I cannot believe that as I sit here writing this post, I am already 36 weeks pregnant! I truly feel like this second pregnancy went by so fast, and I’m very grateful for a healthy, and for the most part pleasant experience again!
In case you are newer to my blog..my husband and I are expecting our second child, first daughter, at the end of this month (January)! Talk about the best New years present ever! I wanted to write this post as a way to document and share the journey thus far, plus to share any tips or insight for any new or expecting moms!
So, a little history, we had our son three and a half years ago with no complications. I was very grateful to have hardly any mourning sickness last time around. I remember the only thing that was difficult for me was the actual labor part, which I’m not going to lie was pretty brutal, but of course 100% worth it, and one of the most special moments of my life!
This time around my husband and I were praying for a little girl! So you can imagine how excited I was when I got the call from my doctor that it indeed was going to be a girl!
We did the harmony test. It’s a test where you can find out the gender pretty early on. I believe we knew at three months, but you can know as early as eight weeks. We just couldn’t get to our doctors appointment until three months. If you are impatient like us, then I highly recommend you ask your doctor about this blood test. You get results in about a week.
Since we knew the gender we decided not to do a gender reveal party, but instead did a gender reveal video! It was so fun producing and shooting this video. I know I’m a youtuber, but even if you aren’t, this is a fun creative way to announce the gender to your family in case you don’t want a party either, but want to do more than just post a picture.
You can watch our gender reveal video here.
The first three months breezed by for me. I had about two weeks of mourning sickness, but it wasn’t everyday. All I can tell you is that every woman and pregnancy is different. Some women experience horrible mourning sickness. So if this is your experience, just know it’s normal, and you can talk to your doctor about ways to help it and not contribute to it. I will say my first pregnancy I had two to three individual episodes of nausea sickness, and this pregnancy it lasted for about two weeks, so it was definitely felt more this time.
In my second trimester, I did start feeling the lower back pain and stretching/soreness of the vaginal ligaments a little sooner and more intense compared to the first pregnancy. I asked my doctor about that, and apparently it’s very normal to “feel it” a bit more the second time around, and even more so the third, fourth, etc. This is because your vaginal walls have already been stretched from the first pregnancy. To be specific, my first pregnancy I started experiencing back pain around 5 1/2 months. This time, I started feeling it by 4 1/2 months. So I felt it quicker, and more intensely too. Personally, trimester two was my least favorite because of the back pain and soreness.
So now here I am in my third trimester. To be honest, this trimester has flown by just like the first. One fun thing you can do in your third trimester which I highly recommend is a 4d/5d ultra-scan. We did this our first pregnancy too. It used to be 3d/4d, but in just three short years 5d became available..so of course we took advantage. At 30 weeks, I did mine locally in San Antonio at Goldenview Ultrasound, but whereever you reside, just google local 4d sonogram boutiques in your area. Your doctor can do it too of course, but then it is considered medical and not really for all the pretty pics! At a 4d facility you usually pay for a 30 minute session, where you can capture all the photos and video of your little angel! You can even record the heartbeat, and have it added to a device placed in a little stuffed animal. Is that not the best keepsake ever!!?? Yes it is! It’s crazy, because now that my son is old enough to understand we show him the heart beat bear quite often, and it amazes him to know that it was his heart beat while in my tummy. We actually have our last 4d medical sonogram with our doctor in just a few days, so we’ll get to see her again !
As far as the way I’m feeling this last trimester, overall great! I have an active job as an Event Market Manager and have still been going strong! These last few weeks have been so incredibly busy though. Right after Halloween we started getting the nursery together. We dropped my son off one Saturday at the grandparents house, and my hubby and I started the nursery process with a paint job! We are starting from scratch all over again with this nursery. We have made a lot of progress, but still even as I write this post, we are only about 50% done with the room. I promise to do an entire post dedicated to our modern baby girl nursery as soon as it’s completed. Until then, here’s a sneak peak at my daughter’s beautiful flower wall that we did ourselves!
A few days after Christmas I did my maternity shoot. I ordered a simple maxi dress off Amazon, and headed to the Japanese Tea Gardens to do the shoot. The photos came out great ! Shout out to Joel Byrd Photography for doing a great job once again! Here’s a few photos to share. I suggest doing a few by yourself and then a few with your family too!
A few days after my shoot was my baby shower! I have decided to do an entire post dedicated to my shower so stay tuned for that !
So, my final thoughts so far? I have about 4 weeks left. We are in the home inning stretch! Over all, I’m grateful for a speedy and healthy pregnancy so far. Just know that every pregnancy is different so it has been interesting to compare both my pregnancies. If you are a new mom expecting for the first time, make sure you have a plan in place early so that there are no surprises if things don’t pan out exactly the way you thought. I would also recommend documenting as much as you can as your body changes because it makes for great memories that you will love looking back on. Also, be sure that you take care of all the pre-registration process with your insurance, hospital, and OBGYN so that you are more than prepared for the financial cost of having a baby. My last piece of advice would just be to listen to your body and take it a bit easier when you can. Trust me, I know this can be hard, I’m a workaholic and I love to be busy and on the go but sometimes while pregnant you are a literally out of breath or just tired or sleepy. So cut yourself some slack and take it easy sometimes.
If this is your second pregnancy, well at least like me you have somewhat of a frame of reference to go off of based off your first pregnancy. I went into this one open minded, knowing that things could be different due to the fact that I am three years older now, and because every pregnancy is different. I have experienced some differences here and there, but for the most part it hasn’t been anything drastic. If this is your second pregnancy, and it’s been a completely different experience for you please share below in the comments because I’d love to know, and I’m sure my readers would enjoy reading a different perspective as well.
I really hope you have enjoyed this post and following me along this journey. Again John and I are so excited to welcome our daughter to this world in just a few weeks, and I promise to keep you guys updated! Are you expecting? If so, comment below how far along you are! For daily content you can follow me on Instagram.
