it seems like just yesterday we were making our big announcement that our hearts would be growing by another sweet babe… and then bam. this bump. 18 weeks y’all.
you all have been so sweet to send private messages and emails asking how the second trimester going and i realized that i really haven’t updated much since we shared the news! i first have to say how much it means to me to have you checking in and praying for our family.

as i sit here and type this, i have two teeny little feet, hands + rump making their presence known inside this ever growing belly and i just can’t help but smile at the sweetness of it all. i love being pregnant. i loved it with the girls and although zach would argue with me through the entire rant due to the amount of sickness i have gone through, i just loved having them safely inside my belly and feeling each little movement. my favorite memory of my pregnancy with the girls was waking up the day before they were born, and they both had the hiccups at the same time. i was so overcome by joy + love, i couldn’t help but cry.

there are so many different things this time and it probably has a lot to do with the fact that there is only one babe in there…but, i’m soaking up every single second of it.
looking back, we’re already off to a much more boring start, which is really what we’re all praying for. just a boring pregnancy. i reminded zach last week that by this point with the girls, i was already on pelvic rest due to swelling and other ‘symptoms’. so y a y for that! we’re also coming up on the point in my pregnancy that with the girls that i was diagnosed with vasa previa. i will absolutely be a mess, i’m sure, coming up on our anatomy scan (happening exactly at 20 weeks!), and while the excitement is usually finding out gender, there really are so many more important things we will find out that day.
..cord insertion..
..placenta location..
..vasa previa..
..placenta development..
..organs..
i’m trying really hard to not let myself get worried because, as of two weeks ago, there was nothing but good things happening. my ob is really sensitive to my previous pregnancy and while we were given full permission to get pregnant again, there’s a lot to be said about the trauma of a high risk pregnancy and birth. if i’m being honest, i’m terrified and it brings me to tears on a regular basis. i know in my heart that god is in control and i feel so blessed to have the opportunity to be ‘mama’ to another one of god’s children.. it’s just overwhelming sometimes.

for now, it’s a choice to trust God’s will, His protection, and plan. and while i’ve learned that doesn’t always mean it’s rainbows and cherries, i certainly can rest knowing i serve a loving God.

so what’s new?!

i’m measuring huge. h u g e. h u g e.
i’m feeling pretty amazing most of the time. morning all day+night sickness has pretty much come to an end unless i get hungry or too tired {hallelujah for normal morning sickness vs. the all pregnancy sickness!!}. my energy is back and zach is back to having a functioning wife!!
the girls are pretty in love with touching, kissing, rubbing and blowing raspberries on my bare belly and i couldn’t love it any more. they’re going to be such good big sisters… piper will be all over those cheeks and lila will need a close eye making sure she doesn’t smother the babe in blankets!!
the kicks, the flutters… i simply adore them.
stretch marks? yes. i haven’t really noticed many new ones, but they certainly remembered to make their appearance from the girls… while i’m pregnant it’s really easy to convince myself that they’re perfect and a visual of the miracle growing in my body… i would be lying if i said it was that easy post partum.

diet

with the girls i pretty much followed a specific diet pretty heavily due to the risk factors for preterm labor with twins…when we knew that would become a reality, i was pretty intense about getting the girls to the best birth weight i could. and it worked! while we are hoping for a full-term, normal pregnancy, i’m still following a diet pretty high in fat and protein. i’ve noticed that on the moments that i start to feel icky, i can usually identify that i haven’t had enough protein.
i crave a lot of healthy foods… fruit (i need an orchard), salads, seafood + grilled veggies… but my sweet tooth has most certainly reappeared. ice cream {mint chocolate chip, please!!}, double stuffed E.L Fudge cookies and reese’s puff cereal {i’m killing some boxes} are amongst my go-to’s. i’m living on hint water… mainly the carbonated kind, but really, any of it. and i’m finally able to drink coffee again {double shot latte in the am – only racking up about 120mg of caff.. well below the recommended max of 200!}.

the clothes

i have been in maternity clothes for ohhhh 9 weeks now. i fully embrace the full panels and my itchy skin + crazy changing body just doesn’t lend itself to my normal clothes. i feel like maternity clothes have changed so much just in the short 2 years it’s been and there are sooo many adorable things out there!! i love to show off this bump and am much more comfortable in form fitting shirts that don’t make others look at me with the ‘did she eat too many twinkies or….” look. you know that look. right? if you haven’t gotten it, then you’ve certainly given it {i was totally guilty before i was pregnant}. so. let’s just not let anyone guess and just put it out there. there’s a babe in there.

the plan

we’re taking it day by day but as i mentioned above, we’ve had nothing but good news so far. we’ll make a plan after we see a clear picture at the anatomy scan, which will be done with the high-risk practice. more than likely, regardless of what we see, i will be co-managed by the high-risk docs and my OB. we’ll determine the frequency of ultrasounds, cervical checks and non-stress tests {NSTs}, but he mentioned that we’ll probably begin monitoring early. if there’s a positive {which there’s many!}, i get to see that sweet little face more frequently and who can complain about that?!

i can’t believe how fast time is flying now. those first few weeks drug hour by hour as i was throwing the girls in high chairs in front of sesame street while i puked my brains out…and now i can’t keep up. while i can’t wait to meet this sweet babe, my heart aches as the girls are getting older, wanting to keep them tiny. each new experience is so so so much fun, but i have learned to treasure each moment because it certainly is fleeting. i’m soaking up every ounce of joy this pregnancy and am so excited to have you on our journey!!

xoxo,

lindsey