The Beginning: 6 Weeks Pregnant!

Disclaimer: This is my second pregnancy.  With my first pregnancy my daughter was born preterm, breech and via C-section.  Due to my age, my medical history (hello, incompetent cervix!) and my daughter being delivered preterm I am being classified as high-risk.  Things could get a little crazy in here so proceed with caution.  

How far along:  6 weeks

Total weight gain:  I've probably put on a good 10 pounds of bloat and indigestion 

Maternity clothes:  I don't need to wear it yet, but I invested in 2 long sleeve maternity shirts mostly for my bump photo shoots but also to add to my existing collection since my last pregnancy was mostly a summer one. 

Stretch marks: Just the ones I already have! 

Sleep: Eh, I could sleep 24/7 if I could, but I don't get great sleep.  It doesn't help that I had to stop taking Valerian root early on since it is a herbal medicine and doctors are unsure of how that would affect the fetus.  

Best moment of this week: Sleeping and the few times that I can manage to get a workout in.  The horomones are just wreaking havoc with my body when I try to extert any amount of energy.  

Miss anything: Beer and wine, of course! 

Movement: Just gas bubbles.  :)

Food cravings: Sugar, but I've mostly been able to overcome it unlike my last pregnancy.  

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not eating every 2-3 hours or, just the opposite, sometimes when I think about food I want to barf.  

Have you started to show yet: Just bloat.

Gender: Nothing confirmed yet since it is so early but I am thinking boy simply because this pregnancy is already so different than the last one.  Scarlett really wanted to kill me from 5 weeks on.  

Labor signs: No, thank God!

Belly button in or out: Still in.

Wedding rings on or off: Still on. 

Happy or moody most of the time: I'm a big ball of emotions right now.  

Looking forward to: Seeing baby at our 8 week appointment on November 16.

* Since we did not spill the beans on this pregnancy to our family until I was 14 weeks pregnant, there will be a fair amount of backtracking until I can get caught up.  Hang in there! 

The Best Kind of Christmas Present!

If you've been following my running journey, then you know that I've taken a break ever since my second half marathon, Smuttynose Rockfest Half Marathon,  at the beginning of October.  My plantar fasciitis was awful and my mind and spirit were ready for a break.  I was ready to get back to just enjoying running and not training with any goal in mind.

I also told my husband that after that half marathon we could try for baby #2.  No way, no how was I going to be in the throes of my first trimester during the half marathon especially when I could barely walk because my feet were that bad.

So after Smuttynose, try we did and yesterday on Christmas we finally got to announce to our parents that we are expecting baby #2 on June 26, 2017!

Since we only really get both sets of parents, minus my father-in-law who lives in California, together on Christmas, we decided we had to announce the pregnancy in a fun way.  I took this picture of my daughter last month, left the chalkboard blank and then filled it in using PicMonkey.  I then had the pictures printed, framed and wrapped them up for them to open as the last gift of the day.

Then we videoed their reaction.






And they reacted exactly as we thought they would.

So for the next several months this blog will take a different turn.  My number #1 goal is to have a healthier pregnancy than my last one when I gained 80 pounds and ate cheeseburger after cheeseburger from Wendy's.  I feel like I've already gained more weight than I should have, but I am finally feeling human again now that I am out of the first trimester so my goal is to be more active.  Overall, I've been eating healthier, but I could really do without all the ice cream in the house.  Woops!

Alright, dear readers, if you've announced your pregnancy before, how did you do it?