Friday, March 13, 2015

Growing a Girl

Well this post is long overdue on many levels. Skip the announcement, the pictures, the details on the first few months and jump straight to: Hello, blog, I'M GOING TO HAVE ANOTHER BABY ANY DAY NOW.

But for posterity I feel obliged to take advantage of this quiet evening to document what this pregnancy has been like for me. (And successfully banish this creeping guilt of my future child someday asking where to read the blog post about my pregnancy with her because she could only find the one about my experience with James...)

This second ride on the preggo train was different in several ways from my first. I actually had a full week of debilitating, nearly non-stop nausea in the beginning, compared to no nausea at all with James. I also quickly lost all interest in my beloved black coffee. Water was also hard to stomach. I drank a lot of ginger ale and Snapple teas those first months because most other liquids just sounded blech to me. In the second trimester I had cravings for steak. In the third trimester I had cravings for oranges, and throughout the entire pregnancy I had an affinity for anything sweet.

I tried to keep jogging, but the fact is that making time for jogs when mothering a toddler is very hard to do even when you're not battling the fatigue of pregnancy. I jogged occasionally in the first tri and even ran a 5k with Bryan, but once the weather got cold I stopped jogging altogether. I continued my weekly Centergy (aerobic yoga) class up until about 7 months pregnant when I began feeling that very uncomfortable pelvic floor pressure when working out. I was bummed to quit Centergy so soon since I had continued it with James up until the week he was born. I just really hope that doesn't end up making my labor/delivery/recovery much harder this time. I have no idea how much of an effect that had on my L/D with James.

Also new with this pregnancy: a pinched nerve -- ow! Starting at about 5 months preggo I had very specific pain in one spot on my lower back. It was almost constant dull pain and peaked to very sharp pain when I moved certain ways. I couldn't sleep on my right side because it hurt that one spot so bad. I couldn't lift my right leg at all while bending over. Then one day, around 7 months preggo, it was gone. Just gone. Apparently baby was just sitting on a nerve and it stayed pinched until she decided to move off of it.

We had another fun gender reveal party thrown by my sister and hosted by my parents. My family, Bryan's family, and family friends were all there. We played games, cast our gender votes, and we all found out together when we popped the pink confetti filled balloons--it's a girl!! I was SO so excited about that news. It seemed unreal. I just knew that we'd have another boy because I WANTED so badly to have a girl. I'm still a little giddy about this. How blessed I am to have a boy AND a girl! I hope my daughter(s??) and I have a good relationship and share lots of shopping, breakfast dates, pedicures, baking marathons, and chick flicks together! We decided to name her Sally; a quintessential girl name in my opinion and also a derivative of Sara. She will share my middle name, Kristina, because Bryan said that would be one less name for him to remember. ;)

So here I am, 38 weeks pregnant and going crazy with this waiting game. James was born at the end of 38 weeks, so I never reached that point of going crazy with him approaching/passing his due date. But this time I feel like 38 weeks is my due date... this time I'm expecting labor to start any moment... this time the waiting and not knowing when she'll come is making me restless and anxious and scared. What if she comes even faster than James and I can't make it to the hospital in time?? What if I do make it to the hospital, but James has to go into delivery with me because Gigi/Momo couldn't come get him?? These are the thoughts that keep me praying to God on behalf of my sanity. However it happens this time, here's hoping that it's another excellent experience all-around!