Boy, have I got a lot to fill you in on. Since this is the first update, I’d like to recap my first trimester. It’s been a doozy. As much as I’d hoped for a symptom free pregnancy, I didn’t get it. However, I know this isn’t forever and that I’ll get through it just like my first pregnancy that took me for a wild ride.

So many things are different from my first time around though. I have a five year old to think of and we’re in the middle of a global quarantine. It’ll be interesting to look back on these blog posts and remember there was a time when we were under stay at home orders and had to wear a face mask when entering a grocery store. Who knew so many crazy things were going to happen this year? Not me.

I think the biggest blessing about it all is how this pandemic hasn’t really changed my life in a drastic way. Many people are scrambling trying to figure out how to work from home, how to juggle being a stay at home parent for the first time, figure out homeschooling their children, whether or not they should close down their business, and dealing with their first time losing their job and filing for unemployment. I’m one of the few people who can say I’ve been shielded from what could be a traumatic experience for many. I don’t take that for granted, and I try to keep that in mind so that I stay positive and remember to be prayerful instead of fearful.

Me and my husband both already work from home, we homeschool our daughter, and the fact that everything in the world is on pause forces me to take my time resting as I feel so exhausted and sick to my stomach day after day. This will be the last week of my first trimester and about half of my past few months being pregnant have been spent having to lay down in bed. Other than how I feel, not much of our life has changed, and I feel really blessed.

I look forward to things getting back to a sense of “normal” because I know many people desperately need that right now, but I also pray that as we come out of this time we will rethink what the norm should be so that society, businesses, and government will begin to put people over profit.

That being said, let’s go over how things have been with baby #2. I took some notes on my phone so that I’ll be able to remember more details.

Just like my first pregnancy, at six weeks on the dot I got the intense nausea that lasts all day and gives food aversions to the most random things. For about a month, some things that would help me keep my food down were lemon water, sweet tea, and ice. As far as my body, I was definitely bloated (which is normal), but didn’t start showing yet. Something else that is similar to my first pregnancy is my skin. I’ve been dealing with increased acne ever since I entered into my 30’s, so I’ve depended on certain skincare products to keep that at bay. I didn’t have the energy to keep up with that, but my skin has been clearing up and staying mostly pimple free since my symptoms came in full effect. I guess that’s a gift from all the hormones. I know many pregnant women have the opposite side effect though.

During the hardest parts of fatigue and vomiting, my husband has been doing everything. Working from home, homeschooling our daughter, running errands, preparing meals, giving me massages, etc. Because I’ve been a loaf of bread laying around, my daughter has stuck to my husband like glue. If he leaves the room to do anything, she’ll run after him like his shadow. She’s also been really sweet about letting me know how bad she feels that I’m feeling sick.

At ten weeks, I started to feel baby kick for the first time. Because this is my second pregnancy, I know what it feels like so that was very exciting. Feeling the baby move is probably my favorite thing about being pregnant. Also, around 10 weeks we told family and close friends that didn’t already know the news about baby #2. I’m not sure how or when we’re going to announce on social media yet, but I’m not in a rush at all.

At 11 weeks, I definitely noticed my appetite jump. I’m not sure if that’s the timing for a growth spurt for the baby, but I almost couldn’t stop eating. The only time I didn’t feel nauseous is literally when I had food in my mouth. If I wasn’t eating, having ice water or peppermint gum was helpful to keep that sick feeling away.

At 12 weeks, I still feel really hungry but I have to pace myself because if something tastes good I just want to chow down. The first “bumpdate” photo I took (included in this post) was when I hit 12 weeks yesterday. I don’t think I started taking progress photos until 16 weeks during my last pregnancy since that was when I started showing, so this is a little early. Baby is the size of a lime or kiwi, they say. I can definitely feel my uterus getting bigger and pushing my stomach out a little bit.

I remember last time around, there are some stats I would share. I’m not sure how often I’ll be doing updates here on my blog because I kinda did a terrible job keeping up with it last time. But here’s the stats for now:

Age and size of baby:

12 weeks old, 2 inches long, 0.5 oz in weight.

Cravings:

Spicy foods are sooo good. I also like french fries, burgers, chicken nuggets, chicken sandwiches. Some seafood if it’s seasoned well. I like fruit, but not if it’s really acidic. Things like oranges or pineapple are a no go. Right now I’m eating watermelon and strawberries. The other day I had an acai bowl and it seemed to sit well. I think the hardest part is there are so few things that do sit well that I have no idea what to eat besides the same few things every day. I have the weirdest aversion to dairy and sugary things right now. Both of those will give me mucus in the back of my throat or a bad taste in my mouth that makes me throw up. I know neither thing is actually that good for you, but I can’t tell you how much I want to be able to have ice cream right now.

Morning sickness:

I feel like a winner when I don’t throw up at all in a day. For a few weeks, I think I was throwing up at least once a day and it was exhausting and gross. I did throw up a few days ago, and my nausea seems to get worse as the day goes on. I always dread brushing my teeth at night because it makes me gag and sometimes throw up.

Stretch marks:

Nothing new. I didn’t get many stretch marks during my last pregnancy, so I don’t expect anything crazy this time around either.

Crazy hormones:

I’m not as emotional as I was my last pregnancy, and I think it’s because I was so overwhelmed by pregnancy being such a new and intense thing last time around. I have been sad on days when I feel really sick and nauseous because I feel trapped in my body. I just keep remembering that it’s only for a short time.

Sleeping habits:

Sleep has been pretty good, but I think it’s common to have very vivid dreams during pregnancy. When it’s a bad or stressful dream, I find myself tossing and turning a lot. I don’t have a ton of body pain, but my back generally always feels sore. I keep a pillow between my legs for support sometimes, but I don’t always need it. Having to pee a few times in the middle of the night is the norm right now.

So, that’s that for now.  Be blessed and take time to make your dreams into your reality.

-Kytia L’amour