Sunday, September 9, 2018

Baby #2 - 12 weeks



I have been wanting to sit down and record some thoughts from this pregnancy, but I haven't yet.  My memory is so bad that if I don't write stuff down, I will forget.  Or everything will be hazy.  (Case in point: Ian is referring to August and September 2018 as "the lost months" ha!)

Week 5 - the best week of pregnancy thus far.  We found out towards the end of the week that I was pregnant.  I felt so good that I didn't think I was pregnant.  Ian thought I was.  So I took a pregnancy test to have a definite answer and I was wrong.  The only two clues that I can remember prior to knowing that I was pregnant were: 1.) About a week before, I found myself at 10pm craving a roast beef sandwich.  Like I could not sleep if I did not make this sandwich.  As I was sitting there eating my roast beef sandwich at 10pm I thought,"This is what a pregnant woman would do." And then I mentally shrugged at the thought, finished my sandwich, and went to bed.  2.) I had just started fitting back into some of my pre-Samuel clothes.  One pair of shorts seemed to fit fine in the morning and by afternoon they felt tight.  I thought, "Well that is weird, my belly used to get bigger as the day went on when I was pregnant." I shrugged it off as needing to eat less.

Week 6 - I struggled through a few days of cross country camp and was absolutely exhausted.  I napped every time that Samuel did.  Ian had VBS each evening so that was not so fun.  We told our parents and siblings shortly after we found out.  Ian's Mommabomma had the best reaction.  All I said over the phone was, "We have some exciting news to share..." and she was screaming.  

Week 7 - We were on vacation with Ian's parents and brother in Door County, Wisconsin.  I spent a lot of time resting and feeling nausea. I would feel yucky but then if I ate, I would feel better.  Going on vacation during the first trimester is the best and worst! It was SO GREAT to have Ian and his parents around to help with Samuel, but at the same time, I felt like I only experienced a tiny piece of Door County due to laying in bed most days.

Our family of FOUR in Door County.  I felt horrible when we took this picture, but I knew it would be on social media, so I tried to look not sick.

Week 8 and 9 - oh man!  These were the worst.  I felt awful all day and either laid on the couch or the bed.  Samuel would bring me book and after book to look at. He would whine to go outside a lot which I felt bad about it.  But it was also mid August so it was hot and humid out.  We were in deep survival mode - using paper plates, eating frozen pizza, and not caring about too much. My personal hygiene was at an all time low and I did not even care.  We had some rough weeks.


Samuel was a trooper.  He would come and stand next to me when I would throw up.  He wouldn't try to play in the toilet (which I am pretty sure would be his dream come true).  He was patient for a 16 month old.

We had our first doctor's appointment during this time, it was a let down.  They did not do an ultrasound, they did not try to find a heartbeat, they pretty much told me not to do drugs and come back in a month.

I remember thinking a lot about Samuel's delivery during this time.  Mainly I kept trying to imagine what would have happened if we had not lived in a time of modern medicine.  For some reason I was fixated on thinking, "what if..." and I was somewhat emotional.  I think this was a byproduct of not laying around too much (good for me physically, not necessarily the best for me mentally).

Week 10 - I think we started telling people around this point because it was too hard to tell people that I was still sick after so many weeks.  I don't think I threw up at all, but I did not feel great either.  I tried to convince Samuel to watch TV with me, he wasn't into it much.  Everyday from 4pm until whenever Ian got home we would watch Daniel Tiger Neighborhood.  By this point, poor Samuel had stop asking to go outside - which was great and heartbreaking.  He would go outside with Dad so that made me feel a bit better.

Our cookie from Susie's Bakery that announced Baby #2 to our Facebook family and friends

Week 11 - the smell of coffee no longer turned my stomach but the taste of it was yuck! {I just read this sentence while proofreading and chuckled because you can tell I deal with a toddler all day every day} I started to get some energy back but it was slow going most days.  My goal was to not leave the house at all ever.  I tried to wear regular clothes but by the afternoon I had running shorts on.

Somewhere in week 10 or 11 Ian and Samuel both caught the same cold.  It was gross - running nose, fever, and a headache.  Both Ian and I were out for the count and Samuel was seemingly fine.  He was running circles around us. I had a hard time having a good attitude by this point because I so tired of being sick and tired. I was so so so thankful that I did not catch the cold.

10 Weeks 6 days pregnant and I remember that I felt HUGE.  I thought everyone could tell I was pregnant just by seeing my belly.  

Week 12 - Hopefully only a few more weeks of feeling bad to go? I definitely was feeling better than week 8 or 9 but I still had to lay down every time Samuel napped.  I think I tried to go back to Cross Country around this time.  I pretty much would just stand or sit and watch the kids.