20 Weeks - Fun with Family!

Over the halfway point - this is getting real!

Forgot to ask my family
for a photo before they left!

Whew, my belly is getting big. I feel like I'm past 20 weeks already. Less than two weeks before we get to find out the gender! Then perhaps we'll share a name we've decided on.

Well, this has been a good full week. My mom and dad have been visiting, and my brother Tom was able to drive over for several days as well! I turned 27 on Friday, which suddenly feels a lot older than 26. We all had a great time celebrating with good food, and met up with James' parents as well! My sweet brother even baked me a cookie cake.

Yesterday I took my dad and my brother to hike the Konza Prairie Nature Trail. I'm enjoying all that Kansas has to offer before we move to California - I have really grown to enjoy this place. It's been a wonderful two years.

Konza Prairie Nature Trail

James should get back in a week! Zoie and I can't wait - she gets so excited when we talk about "dada". I don't think she quite understands time yet, but I feel like she knows he's coming home soon. He's going to be amazed with how much her language skills have developed in the last month! She has started saying more 2-syllable words, and even a 3-syllable word here and there. She's picking up new real words every day! In addition to real words, her babbling has increased tenfold. She'll constantly jabber and mimic the inflections of our conversations, and laugh a little too. She even makes funny hand gestures to really get her point across.

After dinner at So Long Saloon, yum!

In the midst of our family fun, I caught an unfortunate stomach bug that has brought me down for the last few days. Zoie had the same virus about a week ago. Hopefully we can move on and stay healthy for a while! Being pregnant AND sick is definitely not fun...

Today, we are back to a quiet house since family left this afternoon. Zoie had the best time playing with "Pa" (Grandpa), "Ga" (Grandma") and "Ta (Thomas) in the last week. Her favorite game was follow-the-leader with pull toys! She had quite an elaborate obstacle course to follow, which involved sitting, standing, running, and looping around furniture. She's going to be a little lonely now with just me to play with. Time for some more Nana & Papa visits with James' parents!

How far along are you? Turned 20 weeks on Friday.
 
How big is Baby? Baby #2 weighs about 10.5 ounces, and measures 6.5 inches from head to bottom, or 10 inches head to heel. Our little baby is working his/her digestive system by gulping down several ounces of amniotic fluid these days, and starting to develop meconium in his/her bowels. Those are sure fun diapers to change when the baby is born!

Weight Gain? I weighed in at 132.5 this week, so looks like I'm up about 6.5 pounds so far.

Gender? Maybe I'll try and move our sonogram up a few days since James is getting back earlier. But otherwise, it's on the 16th. I'm sensing that it's a boy, but I would be thrilled with either!

Maternity Clothes? I'm starting to wear more maternity tops, mostly because they are more flattering and make me look pregnant instead of just overweight.

Sleep? Between my stomach bug, congestion from allergies, and Zoie waking up often because her 2nd year molars are busting through her gums, sleep isn't great! Luckily, my mom was able to help with Zoie during the night so I could sleep more.

Movement? Feeling movement many times throughout the day! Getting stronger all the time.

Food Cravings? Well, I've had no appetite lately because of this stomach bug. I just want to drink juice and avoid meat. Not terribly healthy...

Labor Signs? Nope!

Symptoms? Allergy symptoms have eased up! Hallelujah. Huge improvement to my life when I can breath normally and taste the food I eat!

What I miss? I miss cuddling with Zoie without being concerned about squishing baby #2. This baby is starting to feel rather large in my belly! And it's only the beginning...

Best moment(s) of the week? Best part of my week was seeing my family loving on our kiddo. It's fun when you have so many people in your life who adore your kid as much as you do! I love being able to talk about Zoie when no one gets sick of hearing how awesome she is :)

What I am looking forward to? Having James home soon! And I'm excited to start planning for our move to California, it's coming up quickly in June!

Cheers,

Martha

18... 19 Weeks - The Bad and the Good

Wow, we're almost halfway there!

Getting bigger!

As you might have noticed, I missed my 18 week update! Last Saturday, our basement flooded with an inch of sewer water when the city sewer line backed up, and it took most of my weekend trying to coordinate help and manage the situation! It was quite the disaster.

Of course things go wrong when your spouse is away... but I wasn't quite expecting this. Luckily, I had professional help come within a few hours after noticing the sewage backup! The local plumber, the city sewer workers, and someone from a cleanup/restoration company ALL came Saturday night. The next morning, the cleanup/restoration team returned to strip all the flooring, carpet, and remove contaminated drywall from the downstairs. I was impressed with how promptly we were taken care of! I'm glad our landlord was quick to hire help.

As tempting as it was to be involved and salvage more of our stuff before it got wet, I had to keep myself away from the situation as much as possible. Being pregnant, I needed to be extra careful to avoid the contaminated water full of bacteria and viruses!

Luckily, we don't keep many household goods in the downstairs basement area, so we had limited damage to our personal belongings. Our camping packs got a little wet on the bottom, but nothing we can't bleach and sanitize. We lost maybe $100 worth of supplies - it could've been way worse.

Now that our downstairs is completely torn up, we're getting estimates from a few contractors to replace the flooring and drywall. I'm glad everything is clean, but I'm anxious for our laundry room and den to have a floor!

My parents are visiting right now, so it's nice to have some good to offset the bad! We've had fun going to restaurants and taking Zoie to the playground. Zoie calls them "Ga" for grandma, and "Pa" for grandpa. She wakes up in the morning exclaiming "Ga-Pa-Ga-Pa-Ga-PA!" and runs to knock on their door. It's so fun to see them bonding again after several months apart!

How far along are you? 19 weeks  as of yesterday.
 
How big is Baby? About the size of a large mango! Six inches from head to rump, and weighs 8.5 ounces. He/she is growing hair, kidneys are producing urine, and the baby is now developing a waxy coating called vernix caseosa all over his/her skin as a protectant from the amniotic fluid.

Weight Gain? My current weight is 131, so I'm up 5 pounds total. I just checked my 19 week blogpost from my first pregnancy, I gained exactly 5 pounds by 19 weeks as well! Right on track.

Gender? Our sonogram is scheduled for April 16th!

Maternity Clothes? My middle is definitely getting bigger, so my maternity pants are quite comfortable now. Haven't really started wearing maternity tops yet - my looser regular tops work fine.

Sleep? Sleep isn't so great. Even when Zoie sleeps through the night, I'll still wake up several times because I'm thirsty or my throat is dry. My allergies and congestion make it tough to breath through my nose at night.

Movement? Movement is getting stronger! I can feel kicks from the outside sometimes when I press my hand on my abdomen, but they're pretty gentle since the baby is still tiny.

Food Cravings? Not really, things have been pretty normal. Oddly, I'm not craving citrus this pregnancy the same way I craved it with Zoie. I have noticed that tomato-y things have been especially delicious though.

Labor Signs? Nothing.

Symptoms? Pregnancy allergies are the worst! It's been over 3 weeks now of constant sneezing, runny nose, congestion, sinus pressure, itchy eyes... Some days are better than others, but since the warm weather arrived here in Kansas my allergy symptoms have been rough! Last spring, I didn't have ANY allergies, but two years ago when I was pregnant with Zoie I did experience mild springtime allergies in Kansas. I hope they disappear when we move to California this summer!

What I miss? Starting to miss my old body. The in-between bump stage is always awkward. And since this is my second pregnancy, my veins (especially on the right side of my body) are really getting stressed with the added pressure of a growing baby. My right leg has a couple awesome-looking varicose veins, and a few sunburst-patterned spider veins. YAY.

Best moment(s) of the week? It's been nice to have the house full of family while James is away, I'm grateful to not be alone! I'm pretty blessed to have my in-laws living close by AND my parents visiting right now.

What I am looking forward to? I can't wait to be able to talk to James again - he's been in a 2-week training mission with no cell phone, so I really miss him! Hopefully by Friday he'll be able to contact me!

Cheers,

Martha

17 Weeks - Being a Solo-Mama & Playground Woes

Here we go, back to being a solo-mama for a month. Nothing compared to deployment, but it's still a challenge!

Had to take my own pic...
17 week selfie with Zoie!

James headed out late Thursday night to spend a month in a training session. Hopefully this will be the last time I'm without him for a long time! Our future Army plans don't involve jobs that deploy or have long training rotations. This is wonderful for our growing family - we need daddy around!

Of course the day after James leaves, Zoie gets her first serious injury on the playground. She tripped over her feet while running on the soft green turf, and just happened to fall forward and hit her eyebrow on the play structure she was about to climb onto! Blood was everywhere, tears were falling,  and I was scared she might need stitches!

We were a mile away from home, with just the stroller, a bottle of water, and an extra sweatshirt. I used the sweatshirt and water to mop up her blood and try to stop the bleeding. Luckily, a nice lady at the playground who happened to live close by ran up to her house and grabbed a baggie of ice for us. Once Zoie had calmed down and we got the bleeding to stop, I realized her cut wasn't quite so serious. I carried her the 1 mile back to our house, while pushing our little dog Brownie in the stroller. We must've looked pretty peculiar strolling by in the neighborhood!

I stopped by our neighbor's house who was a nurse, just to get her opinion about Zoie needing stitches or not. She assured me Zoie would be just fine after I cleaned it with a bit of soap and water. That was a relief! Can you imagine a toddler trying to leave stitches on her face alone!?

A few days later and Zoie's cut is healing just fine. It makes me re-think my preparedness when we go out - I'm going to carry a few antiseptic wipes, little gauze pads, and bandaids. I haven't had a first-aid kit in my diaper bag or stroller, but I think it's time to carry at least a few essentials!

Back to the baby #2 show - overshadowed by Zoie's antics! Our 17-week tiny baby is busy growing its skeleton from soft cartilage into hard bones! He/she is also starting to develop sweat glands and his/her sense of hearing.

How far along are you? 17 weeks as of Friday.
 
How big is Baby? Our little baby already weighs 5-6 ounces! He/she is over 5 inches long from head to bottom, so imagine an onion or a turnip.

Weight Gain? My weight continues to fluctuate! I weight the same as last week, 129.5lb. Total gain = 3.5lb

Gender? One month and we'll know! I'm still predicting boy. Which means I'll probably be wrong :)

Maternity Clothes? Still not bumping out much, so my regular shirts are fine. I can't fit into most of my jeans without using my BeBand though. Gotta keep that top button unfastened :)

Sleep? Up and down. Depends on how Zoie sleeps. It's a little lonely without James at the moment, so I've been letting Brownie snuggle in bed... shhhh!

Movement? I feel movement every day! A little kick here and there, or sometimes I feel a little pressure as our baby shifts around.

Food Cravings? I wish I could drink more coffee. I'm limiting myself to a latte one or twice a week! Really, I could drink coffee all day long. Decaf just isn't worth it though. Bring on the tea!

Labor Signs? Nope.

Symptoms? Well, I got re-tested and still have Gardnerella bacteria. My home remedy of apple cider vinegar didn't work. I drank two tablespoons every day for over 2 weeks! *Sigh* oh well. Only 5 days of antibiotics and I'll be done.

What I miss? James!

Best moment(s) of the week? We got Zoie a slide for our front deck. It's life-changing! Morning till dusk we slide down the slide! Her Bitty Baby and Spiderman action figure also enjoy the slide.

What I am looking forward to? Lot of fun things this week - dressing Zoie up for St. Patty's Day, day trip to IKEA with my mother-in-law (who else loves their shopping carts!?), and my parents flying in for a visit next week!

Cheers,

Martha

16 Weeks - Enjoying 2nd Trimester

Randomly wearing the same
shirt as last time at 16 weeks!

16 weeks, yahoo!

This has been a great week! I'm feeling good, I've had several nights of good sleep, and I'm enjoying more baby kicks.

Our Kansas weather has finally turned warm, and it's been life-changing! We've been outside every day going on walks, BBQing and hanging out on our deck, visiting with neighbors, and of course, going to the playground! Zoie loves being outside, and it's such a relief not to be cooped up inside anymore.

Zoie is growing into quite a decisive little toddler. Lately she's been very opinionated with little things like putting on shoes or a sweater, taking a bath (or being done with the bath), and brushing her teeth (or wanting to continue brushing forever). Little things can quickly become huge issues with big drama! It's kind of funny, but can be frustrating for us of course. We try to use humor and redirecting to keep the peace. She definitely doesn't want to listen to logic at this stage!

Zoie also started taunting our little dog. She'll take Brownie's toy and tease her with it, but she'll get mad if Brownie actually takes it. Sometimes Zoie gets a little rough with Brownie because she isn't playing the way Zoie wants her to play! I'm envisioning some big sister drama with her little sibling in the future... Oh well, one day at a time!

How far along are you? 16 weeks as of Friday.
 
How big is Baby? Baby #2 is about 4 1/2 inches long from head to rump, and weighs 3 1/2 ounces! About the size of an avocado.

Weight Gain? My weight fluctuates so much! I weigh half a pound less than last week. Total gain is 3.5 lb.

Gender? I seriously can't wait to find out! Our sonogram is scheduled for April 16th. We might possibly reschedule for a few days earlier, but it depends on James' schedule.

Maternity Clothes? Still wearing my looser jeans and regular shirts. The weather just turned warm, so I started wearing my favorite maternity cropped jeans. They slide down a bit a the moment, but they're so comfortable!

Sleep? Lately, Zoie has been sleeping really well most nights! Which means I've been sleeping much better too. Zoie has started waking up in the morning and playing by herself for 20 minutes before knocking on her door for me to come get her. I definitely enjoy the extra time for myself.

Movement? This week, I've noticed much more movement! This baby is getting strong. It won't be long before we'll be able to feel movement from outside my belly, which will be SO fun to share with James and Zoie!

Food Cravings? Not much has changed, and I'm enjoying most food right now. Even if I had cravings, I'm too busy with Zoie to think much about them. We don't eat a lot of grains in our family, but I have noticed that when I do eat them, I crave them even more! Gluten can be addicting. Most days I try to stay away.

Labor Signs? Nothing.

Symptoms? Is my skin glowing yet? I'm waiting.

What I miss? I would say alcohol, but I've been having a great time being the DD. This Saturday we went to our city's annual "Fake Patty's Day" celebration, a street party infused with drunken college kids and bars packed with DJs spinning Pitbull and Ludacris all afternoon long. It was really fun! My lemonade and orange juice drinks were fabulous. (FYI, Zoie was at home with her Papa!)

Best moment(s) of the week? James' parents watched Zoie for us a couple times so we could get out with our friends, and it was awesome to have some adult time! Ahhhhh it's refreshing to revisit our young pre-baby days.

What I am looking forward to? I'm looking forward to more warm weather this week! James is leaving soon for training, so we'll miss him for a while. Looking forward to spending as much time with him as I can this week!

Cheers,

Martha

15 Weeks - Starting to Prep for Baby #2!

A very comfy outfit!

15 weeks! Our little baby is developing taste buds right now!

Weeks seem to be flying by. I'm going to blink and all of a sudden I'll be 30-something weeks and nesting like crazy!

We're moving from Kansas to California in a few months, so most of our baby preparation will wait until we get to our new home. However, we did buy a double stroller a few weeks ago! After browsing Craigslist for a few weeks, I found a Phil and Ted's Vibe stroller! I bargained for a great deal, and we're pretty happy with our new stroller. It has big inflatable wheels that roll smoothly, and there are several seating configurations for two kids. The city we're moving to has a Stroller Strides fitness class, so I'm ready to be a fit mama! All we need is the newborn Cocoon attachment and we'll be set.

I've also been thinking a lot about sleeping arrangements and room-sharing. Our new baby will sleep in a mini crib by our bed for the first several months, but I think by 6 months we'll be ready to transition our baby to his/her own room. We had Zoie sleeping on her floor bed in her room at 6 months old, which worked out really well.

So I'm wondering, would it work to have two floor beds in a shared room? Would either kiddo interfere with the other's sleep? We could try a real crib for the second baby, but I'm not a huge fan. It's hard to carefully lower a sleeping baby deep into a crib when I'm only 5'2! And what about easy nighttime nursing laying down on the baby's bed?

Perhaps it would work if we elevated Zoie's mattress with a small bed or frame. At least then the new baby wouldn't be able to crawl up and climb on Zoie when they're both (supposed to be) sleeping.

Oh well, lots to think about! Here's this week's pregnancy update:

How far along are you? 15 weeks as of Friday.
 
How big is Baby? Our little baby is about 4 inches long, and weighs about 2.5 ounces. He/she is the size of an apple.

Weight Gain? 4 pounds so far.

Gender? We have to wait a few more weeks! Still predicting a boy. With Zoie we got to find out the gender at 18 weeks, but with this baby we'll have to wait until after 20 weeks.

Maternity Clothes? I've been wearing my slightly looser jeans and leggings and staying pretty comfortable. Tried on my Gap maternity jeans, definitely not big enough for those yet.

Sleep? Some nights I sleep deeply, other nights not as much. Still going to the bathroom at least twice per night! I definitely won't miss that about pregnancy.

Movement? I still don't notice the movement very often, but here and there I feel a little bit of pressure and pokes.

Food Cravings? I've re-discovered fried eggs. YUM! Other than that, there's not much I've craving or averse to. The taste of salt is pretty intense for me, so I've been avoiding really salty food. I often need James to taste whatever I'm cooking to make sure I've seasoned it enough. It's funny, my intense taste of salt is one of the first pregnancy signs I experienced! I knew I was pregnant even before my test read positive.

Labor Signs? Nope, nothing yet.

Symptoms? My emotions run all over the place. I can get upset about the dumbest things.

What I miss? I miss shopping for regular clothes. Since I'm not bumping out yet, it's easy to forget I'm pregnant and be tempted to buy cute clothes. But that seems a little pointless right now...

Best moment(s) of the week? My sister-in-law and her family visited for a few days this last week, and we had a lot of fun hanging out with them. Zoie loved having playdates with her cousins at the library, discovery center, and open gym! We all got to enjoy a few dinners together too. It was sad to say goodbye!

What I am looking forward to? After several inches of snow this weekend, we're getting warm weather next weekend. It's supposed to be in the mid-50's. Dog park, playground, and long walks here we come! Maybe even the zoo?

Cheers,

Martha

14 Weeks, Round Two!

Already one third of the way there!

Looks like I just ate 5 hamburgers.

I'm trying to enjoy being pregnant as much as I can, before the discomfort sets in. Right now life hasn't changed much, aside from not drinking alcohol and a few other activities.

My last pregnancy really was pretty easy, but the thought of becoming huge again is a little daunting. I appreciate being small so much! Life is so much better and easier. How am I supposed to carry Zoie when my belly is huge? How will I ever get comfortable sleeping? I won't be able to climb up on the counter anymore to reach high cupboards!

I'm really not looking forward to the mega-belly. But then again, the tummy-shifting baby kicks are pretty fun!

Things are going well and I'm feeling good, but I'm clearing up a bacterial infection right now. Apparently it's common in pregnancy for the bacteria in your vagina to get out of balance, especially since your body becomes more alkaline. I'm drinking two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar per day as a natural remedy to make my body more acidic and restore the balance of bacteria. Hopefully it works! Otherwise I'll take some antibiotics. I'm going to get re-tested in a few weeks. If this condition is left untreated, it can cause preterm labor later in pregnancy. We definitely don't want that!

Here we are, back to the pregnancy updates!

How far along are you? 14 weeks as of friday, welcome to 2nd trimester!
 
How big is Baby? Our baby #2 is about 3.4 inches long, and weighs around 1.5 oz. He/she is about the size of a lemon!

Weight Gain? When I first found out I was pregnant, I weighed 126. This morning I weighed in at 128.6, so I've gained 2 and a half pounds.

Gender? Not sure yet, but I'm predicting a boy. It seems everyone around us is having girls, somebody needs to have a boy!

Maternity Clothes? Last night I grabbed my favorite jeans from the dryer, and realized they were really getting snug in the waist. I dug out my BeBand and wore it so I could sneakily keep my top button unfastened. Ahhhh so much better! Not to mention we were about to head out to a delicious Mexican restaurant, so I needed the extra room!

Sleep? I've come to terms with never having a full night of sleep. Zoie still wakes up sometimes, and we have to hold her or rock her back to sleep. Sometimes she'll just cry for a minute and fall back asleep, but it still wakes me up! Even on my own, I wake up because I'm thirsty or have to pee.

Movement? This pregnancy is different, because I'm already feeling movement! It's pretty awesome. I don't notice it very often, but when I'm still or relaxed sometimes I'll feel little pokes.

Food Cravings? I had a chicken aversion last month, but now I seem fine with most foods. Smells bother me more than actual food. I'm craving sweets, which is a problem. Girl Scout cookies didn't last long in our house. Sour things have been delicious too.

Labor Signs? Nada.

Belly Button in or out? In. I don't anticipate it going anywhere soon!

What I miss? Wine and margaritas. With this pregnancy, I'm feeling much more relaxed with the "rules." After living in Kansas for almost 2 years, we've been enjoying local raw honey and farm fresh eggs. I'm not going to stop using the raw honey, and I don't mind eating a little raw cookie dough. The risks are almost zero when you know and trust the source of your food.

Best moment(s) of the week? James had a 4-day weekend this last week, so the best part was spending extra time with him. On Valentine's Day, we left Zoie with her Papa and went out to dinner! It was so nice to focus on us for a bit and enjoy one of our favorite restaurants, So Long Saloon.

What I am looking forward to? My sister-in-law and her family are visiting next week! Zoie gets to play with her cousins, so we'll have lots of fun!

Cheers,

Martha

We have an announcement...

 

 We're pregnant with Baby Bowen #2!

It's such a blessing to have another little one on the way - we couldn't be more excited! Zoie is going to love being a big sister. I love thinking about our little family blossoming into a big bunch. We have a beautiful adventure ahead of us! The companionship, the chaos, the memories. 

Being pregnant this time around is a pretty different experience. I'm about 13 weeks along right now, so my due date is August 21st. My symptoms are pretty similar, but I keep forgetting I'm pregnant while I'm chasing Zoie around all day. There's no time to daydream about the tiny one inside me, or spend all my time researching the best baby products and planning the nursery. What if it's a girl? We won't need to prepare for much at all! I'm kind of hoping it's a boy, just so I can have some fun redesigning Zoie's room into a shared girl/boy toddler room/nursery.

We've narrowed potential names down to a couple that we love, but of course we're keeping it hush hush for another couple months. It was hard to find a girl name we loved as much as Zoie Elizabeth, but we did!

Zoie loves to point at my belly and say "baby!", and she loved seeing the baby during our 12-week ultrasound. Baby dolls are her favorite toy to play with, so I think she'll be quite pleased she's getting her very own brother or sister to spend time with. I love watching her play with her dolls and animals - she wraps them in blankets, sings and rocks them to sleep, and makes sure to offer them food and water. She even wrapped a banana in a blanket and pretended it was drinking from her water bottle, sound effects and everything!

She's almost 19 months now, and she's the most hilarious little person I've ever met. She comes up with the funniest ideas, and is such a joy to watch. Of course, she gets upset about equally hilarious things, and it takes quite a bit of effort to remember that her sad feelings are real for her! "You cut the peel on my banana? How could you!?" ... or "Why can't I play on my bouncy toy over the hard tile floor? I don't want to play on the carpet!" ...Usually some hugs and redirecting cheer her up.

I keep imagining life with a newborn and a toddler. Our baby carriers are going to get a workout! I love my soft Happy wrap and Maya sling for tiny babies. Zoie was held or worn most of the time when she was a newborn, so I'm pretty sure we'll be wearing our new baby most of the time while we chase Zoie! I LOVE babywearing - it's so nice to be hands-free while snuggling your baby. Not to mention keeping their temperature and body systems regulated by being close to you!

Just like with Zoie, I'll be posting pregnancy updates and bump pictures every Friday! It'll be fun to compare week by week with last time.

Happy Valentine's Day and have a great weekend!

Cheers,

Martha