Big News!

Our family received some big news on September 29th, 2013. I realized that I haven't officially announced it on my blog yet, even though the whole world knows by now. :)

We are expecting BABY #2! 

We had been not preventing pregnancy for only a couple of months, so when I was getting close to possibly starting my period in late September, I was feeling excited and anxious about the possibility of being pregnant. I knew it had taken a while with Charlie, so I didn't want to be disappointed by negative test results, but I had this weird gut feeling that I needed to buy some tests. So, first I went and got a couple dollar store tests. When it came back looking like the picture on the left, with a very faint second line, I was shocked! Did this mean I was pregnant? The line was faint and I didn't really trust the dollar store test, so I rushed over to Walmart to buy a nicer test. Well, from the test on the right, it's pretty obvious that it was, for sure, POSITIVE! I was really excited and completely shocked! I found out right at 4 weeks pregnant, so that's pretty early!

I made myself wait a full 8 agonizing hours until Trevor got home from work to tell him the big news! And then, we kept it a secret from everyone including our families until about 8 weeks, when my Mom came to town for Charlie's birthday and I couldn't help but tell her (and my Dad) because I needed her to know why I was feeling exhausted and a little gaggy. I also had my first doctor's appointment that week she was there, so that would have been a little hard to hide. That's when I got my first ultrasound at 8 weeks and 2 days, exactly a month after finding out I was pregnant! My brother accidentally found out the day before Halloween when he was in town because I left the ultrasound laying out. Haha! Surprise! :) We ended up telling Trevor's family the day after Thanksgiving when I was out with the girls for our traditional Black Friday lunch at Pizza Factory. 

Then, we announced it to the rest of the world in early December with our family Christmas card:

On December 23rd, at exactly 16 weeks, I had my third doctor's appointment. Since it was two days before Christmas, I asked if it would be possible to get another ultrasound and maybe find out our baby's gender! They said they would take a look and I was so excited! In hopes that things would work out, I had brought with me a note card and an envelope, and I told the doctor I wanted it to be a surprise for Christmas day. So, I looked away for the latter part of the ultrasound when he went to peek at the gender. He said he knew pretty quickly and it was really obvious what the gender was. Then, he wrote down the answer on the notecard and put it in the envelope for me. How was I supposed two wait two full days with an envelope sitting under my Christmas tree with that information on it?!?! Well... I exercised self control and was able to wait until Christmas morning. Trevor and I opened the envelope together and got the biggest surprise!

IT'S A GIRL!

I was honestly completely shocked. I really was hoping for a girl, but started to have feelings that it was a boy based on how quickly the doctor was able to figure it out. And I was probably also just trying to prepare myself for either scenario, just in case. :) But I really am SO excited to have a girl! I have another ultrasound coming up this Friday (Jan 24th), and I will get to see it for myself to be SURE! 

The picture above is the only pregnancy pic I've taken of myself so far. I was 18 weeks and 2 days along, and definitely feeling larger than last time! 

Symptoms: 

• As for sickness, it has been about the same as it was with Charlie. Really not too bad! From about 6ish weeks until 15 weeks I'd have to make sure I ate when my stomach was empty or I'd start gagging. There was only one time I didn't get food fast enough and got sick to my stomach, but it was the morning and I had nothing in me to barf, thank goodness! Haha. So, it was really manageable, but the only difference I noticed was that it lasted a little bit longer than it did with Charlie. No big deal. :) 
• I was exhausted tired from about 5-9 weeks. I was really glad when I started to get my energy back. And my boobs were ridiculously sore, too! Haha
• I haven't had too many cravings outside the norm. Mostly just mashed potatoes ALWAYS sound good. And sweet things all the time! Maybe a bit of an aversion to fish in the beginning when I was more sensitive to smells. 
• I started feeling her kick around 16ish weeks for sure. It really picked up about 17-18 weeks, and now I feel her ALL the time! In fact, I start to worry if it's been a few hours and I haven't felt her bugging me :)
• I've had heartburn once so far, but I have a feeling that may come back more and more often the bigger I get. Sometimes I get stretching pains in my belly, or a sharp jabbing pain if I forget and try to use my abs suddenly. 
• My nose has been pretty consistently stuffy/runny since being pregnant. Part of that is due to getting sick for most of the month of December, but even since I've been better I still need to blow my nose all the time. Silly sinuses!
• Overall it has been wonderful! I feel emotionally great during pregnancy! Thank you hormones :)