Something's in the water

I've had TWO friends confide pregnancies in me this week. Two. Must be something in the water?? It's very exciting to have these ladies so we can endure our pregnancies together. When I was pregnant with Kate, I had a friend from our previous church that was pregnant. Our due dates were a day shy of eight weeks apart. It was great to have her to call and ask questions and to talk to about the stupid things you obsess over when you're pregnant. There are things that we talked about that I would never discuss with someone else. Our shared pregnancies created a special bond. Though, after seeing the size of her newborn, I was admittedly a little more nervous about delivering mine. Really? Something that big is going to be making it's way out of me? Eek! It was nice to know that what I was experiencing was normal, because she was going through the same things.

I'm so excited to have this again with two friends. I'll be eleven weeks Monday, one friend will be 7 weeks on Sunday and the other is just about four weeks pregnant. We'll all be hitting our milestones within just a few weeks of each other. In my previous pregnancy, my friend was overdue before she gave birth and I was induced 3 weeks early. Our babies have only a five week age difference. It's a very exciting time! I just keep waiting to hear another pregnancy announcement!

How I'm feeling...I super excited! I'm excited to have friends in my boat again. I'm excited that my next appointment is just a little over a week away. The anticipation is growing! I don't feel like my belly is growing too much. My pants are still tight, but not any different than they were in the beginning. Maybe the bloat is ending and the baby bump is starting protrude. It won't be long!

Twelve more days...

The anticipation of finally getting to hear our baby's heartbeat is killing me. I don't feel pregnant most of the time. Sure I have some minor things, but I've never had morning sickness. Isn't that like the grand sign of pregnancy? I'm not saying I want any, but I would like some more confirmation that our little one is growing strong. Twelve days until the next doctor's appointment. It's kind of exciting, though that we'll be going for our big ultrasound in 6-8 weeks. It's unbelievable!! I can't believe I'm eleven weeks already. We've known for almost two full months already. Where does the time go? I'm sure it'll slow down very quickly, but right now we're on warp speed.

I'm still at this impasse between regular clothes and maternity clothes. My pants are tight. Tighter at sometimes than others. My t-shirts for sure are tighter. Maternity pants, however, fall down. Maternity shirts are baggy. I forgot about the in-between phase. I've been scouting the stores for good maternity deals, but so far I haven't bought anything new. It won't be long and I'll definitely need new jeans. My previous maternity jeans are so not cute. They were okay last time, I thought, but they don't look right with any of my shoes. I'll probably pick up a pair or two to get me to spring and then I have several cute pairs of capris and shorts. The belly band is always helpful, though. It's the only way my dress pants come close to fitting.

It was a baby kind of weekend for my friends. My friend who was on hospital bedrest with twins had her babies early Saturday morning. The twins were born a 32 weeks, plus a few days. They seem to be doing well. In the pictures, only one of them was on oxygen which is phenomenal! They must be strong little boys! Another friend had his baby Friday afternoon, also a boy. And there are so many ladies pregnant that I know right now. It's crazy how they seem to come in waves. I'm excited, though!

How I'm feeling...I'm feeling good. The exhaustion is still there and I'm not sleeping well at night, but that's about it. I'm starting to get a little more excited and it's feeling more real. I just can't wait to hear and see our little one finally!!

The things you forget about...

I feel like I haven't slept in weeks. We went through a week where Kate didn't sleep well at night, followed by me deciding that I just can't get comfortable anymore. I struggled with restless leg syndrome while I was pregnant with Kate, and it has apparently returned. Kraig decided I'm too difficult to sleep with, so he's spent the last week or so on the couch. The extra space is nice, but it's not improving my sleep at all. I'm having crazy, vivid dreams which never make for good sleep. I'm usually getting up to pee once a night and then I have a terrible time falling back to sleep. How did I forget about this?! I remember the dreams last time, but I don't remember having sleep issues because of comfort until much later on in my first pregnancy. Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. I do wish I had kept a better record of those things, though. Who knows?

Regardless, that's the worst of my symptoms right now, and I feel truly blessed. I can't imagine what it's like to go through morning sickness (or all-day sickness). I'm also blessed that Kate still takes two naps most days, so I can usually snag at least an hour of nap a day. It's a big help.

I'm supposed to be posting about maternity clothes this time around, but I wasn't really feeling it today. Maybe next time!! Though, I do have a fantastic kid product to rave about. Before Christmas, Kate had suddenly decided that she did not want or need to take baths anymore. Bath time became a huge challenge just to keep her in the tub, let alone get her clean. It was something we dreaded. Then came Christmas. Kate got this fantastic tub toy, and it's like a switch flipped.


It's a motorized faucet toy that suction cups to the side of the tub. Water runs out and through a variety of different cups that filter out water in different ways. When water runs out of the green one, the propeller spins. She loves it! Now we can't get her out of the tub. She wants to take baths all the time. She wants to stay in and play until she's well beyond pruny. It's amazing.
I know it's not made for infants, but it's such a cool thing that I wanted to share. I wish we'd had one sooner.

How I'm feeling...I think we've established that I'm tired. That's pretty much it.

Next time? I'm not making any promises!

Why cloth diapers??

As a minister's wife, I am very blessed to be able to stay home with my children. For now, at least, we are financially able to live this way. We pay our bills and we enjoy a few little extras, but nothing fancy. We have one car and clearance rack clothes. And we're fine with that. The ultimate plan is to eventually go back to work once the kids are in school. Regardless, every little penny counts. I don't coupon shop as much as I used to because I've found that shopping at Aldi is the better option for us. Sure, I still have to pick a few things up at another store, but it saves us in the long run. I can't tell you the last time I paid full price for anything other than diapers. I use a cheaper brand of diapers, but it still adds up significantly. What's the cheaper alternative? Cloth diapering.

I considered CDs when I was pregnant with Kate, but I didn't look too far. We got so many diapers at showers and on sale before she was born, that she was five months old before we had to buy more. Thirteen months later, I feel like that was the lazy choice. How much money have we wasted on diapers that we could have been putting towards Kate's college fund? I'd hate to do the math!

Being pregnant with our second child, I've been doing tons of research on cloth diapering. It's not what it used to be, that's for sure! I was a cloth diapered baby, and I always thought my mom was crazy for spending her time washing poopy diapers when she could just buy disposables and, well, dispose of them. Fortunately, I have several college friends who cloth diaper, and they've made me realize that it's really not that bad. In fact, they love it! One of them even started making her own cloth diapers, which has now turned into a business that she's able to run out of her home. I can't wait to try out some of her designs. You can check out her website and blog here. There is a multitude of information on her site about the types of diapers out there, cleaning methods and other tricks and tips.

For me, I'm hoping to try a few different types, but I'm guessing when we're at home I'll use prefolds with covers. Every once in a while you'll find diapers for sale on craigslist and there are tons listed on eBay, so I'm hoping we can slowly buy up what we need before the baby comes. Right now, I'm waiting until we can find out the gender so I can purchase gender-appropriate covers. I can't wait! We'll still probably use disposables at church and with babysitters, but the savings will add up--not to mention the lack of diapers in the landfill!

And for some reason, I find it all very exciting!

How I'm feeling today...exhausted! Kraig decided to move out of our bed for the time being because my tossing and turning is keeping him up at night. I had no idea I was tossing and turning, but it could explain why I don't feel like I've slept well in a while. Having the bed to myself didn't make me sleep any better, unfortunately. I've been able to sneak a nap most days, though, and that helps tremendously!

What's next? A tip on finding great maternity clothes!

The word is out...

We announced to our teens on Sunday that we're pregnant (my husband is a youth minister). Then we came home and put it on facebook. Everything is official once it's on facebook, of course! It's nice to finally have the news out. By the time we announced it, we'd already known for five weeks. We waited til 12 weeks the last time around, but we didn't find out quite as soon then either. It's nice to have people excited with us and it's nice to feel like I can wear the clothes that really fit me and not try to hide my every growing belly.

How I'm feeling today...I feel good! I'm tired and emotional, but that's still the worst of it. I'm so blessed to not deal with morning sickness. I'm also excited about all the changes coming. We're hoping to buy a house and move before the baby's born. I've also decided to cloth diaper and I'm excited about that. Now let's see if we can get Kate potty-trained before August!!

Next up? More on my cloth diapering decision!

So antsy!

I'm antsy. Seriously. After Sunday, the cat will be out of the bag. I'm so ready to tell. I'm starting to feel anxious about having another one and I need someone else to be excited with me. Sunday will be good!

First appointment

I had my first OB appointment last Friday, at 7 weeks 4 days. I only met with a nurse, who went over the basic pregnancy information and told me how the rest of my doctor's appointments would work. She took a more thorough medical history and did another urine pregnancy test. After sharing my previous birth experience, she acted like there was a good chance the doctor would not let me deliver vaginally (due to some tearing that had to be surgically repaired). I made sure she understood that a cesarean section would not be an option in my book until vaginal delivery had been tried. I don't care if I have to have another follow-up surgery, I want to deliver vaginally. That was upsetting. I have to get them a few of my medical records from the other hospital, and hopefully they'll change their mind. Otherwise, I'll be finding a new doctor. Not ideal. I was also given lab orders for a 24-hour urine test, a glucose test, and numerous blood tests. I went to get the kit for the urine test yesterday and I'll do the blood work on Wednesday. Hopefully, all of that will come back good and we'll just get to wait until the next appointment, which is February 7th.

How I'm feeling....I'm feeling very anxious about the possibility of not "being allowed" to deliver vaginally. If my previous doctor thought that, I should have been informed. It would have heavily weighed on our decision to have another baby. I'm also hungry all the time. This isn't anything particularly new for me, but if I don't eat I feel sick. Strong smells are also starting to make me nauseated. I only experienced this once with Kate's pregnancy, so hopefully it won't last long!