Time is certainly getting away from me. I'm already 22 weeks and definitely on the countdown. As I'm sure I've said before, pregnancy is not my favorite season. It is definitely worth it though, and I'm thankful to God for His blessings. We are expecting a girl this time, and I'm so excited! I'm definitely one to plan, and too often I make my own plans without seeking God's guidance. Our first, Ansel, was a boy, and I REALLY wanted a boy first. Then when we made the decision to go for #2, I REALLY wanted a girl. I'm so ready for frills, bows, lace, and lots of pink! Of course I have no control over the gender, so I was just delighted when we found out at the ultrasound a few weeks ago.
Let me be honest for a minute. I used to think I wanted four kids. Well, I still do. But, after my first birth, I just don't honestly think I could do it four times. They say you forget it, the pain. Let me tell you, I don't forget it. We almost didn't try for another just because of the first birth. But I keep telling myself the second had to be better... Anyway, we have had so many people in our lives adopt children. An aunt and uncle, good friends from our time in Cali, and others. I see students at school who are products of the foster care system and need love. Adopting has always been in the back of my mind. Going into this pregnancy, I was sorta bargaining with God. "Lord, if you give me a girl, I'll feel like I can stop having kids biologically and start adopting..." Yet, I came to the place where I finally said, "Ok, God, two is it for us. We'll look into adoption no matter the gender." Then to find out it was a girl- well, it was confirmation somehow. Maybe that sounds crazy and weird. Whatever the case, I still feel so blessed that God would give me a little girl this pregnancy. We probably won't adopt for another 4-5 years, since many times they recommend that your biological children be older than the adopted children, but it's so exciting to think about and prepare for.
We waited longer to tell everyone this time- I was already in second trimester. Everyone has their reasons on when to tell, and waiting was what we wanted to do. One reason was just that as a teacher, I wanted to get through first quarter without being the "crazy pregnant teacher." It was important to me to establish those relationships with students first before throwing something else into the mix. Students certainly have lots of comments... thankfully, this time around they aren't quite so obnoxious. Pregnancy is just so public for me, and everyone wants to know every detail. And yes, it's exciting, it really is, but nine months worth of bad sleep can wear on me, and I guess I just get grouchy. So, we waited. I'm glad we did. It worked for us.
Pregnancy #2 has been a little different, at least in the first trimester. I definitely had a lot more nausea than I remember with Ansel. Thankfully no actual vomiting, and after I figured out that I just constantly have to eat (every 3 hours or so), it seemed to go away. As I entered second trimester, even if I skipped my evening snack for some reason, it wasn't too bad. Another thing that was similar was headaches in late first trimester/early second trimester, but they weren't as bad as with Ansel.
Other things are just like last time. I don't sleep well, partially because I have to get up to use the restroom, and partly because I just seem to toss and turn more. I bought one of those ginormous $50 pregnancy pillows, and it helped for a few weeks, then I ditched it. Maybe it will be of use in third trimester. I have kept up running, even about 2 miles at 20 weeks, with short walk breaks. I think I even felt better than last time, but it could be partly due to being earlier in the season. That is, it is warmer outside so it prolongs the running season. Last time I had to go to a gym to run by 15 weeks and that was a total drag to be indoors. However, I've definitely been slowing down in the last two weeks and am just hoping to make it to Thanksgiving time before I switch over to walking and strength training. As far as weight gain goes, I have gained 10-12 pounds (it fluctuates), but almost all of that is since second trimester started. I feel like it might be a little faster than last time, but I also popped out sooner, so my guess is that they are connected. I know I'm not quite as diligent and strict as I was with the first pregnancy, but my blood counts are almost identical, so maybe I'm just being hard on myself. :) That's my justification anyway. I would really like to stay closer to 25 pounds instead of 35 this time around. We'll see.
I'm trying to be really proactive about labor this time. I mean, I certainly was last time too. We did Bradley Method classes, stretching, exercise, all that. But Ansel was turned and I really think that's the reason I had back labor and 2 1/2 hours of pushing. So I asked the midwife what I could do. She recommended a chiropractor and also prenatal yoga, so I am going to explore those options. I'm really watching my posture too, to try to give the baby all the advantages to being in the right position once labor comes. I just keep praying that God gives me peace through it because to be honest, it very nerve-wracking to me.
Well, I'm just a month from third trimester already. In some ways this pregnancy is going really fast. The next two months of holidays will fly by I'm sure, and then just two more months till March comes. I'm definitely going to be happy to meet her!
