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!!