15 Weeks

How far along? 15 weeks

Maternity clothes: The top in this pic was my first maternity purchase this time around. It's super comfy and has ruching on the sides for when the bump gets bigger! 

Stretch marks? None. Hoping to keep it that way!

Sleep: Sleep is pretty much back to normal and I haven't been waking up in the middle of the night. 

Best moment this week: Thanksgiving, of course! Loved spending time with family and friends. Jose's and my schedules actually worked out to where we both had all four days off together, which seems like it never happens. Our long weekend was a good balance of productivity + laziness + fun! Sad it had to come to an end.

Miss anything? Still missing my energy, but I do feel like I'm not having to nap as much to get through the day. Still need to sit down and rest quite a bit. 

Movement: Not yet

Food cravings? Still nothing in particular yet. I'll have a bite of this and a bite of that. Basically, if I could just have a random smorgasbord of food for each meal, that would be great.

Anything make you queasy or sick? The queasiness is finally wearing off! I don't think I've felt it at all these past few days, but I've also been able to sleep in too, so we'll see how it goes getting up earlier again for work. Fingers crossed!

Gender prediction: I'm not really sure why, but I'm starting to lean towards boy. We thought the same with Aurora though, so we'll see.

Labor signs: No

Symptoms: Just a growing belly at this point. Oh, and pregnancy brain for sure. Although, I'm not quite sure it ever went away after I had Aurora. Not even kidding. 

Belly button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Mood most of the time: Still irritable, but I think it's worn off a little since I've started to feel better. Definitely more emotional when it comes to shows and movies too, haha. Jim & Pam's love story is just the cutest. <3 (We've gotten to Season 6 of The Office, so no spoilers if that changes!)

Looking forward to: Christmas break and having two weeks off!

Total weight gain: 10 lbs 

13 & 14 Weeks

How far along? 14 weeks

Maternity clothes: Not wearing any yet, but I did buy this guy from Old Navy that I'm thinking of wearing with this scarf for Thanksgiving or Christmas. But we'll see how fancy I feel. I'll probably end up wearing pjs for both. ;)

Stretch marks? None. Hoping to keep it that way!

Sleep: Sleep has been a bit more regular. I'm not waking up as much in the middle of the night and slowly gaining energy back. If we go out and do things on the weekends, I usually have to stop to rest a few times, but other than that things are looking up!

Best moment this week: Binge-watching The Office with Jose. I always thought that show looked so stupid and never watched it, but Jose talked me into it and I'm hooked. It's totally my sense of humor.

Miss anything? Just hoping to start feeling more like myself soon

Movement: Not yet

Food cravings? Nothing in particular, but happy to not want to throw up at the sight of food anymore!

Anything make you queasy or sick? Still pretty queasy when I first get up in the morning

Gender prediction: I really don't feel strongly either way.

Labor signs: No

Symptoms: Nausea

Belly button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Mood most of the time: I guess a little grumpier than usual

Looking forward to: Thanksgiving! This will be our first time hosting and I'm super excited! Also, a few things I've learned so far as a hostess: Your husband will look at you like you have dog crap smeared across your face for deciding to use paper plates rather than going out and buying 4 sets of brand new dishes (since we currently don't have enough matching dishes for everyone coming). Sorry, Jose, it will be a while before you live that one down. :) And, apparently, I'm completely crazy for waiting until the weekend before Thanksgiving to go out and buy our table top decor. I drug Aurora to eight stores today (EIGHT!) and there was almost no fall decor left. I guess I learned my lesson. We'll see what I come up with this year. 

Total weight gain: ~8 lbs 

12 Weeks

If I'm being honest, the main reason I've been itching to announce Baby #2 is so that I can finally publicly complain about how crappy I've been feeling! Kidding, kidding, but seriously, this pregnancy has been so different from when I was pregnant with Aurora. With her, I had pains the day before I found out I was pregnant (which I was sure was appendicitis!) and then a kidney stone a few months before she was born. Other than that, I felt great. I remember people always asked me how I felt and I never understood why. Now. Now I get it. I've been nauseous since I was 4 weeks. I've been stuffed/starving basically my entire pregnancy so far, which makes eating anything at all extremely complicated. And to say I've been exhausted is a major understatement. I've basically been a waste of space when I'm at home. All I do after work is sleep. Weekends, sleeping. Even with a to-do list a mile long, I can't find the energy to do any of it. Thank God for my amazing husband! The only reason anything around the house gets done these days is because of him. Even after working long hours, he'll come home and clean because he knows I don't have the energy to, but also that our house being so messy bothers me at the same time. One Friday evening, I came home from work and he seriously had a bath set up for me so I could hop right in. We're talking candles, bubbles, the whole nine yards. And I looked at him and said, "I am so sorry, but I can't even sit in a bathtub right now. I'm too tired." Bless his sweet heart. Sometimes at work, I'll catch myself sitting at my desk, barely able to keep my eyelids open. Like I've just taken a strong dose of cold medicine or something. On the bright side, I read that the nausea part usually ends around 14 weeks, so I have that to look forward to. What about the exhaustion? Anyone had experience with this? I'm just curious if it goes away, or if I should expect to feel like this the whole time.

Anyway, I mentioned that I would be documenting this pregnancy, so here we go!

How far along? 12 (and a half!) weeks

Maternity clothes: None yet, but definitely starting to show. Or is it all that Taco Bell I've been consuming lately? (Insert curious emoji here.)

Stretch marks? Nope! I didn't have any with Aurora, so I'm hoping for the same deal this time around. Palmer's Cocoa Butter products have been a lifesaver!

Sleep: ALL. THE. TIME. However, sometimes at night I wake up and have to go lay in a different room. Not that our bed isn't comfortable, but the change in cushioning seems to make a difference.

Best moment this week: Hearing the baby's heartbeat again at our appointment on Tuesday!

Miss anything? Energy. Motivation to do anything!

Movement: Not yet

Food cravings? Everything and nothing! I don't know how many times we've driven all around to get whatever will satisfy a craving and then once it's actually in front of me, I'm disgusted by it. Or I feel full. That happens all the time! I have been craving BBQ a lot, but I love BBQ anyway, so I don't think it's pregnancy-related. I am looking forward to hopefully starting to eat a bit healthier once the nausea subsides, as so far I've been eating whatever I can get down (which is usually Taco Bell :/).

Anything make you queasy or sick? Still pretty queasy when I first get up in the morning, but it doesn't last the majority of the day like it did at first.

Gender prediction: I would say a boy, just because I feel so different than I did with Aurora, but I know that each baby is different. We were so sure that Aurora was a boy and were dead wrong. I honestly have no clue.

Labor signs: No

Symptoms: Nausea, exhaustion.

Belly button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Mood most of the time: I've had a few dramatic episodes, but nothing too crazy. I don't think. Maybe Jose should be answering this one.

Looking forward to: Holding a tiny baby again! It's been so long and I've definitely had the fever.

Total weight gain: ~5 lbs

Baby #2

Well, the excitement has been brewing around these parts for some time now, and I don't think it's fair to ask this little lady to hold it in any longer.

That's right! Baby #2 will be arriving in May! We thought, Hey, we're out of the diaper stage, out of the potty-training stage, out of the terrible twos (and threes, and fours!), and we have a fairly independent six-year-old... Why not dive right back in and start all over!?!? :)

We always knew, after we had Aurora, that we wanted to have more kids. I've always wanted to have a big family. (I think at one point I even referenced Jose's and my future together as "Jose & Jen Plus 10" - Yeah, I do stuff like that.) Anyway, the timing just never felt right. TBH, if Aurora wasn't the pleasant surprise that she was, we probably would've never felt "ready." So, at the beginning of the year, we decided to quit all forms of birth control and "just see what happens." We figured it wouldn't take very long for me to get pregnant, since Aurora clearly came sooner than we planned for, and we were right! I got pregnant almost immediately.

Unfortunately, a baby just wasn't in the cards for us at the time, and I miscarried. I plan to do a whole post on this later, but let me tell you, the "Miscarriage Club" is a club no one should have to be a part of. I know several people who experienced this before me and, until you go down this road yourself, the amount of heartbreak you experience is unfathomable. Again, more on this later.

One thing I never thought to do when I was pregnant with Aurora, was to document my pregnancy. I definitely plan on doing that this time around, but I do have some concerns regarding my ability to keep up. We'll see what happens.

In the meantime, thanks so much to everyone for the love and support we've received already! We love and appreciate every single one of you!