Condensed Pregnancy Journal

I can't go without blogging about the #1 thing consuming my mind lately!-PREGNANCY!!!

I want to journal my second pregnancy somehow, but since I am now nearing the end, this will have to be a condensed version....

FIRST TRIMESTER

We found out pretty early on that I was pregnant. Actually, I think the day I took the test and got a positive was on Kendall's 3rd birthday, Jan 13th. The following weekend was Karen's bachelorette weekend in Vegas, so I wanted to make sure I could party it up with the girls. Well, there would be no partying for this expectant mommy! We were actually very surprised, and of course super excited.

(side note: I still went to Vegas and had a blast with the girls, but was so tired from staying up late, I ended up with a "sympathy hangover" the next day! haha!)

I felt pretty good the first trimester, only changes I noticed were being tired, zitty, and noticed my belly showed much earlier in this pregnancy.

Baby's due date: around September 24, 2010!

Karen's wedding shower at our house

The bachelorette weekend in Vegas!!

SECOND TRIMESTER

My absolute (& pretty much only) favorite thing about being pregnant is feeling the little bean moving inside my belly. This happened around 17 weeks with baby #2. It was more on the inside at first, and then eventually the fun of feeling baby move on the outside started a little later. In late April, an ultrasound determined we were expecting another baby GIRL!! A week after that ultrasound, some bloodwork came back saying that the baby had a "high risk factor" for having down syndrome. We decided that I would have an amniocentesis and level 2 ultrasound done to find out for sure. Everything came back normal, so we were very thankful that a healthy baby was on the way! (the amnio also confirmed that baby is DEFINITELY a girl)

The second trimester also included Karen's wedding day, which created some very tough challenges and stresses making sure that the bridesmaid dress fit for the big day! (since I ordered a teeny tiny size before I found out I was preggers!) But thankfully the alterations lady was able to let it out enough for me to squeeze my belly and growing body into it! And the wedding day was incredible, I'm so happy that baby bump was there to be part of it too! :)

I haven't really had any crazy cravings or anything during this pregnancy. But I have found it hard to eat really "heavy" foods at times (I get major indigestion and eat Tums like they are candy). Pretty much the only thing I "crave" is salads and lighter foods. And POPSICLES. I've eaten like 50 boxes of popsicles during this pregnancy!

Ultrasound when we found out we were having a GIRL!! 4/20/10

THIRD TRIMESTER

Ahhh, the lovely third trimester. It's really frustrating for me because I always want to try to be on the go and doing so much, but my body just can't keep up anymore. By around 4:00, the "witching hour" begins. I'm so tired, my feet kill, and the 500 degree Arizona heat is getting to me. I feel pretty good during the day, so I end up doing too much. But I never realize it until the evening when I feel exhausted.

We have decided to TRY to keep baby's name a surprise, however Jason seems to tell anyone and everyone. I have told my mom, Karen, & Briana (and a few strangers). That's it! So hopefully it will still be a surprise for SOME of our friends! Just for fun, here were some runners up:

Girls-Camryn, Elliana (Ellie or Elle), Story, Faith, Hadley, Layla, Avery, Mikayla

Boys-Cameron, Aiden, Colton, Christian, Will, Trenton, Colby, Brody, Owen, Tristian, Brayden, Clayton (Clay)

More than anything, the most important hope I have for our baby is that she is HEALTHY. With our family histories, and even a lot of things that have happened in the past year, I have realized more than ever that to have a healthy baby is the absolute ultimate blessing. I will be SO thankful to God if he blesses us with a healthy little miracle.

Last week, I had an ultrasound to make sure baby was turned head down. Everything looked good, but then yesterday my doctor called saying that the baby was "small for the gestational age", so I have to go in to have a non-stress test and ultrasound done twice a week. So between my regular gyno appt, and these ultrasounds (done in a different office), I will be living at the doctor's office the next few weeks! I am going to ask the doctor more about these tests at my next appointment, because it confuses me that they said the baby is 6 lbs (which sounds fine to me!) I think maybe they have the due date off or something.....we'll see I guess..

This is my 36 week pregnant with Kendall photo

One more note about this pregnancy: It has been SOOO enjoyable having SO many of my close friends (and family!) pregnant at the same time as me! It makes a world of difference having so many other expectant mommas to confide in and share this experience with. It's been so fun! Love all my fellow preggos!!!