Month: November 2017

Baby Update · Daily living · Parenting

Baby #2: Week 5

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I think the hardest part about pregnancy before you feel any unpleasant symptoms is keeping your mouth shut about it! I don’t even want to talk about how many people knew I was pregnant within the first week of us knowing about it. I was just so excited!

Before you get all excited, no, I’m pretty sure I am not showing already! That lovely bump is a combination of me not enjoying working out and me really enjoying a glass or two of wine after Gerrit goes to bed. And maybe some bloating? I know that’s a common early pregnancy symptom. The funny thing is, I’m way less self-conscious about my too-early-to-be-a-baby bump now than I was when pregnant with Gerrit. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m a mom now. Or that I’m in my 30s now. Or that I’ve put a lot of time and effort into eating healthier; I’m proud to say that I’m actually starting this pregnancy out at almost 10 lbs less than I was when I got pregnant with Gerrit. No matter the reason, I’m not embarrassed to post a photo of myself with a tummy!

How far along: 5 weeks on 26 Sept 2017
Approximate size of Baby: the size of a sesame seed
Gender: no idea
Weight gain: none… actually down a couple of pounds
Symptoms: The main ones this week were insomnia, occasional mild nausea, low appetite, and tender breasts/nipples. I don’t remember if I had difficulty falling asleep when I was in the early stages of pregnancy with Gerrit, but it’s driving me nuts. Surprisingly, I’m not very tired during the day despite only 6ish hours of sleep a night. I’m sure that will change in the next week or so.
Another thing I’ve noticed is that my sniffer is a lot more sensitive! Looking back, I realized this before I got a positive pregnancy test. I cook with cilantro almost every week, and lately it (and other herbs and spices) have seemed very strong smelling. Not quite enough to be nauseating, but it’s definitely a little off putting when I’m trying to cook dinner. Oh, and I can smell Gerrit’s poopy diaper across the room now!
Maternity clothes: No, although I’m remembering fondly how comfy those maternity jeans were…
Stretch marks: only old ones!
Belly button in or out: in
Sleep: I’m still not feeling tired at night. But once I get to sleep, I sleep pretty well for the most part. I just wish it wasn’t taking until 2 or 3 in the morning for me to feel even a little tired. 
Best moment this week: Probably sleeping in on Saturday! Gerrit picked up a little cold virus right after I hit 4 weeks, and I was up A LOT with him for a few nights. The poor kid was waking every 45-90 minutes, and although it was hard on me, I’m sure it was worse for him. I was starting to feel a little under the weather myself by Friday, so I was looking forward to sleeping on Saturday… and I slept past noon!! Maybe all I needed was some sleep, because my symptoms never got any worse, thankfully.
Miss anything: Still missing wine
Movement: not yet
Cravings: no
Looking forward to: My parents coming for a visit! I’m hoping it coincides with that notorious 1st trimester exhaustion so I can sneak some naps in. 😉
Baby Update · Daily living · Parenting

Baby #2: Week 4

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Well, here we are again! 🙂 This was another planned pregnancy, so I found out we were expecting again fairly early on.

Once again, I was completely shocked (even though we had been trying to get pregnant), because I was just so sure I was not pregnant. Even though I had been feeling moody and a little weepy (I cried watching “Moana” for Pete’s sake), I chalked it up to a lower dose of my antidepressant and PMS. Add in two negative pregnancy tests and some spotting, and I was completely sure I was just about to start my period. The day before I was supposed to get my period, I had had no more spotting, which was a little strange. So after eating lunch, on a whim, I decided to use my last pregnancy test. Even as I was peeing on the stick, I was thinking, Why are you even using this test? You’re just wasting money! But when the faintest 2nd pink line showed up, I almost fell over! I rushed to the window to get some better light, then took a picture to send to my sisters. I was sure it was just wishful thinking! Once I had calmed down, I dragged Gerrit to the BX (which is literally just down the road) to get a few more pregnancy tests. Yup, still positive.

The photo above is what Andrew came home to that night. Of course, it was night week, so he was home late-ish. I was practically jumping out of my skin waiting for him to come home! His reaction was pretty typical Andrew: calm and unfazed. When I asked how he felt, he said, “I’ve been ready for this as soon as we stopped using protection.”

That afternoon I also snapped this picture of Gerrit while we were playing in his room:

I don’t think Gerrit has any real opinions on this pregnancy yet. In the recent past, when asked, he has said he wants a baby sister, but we’ll see how he feels as things progress.

Coincidentally, I had a doctor appointment the day after I took the pregnancy test for a refill on my prescription, so I let them know that I had had a positive pregnancy test. They sent me to the lab to have blood drawn, and that afternoon, I got the call confirming that I was pregnant! Things will be a little different this time around, because I will need a referral to go off base for care.

How far along: 4 weeks on 19 Sept 2017
Approximate size of Baby: the size of a mustard seed
Gender: no idea
Weight gain: none
Symptoms: some nipple soreness
Maternity clothes: not even close
Stretch marks: only old ones!
Belly button in or out: in
Sleep: I’ll be honest… since I stopped drinking wine after Gerrit goes to bed, I’ve been having a hard time falling asleep as quickly. I’ve been sleeping more lightly too, I think, but it’s hard to say, because I never get to sleep through the night (ahem…Gerrit…). 
Best moment this week: Finding out that we are pregnant!
Miss anything: Uh…wine!
Movement: not yet
Cravings: no
Looking forward to: Getting assigned an OB/GYN in town so we can schedule our first appointment!
Daily living

A Three-historic Birthday Party!

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After a very low-key 2nd birthday, I wanted to do something really fun for Gerrit’s 3rd birthday. I settled on a dinosaur theme months in advance, since he was mildly obsessed with them! And apparently this is the age where kids start to get really into birthday parties, which made it even more fun. He was talking about his birthday party for weeks before it actually happened.

I Pinterest-ed so many cute things for this party, but pared it down considerably in the week leading up to it. I had a great, well-organized to-do list for every day before the party. Plus I had my mom there to help with everything! No stress, right? Hahahaha… well, my procrastinating ways came through as they always do for things like this. I left SO much for myself to do the MORNING OF the party like a crazy person. Despite being super stressed out and scrambling to get things set up the way I wanted, everything turned out fine. It wasn’t everything I had in mind, but the kids had fun, the food was good, and Gerrit loved it all, so it was perfect.

Once the party guests had all arrived, we did a dinosaur egg hunt in the backyard. I gave each of the kids a gift bag and off they went!

 This was my way of doing party favors and a game all in one. Gerrit LOVES egg hunts, so I figured it would be a winner for kids of all ages! Every egg had a baby dinosaur in it plus some kind of goody (bouncy ball, tiny Slinky toy, stickers, tattoos, fruit snacks).

I’d say it was definitely a hit! The kids loved finding the eggs and opening them up at the end.

After the egg hunt, people headed in to eat. My mom set up the streamer backdrop with the leaves and banner, and she cut the table cloth to look like foliage.

I made little signs for the herbivores (fruit skewers and veggie cups) and carnivores (crackers, meat, and cheese), and we HAD to have pepperoni pizza, of course. Gerrit asks for pepperoni pizza on a daily basis.

We also had a watering hole and a volcano-like raspberry lemon cake! The only thing Gerrit insisted on for his cake was little dinosaurs be on it, so I paraded them around the top of the cake. I know this was Gerrit’s birthday party, but I definitely made the cake that I wanted to eat, haha. I love pound cakes, and I knew Gerrit would love the raspberries in it. I got lots of compliments from the adults, so I think everyone enjoyed it.

The birthday boy blowing out his big ‘3’ candle!

Gerrit was thrilled to be able to eat as much pepperoni pizza as he wanted!

My mom drew and painted this Triceratoss game, which we played with glow necklaces. It turned out great!

My mom also drew these dino footprints leading to our house — too cute!

 

Gerrit had such a fun birthday party! A huge thank you to my mom for helping me pull it all together, and thank you to everyone who came to help Gerrit celebrate!