Pregnancy Update

This is the last pregnancy post for now, I promise! But since I'm more than halfway done with this pregnancy (?!?!), I figured I'd better do a quick/so-long-it's-a-novel pregnancy details post to get you all caught up. Okay, it's more for me than for you. Sorry! Do not worry -- this will be the only one of its kind during said pregnancy.

Baby Girl

Our baby girl is due in early July, measuring right on track, super active, and perfectly healthy! We had a bit of a scare early on, but test results came back looking good and we are extremely grateful. Matt and I love this little girl so much already! We think Jake is catching on, too, judging from the fact that he used to say "Baby" on command just fine (it was his first word, actually), but now whenever we ask him to say "Baby," he points at me and says "Mommy!" So either all those "There's a baby in Mommy's tummy" comments are making complete sense and he knows there's a baby in Mom's tummy, or they are terribly confusing the little guy and he thinks that Mommy is turning into a baby. I guess we'll find out!

In Jake's first ultrasound pictures at 13 weeks, he was lying back, relaxing with both hands behind his head. We loved that he was just chillin' and getting comfy in there. So when we peeked at Baby #2 at 11 weeks and she was in the exact same position, we couldn't help but laugh. As silly as it sounds, it'd been hard picturing loving another baby as much as we love Jake -- he's as perfect as they come in our eyes! -- so when we saw another baby just as awesome as him that early on, it was reassuring. Just as with Jake, seeing her made everything feel so real and we fell in love with her right away. Somehow, my heart will just have to be able to handle loving two little ones that much without bursting.

The doctor was able to determine that she's a girl at our 15 week appointment. We would have been equally happy with a boy (how fun would that be to have two little buddies so close in age?), but we were thrilled to find out that we'll have a little lady in our house come July. After five little brothers and my own little boy all in a row, it's probably time for some pink, eh? She's already proven to be rather expensive, though... her Daddy needs to just prepare for a few decades of handing over the wallet I suppose. Matt is going to be wrapped around her little fingers.

Our little girl at 19 weeks!

Bump Watch

Just as before, I went from thin to thick in the first 20 weeks, but there's not much to report in the "bump" area. I do have disappearing bloat that makes dressing myself fairly difficult -- one day my jeans fit, the next they don't, the very next they do again (it was terribly inconvenient when the gender reveal party fell on a "don't" day) -- but nothing that sticks. I have a feeling that my regular clothes' days are numbered, though, because I seem to be weighing and looking like I did at 24ish weeks last time, which means a bump is most certainly on the horizon. I'm excited about that! Also? I can already tell that I'm carrying this little girl higher than I carried Jake. The ultrasound techs find her higher and I feel her higher than last time around. I admit that the nerd in me is interested in this little experiment of seeing how different the two pregnancies will end up being.

At 20 weeks in Malibu.

"Morning" Sickness

I've said it before and I'll say it again: "morning" sickness is a joke, probably penned by a man who had no idea what he was talking about. It is an all-day sickness, my friends.

I wake up feeling nauseous and exhausted and it gets progressively worse throughout the day, until finally the night comes and I usually give in to the toilet. And the days when I start by throwing up and then it gets progressively worse? So rude. Toss in a toddler who needs your attention -- and who you want to give it to! -- and it gets a little rough at times. I actually think I'm fairly equally sick (maybe a bit worse?) with this little girl as I was with Jake, but it seems harder because I can't rest like I could last time. I'm not too proud to admit that this pregnancy has made a Backyardigans and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse fan out of my little guy. Sometimes, a pregnant mom just has to lie on the couch for 20 minutes to survive. I know a lot of ladies have it far worse than me, though, so bless all of your hearts! Thank goodness I've finally turned a corner, stopped throwing up, and started feeling a little better. And it's all for the greatest reason, so it's definitely worth it in the end.

Evidence.

Emotions

I am not an emotional person. I have never been an emotional person. Just ask my mother. As a child? Not emotional. As a teenager? Strong-willed, perhaps, but not emotional. Even while pregnant with Jake, I was just my regular old self. I mean, maybe I teared up at a couple commercials, but that was it. For me, if I actually cry over something, you'd better be terribly concerned because something has to be terribly wrong.

You guys. Being pregnant with a girl? I have all these feelings. And, quite frankly, I don't know what to do with them. A few weeks ago, I'd had a happy, fun day with Jake, Matt had come home early and we'd had a yummy dinner, Jake was sleeping peacefully, and I went out to run errands. It'd been a great day! But I called Matt about twenty minutes into said errands and announced that I knew I was happy, but I just really felt like I had to cry. And so we laughed. And that's just sort of how it is with extra lady hormones running rampant, I guess.

Not this bad, but you know.

Building a House/Moving while Pregnant

Not recommended. Toward the end, when there were stupid little issues that were out of our control (like, the inspector showing up four hours before the master shower surround did and therefore marking that we didn't have a shower surround and causing us to close an entire week later than our already-late finish date), nausea/exhaustion/hormones didn't quite take them in the same stride that a normal Ashley would have. I was moody and mad and I admit it.

Also? Moving in while still sick-pregnant? And with a toddler? And during the holidays? Laughable, really. Which would explain why we still have the "forbidden room" upstairs that one can hardly step into. The deal is, during the day when I felt decent enough to unpack boxes and put things away, Jake was hanging on my legs and/or taking everything off the shelves as I put them on. It was counterproductive and not worth it. And at night after he'd gone to bed, the toilet was my friend, not boxes. Add in a couple sick baby bouts, too, and it was slow going there for quite the while. We're finally getting life together now, though, so hooray for that!

Our little box-loving helper.

Milestones

Okay, this is the fun part. And it's even more fun this time around because I'm more confident in recognizing milestones as they come! I felt our little girl move for the first time at about 14 weeks. With Jake, I wasn't sure if it was him or me that early on, but now I've been around the block and know the difference, and it was so exciting to realize that I was feeling her -- my baby girl. She's an active one, which makes it quite easy as well. Well, easy for me but hard for the ultrasound techs! We had a level 2 ultrasound a couple weeks ago and it took extra long because our little girl wouldn't hold still long enough to get the measurements they needed. Hopefully that means she'll be a spunky one :)

15 weeks - the Davis GIRLS!

Matt actually felt her kick already, right at 19 weeks. It was such a fun surprise! I love sharing that excitement with him and letting him bond with our baby, too. Have I mentioned that we're excited??