Bump Update!

I’ll be honest, I always found it odd when my fellow mommy bloggers would share their trimester updates on their respective blogs. I always thought, “who would care about how my pregnancy was going?” But then I became a mom and joined a mom squad at Fit4Mom, and I began to realize that many MOMS care. That's all we talk about as we power walk around the track during class. I began to learn each pregnancy is different and there is so much to learn from one mom to the next. Whether you are on your first baby or your third, it's always good to have a different perspective and learn from other mamas. In the spirit of learning from one another, I thought I’d give a cliff notes version of my pregnancy so far since I’m approaching my third trimester!

First Trimester:

If you missed it, so did I! As some of you may know, baby Ava was not planned. Jay and I had discussed maybe having another child but, never could make up our minds, so God did instead. As Jay and I tried to figure out when this could have happened we thought for sure this baby was 4, maybe 5 weeks along. When I went to my doctor at what we thought was the 6 week mark she informed us we were actually at the 12 week mark! And there it went, the first trimester, as if it never happened. I guess it’s safe to say I didn’t have a lot of the same pregnancy symptoms I had with JR. I remember being tired all the time and always hungry, but I was in the middle of opening a new Old Navy store and I just thought I was overworked from the early mornings, long days, and even longer drives. With JR I remember being so tired, to the point that I got chills because I was so exhausted. I also felt hungover everyday. You know that feeling, you're tired but you can function, you're hungry but you're not, it was the worst. With Ava, towards the end of the first trimester I got waves of nausea that would come out of nowhere but nothing as bad as when I was pregnant with JR. 

As for any cravings or aversions, with JR I had cravings for lemon cake and aversions to pork and coffee. With Ava I craved chicken salad through my second trimester and I’ve been more on a salty kick opting for chips and pretzels instead of sweets. I wouldn’t say I have an aversion, it's more like when I see sweets I’m like “eh,” where with a bag of chips I can finish it in one sitting if I’m not careful. I also still have an aversion to coffee. I don’t know what it is about my kids and caffeine!!  

Second Trimester:

That’s when I started showing. People always say with your second one you get bigger and you start showing sooner. I don’t know if it was because I was actually actively working out before this pregnancy, but that bump didn’t show for awhile! Also in my second trimester Jay and I had our first scare. Looking back, JR was an easy, normal pregnancy. So when I woke up one morning to a lot of blood you can imagine how my heart rate increased and tears started streaming down my face. I’ve never experienced a misscarriage but, I know of women who have and at that moment of “what if '' you have all these feelings come over you. The worst reality is actually having to essentially give birth to that baby that has passed. I think that terrified me the most. Thank goodness it was just a scare and nothing more. I still felt guilty, guilty that I did something wrong or pushed myself too hard at my work out the day before. My mom, bless her heart, reminded me it wasn’t my fault and promptly got in the car and drove over to sit with me until I heard from my doctor. It’s then you really realize you will be a mama bear, there for your kids for the rest of your life. It doesn’t matter if they are 2 or 32. 

It turns out there are outer membranes that surround the baby and the placenta and they attach to your womb and on my right side some of those membranes got detached. If I wasn’t careful it could potentially lead to early delivery. I was ordered to take it easy for two months. No heavy lifting or working out. The separation never grew and I didn’t have anymore bleeding. I still need to take it easy but I can go back to my work out, but it has to be very low impact. 

How Is JR?

Everyone inquires if JR knows mommy is having a baby. I don’t think he quite understands yet and when I point to my stomach and say “Ava” he looks at me confused and says “Mama.” I guess we'll just have to wait till she’s here for it to really sink in for JR. I’m just glad he will have a sibling. I grew up the second out of five and I always say it sucked growing up with five kids, but now that we are all old enough to drink, it’s the best! I’m glad he will have a forever buddy in life, she may be a diva obsessed with fashion and he may be an annoying jokester who loves sports but they will always have each other no matter what! 

I’ll be sure to keep you updated as I journey into my third trimester and of course my pregnancy. I hope to all my mamas out there this helps you feel not alone and allows you the space to maybe talk about some of your pregnancy highs and lows. I love hearing from you guys, especially my mama’s, so feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions or concerns during your pregnancy because remember, there is strength in motherhood and we need to stick together and learn from one another in order to help our little ones grow!

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