Where has the time gone? It's been over a month since I wrote a blog post and we've got BIG news to share (although everyone already knows)! We are thrilled to be adding another sweet baby to our family come this August!! THREE summer babies!! I'm already laughing at the fact that I documented every.single.moment of my pregnancy with Ethan, most of my pregnancy with Emerson, and here I am almost 5 1/2 months in with this baby and I'm just now writing my first post!! Ahhh, promise I'll get better little babe! You deserve it! =) So let me start from the beginning:
I found out I was pregnant Dec. 15. I went in to my doctor's office the next day to get blood drawn and they confirmed the pregnancy a couple days later on Dec. 18th. We scheduled my first appointment which wasn't going to be until I was 12 weeks pregnant!! Any girl knows how looooong that is to wait to hear a heartbeat or even see the baby for the first time! The first trimester was every bit of yucky - so, so nauseous and so, so tired. And then the flu bug hit. Man oh man, I was sick as a dog for about 48 hours and ended up going to the ER per the doctors request so I could get amped up with fluids. I was about 9-10 weeks pregnant at that point. My first appointment came on Jan. 25 and we got our official due date of August 12. The heartbeat was nice and strong at 162 bpm and the baby was pretty active for it's first ultrasound. They even had their legs crossed =)
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| 20 Weeks! |
Second trimester has definitely brought some improvement for me. While I still nap every day when the kids do, I certainly regained some energy, started working out again, and the nausea is mostly just at night. My monthly appointments have been short and sweet - quick heartbeat checks and out the door. I first felt the baby move around 17-18 weeks and she is really active at night when I lay down for bed. No major food aversions, but certainly have had some "cravings." The two most crazy ones are hot sauce and anything sour. These are two things I usually NEVER favor, but I literally cannot get enough hot sauce. I put it on my egg sandwich every morning and if something doesn't have enough flavor, add hot sauce! haha! The sour thing is so weird - especially because I'm not a big candy eater to begin with. I drove to Tennessee a couple weeks ago and I picked up a bag of sour peach rings and downed the whole thing within minutes. Then when I was shopping for Easter basket stuff, I saw a bag of sour gummies and I just HAD to have it. Right there. Opened the bag and ate it before I even left the store - what?!? Who am I? I'm also pretty sure I've had more Starbucks in the last five months than I have in the previous five years of my life combined.
As always, one of the best parts of all our pregnancies has been finding out the gender! It's been fun thinking of ways to find out with each one and this time around didn't disappoint. Heading into it, I had pretty much convinced myself it was a girl. There are 8-9 other girls due around the same time as me and they are ALL having girls. But, in the back of my mind I kept thinking "well, what if?" We had decided to do a confetti balloon pop - so after our 20 week ultrasound appointment, we had the technician write in an envelope if it was a boy or girl. I took the envelope to our party store and then they filled a giant black balloon with the correct color confetti. We had invited all our parents over after work on a Friday for the reveal. Earlier in the day, I went to go pick up the balloons and, boy, did I have a surprise waiting for me. The man working behind the counter hands me the black balloon and then hands me a bag with all the extra stuff in it - the rest of the balloons I had purchased, the gender envelope, and the PINK BAG OF CONFETTI. So I literally knew right then and there...in Party City. I'm pretty sure I didn't even say thanks - I just grabbed the balloons, rushed to my car, and proceeded to bawl my eyes out for the next 30 minutes =) I called Kristen
hysterical and told her what happened - she felt so bad I had to find out that way. I just wanted to be surprised with everyone else, but life happens! I didn't want to ruin the surprise for Eric by telling him so I held it in until after we popped the balloon. One of the best memories of the day came from Ethan - we had just popped the balloon in the backyard and found out we were having another little GIRL! He kinda throws his hands up and in the most concerned voice says, "How...how, how we gonna get a baby sister?" We're pretty sure he thought the baby was going to come out of the balloon! Hahaha - didn't quite talk that through with him beforehand! My sweet boy!
I think Eric and I are both still wrapping our heads around having TWO girls!! I always thought I'd be a boy mom and here I am with two girls. It's crazy! We laugh because we know this baby will be so different from Emerson. No one will be like Emerson =) She is by far the funniest person we know and we've said a hundred times already - it's gonna be h-a-r-d to discipline her. She flashes that sweet smile full of missing teeth and you can't help but shake your head. It's been really fun sharing the news with people in the last couple weeks. Everyone keeps telling me how awesome and special it is to have sisters and it will be so cool to see their relationship. Emerson's already been practicing her big sister skills with her baby doll. She'll feed the baby a bottle and then put it over her shoulder and pat her back gently like she's burping her. Ha! She's always been very interested in babies and shows sympathy when one cries or even with Ethan cries. Lately she's started to go over and rub Ethan's back when he's upset. This sweet baby is going to have two of the most amazing older siblings!
So here we go again!! We are in an awesome, comfortable groove with two munchkins so why not mix things up and add another! =) We feel very fortunate to have this opportunity again and now the countdown begins until we get to see her beautiful face. I'm so excited, a little nervous, but A LOT happy!!
Time for a quick baby update after a great appointment today! Part of me can't believe I'm already six months pregnant - but the other half of me feels like I've been pregnant for a loooong time! I think because women feel symptoms and the aches/pains so much earlier with each pregnancy that it makes you feel like you've pregnant for way longer than you actually have been. That being said, I feel great overall. I'm thankful to still be doing my workouts at home helping me to feel strong and healthy even with a growing belly! 
