Baby #2: First Trimester Recap

Yup, it's happening again!

3.5 Weeks

3/4/19 - I tested yesterday at 8 days past ovulation knowing it was probably too early and got nothing.  I figured today would be too early as well, but couldn't help myself.  I swore I saw a faint line!  I prayed all day that it wasn't just my imagination and couldn't wait to take another test when I got home.  There was another line!  My sister's fiancé Alex had a dream that I was pregnant and Michelle asked me yesterday if I was... apparently he knew before me!

3/5/19 - I woke up at 3 am and could not fall back asleep!  I laid there until 4:15 and then finally got up excited to test, another nice looking positive.  I had some light cramping throughout the day, but otherwise haven't had any symptoms.

I stopped at Barnes & Nobles on my way home from work and picked up a big sister book.  After dinner I handed it to Vienna and sent her over to Daddy.  Dave picked her up, plopped her on his lap and got ready to read to her, just like every other night, when he suddenly realized what book she had!

4 Weeks

3/10/19 - I spent the entire day with my mom, my sister, and Leah and somehow managed not to blab my big secret.

3/11/19 - We put Vienna in a big sister shirt for dinner at my in-laws and thought they'd notice right away, but after a few minutes we got antsy and told them to check out her shirt.  They were surprised and excited!

3/13/19 - We went out to dinner with Jeff, Liz, Hannah, and Mike and I felt like it was glaringly obvious when I didn't order a drink.  They probably all knew right then and there, oh well.

5 Weeks

3/15/19 - We told my family on my dad's birthday!  I was so happy we were able to get everyone together, because I wasn't sure it was going to happen and I was chomping at the bit to tell everyone.  We put V in her big sister shirt and everyone screamed when they saw it!

3/16/19 - Leah and I had breakfast and when I told her she handed me a gift for the baby.  She definitely knew lol.

3/21/19 - We attended a childbirth seminar at The Birth Center at Lifecycle WomanCare that is required before your first appointment with the midwives there.  I really liked it.  Dave is still a tad hesitant, but I think he's coming around.

6 Weeks

Based on how I felt last time, I expected some awful morning sickness to settle in but it hasn't been too bad.  I've been a little nauseous on and off, feeling like I'm hungover, but I've still been able to eat mostly normal.  I'm super exhausted, which isn't great considering I have a crazy work deadline and I'm prepping for my mom's 60th bday party at the house.  I was avoiding coffee for a while, but I think it's making a comeback.

7 Weeks

I'm slightly nauseous and getting a little more picky about food, but I know this time last time I was living on carbs and cheese and that is not the case.  It's actually making me sorta anxious that something is wrong, but I just keep trying to remember that every pregnancy is different.  Maybe I'm having a boy!

8 Weeks 

I finally had my first appointment!  Last time we got to see the baby at 8 weeks, but I knew we weren't going to get an ultrasound at The Birth Center, so I was just really looking forward to hearing the heartbeat.  When the nurse practitioner told us it might be too early to detect it with the doppler, I was worried I would leave without any reassurance, but she found it!  160 glorious beats per minute.  She also measured my uterus and said it's right on track.

I made it to the gym twice this week and although I was feeling super winded, I felt really strong!

9 Weeks

I'm still in awe of the contrast from last time, specifically regarding food aversions.  I am giving myself some free passes on extra carbs (mini bagels in the morning, a little pasta and bread), but I'm cooking and eating fairly balanced meals including veggies and salads, which was definitely not a thing last time around!  I'm nice and bloated but have only gained 2 or 3 lbs so far, I'm really looking forward to a real bump.  I'm definitely exhausted and still feel kinda hungover on and off throughout the day, but overall it's business as usual.

Update: I threw up.  The locker room in the gym smelled like poop and apparently I couldn't handle it.

10 Weeks

I think I "popped" on Easter.  My stomach still looks mostly like a beer gut, but it's definitely bigger and harder to hide.  My boobs are suddenly giant.  We got to get some face time with this cutie and Shayna gave us the world's tiniest onesie.  I'm honestly not sure if Vienna was ever this small!

11 Weeks

I've been fighting a little bit of a cold this week, but it's pretty mild and I haven't really been nauseous, so that's nice.  I've also been getting some mild headaches.  I've been missing from the gym for about 2.5 weeks, sleep and rest have just been taking priority.

12 Weeks

WE SAW THE BABY!  After a bit of a runaround at the hospital (nurse practitioner gave me a script for an early ultrasound, not the 12 week one I scheduled which happens in a different department, just a miscommunication but made us spend an extra hour at the hospital, plus we had Vienna with us), we finally got to see the baby.  Everything measured normal and on track and I'm just SO relieved.  It's such a nice feeling to know everything is going well.

I made it back to the gym and hit a 130# overhead squat.  Heck yes.  I'm feeling pretty good, sometimes I get mild headaches at the end of the day or just feel overdone, but overall I'm feeling somewhat normal.

I also had my 12 week appointment and they took the blood for my NIPT genetic testing.  They said we should get the results within a week, which I was not expecting!  I was thinking we'd announce right after we saw the baby but now I think I'm just going to wait until we know the gender.

13 Weeks
I have a small bump and it's getting hard to hide.  Waiting for the test results is HARD.

I made it to the gym again and hit a 145# split jerk.  I didn't have any numbers in wodify because I think most of those lifts were done at barbell club and we didn't plug things in.  But I found a blog post that said I did 115# so I'm fairly certain 145# was a nice PR!

I was trying so hard to be patient, but the end of the week was approaching and I still didn't have any test results.  I called on Thursday and they told me Labcorp was super backed up.  They said it seemed like the back up was just for result reporting because they had been getting calls about irregular results, so at that point no news was probably good news.  I decided I couldn't wait any longer and we announced on social media!

I got a voicemail on Saturday while I was down in Cape May for Michelle's bachelorette party that everything looked normal!  Yay!!!!

I think I did a pretty good job hanging in there with everyone drinking and staying up late all weekend, but when I woke up Sunday I legit felt hungover.  Driving home in the wind and rain was pretty rough.  Thankfully I got home to a clean house (and car), some cute Mother's Day cards and a hanging basket of flowers.  And Dave let me take a nap so I could make it through Game of Thrones.  I also did not get any headaches all week!

I called Lifecycle back on Monday to ask them to leave me a voicemail about the gender so Dave and I could listen together... and we're having another baby GIRL!  I was pretty shocked because I swore it was a boy based on how different this pregnancy has been, but Dave said he knew all along.  He was rooting for a boy who would carry on the family name so he's a little disappointed, which I get, but I can't say I'm sad about sisters!  Plus now we don't have to redecorate the nursery and we can fully reuse all the pink crap we already own.  I guess Dave is just destined to be surrounded by strong willed women!  He's already told me our next dog will be a boy haha.

And now the first trimester is over, huzzah!  

First Trimester Recap

My goodness this past week has been a rollercoaster.  Celebrating our pregnancy with all our friends has been one of the highest highs, but this week we were also forced to face a devastating low when we decided it was time to put Butler down.  Thankfully, his health made the choice for us and he is no longer suffering.  My heart aches every day, but I know he had a wonderful life with us!

With the good, we must take the bad.  And these days there's a lot of good.  I'm 1/3 of the way through my pregnancy and I honestly still can't believe it.  I updated this post as the weeks went by with random things that were going on, so here's a little recap of my first trimester!

3.5 Weeks
1/18/17 - I woke up and took a pregnancy test, 11 days past ovulation.  I see a squinter!  It's super faint, but it's definitely there.  I can't believe it.  I took another one after work to see if it was real, there's definitely a line.

1/19/17 - I became obsessed with taking pregnancy tests.  I took two more the next day and the line kept getting darker.  I surprised Dave with a tiny orange tie dye onesie and when he opened it he said "it's cute" with no reaction.  I kept staring at him with some crazy eyes and finally he figured it out and got super excited!  My only symptoms are tender breasts, a little bit of light cramping, and the frequent peeing thing is definitely real.  I'm also feeling kind of bloated, but still feeling more slender than when I started my Whole35.

1/21/17 - I gave my brother a birthday card that said "Uncle" on it.  My dad read it out loud and Michelle got it immediately.  Her face was so funny!  My parents took a little longer, apparently they thought we were calling Tom an uncle to the pups.  Once everyone figured it out there was lots of excitement and some tears!

4 Weeks
1/23/17 - I'm wondering how long I'll be able to keep the secret since I'm blogging about how I feel every day, especially if I start to experience morning sickness.  I'm also feeling like it's going to be obvious at the gym, since I'm now trying to keep my level of effort at 70%.  It's honestly pretty hard to sandbag the workouts that much haha.

1/24/17 - I didn't realize how bloated I would be.  My tummy is not reflecting the fact that I've been rocking my diet for the past two weeks.  I'll just pretend it's a bump.

1/25/17 - Dave called his mom to invite his parents to dinner so we could tell them the big news.  Robin said "what's the occasion?" and Dave replied "we have big news" (idiot).  She guessed immediately.  Surprise ruiners, both of them!

5 Weeks

1/30/17 - Went to a networking event with an open bar and was discussing future family plans with an old friend when he said "You're obviously not pregnant now since you're drinking!" I'm glad I asked the bartender to put my club soda in a cocktail glass haha.

2/1/17 - I'm feeling kind of nauseous and all the leftovers in my fridge sound disgusting... wondering if I've officially made it the morning sickness phase.

2/3/17 - Day 26 of my Whole30 and I officially quit.  I was so nauseous and the idea of cooking veggies made me want to throw up.  We ordered pizza for dinner and I felt pretty guilty, but it was also the best thing EVER.

6 Weeks
I've been super nauseous all day, every day for the past week.  Brushing my teeth in the morning makes me gag.  Fun times.  I have no desire to cook and I hate everything in my fridge.  Takeout, for the win!

7 Weeks
My pants are starting not to fit.  I've definitely gained a few lbs (which isn't exactly a surprise since I'm basically only eating carbs & cheese...)

8 Weeks
I had my first appointment and everything went GREAT!  The baby measured as expected and we got to hear the heartbeat (which made me cry)!  I was so nervous leading up to this and it was such a relief to know that everything is going well.  We mailed announcements to our extended family.

9 Weeks
I thought the nausea was going away and then it came back with a vengeance and I finally threw up.  Twice.

10 Weeks
The exhaustion is so real, especially after lunch.  I have to fight the urge not to take a nap at my desk every day.

11 Weeks
The on and off all day nausea has definitely subsided, now only certain things set me off.  Little mints are my best friend.  I'm starting to come around to real food and even bought some raw meat & veggies at the grocery store.

12 Weeks 
We got to see the baby two days in a row!  The first time was at the hospital and they checked the neck thickness, which is a marker for Down syndrome.  The ultrasound tech said everything looked great.

We saw Baby Midgley again the next day at my 12 week OB appointment and it was upside down kicking it's legs in the air.  We said it was doing a jig for St Paddy's Day.

13 Weeks
Because Tom has Down syndrome, I'm "high risk" in the insurance's eyes (which my OB said I'm really not) so I was approved for the fancy new genetic test called Non-Invasive Prenatal Test (NIPT).  This means I only had to have my blood drawn once at week 12, instead of twice at 12 and 16 weeks for the standard Sequential Screen, and it is more reliable (less false positives).  Oh and it will tell us the gender super early!  The OB called and told me everything looks normal!  Yay!  What a relief.  They are mailing us the gender results so I can give the envelope to a baker for a gender reveal cake surprise :) All my friends think it's a girl.  I really haven't had any special feelings about it.  I've only had one baby dream and it very closely resembled the birth from the end of Breaking Dawn (aka I'm having Edward's vampire baby)...

And now the first trimester is wrapping up!  The nausea has definitely subsided (except for when I smell something that doesn't agree with me) but the mild headaches have started.  I'm definitely starting to get a bump and maternity pants are looking pretty appealing.  I guess I need to take my first bump pic!