The Truth About My Pregnancy (Five Things Friday)

Instead of writing about five things I'm liking this Friday, I will tell you about five things that are very different in my second pregnancy.

Obviously every pregnancy is different, but just how different? Let's see.

1. Morning sickness (aka ALL day sickness)- This has been the biggest difference with this pregnancy. I was sick ALL day everyday for about sixteen weeks and still get a little nauseous in the afternoons sometimes. It was by far the worst I've ever felt! I'm so glad I'm over it for the most part. I was sick only a few times with Elliot and by twelve weeks, it was completely over.

2. Tiredness- I am tired 24/7. I remember being tired with Elliot's pregnancy, but only for the first trimester then slowly gained my energy back. Plus we lived in a 500sq/ft apartment and cleaned it in about an hour. Adding a toddler to the mix isn't easy! Having a house to clean is exhausting! Working forty hours a week is also tough. Eternal exhaustion should be in the parent dictionary. Whinertown as well. ;)

3. Weight gain- I never really lost all of the baby weight I gained with Elliot's pregnancy (I gained a lot!), and that didn't help at all on this one. Besides the fact that I started showing way sooner, all of my weight gain has always gone to my mid section. I am so uncomfortable this time around since I am much bigger than I was with Elliot at this point! I've gotten a few comments about that and I know they're not ill- intentioned at all, but I still feel self conscious about it. I have been eating much healthier and I do feel so much better about that. It was free for all with Elliot's pregnancy.

4. Irritable- With Elliot's pregnancy, my hormones were in all the right places I guess, Jack says I was so nice and not hormonal at all (ha!). I agree with him. This time, I find myself getting frustrated easily with Elliot. Add all of the above mentioned points and that equals a very irritable me. I hope it gets better!

5. Miserable- All in all, I will be completely honest and admit that so far, I haven't been enjoying this pregnancy as much as I should. Don't get me wrong, I am ecstatic about our little addition, but I'm not enjoying what my body is going through as much this time around. I'm admitting this in hopes that there's a few of you out there who are on the same boat. Is this normal? Did you feel this way? Does it go away?

The one thing I am fully loving right now is that I get to feel this baby boy moving all over, and I can't wait to be further along for Jack and Elliot to feel him too. I also love that my body is carrying a baby and I know that once I have him in my arms, all of these feelings won't matter one bit. I know I will think back and laugh at this post! I'm looking forward to that. For now, I want to be honest about what I'm going through right now. I didn't want to admit it, but once I talked to Jack about it, I felt so much better. Oh the joys of pregnancy! :)

I Am Heart Shaped

For today's post, instead of giving you an update on my pregnancy, I want to tell you a story.

With this second pregnancy, I truly expected everything to go normal just as it did with Elliot's. His was a breeze compared to this one in every sense of the word. I was sick only a few times, tired yes, but mostly able to function and ate everything in sight- literally.

I know everyone says every pregnancy is different, and boy that couldn't be more true for me. Jack and I went to the very first sonogram to hear the baby's heartbeat and to get the first picture. I had both a belly and an internal ultrasound. I think I was about eight weeks pregnant. We heard the heartbeat then saw the little gummy bear, but not before the tech broke the news that I had a bicornuate uterus. Huh? A what?

When I was seventeen, I went to the doctor for a checkup and he had mentioned that I had a uterus shaped differently but never said how, or gave me any explanation. I left it at that.

Back with the ultrasound tech, I asked, what is that? He then mentioned that I basically had a split uterus or heart shaped as it is informally referred to. He double and triple checked, and yeap, he confirmed. I was taken aback because if I remember correctly, he was actually the same tech that I had when I was pregnant with Elliot! I'm not sure why it hadn't been discovered before.

He let my doctor know what was going on, but we didn't get to talk to him since he was called in to a c-section. We went in the following Monday and that's when we sat down with him and he explained my condition. We wouldn't know if my uterus is completely split in half or a true heart shaped one unless I undergo an MRI which is something that isn't in my plans. He also said that this pregnancy is considered high risk as with this type of uterus, the baby usually doesn't have enough room to grow, sometimes the pregnancy doesn't develop, or premature birth can occur. A bicornuate uterus is the product of a malformation when I was in my mom's uterus, isn't that insane? The human body is mind blowing!

That actually explains a lot now with Elliot's pregnancy. He was a little bit early and weighed only 5lb. 7oz. I had the worst contractions and couldn't control the pain; I had to undergo an emergency c-section. My doctor went back to Elliot's ultrasounds and we found out that he developed on the left side of my uterus and this baby boy is on the right side. Craziness I tell you.

I was so relieved when Jack told the doctor that we wanted to see this pregnancy as normal and not high risk, why have the added worry? I already delivered one healthy baby without having all of this information about my body. We already have so much to worry about as it is, we don't need or want any extra. We leave it in God's hands. The doctor agreed with us but said that I still needed to go see a specialist and continue to go till the end of my pregnancy. Just to make sure me and the baby are okay.

We had a scare where I had some spotting and cramping that lasted a few days, but after a quick visit to the doctor, both of us are doing great.

So there you have it, I have a heart shaped uterus that is carrying a second baby and so far so good, thank God!

Do any of you have this or any other condition that you found out about until you were expecting? A second baby nonetheless? :)

The Day We Found Two Pink Lines

It was a Saturday night and we had purchased a bag of blood oranges. So deliciously sweet but a bit tart at the same time. Like a mix between an orange and a grapefruit. I looked up some blood orange margarita recipes, but ultimately ended up coming up with my own concoction and boy were they good. Really good.

I made the first one and the only one I would drink that night and the last one for the next nine months. I remember taking the last sip and getting up to make another one, but then this strange feeling came over me. It felt wrong, I felt as if I were doing something wrong. I knew why.

In the last year and a half, we have had a couple of instances where Jack and I thought, this is it, we are having a baby. Only to find out we weren't. I went to my doctor for my regular checkup and he told me I should've been pregnant by now, especially because the previous year at my appointment, he knew we were trying. I'm not sure why but it just wasn't happening. I started with an ovulation kit after this last appointment and that did the trick!

Four or five months later, after starting with the ovulation kit, and after my last sip of that margarita that night, I really knew. I also knew that the ovulation kit came with a pregnancy test. I wasn't so sure it would be positive since I had been drinking water all day and well, the margarita, but I was positive about it. I took the test and after what seemed like an eternity, the slightest hint of a pink line was visible. I ran to Jack and told him I saw a line, I saw two lines! He said he couldn't see it. He said we should wait till the morning, buy another test and take it then but I couldn't wait. I drove to the pharmacy and bought a box of three, but this time I wasn't going to mess around with lines, I needed the one where it clearly tells you pregnant or not pregnant. I took another one and we could clearly see it! It said pregnant! I took two more, one the next morning and one a few days later, just to be sure.

I was overcome with feelings, happy and sad. It made me miss my dad more than ever. It also made me mad because it made me miss my dad more than ever. The fact that he's now missing out on the lives of five soon to be six grandchildren is infuriating, but I want to be positive about everything and enjoy this moment for what it is. Such is life and it goes on. You can read about that here.

So here it is, another baby Brown waiting to meet the world, mama, daddy and big brother and we cannot wait!