Mommy Mondays: The Second Time Around

Last August, when I first found out I was pregnant, I was really excited to write about my experience. I didn't blog during my pregnancy with Jack and I figured it would make for some fun, and funny, posts.  Of course, I couldn't talk about it for the first few months, and then I was traveling constantly and didn't have much time to write. When we found out we were having another boy, I had a lot of mixed feelings toward the pregnancy and wasn't really in a place to write about it. And now, here I am at almost 29 weeks, with less than three months to go!

Pregnancy the second time around has been very different, both from what I experienced with Jack and what I was expecting. For starters, being pregnant when you already have a kid changes EVERYTHING. I can't even imagine being pregnant with number three or four, especially if you have really young kids. I remember being exhausted when I was pregnant with Jack, and coming home from work and collapsing on the couch for a nap. Now, there simply isn't the time or opportunity to nap. I'm much too busy running around after a four-year-old for that nonsense. Any free time I do have (like when Jack is in school), I'm writing, because I know full well I won't be doing that for a while after this baby is born.

I also feel huge this time, which is probably because my poor abs gave up even trying to suck this belly in pretty quickly. I'm still measuring two or three weeks behind (even though the baby's growth is right on track) because I'm a small person in general, but I feel big and cumbersome and out of shape. I can't get comfortable at night, so sleep is elusive, and the thing about the second pregnancy is you know exactly what you're getting into (meaning I know I won't be sleeping well again for a long time!). During my last pregnancy, we moved when I was about seven months pregnant, which wasn't ideal, but at least then I got to nest like crazy. Jack's nursery was ready to roll long before he was. Right now, I don't even know where I'll be living when the baby is born, and that's causing me extra anxiety. If I end up on bed rest for six weeks like I did last time, I'm not sure how I'll get everything ready in time, let alone watch the kid I already have!

And then there are moments like the one I just had, where Jack sticks a freaking pea so far up his nostril I can't even see it, and I think, "How on earth am I going to do this with TWO of them?!"

But.

Today I had an ultrasound. It was the first time I got to do a 3D ultrasound, and I'll be honest, I usually think they're kinda weird looking. But when it's your baby (just like when it's your wrinkly, pink, baggy-kneed newborn), they don't really look so weird. In fact, they're pretty darn cute. Especially when they look a lot like their big brother, who is also pretty darn cute (when he's not sticking peas up his nose).

We didn't get a great shot, because the baby had his hand AND his umbilical cord in front of his face, but I reckon if I think he's cute when he's only three-quarters baked, it's a good sign for the future. And I'm pretty sure that meeting this baby will be just as amazing as meeting Jack, even if it is the second time around.