The State of the Uterus Address

Hahhahaa.. I crack myself up.

Oh, Hi there. Not sure who's out there since it's been over a year but I wanted to get this on the record before I forgot everything. Not much has happened in the past year except around ~May we got pregnant with our second baby and it's a boy and he's due on Wednesday. No big deal.

My original due date was 2/4. It since got moved back to 1/31. I'm AOK with that.

He totally has my nose which makes me think he's going to look like me!

I didn't do weekly updates or photos this time around but I did want to make some notes about what was the same or different. I don't know if we'll have any more babies but I do know I'll regret it if I don't have at least something to look back on for both pregnancies. It has been nice to be able to look up my pregnancy with Abby by the week and see what was going on at that time and compare!

Overall I have been #blessed with two amazing, healthy, and easy pregnancies. They were very similar even though one was a girl and one is a boy. I noticed some slight differences due to what I believe are: age (+3 years), diet (I ate way healthier when I was pregnant w/Abby), and maybe things that weren't differences at all but just things I forgot.

Some notes:

-It took us slightly longer this time (ok only by a month) and I'm honestly glad because we would have had a New Year's baby! No thanks!! As I am super impatient, I wasted a bunch of pregnancy tests (even after I got a positive) and I found out when I was barely even 4 weeks. This made the first trimester excruciatingly long. We told our families on Memorial Day weekend and I had to fake drink at YET ANOTHER family wedding. (Congrats Jason and Lydia!)

-It's a boy!:

Spoiler alert.. we were trying for a boy. No idea if our methods worked or if we just got lucky. We found out because I did the blood test at 10 weeks and I got the call while Joey wasn't with me. The nurse asked me if I wanted to know and even though I knew he'd kill me, I told her to tell me. I was SHOCKED. I was 100% thinking it was a girl. So I went to the store and got a bunch of blue balloons and brought them home. He got over being mad pretty quick! Abby was a little disappointed - she wanted a baby sister but she's come around. :)

-Abby:

Everyone asks how Abby is doing and whether she is excited to be a big sister. I think she gets it a little because several of her classmates at school recently became big sisters/brothers so the idea is not totally foreign to her. We have been open about the baby being in mommy's belly and she knows I can't do certain things because of the big baby in my belly. She is very much looking forward to him coming out so she can sit on my lap again. She also knows where he comes out from, although she told me he's going to "use his magic" to do so. Which would be really freaking awesome wouldn't it? haaahah

-Heartburn: I had way more heartburn this time. Does that mean he will have more hair than Abby did? We will know soon.

-Morning Sickness: Didn't throw up, same as last time, but I believe I felt a bit worse. This could be due to age, shoddy nutrition or dealing with a 3 year old. Or all of the above.

-Showing: I definitely showed sooner with this baby but overall I look a lot the same. My belly may be slightly bigger but that's probably from all the chocolate croissants and not the baby... I can't wait to see how much he weighs in comparison to his sister!

-Exercise: I think I got the same amount. I did a TON of walking in the beginning although as it got colder outside I did less and less and now I'm basically a couch potato. Really looking forward to getting back out there in the spring.

-Weight gain: I gained about 10 more pounds this time than I did with Abby. So, about 35 pounds this time instead of 25. I'd still call that a win AND I am still under 200 pounds. I would love to chalk it up to "second babies and especially baby boys are usually bigger" but I would be lying if I said I didn't go to Starbucks all the time and that I didn't eat an obscene amount of baked goods. Being in your third trimester over the holidays is terrible. Almost as bad as being due on 31 January. Ask anyone what the longest month of the year is. It's January. FML.

-Placenta position: So apparently with Abby I had an anterior placenta (placenta in the front). I didn't even remember that until I read it on my own blog. Well this time I definitely don't. And this kid is SO. ACTIVE. Way more than I remembered Abby being and I don't know if it's due to placenta position or what. I swear I don't remember her doing some of these acrobatics. Right now he's trying to stretch all the way out. Soon, little man. Soon.

-Prenatal Vitamins: managed to remember them every day of this pregnancy as well. Proud of that.

-Complications: none (so far? I mean.. we have 2 days left.) I got flagged for potential GD after the 1 hour test because my dumb a$$ ate Halloween candy the night before but I passed my 3 hour glucose test with flying colors.  Thank goodness.

-Other symptoms: Same as last time. Basically none. Honestly my boobs hurt less this time/are smaller. SO OK WITH THAT. Basic aches and pains, restless legs at night, flopping over in bed like a whale, sore hips/groin area, etc. OH and I have been extra sensitive to smells this time. I think a little more than last time.

-Labor symptoms: I don't remember having anything last time but this time I have had some small cramping/lower back pain, etc that made me think he was totally coming over the weekend but... here we are.

I'm probably forgetting something major but the bottom line is my pregnancies were very similar. I was able to travel to Disney World at the end of my second trimester and while it was a bit exhausting, the worst part was still not being able to drink at the Food and Wine festival. (judge if you must).

Weeks 24-25 in Disney World

24/25 weeks

I'm literally flipping through my "What to Expect" book right now (that I didn't even re-discover until a couple months ago) to see what I'm forgetting to write about... haha

Oh I guess I should mention the biggest thing and that's at our 20 week ultrasound the doctor saw a small hole in the baby's heart that we monitored for about a month until it (thankfully) closed. A congenital heart defect is not uncommon or the worst thing that could happen but I am so thankful it closed on its' own. We are definitely planning to discuss with the pediatrician at delivery, though.

Preparing for baby:

My neighbor and I did a clothes swap. I gave her all my girl stuff and she gave me all her boy stuff. Between that and the fact that we made sure to buy gender neutral everything for Abby, we have not had to buy really anything. (Not that I didn't buy stuff... ha)

My family and friends threw a small sprinkle for me anyway just to celebrate, which was great. And we were able to get Abby set up in her big girl room so she could "share" her crib and other furniture with the baby.

Family and Friends at my Sprinkle!

In Summary:

Overall I am excited to complete our family, to give my husband the baby boy he wanted so badly, and to give Abby a best friend for life. I'm also worrying about loving another baby (and a boy) as much as I love my girl. But I know (from experience!) that everything will change when he arrives and with time. I am also nervous for labor and delivery since last time went pretty awesome. I'm ALSO nervous for recovery and breastfeeding since last time was pretty NOT awesome. I know we have some trials ahead and it's going to be tough with Abby in the mix but we will definitely get through it together.

Some people have asked if I'm going to continue to work. Absolutely. I have a fantastic job with amazing flexibility and even though we're going to be broke with 2 kids in daycare, they will only be in daycare together for a year before Abby goes to Kindergarten (HOLD ME). The struggle is about to be REALLY REAL y'all. But my career is worth it and plus remember we built this nice ass house and Joey hasn't taken over the world *yet. (He's well on his way.)

Other things I am looking forward to: My sister is getting MARRIED in Fall of 2019 which gives me 2 years to plan the most epic of all engagement parties/showers/bachelorette parties. #cantwait

So now it's time for the PICTURES. I did not take weekly belly pics but I did try to take them periodically! Here's what I've got:

15 Weeks at the beach!

Also 15 weeks :-)

A little comparison early on

Almost 27 weeks on Halloween

28 Weeks

My sister did a little Maternity Shoot for me since I didn't want to shell out for a formal one. I'm so glad I did and she did an amazing job! These were done over Thanksgiving which was 30 Weeks.

Christmas Eve (Week 34-35)

Dec 30th/New Years which was Week 35-36. This is about the time my face started looking pregnant.

36 Week Comparison. Abby on the left, Baby Boy on the right.

NFC Championship game between Weeks 38-39

GO BIRDS

Just took this the other day. I'm 39 + 5 today.

 And there you have it! 9+ months of pregnancy updates in one fell swoop! You may be wondering one last thing, and that's what we are naming this little cherub. If you've been around the blog a long time, you may already know. If you don't, here's a hint:

That's it for now.

See you on the other side!

~SG