All About Baby #2: My First and Second Trimester

I can’t believe I’m already in the third trimester with our second baby! I’ve gone back and forth on writing a full post about this pregnancy because it’s been a bit on the tough side, and I really didn’t want to make it seem like I’m complaining (I’m honestly so thankful to be pregnant, and all the difficulties are worth it). I mostly decided to write this post as a way of documenting some of this pregnancy for myself. During Anthony’s pregnancy, I wrote a daily journal about my symptoms and everything we did to prepare. This pregnancy, I haven’t written a single entry in my journal. I want to have at least some sort of record of this time, so I thought I would answer some frequently asked questions and share some more details about this pregnancy.

Was this baby planned?
First of all, why do people ask this? Does it really matter? I’ll go ahead and answer it here, but I do think it’s a strange question. Yes, this baby was planned. The smallest age gap we wanted was two years, but I honestly didn’t think I would get pregnant as quickly as I did with Anthony. It turns out I did, and I’m beyond thankful for that.

How do you feel about the age gap?
Ask me this question when the second baby is here! Haha. I’m excited to have children close together, but I know it won’t be easy at first.

How did you find out?
With Anthony I took a test while Chris was at work and told him in a creative way. This time around, I took a test while he was home on a Sunday (March 10) literally minutes before his parents came to visit. Like I said, I didn’t expect to get pregnant on the first try again, but I had been suspecting I might be pregnant for a few days because I was starting to break out pretty badly (I usually never break out, so this was a big sign for me). Chris was pretty convinced I was pregnant at that point, but I don’t like to take a test until my period is due. It took about 10 seconds to see a positive result, and we were so excited!

How far along are you? When are you due?
I’m 31 weeks! I can’t really say this pregnancy has been going quickly, but we sure have accomplished a lot in those 31 weeks. (Life update is here). My due date is November 15. If the baby isn’t late, the age gap will be exactly 24 months!

When did you start showing?
I definitely feel like I started showing faster this time around, but I think I really started to look pregnant about halfway through our trip to Europe (around 24 weeks). It’s funny because you can really see the change in our photos from the trip.

Did you have a feeling this time around whether you were having a boy or a girl?
I have felt strongly since I found out I was pregnant that I was having a girl. I was constantly doubting myself, though, because the joke is that my husband’s family is more much more likely to make boys.

Are you excited about having a girl?
I honestly would have been excited either way (I also liked the idea of having brothers close in age!), but I am definitely excited for Anthony to have a little sister. I can’t wait to see the two of them together, and I am all about the bows and dresses!

Do you have a name?
We do! We actually decided on a girl name more than ten years ago, so it will be really special to be able to use it. We didn’t have a middle name set for sure, but we have pretty much decided on that too. We don’t like to share names until birth, though a few people do know this time around because I’ve randomly shared our girl name throughout the years.

How have you been feeling?
I have been pretty open about it—this pregnancy has not been easy. I thought I had a rough time with Anthony, but this pregnancy has been much harder. I spent the first 20 weeks vomiting many times a day. Around 16 weeks I started having debilitating migraines that also caused vomiting. I would wake up in the middle of the night just to vomit. I also have a hard time breathing, and I have a lot of heartburn, which isn’t something I really dealt with during my first pregnancy. I actually mostly felt decent on our trip, though, which was a huge blessing! The vomiting just recently came back in the morning, but it’s only once a day, so it’s much easier to handle. I’m feeling quite a bit better overall the last week or so, other than pregnancy insomnia, heartburn, and normal third trimester aches and pains, so I’m hoping that the third trimester ends up being the best trimester for me! I think it’ll definitely be much better if we ever get past these 100 degree days!

Does Anthony understand he is getting a sibling?
I think he understands as well as an almost two-year-old toddler can. He loves to give my belly hugs and kisses, and he brings me toys to show to the baby. He thinks it’s hilarious when he’s sitting in my lap reading a book, and she kicks him. He did ask me the other day if there is also a baby in his belly, which was the cutest thing ever.

Have you had any cravings?
For a while, nothing really sounded good. I basically couldn’t eat chicken at all, and it honestly still barely ever sounds good to me. At first, I always wanted chips and salsa and fajitas. That craving has changed to ground beef tacos, which I basically never eat when I’m not pregnant (not that I don’t like them. I just like other Mexican food more). My biggest craving is fruit. I survived the first trimester on smoothies, and I pretty much always want peaches and watermelon.

Apparently I either don't blog at all or write over a thousand words! Honestly, it took me a few weeks to write this post, but I've also been working on a few travel posts, so I hope to have some of those ready soon.