19 weeks

So far things have been going pretty well this week! Not really any complaints here. I've felt a lot more little kicks this week which has been fun for me. I always really enjoy this stage.

I'm having a hard time believing that I'm basically half way done already... assuming I don't go overdue... which is always a possibility. I've never gone overdue, but for some reason I'm just planning on it this time. We'll see though!!

Since it has finally hit me that I'm almost half way done, I've started compiling lists of things to get done before baby arrives. I've made a short list of things we'll need (it's nice that we have pretty much everything this time!!), as well as lists of things to do, lists of things to get rid of, lists of names... just tons of lists it seems like. I'm hoping I can start checking things off of my multiple lists here pretty soon, but we'll see. A lot of this stuff might end up being pushed out to the very end...

Anyway, I had my ultrasound yesterday!! They checked baby's anatomy as well as a few other things. I don't know yet if they were able to see remnants of that hemorrhage or not, but I'm sure if they did see it I will hear about it at my next appointment. As far as I know, baby looked great!! I didn't notice the tech focusing in on anything and she remained chatty with us so that told me that she didn't see anything concerning... Baby had a healthy heart rate of 150 bpm, and baby weighs roughly 9 oz. My smallest one yet at this stage. Joey was 11 oz at 19 weeks and weighed 6 lbs 11 oz at birth. Annabelle weighed 11 oz at 20 weeks and was 7 lbs 5 oz at birth... So I'm interested to see if this baby will be smaller or larger than brother and sister. We'll see!!

It was just really fun to get to see our little one again. It's always amazing to see how much baby has grown in just a few weeks. Baby was pretty stingy with pictures just like sister was. I also noticed that the baby was in a ball for most of the scan. That explains the lack of kicks I've felt!! Sister did the same thing. Annabelle just stayed in a ball most of my pregnancy.

Anyway, all is well with us. Not much new to update on. Here is a picture of our sweet little pumpkin!!
That's baby's hand by his/her mouth. <3 Thanks for reading friends!! God bless!!

17 & 18 weeks

So... 17 weeks. It has kind of been an interesting week. I've been feeling a lot better energy wise... I haven't needed as many naps which has been nice, and I'm finding it much easier to keep up with the house work as well as my kiddos. I haven't really been enjoying food that much lately. For whatever reason I get a really upset stomach REALLY easily lately, so I have to be VERY careful what I eat or I may end up writhing in pain later.

Otherwise, I'm feeling pretty good!! I have finally noticed more distinct gentle kicks and punches lately. It's kind of funny because I was just telling my aunt how this baby just seems to be really quiet. I'm not sure if it's just that I am so busy chasing kids and keeping up with my housework that I haven't really been able to pay much attention to the baby's movements, or if this baby is really just a quiet one. Annie was pretty quiet, but her placenta was in the way so I didn't feel much from her until I was about six months along. This baby has a posterior placenta so I know that's not why I'm not feeling him or her. I was pretty worried for a while thinking that there was something wrong... that's simply because I've always been told that women start to feel their babies moving around sooner and sooner with the more pregnancies they have. So I don't know... I guess it's just because I'm busy and I have a quiet baby. I DID have a cool experience yesterday though... (04/09/2013). I was lying in bed after a nap and had my hand pressed on the left side of my belly. I felt the baby kick, and I think I actually felt a little tap with my hand!! So exciting!!! It happened twice so I'm pretty sure I didn't imagine it.

Anyway, that's about it for now. Ultrasound is in a week and a half!! So excited!! Can't wait to see our sweet little baby!! :)

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Week 18... this week has been an interesting one. I haven't felt very well at all. I've been exhausted, and quite sick whenever I eat anything. It was recently brought to my attention that I should get my gallbladder checked out since lately whenever I eat certain foods, I end up feeling intense abdominal pain, back pain, heart burn, nausea/dry heaving, shivering, sweating, etc. It's been miserable. I've had three of these episodes since April 1st. I thought the first one was simply food poisoning, so I didn't think much of it until it happened again, and then again the day after that second episode. So off I went, had some blood work done and scheduled an ultrasound. My blood work came back good, and my ultrasound came back completely clear. However my doctor did say that just because everything looks good (which is great by the way!!) it doesn't mean I'm in the clear for gallbladder issues down the road. At this point all it means is that I don't need to see a surgeon, and I need to watch EVERYTHING I eat. I'm truly hoping this blows over after I have the baby.

Otherwise, things are going pretty well. No complaints other than the food issues... and I'm a little frustrated about my weight gain but that's to be expected. As of now I've gained about ten pounds this pregnancy, and I was about three pounds away from my pre-Annie weight when I became pregnant this time around. But for some reason this time it just feels like I'm gaining fat. Maybe I'm a little overly critical of myself... so chances are I probably look better to other people than I actually think I look. I've started doing little exercises around my house so hopefully that helps a bit. When I get the results of my next ultrasound I plan to start using my treadmill at least every other day, if not every day for at least 30 minutes. Since I had that hemorrhage behind the placenta I've been a little reluctant to do much in the way of strenuous exercise... so when my midwife gives me the go ahead I'm hoping that some time on the treadmill will help to slow down my weight gain as well as help to tone me up a little.

My baby's anatomy scan is on Monday morning, so I'm really excited to see our little baby again. It's going to be fun to see all the changes since the last ultrasound. I'll be sure to update again after that appointment... and include some pictures! My next appointment with the midwife is on May 8th, so until then I'll be busying myself with birthday planning for Mr. Joey! It's hard for me to believe that I will have a four year old next month. So crazy!!! Time is going by way too fast. Anyway, thanks for reading friends!! God bless!!

16 weeks

Well, I'm officially 16 weeks now! This pregnancy is seriously flying by so fast. I can't believe it. I really feels like a couple of weeks ago that I had just found out about this sweet news. Now we're almost half way done!!! So crazy...

Anyway, so far things are going pretty well. Nothing to complain about really. I've noticed some sciatic nerve pain here and there, but it's not constant like it was with Joey so it's very manageable. My symptoms remain pretty much the same... however my hunger issue has subsided significantly. I'm able to eat normal meals now without feeling hungry ten minutes later. I'm still very tired, but I've found some balance in my day to day activities so that I can get some rest during the day. If I plan things right, I can usually get a nice long nap squeezed in if Annie will go to sleep at the perfect time when Joey gets sleepy... so I get Joey snuggles and a nap all in one! :)

One thing I've noticed every now and again lately, is that I've felt "tapping" which I'm quite certain is coming from my sweet little womb tenant. For the most part, I still feel fluttering, but I think baby is getting larger and stronger now to where I am starting to feel distinct little kicks and punches. I thought for sure I'd feel a lot more of that by now, but I think chasing around two kiddos and keeping up with the housework makes me a little less in tune with what baby might be doing in there.

Another interesting little tidbit... Braxton Hicks contractions. Yes, I've already started to feel them!! And wow... they are quite a bit stronger this time than I remember in the past. I had heard about women having a lot of "false labor" with subsequent pregnancies, and I have also heard that Braxton Hick's can be quite a bit stronger with the more babies you have, but I guess I didn't think they'd start out this early and be this strong. Don't get me wrong, they aren't strong enough to cause me pain... I know what a painful contraction feels like, and these aren't painful... the best way to describe these contractions is that they cause A LOT of "tightening" and pressure in my abdomen. I just don't recall feeling Braxton Hick's contractions that were this strong until way later in pregnancy.

When I asked my midwife about it she said it was completely normal... and that these things may begin to hurt when I hit my third trimester. Jeff's mom had said the same thing about them hurting later in pregnancy, so that was something I kind of expected to happen. She also said that they have a lot of mom's who are on their third, fourth, fifth, etc. pregnancies who have a lot of false alarms. My only thoughts on this... hopefully I figure it out quickly when real labor starts so that I don't end up having my baby at home... by myself... or in the car... or at the store... or the movies or something ridiculous!! Okay so I probably won't be at the store or the movies. I might be at the mall though. ;) Just given my history of quick labors, I will probably be keeping a close eye on these contractions once my baby is considered "term."

Anyway... not much else to report on. My appointment yesterday with Darlene (my midwife) went really well. We did some more blood work, she took my vitals, checked to see that baby's little home was growing appropriately... and then she checked the heart beat!! I sure love hearing my baby's heart beat. It's always music to my ears. We could even hear baby moving around in there so that was fun!! Joey went with me to the appointment too, and again he was right up there with my midwife listening intently... He loves to check on the baby.

Sooooo yeah. That's about all for now! I have my anatomy scan on the 22nd of this month, so it will be fun to see our little one again! I know Joey's going to love it! It's a little different this time since we aren't finding out the gender of our baby... I'm excited for my scan, it's just kind of nice because the anticipation isn't killing me like it did with my first two. I'm hoping and praying that the tech doesn't forget and accidentally show us the gender. I would honestly be really sad that my surprise would be ruined. Obviously I would be over the moon about having a baby, but I have always hoped I'd get to experience a "surprise" baby and wait to find out what our baby was until the birth. So hopefully that all pans out the way I have been hoping. As for Jeff... it was quite a battle to get him on board with me. Now he just takes pleasure in the fact that people are getting frustrated that we aren't finding out the gender, so nobody knows what to buy for baby. At least that keeps him entertained while we wait! :)

Anyways, I hope everyone is having a good week!! Look for another update in 2-3 ish weeks!! God bless, dear friends!!