel Him flipping around inside of her? It's something my mind can hardly even wrap itself around - conceived to the purity of a virgin by the Holy Spirit and carried in the womb for 9 months. Born inside a stable. The anticipation must have been unbearable. What will he look like? Will he cry? What will be his first word? Where will he take his first steps? What will he have to do to bear the weight of the worlds sins and save us all from eternal death? We SO anticipate the celebration of Christ's arrival into this world, from womb to hay and loving arms each year. Because without this story there would be no hope for us. No promise of eternal life. This story is everything. I pray that you have time to slow down this year (and every year) to reflect on what this season is about and lose focus on the World's definition of it.

To those other mamas who are anxiously awaiting the arrival of their new tiny lives - I think of you often! And to all of my friends who are struggling with infertility I am praying for YOU. Know that you are not alone. Even though many of you suffer silently and no one is even aware of the pain in your heart... You are not alone. God IS with you. Even when it feels like He's not.

Weeks 20, 21 and 22

Week 20

Major events: Potty training!! (More on this later... after 3 days of hardcore work we aren't quite there yet but getting close for sure!) Road trip to San Antonio (without daddy) to spend a few days with a friend and her 2 little ones!

Size of baby: Length of a banana

Sleep: Never great but fine. I think I have "gotten used to" (as much as anyone can) not sleeping for longer than 4 hour stretches or so.

Cravings: Nope!

Aversions: Still salmon and other fish (especially the smell)

Movement: Yes. Baby is still so low!

Belly button in or out? In

Weight gain: 12 lbs.

Missing: Nothing.

Best part of this week: Spending so much quality time with my good friend! (Also, Heidi made it an hour and a half in the car with no accidents, then asked to potty. I pulled off at a gas station and she went in her potty!)

Hardest part of this week: Potty training is hard work - but you have to put in the time if you want to see results. It's definitely not something you can lazily half-heartedly do if you want to be successful. 

Looking forward to: Thanksgiving AND Christmas!

Emotions: Happy!

Week 21

Major events: BUCKLE UP. These few weeks were nuts! Came back in town from SA (Thursday); Heidi had an allergic reaction to a cashew the evening we got back home; The following morning (Friday) I had my 21 week dr appt.; that afternoon we left for Shiner, Texas for the night; RAN A HALF MARATHON the next morning (Saturday); Back to Houston that afternoon; The next day (Sunday) my Mom came into town for the week that; my birthday (Wednesday) - last year of being in my 20s...yikes! Then my sister and her hubby coming into town that evening! Whew!!

Size of baby: Length of a carrot

Sleep: The same.

Cravings: None

Aversions: Salmon/fish

Movement: Yes! Although baby is still waaaay below my belly button.

Belly button in or out? In

Weight gain: 12 lbs.

Missing: Nothing!

Best part of this week: Running my second fastest half marathon!

Hardest part of this week: Being so crazy; also Heidi's allergic reaction... it was not SUPER severe but it's still hard coming to terms with the possibility of Heidi being an "allergy kid" for the rest of her life. 

Looking forward to: Turkey trot 2K15!!

Emotions: Ready to slow down...!

Major events: Thanksgiving

Size of baby: Spaghetti squash

Sleep: Mediocre...haven't had much time to sleep so that has made sleep even harder to come by!

Cravings: None

Aversions: Salmon/fish

Movement: Yes, lots of kicks and squirms although at this point he seems much less consistent than Heidi was

Belly button in or out? In!

Weight gain: 12 lbs.

Missing: Nothing comes to mind

Best part of this week: Had a fabulous day going out to lunch and running errands with my sister! Also, sharing baby kicks with family is always the best. 

Hardest part of this week: Not having much time to slow down, get sleep and relax!

Looking forward to: CHRISTMAS SEASON!!! Getting our house back in order after being gone for 6 days followed by having company for 11 days which will be followed immediately by decorating for Christmas!!!!

Emotions: Stressed! Ready to relax and enjoy the Advent and Christmas season!

Weeks 17, 18 and 19

Week 17

(No picture this week!) 

Major events: Ryan's sister's wedding

Size of baby: Turnip

Sleep: I would say bad, however at this point I am still able to sleep on my back AND my stomach. When I was pregnant with Heidi, I made an effort to get into the habit of NOT sleeping on my back from the very beginning. (It is bad for pregnant women to sleep on their backs past 16 weeks because the baby presses on a major vein that returns blood from the lower part of your body - this in turn can cause a decrease in circulation to the baby and placenta. Yikes!) Even though if you wake up on your back "don't panic it's no big deal" just roll over...so they say. I think that by always having this in the back of my mind with Heidi, I cheated myself out of some crucial Zzzs...This time around, I'm just trying to focus on what's comfortable. I think I was also scared with Heidi to sleep on my belly starting pretty early on... but that is still comfortable to me at this point so I'll keep doing it until it's not. So currently, the only thing keeping me from GOOD sleep is just waking up to pee all the time. Now that we are in the second half of the pregnancy though, I'm guessing the restlessness will start to increase soon enough... especially when baby presses down on my back too much and I get too big to sleep on my belly. I'll enjoy all the sleep I can get now while I still can!

Cravings: None

Aversions: Fish fish fish. No thank you!

Movement: YES!! And Ryan felt the baby move for the first time too - week 17 day 5! That's always THE best. 

Belly button in or out? In

Weight gain: 10 lbs.

Missing: Not much really...

Best part of this week: Ryan feeling baby move for the first time!

Hardest part of this week: 11 mile weekday run that was pretty brutal... I had a brief scare during the run and almost had to stop! Around mile 9 or so, I felt what is best described as a "zinger"... it was a strange pain that started in my back and wrapped around to my front. I know what you're thinking! Had it lasted a half a second longer or if I had felt it again I would have for SURE stopped my run completely. But since it literally came and went in less than half a second (really - it was that quick!) I decided to keep going. Maybe I just stepped wrong or something like that. I can confidently say with 110% certainty that was the first feeling I have ever felt that I know without a doubt I would not be comfortable just "running through". I am so glad it did not return - and hasn't since!

Looking forward to: Spending time with my college BFF/roommate/soulmate next week!!

Emotions: So happy to be pregnant and that this pregnancy has been so easy (so far)!

Week 18

(No picture again - sorry!)

Major events: Halloween; a friends brunch wedding in Beaumont (babies FOURTH wedding already! He has also worked one with me too - just like Heidi did when she was in there!)

Size of baby:  Bell pepper

Sleep: Not awesome but could be worse I suppose...

Cravings: None.

Aversions: Any sort of fishy smell - yuck

Movement: Yes, some... but this little guy is SO inconsistent! I am hoping that he's just such a laid back dude that he's just chillin in there most of the time, hangin out being calm and relaxed ;). (It makes sense now that Heidi was so crazy when she was in there...bc she's such a maniac now!) Fingers crossed his personality IN the womb will reflect his personality OUT of the womb (and maybe reflective of how labor will go??? One can dream...)

Belly button in or out? In

Weight gain: 10 lbs.

Missing: Champagne

Best part of this week: Seeing how CUTE my little angel was dressed up as a friendly ghost for Halloween! And hanging out with Jenny and Matt!

Hardest part of this week: Lots of pressure, cramping and pain from my growing stretching uterus. 

Looking forward to: Ultrasound next week!

Emotions: Feeling good!

Major events: Last ultrasound!! Stella's 1st birthday party; met with a potential doula!

Size of baby: Heirloom tomato

Sleep: Blegh

Cravings: None

Aversions: Fish

Movement: Yes! But still quite inconsistent...

Belly button in or out? In

Weight gain: 10 lbs.

Missing: Breathing. Not being sick.

Best part of this week: Seeing our baby boy for a long time at our ultrasound!

Hardest part of this week: BEING SICK!!!! Heidi and I BOTH got sick and it. was. ROUGH. Heidi has had a runny nose for about a week and a half (which is definitely NOT like her - she never has a snotty face). I was kind of feeling some sinus stuff too, so I just thought maybe it was allergies?? (despite the fact that I am pretty much NEVER bothered by allergies). Well on Saturday, Heidi started having a lot of chest congestion and a cough. It didn't seem like anything serious so I was just going to let it run it's course (in our house, we don't rush to the doctor and get on meds unless we really need to). Well... Monday morning Heidi just kept on sleeping. Finally around 10am I decided I needed to go wake her up. Let's just say...a HUGE bath and a set of fresh sheets were what happened next. That was enough for me to call the Dr. ASAP to try and get her in. All the while... I am also feeling like crap. I do not take any medications during pregnancy so I had no relief :(. At least Heidi got on antibiotics! However, pretty much the rest of the week was spent hanging out in the living room together as Heidi did not go to MDO...it took the whole week for us to start feeling like life was getting back to normal again. That was one rough week!! 

Looking forward to: Spending time with family over Thanksgiving! Turkey trot! Yay!

Emotions: Sad that this pregnancy is going by so fast! Slow down time!! 

It's A . . . !! (Gender Reveal - And How Do We Feel About It?!)

After we found out the gender of baby #2, we took Heidi out to an area near our house to take a few pictures. They actually turned out pretty good for just being iPhone pics ;).

ITS A BOY!!!! We are definitely excited to be welcoming a baby boy into our lives. But I have to say - I was not exactly expecting this! Not because I had some big mommy instinct telling me I was going to have another girl, but just because having a little sister is the only thing that I know! I just expected Heidi to have the same. Ryan is also not one of those guys who is all "I have to have a son!" so we were both in the mode where we were almost assuming (dare I say hoping?!) it was another girl because that's what we are already familiar with. I'll be totally honest here - I am slightly terrified at the thought of having a boy. "Oh, but they are so much easier" they will all say... But I have zero brothers, zero boy cousins... NO experience with little boys whatsoever. I am pretty put off by the thought of tiny weiners, all of those baby erections and all that junk flying around all the time. That all sounds extremely disturbing to me. I'm sure once he is here all of that will be no big deal... but until then I will stress out all I want! Heidi has also been an extremely easy baby and although she is quite the maniac, she does not have the destructive, rambunctious, out of control wild tendencies that little boys have. How am I going to handle being a boy mom?? I have absolutely loved being a girl mom more than anything!!

I knew that we would have a son at some point in our lives, I just wasn't sure when that would be... and this does seem sooner than expected (or at least sooner than I expected). I am not sad at the fact of having a boy, but I am sad that Heidi will not have that closeness with her (potential) future sister(s) that I have with mine. I LOVE being so close in age with my sister and now I fear that Heidi will not know what that's like. I'm sure she will love her little brother and I hope that they are close friends for life. But brother/sister relationships are not the same as same gender sibling relationships. Sure there is less competition, less arguing over sharing barbies and (maybe) less dramatic fighting during those high school years... I just hope that when the time does come for Heidi to have a sister that they aren't so far apart in age where they can't share things. Share phases of life, similar life experiences, share friends, BE good friends...best friends...and not just siblings.

I did however grow up on a street FULL of boys. I grew up playing tackle football in the front yard, street hockey in the street and always being a sweaty little girl with no shoes on...I loved collecting bugs, lizards, frogs, etc...I'm not afraid of snakes, rodents or insects (unless it's a roach. Gross!) Guns, swords and other weapons, power rangers and the like were all a big part of my childhood. In elementary school Santa even brought me a set of toy cars with racetrack included.  As much as I love the girly things in life now, since probably the age of about 6, I was always extremely proud that I was not a girly girl. I think I was the son my father never had. So perhaps, Heidi having a bother will help her to develop into a girl who doesn't mind getting dirty. A little girl who is excited to go outside and collect all of the snails that she possibly can, who is not afraid to hold that boa constrictor on her shoulders or who enjoys playing boy video games. It makes me happy thinking about Heidi playing with her brother and all of his friends.

I am 150% certain that once he is here, everything will feel so perfect. Until then, it IS difficult thinking about what it will be like to change things up (gender-wise) completely! (No more cute little baby girl dresses, sparkly shoes or adorable headbands :( !!) As soon as he is here, all of those fears, anxieties and uncertainties will melt away and I can't wait to see how our family dynamic changes and grows into a family of 4.

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!

1st Trimester Recap - Wells

My first trimester was uneventful. I mean extremely uneventful. It was... quite boring really. Even if I tried, I don't think I have enough "material" to fill each week with, which I suppose is actually a very good thing. Although, a small part of me does wish that there were exciting weekly changes, riveting updates and happenings. But honestly, just a few small changes and symptoms to note. So rather than do my normal thing with writing about each week separately, for the first trimester I will just document those few little changes I have been going through over the past 10ish weeks or so.

So here's a few things that I have noticed...

- I forgot how SOON the whole "having to pee every hour" thing starts! Literally DAY 1 of being pregnant, I was already getting up at least once per night, usually more. (Blood begins to flow much faster through your kidneys. This is also due to the increase in blood volume - your body goes into overdrive immediately to begin filtering all of the extra blood. Pregnant women have about 50% more blood than they did prior to becoming pregnant!) Baby also is surprisingly WAY low at this point - We actually had a hard time finding baby's heartbeat at my 12 week appt. because he/she was practically inside of my bladder. Maybe, if I'm lucky, I will get a little bit of relief as baby grows up and out of my pelvis... although I will never be ungrateful for low low babies!

- No nausea, morning sickness, cravings or aversions. I have had moments of feeling yucky, but nothing major. (Feelings of general crappiness, but not really able to put my finger on any sort of specific source. Just moments of feeling gross.) I do HATE the smell of fish and can hardly stand it when we are preparing even simple things like salmon. *GAG*

- I have noticed that with this pregnancy, I have been much more moody early on than before (or at least, if I was this moody with my first pregnancy I was unaware of it ;)...sorry Ryan!) Luckily I think (??) this seems to have somewhat balanced out...maybe...hopefully. 

- Vivid dreams. MAN those hormones make my dreams INSANE. This also makes it difficult to feel well rested when I wake up because often I am so stressed out in my sleep!

- I have been very tired. Quite exhausted. However, at this point it is hard for me to really know how much being pregnant is contributing to this and how much it is just being a person. I mean, isn't everyone tired all the time?

- Stomach cramps - this time my growing and stretching uterus hurts. You would think after doing this already the thing would just know what to do no problem, but I can definitely feel the pain and discomfort of it growing and stretching. Subsequently, the pressure from my uterus has also cause a LOT of intestinal discomfort. Almost on a daily basis, I get intense intestinal cramps - it always feels like I have major indigestion and am about to be sick. Fortunately, this is not ACTUALLY the case... but it sure sucks.

- Right around the 12 week mark, I noticed that increase in mucus production as I started to feel my nasal passage swell at night time, making it much harder to breathe when I sleep or am lying down. 

- The "fun" pregnancy hormones have also made their comeback sometime during the 3rd month of pregnancy so yes, I now have the sex drive of a 12 year old boy again. Party time.

- Also, those suuuper sore, painful tender growing breasts that happened during my first pregnancy are not there (making my runs much more comfortable hah!) They have definitely already increased drastically in size and occasionally I will notice the tiniest amount of soreness, but for the most part I have had no discomfort in that area. 

- It's also very strange to realize (again) how LONG it takes to start showing! With minimal nausea and other pregnancy symptoms, I really have hardly felt pregnant at all. I am still maintaining a normal activity level (running/training for a half marathon, yoga, etc.) diet, etc. I feel almost completely myself 90% of the time. 

- With regards to activity level/running... Now that I have been through this once before, I feel so much more confident during my runs. I know that I am/would be able to differentiate between normal aches/cramps/discomfort and if something were to feel wrong or that I needed to stop. For me, this means continuing to push myself. I am comfortable still focusing on speed, setting pace goals, etc. With my first pregnancy, I just went as fast or slow as I wanted and just focused on completing my runs. I must say... I feel amazing. My training for this half is going just as well (better actually) than most of my past non-pregnant half marathons. I am excited to see how these next few months go! (More on this later!) Yoga has been so nice also because I don't have to worry about modifications or not being able to bend in the middle yet...it's only a matter of time though so I'm trying to enjoy a squishy mid-section as much as I can right now!

So that's that! Nothing crazy. Grateful that I have been able to enjoy this time and take advantage of our limited time as a family of 3. It's already going by so fast! Slow down time!!

First glance of Baby K #2 at 9 weeks.

13 week pic of baby.