2nd Trimester

Week 14

March 13 – 19

• We travel to St. Louis so I can “social media” (is that a verb, yet?) the Dogtown Irish Festival.
• We surprise Nana and Bob with our baby news. They are so excited and give us lots of hugs and Nana cries, of course.
  • A few days later, Nana texts me a photo of some coffee mugs a friend has given them that say: Great Grandmother/father EST. 2024.
• We receive the results from the genetic test, which I wait for Aaron to get home to read together.
  • Aaron yells with excitement when I read the gender results are “MALE.”
  • We immediately start arguing about boy names.

Week 15

March 20 – 26

• My nausea is getting better, but I still have to stay on top of snacking. My regular foods include:
  • Cereal with blueberries
  • Coffee latte
  • Grapefruit
  • Breakfast burrito
  • Popcorn
  • Carrots
  • PICKLES
• I can tolerate the smell of food much better now, so making dinner isn’t a total nightmare.
• I have resumed walking again, although the shortness of breath is REAL.

Week 16

March 27 – April 2

• Derrick, Maria and Nico come to visit us and within minutes of their arriving, we tell them the news! Sitting in Baby’s future nursery, we tell them all the details and then spend the weekend asking for parenting advice.

Week 17

April 3 – 9

• I was sick this week with a sore throat and runny nose, but I bounced back quickly.
• Due to being sick, I was not sleeping well. My sniffling, coughing and water gulping was keeping Aaron up as well. We agreed that it sucked…but was probably good practice for life with a newborn.

Week 18

April 10 – 16

• I am feeling so much more motivated! I make the ultimate Baby To Do List and feel excited (not overwhelmed) about it.
• I start a prenatal yoga class on Wednesday and Saturday. At the beginning of each class, we all go around and introduce ourselves, how many weeks we’re at, and how we’re feeling. It’s great to pickup little pregnancy “life hacks” and to hear from the ladies who are further along than me.
• We took our blue bonnet “announcement” photos and shared to Instagram.

Week 19

April 17 – 23

• Baby moves for the first time…I think? Whether it’s Baby or gas, I’m excited!
• I start touring some daycares and, ironically, finally finish the textbook “Becoming Attached,” which I started back in January.

Week 20

April 24 – 30

• We traveled to Missouri again to work on getting the Columbia AirBNB in shape so that **hopefully** we won’t have too much to worry about while we’re also worrying about a newborn.
• Nausea is officially OVER, but I seem to have less of an appetite…which works with the smaller portion sizes I’m adapting to.

Week 21

May 1 – 7

• I feel Baby moving all the time now and it’s my favorite thing about being pregnant! (Compared to nausea, though, it’s not much of a competition.)
• We had our anatomy scan this week. It’s exciting to see Baby so much bigger than our last scan…but all the codes and measurements are a bit overwhelming. Our stubborn little guy has head hidden for the entire appointment, so we are scheduled for a rescan in a few weeks.
• Bex is in town and let’s me tag along as her plus one to a wedding where the bride and I have the SAME DUE DATE. Wild.

Week 22

May 8 – 14

• A few weeks ago, I stopped some moms on the trail to ask about their strollers/wraps (such a creep). After exchanging numbers, we meet up to walk this week and I soak in all the wisdom from these moms of 6-month-old, 3-month-old and 3-week-old babies.
• I listen to the audiobook “The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read,” and finish “The Happiest Baby on the Block.”
• We spend Mother’s Day buying Baby’s crib at IKEA and scoping out nursery decor.

Week 23

May 15 – 21

• Prenatal yoga classes continue and I start working in nightly pelvic floor stretches. I seem to have regained my stamina, so walks are getting longer…just in time for Austin’s first “heat dome” in MAY.
• We have our anatomy rescan this week and are delighted to see more of his sweet little face this time. Also delighted to have gotten all those missing measurements from the first scan.

Week 24

May 22 – 28

• I have some leg cramps, in the form of a dull ache across the entirety of my calves. After some extensive late-night Reddit research, I take a magnesium that has me to snoozing in 30 minutes.
• I have my first run-in with pregnancy hormones, which are just a joy for the whole household. Oof, it is rough, but I’m grateful they aren’t more prevalent…so far…
• We discover that when Aaron rests his ear on my stomach, Baby promptly kicks/pushes/fist-bumps him back. Repeatedly. Like, every time we test this, Baby reacts. We are obsessed.

Week 25

May 29 – June 4

• There are a few bouts of acid reflux, but nothing too serious yet.
• My 1-hour glucose test goes pretty smoothly. If you’re not a pro at having your blood drawn before TTC/pregnancy…you sure will be afterwards.

Week 26

June 5 – 11

• Lindsey and I meet up in San Antonio for a weekend of remembering childhood…high school…college…the Alamo, I guess.
• We finish the childbirth class at our hospital and tour the delivery and prenatal rooms. The class (six total hours) is quite detailed and, although some things are hard to hear/think about/imagine, I’m glad to have all the information.

WEEK 27

June 12 – 18

• Baby is within the normal weight range, but we’re keeping an eye on him with monthly ultrasounds. Look how much his face has developed in just a couple weeks!

WEEK 28

June 19 – 26

• What a week! Aaron and I flew back to St. Louis for my first baby shower. It was a whirlwind watching everyone get ready for the event at our house (Aaron replaced the dishwasher the day before, lol) but I am so appreciative of everything that my sister, aunts, cousin, nana, sister-in-law and mother-in-law did to make the day absolutely perfect. We are so fortunate to have so many family and friends who wanted to celebrate Baby.