It’s insane to think that in about four months we’ll have another baby, and I can’t believe I hit my 20 week mark a few days ago. This pregnancy has flown by, which doesn’t surprise me. Our daughter is a busy little bee and she’s kept us both very occupied, leaving us with less time to think about the fact that we’ll soon be a family of four.
I wanted to share a couple of observations/thoughts I’ve had this time around. I hope some of you can relate, and if you can, I’d love to hear from you. Here it goes, straight from my crazy preggo mind
I am showing more this pregnancy…
…and other people have taken notice, too (which is totally fine!), so it’s not just my imagination. I’m not going to lie, it has bothered me more than I expected, especially when I look back at pictures of when I was pregnant with our daughter. But lately, I’ve come to my senses and have accepted it. I’m growing a human for goodness sake! My body is used to this process now and obviously has taken less time to stretch and expand. I’ll just use my bigger bump as an excuse to call myself a pro at pregnancy.
Overeating doesn’t seem to be as big of an issue
Even though my bump is a little bigger, I’ve gained less weight than I did the first time (so far!) and I feel great most of the time. I truly believe it’s because I’ve made exercise a priority and have tried to be conscious of the amount of food I’m consuming. Last pregnancy, I would eat constantly and I told myself it was for the baby when the amount I was eating was excessive.
Pregnant Women Can Do Anything
I feel like society sometimes forces parents to treat their kids like they’re made of glass, which is probably why my grandparents would often gasp when our daughter would be naked in the winter, or freak out if she was close to the corner of a table. While I think it’s smart to be mindful, I think society tends to underestimate how resilient kids are. The same goes for pregnant women. I’m sure back in the day doctors would tell women to stay away from running or exercise, but I love that it’s encouraged now. This past weekend I ran a 10K and it showed me pregnant women can do anything! We shouldn’t be sheltered from living our lives. I’m confident that my body will tell me if I’m overdoing it or if there’s something wrong.
I am more anxious to find out what we’re having
We didn’t find out with our first and I was perfectly fine not knowing the entire time. This time around, I’m way more anxious to know. I don’t know if it’s because I’m excited to see if our daughter will have a sister or brother, or if it’s because I go back and forth on what I think it is, but it’s killing me this time. We find out in about a week! Maybe we should start taking votes on what our family and friends think it’s going to be?
I haven’t been as “involved” in pregnancy
For starters (and like I said earlier), I’m so occupied with our family as is, that sometimes it’s hard to think I have little baby growing inside of me. When I was pregnant with our daughter, she was constantly on my mind, but this time around I haven’t taken as many bump pics or pondered pregnancy as much. I was also super nervous throughout the entire first trimester which caused me to feel a bit disconnected to the baby. Luckily, that all changed quickly after I felt his/her first kicks (at 16 weeks) and I feel just as connected as I did to our daughter. Each little movement is a sweet reminder of our second baby and how excited we are to be a family of four.
If you’re pregnant with your second, third, or more, I’d love to hear how your pregnancies have been different. I hope you’re having fun growing babies and journeying through the rollercoaster that is pregnancy.
Marina Makes 