20 weeks- half way there!

I cannot believe how fast time has flown since we found out I was pregnant with baby#2. I'm feeling so much better, and my time with Luca is so much more enjoyable now that I'm not constantly nauseous!

20 weeks

Some milestones: we're half way to 40 weeks! I'm not sure I'll actually make it to 40 weeks for a few different reasons, but it's so fun to know that we're getting closer and closer to having a little lady around the house!

Last week I had some sort of stomach bug (we think). It started with pretty mild cramps, and within a few hours I was having contractions and I was getting very sick to my stomach. It was SO scary when I realized that my stomach wasn't just upset, I was actually feeling it harden and I couldn't talk I was in so much pain. A few weeks ago a girl at work who is pregnant asked if I could tell the difference between braxton hicks and real contractions when I was pregnant with Luca, and my response was that "if you can't speak and they are so painful they take your breath away, they're probably real".

I managed to get some sleep, but called the Dr. in the morning and they saw me the same day for an ultrasound. She wanted to make sure my cervix hadn't shortened because I have a history of that happening. Luckily, it wasn't much different than the week before, but she agreed that they were most likely contractions. I didn't know that if you have an illness, it can cause you to have contractions, but now I know! 

During the ultrasound, I also found out that I have partial placenta previa, which is when the placenta is partially covering the cervix. It's not a huge deal now, and hopefully it will migrate away from my cervix so I don't have to have a c-section. Fingers crossed!

One huge difference between this pregnancy and my pregnancy with Luca is that my placenta is posterior this time. I'm actually able to feel little girl dancing around so much earlier this time, and I love it! Hubs can even feel her from the outside, and I don't think we were able to feel that with Luca until much, much later because I had an anterior placenta.

I've been thinking a lot about the nursery, but Luca's 1st birthday is also fast approaching, so my priority is organizing that and getting the invites in the mail!

Luca checking out the belly



Luca notices something is different with mommy, but obviously has no idea why I have a bit more to love these days. Speaking of a bit more to love, I'm not even going to talk about how much weight I've gained already! I think the combination of Luca nursing less and less, and my supply dropping so much has allowed me to not only gain the pregnancy weight, but a bit of the weaning weight too! It's awful, but I feel ok so I'm trying not to look at the scale too much. My cheeks have already started the transition into pregnant face, and occasionally my nose will join the party too. I feel like my face shape changes daily.

I don't really have any cravings or aversions, although steak still doesn't appeal to me at all. I started wearing maternity clothes a while ago, and I'm not going back- stretchy pants are just way to comfortable.

Let's see... baby weighs about 10.5 ounces and is about the length of a banana. She's also actually swallowing, so perhaps I'll start to eat more of a variety of food so she is just as adventurous as Luca is with new foods.

I have to be honest, this time it's so much more realistic to me that there will actually be a little human in a few months. With Luca it all felt so surreal- the updates would tell me his ears were fully formed and in the right place, or he was practicing breathing, but I still didn't really get it. I get it now- motherhood is just as wonderful as everyone says, and meeting your baby after carrying him or her for nine or ten months is truly magical. I hope this time I'll be more aware of it all after I deliver- the first few moments are so precious, and with Luca I was just in awe of it all.

So that's it- we're half way! I have another appointment tomorrow, so I'm excited to see little miss again on the ultrasound :)