Baby #2: Pregnancy Week 21

21 Weeks!

Baby Growth:

• As her digestive system preps for the outside world, she's manufacturing meconium — the tarry black substance you'll find in her first dirty diaper (ew)!
• If it's a girl, she's already got a lifetime's supply of eggs in her womb — about six million of them! 
  

Weight Gain: 
up 16 lbs from pre-pregnancy weight

Movement:
There is no question about whether or not I can feel her this week. Even Kevin was able to feel her. It is usually when I lay down that I notice it the most, and it always seems to be right under my belly button. I also feel her kicking my sides every now and then when I am standing or sitting.

Gender:
It's a GIRL!!! you can read about our gender reveal party HERE

Maternity Clothes:
Still fitting my big ole' belly into the normal shorts and pants I have but I am wearing more maternity shirts. I feel like they help make you look pregnant and not just fat. We did go swimming over memorial weekend and I wore my regular swimsuit and it worked and looked good in my opinion. It is one of those tankini's that is not real fitting so belly has room to grow.

Moment of the week:
We are homeowners again! I guess technically it would fall under next week because we signed paperwork Wednesday but I am a day late getting this posted.

Gender Reveal: What will baby "bee"!

We have made AMAZING friends since we moved to Alabama. The day we announced our pregnancy with baby #2 my dear friend Amanda (who had just given birth to her 3rd child less than a month prior) sent me a message asking if she could throw a little gender reveal party for K2 (baby #2 until we have a name picked out this is how we reference her). I told her yes but no need and doesn't have to be anything big knowing she had her hands full with a newborn and two other kids. Well as usual she out did herself and threw a great little party. Here theme was "What will baby Bee!" all the details were super cute and I loved that it wasn't typical pink and blue.

I guessed 104 and was the closest! Actual number was 128.

I already knew the gender before hand so while everyone waited outside I put the pink balloons in the box and hid the blue ones so no one could cheat.

we got stumped on number 5 and 12

IT'S A GIRL!

super yummy cupcakes Amanda made. 

Majority had guessed girl and they were right!

And the adorable presents and themed basket filled with honey, homemade bread, a Winnie the pooh toy, a bee sippy cup, and lots of supplies for nursing! Did I mention I have awesome loving friends! 

 It was a nice night out for me with the gals but I loved how excited everyone was for us and celebrated K2 just as equally as baby #1. Thank you again to all our friends who came to celebrate!

Baby #2: Pregnancy Week 20

Forgot to take a picture this week...

Baby Growth:

Baby's got working taste buds.

Now gulping down several ounces of amniotic fluid each day — that's significantly more than before.

Weight Gain: oops...forgot again

Movement:

I have been feeling this baby move but hasn't felt very often until yesterday. I was laying down and all of the sudden baby kicked me twice. I thought he/she was going to bust out of my belly button. 

Gender: 

We found out on Tuesday if Lillian will have a baby brother or baby sister but you'll have to wait until later tonight after our gender reveal party!!! 

Doctor Appointment: 

I didn't have a regular appointment this week but I did have my anatomy ultrasound. With Lillian our ultrasound tech checked gender first thing. This time around the tech took ALL the other meausrements first. She finally got a view of the gender and asked if we could tell and I guessed it correctly. After that ultrasound she had to do a transvaginal ultrasound as well to measure the cervix. I didn't have to do this with Lillian so I could sense that there was a reason for this. She said everything looks fine however the placenta is covering the cervix, this is called placenta previa. She did a great job explaining it to us without causing us to think there was anything to worry about. I forgot what all she said so this is what I found on babycenter.com:

If you have placenta previa, it means that your placenta is lying unusually low in your uterus, next to or covering your cervix. The placenta is the pancake-shaped organ – normally located near the top of the uterus – that supplies your baby with nutrients through the umbilical cord.

If you're found to have placenta previa early in pregnancy, it's not usually considered a problem. But if the placenta is still close to the cervix later in pregnancy, it can cause bleeding, which can lead to other complications and may mean that you'll need to deliver early. If you have placenta previa when it's time to deliver your baby, you'll need to have a cesarean section.

If the placenta covers the cervix completely, it's called a complete or total previa. If it's right on the border of the cervix, it's called a marginal previa. (You may also hear the term "partial previa," which refers to a placenta that covers part of the cervical opening once the cervix starts to dilate.) If the edge of the placenta is within two centimeters of the cervix but not bordering it, it's called a low-lying placenta.

The location of your placenta will be checked during your mid-pregnancyultrasound exam (usually done between 16 to 20 weeks) and again later if necessary.

 I don't remember if she said it was marginal or complete but 80% of the time it moves so we will have another ultrasound around my 28 week appointment. I'd rather not have to have a c-section (c-section is necessary otherwise your placenta could try and "birth" first and cause you to hemorrhage) but I'm at peace however this turns out. 

Maternity clothes:

I have nothing to wear...  Plenty of things fit but are not cute. :(

Moment of the week: 

Lots of things happening this week but finding out gender was obviously the best! My sister in law Jill came down for two days and helped me pack up a bunch of things and Lillian enjoyed having someone new to play with and give her attention. Yesterday we also did the walk through on our house. It is done and we can't wait to close on it next Wednesday and move in that weekend! I have never been so excited about moving and unpacking. Ive also spent a lot of time on pinterest this week looking for new ideas for the house and Lillian's big girl room and the new nursery! 

Baby #2: Pregnancy Week 18 & 19

19 Weeks!

I'm looking a little rough and forcing this smile as I have had some allergy issues the past two days and didn't feel like showering or wearing makeup. (who are we kidding I never wear makeup)

Baby's Growth:

18 weeks

19 weeks

• Can you believe she's yawning, hiccuping, sucking and swallowing?
• And she's twisting, rolling, punching and kicking, too — and she's big enough that you might be able to feel her doing it!
• Developing a protective coating over her skin, called vernix caseosa. It's greasy and white and you may see some of it at her birth. 
• Working on her five senses. Nerve cells for his/her sense of taste, hearing, sight and smell are developing in her brain. 

Symptoms:

• Headaches: Not nearly as severe or often as they have been but I still get them maybe twice a week. 
• Heartburn: during these last two weeks I had multiple nights where I had heartburn about an hour after dinner. No matter what we ate I always had it. Nothing a Tum couldn't handle. 
• Allergies hit us this week. I'm not taking anything and Lillian takes a half dosage of Zyrtec and Kevin is trying Flonase now. None of us are sleeping great. Last night I t was after 1am before I could finally breathe easily enough to fall asleep. 

Weight Gain:

I remembered to weigh myself before eating breakfast and I am 14lbs over pregnancy weight. I looked back at my posts around this week with Lillian and I said I was gaining about 1lb a week since I first found out I was pregnant so it seems to be the same this go round as well. Luckily that trend didn't continue throughout the whole pregnancy so hopefully it doesn't with this one either. I bought a used stroller from a local mom here (more on that in a minute) so I have actually gotten out and done some walking about 5 days this last week. It's not far or long but it is some sort of exercise. I had a lot of cramps around 10-12 weeks if I was too active so I'm slowly working myself up to some physical exercise without worrying about hurting the baby. 

Movement:

Yes here and there. I am still a little iffy when it is actually the baby moving or just gas but I sometimes I just know it is the baby. My post with Lillian about when I first felt her I described it as a popping feeling like popping your shoulder/knee into socket. When I reread that I was like oh yeah that's exactly what I feel. May not make sense to you but worked for me. 

Gender: Our Ultrasound appointment is set for May 19th!! I tried to get in sooner but they had nothing available. I haven't the slightest idea what this baby will be. I thought at first maybe a boy because my pregnancy had been different than Lillian's but now I'm not sure because the difference could just be because it is baby #2. Either way we don't care but I am SUPER excited and it has made this week go by soooo slow. (BTW the info under the Baby's growth above always says "her" on the website I get it from and I just never change it because I got tired of adding his/her.)

Doctor Appointment:

I did have a doctor appointment on April 30th. I was around a few days past 17 weeks. There was a PA there (not sure if she was a student/intern or what) but she was super nice but had a hard time finding the baby's heartbeat. That happened at our last appointment too. I try not to freak out but my goodness my heart sure was beating faster just laying there belly up. The doctor came in and found it and said that the ????? (can't remember the word) was thick so it was just harder to hear the baby's heartbeat from the top but he went right into my belly button almost coming up and under the baby and we finally heard that glorious sound. I don't remember exactly but I want to say it was around 165 bpm. 

Maternity Clothes: 

I have one pair of jeans and one pair of shorts that aren't workout/yoga clothes that fit me. Most of my regular shirts fit fine. With the weather getting warmer I guess it is time I give in and buy maternity shorts.

Moment of the week:

Seems silly but it was the deal we got on our new to us stroller. With Lillian I just had a Chicco Liteway Stroller. Worked great for us but I did hate that it didn't allow the infant carrier to attach to it. I planned on just using that one with baby #2 as well but an awesome friend looking out for me saw someone post a Britax B Ready stroller  on a local online yard sale site. The Britax B Ready is a tandem double stroller but can also be used for just one child as well. I wasn't sure I needed a double stroller and we were already given a double jogger one for the park so I didn't think I needed one and most of my friends agreed their oldest child didn't want to ride in it much. I went ahead and did my research, this stroller has good reviews, watched this video review, and talked with Kevin and this seemed like a good deal. She had listed it for $200 (sells on Amazon for $400-$500) but she included the second seat, lower infant car seat adapter, a rain cover, and a organizer like this. I was sold on everything except the price. I offered $170 hoping she would want to just get rid of it. It was a great deal but not something we desperately needed. She accepted and said she would meet me to see it in person first to try it out. Another reason I knew it was a good deal because she was so great about it and helpful with the information. That night I laid in bed and realized Lillian's convertible car seat is a Britax not the infant carrier. So I sent her a message the next morning and said I didn't think it would work out because my main reason for getting it since I wasn't sure I needed a double stroller was so I could put the Chicco infant carrier in it. She researched for me and found this link explaining the part I would need to make it work. Great but it was another $40. Being the awesome momma she is she took off another $20 for me so I finally realized this was what we needed and bought it from her. We have already used it multiple times with just Lillian on our walks. Kevin likes it better as well because the handle bar is higher and he has more room to walk behind it with his long strides than our other stroller. I am trying to sell our Chicco stroller to help cover the costs and buy the universal adapter. Very happy with my purchase!

Lillian's First Haircut

Finally went to get Lillian's hair cut today. There is a kids salon in town called Spoiled Rockin Kidz. In my opinion more than $10 for a child's haircut is too much but this one was special being her first cut so I made an appointment. Normally their toddler cuts are $20 additional $5 if you want the first cut treatment. Which was a waste but I gave in to the peer pressure. You get a before and after picture on a first haircut certificate and a lock of hair. (rip-off) Luckily if you go between noon and 2pm the haircut is only $13.50 so we made our appointment for Noon. They were great with Lillian and we were in and out of there within 15 minutes.

These were the two before pictures.  Her hair is actually not falling in her face for once, figures. 

The car got her into the chair

The sucker kept her happy and still enough

She didn't like the drape at first but once she could reach the steering wheel again she was happy.

 

Here are the Afters. You can't really tell she got it cut. Kevin and I actually cut a little more off when we got home but Lillian and I were happy with the experience.

This child refuses to look at the camera

Strawberry Pickin'

We headed out to Browns Farm this morning with some friends to pick our own strawberries! Lillian did great for the first hour we were there then she had a major meltdown. I think she was tired and hot. We headed back over to the picnic table to eat our lunch and she was my sweet girl again. Naturally we took pictures. They aren't as good as Daddy takes but capture some good moments.

cool shades

Getting antsy to go pick

filled her belly with LOTS of strawberries

the best I could get of these cuties

finally got her to actually pick one