2nd Pregnancy Thoughts

We were thrilled when we found out we were pregnant! I actually had a feeling and went ahead and tested about 4 days early and sure enough it was positive! I was not even 4 weeks then. We went to  Sanibel when I was only 5 1/2 weeks. I knew there was no way I could keep it a secret so we went ahead and told mom and dad the first evening. Jackson wore a "Big Brother" shirt and it took them about 15 minutes to notice what it said. Once they realized what it meant they were so excited! I felt fine until around almost 7 weeks or so when I started to have a little nausea and feeling exhausted. Then it came on full force. I spent about 2 or 3 weeks completely miserable and unable to do much of anything besides lay on the sofa. I would do my best with Jackson but its tough having a busy toddler while feeling miserable and unable to function. He watched more tv than I would have preferred. We read lots of books and he would bring toys over to me to play with on the sofa. As soon as he was in his crib for naptime mommy went to take a nap too. I knew it would just be a phase but it was hard for me to not be able to do anything with him and I had such guilt over the tv watching. He watches a show here and there normally but during this time the tv stayed on for a couple hours at a time.

I could notice a definite bump around 9 weeks or so but it became more noticeable around week 13. Thankfully now as I am in the 2nd trimester I am feeling much more normal. I still have the nausea and yucky feeling tummy way more than I'd like! I went to the doctor for the first time at 9 weeks. It was hard waiting so long! Last time I had gone at 6 weeks and had an ultrasound already. Everything looked great at 9 weeks.

I did have a scary day around 10 weeks maybe. I thought I was feeling better and went out to run an errand. I decided I needed to just go home. I called Jimmy on my way home and asked if he could meet me to help me take care of Jackson. I needed to lay down. He asked if I could drive and I said yes, but then only 30 seconds later I said no I couldn't drive. I pulled into the parking lot and into a spot and as I was doing so I started to black out. I was in park and had the doors locked. Jackson was in the backseat saying "mommy, mommy". I kept saying that mommy doesn't feel good. Jimmy was there within minutes and drove us home. He took care of Jackson and I stayed in bed the rest of the day. I was having sharp stabbing pains in my upper stomach. I'm pretty sure it was GI related but no idea what caused it. By the next day the pains were gone and I was feeling much better. The pains were not close to my uterus so I wasn't too concerned it was baby related. It was pretty scary blacking out in the car with Jackson in the backseat!

Around 11 or 12 weeks I started feeling better and could manage to get out more. I was still exhausted but it was nice to be able to do things again. With each week that passes I feel better which is definitely nice. I do feel like this pregnancy is very similar to my last one. I had the same awful nausea and exhaustion but wasn't chasing after a busy toddler all day! I have had an aversion to meat. The only things that have really hit the spot is Mexican food (home cooked not restaurant style either!), pizza, grits, toast with cream cheese on it, graham crackers and ginger ale.

So, I started this post weeks ago and never got around to finishing it and posting it. I'll try to pick up where I left off and catch up to now.

I started feeling a little better and then Jackson got the stomach bug and once he was all better I got it. It kept me in bed for almost a week. I had so little energy! Once I finally got better I had a busy week preparing for Jackson's birthday party. Once his birthday was over he got a cold and so did I. I think everything has been affecting me worse. It's been 12 days and this cold and congestion is still lingering!

My belly is growing and I'm definitely starting to look pregnant and not like I ate too much for lunch! Jackson says there is a baby in my belly but then lifts up his shirt and says baby! Ha! I think he gets it but might be a little confused still. The nausea has gotten much better and is much more infrequent. I did wind up having to get a prescription from the Dr for Zofran. And it definitely helps when I need to take it, which is fairly infrequently these days.

I'm feeling movement and lots of little kicks :) I have no guesses on gender so far and we are not planning on finding out. We need to start thinking of names. We are hoping we don't have a nameless newborn for a week again!

I have a high risk for preterm labor again since I went into labor at 33 weeks before. Thankfully there are injections I can get each week to help reduce the risk to about 15 or 20%. I started at 16 weeks and will continue receiving them until 36 weeks. They aren't too painful except when one nurse put it more in my hip versus my bottom.

Here are a few of my weekly photos:

We've missed a couple weeks when I was super sick but I'm trying to document it all. It's so fun to look back at! Plus I like seeing how Jackson changes each week. Oh and apparently I like stripes! Haha!