If you follow me on Instagram you’ve probably already heard the big news- We are expecting our second baby in October! That’s right, a new mini adventurer is on the way! Since I’m now over halfway through this pregnancy, I thought it might be a good time to make it official on the blog, as well!
After we moved back to the USA we started talking about having another kid and we agreed it was time! As most women know, the road to pregnancy can have some unintended bumps to it. Right after Thanksgiving I found out I was pregnant, however, I ended up having a very early miscarriage at about 6 weeks. My doctor said since it was so early (a chemical pregnancy) I was okay to try again right away! January 31st I found out I was pregnant again and now here we are!
This picture is from Memorial Day weekend, so I am actually almost 21.5 weeks along now!
Second pregnancy vs my First
One of the major differences from my first pregnancy to this one is that this time around I am feeling all the symptoms. With Carter I had nausea the first trimester and fatigue/discomfort towards the end, but overall it was pretty easy and cruised along. This time I have been extremely tired the whole time so far. I had nausea and food aversions the first trimester again. I’ve had the worst backaches, hip aches and round ligament pain, which I didn’t have the first time around! I’ve also started having braxton hicks contractions, which is really weird, and something I definitely didn’t notice with my first pregnancy! Overall, I am feeling pretty pregnant at this point!
Overall I’d really just like to kick this fatigue in the butt! It’s hard when you have to limit your caffeine intake!
As for clothes/bump size, this time I definitely got big sooner and had to start wearing maternity pants earlier than before. I also started out bigger in the first place, so that probably has to do with it a little bit! With Carter I was able to wear my regular shirts pretty far into the pregnancy. This time I’ve had to switch to my bigger/longer shirts or actual maternity shirts much earlier! My bump seems to look bigger in the afternoon and evening than in the morning, which is really weird! My weight gain has been pretty slow, but it’s starting to pick up now that I’m well into the second trimester!
Big brother!
Carter is super excited to be a big brother! We told him on the Saturday before Easter by giving him this tee shirt and some “big brother” books, which was super cute. We waited until I was about 12 weeks along and we had gone through all the blood work testing to make sure everything was “okay” before we told him. We knew he wouldn’t be able to keep the secret, so that was another reason for waiting to tell him! He has been excited to help pick out some toys and stuff for the baby and loves trying to convince us to tell him what names we are thinking about!
Boy or Girl?
And now the part everyone really cares about! Since I am in the 35+ category, which is considered “advanced maternal age” (ha!) I’ve had some extra bloodwork and monitoring going on with this pregnancy. One of the test they did was a DNA test which checks for genetic abnormalities in the baby’s blood and can also tell you the sex pretty early, too! So, we actually found out around 12 weeks instead of having to wait for the 20 week ultra sound! We are super excited to share that it’s a girl!
I will also have more monitoring because Carter was born with low birth weight. So, they are going to monitor this baby for that and I will have monthly ultrasounds instead of just the normal few you get along the way. I’m also being monitored for preeclampsia due to my age and high blood pressure caused by my kidney disease. But, the doctors aren’t super worried about that since my blood pressure and other tests have had really good results so far!
Baby girl is due October 12th, which just sounds really far away right now! But, I am over halfway through and I know this summer will go by so fast! I’ll share another pregnancy update soon!
