18 weeks - Baby E 2

 

How far along: 

18 weeks and a few days! I can't believe how quickly it is flying by!

Total weight gain:

I am still stuck at about 13 or 14 pounds lost. I stopped losing weight though and have stayed about the same the past few weeks, probably will start gaining very soon.

Size and growth of the baby: 

About the size of a bell pepper! 5 and a half inches long and about 7 ounces :)

 

Sex:

Not sure yet, but almost everyone is still thinking girl. I guess we will see!
Looking forward to the ultrasound in two weeks!

Maternity clothes: 

Some things I am, some things I'm not. Still don't feel very big. My doctor even commented on how well my stomach muscles are holding baby in for my second child, especially one so close after my first! 

 

Sleep:

Good. I am tired all the time. Sleep sleep sleep.

Best moment(s) of the week: 

Making progress on our new bedroom! We love working on projects and changing things up...and I am so excited for what our new room will look like when it is done. And then we can start working on the nursery and making a playroom upstairs :) so much to do before the new baby comes!

Movement: 

Yes, definite movement :) :)

Food cravings/aversions:

Same same. I have oddly been craving salads this time around. Yum!

Morning sickness:

Much better. My hormones must switch around 17-18 weeks, because this was about the same time I started feeling a little better with Reagan too.

Symptoms: 

Movement and crampy off and on. Won't be able to sleep on my belly much longer because I feel like I am squishing the baby. I am not a belly sleeper normally anyway, but why all the sudden now that I am not allowed to does it suddenly sound so comfy?!

Labor signs: 

Nope.

Belly button in or out:

In.

What I miss:

I am starting to get nostalgic about Reagan not being the only child much longer. I know he will LOVE having a sibling, but I am going to miss it just being him. I don't know. I guess I feel a little sad with how drastic his world is going to change in a few months, and how I won't always be there when he needs me or wants my attention. At the same time I am so so so looking forward to him and the baby interacting together :)

What I'm looking forward to: 

Our ultrasound! Very soon and we can know the gender! 

If you want to follow this pregnancy I will link up below.
12 weeks with Baby E 2

15 weeks with Baby E 2

When your heart just hurts.

I have always thought death and heartache seem to come in waves.

These past few weeks it just seems like there has been one thing after another, and my heart just feels so heavy.

A young beautiful woman who was engaged to one of Matt's good friends. We were planning to go to their wedding next week.

A young energetic guy who was one of my cousins best friends.

Word of a couple really struggling in their marriage after losing a young child a short time ago.

A classmate of my sisters in critical condition from an accident.

This all just sounds like typical everyday stuff to most people.

But when it strikes over and over again in a small community it shakes us to our core.

That is the thing about small towns; when tragedy does strike...it really does have an effect on everyone.

As a small town family, we are hurting right now.

We are hurting for their families, we are hurting for their friends, we are hurting because we too in some way were affected and knew them.

Right now we don't understand, and we are going through all different stages of grief at all different times.

But one thing I do know, is we will eventually move on.

It may take weeks or months, but our lives will go back to normal.

We will still miss them, and we will probably think of them off and on, but our lives will more or less return to our same, typical, everyday life.

But for their families, the people they were closest to...their lives will never be the same.

They will always have that void in their life.

Holidays, and birthdays, big monumental life events...that person is no longer there with them.

So it is in that time that we need to remember to surroud them with love.

They will be overwhelmed with people coming by right now, offering sweet words, or just listening and crying with them. 

They will have people bringing flowers and cards and food a lot over the next few weeks and months. 

But remember to support them years from now.

Send them a card or give them a hug when you run into them.

Let them know that their loved one has not been forgotten - that their hearts haven't been forgotten.

I feel like I am pretty well-versed in death.

I feel like I have experienced it to quite some degree for someone of my age.

I feel like I know how to help others cope.

To know what to say or when to listen.

But if I am being honest...I am so scared of death.

I can't say that if I was to experience death so close to home like I did when I was younger that I would handle it with such grace as I handle dealing with the loss of acquaintances of other people I knew.

Actually, I am fairly certain that I wouldn't.

When I hear of all these tragedies and so much pain, I can't help but think that our world is still so flawed.
The Lord is coming one day to make all things new, but right now we will never experience heaven on earth.
There will always be pain and heartache.
One day our tears will be wiped away and we will be free from this world.
What is that quote from that song? "because the pain that you are feeling, can't compare to the joy that's coming!"
And while that may fall on deaf ears and hurting hearts right now...we never know what God has in store, but I do know that we can't fathom how great the outcome will be!

I read earlier today something that said "don't pray for someone, when you can pray WITH someone." and I thought that was pretty clever.

While praying for people during this time is important, I think just coming around them and bringing them before the Most High when they are in such a vulnerable state could do a world of measure. Just being there with them and allowing them to feel whatever they are feeling and letting them know that it is ok. And sometimes...maybe you just need to cry with them.

Eddies obituary and an "in memory of Eddie" event keep popping up in my newsfeed.
Hundreds of people (literally) keep popping up and writing on Kassandra's wall.
I keep seeing people writing updates to how Kyle is doing.
All 3 of them are such special people. So energetic and so loved.
We will never be able to hide from it or push it aside and try to forget about it what happened - what is happening. 
So surround yourselves with people you love.
People to encourage you.
People to pray for you.
And know that it is ok to feel whatever you are feeling.
If you just want to cry..that is ok.
Or maybe you just feel numb...like...is this really happening?
If you are angry and screaming out...that's ok too. God can handle it.
Just don't try to do it alone.

           "For where two or three gather in my name, there I am with them." - Matthew 18:20

I mean...what a better place to be than in the comfort of the Prince of Peace himself?

15 weeks - Baby E 2

 

How far along: 

15 weeks and a few days!

Total weight gain:

I lost a few more pounds since last time. I got really sick and dehydrated last week, so I am probably around 13 or 14 lost total. Gotta start gaining soon!

Size and growth of the baby: 

About the size of an apple! 4 inches long and about 2 and a half ounces. Little peanut :)

Sex:

Not sure yet, but almost everyone is still thinking girl. I guess we will see!

Maternity clothes: 

Pants - not shirts. Still don't feel very big.

Sleep:

Good. And with all this time up north Reagan is completely wore out. He slept 13 hours the other night! Matt and I woke up about 9:30 and were so confused as to what time it was...and when we realized it was so late we immediately ran to check on Reagan. He was fine :) snoozing away.

Best moment(s) of the week:

This has been a long week. 4th of July was fun spending time with family though. Reagan loved the fireworks!

Movement: 

I feel like the past week or so that I have started feeling little flutters. Seems really early, but it feels like exactly what I remember those first few times with Reagan felt like.

Food cravings/aversions:

Nothing really sounds good still.

Morning sickness:

It came back with a vengeance this week when I got a really nasty cold and ended up in the hospital.

Symptoms: 

Not much unusual. Feeling crampy off and on.

Labor signs: 

Nope.

Belly button in or out:

In. Although it is definitely a completely different bellybutton since my pregnancy with Reagan.

What I miss:

Food. This happened with Reagan too. My taste buds just change so drastically and nothing ever sounds good or tastes good. I miss just feeling really really good.

What I'm looking forward to: 

This weekend! I always look forward to time with my little family :)


If you want to follow this pregnancy I will link up below.
12 weeks - Baby E 2 

Happy Birthday, Erin!

My little sister turns 18 today, so in honor of her birthday and her having just graduated, I figured I would write a nice lovely post about her.

I don't remember you being born, but based on pictures, you were a little big chunk of love. Emphasis on the chunk :)

Then around the ages of 2-4 you turned into the CUTEST little child ever. Seriously, THE. CUTEST!

I don't really remember you annoying me much, but I am sure you did over the next few years, because I was smack dab in the middle of the pre-teen/teen/hormone drama years. I wonder if you remember the woes of listening to me cry while yelling "my ponytail is crooked!"

I remember thinking how cute it was when you were the ONLY girl ever invited to boys birthday parties and making fun of you when boys tried to kiss you. See...I wasn't the only one who thought you were the cutest little girl ever :)

And then...the awkward years.

We made fun of your hard, different, cardboard? hair.

The few years where you were a little more chubby.

And somewhere right around that time we doubled our family size and added 4 little kiddos, and you suddenly became a big sister.

You might be the one who gets the most frustrated with them from time to time, but you were also the one who grew up with them. I remember watching you guys together many times over the years and thinking "wow...they act just like siblings." How you fight, how you play, just how you interact together. Your relationship is different with them than mine is, because I was already moved out of the house at the time they came.

It has been so fun watching you grow into a big sister role. You really weren't made to be a baby anyway...you need someone to boss around ;)

And then somewhere in those high school years you grew into the most beautiful woman.

You are so different than me. So bubbly and outgoing. Everyone's friend. You got long skinny legs instead of short, stocky Holmes legs. And somehow you got skin about 8 shades darker than me.

Totally a little bit jealous about the legs and the tan.

You are about 99% exactly like our dad, but then you are also a lot of times the most sensitive.

I am fairly sure everyone has seen you cry a time or two.

Or laughed at the wonderful climatic point in your story telling :)

It literally seems like just yesterday you were in elementary.

And now in the blink of an eye you are off to college.

Up until this point I have never gotten emotional at graduations. Not my own, not Jena's, or my husbands, but for some reason at yours, I was. I don't know if I have just grown up a lot this past year or what. I guess having a baby will do that to you. But I just remember looking at all those kids. Those little babies. Kids I used to babysit (yes...that made me feel really old) and all I could think was "they are way too young." And now they are all being shipped off different directions into the big bad world and it is scary.

You have to make financial decisions on your own, and make new friends, and go shopping on your own, and learn how to navigate college courses and homework and a job...and you just have SO MUCH to learn! And I guess it just made me a little sad to think of them all leaving the comfort and  safety of home and heading out on their own.

But on the plus side, it is so much fun! You get to study and learn more about what you love! You get to start living your life the way you choose to. Making your own decisions. You can even choose to do your dishes backwards like you all make fun of me for doing all the time...because you are growing up and you get to choose to do that. Maybe you will make new friends...and maybe they will be lifelong friends. And with how friendly and outgoing you are I am sure that is a possibility.

So I look forward to watching you over the next few months as you adjust to this new season of life.

I am sure a lot of tears will be shed, but I am sure you will have a lot of fun too.

I am sure you will make a lot of mistakes, just learn from them and grow and move on.

I am sure you will get lonely...and sad. But your family isn't too far away. Ask mama how many trips she made ALLLLLL the way down to Spring Arbor, because I was lonely and scared and couldn't do it. And just think how much closer you are than I was :)

And just think how close Matt and I are. Just a hop and a skip away. You are always welcome to stay with us if you want a little familiar interaction. Plus...I am counting on you so we can get a few date nights out ;)

So if you actually made it all the way through all that...because I know how much you love overly wordy things....just like me ;) I just want to say...

Happy Happy Birthday, Erin! I love you!

12 weeks - Baby E 2!

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How far along: 

12 weeks and a few days!

Total weight gain:

I lost about 10 pounds this time around and I am still staying about right there. Probably will start gaining some soon!

Size and growth of the baby: 

About the size of a lime! 2 inches long and about half an ounce. Little peanut :)

Sex:

Not sure yet, but almost everyone is thinking girl. I guess we will see!

Maternity clothes: 

I just recently started wearing maternity pants. I am still not very big, but definitely showing MUCH sooner than last time. And lets be honest...they are comfy! I'm wearing normal shirts still though. I find myself wearing a lot of dresses.

Sleep:

Last week I kept waking up off and on, but this week has been much better. Reagan typically sleeps 9pm-8am, so that has been wonderful! I have also been having a lot of crazy dreams lately!

Best moment(s) of the week:

I have been feeling really well! I didn't have very much nausea to begin with, but the last few days I have started feeling much more "normal." I have also thoroughly been enjoying Matt's 3 day weekends. It is SO nice to lay down on Sunday night and think "yes...one more day together!" :)

Movement: 

Nothing yet.

Food cravings/aversions:

Not much sounds good still. I am pretty sure I have eaten my weight in taco salad the past two weeks. Like, it is seriously embarrassing, but I think I ruined it for myself by eating it too often, because it doesn't sound very good anymore. I eat a lot of fruit.

Morning sickness:

Hopefully almost gone!

Symptoms: 

I can definitely tell baby is growing! I started feeling the small hard bump a few days ago :) I have had some cramping off and on...nothing major though. Feeling pretty good!

Labor signs: 

Nope.

Belly button in or out:

In. Although it is definitely a completely different bellybutton since my pregnancy and labor with Reagan.

What I miss:

Time with my husband. Although that isn't really pregnancy related...just so ready for him to be done with school! I miss being able to eat whatever I want. Even after I had Reagan it took my body months to return to "normal" and for me to be able to eat a lot of food without gagging. I feel like I finally got to that point, and now I am right back there again. Not complaining, I just miss having food sound good and being able to eat more than a handful of things. However, I do think it will be different this time around. I already can eat much more than I did when I was pregnant with Reagan.

What I'm looking forward to: 

My appointment next week! I always look forward to those...and I haven't had one in almost 5 weeks!

It is going to be so much fun.

Life has just been so much fun lately.
Matt is so so close to being done with school and we are finally catching a glimpse of what life will be like.
And oh boy...I knew it was going to be good, but I CAN'T WAIT!

His classes during the week are done, so he gets to come home from work everyday at 5pm.
Even though he still has homework, it is lessening, especially now as he just finished up one of his classes...only 3 more to go!
It has been such a joy to spend each night out playing in the yard, or doing yard-work together, or going shopping, or just cleaning the house together.
It is so nice to have options.
And him taking those Monday's off was pretty much the best idea ever.
Monday's are my favorite day of the week now!

I feel like our life has been on hold for the last year or so.
So much of his time has been consumed by classes and doing homework...and so much of my time has been consumed by picking up all the slack and trying to do things by myself at home.
If I am being honest, it hasn't been fun.
It hasn't been fun at all.
The few times that we did set aside time to work on a project together or take a quick trip together it was always looming over us that this was cutting into his homework time and that trying to make up for time lost would be awful.

It hasn't been fun, and even though I am probably the worst person ever to look at the positive in any situation I can tell that all that time spent in misery doing schoolwork just makes this time so much more sweet though.
It is almost like I am seeing Matt again for the first time in a looooong time.
And hello...I mean...there was a reason I fell in love with him in the first place.
It is so nice to see him enjoying life again...doing stuff he loves.
Working on projects or in the yard, going out for ice cream, spending time with family...just doing nothing.
It is so nice to see him not feel stressed or overwhelmed all the time.

We still don't have a lot of time.
These last few classes of his are rough.
But it is lightyears better than it has been.
And even though we still haven't gone to bed at the same time since his spring break...and before that it was his Christmas break :(
(he typically does his homework in the evenings)

I have caught a glimpse of what life will be like.

There will be so much more freedom and the weight of school looming over us will be gone and it is going to be so so much fun!

How I cured my morning sickness (or at least I would like to think I did)

Morning sickness is the pits. 

Like...THE. WORST.

You find out you're pregnant and you are so excited and ecstatic for about 5 seconds and then your morning sickness kicks in and you feel like you want to die.

All day.

Every day.

For weeks.

I know there is that select group of individuals that is very positive about it, saying that they are thankful for being sick, thankful that it means the baby is growing and is healthy.

While I am thankful, I am not one of those people. 

I HATE being sick.

Being nauseous and throwing up....I hate it with an unrealistic passion.

I have been doing a lot of research lately on health.

We are trying to eat more natural, and be very conscience about what we are putting into our bodies.

So after my last pregnancy I really went to researching "natural" cures for morning sickness.

We always hear about:

ginger

lemon

peppermint

unisom and b6

the list goes on and on...

If you are anything like me though, you know that none of them really work.

Although I will say that I never tried any prescriptions or medicine offered by my doctor. 

I just never felt right about, that was a decision I made.

Who knows, maybe they would have helped.

I was very sick with my last pregnancy.

While I stopped throwing up by 18-19 weeks, I was still nauseous off and on until (and even after) delivery.

I knew that I had to do something so that my next pregnancy wasn't quite so miserable.

So I researched and researched and came across this post. 

And it made a lot of sense to me. 

So I looked more into boosting Magnesium stores in your body, and came across several other posts of women who had similar experiences. Here is another good one.

While I could try and explain how this helps with morning sickness symptoms solely on my limited knowledge - I will probably just confuse you more, so instead I will just link up to those posts that know exactly what they are talking about and explain it really well. 

I will admit I was a little skeptical at first.

I ordered myself some Magnesium Oil back in January and would use it spontaneously - and by spontaneously I mean like once or twice a week.

Then when I found out I was pregnant I stopped using it, because I didn't know if it was ""safe." Even though all the research I had done said that it was completely fine, even beneficial.

I talked to my doctor who OK'd it...and then I began using it on a much more regular basis.

Knowing what I know now, I should have been using it much more regularly PRIOR to getting pregnant, because once you are pregnant your body changes and the absorption of the Magnesium changes.

So let me fast forward to how this pregnancy has been different.

With Reagan I felt GREAT until about 8 weeks...and then I was sick pretty much the rest of the time.

This time around I started getting sick at 5 WEEKS!

To say I freaked out was an understatement. I was certain that this pregnancy was going to be lightyears worse than my last, because I started getting sick so much sooner.

So that is when I started rubbing the Magnesium Oil on my like it was my job.

I kept thinking that it was going to get worse. 

I had nausea off and on, but it never really peaked. 

I kept expecting it to get worse, or for me to be laying on the couch day after day feeling like death, but nothing really changed.

There were 2 or 3 days where I did feel really sick and threw up, but they were all on Monday's after a really long and busy weekend up north...and guess what? I had left my Magnesium Oil at home...so I had gone all weekend without it.

Hmm.

At first when my morning sickness wasn't going anywhere, just kind of had some nausea off and on, I was a little nervous. I kept thinking something was wrong, because I wasn't getting SO SICK like before. However, I definitely wasn't lacking pregnancy symptoms. I still have an awful gag reflex, nothing really sounds that good to me, strong odors I try to steer clear of...and I have been MUCH more tired this time around. So even though the nausea and vomiting seems to be "fixed" I still definitely feel pregnant.

Now I completely understand that every pregnancy is different...and maybe I just didn't get as sick this time around, but I honestly don't think so. You better believe that I will be using my Magnesium Oil regularly prior to a next pregnancy.

I don't claim to know much, but I honestly do believe this is working for me. 

If it is the "cure" that we have all been looking for, I wanted to be sure to share it with you!

Because morning sickness really is the pits...

This is the bottle that I use.

Magnesium Oil makes it sounds like an oil...which is odd to put an oil on your skin, but its not really an oil, but it does kind of have an odd "oily" texture. I just typically rub it on my legs after I shower. Although a lot of sources say that if you are sensitive that you may need to dilute or something, because it can have a burning sensation. I purposely bought a "sensitive" more diluted kind for that reason, and it worked great up until the time that I used it right after shaving my legs and OH.MY.OUCH! My legs were on fire! So I learned not to do that again. I know you can take it in pill form as well, but your body absorbs it better by topically being rubbed and absorbed through your skin, so that is the route that I chose to go.

I still have some nausea off and on. Actually the last two days I have been more "sick." But I use that term lightly because I wasn't throwing up and was still able to function fine. I am hoping that as my second trimester draws near that my energy will return and the spontaneous nausea that I have will completely go away! I guess we will see...only time will tell!

Let me just add a disclaimer so no one goes all crazy on me that this has just been my experience. I urge you to do your own research, and I would love to know if you came to similar findings.