Baby #2: Three Month Update

For those of you who have not heard yet, Jon, Wren and I are so excited to be welcoming another member into our family this coming February! Even though I had been taking a blogging break, I decided to pick things back up at least once a month to share monthly updates on this new little babe growing in my belly.

First things first, this pregnancy has been A LOT harder than my first one. I pretty much felt like death from the day I found out at 4 weeks until 13 weeks. That's 9 straight weeks - 63 straight days - of feeling terrible, and it was really, really hard. Without Jon, Wren and I probably wouldn't have eaten or bathed during those 9 weeks, not to mention we would've been drowning in a sea of dirty laundry and dishes. I am so thankful for all of the extra work he put in during that time - I literally could not have survived without him.

Even though there was a lot of nausea involved, for me it's always less about the morning sickness and more about a very, very upset stomach all day and night. I also had really bad dizzy spells this time around - like 'I need to lay down right now and not move even though we're in the grocery store' type of dizzy spells. I also had to strike the perfect balance between constantly keeping food in my stomach but not too much food. Too much or too little and it was bad. Just right and it was tolerable. This led to a few funny situations - like the one where I realized I had left my car keys on the grocery store counter when I got to my car, but I was starving and feeling sick and needed to eat right then so with Wren in the basket, standing by our car, I ripped open a pack of cookies and started stuffing my face - only to turn around and see the bag boy bringing me my car keys. (I should also mention we were in our pajamas - we didn't get out of our pajamas much during those 9 weeks.) Definitely not one of my best moments. ;)

And more on the food topic, we had been eating a very healthy diet up until I found out I was pregnant. We were actually right in the middle of our second round of Whole30. I tried my best to keep it up, but a week after I found out, all I wanted was bread - so I gave in and pretty much lived on honey toast and boiled eggs for a month. Once I was able to eat a wider variety of foods, I found that all I wanted was sugar, sugar and more sugar. Every bad habit I had worked so hard to break on Whole30 came right on back. The kicker? Sugary foods made me feel terrible. Chocolate made me feel like I might die. I ate it anyway, because when I was eating it, it was wonderful. (And because pregnant women are crazy, apparently.)

I am happy to say that now - at almost 15 weeks - I am feeling much, much better. I still get random stomach aches. I still feel best when I eat healthy foods. I'm still not in love with the idea of vegetables. But I am able to eat more balanced meals, shower on a regular basis and do the laundry/dishes. Thank goodness!

I am going to a new doctor this time since we are now in Virginia instead of Kentucky, and my new doctor didn't want to see me until 12 weeks. That was a little weird for me, because 12 weeks is the start of the second trimester. It seemed like I was pregnant forever until I actually had a doctor's appointment. We told our parents, brothers/sisters and a few close friends when we first found out, but we waited until after our first doctor's appointment (when we got to hear that fast little heartbeat) to let everyone else in on the secret.

We had our first trimester ultrasound at 13 weeks, and everything looked great. Baby kicked its legs and wiggled a bit and we got our first photo of him/her. We are definitely going to find out the gender - most likely at our next ultrasound - and we are SO excited. I would be over the moon for another girl (sisters!!) and Jon is dying for a boy. Either way, we hope he/she is healthy and happy and as excited to meet us as we are to meet him/her.

Stay tuned for monthly updates on this new little bean. Also, feel free to check out the weekly updates I did with Wren here, and the first update I did here.)