I know what you’re probably thinking…”sooo…THAT was quick!”. I mean, G isn’t even 11 months old yet, and his little brother or sister is a fourth of the way to being born! The due date is April 12th, right during Spring Break/Pascha/Easter, for those of you who were wondering.
To be honest, it really WAS a surprise. I’d only had one period (sorry, the first of many TMIs, I’m afraid), and I was still breastfeeding fulltime.
And the timing…wasn’t so great. In the span of 3 weeks, we: 1) lost our car in an accident, 2) moved across the country with a toddler, 3) started new jobs/careers and 4) OH! Found out we’re having a baby! Any one of these 4 things would’ve been tough all by itself. Having them all at the same time? Overwhelming and exhausting, to say the least.
Since I know that the rest of this post might be considered a bit…negative? Complaining-like?…I’ll start with the HUGE positive. We have another baby coming. Another beautiful baby like G, someone who will make our lives just that much more complete. I definitely feel the need to have a big family, so we should get started, no? Also, G is spoiled. He needs another sibling to balance things out. The two of them will be a year and half apart, exactly– the same distance as Keith and I were. We grew up best friends, always play mates.
I have to admit– when I saw that little heart beat on the screen today, I cried just like I did with G. I wasn’t just relieved to see it, I was elated! Suddenly, it all made sense. For some reason, I haven’t yet been able to bond with this baby the way I already had with G by this point. But seeing that heart beat…I haven’t stopped thinking about Baby Snowcone ever since.
Anyways, on to the dark side of the moon…
Everyone says that every pregnancy is different.
So, let’s compare now, shall we?
Morning Sickness–
Last time: Lasted from weeks 5-8, with occasional bouts of nausea afterwards. Lasted most of the day, with a few hours of relief every evening (when all the eating happened!). Never threw up, but boy, did I want to!
This time: Much, much much worse. How many times can I use “much”? Lasted the strongest from week 6-8.5 (a few days ago). No relief in the evenings, sick sick sick, even waking up miserable in the middle of the night! Currently, the sickness is only happening for about half of the day. But it comes out of nowhere– I’ll be fine one second, and then holding on for dear life the next!
One of our first days in CA, I made the mistake of taking a “Vitamin B5” pill– something that the Doctor I saw in Dallas said would help with the nausea (to be fair to the medical community, the midwife here in CA confirmed this as well). Less than an hour later, my stomach felt like it was on fire. I immediately started dry heaving, and couldn’t stop for 6 hours! I was praying that I could just throw up, but because of my deep-seated fear, I don’t think my body would let me! Apparently…Vitamin B5 can also CAUSE severe nausea, in a small percentage of people. Grrrrrrr……
Hormones–
Last time: I got very upset about everything. I even threw a soup can at Jesse in an argument!
This time: Same thing…haha, did we expect anything different?
Cravings–
Last time: Cold peas from the can, mozzarella on sourdough, thai food, orange juice
This time: Get ready, it’s weird….Cup of Noodles! I know, chemical city, right? Bean Burritos from Taco Bell. Jamba Juice smoothies. Nectarines. Salad. Lentil Soup. Waffles.
Other Side Effects–
Last time: Very, VERY tired….
This time: Still super tired (does it ever stop?). HIGH Progesterone levels, reeking havoc on my intestines. It got bad enough that I thought I’d developed a gluten intolerance! Turns out, that’s just the hormones, irritating the lining of my stomach. Also, just a few weeks in, I developed a yeast infection (sorry, TMI again…). Thanks, hormones. I’ll make sure to NEVER SPEAK TO YOU AGAIN.
Okay, enough babble. We are really trying to do better with pictures this time around, so here are a few!
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courtney says
i felt like nausea was MUCH MUCH MUCH worse with jonathan than with topher. maybe a combo of less sleep/more diapers/stress/lack of ability to go lay down for a nap? whatever it was…yuck! so sorry. are you feeling better now?
Paige says
Who are you seeing? I think you said midwife…
Kelly says
I’ll know in a few days…if I qualify for Medical, I’m gonna go with the Creating Harmony midwives because it will be free (and, as it turns out, free is hard to turn down!). If not, Tiffany it is! I loved her!
Paige says
Just and FYI… Aaron (aka Dr. Kromhout) is absolutely fabulous. I did all of my prenatal with him last time, and will still see him every 3rd time or so this time around (mostly to appease French Hospital in the unlikely case that I’ll need to transfer). Ideally, I like the idea of seeing a midwife, but in order to practice in a hospital, they really have to give up everything that makes a midwife a midwife (in my opinion). Plus, they never get to have the final say when it comes down to making a non-standard decision (like waiting more than 24 hours for an antibiotic after your water breaks; turning down an IV; intermittent fetal monitoring; etc) – they always have to defer to the OB on call.
My 2-cents on creating harmony… go with Aaron. Besides the fact that his wife planned 2 home-births (he’s totally “on the level” to use a totally outdated term), he is also Tiffany’s back up. So if you change your mind (one way or the other) at the last minute, you are totally covered. Plus, if you see Aaron, you have every single appointment with him, rather than being rotated through all the other midwifes. You get a chance to build a relationship. He only takes every other weekend off, so your chances that he will attend your birth is a very good one. For those weekends off, you have a choice for backup: another OB (Dr. Goodrich) or his midwives. Also, and possibly most importantly, in the event that you want to take a more relaxed, hands off approach to birth (as I suspect that you will, since you had an out of hospital birth the first time) and maybe push the envelope of hospital policy a bit, you will get a lot farther if the one making the final call actually knows you and has a relationship with you.
I know, it’s totally counterintuitive, but in the case of Creating Harmony, I would say that seeing the Male (ack!) OB (double ack!) is going to give you a much more “midwifey” experience than seeing any of the CNM’s in the office. (… I didn’t particularly like any of them anyways…)