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).

 

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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.

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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!