The Perfect Father's Day Present... Baby Bum is Here!

The most perfect Father's Day present arrived at 9:28 a.m. on Sunday, June 18.

J weighed in at 8 lbs 3 oz, 20.5 inches long.

He passed all his tests and got a good report at his first pediatrician's visit.

We are home and feeling so thankful.

Praise God for this tiny blessing.

More to come soon.

Baby Boy Bum[p] Update: 39 Weeks

For the last couple of weeks I’ve been feeling super anxious about the baby coming. For whatever reason I had it in my head that he would come if not before R did, than at least on or near when she did. I never reached 39 weeks with R, but Baby Bum seems to be comfortable where he is, and baby #2 has officially not come sooner than baby #1. 

Even though I am still a week out from my due date, I feel overdue because I was already not pregnant by this point with R. But I’ve made my peace with it and feel much calmer and more mentally prepared to go the distance, if not longer, with Baby Boy. I’m so anxious to meet him, but the longer he stays in, the stronger and more developed and hopefully healthier he will be!

My Stats: I seem to be holding steady at about 30 pounds total gained. For the last four appointments the scale has read: 161, 160, 160, 159. I take those numbers as an invitation to continue eating ice cream and chocolate. Don’t try and stop me. My blood pressure has been excellent this entire time, hovering around 112/60, which to be honest shocks me based on how stressed out I’ve been with all the sickness and other stuff we have going on, but I'm not going to question my superior genetics.

Baby’s Stats: Baby Boy’s heartrate is always around 130 at my appointments, and I’m measuring spot on the number of weeks I am. With R I measured 2-3 weeks big for nearly my entire pregnancy, and I even got a few bonus ultrasounds in the final few weeks so the doctor could make sure I wasn’t growing The Incredible Hulk. I’m incredibly thankful to have had a low-key pregnancy, but I haven’t seen baby boy’s sweet face since our 18-week anatomy scan and it’s killing me! Just one more ultrasound, pretty please?

Symptoms: I have honestly felt really good for most of this pregnancy, but as I’ve mentioned a few times now, the week of R being sick and the next week of me being sick totally destroyed any good vibes I had going. Since then I’ve felt heavy and large, and my hips hurt 24/7. This absolutely did not happen to this degree with R. I am literally limping everywhere and I'm sleeping on the couch every night because it feels more comfortable than our bed (our bed is TOO soft, if you can imagine that), and it’s hard to be at work all day. Sitting makes my butt and hips so sore, but standing makes me tired and makes my feet swell up, soooo…. there is no good solution here. Yes, I am stretching and that helps a lot, but I can't just stand/sit in a constant state of stretch at all times. I am still wearing my rings, though!

Feelings: I am feeling all the feelings. You name it, I feel it. My coworker walked by my desk yesterday and said, “Hi, how are you?” and I promptly burst into tears and sobbed, “I don’t even know why I’m crying.” So basically just no one talk to me.

Cravings: I have had little to no appetite lately, which probably explains why my weight has plateaued. Nothing ever sounds good except ice cream and cookies, and when I do eat an actual meal I don’t eat very much. I’ve skipped lunch a few times in the last couple of weeks because I just wasn’t hungry at all. Although actually a hot dog is sounding really good to me right now. I don't know.

Work Things: I planned on working up until the day Baby Boy arrived because the longer I wait to start maternity leave, the more time I have with him before I have to go back to work. (Don’t even talk to me about THAT, by the way. #emotions) But a month or so ago I decided that since my due date was on a Friday, it sounded appealing to work until my due date and then start maternity leave instead of coming back the following Monday. No thank you. 

But THEN, I started thinking about how much my hips hurt and how much I don’t want to be at work right now, and I decided my last day will be Wednesday, June 21. I will finish up a publication we are sending to press on Tuesday, and then peace out, homeslice. It’s only two days earlier than my due date, but now that I’ve resigned myself to the fact that Baby Bum seems comfy, I’m actually loving the idea of having a few days off work to spend with R. Of course, that probably means he will come on Wednesday, but if not, that is definitely my last day and I can’t wait!

Birth Plans: Ugh, you guys, I am still undecided about an epidural. I think I’m just going to do what I did last time: say no initially and see what happens. Here’s the deal: I am not against epidurals. I don’t care what anyone else does, and I don’t care about silly debates about this birth plan vs. that. Everyone has to do what they feel is best. 

I know I can deliver without one, because I did it with R, but while I don’t remember the specific feeling of the pain, I do know that it was the worst I’ve ever felt in my entire life. I very seriously asked my doctor multiple times if I was going to die. Am I looking forward to a repeat experience? No, I am not, and if I let myself think about it for too long I start freaking out. 

But whether or not they make sense to anyone else, I have my reasons for not being all gung-ho about epidurals, and so I just don’t know. I obviously can't say for certain, but I really do think if I had gotten an epidural with R I would have ended up with a C-section, but who knows.

Either way, I just want Baby Bum to come meet us, and I want him to be okay and be breathing, and I really don’t care how it happens or what it looks like.

I will tell you, however, that Jordan has requested multiple times that I have the baby on a Friday or Saturday and that I have him during the day, not in the middle of the night. I told him we’ll see how that works out for him.

Things to Do: Pack a hospital bag. I suppose I probably should have done this already. 

So there you have it. I’ve been hanging out at 3cm dilated and 50% effaced for almost 3 weeks now. I’ve felt some contractions but nothing serious or regular. At this point I’d put money on making it to my due date, but he could come tonight! THE SUSPENSE. 

We are continuing to pray for a healthy (and fast!) delivery and are excited to officially become a family of four very soon. I would greatly appreciate your prayers specifically for Baby Bum and I as we approach the end!

*I didn't do weekly updates with R, but here's a link to Week 37. And here's Week 28 with Baby Boy, which is the last time I did an official bump update! Of course I'm still doing weekly pages in my pregnancy journal, just not on the blog. And I'm about to run out of pages. RUDE.

Sprinkle for Baby Bum

A few weekends ago, my mom, sister, and sisters-in-law threw a little sprinkle for Baby Bum! I totally understand now why showers are usually only thrown for first babies, because that's when you need the most stuff initially, and the excitement of a first baby is so new and fun.

It's not that I expected or needed a shower for this baby, but I also really wanted to do something to celebrate the new life that will be joining our family, even if our list of things we need is short.  "Sprinkles" for second, third, etc., babies are getting popular right now, and I love the idea of a small celebration for the new babies. It was so kind of them to host a little party and get to all be excited about Baby Bum together!

My coworkers threw me a surprise sprinkle a month or so ago, and it was unexpected and so kind of them. We also had a church shower over the weekend to conclude our celebration of Baby Bum. We are incredibly thankful for our community of family and friends who love us and support us and are excited to meet Baby Bum very soon!

We have all the big stuff we need for the baby (car seat, bassinet, play mat, crib), but what we didn't have were boy stuff like clothes, burb clothes, bibs, blankets, towels, and teethers that aren't pink elphants.

I really don't have a problem with a boy using pink stuff, and it's not like we had all pink to begin with anyway, but it still would be nice for Baby Bum to have some things not angled toward the feminine color pallet. Our showers have been so helpful with that! Plus we've gotten a good stash of diapers. We've also had some friends drop off some of their old boy clothes for us, and I've taken a few trips to garage sales and consignment stores, so we haven't had to spend very much money at all on this baby's wardrobe, which is a huge blessing.

I'm not sure how much R actually understands about there being a baby coming, but if you ask her where her baby brother is, she run over to me, pulls up my shirt, and pats on my stomach and shouts, "HI, BEEBEE!" She is really sweet with her baby doll, and I seriously can't wait for her to meet her brother very, very soon!

p.s. I have a couple of non-baby-centric post that I am working on, lest you fear I will only talk about babies and kids and pregnancy until the end of time. But that's what's on the brain right now! I'm sure you understand.

Preparing for Baby #2

*I suppose I should apologize for taking a leave of absence from the blog without announcing myself, lest you think I'm in labor. No, I am not in labor. But I am lacking motivation to blog regularly, and I've been filling any evening free time with other creative projects that I plan on blogging about if I ever get around to it! 

I posed a question to my blog’s Facebook page, asking what topics people would like to see me write about. A couple of people suggested I write about how we are preparing for Baby Bum 2.0, so I figured I’d sit down and see what I have to say about it. 

Baby Boy Bum[p] - 28 Weeks

Well, friends, I am just cruising right along over here and in the third trimester! I read a birth story the other day that another blogger posted, and this was my exact reaction: I WANT MINE RIGHT NOW. 

Dramatic much? Possibly. But I am just really excited to meet this little guy! (The actual birth part I am currently choosing to block out completely, as am I blocking out the paying-for-two-kids-in-daycare part. It works out. Right? Okay.)

Physically, pregnancy is treating me pretty well this time around. When I read the weekly pregnancy journal I kept with R, it seems like I had a lot more issues with rib pain and just overall being uncomfortable at this stage than I am with Baby Boy. Probably my biggest complaint (other than feeling, you know, big) is stomach aches after eating that I'm almost certain are caused by gas, because lying down for 20 minutes or so on my side helps a lot. It's also much harder to get up off the ground these days, and it's getting uncomfortable to hold R, especially when she's throwing a fit and flailing around.

I'm also just really tired at the end of the day. My alarm seems to come so early, and it's a struggle getting myself and R dressed for the day and getting out of the house to make it to work on time. Thankfully my employer is understanding and not too strict! I'm super jealous of pregnant moms who stay at home and can wear sweatpants all day because dressing business casual for work just isn't high on my list of priorities these days. Aren't they lucky to have me? ha.

I know maternity leave is anything but a day at Disneyland, especially if I have another delivery like R's (please no), but I won't lie: I am really looking forward to some time off work. I know the US has an terrible awful completely ridiculous maternity leave policy, so don't get me started, but I'm choosing to be thankful for any time off work to spend with my favorite kids. I already appreciate it so much more this time around because I know how quickly it goes and how hard it is to be away from them during the day.

I'm up about 20 pounds as of my weigh-in at the doctor on Monday, which isn't great but also not as terrible as I was expecting considering how much ice cream I've been consuming lately. I also got good news that I passed my glucose test, so no diabetes for me! I got the orange drink, and I do not remember it bothering me when I took it with R, but this time it made me feel extremely nauseous, and I finally understood why everyone dreads it.

My measurements look great, so at this point no ultrasound is scheduled. I got a few extra with R because she consistently weighed 2 weeks ahead and my doctor wanted to make sure I wasn't going to give birth to the Incredible Hulk, but so far so good with this baby. I can't tell you how excited I am to get to the point where I'm having an appointment every two weeks. This entire pregnancy it has been five weeks between appointments, and that's just too long.

Emotionally, Jordan and I both agree that this time around I have been much less hormonal than I was with R. And by that I mean Jordan hasn't threatened to move into his boss's attic until after the baby comes to get away from my crazy episodes, which may or may not have happened the first time. BUT, the last two weeks I have been a hot mess, to put it simply. I've just been anxious and stressed about different things, this pregnancy and a few things with R. My mom gave me comforting news that I will never stop worrying about my children, so I better just get used to it and try not to get overworked about every little thing. Wise words, my friends.

R and this baby will be sharing a room, so there's no new nursery preparations to take care of. I am just going to swap out some of the "girly" decorations and such for some boy stuff to try and balance it out. A very kind friend offered to trade boy clothes for some girl clothes of R (they just had a baby girl in January), so we have a nice big box of boy clothes, which I'm very thankful for.

I'm still attempting to make it to the gym once a week, although I've stopped running for the duration of this pregnancy. I ran until 26 weeks and then it just became too uncomfortable. I'd much rather speed walk or use the stationary bike at the gym, so that's what I'm going to do! I also fully support anyone who says that keeping up with a toddler is cardio BECAUSE IT'S TRUE.

So that's what has been happening in my gestation so far. I'm very thankful for a healthy baby and healthy pregnancy so far, and every day I get more excited to welcome Baby Bum #2 into our family.

Also, just for kicks: a bump comparison at 27 weeks. R on the left and Baby Boy on the right! I feel like I look a tad larger, no?

*You can find all the posts I've ever written about pregnancy in an easy list: here.

20-week Baby Boy Bum(p) Update

I figured I'd kick it old school today and share a weekly pregnancy update since I'm halfway done with this thing! Obviously I haven't been doing weekly updates on the blog, but I have been taking weekly pictures and writing in my journal. It's fun to compare this pregnancy with R's.

Weight gain: We don't own a scale, so I am not exactly sure where I started, but I am saying 133. I don't have an up-to-date number, but as of my doctor's appointment two weeks ago, I was up to 144, so somewhere around 10-12 pounds total gained, which I think is right on track.

Symptoms: To be honest, I have been feeling awesome since around 14 weeks. No real complaints here! I'm waking up once a night or so to go to the bathroom, but otherwise I feel fantastic. Over the past few weeks I've noticed some stomach issues after eating dinner where I need to lie down because it feels like it's cramping (like gas or something), but it goes away after a bit. I also have a really hard time sitting all day at my desk. I know if you stay at home with a toddler you're probably thinking, I'd love to sit all day. You don't know how lucky you are. But it's actually quite tiring and hard on my butt to sit at a desk all day, so I've been trying to walk during lunch and also take stretch breaks twice a day. I set a timer for 5 minutes and do some back and arm stretching, some squats, and a few other things. It has really seemed to help.

Cravings: I really can't count this as a pregnancy craving because it just sounds good most of the time, but I seriously could eat Mexican every single day. For basically this entire pregnancy so far, nothing I ever make for dinner sounds good and I just want to get Mexican, but I've been a good girl and not gone crazy eating out!

Movement: Yes! I started feeling kicks around 18 weeks, which of course is super fun. They felt like little pops inside my belly. I don't feel movement every day, and I haven't been able to feel anything from the outside yet, but Jordan is excited to feel the baby hopefully soon.

Sleep: Sleeping great! I really don't have a problem falling asleep or staying asleep, and even when I wake up to go to the bathroom at 2am, I am asleep almost before my head settles fully into my pillow. I'm also taking epic naps during my lunch hour. There's a little couch under the stairs that I lie down on with a blanket and pillow and pass out for about a half hour. It's glorious.

Clothing: I have a few new maternity shirts, and I'm also reusing everything from my pregnancy with R, which if you remember wasn't very much. I basically rotated the same 2 shirts and 2 maxi skirts for my entire pregnancy. I'm also still working some non-maternity shirts and sweaters that are long and fit great! I haven't bought any maternity pants yet. The magical green pants are still doing their thing, and I have a few jeans that are a bigger size that I can wear just fine with the rubber band trick and a longer shirt.

Preparations for new baby: Nothing going so far as far as a nursery is concerned. This baby and R are going to share a room for a while, so all we really need to do is "boy" R's room up a bit with some more gender-neutral curtains and a few wall hangings. We also need to get R a toddler bed at some point because we hope to transition her before the baby comes so we don't have to buy another crib. I went to a consignment store over the weekend and picked up some pants, onesies, and shirts for baby boy. I also went through all of R's baby clothes and pulled out anything that will work for a boy. There wasn't much, but I found a few things! I know it's cliche to say, but I seriously cannot believe that R was every small enough to fit into the tiny clothes! So small!

Excited for: Those baby kicks to get stronger and Jordan to feel him from the outside! Also excited for my next appointment in 3 weeks. Love hearing that little heartbeat and knowing everything is okay in there.

Just for fun, here's a bump comparison. After popping out much sooner this time, I feel like I am maybe slowing down and catching up to where I was last time. I'm also having a boy not a girl, so maybe I'll carry differently. Who knows! Bodies are so weird.

Oh, and ignore my crazy hair, please. I'd just been out for a walk. On Saturday morning R insisted I take her for a walk. She stood by her stroller shouting at me until I put her in it, and then she started putting the straps on herself and trying to buckle it. So even though it was 40 degrees outside (that's cold for Oklahoma, y'all), we bundled up and she seemed to enjoy herself.

I hope you all have a great Monday!

Baby Bum is a....

A sweet baby BOY will be joining our family this summer! 

We had our ultrasound last Wednesday, and we were so thankful to see a healthy baby, growing right on track and moving all around. Just like with R, we found out the gender in the ultrasound room. I like doing that because then we get to enjoy seeing everything and not having to look away or worry that we'll accidentally find out. I also really like having a secret that just the two of us know! Also, let's be honest. I'm too cheap and lazy to put together a gender reveal party.

I was pretty sure it was going to be a girl, so I was shocked when the tech said, "Looks like you're having a boy." Jordan is super excited, and I am too! To be totally honest, part of me was hoping for a girl just because I thought having sisters close in age would be fun (although, hi, teenage drama), and also (and most importantly) I need to have another girl so I can put R's abandoned box of hair bows to use. Seriously.

But we truly are thrilled to be adding a boy to our clan! R has no idea what she's in for, and I don't really think we do either :)

p.s. See R's gender reveal post here.

How Pregnancy #2 Has Been Different (in a good way!)

It's still so strange to be able to say things like "the first time I was pregnant..."

I found out I was pregnant when I was only 4 weeks along (technically 2 weeks pregnant, but they start counting 2 weeks before conception because science likes to be difficult). The first ten weeks or so crawled by at the speed of a dying turtle. But the past few weeks have started to pick up, and sometimes I have to remind myself that hey, there's a baby in there!

I kept a weekly pregnancy journal for my pregnancy with R, and it's been so fun to be able to compare my symptoms and general feelings from two years ago with this second pregnancy. So much of it is the same as far as how the first trimester went physically (which I why I'm currently thinking baby #2 is going to be a girl), but there are a few things in particular that already have been so different in a really good way for me emotionally.

1. I have been able to control my daily anxiety better this time.

Unfortunately, I spent a lot of time during my first pregnancy being anxious. Anxious of a miscarriage, of the baby not kicking, of the baby not kicking enough, of a birth defect, of early labor, and on and on. I got really worked up for my prenatal appointments and counted down the days until my next one. 

This time, I still feel anxiety. I don't know how that would ever completely go away. I still get anxious before my doctor's appointments. But I have really been focusing on not letting anxiety control me, and it's made a huge difference, so much so that Jordan has even noticed and commented on it. It's not that I'm not nervous about things being okay, but I've realized that nothing I do can control how my baby develops and what is going to happen. I am focusing on enjoying being pregnant, being excited to meet this new baby, and being thankful to have the opportunity to carry another human. It's made this pregnancy so much more fun! It's also just been nice to know what the heck is going on a little bit more than last time. I feel like less of a newbie with doctor visits and symptoms.

2. I know I can survive labor, so it's not quite as terrifying.

Don't get me wrong. Labor was absolutely the most painful thing that has ever happened to me, and I would be lying if I told you that I wasn't scared of doing it again. When I was giving birth to R, I asked my doctor multiple times if I was going to die. I laugh about it now, but in the moment I was completely serious. It was so painful that I really thought it might kill me. 

Jordan and I never ended up taking a birthing class before I had R due to a scheduling conflict, but mostly it was because the mere thought of labor terrified me to my very core, and I would start crying if I even talked about it. It was The Great Unknown, and I had no idea what to expect. I know that no labor is the same, and I still don't know what to expect this time around, but I do know a little bit more about what exactly the words "labor and delivery" mean, and I know that the pain will eventually be over and I will be okay. I am excited that this time the idea of labor will not be this dark cloud hanging over my head until June. My plan is to basically just block out the idea that I'm even going to have to do it until it happens. Wish me luck with that one.

3. I am prepared for a newborn.

I'm not necessarily saying that I'm prepared to be more tired than I've ever been in my life. Or that I'm prepared for the midnight feeding sessions and the crying and the impossibility of getting the baby to sleep somewhere not on my chest for just one nap please. I'm definitely not saying I'm prepared to have a newborn with a toddler running around. But I've brought home one baby and kept her alive for a while, so I feel more prepared in general for bringing home another one. 

With R, I literally asked my mom what babies sleep in because I didn't know. I didn't know what to do when she had a fever or how to help when she had gas. Over the last year and a half, I've learned a lot about taking care of a baby, and I'm thinking that when this second baby comes home, it won't be such a complete and utter what-on-earth-is-going-on kind of shock.

4. Similar to #3, Jordan and I are prepared for a newborn.

Adding a baby to our lives really rocked our marriage. We were both so tired and got so stressed out when it was 2am and R was crying and we didn't know what to do. We had to figure out our roles and what worked for us. I know that going from one kid to two is quite a leap, so I am by no means saying it's going to be easy, but I think that Jordan and I are going to be a lot more prepared to add another baby to our family now that we've done it once before, and hopefully we can be a better team this time.

5. I know I can survive taking my baby to daycare.

If you don't know this by now, I'm basically am emotional basket case. I cry a lot. When it came to thinking about taking R to daycare, I broke down in full-on sobs. I could barely think about it without crying. We are hoping to put baby #2 in the same daycare as R, and that eases a lot of stress already. I know the people there, we like it, R did well, and most of all: I know I can do it. I'm thinking this will allow me to enjoy my maternity leave more instead of sadly counting down the days until I have to start back at work like I'm on death row or something. I (hopefully) won't have to tour daycares and call around and get on waiting lists because we will already have something lined up that we know has been working for us.

6. I believe that somehow, everything will work out.

Before we had R, I said things like, "I don't know how we are going to afford to have a baby" because I honestly didn't feel like we had enough money to pay for all the things we were going to have to pay for (not only diapers and wipes but big things like insurance and actually paying for my delivery). With baby #2, I look back and wonder how I thought we wouldn't have enough money for a baby because now we really don't have enough money.

I do wonder how it will all work out, and it stresses me out to think about it. But I don't for a second wonder if it will all work out, because I know somehow it will. God has provided for us, and so far that hasn't looked like me being able to quit my job. It hasn't looked like raises or bonuses at work for either of us. It hasn't looked like random checks in the mail or an inheritance in a will from a long-lost relative. 

It hasn't looked like anything, really, except that we pay our bills and buy food and tithe and still have a little money leftover at the end of the month to put in savings. And isn't that really all we need anyway?

Of course I worry about a birth defect or an expensive NICU stay or labor complications. I worry about SIDs and developmental problems and proper weight gain. I worry that I'll have the same pumping issues I had the last time and not be able to have enough milk.

But I don't worry about how my life is going to change. I don't worry that I won't be a good mother. I don't worry that I won't be able to bond with my baby or that I won't love him or her. I was scared of that once, but I'm not anymore. And that's the biggest thing that is different this time.

Baby Bum #2, we already love you so much and can't wait to meet you.

*This post was based in part on one I wrote during my first pregnancy: The Fear

Baby Bum #2: Some Deets and Stuff

As we approached R’s first birthday (back in August), Jordan and I discussed when we wanted to start trying to have another baby. We both have three siblings and had talked in the past about wanting at least three, maybe four kids just based on that fact that we like the size of our own immediate families. 

Of course, then I gave birth and said ONE CHILD ONLY KTHANKSBYE. But over time you start thinking maybe having another one doesn’t sound like such a bad idea after all. (Side note, if you haven't read them, you might enjoy my two posts: 10 Reasons Why Running a Marathon is Like Having a Baby and the follow up I wrote after actually giving birth.)

We definitely weren’t ready to start trying at any point before she turned one, but right around August we both felt like maybe we could just sort of “see what happened” in that department if you know what I mean. You may or may not remember that it took over two years to get pregnant with R, and we did end up seeing a fertility doctor for a short time, so we really had no idea how long it would take to get pregnant again, or if we even could.

We are so extremely thankful and blessed that it did not take very much time at all this time around. Truthfully, I was surprised to find out I was pregnant even though we were trying, so it wasn’t entirely unexpected in that sense. (There are kind of a bit more details there but not really something I want to put on the blog. I also want to be sensitive about giving any sort of impression that "It was so easy!" because I know there are many who struggle and are still struggling, and getting pregnant is not certainly easy for so many people. Again, we are very thankful that it did not take as long as it did with R and we do not take that for granted.)

I took a pregnancy test on Monday, October 10, because I threw up. I woke up around 4am that morning and felt super nauseous. I fell back asleep and woke up around the time I was supposed to start getting ready for work and threw up. I felt extremely nauseous and called in sick that day. My mother-in-law drove over and picked up R for me (bless her), and I laid on the couch all day watching The Flash on Netflix and completely unable to sit or stand up without feeling like I wanted to throw up again. I sincerely thought I just had a bug because R and Jordan had both been sick the previous week, but my MIL told me that I should take a pregnancy test to rule it out. I was like, okay but I’m not pregnant.

I did have one of the cheap sticks at home, so I took one around 3pm, once I could sort of move around without wanting to rush to the bathroom. The faintest line showed up, like seriously it was barely even there. So I called Jordan and said that I took a test and it was maybe showing a line but I couldn’t tell. I told him that I was going to the store to get the expensive test that actually said “pregnant” or “not pregnant” and I would take it once he got home from work.

The test had a countdown bar, so it blinked and then held four bars on the screen as it counted down the time until the test was ready. I put the test on the counter and counted down. “One bar down!” “Okay two down!” “Three!” It held the fourth bar, and we both looked at each other.

“Pregnant.”

We immediately did the math backward and realized that October 10 was literally the earliest possible day I could have taken a test and gotten a positive result. To this day, I still don’t know whether the puking that day was honestly due to pregnancy or if I really did have a bug. That Monday was the only time I’ve thrown up during the entire first trimester and the day I felt the most nauseous. It seems way too coincidental, but maybe this baby just wanted to make a grand entrance.

I took a test first thing the next morning (one of the cheap ones), and a line showed up that was a little darker than the one the day before. I called my doctor’s office (I’m going with the same dr as last time!) and scheduled my first appointment for FIVE AND A HALF WEEKS. They said they didn’t need to see me until 8-10 weeks, and I was only 4 at the time. I am not a patient person, and let me tell you waiting that long was painful. All my pregnancy anxiety came rushing back, and I kept imagining all the terrible scenarios in my head, none of which resulted in anything good.

After about a week of literally counting the days until my appointment and wondering how I was ever going to make it through, I realized that I needed to calm down. If the baby was fine, going to the doctor was not going to make it not fine. And if the baby was not fine, it was going to be not fine whether or not I had an appointment. Like I said, I was a pretty anxious pregnant person with R, and I am really trying this time to give my fears to God and not worry as much. Other than doing the things I can do to give this baby the best chance at being healthy (not drinking or smoking, not taking certain medications, etc.), I cannot control my baby’s growth and development. Once I realized that, I felt a lot more at peace to take it day by day and be excited and thankful for each day I got to spend with this baby, no matter how many days that is.

Like I said, I only threw up that one day, but I did feel pretty nauseous off and on for a while. I was still able to eat regularly for the most part, though, and I went through a legitimate craving for Mexican food that lasted about three days, and all I wanted for every meal was tacos.

My main symptom was just that I was so. tired. Like, epic tiredness. We are talking lunch naps every day, in bed by 8 every night, and 2-hour naps on both Saturday and Sunday (I am taking “when the baby sleeps, you sleep” to heart, people). Lately I do feel like I’m getting some of my energy back, but naps are still a beloved part of my weekends and lunch hours.

I will be 13 weeks on Friday and have my second appointment next Wednesday (after waiting another 5 weeks since my last one!). I always start to get a bit anxious leading up to my next appointment, and we are continuing to pray for a healthy baby! Thanks again for all your excitement. We feel very blessed and are excited to add another little member to our family, and if everything looks good next week I will be on my way to the second trimester. Woo!

Just for fun, here's a comparison of Baby Bum #1 (that would be R) --> Baby Bum #2, both at 12 weeks. When they say you show earlier with your second baby, they were not kidding! I literally did not look this big with R until 17-18 weeks. Send help. And stretch mark cream.

The Best Christmas Present

I've been bursting to share our news with you for weeks, and I just can't wait anymore. R is going to be a big sister! Baby Bum #2 will be arriving in June 2017!

I wanted to make sure I told all of our family and friends first, and then I wanted to tell my boss. I hate having that conversation, so I put it off and put it off, and finally I got myself so worked up that I decided to just do it already. So finally I went in and talked to him, and now I feel free to share it publicly on the blog with all of you!

I am currently 11.5 weeks, with a due date of June 23. I won't make you do the math in your head... this baby and R will be about 22 months apart, give or take a week or two. We went in for our first ultrasound at 8.5 weeks, and everything looked great! I go back for my next appointment in 2 weeks.

At this point I do plan on going back to work after I have this baby. Me not working still is not an option at this point for us. I am doing weekly pictures at home, but just like with R, I won't be doing weekly updates on the blog. I will share updates on occasion, but it won't be anything regular.

We were trying, and thankfully we did not need to see a fertility doctor this time. I feel so blessed and thankful to have the opportunity to be pregnant again, and we are both so excited to grow our family and for R to be a big sister! Bumgarner, family of 4! Yay!