22 Weeks

I had my 22 week appointment today. 22 weeks!! There are more weeks of my pregnancy completed than remaining. Big brother LD came along for moral support, and because he's never had a babysitter what else can I do with him? He was great and kept himself pretty entertained the entire time. My OB just loves him. Every time she sees him she gushes over how he's just the perfect mix of DH and I. Honestly he's much, much cuter than either of us. And I hope CJ is as well. My blood pressure was great. I gained 4 pounds since last visit, so about 13 for the pregnancy so far. My OB thinks I'm on track to gain about the same as I did with LD, about 32 pounds. I'm interested to see if I lose it as quickly as last time now that I'll be 2 years older. I'm just thankful it wasn't more because I've been eating nothing but junk this pregnancy. I'm working to correct that though. CJ is a total mover and shaker who reminds me frequently that he's in there. The 20 week anatomy scan results came back perfect. He measured a little bit ahead, about 2 days. Next visit will be the glucose test. Last time I was borderline, but I'm hoping not to be so close this time. I hope to pass with flying colors. I'm still enjoying my extra energy and hope it at least lasts through our vacation in a few weeks.

Hooray for Halfway

Today is 20 weeks. I can't believe this pregnancy is halfway over. Lots of people say they feel like their pregnancies fly by, but for me they go slowly. Probably because I spend so much time worrying. I had my anatomy scan this morning. Little man is just as active as his big brother and had to be forced to move a few times when he chose not to cooperate. He weighs in at 12 ounces right now. To my untrained eye things looked really good. I get the official results in a few weeks.

The second trimester brought my energy back when it arrived. I was starting to wonder if the fatigue was all in my head and I was making myself feel worse than I truly did, but no that wasn't the case. I was exhausted. Constantly. And useless. Now I've been able to actually accomplish things again and I'm feeling really great. CJ is active much of the day so I have his reassuring taps, punches, and kicks easing my mind. I still can't believe this is happening. It is still surreal. I'm sure it will continue to be surreal until they lay his squirmy body on my chest when he's born. Only 5 months until we meet our new little man. Yipee!!

So In Love

I must admit that as an only child I harbored some serious doubts as to the ability of someone to love their children equally. It's human nature to have favorites isn't it? I mean my only real comparison is my cats. I have two of them. Come over to my house for a few hours and you will clearly know who my favorite is. I love them both, but one does seriously constantly annoy me and the other can do no wrong. So this was my framework for what people with more than one kid must go through. My brother-in-law also tells me often how my husband was clearly the favorite. I was worried about how I could ever love anyone as much as I love LD. He is seriously the light of my life. This week I went back for a follow-up because my calf pain returned and again they wanted to be sure there weren't any visible clots. The tech doing the u/s called herself old school and said she'd been scanning since before I was born, she seemed too young but who am I to argue? She said she was taught to always document a baby when doing any sort of scan. Again who am I to argue? So I got a preview of my level II ultrasound next Monday. And seeing my son in there sucking his thumb and moving around made me realize it is possible to love two people the exact same amount simultaneously. I am totally in love with CJ as much as I am with LD. CJ is quite active and feeling him move and seeing it, both on screen and when watching my belly, fills me with so much joy. As much as hearing LD giggle or watching him dance around the living room. I told myself that if I was ever lucky enough to be pregnant again I'd embrace it. I'd relish it and not let the fear dominate. So here I am 1 week from the halfway point realizing I've let the first half slip away dominated by fear. I'm certainly still scared, but now it's time to embrace this miracle. Time to allow myself to marvel at what is happening and feel the joy I'm being blessed with. And everyday the love I have for both of my sons intensifies to a level I never imagined the heart had room for, but it does...equally.

18 Weeks Summer Storm and It's A...

Whew this last week has been crazy. We live in the Mid-Atlantic so we got a crazy storm last Friday night that left us without power during the most insane heatwave we've seen this year. Apparently the violent windstorm we had is called a derecho, in case you're one for expanding your vocabulary with new words you hopefully never experience the meaning of first hand. We were very lucky not to have one of our beautiful backyard trees fall on our house but we did live without power for about 35 hours, and unfortunately some in our area still remain without power. The temperatures here, as they seem to be everywhere, are unbelievably hot. The heat index has been about 105 degrees most days. Our upstairs temperature topped out at a balmy 86, but the basement thankfully never climbed above 75. We slept there and left the house to find food and sweet air conditioned relief. When I was pregnant with LD we had what the locals still refer to as Snowmageddon that shut down our area for days. So it is only fitting with CJs pregnancy that we get a memorable storm as well.

I had my 18 week appointment yesterday and all is looking well. My OB said she feels much better about having me on Lovenox when she feels like there is a need for it due to potential blood clots in my leg. Of course I would rather have been on it from the start and avoided the potential clots but I'm thankful to be on it now. I've gained about 9 pounds. Surprising to me since I finish each day with a healthy helping of dessert. I expected a bigger gain. My husband had been asking for a few weeks if I'd be getting an ultrasound at this appointment. At my last appointment we just did the doppler and my anatomy scan is the 16th so I figured we wouldn't have a scan. The man who didn't want to find out LDs gender suddenly had a real need to know about this baby. He even told me to ask for an ultrasound or pretend I was really worried so she'd do one. We both laughed at that because I was such a mess with LDs pregnancy the staff knows me by name and expects me to have a million worried questions. But Baby has been super active so I knew all was well. Turns out I didn't have to ask my doc just said let's take a look so we did. Where LD was loud and proud about showing his package this babe was much more reserved. After 20 minutes of trying to get a clear shot we finally got enough of a glimpse to be 99.9% sure. It's no real surprise to us and I kind of always felt it in my Mothers instinct we are having a boy!! My husband's family produces like 1 girl for every million boys...no joke. We are pretty sure we have now settled on a name, first at least. Middle is still not for sure but I know what initials I want so that means a J middle name. So CJ it is. Although I bought a few cute girl things here and there the last few weeks there was no disappointment when it was revealed that CJ is a boy. I am excited to watch LD grow up with a little brother and I think I'm a pretty good boy Mama so I'm glad to remain the only queen of this castle.  My OB said we'd have to try again for #3 so we'd maybe get a girl, I told her my hubby already has the big V planned out. We are done with two. Our perfect set of boys. I'm so very excited!!