Baby #3: Second Trimester (23 Weeks)

First, let me just say that I totally thought I was 24 weeks pregnant today. It wasn’t until I got through writing this whole post and started adding photos in that I realized that I am, in fact, only 23 weeks pregnant. SONOFABITCH. And hahahahaha. What a “third pregnancy” thing to do. Although reading back through my posts recapping my pregnancy with Vivienne, I apparently did the same thing at one point with her, too. Oops. But seriously, what a kick in the ass that is. Ugh. ANYWAY…

After the challenges of the first trimester, I welcomed the second trimester with open arms. For the first part of it, I wouldn’t have even known I was pregnant anymore if it hadn’t been for the fact that my belly popped out so quickly.

Oddly, I didn’t feel distinct movement from the baby until probably around 17 weeks, which was later than I felt both Nora AND Vivienne. My doctor said that perhaps I had an anterior placenta, but I was pretty sure that the ultrasound tech at my NT scan had told me my placenta was at the back. My OB was surprised by this—said it wasn’t in the report, and that they usually don’t check for placenta positioning until the anatomy scan—but I was feeling 95% sure she had said that to me, so I didn’t think that was it (and, for the record, it wasn’t it. It was confirmed at 19 weeks that yes, the placenta is in the back). We also know that the baby is not small or anything, so I don’t know. Calmer baby this time around? Now that I AM feeling it on a regular basis, it certainly doesn’t seem like it. :) Anyway, that made me a little nervous during that stretch, but sure enough, I soon started feeling the regular kicks and pops and I now (at 23 weeks) feel them several times a day. I even feel them while driving or standing sometimes, which I feel never happened with the other two—if I was on the move, I didn’t feel THEM move. So strange that it’s different.

{15 Weeks}

Also different this time around: The baby is measuring a bit ahead of schedule—in both ultrasounds (12 weeks and 19 weeks) AND my first fundal height measurement as well. This is weird for me because my girls were always right on target in the ultrasounds. And I’m curious to see what happens with my fundal height measurement as we go along, because historically, I always start measuring small around 30 weeks and the gap keeps growing from there (for instance, with Vivienne, I was measuring 4 centimeters behind by the time she was born). I had to have extra growth ultrasounds with both girls but it was always determined that I just “hide them well.” This time, I feel like I’m not hiding ANYTHING. For some reason, I just feel enormous. But, looking back at my posts with my two previous pregnancies, I see that I was complaining of the same thing around this same time. Soooo apparently that’s normal. Ugh.

{18 Weeks}

Speaking of feeling enormous, I’ve gained more weight this time, too. Thus far, I think I’m up 14-15 pounds total, which is definitely more than at the same time with both of my previous pregnancies. I can’t really go by the weight gain with Vivienne’s pregnancy, though, since I had the appendicitis and subsequent weight loss due to not being able to eat for 8 days. But in the end, I “caught up” and gained the exact same amount in total as I did with Nora’s pregnancy—26 pounds. Accounting for about a pound a week and the fact that I have 17ish weeks to go, I am on track to gain more weight with this one. I’m blaming my 33-year-old metabolism. And thinking maaaybe these are all signs this baby is a boy. :)

{19 Weeks}

What’s frustrating about the weight gain, though, is that this is also the only pregnancy where I’ve stuck to any exercise beyond walking. I’m still going to CrossFit three days a week, and hope to do so through the end—I’m just modifying different movements and taking more breaks/aiming for less intensity than usual. Anyway, it’s weird. I’m trying not to let it get to my head too much.

Eating wise, I go back and forth from having days/weeks when I am absolutely starving on a constant basis to having days/weeks when I feel full ALL OF THE TIME. I’m currently having one of the latter, it’s weird. Any time I do eat, it feels like my stomach is stretching beyond capacity and I feel so uncomfortable afterward. What gives?

The anatomy scan at 19 weeks was fun. It happened to be scheduled for the week between Christmas and New Year’s, so we had the girls home with me on the break. We decided to take them with us to the ultrasound for a peek at their baby brother or sister. Nora was fascinated for maybe five minutes and then was over it. Vivienne was not fascinated at all, except with attempting to turn the lights back on in the room. Oy. Thankfully, Michael was able to rein her in and we had a patient and understanding ultrasound tech.

The baby was moving around a lot and it is always just so cool to see all of the bones, the face, its “mannerisms.” The baby kept its one hand up by its mouth the majority of the time. We had to work to get him/her to move around a little bit so that the tech could get a good look at the lips/nose area to check for cleft palette. In the end, the tech got everything she needed and the report I received from my OB at my next appointment said that everything looked normal. Again, always a relief.

Back to movement for a second, Michael and Nora have both been able to feel the baby kick now. I’m feeling really good pops/kicks throughout the day, but particularly when I’m lying down. Over the weekend, I got up to go to the bathroom around 6:00 a.m. and was then kept awake by the baby repeatedly jabbing my right side.

{20 Weeks}

Sleep: It varies. Some nights I sleep so hard that I wake up uncomfortable because I didn’t change positions the entire night. Some nights I wake up several times to turn over (it’s a production at this stage—I have to bring my body pillow with me to the other side!). If I happen to roll over onto my back to sleep (normally a comfortable position for me), I will soon wake up in discomfort, which I guess is probably a good thing since I’m not supposed to be sleeping on my back anymore anyway. I can’t even really lie on the couch on my back (with my upper body propped up) for any length of time anymore, either. It’s all uncomfortable. Yay pregnancy.

My maternity wardrobe is abysmal right now. It’s like I’m trying to squeak by with as little as possible since I got rid of everything (plus, everything I had was for spring/summer anyway so wouldn’t be useful now). We are going to Florida in a few weeks and I have no freaking idea what I’m going to wear the entire time we’re there. Hopefully it’ll be warm enough for stretchy skirts and sporty elastic shorts paired with t-shirts that barely stretch over my belly. LOL.

{23 Weeks}

Nora and Vivienne know I have a baby in my belly. Nora mentions it occasionally but I think May still seems like a long way off for her so it’s still difficult for her to really wrap her head around at this point. Vivienne will point to my belly and say baby, and the other day she told us it is a “girl” when we asked her. But then tonight she told me it’s a boy. Anyway, I don’t think she has a good handle yet on the difference between boys and girls so she is not to be trusted. :) Nora is firmly in the camp of “it’s another girl”—I don’t know if that is instinct or if she just thinks that it is a girl because she doesn’t know any different than to have a sister. She told me recently, “Mommy, if we have a boy, it’s going to get crazy around here.” HAHAHA. I keep trying to warm her up to the idea of a brother, just in case. I tell her how helpful they are to have around, especially when you have a spider in your bedroom and you can call them in to kill it for you (something I always made my brothers do for me, hehe). For the record, I do think it’s a boy—but I also thought that Vivienne was a boy, so I’m unreliable. The surprise will be fun!

We have started to talk about names but we have not come to any real conclusions yet. Just tossing them around and mulling them over.

Really, though, I’m feeling good. It’s weird to think that at this point with Vivienne, I had just gone through a really horrible and scary experience and was still working on recovering. I never felt like I fully “recovered” from that surgery, like the rest of my pregnancy was just blah after that. So it’s nice not to be feeling that right now, obviously. When people ask me how I’m doing I say I’m in the honeymoon phase of pregnancy and this is just about as good as it’s going to get! Bracing myself for the downward spiral that comes with third trimester, haha.

It’s going by quickly but going by slowly, all at the same time. Seems even longer now that I know I’m 23 weeks instead of 24! It’s weird to think third trimester is just a few weeks away, but full-term and my due date seem so far off. There’s a lot more growing this baby has to do, and a lot more discomfort to be had on my part. I’ll just keep keepin’ on…