we're having (another) baby! + A bumpdate
Wow, friends, has it been a while! So much has happened since my last post, namely a new year and decade have started! I thoroughly enjoyed my fall and Christmas season and I hope you did too.
Post-Christmas winter has been interesting. I’ve felt the pull to start writing here again, but had no idea what to talk about. I’ve hardly been writing in my journal either, so I’m really rusty when it comes to writing out my thoughts and deciding what I want to share.
But between a fun new podcast that my friend and I started and some really big life news, I felt like I just needed to resurrect the old blog and start sharing again, even if I wasn’t sure where to start.
Ok, enough teasing of the big news. Here it is *drum roll* I’M PREGNANT!
That’s right. I’m pregnant and I can’t believe it either (even though we definitely planned this pregnancy).
With my first pregnancy, we announced as soon as we found out, so I was about six weeks along when we told everyone, including the internet. This time felt a little different though. I caught a cold in January and also went on a three week hiatus from instagram right around the time I found out. It felt nice to lay low and have this special little secret for a few weeks.
We told our families first and then slowly made our way trying to tell as many friends and extended family members in person. It’s been three weeks since we started telling people and when we got the announcement photos from my good friend Sarah (who’s photos you’ll have seen here, here, and here) I could hardly contain my excitement.
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Hold on to your butts because we’re diving right into pregnancy cliche words. Here’s my first ever bumpdate as we round out the first trimester!
FIRST TRIMESTER BUMPDATE
HOW FAR ALONG: 11 weeks
DUE DATE: September 25, 2020
SICKNESS: Lots of nausea and unsettled tummy feelings, but mostly at night, like right after dinner. The mornings are my best time of day energy-wise and appetite-wise. I caught a nasty cold in the first few weeks of pregnancy and it heavily affected my sinuses. Like, I could hardly hear out of my ears for weeks. It was very gross and I’m hoping I don’t catch another cold now that we’re moving into springtime.
CRAVING: Japanese food, especially sushi (which I know I can’t/shouldn’t have) and chicken teriyaki. I’ve also had smaller cravings for strawberry poptarts, turkey sandwiches (which I haven’t given into because deli meat isn’t super safe when you’re pregnant) , chicken ceasar wraps, raw veggies, and the greatest food in the world: pupusas.
AVERSIONS: Ground turkey, which is the same as when I was pregnant with Isaac. Really, the smells of cooking are a huge turn off right now. My sweet Brandon has been coming home from work and prepping our dinners — some which I don’t even end up eating — and he’s a saint for it. Coffee sounds good sometimes, which I also remember from my first trimester with Isaac. Even Chick-Fil-A, my go-to food during my first pregnancy, has lost its luster to me. Hoping the cravings kick up and the aversions settle down in the coming weeks.
PHYSICAL CHANGES: I feel bloated constantly. Half of my jeans already don’t fit and the other half I’m basically squeezing myself into because it’s still technically winter. My boobs are full of milk again which is a weird feeling since I just finished weaning Isaac about a month ago. I’m predicting I’ll be leaking in the next trimester. I noticed a spike in my hair regrowth before I found out I was pregnant so now I have those cute pregnancy baby hairs. My hair texture feels like it’s changed as well. My pre-pregnancy curl routine isn’t cutting it anymore so I’ve been struggling to find one that works for pregnancy curls. I’ve also been verrrrryyy tired, needing lots of naps and sleeping in later than usual. I’ve had a lot more nausea than last time, too. It starts in the evening, right around 7pm and I’ll feel pretty sick to my stomach until I go to bed.
MENTAL HEALTH: I wanted to include this because I don’t think this gets talked about enough. I had depression and anxiety while I was pregnant with Isaac and for maybe a year after he was born and I didn’t realize it/wouldn’t admit it to myself or others. It wasn’t until the fog cleared that I understood that what I endured wasn’t normal. Common, maybe, but not normal. I’ll maybe write more in depth about my experience with postpartum anxiety later, but I wanted to include this check in for myself and hopefully to encourage others to check in with themselves regularly.
In the very early weeks I felt my anxiety spike high. I was completely on edge for no understandable reason and I found myself starting to fall back into outbursts of anger and losing my patience with Izzy for really small things. I’ve also had some catastrophic thoughts creep in as I’m trying to fall asleep — thoughts about how we might get hurt or how someone might break into our apartment — but thankfully I’ve been able to identify these thoughts and feelings for what they are: anxiety. Just being able to call myself out has been helpful in letting these thoughts go instead of falling down the rabbit hole over them. I’ve also been crazy honest with my care team this time around instead of putting on a brave face and playing down my symptoms. Beyond those moments, I’ve actually felt incredibly optimistic lately. Optimism hasn’t been my default in years, so I’m very happy to be seeing the bright side these days.
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We’re so incredibly excited to welcome this new baby later this year! Personally, I’m excited to see Izzy become a big brother. Also, I’m making it a point to share more on my blog this year. I don’t even know if people still read blogs, but I think part of that is because hardly anyone blogs anymore! So here we go: second pregnancy, second baby, I’m stoked!
