Overall I am feeling much better. The morning sickness is subsiding and I’m getting my energy back. The acid reflux is still very much there but as long as I stick to my meds and eat regularly, it’s not too bad.

One thing I’ve noticed is that this time around I’m not obsessed with all the weekly updates on “here’s how your baby should be developing ” or “here’s how your body is changing”. I pretty much know what’s going on, having done this before, and memorized all those facts the first time around. Also, it just doesn’t really matter to me anymore. So my baby is the size of a fig. While that’s kind of fun to know, at this point all I care about is that it’s healthy. I just want to enjoy the experience, not get obsessed with too much information overload.

Here’s last week’s pic:

And now this week!

Miscellaneous Fun, Facts and Figures:

Total weight gained: I decided I am not going to weigh myself at home since I don’t want to obsess over it. I will only know my weight after doctor’s appointments. As of my 10 week appointment I had gained 4 pounds. I think that’s about average at this stage in the game.

I definitely feel bigger than I look. I figured the 11 week pictures would show a huge belly but it’s not too bad.

Food cravings: Apple juice and Pop Tarts. The first one is somewhat healthy (if I buy low sugar juice), the second one, not so much. At least the apple juice craving coincides with the season! I have a feeling our annual trip to Nebraska City to buy apples and cider will be extra fun for me this year!

I fought the Pop Tarts craving for several weeks. I haven’t allowed myself to have Pop Tarts for years because they are nothing but sugar and as soon as I buy a box, I’ll be hooked. But alas, this morning I could resist no longer! I bought a box of Brown Sugar and Cinnamon ones and a box of Chocolate Fudge (none of the fruity ones for me!). They were soooo good. I ate them with a mug of apple cider. Perfecto!

Isabella’s best politician debate pose + photo bomb by Samson’s butt

Food aversions: Anything too creamy or milky. Normally I love these kinds of foods – casseroles, alfredo sauce, pasta bakes, creamy soups – but for some reason my stomach does a turn when I even think about eating them now. I have been forcing myself to drink milk though. 1 – because it’s healthy and I could use the extra calcium. 2 – because CJ and I both went out and bought a gallon of milk, not knowing the other one had also done so, and we had 2 gallons to use up before the expiration dates. Oh and CJ only drinks soy. That left me and Munchkin drinking a lot of milk!

I have had smell aversions too. Typically I’m not known for my strong sense of smell. CJ has a nose like a hound so we’ve often had moments where he thinks something stinks to high heaven and I don’t smell a thing. But my super pregnancy hormones have made my sense of smell much stronger and there are 2 things right now that really make me gag: bodily fluids and bad breath.

Due to my weak nasal abilities and strong stomach, I’ve always been the go-to when it comes to cleaning up puke or diaper blowouts. Not anymore. I’ve actually had to call in reinforcements on more than one occasion, when Isabella had a particularly smelly BM. Unfortunately for CJ, he is my back-up. But he’s handled it like a champ.

I’ve just lately noticed that Isabella can have some rancid morning breath on some days. I don’t want to make a big deal of it so I don’t say anything and just hold my breath if she “close talks,” or I turn away and pretend I’m looking for something.

Differences between pregnancy 1 and 2: The biggest difference this week has been burping. I remember when my sister was pregnant for the first time and she let out a big ole belch at a family gathering. We all cracked up and my mom commented that this was normal during pregnancy. So with Isabella, I waited for this to happen to me and it never did.

Well it’s happening now! I don’t rip off really loud belches but I do notice more little burps coming up. I think it’s related to the acid reflux and I hope it goes away soon!

Baby items purchased: I went out and bought a BeBand this week, which is essentially a piece of spandex that you can wear to help transition from regular jeans to maternity and back. I never used them with my first pregnancy but looking back wished I would have. I tried it over the weekend and it worked ok. Tried again today and it worked better. The back keeps sliding up on me though, no matter how low down I pull it. Has anyone else used these? Any suggestions?

Random Preggo Related events: I’ve been having sleep issues lately. It seems there are 2 extremes these days – insomnia or deep nightmare riddled sleep. Not sure which one is preferable…

The dreams are VERY real too.

In one dream I had over the weekend I was being held hostage by a serial killer. I tried to run and took up refuge inside a closet. As I woke up I could hear his footsteps coming down the hallway.

In another dream, Samson almost got hit by a car. It was a very vivid image of a Ford F150 coming up on him standing in the road and there was nothing we could do. Just seconds before the truck hit him, he moved. When I woke up I could not get that image out of my head. I gave him an extra long hug that morning.

Isabella Moments: Most of her interest in the baby has revolved around me losing my lap. We read a book to her called “The Birds, The Bees and the Berenstain Bears” in which Mama Bear is pregnant. The book talks about how the bigger mama’s tummy gets, the smaller her lap gets. So Isabella checks my lap everyday to see how much smaller it is.

However, the other day she had some more serious questions. She asked me if the baby would play with her toys and I said yes she might have to share some of them, but not for a while. She then got concerned and wondered if she would have to share her ‘big girl chair’ at the kitchen table with the baby. No, the baby will have its own chair. That got extrapolated to food. “I don’t want to lose all my food” she said. I assured her that this would not be an issue.

I never know what goes on in that mind of hers!

So that’s the latest! I will try and post updates every week with new fun and crazy things. I’m sure there will be plenty!

You can get caught up on other aspects of the pregnancy here!

10 weeks | The announcement

I’m officially 10 weeks pregnant today. First of all let me just say that it feels SO good to have this out in the open. Keeping it a secret for over a month was really hard. I feel so free now!

With Isabella my pregnancy was extremely  easy. No morning sickness. No heartburn. Overall I felt great! The only issue I had was MAJOR cankles toward the end.

(Jennifer Christensen Photography)

They say every pregnancy is different and this one certainly has been. The morning sickness started about a month ago. I thought I was getting the flu as I was also really achy, tired and chilled. I took a few afternoons off work to nap  and I ate a lot of bagels (that seemed to be the only thing that sounded good).

(source)

Eventually I figured out what was really going on and read up on how to deal. I started eating small micro meals every hour or so. It was amazing to me just how quickly I could go from STARVING to utterly stuffed. One day I ate half of a Weight Watchers Smart Ones frozen meal and was so full I was miserable. Half! And those things are small anyway!

After a couple weeks dealing with that, the acid reflux kicked in.

(source)

I’ve had an ulcer since high school so I’ve been dealing with acid reflux for many years. Usually it kicks in if I’ve gone too long without eating and my stomach is empty. Pop some TUMS  and I’m good to go.

Not this time around. No amount of TUMS seemed to touch it. It got really bad one day when I accidently ordered an enchilada that turned out to be spicy. I don’t deal well with spicy food anyway but this one really hurt my gut. The heartburn was so bad I literally thought I was having a heart attack. Called my OBGYN and she recommended 2 Pepcid every day with a swig of Gaviscon at night to manage it. After a few hours of suffering the meds kicked in and it’s been working well ever since. Thank goodness! I do have to be faithful still with my eating and medication or it’ll flair back up but overall, it’s much better. I’m hoping it subsides or goes away altogether as I get in to the 2nd trimester.

The tiredness has gotten better too. This is the first week where I feel like I have energy. There were days when I literally felt like a shell of a person with absolutely nothing left. Just blinking seemed like too much work. Someone pointed out to me that I might be more tired this time because I have a toddler at home, which obviously wasn’t the case before.

No I don’t put her in the dog kennel so that I can take a nap…she crawled in there of her own free will. Although, it’s something to think about…Samson would be a great baby-sitter!

I definitely remember days with my first pregnancy where I would just lay around and not do anything but read or watch TV. Yeah, those glory days are gone my friends. CJ has been great about taking Isabella off to play on the times where I just can’t do anything but sit or lie down. He’s putt in some long days and it’s much appreciated.

I’m already seeing changes with my body too. With Isabella I don’t think I noticed much in the way of a protruding belly until 18 weeks or so. I’m already starting to see one with this baby.

Here I am at 8 weeks with Isabella.

That’s pretty much how I looked already back then. I didn’t start out with a flat stomach. (Don’t ask me why I’m making a peace sign. Or why I look annoyed. Also, what’s with that hair? Note: don’t take prosperity pictures right after working out…)

Here I am today, with baby #2, at 10 weeks.

Pardon the bathroom shot. CJ wasn’t here to take it for me so I had to make do. At least my hair looks good!

See how my belly looks a little bigger and rounder than 3 years ago? It’s not a hug difference, which makes me happy. I guess what it looks like and what it feels like are 2 different things!

I am bound and determined though not to gain as much weight this time around. With the first pregnancy I gained 60 pounds. That was about 30 too many.

Here I am at the very end.

My Lord I was huge. I didn’t realize just how big I was then but I can definitely see it looking back! (That mark on my forehead was from a surgery I had to remove some skin cancer)

So far I’m gaining 1 lb per week. If that continues for the remaining 30 weeks, I’ll be on track. I’m still working out every day and playing volleyball so that will be a big help.

The big question everyone has been asking is if we’re going to find out the gender of the baby. We did with Isabella so personally, I want this one to be a surprise. CJ wants to find out though. We’re still in negotiations and have plenty of time to decide though I think the scales tip in my favor since, you know, I’m carrying the kid and all.

I think that’s about it! I will try and provide weekly updates as things progress, with belly shots, cravings and any other oddities, along with Isabella stories! Here’ s to the journey!