Baby #2!

Since over half of this pregnancy has already flown by, I figure we are well overdue for an update! :)  Let's start off with some pictures, shall we? I don't have any current belly pics, but since I haven't shared any at all thus far I figured these would still be good to share :)  Derek was in Germany when these pics taken, so all I have is pictures taken with my phone!

{taken October 3rd @ 17wks}

{taken October 19th @ 19wks}

And here are a few pics of me at 17 & 19 weeks when I was pregnant with Shelby. I always heard people say that you show a lot sooner the second time around, but I didn't realize quite how much it would be! There is definitely a huge difference!!

{17 weeks with Shelby}

{19 weeks with Shelby}

I also went back through my old blog posts from when I was pregnant with Shelby and found this little questionnaire that I periodically filled out throughout my first pregnancy. So I thought I'd do that again this time around :)

How far along: 23 weeks & 2 days to be exact!

Weight Gain: About 6 pounds. But I actually lost 5 pounds in the first trimester due to nausea, so I've really gained those 5 pounds back plus added 6 new pounds. ;)  I looked back to see how much weight I had gained by 24 weeks with Shelby, and it was almost 10. So I'm about at the same place I was last time around. :)

Maternity clothes: This is such a drastic change from my first pregnancy! I went all 41.5 weeks of my pregnancy with Shelby without wearing a single stitch of maternity clothes. This time around? I had to pull out my belly bands around 12 weeks! Craziness. I was only really "showing" last time around in the warm spring/summer months so I was able to get away with wearing all of my regular skirts and dresses. But this time I was showing so early on and in the cooler fall/winter months, so I had to break down and order my first two pairs of maternity jeans from Old Navy and I also picked up 2 long sleeve maternity tops at Target. But aside from the maternity jeans, I am mostly wearing my regular clothes.

Sleep: Fine! After having Shelby, I sadly never went back to being quite as good of a sleeper as I was in the pre-Shelby days. But there really hasn't been any change to my sleeping habits with this pregnancy...just one middle of night trip to the bathroom to pee most nights, but I usually get right back to sleep. :)

Movement: This is another huge change from my first pregnancy! I had an anterior placenta with Shelby, so I never felt any movement for the longest time...and even when I did start feeling some movement, I never felt as much as I was "supposed" to according to the kick count charts. I have an anterior placenta again this time around, so I wasn't expecting to feel much movement. Boy was I wrong! This baby is definitely a mover!!

Food cravings: None. I definitely had some food aversions in the first trimester. Two of those said aversions just so happened to be Miss Shelby's favorite foods--bananas & peanut butter--so that made things interesting early on in this pregnancy. ;)

Symptoms: I never really had any morning sickness at all with Shelby, so I was kind of expecting/hoping the same would be true this time around as well. :)  Unfortunately, due to my food aversions being Shelby's favorite foods I couldn't exactly avoid them. So I did throw up a few times during the first trimester, but almost every episode of nausea was triggered by something Shelby was eating. And I did have some instances where I felt nauseous/had heartburn after eating a big dinner. But thankfully, that is all behind me now and I currently have no pregnancy symptoms to report other than a rapidly growing belly!

Gender: GIRL!!!  Here are a few pictures of little sister :)

{12 week ultrasound}
This was our first time seeing this sweet baby & hearing the heartbeat!

 

{20 week ultrasound}

{20 week ultrasound}
How sweet is this picture of her sucking her thumb?!

What I miss: Nothing :)  Just like last time, I am having a super smooth/easy pregnancy and I'm really enjoying it!

Best moment this week: Since we've gone 23 weeks without an update, I'll just pick 3 of my favorite moments from the entire pregnancy. The first was hearing the heartbeat for the first time with Derek at 12 weeks. Hearing your baby's heartbeat for the first time is such a surreal, amazing feeling! Number two--finding out we are going to have another girl! :)  And finally, all of the movement! I stressed/worried about the lack of movement I felt with Shelby, so it is very reassuring to an anxious mama to feel that sweet baby moving around in there just as healthy as can be!

What I'm looking forward to: My next doctor's appointment on the 21st & yummy Thanksgiving food :)