18 weeks and counting!

Wow!  It sure felt like time was dragging when I couldn’t tell anyone about it, but now time is flying!  Expecting baby number 3 has already been an interesting journey!  At now 18 weeks, I’ll give you the highlights of where I’ve been so far.  

So, 6 days before missing the “time of the month”, peeing on a stick proved a great way to put a damper on St. Patty’s Day activities.  This baby, yes planned, was still a surprisingly quick one to attach to the uterine wall!  I am so very thankful that fertility was not a challenge this time, but still surprised how fast these things can sometimes happen.

Totally unreal for the first few weeks until the signs of morning sickness came to visit and stay until 14 weeks.  Fun times!!  I was lucky, I suppose to not actually “get sick” but I don’t know if it’s better to feel you could get sick at any moment from when you awaken to when you go to bed or just to “get sick”.  Again, thankful, for my job that allows for me to be in the pool for much of the day which always proves helpful with those waves of nausea.  Not sure if it’s the cool water water moving around me or just how busy I keep in the pool, or the wonderful combination of both, but truly, the pool is my savior (and was with my pregnancy with my son Brooks too!).

With my 2 kiddos before, I had a small amount of nausea and good amount of fatigue, but this little bugger has a mind of it’s own (as they all do, which is why all pregnancies are different).  This pregnancy also comes with a few other challenges that are new to me.  First, apparently “hiding” the bump was a bit more difficult than I thought as I was told that a planned intervention was being called by friends if I didn’t come out of the preggo closet soon.  The second, and this was totally unexpected, is armpit boob.  Perhaps you don’t what armpit boob is, and if so, that’s great!  But I’ll explain in case you ever experience it...well, your breast tissue extends into your underarm, which can also swell and get uncomfortable just as your non-armpit boob does.  Yeah, it hurts, and hopefully it starts to become less painful as pregnancy progresses.  Can I get a woot-woot for pregnancy symptoms??

The great news is that I now have all of my energy back.   Yes I was suffering to get to the gym and teach my aquaBelly classes at first, but I’m happy I was able to drag myself out to get some exercise.  Aside from being in the pool, this is the time I felt the best.  I had renewed energy for a few hours after, and had less belly issues (TMI- you know what I mean with all of this excess iron!).  Now at 18 weeks, it’s no longer a struggle to work out (although I did it!), my weight gain is in a good range, and I feel like a human again!

Now for the new struggle, for our first 2 babes, we kept the gender a surprise until birth.  This time around, Paul and I figured that the kids were old enough to make the decision.  Well, they too started with wanting a surprise, that is until after my appointment where I could have found out the sex.  So, now, the questioning from our 7 year old has begun as to when Mommy’s next appointment is.  I, personally, would rather not know, with the exception of purging all of the opposite gender clothes I’ve been saving, but we chose to leave it to the kids and now they are split down the middle.  Not sure our 3.5 year old quite understands the decision he has in front of him, nonetheless, we now need to decide if we have the gender written in a sealed envelope at the next appointment.  Stay tuned!  

For those of you enjoying the trials and tribulations of pregnancy with me or for those hoping to become pregnant, let’s share our experiences!  Feel good! xo~ Kristy