First 12 weeks | baby #2

Cody and I had been saying for months that we were “ready” for another baby, but in all honesty, I had a second of “am I really ready?” once I saw the positive sign on the test.

We went to Denver on our youth mission trip the first week of august. I was anticipating my cycle any day… well the days went by and I felt completely normal but my suspicions grew. However, cody and I had NO alone time, ha! One night the organization needed a few items to complete dinner so Cody, myself, and a leader from the DOOR ran to the store. I ran off to buy a test and we had to wait till later that night go to take the test by ourselves. This is all so funny and hilarious that we were doing all this while on a youth mission trip. The test pretty quickly turned positive and I was in shock! We had to keep our little secret to ourselves for the next little bit.

Once we returned home I started to notice that I was a lot more tired that usual, nauseas if I was hungry, and Evynn was in fact “mad” at me and preferred Cody over me most of the time.

By 6 weeks I was crampy (which is no fun for a very anxious and worrisome mama!), tired all the time, and queasy. I was craving salad and despised coffee… major bummer since I usually love coffee AND I’m incredibly sleepy!

We went home in mid-august to tell my parents! My moms birthday was a few weeks away so I framed a picture of me and her/a remake of the same photo but with me and Evynn. She loved the picture. Then I gave her a card, signed “Cody, Stephanie, Evynn, and baby #2”. She read it and didn’t say anything, so I made her read it again, then she realized what it said, ha! Her and my dad were both very shocked and very happy for us!  Claire came over later that day and we talked for alittle bit then was holding Evynn and being silly. I got my phone camera ready to “take a picture” but really hit record and said “Evynn, say I’m a big sister!”. Claire was also shocked and excited for us!

We went back to west texas that next evening and Cody’s parents were in town moving Logan into her new house. We met them for dinner. We had Ev wearing a “big sister” tshirt when they pulled up. It took a minute for them to get it since Evynn would not walk towards them but kept turning around towards us, ha!

So, why tell our family and friends that we’re pregnant SO early? For us, every pregnancy matters so we’re excited for any positive test. We obviously pray and hope for a healthy, term pregnancy but know that if anything were to happen, we will need our family and close friends love and support more than ever. So, why not include them in the big news and know that they’re beside us praying along the way?!

What I haven't missed about being pregnant: constantly feeling nauseas, looking way bigger than I should at the end of the day because I'm so bloated, looking up everything before I eat it to make sure it's safe

What I have missed: the only positive about the first trimester really is knowing the little miracle is inside of you! It's alittle fun keeping that little secret. But, it's such a worrisome season praying everything is okay when you can't feel movements. And you crave food but have no belly to make sense of it.

at 7 weeks I'm no exhausted, I'm constantly falling asleep!

At 8 weeks I want smoothies and soup. still tired but not as tired as the previous week. My stomach is flat at the beginning of the day but pretty large by the end of the day.

at 9 weeks-I gag at the thought of soup. food aversions like whoa. I can't bare plan ahead what to eat because it's a last minute decision everytime. The bloat is unreal and at the end of a day at work I feel like I look much more pregnant than I am. I also really noticed myself having a hard time breathing. I noticed it right before our trip to Colorado but at weeks 8 and 9 of pregnancy, I really found myself having to intentionally take a big deep breath every few minutes. My labs at the doctors office looked okay, and my oxygen saturation was good. who knows.

at 10 weeks we heard baby's hear beat (170) and had our first ultrasound. Cutest little profile and wiggly arms there ever were!

by 11 weeks, the bloat is still annoying but i'm starting to feel little better. I have certain food aversions that change day to day but I can eat for the most part. I still dislike coffee most of the time. I started getting very worried about baby during this week and had a dream that worried me.

at 12 weeks, I felt better about everything and heard baby's heart rate so I felt good about it all! Still have food aversions but mostly able to eat

looking forward to the joys of another pregnancy! and getting to experience stretchy pants and stretchy shirts through the holidays ;)