Enjoying Pregnancy

Hard to believe we're more than 17 weeks pregnant already! Two and a half weeks and we'll hit that half-way mark! I'm truly enjoying being pregnant now. I haven't been nauseous lately, and my energy level has almost completely returned to normal. I feel like I can keep up with my daughter now, and run errands as I need, and I even walk about a mile and a half around Taylor lake when the weather is nice! My belly has popped, and I have been feeling the baby moving and kicking every day. It's such an amazing feeling!


I'm not sure if anyone remembers this from my first pregnancy, but for some reason I got these horribly loud, squeaky hiccups when I was pregnant, that came just one at a time randomly throughout the day. Matt and I called them "raptor hiccups" because they sounded like something you'd hear in Jurassic Park. It's awful and funny at the same time. Anyway, they're back. I officially sound like a baby dinosaur again, haha!


My food cravings are starting to get a little funny. I remember when I was pregnant with Juliet, I couldn't get enough Hidden Valley Ranch dressing.. I'd eat salads and veggies just so I could eat the dressing with them (I wouldn't let myself eat plain salad dressing, as yummy as that sounded...). This time around though, salads with ranch dressing make me queasy. For a while, I thought it was just salads in general that the new baby didn't like, but it turns out that's not the case! I was at the hospital with Sarah when Liam was born, and I had some of her Greek salad, and ever since I can't stop eating them. I think its the tart dressing and the feta cheese and olives that does it for me. Speaking of olives, this baby really likes black olives.. I can put away an entire can of black olives in one sitting. They're delicious! Other than that, I've been eating a lot of carbs, mostly pastas.


About three or four weeks ago, I bought a fetal doppler to use at home for listening to the baby's heartbeat. It's just a cheap one, so I wasn't sure how well it would work, but it's amazing. I'm so happy I got it! I was able to find the baby's heart beat right away, and it's so comforting to be able to listen at home, especially with all of the issues we had during the first trimester. I only use it once or twice a week, just before going to bed. It's the most relaxing sound ever. I can also hear the baby moving around with it, which is really neat!



Speaking of the baby moving- I feel his or her movements every day now! It's so amazing. The little taps have turned into strong kicks, and the rolling and stretching is much more noticable! I'm pretty sure that others could feel the baby kicking now too, but we'll wait until Matt gets home next week to see. It's so hard for me to tell if what I'm feeling is from my belly, or if I'm actually feeling the kicks against my hand.



My belly is starting to show a little, which is exciting! I've spent the past three months knowing I'm pregnant, but not looking like it. Finally that's starting to change!



16 weeks:

17 weeks:
You may have noticed in the pictures that my belly button is already starting to pop out! It seems so much earlier than when it popped with Juliet, but maybe thats part of a second pregnancy. Regardless, I'm sure Matt will enjoy playing with it when he's home on RnR next week!

Along with the baby getting bigger comes one of the not-so-fun parts of pregnancy: having to pee without much notice. It's awful, I'll be going along just fine, and then out of nowhere, I have to go now! Haha, it's made for some funny moments.

Oh, and we'll find out if we're having a boy or a girl in one week!!!