Pregnancy Update

I keep thinking of things to post in a pregnancy update but then never get around to actually posting.  Being pregnant and have a baby is difficult and exhausting!  Especially now that Ellie is pulling herself up to standing because she's constantly wanting to pull up on mommy and then to have me hold her hands while she dances and bounces.  Here are some questions and answers for you

Was this baby a surprise?
Yep, she sure was!  We had always talked about spacing our kids about two years apart since we had heard good things about that spacing.  Then when Ellie was born prematurely, we talked about waiting until she was closer to being three when our next child was born in case I got put on bedrest or we had another preemie who would need to spend time in the NICU (requiring us to have someone watch Elise if we wanted to go together).

The Lord had other plans.  I will say that we were being purposeful in trying not to get pregnant so it wasn't a situation where we didn't understand that we could get pregnant and weren't attempting to prevent it.  But as I said, the Lord had other plans.  And we're thrilled and feel blessed to be having another baby!

How are you feeling?
I'm actually feeling much better in general this time around than with Ellie.  As I think I mentioned before, when I was pregnant with Ellie I had to get up at 5:00 every morning for work so I was always operating on very little sleep.  Since Ellie lets me sleep in until 7:00-7:45 these days (later in my first trimester), I feel much better simply because I get more sleep!

My belly is growing more quickly this time around so I'm more uncomfortable now than I was at 22 weeks with Ellie.  I'm also having numbness and tingles in my left ankle and part of my left foot.  I don't remember having that with Ellie, but it's a common occurrence and nothing to worry about.

I'm also not swelling as much this time as I did with Ellie, which is because I'm eating a lot less processed food.  Since I was working full time and had stronger food aversions (which I think were heavily related to always being exhausted and feeling crummy due to lack of sleep) with Ellie, I tended to eat more fast food for lunch because I couldn't ever think of anything that sounded good the night before or in the morning to pack for lunch (and didn't want to eat my lunch when I packed it).  Although I looked at restaurant websites to find the items with the least amount of sodium, my intake was still higher than it is this time.  I'm enjoying not having puffy ankles quite yet!

Do you have any food cravings?
Yes, apples and Cheese-Its.  The Cheese-Its have been more of something that generally always sounds tasty and fills me up nicely rather than an actual craving.  But the apples have been a complete craving.  For many weeks, I would crave an apple the moment I crawled into bed and have to get up (or make Kit get up) to cut one for me to eat in bed before falling asleep.  Now I'm a bit better at remembering before I crawl into bed (aka when I'm standing at the side of the bed about to get in), and I eat an apple most nights and some days.

Are you nervous about possible complications now that you are getting further along?
I wish I could say no.  But I'm definitely processing through anxieties with the Lord.  I'm not nervous in the sense that I don't trust the Lord and want His will.  But I am nervous about the unknown and all of the variables, especially since we have Ellie now so it won't be quite as easy to manage things if we do run into any complications.

A fellow preemie mom who is a couple of years further down the road in parenting a preemie mentioned to me last summer that she found herself finally being able to breath and process through all that had happened with the birth of her daughter when her daughter turned one.  I'm definitely experiencing some of that same processing going on for me, but then I also have all these thoughts about the new baby and will be very close to the same distance along in my pregnancy when Ellie's birthday arrives.

I could write a whole post on this (and may at some point), but for the time being suffice it to say that I'm working through a lot of thoughts and emotions.  And the Lord is faithful to listen and provide me with peace.

Would you please post another picture of your baby bump?


Yes, but not because I think I'm super photogenic when I'm pregnant.  What's with those people who look ridiculously gorgeous when they take these bump photos?  I can never get a flattering angle.  And my husband will roll his eyes when he reads this because he thinks I'm beautiful.  And I'm thankful for such an adoring husband...even if his eyesight is going.  Hehe.

(Just read this to Kit and he said that he hates taking 50 photos of me when he always thinks the first one turns out great.  In my defense, I've never had him take 50 and this photo was taken by me so that he wouldn't have to put up with my continuously walking to look at the camera to see if I liked the photo he took only to have him take a few more.  At least when I take them I can be annoyed at the fact that I can't get a good photo and not mentally blame it on Kit's camera skills.)