25 week update

-How far along?: 25+ weeks

-Weight gain: I am officially to the "I think I'm going to cry if they make me step on that scale again" point in this pregnancy. Haha! I am now at 123 lbs... Putting me at a weight gain of 17 pounds. (Maybe I should lay off the sugar..)

-Sleep?: Hit and miss. Most nights have become rough because of severe pelvic pain.

-Best moment(s)?: I have been soaking up the time I have with my boys before this sweet girl comes. I don't want to take this time for granted! Dont get me wrong, I am SO thrilled to meet her, but I also am loving the time I have with Jason and Ollie before she is here too! It hit me hard at my appointment yesterday when the doctor said I would schedule one more 4 week appointment then will start coming in every 2 weeks. Say what!? It is so exciting! I have really been enjoying this pregnancy (for the most part) and feel so grateful! 

-Hardest moment(s)?: Ollie jumped on my stomach yesterday while I was falling asleep and I couldn't feel baby girl move for several hours, which was really stressful. Luckily my doctors appointment was later that day and everything was fine! After that she decided to start moving a ton like she normally does. Also, MASSIVE PELVIC PAIN! Holy moly.. It has been so bad that I sometimes literally cannot get out of bed. I just want to swim ALL THE TIME to help relieve it. Good excuse to hit up the pool all summer right? (Not like I need one!)

-Name?: Before we knew Ollie was a boy we felt strongly about the name "Oliver". It just felt right! When we confirmed he was a little guy we felt quite sure we wouldn't change our minds about his name. Sure enough we did not! This time around, just like with Oliver, we have felt very strongly about a name for quite some time. "Audrey Ann Cooper". We are totally open to changing it if she comes and we feel differently but as of now we are pretty set on little "Audrey".

-Food cravings?: I still have quite the sweet tooth! I also realized I have wanted pizza throughout the whole pregnancy! I have likely ordered/eaten more pizza in the last 6 months than I normally do in a 3 year span! Haha!

-Food aversions?: Nope. 

-Gender?: Still girl!

-Belly button in or out?: Starting to poke out! 

-What I miss?: Working out and moving around comfortably without the pelvic pain.

-What I'm looking forward to?: Enjoying the summer with my boys! We have Ollie's 2nd birthday coming up, holidays, and so many fun plans! Not to mention all the prepping we get to do for baby girl. That's a given! And last, but clearly not least, I am so excited to meet our sweet girl and enjoy the hospital experience again!

My Garden

Each summer that we have lived in our current apartment (this will be the second) I get the urge to garden. We have a decent sized section of dirt in front that fills with weeds and it is quite the eye sore. I can't help but feel a need to make it look better. Last year was my first time trying, and I was not very successful, but it still made me feel good trying! I was determined to try again this year when I received garden flowers for Mother's Day from my parents and grandpa. My dad brought by some materials to help and today Jason and I got to work.

While we tilled the soil I stopped, looked at Jas, and said "Who would have thought I would end up choosing to work in a garden for fun!?" We went on to discuss how in my childhood I hated working outdoors...and indoors...any kind of work really. I had my interests and I wanted to spend all my time on those.

The conversation got a little further and I talked about how on Mother's Day I noticed several women sharing how they always knew they wanted to be a mom. That when they were little and were asked what they wanted to be when they grew up they would say "A mom!" Not me. I had this vision that I would become famous, whether on Broadway or the big screen, it didn't matter, either would do. I wanted to become famous, live an "easy life", date some hot guy, probably get married, and spend my time having fun. MAYBE have one child.. if it fit in to my life. HA!

Isn't it funny how time and experience can change so much? I never really pictured being a stay at home mom, or a mom in general. I never (in my wildest dreams!!) pictured enjoying house work and yard work. I never imagined that the most important things to me would become my home and my family. But it happened and I am so grateful it did!

Carrie Underwood's song "What I Never Knew I Always Wanted" pretty much sums up how I feel. "Life has a way of showing you just what you need and who you were made to be". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wurcrS4b5w

My life has not turned out how I thought it would. It is so much better.

Maybe it's those years of my parents trying to teach me the value of hard work finally blossoming. Maybe someone brainwashed me. Who knows! I don't care, because I am loving it. I have never felt so secure, so consistently happy, so "myself" as I do now where I am at in life.

This is my life. To some it may not look like much, it may even appear to be ugly. To me it is my precious little garden. It is a work in progress. We have not yet planted all of our flowers, and the ones we have are small and have yet to grow to their potential. We have not yet finished building a small deck to sit on during the summer nights. But eventually it will all come together (or it may even fall apart!). The point is that in the end a lot of hard work, love, care, and help from others will have gone in to this garden.

I am grateful for all I have, all I have become, and all that is ahead of me.

22 Week Update/ It's a GIRL!!

I am not going to go in to too much detail, some of it feels spiritual to me and is quite hard to explain in words on a blog, but I will say that Jason and I just knew we were having a girl. From dreams, promptings, differences in pregnancies, all the way down to Ollie (out of nowhere and on several occasions) blurting out "baby sister!" There were a lot of signs pointing to this little one being a girl. I love thinking on all of this, looking at entries in my journal claiming to know it was a girl, and then having it all confirmed!

We are so incredibly happy! 

UPDATE:

-How far along?: My original due date was set as the 10th of September, then at my first 3 ultrasounds they said they were changing it to the 13th (not a big difference) but then the last two appointments they've said I'm measuring on track for "my due date on the 10th". So..I'm somewhere in the 22 week range! 

-Total weight gain/loss?: Ready for this? NINE POUNDS GAINED!! I am now at 115. I've eaten much worse this pregnancy but I've also been doing a lot more cardio than I did with Oliver..so I'm hoping that will balance things a little and I'll be able to stay in a healthy range for weight gain.

-Maternity clothes?: I've been wearing more of my medium-large sized shirts but still haven't actually purchased maternity. I need to! 

-Sleep?: Pretty good still!

-Best moment?: FINDING OUT THE GENDER!! (Video and pictures below) 

-Hardest moment?: Leaving the ultrasound..I just wanted to watch our baby all day. 

-Symptoms?: Soreness

-Food cravings?: Sweet treats! I also find I'm in the mood to snack on something crunchy and salty a little more lately.

-Food aversions?: None. But I do regret that KFC trip we made a week ago.. 

-Gender?: GIRL!!!

-Belly button in or out?: Half in, half flat haha.

-What I miss?: Seeing my sweet baby at the anatomy scan. It was so fun! We had an amazing ultrasound technician who was so sweet, even when I started to feel faint halfway through and had to keep adjusting my position.

-What I'm looking forward to?: Enjoying all the times we get with Ollie as an only child. He is seriously the best. 

And obviously, holding my darling baby girl. 

And room service at the hospital! Haha! 

Reveal Video:

20 Week Update

-How far along?: 20 weeks. 

-Total weight gain/loss?: 4 pounds gained.

-Maternity clothes?: Nope, but I am about to go buy some! With Ollie I pretty much made due with clothes I had/hand me downs. I literally bought one maternity shirt, but it worked! This time around I am definitely going to need to buy some larger clothes since I've cleaned out my closet and now only have pre-pregnancy sized clothing.

-Sleep?: Not too bad the last few weeks. 

-Best moment?: I have felt really great in my body this pregnancy (so far). I am in that "cute" and "blissful" stage and loving it! My energy is up, my mood is great (as long as I'm fed that is), and I'm comfortable enough to not complain but uncomfortable enough to feel pregnant (in a good way). I'm sure it's the calm before the storm. ;)   

-Hardest moment?: I have been getting used to Jason working graveyard shifts at the hospital and actually am beginning to prefer them over day shifts. HOWEVER, there are times here and there that I do get a little scared. Last night I got things cleaned up and Ollie down to bed so I decided to hop in the shower. I heard sounds and ignored it at first (we have adjoining neighbors so I assumed I was hearing something through the walls). Suddenly it sounded like someone was running up our stairs and my heart stopped. My mind becomes a little overactive in the later hours and I started picturing the worst..someone ripping the curtain open and stabbing my stomach, or kidnapping Oliver and I and selling us to human traffickers, etc. I rushed to finish so I could get out and check on Ollie. I looked around and no longer heard any sounds or detected any sign of intrusion, and found the sweetest little boy sleeping peacefully in his crib. 

I think it makes me more nervous (when I hear noises while home alone) now that I'm pregnant. I feel more defenseless. Like I wouldn't be able to fight back as hard without harming my sweet baby. Yikes!

-Symptoms?: Slight fatigue. Increase in appetite. I'm not able to eat a ton in one sitting usually, but I find I become hungry much more frequently.

-Food cravings?: SWEETS. I don't want them 24/7 but I crave desserts at least once a day.

-Food aversions?: None. 

-Gender?: All will be revealed on Mother's Day!

-Belly button in or out?: In.

-What I miss?: Nothing really. Although, I have felt a slight twinge of sadness as May approaches simply because that is when I was expected to have my last baby. So, I guess in a way I miss my last pregnancy? But I also don't..because I now have this sweet little baby to keep me company through this time. 

-What I'm looking forward to?: Room service at the hospital.. is that weird? I usually hear people complain about hospital food but I just LOVED being served food after having Ollie! 

-Milestones?: I felt the baby for the first time during my 17th week. Jason felt the baby kick during the 18th week. It was so cool! He reached over to feel my tummy and I said "You probably won't feel anything"... 5 seconds later baby decided to show mama who's boss and kicked twice quite hard!  

-Bump: Here are pictures of my progression (both bump and style wise..haha!)

20 weeks 

 17 weeks

 15 weeks

 13 weeks