October 08, 2018

We're Having Another Baby: First Trimester Recap

We are so excited that we are expecting baby number two, due April 8th! I expect I will deliver a little earlier than this. I delivered Jade at 39 weeks, and this is my second baby. I found out much earlier that I was pregnant this time around and told Brian on the same date I told him that I was pregnant with Jade. Here is a little first trimester recap of my symptoms and experiences. 



Jade: We've been talking to Jade a lot about the fact that there is a baby in mommy's belly. Sometimes she will respond with wanting to touch my stomach while saying "baby," but most of the time she just says, "nope!" It's hard to gauge how much she understands right now, but we try to talk about it a lot with her. She has a baby doll that we've been playing with, so we can practice gentleness, and I am going to try to take her to whatever doctor appointments I can to help her understand more. I know that the transition will be really hard for her at first, but once she is adjusted, I think she is going to love this baby more than anything! 



My mom designed the coordinating tshirt and onesie and I was totally bribing Jade with a sucker all throughout these photos. :) 


Symptoms 

Vivid dreams: This was the very first symptom I noticed. I would have the most bizarre dreams every time I slept, whether it was for 10 hours or 10 minutes. They never really made sense, but they seemed so real and colorful. This has subsided drastically and I'm not really experiencing it anymore, but they were there for the first several weeks. 

Extreme fatigue: I wanted to sleep all the time. I was like this with Jade, too. But this time, I had a toddler running around, so resting whenever I felt like it wasn't always an option. I started feeling these symptoms right before starting our new school year, so beginning the year feeling tired all the time was a little challenging. I would come home from work and as soon as Brian would get home, I'd take a nap. Then I would still go to bed early. There's no tired like pregnancy tired, lol. Unless it's mom of a newborn baby tired. Or maybe mom of a newborn baby + a toddler or multiple kids tired. Maybe I should just expect to be tired for the next 10 years, haha! 

Sore boobs: Yep, another early, classic symptom. Jade has a knack for bumping into them all the time, too. Ouch. 

Bloat: This is the worst! The first trimester makes your digestion slow wayyyy down, so there were days when I seriously looked 5 months pregnant when I was only 6-7 weeks. 

Middle of the night sickness: I didn't get sick at all with Jade and I'll admit I've been pretty lucky still this time around. There were two times when I woke up in the middle of the night and got sick. The first time I thought it was just something I ate, but it happened a week later when I had eaten the same things as Brian and Jade. Once I puked, I instantly felt better and went back to bed. It was so weird. I'm glad it only happened twice! 

Intense hunger: Speaking of getting sick in the middle of the night, there were times I also woke up and had to eat something immediately. Like, I felt ravenous. Also very strange. Usually a cheese stick or a scoop of peanut butter would do the trick. It wasn't just in the middle of the night though...I just felt hungry all the time. This seems to have subsided a little in the past week or so, too. 

Cravings: I haven't really had too many cravings for anything specific (at least not yet). There was one four day span where I really wanted an Italian BMT sandwich from Subway, which I definitely indulged in (there's a subway with a drive through right by our apartment, too easy). But other than that, I haven't wanted anything specific regularly. 

Oily skin and scalp: I had to wash my hair more often and I definitely noticed my face was more oily, too. Which leads me to my next symptom...

Acne: Yep. But not just on my oily face. Everywhere. In the weirdest places. What the? 

Back pain: I've dealt with lower back pain before I was pregnant, but I think the fatigue and generally popping out a little faster has intensified it. I've started sleeping with a pillow between my knees at night and this seems to help. 

Popping out much faster: Besides the bloat in the first few weeks, I just started showing so much sooner. When I was pregnant with Jade, I could have hidden my pregnancy until probably 20 or so weeks if I really wanted to. I had a visible bump at 12 weeks this time. I guess your body just knows what to do the second time around and I think your womb is generally bigger after delivering one baby. But yes...I feel like I am where I was when I was 20 weeks with Jade and I am only 14 now. This is normal, right? I'm not going to deliver a 12 pound baby....right??? 

Prenatal: Flinstones Complete Vitamin. I hated taking the giant horse pills with Jade, so I bought some gummy vitamins to try this time around. Oh my gosh you guys, there are disgusting. I told my doctor I could barely stomach them, so she suggested I take Flinstones vitamins. I totally took these as a kid and yes, they taste like candy. I genuinely look forward to taking them each day, haha, and I get to take two! 

Coffee: While I haven't had an aversion to coffee, I haven't wanted it as much as I normally do. Usually when I get up in the morning it's the thing I want most. Now, more than anything, I want water! So instead of brewing coffee, I chugged water, which is way better anyways. I mostly just drank coffee on the weekends when I could do it lesirely. I've only just started drinking it throughout the week again (don't worry, I'm still drinking my water, too). 



top: Lou & Grey (40% off!) | necklace: The Jones Market | denim: Silver Jeans Co. (borrowed from a friend!)| shoes: Aldo (old...similar style)


 Thank you so much for reading and for sharing in our joy! 

xx,
Court