Pregnancy #2 Update

Well, I officially have one month left before d-day with baby #2 (Aug 19th).  I wanted to post a little update about how it's going, just for my official record keeping. :)

With Harper, I loved being pregnant, despite the myriad of things that went slightly "wrong" during those 9 months.  This time around... I don't hate it, but I haven't basked in my maternal glow quite like I did last time.  There's certainly something special about it the first time.  The second time while chasing a toddler?  Not so much.

The crazy thing is how fast this pregnancy has gone.  I imagine that's true for most people.  I feel like I blinked and now it's almost over.  Certainly, the 22 weeks of crushing nausea felt like eternity, but since that passed, it's sped by and I've found myself feeling like I didn't appreciate it or take it all in like I should.

I'm both nervous and excited to meet this baby.  Yes, I know what to expect so a lot of those newborn jitters aren't there.  Although, I do feel like I've forgotten everything... and with your first, you are immersed in newborn care info - studying schedules and reading articles and all that... so this time I feel grossly underprepared.  I'm hoping it's like riding a bike.

I'm unsurprinsingly anxious about what it's going to be like balancing two.  Harper's accosutomed to a certain lifestyle (ha!) and I'm not sure she's going to take too kindly to having my/dad's time monopolized, especially at first.  Again, I know this is an age-old thing, and millions of moms work it out.  But it's certainly top of mind.  

I really can't wait to see Harper with a sibling, though.  She is so social and loves other kids, so I know that once this baby is more than a blob to her, she will love her and they will be best friends (fingers crossed).  She loves BABIES and shushing them and patting them "niiiiice," so I'm hoping that's a good sign.  I'm also certain she's going to squash this baby when I'm not looking.  She's not so much gentle, despite all her "niiiiice" talk.  Send bubble wrap.

Overall, this pregnancy has been much like my first, minus the whole flying by thing.  Although, one major difference, luckily, is that with this one, once the nausea passed, it was pretty much gone.  Last time, I had little bits hanging on til the bitter end, so much so that I was afraid I would have certain aversions for life.  I've also felt a lot better physically this time.  Certainly it's the fact that I'm more active (by necessity) and have gained a lot less weight (see diabetes update below- blah!).  This summer hasn't seemed as hot either, which is nice.  Yet I feel like my belly itself is just as humongous as it was the first time.  My girls like to stick out, apparently.

 34 week comparison - Harper (left); Baby 2 (right).  Also note the considerable decline in effort made to a) look presentable in these photos    b) add text    c) photoshop my teeth whiter
Another major difference has been with how my babies have moved around... which I'm wondering if is indicative of personality.  Harper punched and kicked me - hard! - from the beginning.  She was all about the jabs.  This girl hardly ever kicks like that.  Instead, she moves all around.  Her movements are slow, but she will drag arms and legs across my belly and was doing all kinds of rolls before she got too big to do so.  She seems to be sitting right at the surface of my belly, and I can feel arms and legs and either hands or elbows or something very small like that when she's moving.  Sometimes it really hurts against my skin she's pressing so hard.  But it's all very smooth and flowy.  Maybe she will be a little less of a firecracker than Harper?  Don't get me wrong - I love my little maniac - but with 2, a nice, relaxed kiddo would be nice.

So, the Gestational Diabetes.  Ugh.  I'm on week 6, and it's super annoying.  I've gotten into a nice routine where I know when to eat and how much, but it's quite monotonous.  I try to have a good attitude about it most of the time, and I do... but some days it just gets me down.  I get sick of eating and just want to have a bowl of cereal or something light instead of x servings of carb and a ton of protein.  I want to just go out to eat and not stress.  And if I have to eat another string cheese again after this, I might lose it.  

My numbers have been really good, but I've had maybe 5 or 6 total times that I've gone higher than my range (which isn't bad considering I've pricked myself 160+ times).  This always happens when we experiment with new foods.  For instance, we researched a Sams take-home pizza (classy, yes) and found I could have 1/5th of it.  I had my one piece and 2 hours later - 140...  which is 20 points higher than the top of my range.  Basically, not all carbs are created equal, and just because the number works, doesn't mean it will be ok for my blood sugar.  I've found I can't really eat any potatoes, no matter if they "fit" in my carb count or not, and if I'm late eating, my numbers are always higher than they would otherwise be. I eat pretty much the same exact breakfast, snacks, and lunch every single day, since I know what works and I'm too wary to experiment more.  By dinner, I'm so over it, but I have to eat.  I've reached that stage where my belly is so big there's just not room for a big meal, but sadly I don't have a choice.

So now that all that whining is out of the way - the good news on this GD front??  Well, I'm holding steady at only 17 pounds gained total this pregnancy - which makes zero pounds gained in six weeks.  Again, I would never try to lose weight or stress about my weight while pregnant, but if I have to see the silver lining of this diet, this is it.  I haven't swollen at all either.  My face isn't puffy like it was last time, and I still have ankles, even on hot days!  So many people have said that I don't look big at all and that I'm all baby and etc.. but honestly, most days, I would trade those compliments for a slice of birthday cake or a bowl of ice cream or a loaf of french bread or a milkshake or a cinnamon bun or a bagel with cream cheese or three bowls of cereal or a can of frosting or... oh sorry... you don't fantasize about food like that??  Yeah, me either...

Seriously though, birthday cake.  I don't even want a fancy cake.  I want grocery store grade sheet cake with the whipped frosting.  This whole time.  That's my biggest craving.  Just a sheet cake.

The even better GD news??  My doctor was happy with my numbers and said if I stay like this she won't induce me!!  I'm really excited about that.  I know inductions can be just fine, but I really don't want to end up stalling out and getting a c-section or something - especially because I know I've delivered a big baby before and it was all ok.  Of course, if she wanted me to for health reasons, I would.. but I'm glad she's ok with me waiting until my due date (she probably won't let me go over, but I'm ok with that).  So in about 3 weeks, I'm going to be desperately trying to walk this baby out!

I got an ultrasound two weeks ago to check baby's size, and she was 54th percentile, which isn't bad at all.  Her head was the largest too, which is a great sign (you don't want her torso to be bigger than her head, risking her getting stuck head-out).  Harper always measured bigger than that anyway, so I'm pleased.  They were training someone on the 3d part of the machine, so we got a sneak peek.  They kept commenting on how chubby her cheeks were.  She looked kind of like the Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters at one point.

And for the final TMI portion of this show, I'm already 2cm dilated.  So who knows.  This baby could come early on her own (Harper was only 2 days early).

Either way, I have a lot to do between then and now. I have a house that is filthy and a room that is partially finished. I hope to make decent progress on both of those here soon.  The clothes are washed and there is a crib.  That's more than you even need, right??