Baby#2 Bump Watch: 16 Weeks Preggers

*Originally posted April 20, 2017 on Fab . Fit . Me*

Ahhhh here we go again. I started my pregnancy updates at 26 weeks last time. Decided to start it earlier this time around. Kinda wish I had done it right from the start because so much has happened already!

What is up with Baby P #2 this week?

Apparently he/she is about to hit a growth spurt. I kinda feel like he/she already has.

Because I look like I'm 6 months pregnant. Baby is going to double its weight and add inches to their length.

Right now, Baby is about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces.

Baby's legs are much more developed, and his/her head is more erect than it has been. The patterning of his/her scalp has begun, though his/her locks aren't recognizable yet. He/she is even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his/her heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as Baby P #2 develops.

What's been happening with ME this week?

Weight Gained: At my appointment on Wednesday 4/12 I was up 4 pounds from the start of this pregnancy. My midwife gave me kudos for that.

Workouts: none. I try. But I'm exhausted. Running around at work and chasing after a toddler is enough workout for me right now.

Symptoms: Tired. Sleepy. Easily annoyed by stupid people 🤣. Some nasal congestion.

Food Aversions: Still can't stand the thought of eating meat.

Food Cravings: None yet. A couple of weeks ago I was all about them fries. This week it's whatever.

Sleep: Is fine when I can get some. I average 6-7 hours of sleep a night. And then on weekends I've been taking advantage of napping when Ella naps. It's awesome.

Any Baby/Pregnancy-Related Purchases? No. We were waiting to see what we were having first before we made any real purchase. (And just so you know, we just had our gender reveal over the weekend, but won't be publishing a post till after this update).

Stretch Marks: a few pre-existing ones...you know the ones that appeared at like the very last second of my last pregnancy. But no new ones. My belly isn't that big yet.

Miss Anything?: I miss my old pre-first-pregnancy body. Period.

Belly Button In or Out? In.

Wedding Rings On or Off? On! No swelling yet!

Happy or Moody Most Of The Time? Definitely a combination of both. Happy to be alive. Moody because of annoying people. 😂

Any Movement? Yup yup. Flutters and a few thumps here and there. I love it!!!

Looking Forward To? Finally sharing the details of our gender reveal! I have yet to collect video footage that I can chop up and edit.... or try to.

As promised, here is a pic of my Bump Watch weeks 10-15.

And I'm hoping I can get a post done this weekend of our gender reveal from last weekend!

Keep your fingers crossed!

Tags: #secondpregnancy #pregnancyjourney #16weekspregnant #secondtrimester #bumpwatch #16weekspregnancyupdate #bumppics

Pink Or Blue? What's It Gonna Be?

*Originally posted May 1, 2017 on Fab . Fit . Me*

And here we are.... I'm about to reveal to you, my faithful readers who do not yet know what we are having, just what's been growing inside this belly of mine. Gonna try to keep this post short and sweet since I've kept you waiting for so long.

Ok so let me start with the "back story" of this exciting event. Last time I was pregnant, I had to wait till I was 20 weeks gestation to find out the sex of our baby. That's when they do the 1-hour long anatomical ultrasound.

This pregnancy though, I didn't have to wait that long. Why? Well because I'm old now.

Say what?

Yeah, it's because I'm in the "35 and older" age range. I'm considered "high risk" for things like birth defects and/or health issues for baby. And because I'm in this category, I am offered all kinds of extra testing to check if Baby P #2 may be at risk to have any kind of health issues.

One of the tests is called an NIPT blood screen. Totally non-invasive. Just a blood sample from me that goes off to a special lab somewhere. And then experts take a look at it and check to see what kind of chromosomal make up Baby P #2 has.

I went in for this blood screening on Monday, March 20th. I was about 13 weeks along. The results were emailed to me on Friday, March 24th. I was told I may be waiting 10-14 days for the results to come in. Totally didn't expect it in 4 days. And since we had shipped Ella off to Grandma's for 2 weeks when this took place, we didn't plan to have our Gender Reveal dinner till she came back. April 15th was our scheduled dinner.

And can you believe we were able to wait that long without peeking at the email?

Seriously though, we were good. We didn't even try.

Anyway, my friend that helped me pull off an awesome Reveal last time helped me again this time. And it turned out to be another hit!

Last Reveal, we did balloons with confetti (click HERE to read and watch Ella's Gender Reveal!).

This time we did silly string.

Finding these were a pain in the ass. Amazon and major retail stores were selling these for $5 a pop. My friend eventually found these at a 99 cent store. And they didn't have a lot in stock. She bought every single one they did have. And then she made the cans look all pretty. Totally grateful everything worked out! Our plan B was to do confetti cannons (in case you were wondering).

Anyway. Saturday April 15th, finally came. Yummy dinner. Great company. An overall success.

Team Pink represented.

And so did Team Blue.

And as you can see, most of our guests were rooting Team Blue.

But did that make a difference?

Watch and find out!!!

Tags: #genderreveal #genderrevealideas #secondpregnancy #pregnancyjourney

Pregnancy Q&A: 2nd Edition

*Originally posted April 13, 2017 on Fab . Fit . Me*

These things are always fun to do. It was just a matter of finding the time to do it.

Anyway, for those of you who are curious to know.... read on and find out the deets on this pregnancy 😬

Q: How did you find out you were pregnant? A: Just took a normal Home Pregnancy Test

Q: What kind of Pregnancy test did you take?

A: Same cheap-o one I took last time. One from the 99 cent Store.

Q: How many? A: Just one. I was pretty sure it was gonna turn out positive.

Q: What were your 1st symptoms? A: First I had major cravings for all things salty. And sour. And vinegar. Then my monthly visitor never showed. I kept thinking it would come but it never did. And then I was sensitive to all smells. Gagging, dry heaving, mild nausea happened. And my boobs looked like they grew a couple of cup sizes overnight 😳. So I finally decided to take the test.

Q: Who did you tell first? A: the Hubby of course.

Q: Who was with you when you found out? A: I was kind of solo in the restroom. But the hubby and kid were both home at the same time. Just not in the restroom with me.

Q: My 1st reaction? A: Almost shocked. Because we had barely started "trying" for our 2nd baby. Last time, it took almost a year.

Q: Was your baby planned? A: Definitely.

Q: How far along were you when you found out? A: Found out on February 5th... I think I was about 5 1/2 weeks.

Q: How did your parents/family react? A: They were super happy.

Q: How did you tell your friends? A: Same way I announced it on here. With that pic of Ella. But without a caption. I wanted to see who would figure it out. For those that didn't figure it out right away, I left it at that.

DETAILS ON BABY PEEDEN

Due Date: September 27, 2017

Q: Do you know the sex? A: No, not yet. But there is an email, sitting in my Inbox, with the results of my 2nd NIPT blood test that includes Baby #2's gender. It's been sitting in my inbox for 2 weeks now... we'll be having a gender reveal on April 15th.

Q: Any names? A: Nope. Not this time. Not any that I love anyway. The ones that were on my list last time doesn't sound right this time around.

Q: Were you trying long? A: Not long at all. When I said we started "trying", I was simply saying we weren't doing anything to not get pregnant. We pretty much got it on the first try.

Q: Any Ultrasounds? A: Yup. 3. And he/she is super cute!!!

First Prenatal Appointment @ 8 (almost 9) weeks

Part 1 NIPT screening @ 11 weeks

@ 12 weeks

Q: Have you heard the heart beat? A: Yup! As recent as yesterday!!! 😍

Q: Who do you think it will look like? A: I want it to look more like me!!! I'm kind of tired of hearing that Ella "looks nothing like you" or that "she looks more and more like your husband!". And I'm even more annoyed when people give me the "yeah right" look when I tell them "for your information, she looks like my baby self... not the 'me' now". Because seriously, go look at my baby pictures and you will see the resemblance! But because our firstborn is lighter complected than I am, people assume she looks nothing like me. #EndRant

Q: Will the baby have siblings? A: Big sister Ella and big fur sister Tipsy.

Q: Have you felt the baby move? A: Yes. A lot of flutters and little thump-like kicks. And I didn't realize just how much I've missed feeling it till I finally felt it again.

MISCELLANEOUS

Q: How do you feel? A: Good! Super effing tired. But that's just the all around nature of being a parent and Jane. 😬

Q: Do you have morning sickness? A: Not the throwing up kind. But the nausea, food aversions, hungry-but-no-appetite kind. And it wasn't the kind of nausea where I felt the need or want to throw up. No, it came in the form of hunger pains... feeling like I was starving. The minute I would start eating, I'd lose my appetite. Oh and then I'd have this weird aftertaste all day long. Didn't matter what I ate. It lingered. All. Day. Long.

Q: Do you have any cravings? A: Nothing crazy yet. I've had the strangest craving for some ramen lately tho. It comes and goes.

Q: Do you have any food aversions? A: Yes. Meat. I have no appetite for it. Some days I'll try a chicken dish or a burger but immediately afterwards I'm wishing I didn't. So I've kind of stayed away from it altogether.

Q: Do you have any mood swings? A: I think it's almost a given. I was always cranky especially around weeks 7-10. The hubs would call me out on it all the time. And I didn't even realize how bad it was till he did. I'd like to think I've gotten better though since I've entered my 2nd trimester.

Q: How far along are you now? A: 16 weeks prego as of yesterday, Wednesday 4/12.

I wanted to include baby bump pics of weeks 10 thru 15 in this post but I just realized that the photos of weeks 13, 14 and 15 are on the hub's phone. But I'll include it in the next pregnancy update post.

I promise.

😬😬😬

Tags: #pregnancyjourney #pregnancyQandA #secondpregnancy