Baby #2: Weeks 33 - 34

33 weeks

Dates: May 20 - June 2, 2014

Highlights: The biggest highlight of week 34 was my baby shower thrown by two good friends on June 1st. A group of us gathered at the Blue Dahlia Bistro for a pink and gold French-themed lunch in honor of the little lady. It was so fun to celebrate her upcoming arrival with good friends, good food, and an amazing cake covered in French macarons. Another highlight was finally finding and purchasing our new SUV. After driving all over the state of Texas (literally), Jason finally found a great deal on a used Volvo outside of Fort Worth. It was a long search, but I am so relieved to have this chore crossed off our list.

Symptoms: My huge appetite has slowed down considerably over the past couple weeks. I think my stomach must be pretty compressed because I've noticed a big difference in how quickly I become full at each meal. My eyes are often bigger than my stomach. I'm also feeling a little pickier about food-- not quite first trimester level, but a lot of things just don't sound that appealing to me these days. On a positive note, my back is starting to feel somewhat better, so I'm continuing to take it easy and keep strenuous activity to a minimum.

34 weeks - on my way to my shower

What's Different: Not too much at this point, aside from perhaps the decrease in my appetite. I remember that happening a little bit with Nicholas, but not so dramatically. Otherwise, it just feels like the third trimester.

What's the Same: As the baby has gotten bigger, I'm feeling her movements a lot more. She now has the hiccups regularly (not as often as Nicholas, but multiple times a week), and she is very active in the evenings when I am just lounging on the couch after dinner. I love feeling all of her stretches and squirmy movements. I can also tell when she is waking up after a period of sleep, such as early in the morning when I'm waking up, and I love feeling her beginning to stir.

Hugs for baby sister

What I Miss: Oh the usual... and my energy. I'm looking forward to a good run, a nice glass of wine, and being able to make it through the day without feeling like a nap is mandatory.

What I'm Looking Forward To: I'm still nesting like crazy, so I'm looking forward to getting more things crossed off my list and getting the nursery all set up and finalized.

Baby #2: Weeks 31 - 32

31 weeks

Dates: May 6 - May 19, 2014

Highlights: I celebrated my third Mother's Day at the end of week 31. The boys got up early and made me a gourmet breakfast of dark chocolate waffles with whip cream and strawberries. Later in the morning, we headed down to my favorite grocery store in Austin, Central Market, and picked out all the fixings for a delicious steak dinner. We also visited the park in our old neighborhood (near Central Market) and marveled at how much Nicholas has grown since he last visited the park at just eight months old. At the end of week 32, we took a day trip down to San Antonio to look at a few cars (we're in the market for a new-to-us SUV), and although we didn't end up making a purchase, we were able to meet up with my good friend Anne and her husband and son for a fun dinner out.

Symptoms: My back is still killing me, and I've had to completely stop all unnecessary physical activity. An hour spent walking through Costco was excruciating and landed me on the couch with a heating pad for the rest of the afternoon, so I've completely stopped walking or doing other types of exercise and I'm really trying to avoid lifting Nicholas as much as possible. Third trimester fatigue has also hit with full force. I feel like I have a huge list of stuff I want to accomplish before baby girl arrives, but I am struggling to find the energy or motivation to get it done.

32 weeks

What's Different: The back pain is definitely an unwelcome new symptom. I'm also starting to feel contractions multiple times every day. I can tell some of them are just Braxton Hicks, but some of them feel pretty legit. I didn't have much in the way of contractions with Nicholas before I was induced, so this is new. Hopefully this means I'll wind up making a little progress before I actually do go into labor.

What's the Same: My nesting instinct is rearing its head and I am definitely feeling the familiar pressure of a massive to-do list. This time around, it's less about baby prep and more about just getting our lives and household in order. 

What I Miss: I miss being physically active. I am getting to the stage of fantasizing about going for a run (which happened last time as well) and I've been assembling the perfect running play list in my head. It'll be a while before I hit the pavement again, especially because it will probably be about 103 by the time I'm cleared for exercise, but I'm looking forward to getting back into an exercise routine.

What I'm Looking Forward To: I'm looking forward to making our car purchase and crossing a bunch of other items off to-do list.

Baby #2: Weeks 29 - 30

29 (and a half) weeks at Fannie Mae Dees "Dragon" Park in Nashville

Dates: April 22 - May 5, 2014

Highlights: During week 30, we took a family trip to Nashville to visit one of my best friends from college and her family. This was our last hurrah before the little lady makes her debut in July-- and one of our first family trips somewhere other than home to visit our families-- and it was great to catch up with friends and explore a new city. I hadn't seen Camille since just before Nicholas was born, and hadn't seen two of her kids in even longer. Nicholas got along great with her three, and it was a nice "family moon" before our family dynamic changes again in two months.

Broadway Street in Nashville

Symptoms: Unfortunately, a new and really unpleasant symptom popped up in week 29. I have been experiencing a really strong, dull pain across my lower back that radiates out of the center of the base of my spine and wraps around my hips. I had three good workouts in week 28, so I'm not sure if I tweaked it while lifting weights, or if it's just due to overuse and lugging around a nearly 35 pound toddler on top of the weight I've gained, but it really hurts. Walking even short distances is difficult, and my lower back and hips are so stiff that I'm doing a serious pregnant lady waddle. Not fun. I'm using the heating pad and taking Tylenol, and hopefully it will clear up soon.

What's Different: This back pain is definitely new. The hip pain is also worse on my left side, and throughout my pregnancy with Nicholas, it was always on my right side. I'm still measuring two weeks ahead, but my last ultrasound confirmed she's only a little bit bigger than average.

30 weeks

What's the Same: Third trimester fatigue is starting to set in, just like last time. Happily, I once again got the all clear on the gestational diabetes front (thankfully! bring on more brownies... ), but, like last time, I've also got a case of pregnancy anemia. I'll be taking prescription iron from here on out.

What I Miss: Oh, the usual... nothing new to report here.

What I'm Looking Forward To: We've made good progress on baby girl's nursery. The paint is done, and now I'm looking forward to getting the crib touched up and reassembled (Nicholas left his mark in the form of bite marks all over the front railing), hanging the curtains, and starting on some of the fun decor.

Bluebonnets, Berries, and Bunnies

Our weather is quickly heating up, but before spring gives way to full fledged Texas summer I wanted to share some highlights from the past month. We had a good season for bluebonnets this year, so once again I participated in the grand Texas tradition of dressing my child up in nice clothes and then dropping him off on the side of the road somewhere so I could frantically chase him around with my camera. As to be expected with any two year old, I got about a hundred shots of the back of his head as he was running away from me, like so:

Fortunately, I  managed to get a couple decent ones where he was at least facing the camera.

A vast improvement over last year! Next year, a professional photographer may be in the cards.

We also made a little Saturday trek out to Sweet Berry Farms in Marble Falls to pick strawberries in mid-April. More berries probably wound up in his belly (or chucked out in the field somewhere - the boy will throw anything) than in his basket, but we had a great time. We picked enough to enjoy bowls of fresh strawberries with cream almost every night for a week, along with a grilled chicken and strawberry salad, strawberry shortcake, and strawberries in our cereal daily. And we have a big bag of washed and hulled strawberries hanging out in the freezer for some other strawberry treat whenever the mood strikes.

Quality control 

 Not so sure about that goat...

 Nope, still not interested...

Our little farmer

And, a few final pictures from Easter. Nicholas participated in an egg hunt at school and loved it. However, on Easter (after refusing to nap), he was exhausted and could not have been less interested in our little backyard egg hunt. (The lack of excitement and competition from other kids probably didn't help either.) We had to continually prompt him to go find the next egg, basically showing him where each one was "hidden." Some of the eggs contained a couple jelly beans and some contained stickers. He halfheartedly ate the jelly beans out of a few eggs, and then just dropped the stickers on the ground. 

Ready to hunt eggs at school!

With his buddies, Drew and Jack 

After Easter morning service

Eh, stickers

Oh well. He liked his Easter basket, and there's always next year for a more energetic egg hunt.

Happy spring!

Baby #2: Weeks 27 - 28

27 weeks

Dates: April 8 - April 21, 2014

Highlights: We've had a lot of fun over the past couple weeks! On Saturday the 12th, we had a fun family outing to Sweet Berry Farms in Marble Falls to pick strawberries, and then on the 16th, my sister and brother-in-law arrived for a long weekend. Laura is just a few weeks behind me in her pregnancy (with a baby boy) and it's been so much fun to share the experience with her. We enjoyed a few leisurely days of pool time, some nice meals - both at home and out on the town, a little baby clothes shopping, and lots of bonding over our upcoming bundles of joy.

Cousins!

Another recent highlight is that Nicholas is really starting to act excited about baby sister's impending arrival. He talks about her often and loves to come up to me and kiss my belly (to give baby sister a kiss.) A few weeks ago, we purchased him a few "big brother" books, and he requests them frequently before naps or bedtime.

Symptoms: Now that I've officially reached the third trimester, the pregnancy symptoms are firing up again, particularly in the aches and pains department. At the end of a long day, or even when I've just been a little more active than usual, I'm starting to experience some pelvic floor pain. On that note, I've slowed down a bit with the exercise. I'm now going for long walks, usually with Nicholas in the jogger, a few times a week and I may slip in one workout per week with light free weights. I'm also starting to experience frequent Braxton Hicks contractions, as well as leg cramps at night several times a week.

28 weeks - Happy Easter!

What's Different: The pelvic floor pain is new, but my doctor assured me it's common and to be expected in second or subsequent pregnancy. At my 28 week appointment, I also had an ultrasound to check her size since I am measuring two weeks ahead. My doctor was wondering if we might need to change my due date, but the little lady is just measuring slightly above average, about 5 days ahead of schedule. So we are keeping July 14th as my due date. (My fluid levels are very high, so that may be part of the cause of my big belly.) One other difference is that baby girl seems to be much less active than Nicholas was. Her big brother did constant acrobatics in my belly from about 20 weeks on, whereas she seems to be much more mellow. (Maybe that's a good thing!) Nicholas also had the hiccups all the time, and I felt them for the first time with baby girl around 27 weeks. I've felt them a few times since then, but not often.

What's the Same: Everything else is generally the same. I'm gaining weight at about the same rate (about a pound a week) and most of the aches and pains I'm feeling these days are familiar.

What I Miss: Not much new to report here... wine, beer, big mugs of coffee. The usual.

What I'm Looking Forward To: Next week we head to Nashville to visit one of my best friends from college and her family. This will be more of a "family-moon" and last hurrah for the three of us before we become a foursome.

Baby #2: Weeks 24 - 26

24 weeks

Dates: March 18 - April 7, 2014

Highlights: It's been a low key, but productive few weeks for us. We officially moved Nicholas into his big boy room at the very end of March (which deserves its own post) and started working on baby girl's nursery-- more to come! We also finalized our name choice and started sharing it with a few family members and friends, although we won't go public with it until she makes her debut in July. We've also started to really focus on preparing Nicholas for baby girl's arrival, and I can tell it's starting to click for him (as much as it can for a two year old.) He refers to her by name and now calls his old bedroom her bedroom. He also likes to offer sips of water or milk from his sippy cup to my belly.

25 weeks

Symptoms: I feel like I've reached the uncomfortably large and pregnant stage, several weeks sooner than I did with Nicholas. My lower back and hips ache at the end of the day, and I am making good friends with our heating pad. I've also started getting leg cramps at night while I sleep, so I'm trying to ramp up the fluids, potassium, and stretching. And, I continue to experience very vivid weird and/or disturbing dreams each night. (This has been going on for most of the pregnancy thus far.)

What's Different: Based on how my body feels, it seems like I should have already hit the third trimester-- but I think this is to be expected with a second pregnancy. I also found out at my 24 week appointment that I am measuring two weeks ahead of schedule, so my next doctor's visit will include an ultrasound to get some more precise measurements and determine if my due date needs to be moved. Otherwise, nothing is too different at this point.

Baby girl!

What's The Same: At this point, the pregnancy is largely the same. I'm grateful it's been uneventful and smooth sailing thus far.

What I Miss: All the usual suspects... mostly, I'm just tired of having to monitor everything I put in my mouth. I'm looking forward to eating (and drinking) whatever I want in a few months.

26 weeks

What I'm Looking Forward To: I can't wait for my sister's and brother-in-law's visit in less than two weeks. She is currently pregnant with her first baby and is due just 5 weeks after me, so it's been fun to go through the pregnancy experience together. I'm looking forward to catching up and

comparing bumps.

Baby #2: Weeks 21 - 23

22 weeks

Dates: February 25 - March 17, 2014

Highlights: During week 21, we headed back to Seattle for a week to meet our new nephew. It was an action packed trip, and we filled almost every moment with activities, but we had a great time catching up with lots of family and friends. When we got back, Jason and I had a date afternoon and went to the Willie Nelson concert at the Austin Rodeo. We can check that off our Texas bucket list!

Symptoms: Nothing new or unusual going on here. Generally, I'm feeling pretty good. Sleep has been great lately, due in large part to the huge, U-shaped body pillow that my friend lent me. It makes such a difference compared to the strategically placed assortment of pillows I used during my pregnancy with Nicholas! 

23 weeks

What's Different: During my first pregnancy, I got a really dark line that ran down the center of my belly. I can't remember exactly when it appeared, but I barely have any line at all so far. Maybe it's the girl hormones? I'm also really starting to feel a lot bigger than I did last time around. What they say about girl babies seems to be true in my case-- I'm definitely not "all belly."

What's the Same: A lot of things are feeling the same at this point-- sporadic hip pain, large appetite, complete inability to end the day without some type of dessert (preferably of the chocolate variety.) At just over halfway through the pregnancy, I've definitely settled into the groove and now know what to expect with pregnancy and how my body handles it. 

What I Miss: Still missing wine... that probably won't change. I also miss being able to freely drink caffeine as needed (or desired.) I have one cup of coffee every morning (and sometimes an additional little splash of a refill), but there are days I could really go for several cups in the morning or even an afternoon coffee. Mama needs all the get up and go she can get!

What I'm Looking Forward To: We're still working on Nicholas' big boy room, but it's coming together and we plan to get him moved in by the end of the month. Then it's time to really start working on the nursery!