Merry Happy Blog: April 2017

, by Han

I WOKE UP LIKE THIS + LYDIAISMS AT 18 MONTHS

, by Han

WHAT I WASN'T EXPECTING TO BE EXPECTING WHILE EXPECTING [ROUND 2]

We're getting down to the last few weeks of this pregnancy (due date is only three weeks away!) and I still can't believe just how different two pregnancies can be. This pregnancy has been better in literally every aspect than my previous pregnancy with Lydia, but just like last time there have been some truly bizarre pregnancy quirks that I was not expecting!

Be sure to check out Part 1 of What I Wasn't Expecting to be Expecting While Expecting HERE.

Cravings are real. While pregnant with Lydia I would constantly be cycling through food ideas until I finally settled on something that didn't make me feel sick, so food aversions were much more prevalent than actual cravings. This time I've just wanted ALL THE ONION RINGS and ALL THE BAKED GOODS! haha (This was especially true toward the end of the first trimester/beginning of the second, and has thankfully calmed down..at least a little.)

HICCUPS. ALL. DAY. ....But not mine, THE BABY'S! This little boy gets the hiccups 4 times a day - minimum! Overall, I would say he is much less active than Lydia was (hoping this will translate to once he is out of the womb as well ;)) but the hiccups are no joke! They are STRONG! (I kid you not, AS I AM TYPING THIS, he just got the hiccups. Can't say I'm surprised.)

Constant need of breath mints. Whenever I eat something that is really sweet (especially store-bought things like Honey Nut Cheerios and granola bars) it leaves the WORST taste in my mouth. I've tried rinsing my mouth out, but the only thing that really works is brushing my teeth or getting a mint. (One might think that this would keep me from eating so many sweets...I'll go ahead and let them think that ;))

Belly-button halfway popped out. If you remember (which I don't know why you would haha) I was fully expecting my belly button to pop out last time and it never did! This time it hasn't completely popped out, but the top-half has?! hahaha idk it's weird.

Hyper-sensitive smell. I've heard about this before, but WOAH. The last couple weeks especially have been CRAAZZZZY. It's actually been a huge blessing that I've had a little bit of a cold because if my nose wasn't stuffy, the cleaning product that was used in the hallways of our apartment complex might have knocked me right out. 😳

Loud breathing. My normal breathing is SO LOUD!...The worst part is, I honestly had no clue until one day when I was rewatching an insta-story and was trying to figure out what the "bear sound" was 😂🙈! hahahha. I asked Stephen about it and he was like "Oh yeah! Your breathing is really loud." 😑🙈 ...At least it's better than the bear-like snoring that I was experiencing last time?! (Also, I try to hold my breath during all of my insta-stories now 😂😂)

Main differences between pregnancies 1 & 2:

It's actually possible for "morning sickness" to only be in the morning, and can actually go away completely after the first trimester. This fact basically blew my mind. With Lydia the naseau was pretty much constant from the time I woke up to the time I went to bed, and I often woke up in the middle of the night still feeling nauseous from about weeks 8-30. Needless to say, I'm thrilled to say that that was NOT the case this time!

Wearing my wedding ring. With Lydia, my fingers were so swollen that by about week 20 I had to put my wedding ring in a special box and find another ring to wear for the second half of the pregnancy. Now I'm 37 weeks in and my ring is still going strong! (This probably has a lot to do with the fact that I was pregnant with Lydia through the summer, where as this time it has primarily been fall/winter/spring.)

Fitting in non-maternity pants. I'm quite a bit smaller this time around than I was last time (due to many reasons, but the main one being the fact that I haven't been nauseous every day which has done wonders for my overall health) so some of the maternity clothes (mostly pants) I bought when I was pregnant with Lydia are still too big! I'm currently wearing THESE non-maternity pants (with a stretchy waist) 5 days a week and I LOVE THEM. I'm also thinking I probably should have purchased a second and third pair at some point...

Emotional. I didn't include this one in the section above because I'm pretty sure everyone expects to be more emotional when they're pregnant, but this time I have definitely felt it in very different ways than I did during my pregnancy with Lydia. This pregnancy I'm much more likely to cry over silly things (like proposal videos of complete strangers on youtube) and I'm also a lot more sensitive and anxious! I've had to stop taking Lydia to the park the last couple weeks because my anxiety was through the roof! (Although, to be fair, I'm not sure how much that has to do with being pregnant or the fact that Lydia has no fear at the park these days...😬.)

I'm truly curious to know if this pregnancy has been so different simply because every pregnancy is different or if because it's a boy instead of a girl?! I guess only time will tell!

-Hannah

PS TIP: If you are someone who gets sick often during pregnancy (🤢), get some of THESE BAGS. They are approx. 1000x better than throwing up in a toilet.