First Trimester the Second Time Around

I've always heard that the second pregnancy seems to go much more quickly than the first, and seeing as how I'm already in my second trimester (and have been for a couple of weeks), I would agree. I thought I'd do a little recap of my first trimester.

Symptoms

It's hard not to think of this pregnancy in terms of my last one. It's just natural to compare them. My pregnancy with Nathan was really great. I had very few complaints, and while there have certainly been differences between my first trimester with Nathan and this time around, I would definitely say that they are much more similar than different.

The biggest first trimester symptom with this baby was fatigue (same as last time). I was exhausted all the time, and was definitely looking forward to getting some of my energy back in the second trimester, and thankfully I have. I wonder what changes have been going on in my body, because it seemed like overnight that I regained so much energy around when I hit the 14 week mark. I was thankful for a low key, flexible schedule this summer, because I took almost daily naps with Nathan throughout the first few weeks of pregnancy. I would count down the minutes to his nap time, so I could crawl under the covers too, and if I wasn't able to get a nap in during the day, I was asleep before 9:00 that night. I was tired of being tired all the time and had a hard time getting anything done around the house except the essentials. Unfortunately, my pregnancy started around the same time that we dropped Nathan's morning nap, and since I napped with him in the afternoon, it was hard to get anything accomplished during the day. I still notice a little dip in energy in the afternoons currently, but I'm able to press through without a nap most days.

With Nathan, I rarely had any nausea. Every once in a while my stomach would feel a little off, but those moments were rare. That's probably the biggest difference in this pregnancy. While I have not gotten sick at all with this little one (thankfully), my stomach felt off and unsettled almost every day. I never felt extremely nauseous, but the unsettled feeling lingered most of the time and food didn't sound good a lot of the time. I remember with Nathan never feeling pregnant in the first trimester because I had such little nausea, and while this time it was still very mild in comparison to many women, I was definitely reminded that there was something going on in my body. Thankfully the second trimester has cured that symptom too, and I'm feeling really good.

I'm having a few problems sleeping. I get up two to three times a night to use the bathroom, which normally isn't a big deal, but lately I've had problems falling back asleep once I wake up. My mind starts racing and I have a hard time relaxing. Hopefully this is temporary.

I haven't really had any other major symptoms. With Nathan, I would read through a list of pregnancy symptoms and think that I didn't have any of them (except fatigue). I have noticed with this baby, that I have more of the symptoms, but they are really mild. I've gotten heartburn a couple of times, a few extra headaches, and teared up at more than one television show or movie, but none of them are pervasive or cause any real trouble.

Just like last time, I have been blessed with an easy pregnancy. I told a friend a couple of weeks ago, that I know I have easy pregnancies when my biggest complaint is not being able to eat cookie dough :). I'm hoping the rest of my pregnancy continues to go smoothly.


Favorite Moments

It's always fun announcing a new pregnancy. With both pregnancies, Matt and I decided to not publicly tell people "we were trying." We have a few reasons for keeping that private, but my favorite is that people are more likely to be surprised when we share our news. We let Nathan share our big news this time around with a lot of our family and friends by putting him in his Big Brother shirt. It was so fun to see people's reactions!

My first trimester ultrasound was also a favorite moment. Seeing that little baby and the itty bitty heart beating on ultrasound always allows us to breathe a big sigh of relief. I felt like the pregnancy wasn't "real" until that moment when we got to see the baby. I know pregnancy tests are accurate, but in my head I had a hard time basing such a huge life change on the results of a cheap little pregnancy test. It always sinks in more after that first appointment.

We got another treat when we went back to my next doctor's appointment. With Nathan, my doctor only did two ultrasounds. She just used a doppler to find the heart beat at the other appointments. So, we were surprised to get another ultrasound at my 13 week appointment. It's amazing to see how much the baby grows in four short weeks.

We haven't done much shopping this time around mainly because we can reuse most of our big baby items and we don't know the gender yet. We have picked out bedding for a boy and a girl and I love both of the bedding sets. We're hoping we'll be able to buy one in the next few weeks!

I just have so much fun thinking about adding this new baby to our family and thinking about how Nathan will respond as a big brother to a little brother or sister and how crazy our lives will be for a little while adding in a newborn. The Lord has blessed us abundantly allowing us to have another baby. We are so grateful for this little life.

Baby Bump

12 Weeks 

13 Weeks

16 Months Old

Nathan,

We've had another great month with you. You constantly keep us smiling and giggling at your sweet personality and fun new tricks.

You have eight teeth now. You have been a bizarre teether. You took a break after you got your front four middle teeth, and then decided to go ahead and get your molars. So now you have four front teeth, and four molars and a big gap in between. You had a rough go with some of you molars. We had about a week of not sleeping well combined with awful diaper rash and diarrhea. As soon as that last molar popped through, all your symptoms cleared right up and you were back to normal.

Your new molars have improved your eating. You eat faster and more efficiently now that you actually have some molars to chew with. I don't have to cut your food up in as small of pieces anymore, so it's great for both of us.

If we ask you where something is, you shrug your shoulders and hold up your hands in an "I don't know" expression. It's one of my favorite things you do right now. You'll point to the people you know and Rhapsody. If I ask you "Where's Nathan?" you will point to yourself. I'm trying to get you to point to my belly when I ask "Where's the baby?" You are starting to figure it out, but for the longest time if I asked you "Where's baby?" you would point to yourself. Sweet boy, you will always be Mommy's baby.

You are figuring out how to communicate with us more and more. You stand by the refrigerator and point when you want a drink, and will grab one of your toy bowls and stand by the pantry when you want a snack. I think we are just around the corner from your vocabulary taking off and being able to use words to communicate your needs. Your new words this month are shoes, up, hat, cat, eye, and car.

You are definitely all toddler now, the good and the bad. Your fit throwing has increased this month. You'll cry and stomp your feet when you don't get your way. It's cute now, but I'm sure the cuteness will wear off quickly.

 You are still sleeping great, usually about 11 hours a night. You take an afternoon nap from 1:00 to 3:00 or 4:00. You are totally exhausted when I put you down for your nap. I'll put you in your crib without any sort of fight and you are asleep almost instantly. I rarely rock you very long anymore. You seem to prefer to be put down so you can get comfortable. You will cuddle on my shoulder for a couple of minutes when I give you your paci and stuffed animal. So sweet! You are also getting sneaky with your paci. When I tell you to put it in your bed, you are strategic in where you put it, so you can reach in later and have it within your reach. You sneaky boy!

Your favorite toys right now are toy food and dishes. You dump out your basket of dishes, and set the table. You even stir with your utensils. I was baking a cake the other day and gave you an empty bowl and a whisk while I was mixing the batter. You played with that bowl and whisk for the longest time. You still like your other toys too, but dishes are definitely your go to toys right now.

You still love to be outside. If we tell you we are going for a walk, you'll run and climb into your stroller by yourself and then wait impatiently for us to join you. You also love to be on the go. If I tell you we are going "bye bye" you grab my hand and rush off to the garage door. We try and always get out of the house at least once a day so you don't get too bored being at home.

You are wearing 18 month clothes and a size 5 diaper. I went to a consignment sale a couple of weeks ago and got you some new winter clothes and I bought size 24 month in all of them. They look so big. You are growing so fast!

You started school this month, and lucky for you, you have the same teachers as last year. Our schedule is a little different this year, and I only have you enrolled in one day this year. I think it's good for both of us to get a little break from each other during the week and for you to get to explore and play in a different context. You seem to be thriving. I'm glad you're getting some socialization with other kids your age, and I can get things done about 3.2 times faster when I get some time by myself, which means when we're together we have more time to play and do fun things.

You're growing so fast little one. We love getting to experience it.