22 Weeks Baby #2

January 24, 2016

How far along? 22 weeks
Stretch marks?  yes and for one night I had 2 linea nigra lines on my stomach, so weird because now they're gone
Sleep: just exhausted all the time
Exercise: BarreAmped 1-2x a week, Knocked Up Fitness Prenatal Sculpt 3-4x a week
Best moment this week (or the past few weeks): lots of kicks and punches.  Big sister Charlee is so fun to be around and is such a silly girl.  I'm so happy to have this extra time with her
 Miss Anything? not feeling like death all the time. 
 Movement: So many kicks in the morning and at night
Food cravings: nothing, food is gross
Anything making you queasy or sick: back to feeling nauseous and not wanting to eat.
 Have you started to show yet:  HA
Gender: little sister!  who will apparently be named "doctor" or "boy"
Labor Signs: none
Symptoms: headaches, nausea, fatigue, back pain, sciatica
Belly Button in or out? in
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time: this past week has been ok.  Baby sister has been kicking a ton all the time.  Charlee is getting more and more excited about her every day.  I can't wait until she can feel sister kicking.  I just wish I didn't feel so nauseous all the time.  It's been hard to do much of anything because I feel awful when I wake up until I go to bed.

21 Weeks Baby #2

January 17, 2016

(note to self: black is not a good choice for belly pics)
(and maybe one of these weeks Andrew will figure out how to take a photo without that weird shadow behind me)
How far along? 21 weeks
Stretch marks?  I don't think any new ones have popped up in the last few weeks, but I feel like I'm always finding them.
Sleep: cold and flu season has hit the Loeffler house, so Charlee has been up at night.  One night she wanted me to sleep with her, so she took up the entire twin bed while I "slept" on the edge of it as she rolled around hitting me in the face.  I was quite the ray of sunshine the next day after about 2 hours of sleep.
Exercise: BarreAmped 1-2x a week, Knocked Up Fitness Prenatal Sculpt 3-4x a week
Best moment this week (or the past few weeks): Andrew got to feel the littlest lady kick this past week.  I can even see her kick when I look at my belly.  Definitely my favorite parts of pregnancy. 
 Miss Anything? just feeling happy and not always feeling like I'm walking around in a fog. With everything that has gone on in this pregnancy (and everything that happened last year to get to this point), I still struggle with just being happy and enjoying this pregnancy.  I also feel like a shitty mom on the daily because I'm not doing half the things I used to with Charlee (or relying on trips to the grocery store or Target as "activities"). 
Movement: So many kicks in the morning and at night
Food cravings: nothing
Anything making you queasy or sick: back to feeling nauseous and not wanting to eat.
 Have you started to show yet:  HA
Gender prediction: another little lady!  We were very surprised to find out that we are having another girl (we found out at 16w, but didn't tell anyone until we had confirmation at 20w).  I thought for sure she was a boy because all of my symptoms and the Ramzi theory pointed to "boy"
Labor Signs: braxton hicks are few and far between now.  I still get them, but not every day
Symptoms: crazy emotions, crying, irritable, nausea
Belly Button in or out? in
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time: I never know how to answer this.  And I hate when people ask me how I'm doing (even though I know they care about me and want to be polite), but the truth is... I don't know.  I'm happy, thrilled, to be pregnant and to grow our family.  We have wanted this for a long time now and it took 15 months for this baby to come along (not counting our babies who did not make it). But I still can't help but feel sad, guilty, terrified, nervous, stressed, and just want to lie in bed.  Sad because of all of my crazy hormones. Guilty because I'm not being the mom I want to be for Charlee right now and super guilty that this kid is literally getting all the leftovers (all of C's clothes, her old nursery with nothing changed) while C gets everything new. Terrified and nervous because I don't know how I'm going to do this again with a toddler.  Stressed because of all of the above and supporting 4 people and 2 dogs on one salary.
BUT I can't wait to see what this little peanut will be like.  Will she look like Charlee?  Will she look exactly like Andrew like Charlee did?  Will she be a pretty good baby like her big sister or will she be our little terror?

Dear sweet girl,

We are so excited that we can finally tell everyone that you are a girl!  Your big sister is still coming around to the idea, so we just don't talk about it much or call you "little sister" since she has no idea what a sister is. 
You are getting so big!  Last week you were 14oz and measuring just perfectly.  You're a shy little one (or just sassy).  You wouldn't show your face in any of the ultrasounds we had done.  And for the 20w scan you were sleeping and had no desire to move around to get measurements done.  It will be fun to see you again in 3 weeks to see how much you have changed!
Since you are getting bigger, I can feel your kicks more and more.  Daddy can even feel them too!  (Although I would prefer it if you not kick in the middle of the night).
I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out how to make your room special for you.  I'll come up with something.  I don't want you to have exactly what your big sister had, but that was kind of the point of making a gender neutral nursery. 
Love you!
love,
mommy

IT'S A.....

We are thrilled to announce that Charlee is getting a.....

That's right!  There's a lot of estrogen in the Loeffler house (poor Andrew), and we are thrilled to have another little girl to love.

Charlee still thinks she is a boy and gets quite upset when we say that she is, in fact, a girl.  We've actually known for about a month, but didn't tell anyone until we got confirmation at our 20 week scan just to be sure.  However, she's still not budging on her stance that baby is a boy no matter how many times we tell her. (In fact, whenever we tell her that she's getting a girl and not a boy, she says "me tummy hurt, I go lie down" with her pouty face.)

20 Weeks Baby #2

Halfway there!

How far along? 20 weeks and waddling
Stretch marks? yes :( This belly grew too big too fast
Sleep: The insomnia is back and I can't fall asleep until late and then I'm usually up a few times a night.  Baby likes to kick late and night and early in the morning.
Exercise: walking (although not much since it is so cold), BarreAmped, Knocked-Up Fitness Prenatal Sculpt.  I was recently told to only do very low-impact workouts and to not do anything strenuous, so we'll see how it goes.  (I walked 4-5 miles a day with Charlee and did a pregnancy workout everyday, so not being able to workout as I want (or have much time to workout) is killing me).
Best moment this week (or the past few weeks): Feeling baby kick on the outside!  Becoming an active little peanut.  We also got to see numero dos a few times at two different ultrasounds (one elective to help out a new business and the standard 20w scan).  Baby was very active and sassy at the elective one and sleeping at the scan.
 Miss Anything? walking without a waddle, not crying about everything
Movement: Baby is getting more active at night and kicking more.
Food cravings: nothing
Anything making you queasy or sick: not necessarily sick, just nothing sounds good.
 Have you started to show yet:  big belly
Gender prediction: .....
Labor Signs: braxton hicks have slowed, but still there on occasion.  The nurses think it could be a UTI and one of the OBs thinks it is due to my hemorrhage, so fun.
Symptoms:back pain, emotional, nerve pain on my stomach, heartburn.
The hemorrhage is still there and sitting on my cervix (I also have a low-lying placenta). It could just be a blot clot or it could be something else, either way it's not getting any smaller, so we get to see baby again in 4 weeks.
Belly Button in or out? in
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time: This pregnancy has been interesting.  Some days are great and I'm so happy.  Other days (some times even on the happy days) I'm a mess and sobbing.  Baby is perfectly healthy and measuring exactly as it should (14oz), but of course it needed to make things interesting and make itself known by throwing a wrench in things with this hemorrhage (or whatever it actually is).  Which stresses me out to know end.
I do feel more at ease when I can feel baby moving around and looking at our ultrasound pictures.  It's still all so surreal (I think mainly because I spend all my time focused on Charlee that I don't get a chance to focus on baby that much).

19 Weeks Baby #2

January 3, 2016

After a week and a half of travel (and no belly pic), we are back at it and just short of 5 months until this little one comes to join us.

How far along? 19 weeks very large
Maternity clothes? this question is laughable because I can't fit into anything and even some maternity clothes aren't cutting it (namely maternity jeans).
Stretch marks? yes :( This belly grew too big too fast
Sleep: I don't sleep anymore.  Between hip pain, back pain, using the bathroom, getting up to put C on the potty, sleep is pretty much nonexistent.
Best moment this week (or the past few weeks): Spending a few days away from it all in Door County while Charlee stayed with Glammy and Pops.  (Although we indulged a little too much and my nonexistent weight gain turned into a pretty dramatic weight gain)
 Miss Anything? energy, being able to eat without feeling like I'm going to explode, standing without everything hurting
Movement: baby really kicked it up a notch this past week.  Lots movement and little kicks at night.  It comes and goes, so I'll feel lots one night and then not much of anything for the next day or two.
Food cravings: nothing
Anything making you queasy or sick: the nausea has backed off for the time being, but nothing is ever all that appealing
 Have you started to show yet:  big belly
Gender prediction: ???
Labor Signs:not actual labor. Braxton hicks contractions some nights, usually when I'm in the car for whatever reason
Symptoms: insomnia, back pain, braxton hicks, nerve pain on my belly, swollen ankles if I've been on my feet too long, congestion, hip pain, spotting from my hemorrhage (this pregnancy hasn't been as easy as C's was)
Belly Button in or out? in
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time: This pregnancy has been really rough on me emotionally.  I am absolutely thrilled to be having another baby, but I still have my guard up from the miscarriages (and busy keeping up with C) so I just don't feel like I have a connection with this baby yet.  Most days I'm happy, but I cry at the drop of a hat and I'm sure Andrew will tell you I can be a real bitch most days.


Dear baby,

It's hard to believe that we're nearing the "halfway" point (and I use that term loosely because your big sister didn't abide by that, so I don't really expect you to either).
Charlee has officially moved into her new room, so the nursery is free and waiting for its next occupant in 5 months. I've been feeling a little bit of mama guilt lately because I'm not redoing the nursery for you.  Everything is staying the same except for the artwork.  I'll start putting money into a therapy fund for you now because I'm sure this will scar you for many years.
Big sister is convinced you are a boy, but I think that's more because she doesn't really understand what a girl or a boy is (since we never really talk about how she is a girl and so and so is a boy).  But she gets very insistent and kind of mad if you try to tell her that maybe the baby is a girl. ("NO! BOY!")
It has been fun to feel your little kicks and daddy can't wait to feel them on the outside.  That's when this starts to get real for him.  Seeing your big sister move was one of my favorite parts of pregnancy, so I'm looking forward to it with you.
In just one more week we will get to see you during your 20 week ultrasound!  This pregnancy was going by so slowly in the beginning, but now I can't believe that 20 weeks is almost here.  We are nervous, but just want to make sure that you are healthy and growing.

Love you to the moon and back,
mama