The (second) Big Fat First Trimester Post

YAY! So we can finally talk pregnancy on here – are you guys excited? I sure hope so, because some of the posts I love reading the most are about what’s going on in the everyday life of a blogger. Y’all, pregnancy is amazing (note I didn’t say it FELT amazing) in the way that it brings me closer to the Lord and closer to the ones I love. I feel all the emotions these days, but I count that as such a blessing!

 

The above photo is basically what I’ve looked like every day for the past 10 weeks: tired, make-up free, kinda green, but happy. And I won’t lie, it’s been hard chasing a super active toddler around for hours when all I want to do it hide in my room and sleep, but I’m so thankful for the time I get to spend with him. I love the posts that Madison has been doing with her weekly updates, so I’m going to apply that (loosely) to this big fat post, and then (hopefully) weekly from now on. Yay bullet points!

 

HOW FAR ALONG ARE YOU? Today marks the beginning of our 14th week, AKA the second trimester. It was on this exact day in my pregnancy with Wes that I started feeling better, so let’s all cross our fingers and say a little prayer that that’s the case this time around?

 

GENERALLY FEELING: Pretty good when I’m around other people (the distraction is good!), pretty icky when we’re home and I can actually feel the sickness. Want to know what pregnancy sickness feels like? This article pretty much nails it. I haven’t thrown up, but there have been times of dry heaving and many, many tears. And I realize I have it a lot easier than some women for which I am very thankful, but thinking that doesn’t keep the nausea at bay. Last Monday I felt fantastic, but it must have been a blip because it’s been more of the same since.

 

SHOWING? Actually, yes! I admit I’m a little torn here. On one hand it’s nice to actually feel like I look pregnant, but it took me a MUCH longer time to show the first time around. I think I started showing around 22 weeks the first time, and had people asking me at 13 weeks this time. Regardless there is a little bump and I love the reason why it’s there!

 

CRAVINGS? Before the sickness hit I was all over huge salads with loads of jalapenos. I mean LOADS of them – I couldn’t get enough! The second the sickness hit though it’s been chicken and rice almost every night for dinner. I hate eating it, but I can’t imagine cooking anything else when I feel as gross as I do. The other day I was at the store and saw a pineapple, and ever since then I’ve been having green smoothies with tons of spinach and pineapple in them…and it’s kind of heavenly. If I had a better blender I’d probably have them 3 times a day!  Other than that I’ve been eating Fage Greek yogurt (all of the others taste like death to me right now), anything orange (carrots, sweet potatoes, mangos, oranges, peaches, nectarines) and drinking ICE COLD water. If it’s not ice cold I can’t even handle it. And I absolutely despise Mexican food right now, which you guys KNOW is so not me, and I can tell you is the exact opposite of my pregnancy with Wes.

 

WEIGHT GAIN: Not even going there. I don’t look at the scale, and the only thing the doctor has told me is that I’ve lost weight but not in a dangerous way.

 

FEARS: I try not to focus on these, but there’s of course always a fear that we’ll lose the baby. When you’re pregnant after a miscarriage I don’t think that fear will ever go away, although I know that if it happened I would survive. That the baby’s legacy would bring encouragement and love and JESUS to other women who go through the same thing. But it’s still a fear. And when you’re pregnant people always like to tell horror stories of things that happened to their friends…late miscarriage, still birth, the baby dying in labor, SIDS. I think the reality is that when you subject yourself to the incredible gift of motherhood at any stage you’re opening up your heart more than what’s comfortable. There’s always a chance of loss, whether in utero or with the baby in your arms. It’s a chance we take, a step of faith, but one that is so incredibly worth it.

 

LOOKING FORWARD TO: Finding out the gender! With Wes I felt like it made me feel so much closer to him, and I just love learning any little bit about this sweet child that I can. Plus any time I get to hear the heartbeat and/or see the little nugget is good. But ultimately I’m really looking forward to giving birth and having the little one in my arms.

 

WHAT I’VE BEEN LOVING: I’ve been going through pregnancy with some really amazing friends, which has been fun. The last time I was pregnant I didn’t have any friends who were pregnant too, which was kind of lonely. This time it feels like I’m finding out daily that a friend is pregnant too! I’ve also been really enjoying The Pregnancy Companion – I can’t recommend this book enough. Truly fantastic!

 

SLEEP: I’ve been having some insomnia which is a whole new ballgame for me. Not a fan. With Wes I slept like a baby, but this time around I wake up at the drop of a hat and have to pee all the time. Hopefully that will get better?

 

MATERNITY CLOTHES: A loooooooooong time ago I found this dress at Old Navy and it was on clearance for $2.97. I figured I would probably have another kid someday, and it’s been in my closet for over a year, but I LOVE it! I also ran across a pair of maternity leggings from Gap that I didn’t wear last time, and I’ve been wearing them all the time lately. Otherwise it’s been workout clothes (which I know I said I was going to avoid, but that was before I felt sick 24/7) and baseball caps! I will probably be rocking more leggings and slouchy shirts and the like the more I start showing though.

 

BOY OR GIRL? NOT A CLUE. I don’t think there’s a sure-fire way to tell, but I would be truly ecstatic either way!