July 24, 2016/33 weeks (almost) is when I finally finished and posted
Updated September 1, 2016/38 weeks
I'm going to go on record and say I.GET.IT. I now understand what people mean by "second child syndrome". I couldn't really understand why it was so hard to photograph, blog, post etc. about the second child. I had plenty of time to do it all during the first year of Viv's life, so why couldn't I continue once 2.0 came into the picture? Well because... life. nausea. exhaustion. busy toddler. spouse. dog. work. nausea. exhaustion. BUSY toddler. life. Did I mention exhaustion?
I refuse, however, to go an entire 40 weeks without doing SOMETHING for this new little bee. So here's my first blog post for Lil G 2.0. If you followed the journey of Lil G 1.0 (aka Vivian Paige), you know I blogged weekly starting at week 5 of pregnancy and then monthly after she was born. I've slowed down because, well life, and I started to think the monthly thing was getting a little excessive. So we'll do every 6 months now. My goal for 2.0 is at least a FEW pregnancy blog posts and semi-monthly after he/she's born. No promises. I'll do my best. So here it goes...
How did 2.0 come to be you ask? Well, you may want to refer back to your 5th grade science class, or the talk your parent gave you about the 'birds and the bees'. But really, I get asked if it was planned. The answer to that is yes and no. Since we had trouble conceiving Viv, from the moment Viv was about 3 months old we decided we wouldn't prevent or purposely encourage a second pregnancy. We'd leave it in God's hands. We tried until Adam deployed in October with no luck. It took one month of Adam being gone for me to decide that maybe one child is all we need (did I mention Viv is BUSY?.. and strong willed... and exhausting!). THEN after 2.5 months, I went to visit my loving husband. I wasn't thinking about pregnancy and quite honestly the timing wasn't 'right', at least I didn't think so. A month later I realized I was wrong....
I have to say it was a pretty awesome, although still scary, feeling. I'd never had the luxury of a surprise pregnancy before. It had always been months of trying, worrying, praying. So nice! But it didn't feel real for a LONG time. I worried, prayed and worried some more.
Many people ask us if we have a hunch what 2.0 is, or a preference. We truly don't. We have our guesses every now and then. I think it's a boy until someone else tells me it's a boy, and then I get defensive like "No it's not! How do you know?!". And then I think it's a girl. Adam also thinks it's a girl sometimes. It's hard to imagine having a boy since all we know is girl, so logically that's where our brains go. But honestly, we're clueless and truly don't care. Adam would love another 'daddy's girl' and I would love a sister for Viv. I would also love to see what it's like to be a 'boy mom', for Viv to have a brother, and Adam of course wants a son. So, either way it will be AWESOME and a huge surprise!
I'll be honest, I had a very difficult time with the idea of not finding out the gender. I got my way when I was pregnant with Viv... We found out gender, did a gender reveal, picked the name, monogrammed everything, etc. This time around, Adam wanted his way. So he got it. I was fine with it at first, but as soon as I realized I COULD know, I panicked. I was afraid I wouldn't know how to refer to the baby, or that I wouldn't feel connected, and worst of all I couldn't plan/decorate/organize! So, I had some 'talks' with Adam. He never budged. I even told him I'd find out on my own and just not tell him... He said that was "between me and God"... burn. At my 16 week appointment when Adam wasn't there I laid down for the ultrasound, saw the little bee buzzing around, and for the first time did NOT want to know. I still don't. Pretty incredible for this OCD planner. I'm just SO excited for the experience of finding out for the first time when we MEET our baby. Don't get me wrong, not decorating a nursery is giving me a bit of a tick, but I've had plenty of preggo friends allow me to help them plan their nurseries so that's feeding my habit for now. I can do this!
As for symptoms, old wives tales, blah blah... I don't really believe in them, so I haven't been paying much attention. For those of you who are curious though....
-I've been craving sweets like it's my job... like major sweets! Ice cream, banana splits, cookies, sweet tea, fruit. I craved sweets with Viv too, but not to this extent. I believe the majority of my cravings were salty with her.
-I feel like I'm carrying similarly to Viv this time around (I need to do a true comparison). The only difference is my belly is getting bigger WAY faster! This baby also is measuring in the 85th percentile, which Viv never did.
-My skin HATES me this time around. With Viv, I had the best skin I'd ever had. Not this time. (update: that was at 23 weeks, now at 33 weeks my skin is awesome.. odd, but not complaining)
-The baby's heart rate has been in the 130's, it started out in the 150's like Viv
-I had nausea for the first 24 weeks with Viv, this time around it lasted 16 weeks
-I'm definitely more tired this time around and pregnancy brain is like 'Whoa", but that could also go along with the whole mom of a toddler thing
-Adam gained pregnancy weight along with me when I was pregnant with Viv (so did Lola), this time around he's channeling his inner Greek God. Not fair
-Chinese Gender Predictor... apparently there are multiple? some say girl, some say boy. I'm stumped.
-My mom did the gold chain test.. it went in a circle and she says that means girl
-That's all I've got. Any more you can think of?
If you're curious about this child's personality, I will say we may have an even stronger Viv on our hands! HOW.is.that.possible? This child is physically strong! It never stops moving and I'm pretty sure it's been planning (and attempting) its escape for a few months now. It's painful and very uncomfortable. All I can say at this point is I'll take strong, just please give this mama a break!
Also, I have been sick (cold, fluish, allergies, viral pink eye) more during this pregnancy than I have been in YEARS!! Possibly my whole life. Give me strength! The viral pink eye was the WORST experience of my life!!
Here are a few photos (proceed with caution):
January 12, 2016.. WHAT?!?
How we told Adam when he got home from deployment (1/15/16). We brought home a special souvenier!
Our first ultrasound at 7 weeks. Strong heartbeat! (1/27/16)
My first belly picture at 3/25/16 (15 weeks 2 days). I was convinced I was never going to grow. Well, I'll tell you now... God showed me!! I regret having that concern....
Sweet baby. 3/28/16 (15 weeks 6 days)
Viv's reaction..
2.0 made it on instagram! 4/14/16 (18 weeks 2 days)
4/19/16 (19 weeks)
5/3/16 (21 weeks)
6/10/16 (26 weeks 2 days)
28 weeks (need to upload picture). 2lb 10oz, head down! yay! 34in around belly
7/15/16 (31 weeks 2 days). See what the angle can do to how big my belly looks? deceiving..
7/20/16 (32 weeks). 4lb 6oz head down
And the true belly shot! This could get ugly with 8 weeks to go!
7/22/16 (32 weeks 2 days). 35.5in around belly, 15lb gained
Weeks 32-37 (skipped wk 35 I think):
8/16/16 (36 weeks). 5lb 13oz head down
Possibly our last date night!
Comparison of Viv and Lil G 2.0 at 38+ weeks and
My view lately:
Viv and Lil G 2.0.....
Maternity Photos:
Super sweet Tulsa Sprinkle:
