Announcing - Baby #2

I meant to announce our good baby news on my blog and facebook after the standard 12 week waiting period, but got sick and busy, etc.  So, finally in the 18-19 weeks, we are finally managing that.  So, here is a quick glimpse of my pregnancy so far.  I'm currently at 19 weeks (can't believe it's almost the halfway point) and I'm due on August 31st. 

We found out we were pregnant in December, but weren't ready to share our news yet.  When Naomi's birthday came around, we decided it was the ideal time to tell our family.  We had several family members in from out of town and most of our family would be at Naomi's birthday party and we would be able to tell everyone at once.  At this point, I was about 6 weeks along (my calcs at the time had me at 8 weeks, but I was adjusted at our initial sono).  So, Naomi's first gift to open was from us and was a book, "I'm Going to be a Big Sister".  I wish I had a picture but we were so all in the moment that no one took one.  Reactions included, "Why would someone get her that?", "Did you buy her that?" and finally "Are you trying to tell us something?", to which we replied that yes we are having another baby.  This resulted in a chorus of "Are you serious?" and "Really?" followed by joy and hugs.  (And later, of course, the whole yes we were actually trying - it is me after all - the girl who wasn't sure she wanted one, now having two is a bit surprising even to me.) 

We told our ABF at church next (around the 10 week mark) and continued gradually telling friends we saw, co-workers, Jazzercise peeps, etc. 

First trimester summary:  I was way more sick with this one than I was with Naomi, but no where near as sick as some women get.  I got a prescription for Zofran - helped a lot.  I didn't gain any weight - yay! - really worked hard on that one since I'm still carrying extra weight from having Naomi.  My only noticeable craving was for Arby's roast beef sandwiches which was completely bizarre since we eat there once maybe every couple of years or so.  I'm over it now, but I went more in one month than I have in the past decade. 

Second trimester so far:  The sick tapered off around week 14-16 with a few "going out with a bang" moments.  At my last doctor's appointment, I had officially gained 1 lb. - not bad.  I just started "popping out" quite a bit in the last couple weeks, so whatever extra weight I already had has begun migrating to my belly.  :)  I haven't had any real "cravings" lately, but do notice things tasting good to me that normally aren't really my thing - I remember this from last time too - Brian's babies love salsa and bbq sauce. 

18 week sono:  It's a GIRL.  Her name will be Olivia.  Everything looked good and normal (pic above).  That's pretty much it.  I don't have another appointment with the perinatologist, so we'll see if I go back to her this time around or if it'll just be the OB. 

Will I have preeclampsia again?  I get asked this question a lot, so I figure I'll answer it here in case anyone is wondering.  The answer, in short, is "flip a coin".  There is no way to know and no known way to prevent it since they don't really know what causes it (the blood pressure is merely one of the symptoms and the most easily measured, so simply controlling blood pressure isn't the answer).  So far, so good.  I monitor my blood pressure on a regular basis just to get an idea of my baseline - it eases my mind and it helps the doctor.  Otherwise, they don't do anything special for this pregnancy until something goes haywire.  So we just wait and hope and prepare.  We've thought through the possibility of hospital bed rest and are planning to have the room completed by the end of June (quite the undertaking given the current state of things). 

How long will I be able to teach Jazzercise?  Again, we'll see.  Still going strong and full out.  No need to restrict to low impact yet as I "have a proven cervix" (sorry for the tmi).  So, I'll go until I feel too un-comfortable, make adjustments to my schedule when the time comes, and stop if they tell me that I must.  I taught 4 classes this week, even while dealing with a massive sinus/allergy attack.  I just ordered a maternity support belt to help me as my belly expands over the next couple months.  Keep on dancin' ya'll!  :) 

Baby Bump Pics:  I'm sure I'll take some at some point and if I do, I'll post them. 

More later!