Since I haven’t posted anything specifically about this pregnancy yet, I wanted to take a minute to record how things have been, are going, etc.

FIRST TRIMESTER:

Highlights:
1) Obviously the first highlight was finding out that we were pregnant!
Although we were trying, it happened really fast (first time!) so was a bit of a surprise. Without saying too much, I will say that I had just stopped nursing a few months prior and so hadn’t quite returned to “normal” so we were really expecting it to take longer just since I didn’t know if I was physically even able to get pregnant again yet. At any rate, we were SO thrilled and thank God for the blessing of this baby.
2) The second highlight was getting to share the news, in person, with our families!
We happened to find out we were pregnant the day before we traveled back to the US for the holidays so we were really excited that we would get to share our news in person. It was a sweet blessing that God allowed us this grace in both pregnancies since we rarely see our families in person. That being said, we didn’t have time to create a cute announcement but we decided we wanted Colt to be involved so I just drew on one of his white onesies.

Front.

Back.

In Phoenix (where we were first), we waited a few days until most of the family was together in one place. I don’t think anyone was shocked by the news but since we had been there a while and not said anything I think they were a little surprised. In South Carolina we shared the first night we were home and while my mom said that she thought we may be waiting a little longer, I don’t think anyone was too surprised. But let’s be real – when you have a child over 1 years old people are practically just waiting for news about the next one.
3) We also loved sharing the news with our friends!

Colt, proud to announce!

Outtake.

It was especially sweet getting to tell our Brazil crew since two of my best girlfriends here are also pregnant with their second! Paige is due 2 months ahead of me (side note – she and I were due 2 months apart last time but Mailey was a week late and Colt 3 weeks early so they turned out to be just 4 weeks apart!) and my friend Michelle is only 4 days ahead of me (and her little boy Jack is just 2 weeks older than Colt). So it’s really fun to share the experience together.

Lowlights:
1) While I was in South Carolina at around 8 weeks I started to have some bleeding which was very scary to me. Since it can be an indicator of miscarriage, I have always feared seeing blood during pregnancy. I actually had nightmares about it during my first trimester with both Colt and this little one. So, when I saw it for real one morning I was pretty freaked out. It wasn’t much but since I never experienced that with Colt I was definitely concerned. At first I thought I should wait to see if it persisted but by that night I told my mom I wanted to try to see someone the next day. Her neighbor is an OBGYN and he was kind enough to squeeze me in for a quick ultrasound and check up in the morning. Michael was already back in Brazil at this point and I didn’t want to worry him so I waited until I was confirmed for an appointment to even tell him about it. It was weird to go in for my first ultrasound without him though. But, my mom (and Colt) came with me and we were all so relieved to see a healthy baby with a strong heartbeat. The doctor said that the bleeding would probably persist for another week or so but unless it became heavier, it was normal and nothing to worry about. This was definitely reassuring but the whole episode made me much more guarded and cautious about the pregnancy. It was a reminder that the pregnancy was not something I wanted to take lightly but instead something for which I want to thank the Lord every day and pray for constantly. And even still, nothing is guaranteed. Anyway, the bleeding did persist for about 10 days so when I got back to Brazil Michael was eager for me to get checked again and to go with me! At this ultrasound my doctor explained that the bleeding was caused by a small part of the placenta which had separated and was just making it’s way out. He said it was so small and insignificant that there is no way it would affect the baby and that it was normal and everything looked good. We praise God for this and for the fact that since then, everything has tracked totally normally.

Symptoms:
My symptoms this time were very similar to my last pregnancy, but not identical.
Although I felt full more quickly and wasn’t super hungry with some food aversions (mostly chicken), I was able to each MUCH better this time. I still lost a little weight during the first trimester but honestly I was really surprised by that because I felt like I was eating all the time. In comparison, when I was pregnant with Colt I struggled to eat so much that Michael would make me fruit smoothies loaded with Ensure just to help me get more calories because I couldn’t stomach most real food. This time I felt much more normal and also generally less nauseated.
I have had more and stronger food cravings too this time. Random things (mostly unhealthy) like chocolate glazed donuts, eggrolls, corn fritters, and sushi (although that’s kind of all of life).
I think I was equally tired this time but because of sweet little Colt, I was less able to get the amount of sleep that my body was asking for so as a result I really struggled. I honestly slept EVERY chance I could during the first trimester. I slept every time Colt was napping, went to bed as early as possible and when I was in South Carolina I let my mom do pretty much all of the heavy lifting and slept a ton. When we got back home to São Paulo, Michael took mornings with Colt as often as he was able in order to let me sleep in, and he would often come home early to help out and then do work after Colt and I went to bed. But even with all of the help, I still wasn’t able to sleep enough and was chronically exhausted. But, worse than the exhaustion is that, as a result of not getting enough rest I would get regular migraines. And since I knew that’s how my body worked, I would basically spend each day trying to expend as little energy as possible so as to prevent a migraine from happening. But that’s pretty hard to do when you’re trying to keep up with a toddler all day! I got bad headaches during my first trimester with Colt but at that time I was better able to manage the amount of sleep I got (since there was no little human to look after) so this time around it was tougher.
Thankfully however, I started feeling good again a lot faster this time! With Colt it took about 17 or 18 weeks before I was feeling normal and this time I was really recovering around week 12 and basically normal by week 13/14. That was a huge blessing as I was expecting to feel crummy for longer but am praising God for the energy He’s given me these days!
All in all I know that many women have it worse and even the bad symptoms were just a reminder of the blessing that it is to be pregnant.

CURRENTLY – 18.5 weeks:

Body: These days I’m feeling totally back to normal except for the growing belly. 🙂 I have stayed really consistent with my weight gain from last pregnancy (I try to weigh once a week and so far it’s been almost exactly the same!) but my body is definitely changing more quickly. I either do the “rubber-band trick” with my regular jeans or wear leggings or dresses. I’m trying to put off maternity clothes but the reality is that I may as well just go for it since things are quickly not fitting as well anymore.
Baby: Praise God the baby continues to develop normally. Also, I felt him move for the first time last night and it brought me so much joy!
Thoughts: We are so excited to be having another little boy!! I totally think I could have waited to find out the gender of this baby but I really love finding out early. As soon as we opened the envelope and read “boy,” I instantly felt so much more connected to this sweet little life inside me and generally got 10x more excited about the pregnancy and having another baby. I am sure I would have had the exact same feelings had it said “girl” instead but the point is that for me, knowing is a really positive thing. Although I only had 1 brother I think that same-gender siblings are a special thing and I am so excited for that dynamic to be a part of our family and for Colt to have a brother for the rest of his life.

We can’t wait!