pregnancy #2 overview

At the end of each trimester with Rylie, I rounded up my favorite pregnancy things and would do a little recap of those weeks (you can check them out if you’d like – 1st trimester, 2nd trimester, 3rd trimester). I decided not to do that this time around, but instead I would do a round up at the end sharing with you all my favorite things, moments, food facts, and bump updates from this pregnancy. 😊

 

 

Pregnancy Favorites:

• Belly Balm

  

Um, incredible! I used it a couple times with Rylie during my 2nd trimester, but after I had her, I suddenly noticed what seemed like thousands of stretch marks that were super obvious. This round, the moment my belly started stretching you could see stretch marks (to the point where I wondered if my belly would pop because it looked so thin to me haha). I was much more vigilant about putting on the belly balm and it made the skin around my belly feel amazing!!!

 

• Aaron’s Clothes

I’ve always been a big fan of baggy clothes, but when I’m pregnant, it’s like they are the only thing I want. Since I worked full time throughout this pregnancy, I did have to invest in some more maternity clothes for work, but the moment I got home I immediately changed into sweats and Aaron’s t-shirts. We recently folded laundry one evening and Aaron’s t-shirt pile was huge compared to normal because we both were raiding his drawer 😛 haha. Thankfully he doesn’t mind sharing 🙂

 

• Feeling Like Wonder Woman

I don’t know if you knew this, but we are superhero fans 😉 Now that that is out in the open, one of our favorites is Wonder Woman (also not sure if you knew that 😝 – like Rylie’s 1^st birthday party being Wonder Woman themed didn’t give that away haha). Okay, I’ll stop being sarcastic.

Anyway, when I found out that Gal Gadot was pregnant while filming Wonder Woman with her 1^st daughter AND Justice League with her 2^nd daughter, my respect level for her went up even more. To be honest, it also gave me this little extra boost to remember that she was pregnant while filming one of my favorite movies and kicking butt doing it. On rough days, I would tell myself, “I am growing a human. That makes me a wonder woman. And she was literally pregnant… twice… with girls (like me!)… therefore, I am Wonder Woman!” 😉 haha

 

 

Food Facts:

• Water

1^st trimester – 24/7 must have

2^nd trimester – probably should have

3^rd trimester – can definitely feel it if I haven’t had enough

 

• Most Common Craving

1^st trimester – Fruit & Eggs

2^nd trimester – Eggs

3^rd trimester – Cereal & Ice Cream

 

• Most Common Aversion

1^st trimester – Nothing. Usually all food sounded good!

2^nd trimester – Sugar.

3^rd trimester – Random things here and there but nothing really.

 

• Weirdest Craving

Banana Bread – I ate it multiple times a day for a week straight when I finally made some.

 

• Weirdest Aversion

Sandwich Crusts – I tore them off my sandwiches for a good majority of the 1st trimester. They made me gag but the rest of the sandwich was fine. Aaron always laughed at my pile of crust on my plate and thought it was so weird hahaha

 

 

Biggest Physical Struggle

• Exhaustion

I never experienced morning sickness with this pregnancy (with Rylie I felt so nauseous throughout the 1st trimester – even driving was borderline impossible), but I did throw up once at 18 weeks.

But exhaustion was hands down the most consistent, probably the hardest thing this round. Early on my doctor told me that being more exhausted this time was super normal, especially with such a young one at home and a full-time job.

After having Braxton Hicks at 18 weeks (way to early to be having any kind of contractions), my doctor told me I needed to slow down and rest more. I dedicated a whole blog post to what God taught me through that that you can check out by clicking here.

Unfortunately, even with making the adjustments in my schedule, I never felt like I caught up on rest. Especially since sleeping wasn’t easy either. Fairly early on I had a hard time sleeping through the night, and frankly I don’t feel like I ever consistently slept well this pregnancy.

 

 

Life Moments:

• Highlands College

{fun fact :: this picture was taken at our 1st HC class of our 3rd semester. I was 6 weeks pregnant and hadn’t made any public announcement yet.}

Even though I was pregnant with Rylie for the 1st half of our 1st semester at HC, it’s been a little more a struggle this round because of how tired I’ve been and I can’t seem to get comfortable in my seat so paying attention has been hard at times. My desk (my lap) noticeably gets shorter as my belly grows, so I’ve gotten creative with my note taking skills 😝 I was pregnant during our mission trip too and that team was so supportive – looking out for me and my health. All that to say, it’s been fun to have my class be more involved in our “Highlands College baby #2” 😀

 

 

• What The Doctors Said

  

At my 21 week appointment, the doctors told me that my placenta was in the front of my belly (by my belly button) which just meant I might not be able to feel the baby kick as much because the placenta would take most of the blow. But I have felt Emmaline move, kick and punch so much! In fact, I’ve deemed her as WAY more active than Rylie was in my tummy. I just think it’s so cool that something that I initially thought I was going to be missing (feeling my baby kick) the Lord turned around and I actually felt her MORE.

 

• Moving

Oh yeah – that happened. The only reason I’m adding it to this pregnancy overview is because when we moved I was 24 weeks pregnant. I was told multiple times not to lift or push boxes / furniture. My job was to pack and designate which room the boxes / furniture went in. I also was in charge of supervising Rylie and getting pizza 😛

 

• I’m Thankful For :: Aaron

To my surprise, he had a feeling that I was pregnant before I even told him (which I did in what I felt was the most uncreative, unsurprising way) and he’s been excited since day 1. Even though he has an immense desire to have a son, never once did he say he was disappointed when we found out we were having another girl, rather he was instantly excited and was actually telling me all the things that would be extra special because Rylie and Emmaline would be so close in age.

He is my biggest supporter, and his gentle spirit, kindness and patience was such a blessing to me this pregnancy. As I was navigating a new job and balancing our company’s busy season while fulfilling my role as a wife and mom, he primarily took care of Rylie (who was only 8 months old when we found out) during my 1^st trimester when I was just trying to survive. He also spearheaded our 1^st home purchase, and was definitely the emotionally stable one during those moments of exhaustion when I just lost it. He is by far my better half! He has such a heart for his girls – all 3 of us ❤

 

• I’m Thankful For :: Rylie

 

Rylie has always been such a great baby, but I can see where God gave her a special grace to handle what is coming. Her first word (aside from “mama” and “dada”) was “baby,” and she has always been drawn to other kids. She received a Bitty Baby from her great-grandmother for her birthday and that baby doll has become far more important than I could have imagined when I opened the package.

Rylie loves to “check on sister” by lifting up my shirt, exposing my belly (as if the baby was trapped and she is frantically trying to help it) and will pat my bump and say, “baby!” which we thought was pure genius until she lifted Aaron’s shirt and patted his belly and said, “baby” and then another day lifted her own shirt and patted her belly saying “baby” as well… 😝

Even though it’s been hard for me at times to accept that the days of it just being her & me are coming to an end, I have different scenarios in my head of what it will be like for her to meet Emmaline in the hospital, and every single one makes me laugh. I have no doubt that Rylie will be a phenomenal big sister and her loving, helpful heart will shine during this transition.

 

 

Letters:

 

• 24 weeks in my belly
• 30 weeks in my belly
• 38 weeks in my belly

 

Special Events:

• Finding Out the Gender

  

I was so convinced we were having a boy this round. Between a vision God had given me, my symptoms, and just my attitude of “we have a girl – now we’re definitely getting a boy!” there was no doubt in my mind. When people asked us what we thought we were having, we confidently and without hesitation said, “boy!” We had a boy name picked out for weeks, but we decided to pick a girl name the day before our gender revel ultra sound for the .1% chance it was a girl, and even that was loosely decided. So when we found out baby #2 was a girl, we were shocked. Aaron recovered much quicker than I did, but God reminded me that she was bringing something to our family that we needed and our family would be incomplete without her. And from there my excitement for having two sweet little girls in our family has grown and Aaron and I are so thankful that they are close in age and get to grow up as best friends.

 

• Baby Shower

  

After Rylie’s baby shower didn’t meet my expectations, I was hesitant to even have a shower for baby #2, and when we found out it was a girl, I almost didn’t have one at all. But after some coaxing from friends, I decided a low-key, simple shower could be fun. Thankfully, Emmaline’s baby shower was phenomenal, and I am still so thankful for how it turned out – from the food and decorations to the guests that arrived. It was great!

 

• Maternity Photos

  

I love having my pregnancy documented. It’s such a fleeting time and having photos of our little one in my belly has always been something I make a priority. I love being able to look back and see what we looked like during the “pregnancy” season of life. For example, when I look at Rylie’s maternity photos, I see a young married couple who was embarking on the wonderful journey of becoming parents. Now, we have a toddler in the mix, I hope to look back on this session and see a young family who was growing from a little family of 3 to a family of 4.

 

 

1^st Trimester Bump Updates:

 

• Week 4 – 8
• Week 9-12 

 

2^nd Trimester Bump Updates:

 

• Week 13
• Week 14
• Week 15
• Week 16
• Week 17
• Week 18
• Week 19
• Week 20
• Week 21
• Week 22
• Week 23
• Week 24
• Week 25
• Week 26
• Week 27

 

3^rd Trimester Bump Updates:

 

• Week 28
• Week 29
• Week 30
• Week 31
• Week 32
• Week 33
• Week 34
• Week 35
• Week 36
• Week 37
• Week 38

 

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Thank you all for being so interested in this unique season of my life! I’ve really enjoyed documenting this pregnancy in between all the other stuff going on in our lives and it’s been so fun to be able to look back and see the progress of my bump size, cravings, aversions, and the process of when I started things.