16 Week Appointment

I had an appointment with my midwife yesterday and all is well. My weight, blood pressures, etc are great, and Baby's heart rate was at 155 bpm. After the appointment I had some bloodwork done and went down to the ultrasound department to get that scheduled. They don't do the main measure-and-check-everything-and-find-out-the-sex ultrasound here until 21 weeks now, which would be November 4th for me, but Richard will be in Iraq by then. So, we pleaded with the main tech there to please please schedule me for just before he leaves! Since it'll be a little earlier than 20 weeks she's not sure she will be able to see everything she needs to see (for whatever the doctor or radiologist wants to have measured and recorded) but she's going to try, and we should be able to see everything we want to see (boy or girl!?). So my next OB appointment and the ultrasound appointment will both be on Monday, October 25. Woohoo! That's really all for now. I'm going to have Richard take a belly picture of me later this week. :)

Big Changes on the Horizon (Maybe)

First of all, there is nothing much new to report on the baby/pregnancy right now. I am starting to feel a little bigger and, while I am still wearing all my normal clothes, I definitely have to unbutton my pants most times I sit down. I feel pretty good and almost always hungry. (Hope I haven't gained too much weight in these last 4 weeks, hehe!) I have an appointment with my midwife tomorrow and will update again after that. (Oh, and I haven't taken any belly pictures yet... guess I should do that soon as well.)

Ava is doing great. GREAT. She is getting so big and SO smart. I think we could read literally all day. She is learning the ABC song (she loves to sing) and is getting better at her colors. We have started talking about the new baby a little bit. I don't expect her to really understand yet, of course, so it's mostly like "You have to be very careful and gentle around Mama's belly cuz there's a baby in there." Then she touches my belly gently and says baby. She gets kind of rough sometimes climbing on me so we're trying to make her more aware.

In other news, the title of this post refers to the possibility of me, Ava, BB, Pancake, and Baby #2 (in utero) moving to GA for this coming deployment. I already had one baby with no husband and no family around for most of the time and would rather not do that again with a toddler in the picture too. Our families have already missed so much of Ava's life! I would love for her to know them and for Baby to be around them as well. So we are really praying about, researching, and comparing all of our options and plan to decide for sure sometime this week.

More Exciting News

Yesterday and today have made for two great days! For those of you who don't know, my brother (Jordan) and his wife (Stephanie) are expecting their first baby, due date January 20. Yesterday they had an ultrasound and found out they are having a boy! Jaden Lee Seckinger. I am SO excited for them and am also excited to be an aunt and for Ava to be a cousin! I plan on making a trip to GA this winter so it'll be fun for Stephanie and I to be big and pregnant together. :) Hopefully I'll be able to stay until little Jaden is born before I have to come home for my own preparations.

In other exciting news, today is the start of my second trimester! Woo-hoo! I've been feeling SOOO much better and have much more of an appetite for regular foods again.

-How far along? 13 weeks (3 months)
-Maternity Clothes? I'm still in all my regular clothes, although I feel the need to unbutton my pants when I sit down now. Another plus side to being smaller and in better shape when I got pregnant this time is that I think I may be able to use some of my old too-big pants for a while before I have to move to maternity pants. I never really wore many maternity tops last time; just wore my longer, stretchier tops so that will probably be the same this pregnancy.
-Weight Gain? Probably a couple pounds up now that I'm not sick anymore, although I'm not weighing myself at home so I don't really know.
-Sleeping? Not sleeping well at all lately... but I think some of that may be feeling a little anxious for Richard to come home any day now. (And we don't know when exactly, so that's frustrating.) Oh yeah, and Ava has been waking up screaming in the night lately. ??
-Baby Movement? Haven't felt anything definite yet.
-Workouts? I'm back to my pre-pregnancy workout routine but I get tired a little quicker and am having to modify some of the movements. I can feel my ab muscles separating a little already, which is of course earlier than the first time around.
-Food Cravings/Aversions? I'm really open to eating anything and everything again, although I still don't feel like cooking it myself. No real aversions right now! (We'll see how the bacon goes when Richard gets home, hehe.)
-Baby Gender? We don't know yet and, while I like the idea of being surprised, we will probably find out again. Since it is very possible that Richard will not be here for the birth again, he definitely wants to know and be a part of all he can while he is here. (Right now it looks like he will be here for the 20 week ultrasound, so let's hope all this deployment stuff stays on schedule.)

That's pretty much it for now!