13 weeks #2!

Figured big sister should be featured as well! 

How far along? 13 weeks!!
I feel sorta bad for this babe, because their bump updates are going to be a lot less "glamorous" than they were with Elsie. (when I actually had a reason that I needed to look presentable everyday) You're all lucky I at least showered and put some clothes on ;) 
 If you'd like to see my 13 week update from my pregnancy with Elsie, you can find it here

Maternity clothes: None yet! 

Stretch marks?  Not much stretching is occurring in general quite yet. haha

Sleep: Sleep has remained pretty much the same, which is a GOOD thing. Els lets me get a lot of good sleep, which helps IMMENSELY! 

Best moment this week: Well I had the ultrasound for the genetic testing, which again we opted for just so we could see the little bambino more or less. So it was a lot of fun to see the little monkey bouncin around in there, definitely made things that much more REAL for us! haha We got the results back from that today actually and it was nothing but good news- 1 in 10,000 for down syndrome and trisomy 13 so that's wonderful! We got a couple cute ultrasound pictures too! :) 

Look at those stretched out legs! Certainly cozy in there! haha

Hi mom! :)

Miss anything?:  Having the energy to do more than just taking care of my little lovie. 

Movement:  Nope, not yet!! 

Food cravings: Salad!! I found the Olive Garden salad dressing and I've basically been obsessed. So i've been eating TONS of salad and sliced cucumbers! Could be worse, right?? 

Anything making you queasy or sick?  It's touch and go, somedays I can make it though without any, and others i'm smacked in the face with it again. No rhyme or reason. Sigh. 

Gender: Still don't know that! I'm still thinking totally has to be a girl!! 

Labor signs: No! 

Symptoms: I had a horrific, hideous migraine last night. I felt it building as I was getting ready for bed, so I promptly got to bed and thought I could beat it by just sleeping it off. NOT so much. I woke up at about 3:45 from a dream that a doctor was telling me I had a brain bleed. YEAH.....It was freakishly bad. I took some pain reliever and some dramamine and laid as still as I possible could until I could fall back asleep. Thank GOD it was gone when I woke up in the morning. In a weird way, I was grateful that it happened in the middle of the night. Yes, it disturbed my sleep, but I would rather deal with it by myself in the wee hours of the morning than be absolutely worthless to my daughter during the day. I just can't believe this is happening all over again like clockwork. I would rather deal with daily nausea than one of those headaches, it's scary! I'm basically on my knees in prayer that this doesn't start happening daily again.

Belly button in or out? It's still in

Wedding rings on or off? Off actually, but not because i'm swollen, but cause my rings are too BIG! I lost quite a bit of weight after I had Elsie (somehow) and they don't fit very well at the moment! 

Happy or moody most of the time?  I've been happy for the most part

Looking forward to:  Spring time, and hopefully finding our home soon!! 

12 weeks! Numero Dos

How far along? I am officially 12 weeks pregnant today! Still basically all bloat, but the doc felt my uterus pretty high up so I'm sure I'll start legit popping any day now haha.
If you want to see my 12 week update with Elsie, you can find it here :) 

Maternity clothes: Haven't had to bust those bad boys out yet. Oh let's be real, they never got a chance to get put away! haha  

Stretch marks?  Somehow didn't get any, i'm hoping I am just as lucky with this one! Crossin my fingers!  

Sleep: I'm sleeping pretty well. Elsie only gets up about once a night around 4 or 5 and sometimes I have a little trouble falling back to sleep but she's a dream boat and will usually sleep in until about 9, so I'm still getting plenty of sleep which is GREAT! 

Best moment this week: We got pre approved for a mortgage, so we will be able to move before this baby comes (If all goes accordingly) and I am THRILLED about that!! I also had my first doctor's appointment today with a NEW doctor, and that went really well. She didn't make me feel the least bit "guilty" for being pregnant again so soon, which I was really worried about for some reason.

Miss anything?:  I am looking forward to not feeling like a character in The Walking Dead. Cue the zombie groans. 

Movement:  Not quite yet. I'll be very curious to see how much sooner I'll feel movement with this baby (If I do)  

Food cravings:  I haven't really had a real STRONG craving for anything. I'll crave certain things for dinner, but I haven't had any real constant cravings early on like I did with Elsie.     

Anything making you queasy or sick?  Thank goodness the nausea has started to settle down a bit. Just like with Elsie, really the only time I would/do get real nauseous is right away in the morning when I'm hungry. As soon as I get something in my stomach and get moving, i'm usually pretty good the rest of the day, unless I get a bad headache.  

Gender: We don't know yet! I have a strong feeling it's another girl just because of how similar this pregnancy has been so far! Will be very very interesting!

Labor signs: No! 

Symptoms: Nausea, Pretty debilitating fatigue (Thank GOD I have an easy going, snuggly baby) and I've started getting some headaches again which scares the death out of me especially since I have Elsie. When I had them when I was pregnant with her I could just retreat to my bed with an ice pack and call it a night. Obviously a little hard to do that with a 5 month old. I've only had 1 really bad one with vomiting and the whole 9. I'm just really hoping I can just keep them under control this time around. 

Belly button in or out? It's in...for the time being lol   

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or moody most of the time?  Pretty happy. Obviously I struggled for awhile when I first found out because I was scared (still very much am) but I am getting more and more happy about it everyday. I've been able to hear the heartbeat on my doppler and that's such an amazing little sound. (Even if I wasn't expecting to hear it again SO soon haha) 

Looking forward to:  We have an ultrasound tomorrow, so it will be nice to see the little peanut! 

28 weeks! HELLO 3rd Trimester!!

How far along? 28 weeks! HOLY crap I am officially in the 3rd trimester. PLEASE be good to me!   

Maternity clothes: Samesies  

Stretch marks? Pheww still doin well 

Sleep: I've been sleeping really well still, not even getting up too much to use the bathroom. The only thing that has changed is that I rarely wake up feeling refreshed anymore,I've been waking up SUPER groggy lately like maybe the sleep isn't as "restful" anymore. 

Best moment this week: Well Monday was my Birthday, so that was okay. I took the day off from work and slept in, lounged in bed reading and watching Netflix. It was really quite lovely. Then Josh and I went out for dinner, and went to Hobby lobby and I got all my supplies for my little project i'm working on! Also, it makes me shudder a bit to think THAT'S my idea of a good birthday now. lol. As for the rest of the week, it was pretty slow. Over the weekend, we packed up and went to Rice Lake,WI for Josh's softball tournament. The weather wasn't very ideal, but it's all about the people-so it was a good time nonetheless!  (Even though I had to drink sparkling water all weekend instead of adult beverages.) 

Miss anything?: Hmmm... I guess to follow up my last comment, at times I miss not having to be the sober cab. All completely worth it though of course, just if I HAD to pick something. ;)  

Movement: Had sort of a scare over the weekend in terms of movement. I just noticed that I BARELY felt her moving, when for awhile there It seemed like she was nonstop movin and shakin. I literally had to sit completely still and then she would fidget or something. And of course I was away from home and couldn't reassure myself with my doppler.(I used it as soon as I got home and her heart was thumpin away as usual) She's still moving around but it sort of seems like i've gone backwards in time back to when I JUST started feeling her. I have a doctor's appointment today, so i'm going to bring it up. I'm hoping she's just a REALLY chill baby. 

Food cravings: Nothing really different from the norm. In terms of SPECIFICS though, i've noticed since i've been pregnant i've craved Arby's Beef and Cheddar sandwiches. When before they have never even been a passing thought to me. I wouldn't have thought to order one even if I was AT Arby's, so that's kind of interesting.   

Anything making you queasy or sick?  Nothing 

Gender: GIRL! 

Labor signs: No! 

Symptoms: The usual, plus LOTS of round ligament pain. I just sneezed and nearly cried, OUCH! (and made me aware of my ever-weakening bladder heh heh....) 

Belly button in or out? Still hanging on!   

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or moody most of the time? I'm HAPPY! The only time I find that my mood gets the best of me is while i'm at work. I get pretty trigger happy in terms of letting things annoy me. But I revert back to bein a happy girl once I'm home. 

Looking forward to:  Well summer is already well underway and I feel like i've had little to no "sunny" time spent outside at the lake, etc. So i'm sure hoping there are MANY more ahead before this baby comes!!  

15 weeks!

How far along? 15 weeks! Just truckin' along!  

Maternity clothes: Still not wearing any yet. I have a few pairs of pants that are just laughable at even the thought of trying to squeeze into them. But I have a lot of jeans with a good amount of stretch in them. So i'm good still. 

Stretch marks? No sign of 'em yet! But I have noticed a lot more itchiness so I'm definitely stretchin! I've been enjoying that oil that I ordered. It has a nice light smell and even though it is an actual OIL and goes on much like a tanning oil-it doesn't feel OVERLY oily. Which I like! It absorbs into your skin really quick and you don't feel like you've been at the beach all day and need a shower. And it washes off your hands easily too. So far so good! 

Sleep: Sleeping really well lately! Well..besides the OUTRAGEOUS dreams I've been having. Honorable mention (in condensed version because it went on FOREVER): Josh and I got a large pet snake and we decided to play the snake charmer song for it. Which then caused the snake to go berserk and proceed to push one of my nephews down the stairs on a chair. I was then terrified of the snake and tried to get Josh to give it away but he wouldn't because he had grown too attached. (Which is REALLY bizarre because Josh HATES snakes-not this one I guess) The only other parts I remember were me letting it out to go to the bathroom and it coming up to me and rubbing its head on me to get pet like a cat. SO SO weird. 

Best moment this week: I had a routine OB appt this week and everything seems to be going very well. We listened to the heartbeat which is in the 150's, and she told me she has seen no significant truth to the wives tale about the heart rate, so I guess I won't take that one TOO seriously. And then we discussed our next ultrasound which will most likely be the last one we have and the one that we'd find out the sex of the baby. They typically do that one around 20 weeks. I hesitantly asked my doc if there was ANY way we could have it done during my 18th week because Josh will be out of town for work during my 19th and 20th week. I was expecting her to say no, that she'd prefer that I wait, but to my surprise she said that would be NO problem- that's something we should definitely be together for! I was SO happy and excited. I LOVE my doctor! 

Miss anything?:  I still miss not getting these recurring headaches, but otherwise nothin! 

Movement: Not yet!! Can't wait for that. 

Food cravings: The only thing I can think of that i've pinpointed specifically that I want lately has been Granny smith apples. Love love love. 

Anything making you queasy or sick? Still morning mouth and brushing my teeth. The only other time I feel sick is when I have a bad headache. 

Gender: We will find out April 7th!!! The countdown begins! Literally.....21 days, 20 hours 18 minutes. ;) 

Labor signs: No thank God. 

Symptoms: Still getting the headaches and the occasional floods of nausea. Otherwise I'm feeling really good!  

Belly button in or out? Still in

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or moody most of the time? Most of the time i've been happy!

Looking forward to: Our ULTRASOUND!!! Cannot.WAIT!!! Now we just have to pray that the little peanut will let us see the goods!! :) 

14 weeks! HELLO 2nd trimester!

How far along? 14 weeks!! (OFFICIALLY, INDISPUTABLY IN THE 2nd TRIMESTER!!) 

Maternity clothes: Still not yet, I wore a maternity shirt the other day. But before I got pregnant I bought some jeans at a thrift store that were just a LITTLE bit too big so that might be why I'm not needing the pants yet.

Stretch marks? None still. I ordered some Earth Mama Angel Baby Natural Stretch Oil last night. I'm all about reading reviews on things, and this one got mostly all positive reviews. We shall see how it works for me!

Sleep: Sleeping alright. I've started having the really weird dreams. Also, I ALWAYS wake up and i'm sleeping on my back. I know it probably isn't SUCH a big deal in this early stage, but I have to train myself somehow to not do that.It's hard because that's one of my favorite sleeping positions.

Best moment this week: Well it started out pretty lame, I had jury duty. But I guess in hindsight it wasn't SO bad, I only had to go 2 days, and at least I know i'm guaranteed exemption for 4 years. Then we got our very reassuring NT screening results (if you missed it, I posted about it here.) And I had a very good weekend! Saturday was allegedly "International Women's Day" and Josh really allowed me to soak that up for all it was worth. He took me on a shopping trip to Hobby Lobby (which by the way was AWESOME) and then got my car all washed and detailed.

Miss anything?:  I miss not getting headaches damn near every day, AND being able to take something that is actually effective for them.

Movement: Nope, but I have been able to HEAR movement on occasion with my doppler which is pretty dang cool!

Food cravings: I recently got these little instant mashed potato cups that come in all kinds of flavors like loaded baked potato, 4 cheese, etc. And they are SO good. I sprinkle a little shredded cheese and sometimes a little hot sauce on them and it is like my new favorite snack. I ate all the ones we bought so I find myself craving those. Other than that, no notable cravings besides just food in general still. I feel like a ravenous beast.

Anything making you queasy or sick? This is going to sound really gross potentially but "morning mouth" makes me gag and sometimes even heave a little EVERY morning lately. And it's not like I have wretched morning breath or anything, it's just that dry mouth, congested throat feeling that literally makes me gag. Okay that's far enough of that.

Gender: Still no clue! My gut is still totally screaming "boy" though. I'm hoping that since Josh has to go out of town around my 19th/20th week that my doctor will let us have the anatomy scan near the end of my 18th week. And if that's the case, only 1 month until we find out what we're having!! CRAZY!

Labor signs: Uh no

Symptoms: I think i'm finally starting to perk up. Don't feel SO exhausted all the time anymore (still plenty tired though) My only real negative symptom as of late are these headaches. I've been drinking water basically all day ever day, and i've tried basically all the tricks in the book. But to no avail! If anyone has any surefire tricks that I may not have tried, PLEASE send them my way. I ordered something strange called Zandu balm (which also got good reviews) It will probably make me grow hair on my chin or something, but i'm willing to try anything at this point.  

Belly button in or out? Still in

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or moody most of the time? Half and half i'd say. I've just noticed that annoyed tinge in the back of my neck on occasion the last couple days. (does that even makes sense???)

Looking forward to: My next routine OB appt will be sometime this week so I suppose that's something to look forward to. Still lookin forward to that spring fever too of course!!

Results and quick video!

So earlier this week I heard back from the genetic counselor regarding our results from the NT screening. Now these are just the preliminary results, we will get the FINAL results (after 1 more blood draw from me) at the end of March. However, they were VERY good! And she said if anything, these results will stay the same-the risk likely won't increase. Our risk for down syndrome is about 1 in 8500, and the risk for Trisomy 18 is 1 in 10,000. A woman my age starts out with a risk of about 1 in 700, so that was a really good jump. So all in all, very promising and reassuring results!

Now, just for a little fun video!  Recently when I've used my fetal doppler, on occasion I will hear the heartbeat, and then I'll hear a little screech or a record scratch. I'll be keeping the wand absolutely still, so it's not feedback. I looked it up because there are MANY noises you can hear in there. (your own heartbeat, the placenta, etc) But it turns out that particular sound is actually fetal movement! Most likely the baby kicking or bumping around in there. SO INSANE!! So in this video you can kind of hear what i'm talking about-it sounds like little bleeps or like I said-a record scratch. (right around the 10 and 20 second mark) I am also pretty amazed at how STRONG the heartbeat has gotten! When I first got the doppler it was hard to find and pretty faint most times. Now it's like POW POW POW and I can find it right away.  SO cool. I don't think i'll ever stop being absolutely amazed by this whole thing! :)

(Ps don't pay much attention to the HR reading, I don't think it's very accurate especially considering it jumps around A LOT)