Full term... and then some!

Let's do some catching up on bump pictures! I'm going to go ahead and update through right now! I am currently 38 weeks pregnant.... just a couple of days shy of the same gestation MK was when she was born.... the excitement! The anticipation! The PRESSURE.... on my pelvis that is lol.

Overall this pregnancy has been pleasant with the occasion aches and pains. This Little man is so insanely active, sometimes it feels like he's going to bust right through my belly!! I do recall feeling like McKenna was active, but I definitely think this guy's got some bigger, more intense moves.

Sleep has been difficult.  And I've started to get the night sweats... something that plagued me immensely post-partum with McKenna and this is just a lovely reminder of what's likely to come!

Let's take our stroll down memory lane of the last couple of months. Kinda crazy to scroll quickly through them and watch it GRRRRRROOOOOOWWWWW!!!

Not sure what happened here, but we had the case of the missing shirt! I loved this blue shirt that we were using for Bump Updates. It was so soft and stretchy.... but I swear the three of us searched for a cumulative hour for it before giving up! Luckily I had a semi-decent replacement, a navy maternity shirt.  It will still bug me forever that we couldn't maintain the blue shirt, but life goes on!

Having a child during the pregnancy process is such a dramatic change from the first time. Things just aren't as apparent or at least as front and center. But having a little one to experience it all with is incredible! McKenna has been a part of the process the entire time. She has only grown more and more involved and excited about Little Man joining the family. She sings to him at bedtime every night, says she wants to change diapers, and asks when he's coming every day.  While there's no telling how our family will adjust when he finally gets here, we are soaking up our time together now while also looking forward to our new little addition!

Through 24 weeks!

This is around the time panic sets in. Out of nowhere I feel like I have ran out of time! Of course, there is still plenty of time, but when there's more pregnancy behind you than there is in front of you it starts to feel like you need to begin getting ready.

Overall the last few weeks I have felt great physically! Obviously I've got quite a few chalkboard pics to be sharing in this post! Boy has this blog morphed from when I blogged pregnant with MK. Let's just say life is just a smidge busier, but I'm so happy that we've made the effort to keep up with these pictures!

WEEK 20

Energy: Up until this time I have been able to plug away throughout the day as normal. The last couple of days I've been hitting an energy wall right around dinner time. I think I may need to start keeping tabs on when I'm overdoing it and pausing to give myself a rest.

Movement: I'm not sure this little guy EVER sleeps. All day long I feel him thumping around in there. But the hiccups. oh the hiccups. I vaguely recall enjoying them during my pregnancy with MK? But this little man's hiccups feel like a clicking sensation in my belly, and truth be told, it is super annoying!

WEEK 21

Cravings: Sweets. Sweets. Sweets. always. my love.  Kevin just changed the name of the game by starting to make homemade milkshakes.... they are amazing and they hit the Satisfaction button head on!

Sleep: I have been turning on meditation tracks to fall asleep and I swear they have helped me sleep better throughout the night.  I have yet to recall making it to the end of a single session because I'm always out before the end of it.... which is rare because I am a HORRID sleeper! I have woken up a few times with the start of Charlie Horses (which I was just reading back in my blog and I guess I had them with McKenna too). Of course, drinking water helps it out, but it's a delicate balance to avoid being up all night peeing!!!

WEEK 22

Week 22 was a particularly special one because it landed on MKs birthday. I love she loves to participate in our chalkboards every week, and she was super proud for this one!

Weight: Not sure where I'm at now, but between my last 2 midwife appts I had gained SIX pounds in a month! That's a record for me for any month I've been preggers. I'd like to say I've been trying to make sure I exercise more regularly or cut out more of Kevin's milkshakes, but that would be a lie.


WEEK 23

Position: Baby P is still insanely low! I can feel his little arms rolling around what feels like right above my pubic bone. It's killer on my bladder, but I'm just telling myself if he stays that low he is that much closer to the EXIT!!!

WEEK 24

Another "special" week... chalkboard day landed on Chief's 11th birthday. Makes me feel bad that we weren't even in town for Boog's 10th birthday a month ago, but he make sure to get plenty his share of attention.

I'm really starting to feel LARGE. Comparing bellies at this point is a bit intimidating too! My belly is definitely larger this go around. Just taking it week by week and focusing on the excitement that is ahead of us!

Week 17, Week 18, Week 19

Week 17

Not a whole lot to say week to week as there was last time.  Life has carried on a bit more, crazier of course, and Little Man just gets to come along for the ride! So you'll likely begin to see more of these combined chalkboard updates... I just can't keep up with it all!

Baby Boy is the size of a Turnip!

Energy: Energy has been great for me! I've been plugging away with life per usual.  My motivation for exercise is moderate.... I'm getting it in 3-4 times a week.  It's more about timing for me. It's definitely not the same as my pregnancy with MK-- I was up and out every morning with her. It's much different this time around!

Movement: Little man is getting busier and busier in there! Feeling flops and rolls already!

Weight: We don't own a scale in the house. I don't believe I did for MK either so I'm not sure how or why I would update on this... but I can speak of water retention and water weight.  Just like with MK, my rings just randomly slip off.  I don't know what it is with how my body adjusts to pregnancy, but it seems to just want to dump as much water out of me as it can (IN THE FORM OF PEEING MULTIPLE TIMES AN HOUR ALL DAY).


Week 18

Week 18 was a particularly exciting week! I've been feeling movements for a few weeks now, but just in the last week or so have I started feeling movements on the outside. I had tried to get Kevin to feel something several times, and it's always ended up with silence and stillness (to which is an awkward pulling of the hand away to continue doing what we were doing). BUT he finally felt him! And it wasn't just a kick, it was a big old roll. Now when I alert Little Man is awake, he can put his hand on my belly and feel him most of the time.

Energy:  My Christmas gift from kevin this year ended up being a package for prenatal yoga classes. I won't be able to make it every week because it's about a 30 minute drive, but I definitely think it will be super helpful as I get bigger and wider! Typically I aim for more power/strenuous yoga classes, but this one is all about breathing, relaxation, and stretching. It was wonderful.  I also had never been in a room with more pregnant women at once!! (There were 25 in this class!!!).

Nursery: We snatched a sit-and-stand stroller that is compatible with the infant carseat we already had from MK. This was our first big purchase for Little Man! I showed it to McKenna and she is STOKED to have a big seat in the back.  Win Win.

Cravings: Sweets, sweets, sweets.  But this really isn't much different than when I'm not pregnant.  Oh.. and just in general, I Cant. Stop. Eating.


Week 19

McKenna felt Baby Brother move today!! It's been a long couple of weeks of having her run to put her hand on my belly and wait, but the patience just isn't there. I know they'll be movement when her hand is there, but she's fidgeting and chatting so much that she just couldn't connect with the movements.  We've joked that Baby Brother is playing hide and seek. But today, there was no denying that foot that bonked her!

Nursery: We finally bought a crib! I've spent weeks digging through websites and swip swaps. It's been weighing on me whether to go "all out" or just get it done and make it wonderful. Ultimately, we decided to go with a more inexpensive crib.  This is the only kid that's going to use it, honestly, we just didn't feel like it needed to be over the top!  It hasn't come in yet, so let me get it built before I truly form an opinion :P.

Sleep: I feel like I'm getting "fine" sleep. I don't think any preggo woman would say she sleeps great, but I'm not going to complain about it... this week anyway. I officially sleep with a body pillow and a pillow behind me so I am barricaded in place. 

Position:  This Little Man is SOOOOOOO LOW. Like, he is all uterus. Way lower than MK ever was. As is stands, he is not high enough for anyone to attempt to feel him without being inappropriate. Every time he kicks or moves I feel pressure on my bladder.

With next week being officially HALFWAY, I'll probably pull out some of MKs belly pics and look at some comparisons. I can't wait to look at the differences!

Week 16: AvoCado and Christmas

Week of Christmas!! Always excitement! Always exhaustion! And the sass was strong in the little one... but the sweetness was as well, as usual. She wanted pictures of her with the chalkboard. She did not want to take one WITH me.... and she did not want any taken OF me. Oh 3 years. At least we still had some beauties of that perfect little face.

 

 I'm not sure who would mind with that sweet stinkin' face.
 

Movement:  I can still feel movements. They just seem so insanely low! My belly in general seems to be sitting lower than with McKenna.  Maybe it's just my poor ab muscles that never returned to their original pre-children form.

Energy: Our whole house hit an energy wall after Christmas traveling and late night gift opening. We literally ate and watched Christmas movies all Christmas Day long.  All three of us would have definitely ended up sick had we had anything planned.  But it was the most wonderful Christmas Day ever!  This is literally the only Family shot we have from the day, and it describes our day perfectly: couch and matching pjs!

Oddities: I have had an eye twitch for going on like 3-4 weeks now.  It's insane! and insanely annoying!! It is literally multiple times a day, and distracts me when I'm speaking to someone.  Midwife said there's really not underlying concern so it's just one of those random pregnancy things that makes no sense.  

Weight: Still the same since the  beginning. Pretty crazy, but I guess the ebbs and flows of my nausea and terrible dieting along with my inconsistent workouts really have my body confused.. Thank goodness for prenatals!!

Nursery:  IS OFFICIALLY EMPTY! Now I don't know what to do with the room!

Sleep:  It's been getting more difficult.  Dreams have been picking up and becoming more intense, which tells me my quality of sleep is definitely declining.  Kevin surprised me with a pregnancy pillow for Christmas, after a couple of nights sleeping with it I decided it's just not for me. Same thing happened with my MK pregnancy... though with that one I just assumed it was a poor quality pillow. This was a good one and it just is still too confining for me.  I'm giving a generic body pillow a try and we'll see if that helps me out at all!

Looking forward to:  Still looking forward to McKenna and Kevin feeling Little Man move! This is the most impatient I've felt about anything!

And a picture of McKenna from Christmas Day trying out her new scooter.

Week 15: Disney Update

Amazing is an understatement to describe the coincidence of this week update.

We've had this trip planned for a few months, possibly even prior to getting preggers. So there's no way we could have planned for this crazy coincidence.

Week 15 for McKenna:

Week 15 for Little Man:

That's right.  We just so happened to be at Disney World for the same stinking week for each pregnancy!! How cool is that??!!

Of course McKenna needed to be included for one...

And then we had to visit our favorite cast member in all of Walt Disney World to share the news with her!

We have visited the British Pub for most major Milestones in our life together: we went there while we were dating, when we got engaged, when we were honeymooning, every anniversary, when we were trying for McKenna, when we were trying for little man (yup, the Disney Pixie Dust runs through both of the kiddos!!). You name it, Carol has sang a song about it! Some I remember, most I do not.  Cheers for Carol and Disney MAGIC!!

Week 14: The FIST?

It feels good for the news to be out and to be able to admit to people I'm exhausted and emotional. The holidays were kicking in right around 14 weeks, and I was all in on bringing the holiday spirit to our house!!

We giggled for this chalkboard, looking back at the "fruit/veggie" updates.... why in the world did we choose FIST for this week? Regardless now, we committed to doing the same updates that we did with McKenna! :)

One thing we've had fun doing it including McKenna in a picture for the updates.. I think there's a couple that were missed, because, #toddler, but they have been fun to include her!

Cravings: Daddy has done a pretty spot on job of keeping my sweet tooth satisfied! The single serving of chocolate cake from Publix is AMAZING. I'm salivating thinking about it.

Movement: I've definitely felt movement pick up a bit by this point. Most often right after dinner and early evening time.

Weight:  I still have not gained or lost any weight since our initial visit.

Energy: It's slowly coming back! MK has been motivating me and we've been doing workouts from YouTube while she stacks couch cushions and avoids an Emergency Room visit.  ANYTHING for mama to burn some calories!!

Looking forward to: McKenna and Kevin feeling baby move!

First Trimester Shenanigans

It's amazing how different the pregnancy experience can really be from kid to kid.  To put it simply, I had not prepared myself in the slightest for the nausea that I have experienced during this pregnancy. Called "morning sickness", I was typically OK during the first parts of the day as long as I ate steadily.  It wasn't until right around the time I would start thinking about preparing dinner, my witching hour.... aka my body bitching hour!  The time I get nauseous is the time I have to cook food that I was more likely not even going to eat. Another difference this time around, having another little human that still needed to be fed regardless of whether you were going to eat or not.

I will try to roll through these chalkboard pictures quickly! For the most part, my symptoms remained constant: nausea, exhaustion, and periodic indigestion.  My nose has been pretty sensitive to food smells, so I spent most of the trimester downing Saltines like none other. My weight has pretty much remained constant throughout thus far.

It was nice to have a chalkboard handy this time around thanks to our toddler.  These first few weeks she was completely clueless to what we were drawing and why we were taking pictures!

One thing different this time around was me wearing the same clothes for every weekly chalkboard. I did try to pick some more forgiving fabrics.... only time will tell if they will survive!!!

We told McKenna about the pregnancy around 10.5 weeks. We were surprised how well she kept our little secret, and she was absolutely over the moon with the news. You'll likely see a subsequent post for that experience :-)

It might seem insanely early, but I was most definitely feeling flutters around 11 weeks! I felt movement relatively early with McKenna, and they say that you can feel movements earlier with subsequent pregnancies.

We found out it was a BOY right before 13 weeks. It was awesome to be able to share the gender of the baby at the same time we announced the baby!

At the beginning of the first trimester, I thought there was no way that I was going to be able to make it without letting the cat out of the bag.  We were just around way more people for this pregnancy, and my little bump was definitely showing earlier this time around.

Energy:  Low.  Exercise was very difficult to come by, especially with a toddler that really doesn't want to hang in the stroller anymore!

Looking forward to: McKenna and Kevin feeling the baby move!

Baby P #2 Set to arrive June 2018

It's been 11 months since I posted an update.  Life happens, and you have to make priorities, and unfortunately blogging about "life" did not come in at the top.  But I'm here for a very important reason!

We are expecting our SECOND baby! I would love to keep it at a simple "We are all thrilled," and we ARE, but the amount of joy that McKenna has for her future sibling is indescribable. Literally no words. To the point of almost bringing me to tears daily because of how much the emotions well up in me. She kisses my belly, hugs my belly, listens to my belly, talks to my belly, blows raspberries on my belly. She's even gone through toys that she's going to let her baby brother have.

THAT'S RIGHT.... IT'S A BOY!

We were given a hard time that it was likely another girl because at our first ultrasound Baby's heart rate was 190 bpm!!! (The wives tale is high heart rates are girls, which was certainly true for MK who peaked at one point at 200!)

We did the genetic blood testing again this time around and were able to find out the gender right around 11 weeks. No special gender reveal or anything for us, a phone call from the nurse saying our results came back low risk for everything, and oh yeah it's a boy.

I really want to do my best to do pregnancy updates like I did with my pregnancy with McKenna.  Things might be different, but I want them both to be able to look back and see what Mama endured to bring them into this world! Maybe even compare who was rougher on me :P. Luckily we started our chalkboard updates the same week that we started McKenna's, and we will be doing the exact same fruits that we did for her :).

As I type I am 14 weeks on the dot. Today is the first official day of the Second Trimester.  Granted all of my struggles of the first trimester began to improve a couple of weeks ago, it's been a slow progress. I'll write a separate post to recap my first trimester to help split this up.

But I'll end this post with a family shot of us.

Halloween 2017: The Three Caballeros