Is anyone surprised that it took me 6 weeks to get back here for the second part of this post? I'm not, but I'm glad to have some time to write today. My sister texted me late in the day yesterday offering to take Emma for the day so I could have some time to myself. I took her up on it knowing I could get in a few errands and squeeze in some writing time.
I'm already in my 30th week of pregnancy, so if I don't get this post out now this baby boy will be here before I ever get back again! This pregnancy continues to fly by which is obviously great because we can't wait to meet this baby, but I'm also trying to soak up this time. I don't know what the future holds for us, but there is definitely a possibility that this could be my last pregnancy. That and knowing Emma's time as an only child is coming to an end have me wishing time would slow down so I can truly enjoy these last several weeks.
I've obviously been horrible about documenting this pregnancy, so I guess I have a lot to share.
It makes to sense to start with the question pregnant people get asked the most, "How are you feeling?" I'm feeling pretty good! At 30 weeks, my biggest complaints are lower back pain, crappy sleep and severe discomfort thanks to my boobs being monstrous (literally). Wearing a bra is torture lately, so much that we left a wedding fairly early in the evening recently because I literally could not keep my bra on another minute.
I was dealing with some serious heartburn, but I adjusted a few things in my diet and it seems to be helping (with sleep, too!). I considered myself so lucky with my first pregnancy in that I didn't experience morning sickness at all and thankfully, this time around has been similar. I'd say the only big difference this time around has been the exhaustion and emotions being a little more intense, but I'm also spending my days with a busy, energetic toddler so I'm sure that's a huge factor.
Is Emma excited to be a big sister? Well, I can't say she really understands what is happening. At 20-months-old, she's known the word "baby" since we found out we were pregnant and she's also happened to take more interest in her baby doll over the last few months. Whenever she takes her baby doll out, I've tried to encourage her to love on her baby and she will hold it up to her face and snuggle with it. When we see a baby out in public, she excitedly shouts "baby!" and is so eager to walk up to see up close. I'm encouraged by all of this, but as far as understanding that we're going to have a baby in our house soon that she'll have to share attention with...I don't think she's there yet and that's okay!
I was in a really good place with my health/fitness when we found out we were pregnant. The timing is actually really funny because I had just made it back down to a smaller size in jeans, which I had ordered online and was so excited to actually need to buy a smaller size. Ironically, these jeans came in the mail just a few days after finding out I was pregnant. I joked with Jonathan that I'd be wearing them every day until I couldn't fit into them so I could enjoy them even for a short time.
But seriously, I had come a long way in getting back to a happy weight and fitness level for myself. I've been pregnant and now seen that I can (maybe not super quickly) get my body back to (or better) than before, but I also knew I wanted to try to maintain healthier habits this pregnancy. With Emma, I I exercised here and there through my 1st trimester and it seriously tapered off after that. I'd recently realized how much better I felt when I was staying active, so I promised myself I'd try harder this time.
I was able to keep up my routine of working out 4-5 times a week through my 9th week of pregnancy. I was doing an hour of barre and 30 minutes of spin once a week, running a few miles once or twice a week and mixing in some strength and cardio work throughout. From weeks 9 to about 20, I was still trying to get 2-3 workouts in a week and sometimes that just didn't happen and I did't get too worked up when a whole week went by with nothing. The last 10 weeks have been a little more sporadic. Some weeks I'm motivated and energized to at least get a walk in and other weeks, I've had zero motivation to exercise. I'm not overthinking it and certainly not beating myself up when I have those down weeks. My philosophy right now is exercise of any kind, at any frequency is better than nothing. Either way, I'm really happy with how I've done thus far staying fairly active through this pregnancy.
As far as preparations for baby go, we have a name we are pretty committed to, but not quite ready to share with the world yet. In the last few weeks, we've made some major progress on the nursery, which used to be Jonathan's office. Once we cleared out the room, we painted and got the crib put together (I don't know why I'm saying we...this was all Jonathan. Last weekend, we got the dresser put together and I've added a few details here and there like a changing pad, toy bin and even picked up some wall decor. We'll be moving the rocker from Emma's room into the nursery and probably getting her a play table to put in that space, but I'm not ready to make that move yet. It may sound silly, but I'm not emotionally ready to move the rocker out of her room yet and we obviously don't need to do that until we're a little closer.
I found so much joy getting Emma's nursery planned out and organized and I've been loving every second of it this time around. Folding itty bitty baby clothes and organizing toys and things really puts me in my happy place. Knowing in just weeks we'll have a sweet boy in this house is so surreal and I love anticipating it all.
Things I'm looking forward to:
- After debating back and forth for a while, we decided on planning a short babymoon for Jonathan and I. I kept convincing myself that we didn't need to spend the money on a trip for us with everything going on, but in the end I'm so glad we planned something. We're headed to Jensen Beach in early May for a weekend getaway and I'm seriously looking forward to some downtime and sunbathing with my man.
- My sweet friend Jesse insisted on planning some sort of celebration for baby boy. I really didn't want a huge production seeing how we have most of what we need this time around and it's a huge undertaking to host a shower and deal with all the details of that. She suggested we plan on doing brunch at a fun place with a small group of ladies to celebrate and that sounded pretty perfect to me. It doesn't require a ton of coordination on her end and I'm really looking forward to a casual celebration with some special ladies.
- We'll have one more ultrasound around 34 weeks. I always look forward to these! At my appointment last week, my doctor actually confirmed that baby is already head down, which was so good to hear. I remember Emma turned really early too and it's just nice to know baby is getting prepared!
Memorable moments:
- My favorite part of this pregnancy has been the last hour or so of sleep in the morning when Jonathan inevitably finds his way to me in bed and lays his hand over my belly. This baby becomes so active as soon as Jonathan's hands are there and it's so so special. I love laying with him still half asleep as we both soak in these baby movements together. In the chaos of our day-to-day, I truly treasure these quiet moments just the two of us basking in the joys of pregnancy together.
- Emma woke up from a nap last week and when I went to her crib to pick her up, she leaned over and hugged my belly. It was the first time it seemed like she maybe understood her baby brother is in there and it may have just been a coincidence, but it was so sweet!
Phew. I feel like that kind of covers it. I still feel so overwhelmed and grateful that we get to do this again. I'm so excited to add a little boy to our family. Jonathan has been pretty outnumbered thus far -- girl baby, girl dog and girl cat!
Pregnancy is kind of a roller coaster - one minute you're up at 3 a.m. uncomfortable, having to pee... again, wondering how you're going to make it two more months and the next minute, your sitting on the floor playing with your toddler and the baby in your belly is bouncing around and you're wanting to bask in the joy of that moment. Emotions are high, to say the least!
