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I might only be sharing a monthly bumpdate, but I’m still taking weekly photos to share on Instagram — and to preserve for the baby book — so I figured I would catch up at the beginning of each update post. Here are our weekly photos since we last checked on baby.
Can I tell you what a relief it is to reach the age of viability?! I never worried much during my pregnancy with Ella — and, honestly, I haven’t been too anxious this time around either — but with Sophie, I was a nervous wreck! I know that it was all related to our two losses between the girls, but I lived that pregnancy with a sort of caution I had never experienced before. I feel like I’m enjoying this pregnancy so much more. I have such a great peace about it, mostly because of how surprising and miraculous it has been, but it’s still pretty amazing to reach this milestone. It’s hard to believe we’ll be meeting this little nugget in 15 short weeks!
BODY + HEALTH
I still have no idea how much weight I’ve gained, but I’m guessing it has increased dramatically since my last appointment. I’m headed to the doctor for my 24 week appointment this morning, so I’ll report back if it’s a significant number! Regardless of what the scales say, I feel so good this pregnancy. With Ella, I was already pretty small, but very out of shape. My belly wasn’t a tiny round ball, it was really wide and much closer to my body. With Sophie, I was significantly over my normal weight when I got pregnant — five years of being pregnant, recovering from pregnancy, fertility drugs, and recovering from a miscarriage x2 will do that to you! While my belly was perfectly round and I didn’t gain much weight elsewhere, I was still very self-conscious about where I started and that made it hard to enjoy my pregnant body. This time is different in so many respects. My belly reminds me of how I carried Sophie — it’s very compact (even though it sticks out pretty far!) and doesn’t stretch all the way to my sides. I’m closer to the size that I was will Ella, but so much more firm and fit. There are still weird things that pregnancy does to your body — my boobs are ridiculous and I have this weird layer of fat in the very center of my lower back — but I feel so much more comfortable and confident this time around. I will forever be grateful that I had almost an entire year of workouts under my belt before this surprise.
Speaking of workouts, those have taken a hit the last few weeks. I’m about to transition my membership to twice a week instead of forcing myself to go three times — I’m just too tired to keep up and getting up at 4:15 two mornings a week is more than I can bear right now. I’ve also had some setbacks on the treadmill, which make staying motivated very difficult. If I try running too fast or if I slow down and walk on an incline, I get serious cramps in the tops of my feet and my lower calves. I’m drinking so much water and trying to stretch before and after the workouts, but I haven’t found a remedy just yet. It’s on my list of things to discuss with the doctor, but for now I’m sticking with a slow jog or walking on flat ground. I’m still able to keep up on the rower and in the weight room, so it’s not a totally lost cause.
My appetite still fluctuates greatly. Just when I was getting back into the habit of eating home cooked meals and not being adverse to every meat option available, I’ve started regressing. Lunch is definitely my biggest meal of the day and for dinner, I’d rather stick with a cold plate of some kind. I try to cook for my family a few nights a week, but otherwise I’m living off of deli meat, cheese, gluten free pretzels, and fruit. I realized last week that the overwhelmingly metallic taste in my mouth was gone and I’m finally able to tolerate sweets in extreme moderation. I’ll still eat apples and watermelon over chocolate any day, but late night gelato has not been a problem.
EMOTIONS
I guess the pregnancy hormones are going to keep me overly emotional for the next four months. I have been so weepy about the most ridiculous things and Josh just has to ignore me. I was so frustrated on Mother’s Day morning and kept crying for EXACTLY NO REASON, but I could not get it together. I’m also notoriously chill about the girls growing up and entering new phases, but Ella’s 5th Grade graduation has wrecked me. On the one hand, I’m so excited for this next season because she is beside herself about middle school, but if a parent or teacher sends me one more sweet photograph of “The Class of 2025” I’m going to go ahead and lose my mind.
I’ve also been overly weepy about the baby, in general. Every time I picture all three of the kids meeting each other and us choosing a name as a family, I get so teary eyed. I’ve watched too many hospital gender reveals on YouTube (what is wrong with me?!) and I cannot keep it together through a single one. I even started watching a live C-Section a few days ago, but decided my mental health was too valuable to sob through it right now.
JOSH + THE GIRLS
Josh is as cool as ever and takes such good care of me. He has been really sensitive about how I’m feeling and if I need space and how well I feel, so I often have to grab his hand to feel the baby moving around. I appreciate that he knows how overwhelming pregnancy is for all moms, but particularly those of us who need a lot of personal space. He has basically deferred to me on all topics for the last five months and I’m guessing he’ll continue that protocol for the next four. He is the perfect balance for my anxious, over-analyzing mind and I appreciate the calm, level-headed attitude he brings to our marriage.
Both girls have finally felt the baby move and we can stop having a sibling rivalry when it comes to kicks and punches. Ella is much more still and patient, so she’s had ample opportunity to feel my belly move. Sophie, however, can’t sit still for more than a few seconds at a time and she never stops talking long enough to pay anyone else any attention. She got lucky during a Survivor marathon on Thursday night and got several big kicks to her hand. While I’ve been able to see the baby move for several weeks, the movements are getting very strong and obvious, so the girls have started to notice that, too.
We’re still having a little tension over shared rooms and what that means for the future, but I have all the confidence in the world that things will work out just fine. Ella and I are switching out the girls closets this month and trying to carve out some individual space in their new room. We’ll be carpeting and painting the upstairs after our vacation in June, so I’m hoping that making the space their own will really help alleviate her concerns. I keep reminding her that the baby will be in our room for the first several months and since there will be a full sized bed in the nursery, they can sleep separately any time they’d like!
ALL THE OTHER THINGS
Our nursery chair came last week and I am so happy with what we purchased. Josh fits comfortably in the chair and since the back is slightly reclined, you are able to relax without feeling like you’re sitting too upright. It’s wide enough that I can sit with my legs up in the chair, but we also have a mid-century modern ottoman that looks perfect alongside the chair. I’m trying to hammer out a few other nursery details before we carpet and paint upstairs, but I’m eager to really get started! I’ve gotten lots of fun baby mail from brands that I’m partnering with this summer and it’s so cool to see all of the new products that are available for baby. Things have changed so much in eight years and I’m excited to try new things this time around.
We’ve gone back and forth about what to do for a family vehicle and finally decided to by Josh a new truck instead of upgrading my car. It won’t be easy with three kids in the backseat, but because of my commute I need the smallest, most efficient car possible. We decided to pay it off and let me drive it for a few more years, when we’ll likely keep it for Ella to drive until we’re ready to buy her something. Instead, we’re buying Josh a newer model of the truck he already had, but we’re opting for an extended back seat. It’s much wider than my own backseat and is deep enough that we can rear face a convertible car seat. Since he doesn’t drive much during the week anyway, it makes more sense to use it as the family car for now.
I am loving comparing these bump photos each month, I only wish I had more pictures from my pregnancy with Ella! I do have a few from our summer vacation that year and since we’ll be traveling during that same part of my pregnancy, I can’t wait to compare swimsuit photos in a few more weeks!
