showing already

One of the strangest parts of back-to-back pregnancies is how quickly you start "showing" the second time. With Lily I sailed through my first trimester with no one having a clue I was pregnant - except my fatigue and sickness. I didn't start to show until around 14 weeks. With baby #2 it's almost immediate. 

{5 weeks pregnant}

When Lily was 5 months old I started a pretty hard core (for me) ab routine. It was about 5 different types of sit-ups, repeated with five less reps each time. So, 25 of each of the 5 sit-ups, then 20, 15, 10, 5. I borrowed from pilates and was literally shaking come the 15 mark... but it was great. Invigorating, and I was seeing results. Then I got pregnant. And within 4 weeks, the results had vanished. I continued the routine, but it did nothing. Sure, inner core strength is still great to have when your body is changing through pregnancy, but visibly, my abs were long gone. And the baby bump had returned!

I remember with Lily, all I wanted was to "show". I was so desperate for validation that what I was experiencing was for a purpose. And that purpose could do the talking for me once I had a baby bump.... I wouldn't have to explain to everyone who thought I was slacking that I was pregnant. This time couldn't be more different! My body was just getting back to normal, I was just starting to comfortably fit into old jeans... Plus with a baby already, I don't feel the need to explain my fatigue or why I need to cancel plans sometimes - people just assume it's Lily!! 

Anyway, in all, I'm fine with showing already. I do wish I had a little while longer to look and feel normal after pregnancy #1, but the bump is a reminder than this is for real - and some days you need that. Sometimes, especially early on, you can forget that all this is not for naught - it's for LIFE. For a little baby. For an addition to your family. For a sibling for Lily. For another child for Brad and I. 

Sickness, fatigue, food aversions, can all just seem frustrating before you're "showing" because it's easy to loose perspective. And with this baby bump, whether it came at the time I wanted it or not, I'm able to keep perspective and get excited about what's to come.

all I wanna do...

moms of babies don't get sick days. 

moms of babies don't get snooze buttons.

moms of babies don't sleep in.

moms of babies that are having other babies are very sleepy.

I'm going through a season. A season has an end (it's not a lifetime), but it is usually a good chunk of time. My season is having babies. Babies are work and definitely make their mamas tired. But pregnancy... that's a whole other thing. When I was pregnant with Lily I slept a LOT. I would race home from work and be in bed by 8pm. Sleep 12 hours. Then on weekends it was more like 14. That was beautiful. I didn't see it at the time, but it was a luxury that will get less and less likely with every passing baby. But you know, I'm doing better on this amount of sleep than I would have been last time I was pregnant. Guess my body is learning how to do with less when it needs it the most. 

Ladies in your first pregnancy.... SLEEP to your heart's content!

Moms of more than 1 baby and 1 in the womb... you probably never sleep and think I'm getting tons. 

You're my heroes.

If I could exclusively consume...

I would.

Me, sweet tooth mayor of the world... onto flavourless, if not salty and/or spicy carbs and stuck on them for who knows how long. 

I haven't baked in a week. 

I have sticks of butter just sitting in my fridge. 

A whole carton of eggs left for eating as normal breakfast meals (imagine!).

Must be pregnant. Come trimester 2, Come.

i survived

Brad comes home late tomorrow. After a week away. And my first real week of heavy duty pregnancy symptoms. Phewf! I was fading...

I can't believe Saturday is almost here... I have the chills, I'm nauseous constantly, am exhausted, and have no help with morning feeds when all I want to do is sleep sleep sleep.

Hurry home baby.

morning sickness

Yep, it's here again. This pregnancy began a bit differently than my last one. Less fatigue and no nausea  (I didn't even know I was pregnant until I took the test, whereas a couple days after conceiving Lily I had tons of symptoms), but now it's looking a whole lot like last time. 

I woke this morning at 5:30am (after a brutal night sleep that maybe only lasted a couple hours) feeling like I should eat something or I was going to be sick... but then you play those mind games where you think "hmmmm, maybe if I just get really comfy, I'll fall asleep and the nausea will dissipate"  when really making the conscious decision that "yes, I'm going to puke. I might as well go do it right now and get it over with" is much wiser. 

Pregnancy sickness is different (for me, at least) that any other kind of flu where throwing up is involved. It's not as overt that your whole stomach is violently turning. It's more of a subtle, deep nausea, that only goes away with copious amounts of flavourless food (yum!) or vomit. Once I "decide" that I'm going for it, as soon as I have my head down in the sink or toilet, that's when the fireworks begin. 

That's the danger: there's too much control in it for me. With the flu, you just throw up. With morning sickness, I debate in my bed for half an hour, losing more sleep, and then finally begrudgingly tip toe to the kitchen sink (my throwing up locale of choice), move all the dishes I haven't washed, and then a couple of minutes later it's over. Then I wash the sink (I know, sounds like a lot of trouble, but has it occurred to anyone that people go number 2 in toilets? That grosses me out enough to not want my head there if I can help it.) and the dishes that I should have done last night, and try to fall back asleep. Sometimes possible, depending on how early I'm sick - today it was before 6am so I could since I wake up at 7am, even though Lily rises a lot earlier and the whole house knows it :)

Oh morning sickness, it feels like I was just rid of you! 

But this time around, I know what wonders await, so you're even more worth it.

prenatal yoga

I was looking online for a dvd series for prenatal yoga and fitness before I actually knew I was pregnant. I just knew it was something I wanted to try with this pregnancy, especially because with Lily I didn't exercise at all. 

Now, to be fair, I was extremely dizzy with Lily (fainting in the supermarket doesn't lend itself well to high hopes for pregnant exercising!) so that was part of it, and worried about hurting myself or the baby. 

But this time I'm feeling much better. A bit more energy during the sleepy first trimester than I had with Lily is just enough to motivate me! So a friend recommended www.fitmommagazine.com  and there I saw links to buy prenatal yoga dvds. Yoga is excellent for circulation (which you're totally robbed of during pregnancy!), building core muscles, targeting specific muscles for strength building (such as the pelvic floor muscles which are so crucial for labour and delivery) and increasing flexibility that make pregnancy more comfortable and delivery smoother. Aside from the religious connotations, I'm 100% on board with yoga, but I firmly believe that as a Christian I can benefit from and use things like yoga (that are strongly Hindu and Buddhist in origin, though today only in some practices) with a clear conscience and spirit.

So yoga it is. I started yesterday and so far it's great. I love the specific instruction to pregnant women. There are three women practicing yoga, one in her first trimester, one in her second, and one in her third, so as your pregnancy progresses you just follow a different woman. Surprisingly I'm a little sore this morning! Though it seems like a very relaxing exercise, it's really working those muscles!

The best part is, right before I was about to buy the yga dvd off the fitmom website, I did a quick craigslist search and found a woman selling both the prenatal yoga dvd and prenatal fitness dvd for $2 each! Oh how I love a good deal :)

Check out the video I'm using that I found on youtube if you like:

crazy.

2 kids babies in 15 months is pretty crazy.

That is just starting to set in...

Lily will be a scant 15 months older than MM2.

Still in so many ways a baby herself. 

But an older sister nonetheless.

So excited.

So in love already.

So crazy...

bump #2

The three of us (especially Lily) are excited to meet you! 

That's right, officially announcing my pregnancy!

We just found out (we decided to forgo the 3 month waiting period this time) and are probably around 5 weeks along, making the probable due date the first week of November. I'll be getting a dating ultrasound in the next couple weeks to be sure.

Would love your prayers, I'm one tired mama!