Pregnancy Update: 22 weeks

15 weeks pregnant

So here it is...the moment you guys have all been waiting for...an update on the pregnancy! Okay, maybe you haven't been waiting for it, but I am super excited about this post! I have been waiting to give you updates until we had our 20 week ultrasound, and we just went to our appointment yesterday night :) A little impatient? I think yes!

First off, I wanted to take a moment for all my blogger friends to explain to you how I am feeling. It seems like everyone these days is wanting to know how I am feeling, and it is nice to feel so loved and cared about by all of you! So here goes. I have to say that though Alexander was worth every trip to the bathroom, and every ounce of laboring pain, I am so grateful that Peanut is not like Alexander, or at least my body isn't reacting the same way to pregnancy as it did last time. With Alexander, there were days I wondered if I could really make it through the pregnancy. In the early stages of pregnancy, I threw up about three times a day. I continued feeling sick until I was six months pregnant! I have to say that it made me more and more angry the further I got when I thought about how the pregnancy sites would all claim that morning sickness should end by three or four months, when I was still sick at six months. It seemed totally unfair. I was so sick that I couldn't keep anything down. During the first few months, I lived off of sprite, crackers, and trail mix. It was all I could stomach. If I brushed my teeth, I threw up. If I showered, I threw up. It was so bad that we had to travel with grocery bags in the car because I would usually throw up in the fifteen minute drive to Scott's work. I even lost twelve pounds my first trimester. It really did seem like it would never end. Luckily, it did, and I have my sweet amazing boy to hug and giggle with every day. He was totally worth it.

22 weeks pregnant

That being said, I am happy to report that at 22 weeks pregnant, I have only thrown up 8 times! Did you see that?!?! Yes, I said only EIGHT times! Woo hoo! It really has been a ton better than last time. And the beauty is, I have been able to eat just about anything I want. With Alexander, chocolate grossed me out and spaghetti sauce made me sick. Those are two of my absolute favorite things. So it is nice to be able to continue to enjoy them. It is weird though, because I seem to crave completely different things this time. Last time, I craved beef like no other time in my life. It was weird because I am primarily a chicken girl, and when I got pregnant with Alexander (and could actually stomach food again) I craved hamburgers like you wouldn't believe. It was so weird, and yet so yummy! With Peanut, I seemed to really crave a lot of fruit early on and eggs. It is weird that I craved eggs because I rarely eat them. Since I have been pregnant, though, I tend to eat eggs every morning. It really helps get me through the morning though. Of course pregnancy makes you tired, and I have felt my share of exhaustion with both. But I am happy to say that at 22 weeks pregnant, I am passed the exhausted and nauseous stage. Yay!

Another differences between the two pregnancies is the amount of movement I have felt. When I first started feeling Alexander kick, there would be a movement here and there and I would go days in-between feeling movements. I think I first noticed the movement about 20 weeks or so. Even in the end of the preganancy with Alexander, he didn't move a ton. I felt Peanut move at 15 weeks, and the movements haven't stopped since. Peanut is going crazy in there! Peanut is also very particular about how I sleep. With Alexander, I could sleep partly on my stomach with a pillow under one leg; if I try to sleep that way with Peanut, then Peanut kicks the bed like crazy. And occasionally I will lay on my back for a few minutes and Peanut goes crazy! Peanut really seems to hate anything touching my belly, including when I am feeding Alexander. And if I eat or drink something, Peanut goes into crazy kick mode. It was really funny going to the ultrasound because Peanut was basically non-stop kicking wherever the camera was touching my belly. I am already starting to get a little nervous about how Peanut will be in the end. At least I know Peanut is doing fine in there with all that movement :)

Well, most of you already know the gender of Peanut, but for those of you who may not have heard, we are having another BOY! Exciting! I wanted to take a minute to tell you about some fun dreams I had before the ultrasounds with both boys. When I got pregnant with Alexander, I started to feel like I was having a boy. I thought this was weird because I am such a girl. I love princesses and the idea of dressing a little girl just makes me giddy. With all my nanny experience I had learned that boys are a lot more energy than girls. Girls can sit and color or play with dolls for hours. Boys tend to want to jump off things that are too high and play fighting games. Even before I was married, I had determined that I didn't want a house full of boys. They were too much work and too much energy and frankly a little scary with how daring they can be. Well, as the pregnancy progressed with Alexander, I just kept feeling like it would be just fine if I had a boy, and that I was indeed having a boy. As the days got closer to our ultrasound, we took guesses from family and friends to see what they thought we were having. Literally everyone, including Scott, guessed that we were having a girl. Well, a few days before I went to the ultrasound for Alexander, I had a dream. In my dream, I gave birth and then exclaimed, "See! I told them it was a boy!" And of course you know the end to that story, Alexander is indeed a boy, and I couldn't be happier. He is the sweetest little boy in the world and definitely a momma's boy and I love it!

Well, this time I was really hoping for a girl. I was ready for dresses and really wanted Scott to have a daughter who could adore him, like Alexander adores me. I think deep down I knew Peanut was a boy though. I just kept telling everyone that I was living the dream that I was having a girl, until they told me otherwise. Well, a few nights before the ultrasound, I had another dream. In my dream, we were at the ultrasound appointment and the woman who was doing the ultrasound said, "Do you see that right there in between the legs, that's his..." That is when I blurted out, "No! She can't have a thing, she's a girl!" The lady then went on to tell me that I still had to go through the pregnancy even though I was having a boy. I reassured her that I would, but I just couldn't believe that it was a boy. Well, the real day of the real ultrasound came, and as I sat there looking at the screen, I knew that my dream was about to come true. I could see for myself that the baby had a boy part. And the ultrasound tech was indeed a woman, and said the exact thing that she said in my dream. Of course I changed my reaction, so it didn't end the same way! After weeks of knowing we are having another boy, I have to say I couldn't be happier. I mainly wanted a girl for me and Scott, but having a boy will be perfect for Alexander. They will be the closest of brothers :)

Well, this blog has gotten far too long! Can you tell that I am excited about the newest addition to our family? Well, I am! I will just end this blog by adding the ultrasound pictures to the bottom. Enjoy:

Well, that is all for now. Tune in next time for lessons that I have learned in my first year as a mother.