11 Weeks Pregnant!

It’s reeeeeeallly hard for me to believe I’m already almost three months pregnant?!?! I still feel like it’s all SO NEW. Btw YAY for my first actual weekly pregnancy post that is being posted on the day it’s supposed to 😉

Baby Growth: This week Leo is about 1 1/2 inches long…roughly the size of a fig. I picture a Fig Newton when I think of fig so this photo shocked me 😉 He or she is starting to get teeth under the gums and is moving like a wild person in there. It says I won’t be able to feel movement for another couple of months. I realllllllly hope I’ll be able to feel this baby as much as I did Britt!!!

Symptoms: It says that at this point I should be getting more energy and less sickness. Ha. Ha. Ha. I wish!!! My night sickness seemed to die down for a couple days but the past few has been ROUGH. Last night I actually did go in the bathroom and sit with my head in the toilet, although nothing came out. I even got in the bed at 8:30 b/c I just felt so horrible. I have this icky bile taste in my mouth and this burning on my throat a lot and it’s disgusting. My mouth will be super dry and I will feel SO thirsty but even when I drink a big glass of water I’ll still feel that way. I wake up feeling pretty good in the mornings and the sickness has been setting in a little later than before (more like 6ish than 4ish). But it’s no fun at all! I have found that dairy (random!) kinda helps my tummy settle a bit? I noticed the days I ate a sundae cup treat thing I didn’t feel as sick!

I FINALLY cleaned my house this week!!! I, legit, hadn’t cleaned it since Dec 7th which was Britt’s party. It was GROSS. I got my butt in gear b/c we had some people over Monday night to watch the National Championship Game. I love it being clean! However, getting it that way wore me out!

I hadn’t planned on hardcore watching the game…I was hoping we’d be up by a lot so I could go to bed. But goodness that did NOT happen! It was an AWESOME game and I stayed up for the whole thing. I felt SO emotional during it…nervous and anxious…and it made me thankful that Zach no longer plays football. And it made me nervous if our son(s) play someday!!! I told Zach and Jordan that if either (or both) Casey and I have boys that we can tell them a great story someday if they end up choosing to play football. Being in our bellies during that awesome game made them destined for football greatness haha! So proud the Seminoles brought it home!!!

I’ve heard people call it “baby brain” or “placenta brain” or “pregnancy brain” but whatever you call it, I am suffering from it!!! This past Saturday I went to get out a food gift card I’d bought for my friend, Julie, who just had a baby. Well I couldn’t find it. Anywhere. The worst part is that the bag it was in also had roughly $200 worth of other gift cards in it. Zach and I enjoy sending random blessings to others during the holidays and with me being so sick I just grabbed several gift cards from Target rather than trying to anonymously deliver cash. I figured I’d get them delivered after the holidays but they are GONE. I’m assuming they all got thrown away in the rush of Christmas?!?!? I didn’t plan to say anything to Zach about it. I mean the money is already spent on them ya know? 

But then I went to get some cash the other night in order to pay for something for Kye’s school and couldn’t find our cash. We typically don’t keep any cash on us before before going to NYC I got a couple hundred dollars to bring just in case we needed it. Of course I came home with majority of it left over and planned to put it back in the bank. I remember taking it out on Monday when I was cleaning and setting it aside but when I couldn’t find it I realized I must have thrown it away. At that point I had to tell Zach. I did a good lead in to it with saying “You love me unconditionally right? And you totally value honesty?” and he wasn’t very upset. He even helped me open up the nasty trash bags in the garage to help me find it. I’m SO glad I told him and that we looked because, sure enough, we found it!!! Sadly, I think the giftcards are gone though 🙁

I’ve heard that pregnancy brain only gets worse and worse with each pregnancy. I am NERVOUS to see what I will be like the next time I’m pregnant! I imagine it’s going to be ROUGH. I literally can’t remember anything. Even just today I went to take my pregnancy pictures for this week and I couldn’t find my belly stickers. I ended up borrowing one from the pack I’m sending out to the giveaway winner haha! Thanks Sara for letting me borrow today 😉

I went shopping for our monthly groceries this week and I’m not sure how much longer I will be able to do it? That buggy gets HEAVY super fast. I may have to start asking someone to take my buggy to the front for me and give me a new one when I’m halfway done with my shopping? The good thing about me feeling so sick is that I def wasn’t tempted to over-buy anything or get any junk 🙂

I had a pretty bad migraine Saturday night that carried over into Sunday as well. I ended up taking two Tylenol and it really helped. I also kinda got one during the game Monday night…probably from all the cheering 😉

When I wake up in the morning and I’m laying flat on my back I can feel the hardness of the baby in my tummy. Today I actually noticed that my stomach is getting tender to the touch in some places. I can also feel it getting harder too in some spots! The big thing about a third pregnancy is how FLABBY it all feels. I’m ready for the belly to get big so it will feel hard and tight haha. When I cough I’ve also noticed a random little pain in my lower belly? 

Also on Sunday I wore a tighter fighting sweater dress and I looked SO pregnant! My belly really reminds me of the pictures I had in this post from my pregnancy with Kye. It was def a moment of “wow I’m pregnant!” when I looked in the mirror. I sent this pic to a couple of my friends…Ignore the mess in the background and JUST look at the belly. It’s def there right?!?! There is no hiding that thing!

Weight: This week I’ll remember to put batteries in my scale (or will I? haha). I read that most people typically gain only 2-5 lbs in the first trimester so I do need to see where I’m at with it!

Gender: Casey and Jordan had their ultrasound yesterday (Branch is SO healthy and looks ADORABLE in the pictures!!!) and we will all find out the gender of their baby tomorrow during the gender reveal party! I’m really, really excited!!!

I truly think at this point that Leo is a girl. I feel like my food preferences are just so similar to when I was pregnant with Britt. The big thing with Kye is that I LOVED hamburgers and BEEF but with Britt I didn’t like it at all. This time I’m that same way. Beef makes me wanna vomit. That’s really the only reason I think it’s a girl and I know that’s not a super reliable method for knowing haha! 

With the girl thoughts though I have been STRESSING about a name!!! I just want a girl name so I can feel like either way we KNOW the name. Which I mean we do have to decide on the boy name for sure too (we have two that we love SO much it’s hard to pick!). We talked a good bit about girl names this week and we have found one or two that we both like. However, I’m not 100% confident yet that we have “the one.” I may actually write a blog post with kinda our name guidelines and see if yall can help me 🙂

Maternity Clothes: A couple times this week my bra felt tight. Guess the girls are growin’! I also could use the bella band as I just don’t like ANY flab hanging over when I wear pants. I’m very anti-muffin top haha. Both the Bella Band and the bigger bras are in the attic with the maternity stuff so that is all probably going to come down decently soon. I doubt I’ll be needing the clothes for a LONG time though. I bought some clothes with my Christmas money and bought a lot of larger sizes and flowy type things. I really needed long shirts to wear with my yoga pants and being pregnant it just makes sense to buy stuff that will fit for a long time! 

Movement: I have felt a few strange feelings this week but nothing that made me think movement was occurring. I’m SO nervous that I won’t be able to feel this baby as much!!!

Sleep: Yall. Seriously. It’s baaaaaad. I am so so so so so so so tired. I’ve never, ever been so tired in my entire life. I have ZERO energy. Actually, take that back, I have NEGATIVE amounts of energy. Everything is exhausting. In probably one of the lowest moments of my mothering career: Britt was awake at 3:50 a couple days ago from her nap. I told Kye I was going to sit on the couch for a second and get a little rest before we got her up. Next thing I knew? I was 5:10 and I had just woken up from sleeping!!! Seriously! I totally just FELL ASLEEP!!! Poor Britt! I mean she was fine. She was happy as could be in her crib and had been banging on the wall (how did I sleep through that?) and yelling “Watch Aladdin! Aladdin Handsome!” Thankfully Kye also played beautifully with some toys on the coffee table while I snoozed. Maybe my children are too good?!?! I gotta have someone keep me AWAKE!

Casey and I went out Saturday for lunch and to run some errands. I mean we ate lunch and then I was DONE. I felt so bad b/c I was NOT my normal self for the errand running. I was so out of it. I feel like I’m literally just a zombie shell of my former self. I drink a Spark every afternoon and it doesn’t help. Nothing does! More sleep doesn’t help. Being busy doesn’t help. Being lazy doesn’t help. I am just ALWAYS tired.

Today I picked Kye up from school and the first thing his teacher said to me was “Are you feeling okay? Bless your heart you look SO tired.” Um. Thanks? I actually took the time to get ready this morning because Z took my belly pictures so I felt decently cute haha. Guess I was wrong!

I think it’s a third pregnancy thing??? Mrs. Charlotte said she was the most exhausted when she was pregnant with Casey. And I think we’ve got a relatable situation b/c Britt is JUST like Zach AND Britt is the same age he was when Mrs. Charlotte was pregnant with Casey. You mamas with three babies…is it going to be this way the entire pregnancy?!?!? I am SO nervous that it won’t get better when I hit the second trimester. I mean we’re going to DISNEY. I’m going to dang Ireland. I cannot function until August being like this!!! Any tips or tricks to help me get some energy back???

Cravings: The only time of day that I REALLY want food is breakfast and the ONLY thing I want is my meal replacement shake. We were completely out this morning and I freaked but thankfully checked the front door and our Advocare order for this month had arrived. Just in time 😉 I did make one of my favorite dishes for the party Monday night. I made my spinach and artichoke dip because I knew I wouldn’t want to eat the burgers Zach was cooking. I’ve eaten that junk all week and it’s soooo good! I actually stood and ate the artichokes out of the can b/c they were so yummy when I was cooking it! Zach was out of town Tuesday night and I did get my first legit pregnancy craving: cocoa-no-bakes! The kids and I made them and they are even more delicious than I remember!!!

What I Miss: Going to bed without feeling so sick! Also having ENERGY. I’m really, really over being this tired all the time. However, I’m also SO thankful. Because I could have it so much worse. I ran into a friend, Wendy, at Publix and we got to talking and she said she had to be hospitalized during both of her pregnancies due to sickness. I had friends comment on facebook about my back pain (which has been gone thankfully!) saying that they had to be hospitalized while pregnant due to pains they experienced. While it isn’t fun feeling sick and it’s annoying being so tired: I am in NO WAY grumpy about it. I fully 100% appreciate being pregnant. I love carrying a baby inside of me. I love this entire adventure and I know I am beyond blessed to have, so far, a relatively easy pregnancy. 

Best Moment of the Week: Britt and I were resting (it’s a common “game” around here these days) on the floor in the kitchen (yes, the kitchen. I mean I’ll rest anywhere I can get it!) and she said “kiss the baby!” and pulled up my shirt to give the baby kisses. She also said “see the baby” and tried to look into my belly button. Obviously it was too much cuteness to handle so she then hit my stomach and said “hit the baby” haha. 

Britt also started adding the baby to her prayers which is so sweet and special. Kye went back to school this week from break and was excited to tell his class! His teacher asked me if I had any news because she said she can’t always trust what the kids tell her. I confirmed it for her 😉 Kye told the class he wants a brother but at home he still says it’s a girl!

I also got to go visit with a new baby this week! Sweet little EllaKate is SO tiny and has THE most alert, adorable, bright eyes ever. I loved getting to be around first time parents with their baby. It’s so different from a family who already has kids 😉 Holding her made me excited to get to hold my own little one again. Out of everything I have to say I am THE most excited about nursing. Just that closeness and that bond. I literally could cry thinking about it. 

Also I’ve started nursery planning!!! Originally Zach and I had discussed hiring someone to decorate the nursery for us this time. We’d let them know (and ONLY them!) the sex of the baby. Like have the ultrasound person put it in an envelope or whatever. And then we’d pick both boy and girl nursery themes and have the person decorate the nursery but keep the door locked. Then when we get home from the hospital we’d get to see it for the first time!!! Great idea right?

The issue with it is that I wouldn’t be able to go in the nursery at all until the baby is born. It may seem like a small thing but I want to be able to get things ready and such myself. I like to put things from the showers and such in the room. I love that process!

I did not, however, love how Britt’s nursery went. Waiting until she was born to decorate was awful. Not doing that again! It was SO expensive (because I had a newborn and couldn’t bargain hunt!) and I just didn’t love the end result because I couldn’t fully enjoy the whole process. 

Now with Pinterest there are SO many great gender neutral ideas out there and we decided to just go that route. I want to do something gender neutral but that can easily add in colors to make it more boyish or more girlish. Pretty quickly I thought of the idea to do a travel themed nursery. Zach and I both LOVE travel and it fits us so perfectly plus it can easily go either way for a boy or girl! If you want to see some of the stuff I’m liking so far and what is inspiring me for the room you can view my Pinterest board here!

Questions/Concerns: I have another friend, Claire, who is due a few weeks before me and she said she also recently had the flu and took the same meds I did. It makes me feel SO much less concern about the health of my baby! Knowing someone else had their drs tell her to take it and my drs all said to take it too just really confirms that it was an okay thing to do 🙂

I go to the dr this week! I am SO ready to hear the sweet heartbeat!!! Zach probably won’t go with me since it’s just a check up! I do want to ask about the genetic testing. I didn’t do it with Kye or Britt b/c so often it comes back a false positive and I didn’t want to have reasons to worry. However, Casey did decide to get it with Branch b/c her dr told her that it checks for all kinds of things and that IF something truly is wrong that there are a lot of things that are good to know before the baby is born so they can be prepared to help the baby right at birth. That kinda makes me want to get the test too? I’ve heard that some people get special ultrasounds to test for things but I don’t think we do that kind of thing here? I think it’s just a blood test? Have any of yall gotten it? Or have an opinion about it?

Obviously we would never, ever, ever abort our baby. No matter what. So that’s a big reason I’ve never done the test. Why do it when it wouldn’t ever change my love for my child? However, if there is something we’d need to know about then it’s probably something I should consider doing! Something I def want to talk about at this appointment!

I called and found out the ingredients of the foot shot and will be asking about that this week. I actually tripped just a little bit ago and REALLY hurt it. 🙁 I swear this poor foot is doomed!!! But if there IS a way for me to get the shot before Disney then that would be awesome! It’d be so great if I can get the shot, and it works, and I can be PAIN FREE for our trip!!! Obviously, I’d never do anything to risk harm to Leo so we’ll see what Stacy says about it!

I want to ask about the IV but also about Pitocin. They gave it to me with Kye because I had been pushing for so long and they needed to be able to say they were making progress in order to keep me out of c-section. It isn’t a pain management med, it makes the contractions faster and stronger. I think they also gave it to me with Britt? I heard that the midwife who delivered me always has everyone get it! Well I really don’t want it this round so I want to talk about that!!!

Goals This Week: I got done pretty much everything I wanted to get done from last week! This week I hope to get these Muscle and a Shovel books shipped out to everyone who wanted one (if you haven’t emailed me yet, get on it!) I also HAVE to call and get the kids signed up for swim lessons! Even just the thought of having to take them makes me feel tired haha

I guess I’m probably going to wait until second trimester to go up to visit my friends in Atlanta. I would love to come sooner but it’s just not safe for me to drive that far being this tired! I do want to get a date in mind and start making plans!

I NEED to get my butt back on the elliptical and back doing Bradley! I did terrible this week with both (as in, I didn’t do them at all). People say exercise gives you energy…maybe it’ll help me 😉

Put the batteries in the scale 🙂

I need to take the kids to some CFA family nights leading up to our Disney trip so Britt can get better about the cow to help with the character meets and greets on our trip. I also need to get all the outfits and stuff finalized for that! 

I talked to Autumn this week about doing our delivery pictures (she was in the room with me when I gave birth to Kye and to Britt and took some wonderful photos for us of the whole thing!) and she, understandably, doesn’t want to do it this round. She’s not in photography anymore and I completely understand and support her decision! Thankfully Lindsay (yes, THE Lindsay from Captured by Colson) has agreed to do them for us!!! We have plenty of time to work out all the details but I’m VERY excited! I love Lindsay both professionally and personally and think it’ll be a great experience. Plus it’s kinda fun to have something be different for Leo! I do, however, need to have a back up plan just in case. Lindsay actually was the back up plan in case Autumn couldn’t do Britt’s for whatever reason so I’m not sure who to ask as a back up plan this time? I know I have time to figure it out but it’s something I need to think about for sure!

Ohh and I found out that Kelly’s Korner is doing her Single’s Day on Jan 24th! Anyone wanna participate? I’d love to feature some singles!!!

Belly Pictures: So I mentioned I’ve bought several flowy type shirts and I totally am wearing one today. It’s beyond comfortable but it also doesn’t make me look very pregnant haha. Next week I need to remember to wear a tight shirt! I LOVE the pics of me from last pregnancy during this week b/c you can really tell I have a little pregnant belly…I think I kinda have one now but you can’t tell really in the pictures! Also we were in a rush and Zach didn’t fully focus the camera so I hate these. Better next week 🙂 If you’re pregnant and want some stickers of your own I got mine here!

 See how MASSIVE the shirt is in the back? haha I’m like pushing all the material back 🙂

Past Pregnancies: Here are the cute pics I’m talking about from last pregnancy during this week! It doesn’t hurt that it was also WARM outside so I was all tan and everything! It DOES make me feel better to see how tired I was while pregnant with her and that it hadn’t gotten better yet at this point either 🙂 Whew! There is hope for me yet 😉 You can see the Week 11 Post Here!

I’m so sad btw that I don’t have a lot to reference from my pregnancy with Kye 🙁 I know he has a LOT of perks from being the first born but this is one area he kinda is missing out! My blogging was just SO random at the time and I didn’t even talk about week 11 at all anywhere. However, I did have a LEGIT pregnancy journal I wrote in so here is some stuff from this week during my first pregnancy:

I was having a hard time sleeping. I’d wake up and couldn’t go back to sleep. My feet and legs would feel sore (oh how I’d LOVE to just have “foot soreness” now). We also knew for sure that if it was a boy it’d be Kye and a girl it’d be Britt for the names. Again, I WISH it was that easy this time around 🙂