My how time flies! Where did the last 9 months go? It feels like yesterday we were impatiently waiting to find out if we were pregnant.
This pregnancy was slightly different from my first one, but there were some similarities as well. I never had terrible morning sickness with either one. Just some slight nausea here and there that a little Zofran would tend to take care of. With both pregnancies I had an aversion to coffee and cokes my entire first trimester (and if you know me, you know I LOVE my coffee and Sundrop.) Luckily that mostly went away after the first trimester because lack of caffeine definitely didn't help with the lack of energy problem. I was definitely more fatigued this time, but they say that's normal with the second one since I'm chasing a toddler and trying to grow a human inside me.
Check out how we announced we were pregnant to our families and friends here.
This time I decided to do chalkboard signs for my "bump" pictures. It was fun (and sometimes challenging) coming up with something new each week.
I craved sour stuff like crazy early on. The more sour the better. I would cut up an entire lemon and eat it as a snack. For some reason, out of the blue I decided I needed Shockers candy. We were at the beach at the time and drove all around Ft. Walton and Destin trying to find them. Well little did we know, they don't make Shockers anymore. They rebranded them and they are now called SweetTarts Sour Chews. We finally found those, which taste very similar and satisfied my craving. :)
We spent week 11 at the beach. I felt like I started showing much earlier with this one, around week 10 or 11.
I always love hearing baby's heartbeat. Her heart rate has ranged from 140's-160's the whole time.
I was so happy to welcome in the second trimester! It seemed like around 14 weeks I started to get some energy back and my aversion to coffee went away (yay!). I also started feeling little movements around this time.
Our OB's office does an elective ultrasound at 16 weeks to find out the gender. We were so excited to know so we took advantage of the opportunity. They didn't offer this when I was pregnant with Raley, so I was really excited to get to find out a few weeks early this time.
Instead of them telling us the gender in the office during the ultrasound we had them put the pictures in an envelope. David and I went to get coffee and donuts immediately after our appointment and found out together, just the 2 of us. It was definitely hard to keep the secret for a few days.
Check out our gender reveal party. Sweet girl was excited to learn she's getting a sister! She has no idea how lucky she is.
I definitely started feeling movements earlier this time and she has NOT slowed down. There's no doubt she moves more than Raley did. I definitely miss that the most about being pregnant. Those little kicks from inside are a feeling like no other.
I started having Braxton Hicks around 24 weeks or so. I had these alot with Raley too and they were always worse when I was working on my feet for most of the day. They're not painful, just a tightening in the lower abdomen and a little uncomfortable.
I didn't take a baby bump picture for 6 weeks! We were incredibly busy during this time with vacations and birthdays and all kinds of other fall fun. Read all about our ballpark trip, Raley's birthday party, and our busy, busy October.
Around 30 weeks I started noticing some increased shortness of breath. It would come on even when I was just sitting down not doing any kind of physical activity. Sometimes my heart would start racing too and I would just have to take some deep breaths and it would eventually go away. I mentioned this to the Doctor at my 32 week appointment so they checked my hemoglobin and it was low. They put me on some iron for 4 weeks and within about a week the shortness of breath was better. But let me tell you, iron is not the most fun supplement to take. It does not set well on the stomach and made me feel super nauseous. I had to start taking it at bedtime instead of in the morning.
We have definitely been blessed with an amazing church family and work family. They showered us with so much love and so many generous gifts. We are so appreciative of the amazing people in our lives.
Some of the sweet ladies from church and hostesses
Me and Mom
Belly bump pic :) We're due like 2 weeks apart! I'm so excited to have had the opportunity to get to know this sweet girl better!
Something I really wanted to do last year, but we didn't really get the chance, was to host a Friendsmas at our house. We had a few of our closest friends over to spend time together, eat Christmas dinner, and let the kids play and open presents. And as a bonus Bama was playing in the SEC Championship game that afternoon so we got to watch the game together (roll tide)! I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked, but I got a couple of the kids.
Sweet girl helping me make brownies
Our finished product - Christmas tree brownies. Yum!
Christmas Tablescape
Watching The Grinch together
My sweet friend Britni threw us the cutest holiday themed baby shower. We are blessed to have so many caring friends and family in our lives. We are so thankful for all of the sweet gifts and the time they all took to come celebrate with us.
Hot Chocolate bar
The sweet hostess
Mimi and Auntie
Thank yall for coming all the way from Kentucky to celebrate with us!
Gigi and Aunt Lindsey
I love you April!
I'm so glad Kristen came down from Trussville to celebrate!
So excited to both be having girls!
At my 36 week appointment the doctor said I was already dilated to 2 cm. He implied that I could possibly go into labor at any point and would be surprised if I made it to my due date. The whole next week I was on edge, thinking it could be any minute and obsessing over every little contraction.
That weekend I made a huge Walmart trip and stocked up on all sorts of food to stock the pantry and make a few freezer meals. My sister came over and helped me make the freezer meals Saturday afternoon. (Stay tuned for a post about that later)
The next week I worked 3 days and even though I didn't stay super busy I was still having quite a few contractions and a lot of sharp pelvic pressure. By day 3 I felt terrible and I was sure that labor was imminent. My 37 week doctor appointment was during my shift on that 3rd day (it was the only time I could get in since it was Christmas week). They did an ultrasound to check the position and size of the baby and my fluid level. They said baby was measuring 6 lbs, 4 oz at that time. He also said that I was still only 2 cm dilated. As much as I wanted the Audrey to wait to come until after Christmas, for some reason the news that I had not progressed AT ALL disappointed me. I think it was because the contractions and pelvic pressure had been so bad that past few days that I was just ready for her to be here and for all that to be over.
They ended up sending me home early that day since I was feeling so bad and then had a much needed week off. I feel much better when I'm at home. I would still get some contractions if I were walking around alot (like shopping) and toward the end of the day, but they would just come and go.
I was thankful to have a long break over Christmas to spend with family and relax.
I loved spending the holiday with these two
Cookies for Santa
She loves her cousin so much!
The day after Christmas we made a trip to Hobby Lobby to stock up on 70% off Christmas decorations for Audrey's first birthday party. Yes, you read that right - Audrey's first birthday that was over a year away. I had decided before she was ever made that if we had a little girl in the winter then her first birthday would be a Winter ONEderland. Most people probably think I'm crazy but yall should know by now that I'm a little obsessive when it comes to birthdays!
At my 38 week appointment the doctor said that I had progressed to 3 cm. I only ended up working 1 day this week. I was scheduled for 2 but I got called off one day due to low census. I was incredibly thankful for this extra day off to get to spend with Raley. You can read all about that here.
I took my 39 week picture a few days late. Little did I know that our little angel would make her appearance the next day!
I went to my 39 week appointment feeling perfectly fine. I was planning on talking to the doctor about scheduling an induction if I were to go past my due date. When the nurse took my blood pressure it was a little elevated. The doctor was concerned about sending me home with my BP being high because of multiple risks that come with pregnancy induced hypertension.
So he decided to go ahead and send me over to the hospital to jump start labor. We got to meet our little angel later that evening.
Audrey Harper - born at 7:51pm. 7lb 12oz. 19.25in
New family of 4 - Big Sister was instantly smitten
We are so in love with our tiny new addition. She is such a little sweetheart! So far she's eating great, sleeping great, and hardly ever cries. We are starting to settle into our new routine as a family of four. I'll be sure and keep you updated with how things are going.
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Labels: All Things Baby, baby, pregnancy
