23 Weeks

How Far Along: 23w1d

How Big Is Baby: Fruit/vegetable comparisons include a large mango, grapefruit, or eggplant

Sex: Team Green!

Symptoms: I have noticed that my ankles and feet already seem to be swelling in the evening. I don’t remember ever getting very swollen with Noah, not even at the end. I also have some pain in the arch of my left foot. The other thing that has bothered me on and off is these sharp pains in my butt muscles. Some days it’s fine, and then other days I feel like I’m limping around like an old lady. It’s been particularly painful this week.

Food Cravings/Aversions: Nothing sticks out.

Belly Button: Except my belly button. It’s sticking out nicely. J

Sleep: Still going well. Knock on wood!

Stretch Marks: Nothing new.

Weight Gain: I weighed myself one day last week and was up to 122, which puts me up about 13-14 pounds total I think.

Maternity Clothes: I am wearing almost all maternity at this point as the bump is quickly outgrowing everything else. I do have several elastic-waist skirts that are non-maternity that will probably take me til the end, too. I love wearing skirts on warm days!

Movement: Baby is becoming more and more active, and the kicks are getting stronger. S/he really likes kicking my cervix these days. Could you maybe reposition yourself in there, please? No? That’s ok, I still love you.

What I Miss: Nothing!

What I’m Looking Forward To: My dad is visiting this weekend to celebrate Noah’s birthday. This lucky kid has been celebrating for a whole month now!

Best Moment This Week: The best moment by far was getting approval from my manager to move to a part time position within my department next school year. I will only have one school and will work three days a week following my maternity leave. YAY! Noah’s birthday party was also pretty sweet. Check out his awesome cake!

A double-sided hero cake for my big 4 year old!

 Milestones: Another week closer to meeting this little one!

Easter, NIAW, and 22 Weeks!

Happy Easter everybody! We had a fun weekend with Brian's parents in town. Last year we didn't do a lot for Easter because we had three house showings that day, but this year we got in all the usual traditions. Saturday we dyed eggs. Noah had fun with this, but was kind of sad when he broke one of his eggs after dipping it in every color. 

Before bed, Noah planted some magic jelly beans in a basket. In the morning a chocolate bunny, a bunny glow stick, and a few other treats had grown from the beans. Or so he believes. :)

He then found his Easter basket and began his hunt for the eggs.

With the eggs we had dyed, I made some deviled eggs. It has been forever since I've had some since we never have Easter with family anymore. Noah was not so impressed.

Today is also the beginning of National Infertility Awareness Week. This is something I am still deeply passionate about, although I don't know where I fit in anymore. Twice now Brian and I have succeeded at fertilizing an egg all by ourselves, and one of them is currently alive and kicking inside of me right this second. We have no idea if we are just the luckiest infertile couple ever, or if maybe we're not so infertile anymore. Either way, if you've lived through infertility, you never really forget what it feels like and the trauma stays with you. I truly hope that each and every one of you reading this achieves (or has already achieved) your dream of creating the family you have always wanted and deserved. I have so much more to say on this topic, but I'll save it for another day. So many complicated feelings.

And finally, today marks 22 weeks in this pregnancy!

How Far Along: 22w0d

How Big Is Baby: The size of a spaghetti squash or papaya. (About 11 inches long and roughly one pound)

Sex: I'm still thinking it's a boy. And still no desire to find out early!

Symptoms: Occasional heartburn in the evenings, stretching and low heavy pressure, braxton hicks contractions (always a good reminder to drink more water)

Food Cravings/Aversions: Nothing I can really think of. I am loving Jelly Belly sour jelly beans right now though.

Belly Button: Mostly out, especially when I've eaten a full meal.

Sleep: Knock on wood, but this is still going great. I usually sleep through the night without needing to use the bathroom, and I've only had minimal back pain on occasion. The hips are still doing great, and I am so thankful for that!

Stretch Marks: Nothing new.

Weight Gain: I have no idea. I am not really keeping track.

Maternity Clothes: I have given up on using the belly band on any pre-pregnancy pants. It just doesn't work anymore. But I can still pull off a number of pre-pregnancy shirts for now.

Movement: I'm not sure if this baby is way less active than Noah, or if the anterior placenta really has that much of an effect. I feel movement daily, and I get some pretty strong kicks from time to time, but it's nothing like I remember with Noah. We'll see if things change as baby grows.

What I Miss: Absolutely nothing!

What I’m Looking Forward To: Noah's birthday tomorrow and upcoming birthday party next weekend.

Best Moment This Week: Earlier this week, baby was kicking consistently in one spot. I asked Noah to come over and feel. I held his hand in place, and when he got a solid jab, he gasped and got a big smile on his face. This was by far one of my favorite moments of this pregnancy! We also got the crib reassembled today with Grandpa Tom's help. I'll admit I got a little teary when I saw it in the room. I cannot believe that in 4 months we're going to have a little baby sleeping in there!

Milestones: Noah feeling his first kick! My heart is so full.

The Bump: 

Halfway There!

Yesterday marked the halfway point of this pregnancy. I've heard a lot of people say that their second pregnancy seemed to go fast, and so far I have to agree. It's crazy! Today was our big anatomy scan, and I am super proud to say, Brian didn't peek! So we don't know what we're having, although when the tech typed the information onto the image, I think I only heard three keys click, so I'm thinking B-O-Y. (And the heartbeat finally dipped below 150 and came in at 146bpm.) I guess we'll find out in another 20 weeks or so! The only thing that mattered to me today was that baby is healthy. All measurements came in right around 20w1d, and I received a prompt email from my nurse afterwards confirming that the baby, uterus, placenta, and cervix were all considered normal. Thank God! I am so grateful, and feel like I can finally relax and fully enjoy the rest of this. At the ultrasound it was also confirmed that I do have an anterior placenta, so that explains why I have felt less movement this time around. I am not too disappointed though, because with my smaller size I can still easily feel and see quite a bit of movement. I think it's just the smaller moves that I can't feel as well for now. The other thing that made me really happy today was that for the first time ever, we got some really nice profile shots! With Noah, he was always facing the screen or buried head first into the placenta, so I don't have a single good profile shot of him. This was my favorite of the bunch, with baby sticking its fingers into its mouth.

We also got several pictures of the baby's feet because the machine kept printing them on accident. This was the best of those.

How Far Along: 20w1d

How Big Is Baby: According to BabyCenter, baby is as long as a banana. The sonographer said that based on measurements the estimated weight of our little one is currently 12oz.

Sex: Team Green! But I'm leaning towards boy. We finally picked a boy name (we've had a girl name for years) which was the only reason I couldn't picture another boy, so now I'm totally excited for either possibility. 

Symptoms: Nothing new, but I don't think I've yet complained about the constant pulling and low pressure I have felt. I don't know if this was something I dealt with last time, but man. I am often so uncomfortable. If I could just sit all day without having to ever walk, I would be thrilled. It definitely gets worse as the day goes on. Part of me thinks that part of it could be not drinking enough water. I have the hardest time drinking boring old water, but I think it's extra important now that we live at 9000 feet. I'm trying!

Food Cravings/Aversions: I've hit the stage where I really want soda. I rarely drink any when not pregnant, so this seems like an actual craving to me. I bought some A&W rootbeer and it is delicious!

Belly Button: Mostly out.

Sleep: Thankfully this is still going pretty well. My back gets a little sore, but so far my hips are doing well. Hip pain was the worst part when I was pregnant with Noah, so I hope it continues to hold off.

Stretch Marks: Nope.

Weight Gain: I haven't weighed myself recently.

Maternity Clothes: When my mom was in town we went shopping for some new stuff. A lot of it is for warmer weather, and I can't wait to wear it. For now I'm relying on the winter stuff I have from last time and bigger shirts that still look and fit okay with the bump.

Movement: During the last week movement has become more frequent and more obvious. I love the big, strong nudges that I get from time to time. Brian finally felt some believable kicks this week too. Finally! (So take that anterior placenta!)

What I Miss: Absolutely nothing!

What I’m Looking Forward To: We have a lot of fun weekend plans that I'm looking forward to including a going away party for some friends and a birthday party for one of my friend's daughters.

Best Moment This Week: Today's ultrasound!

Milestones: We're halfway there!!! Baby measured right on track and looked healthy and happy!

The Bump:

The Surprise of a Lifetime

(This is a post about how I found out I was pregnant. I've been meaning to write it for a long time, but needed something like spring break to finally get around to it!)

Over winter break, on the winter solstice, I got the surprise of a lifetime.  My period was 11-12 days late, and I was starting to get frustrated and confused. I remained highly skeptical that I could be pregnant, despite a coworker insisting that I had to be. I know it happened once before, but that was just a fluke (right?) and didn’t result in a take home baby. Some people might wonder why I waited so long to take a test. Well, last time I had a failed FET cycle my next cycle was 36 days, meaning that my period was 8 days late. My guess is that my body doesn’t truly reset until the estrogen and progesterone levels drop back to normal, which doesn’t happen immediately. I knew that I ovulated at least a week late based on my body’s signs, so I fully expected to have a late period. If I were a normal person, I would’ve started to become suspicious when I got super nauseous after drinks and seafood with coworkers around 7 days “late.” I might have assumed that the lingering upset stomach for the remainder of the week after that was something other than “bad seafood.” It wasn’t until that Saturday when my chest started to get really sore (which honestly I figured was more a sign that my stubborn period was finally going to start) that I started to piece things together. My mom and step-dad were visiting for Christmas, and we needed to make a last minute gift purchase. On our way to the store I said to Brian, “Either I’m dying or I’m pregnant because my stomach has not felt right this whole week. And the odds are better that I’m dying.” Brian replied that he thought the opposite, then insisted on a detour to the grocery store to buy a test. Later while he was on an errand with my step-dad I snuck up to the bathroom and took the test. The test line showed up immediately, and it was super dark. The weird thing is, I wasn’t nearly as shocked as I expected to be. Maybe it’s because this has happened once before, or maybe it was because it was kind of a relief that I wasn’t dying of something. Either way, I decided that I would wrap up the test and put it under the tree for Brian to open. I spent the next few hours dying of anticipation.

Not so surprised.

When Brian opened the gift bag, there was zero surprise on his face. He had seen the outer wrapper to the box in the trash and figured if a negative test wasn’t also in the trash, then a positive one must be hidden somewhere. Stupid smart husband. My mom on the other hand was absolutely shocked. I wish I would have taken her picture! It took her a couple minutes and several questions before it finally sunk in. Holy shit, they got pregnant on their own! That was a fun moment.

This picture is super blurry and Noah has his eyes closed, but for me it captures the real excitement of the moment. Even though Noah had no idea what he was holding.

Blazing BFP

The next several weeks were equal parts thrilling and terrifying. Once I got past my 9 week ultrasound I really started to believe in this, although all along I’ve felt that in some ways, this baby was so perfectly timed that s/he must truly be a gift from above and completely meant to be. The irony is not lost on me that when I wrote this post, it was technically day one of this pregnancy. Thank you again God, Universe, whoever it was who gave me this special gift. I am so grateful.