Let's talk about this pregnancy, shall we?

This pregnancy has been weird. I thought that after being pregnant with two, being pregnant with one would be a walk in the park. Wrong. I don't want to complain too much, but here are my thoughts at 24 weeks on being pregnant with one.

With the girls, my back constantly hurt. I ballooned really fast and was carrying a "full term" baby for the vast majority of my pregnancy. Lillian was so high in my ribs, that sometimes I literally could not catch my breath. This kid is looow. Lower than Sophie was and it makes everything from getting dressed to sneezing tricky.

I've been getting heartburn like crazy. I've gotten a lot of good tips for what to do, but this is also something that I didn't have with the twins. The other night, I laid in bed for just under 2 hours waiting for it to go away. I drank milk, took some Tums and neither attempt at a solution touched it. Hopefully I can figure out what works soon!

I been liking being less concerned about everything. A (healthy) singleton pregnancy is so much less stress than a (healthy) twin pregnancy. I've only had two ultrasounds, I have no idea what level his amniotic fluid or position (both his and the placentas) is and have no reason to be worried about any of it because I'm normal. I don't have to worry as much about going into pre-term labor at 28 weeks (like I almost did last time) and maybe the best thing of all, I'm not waddling already!

I've tried to be a little quiet about this pregnancy. If I've learned anything with having the twins, it's that everyone has an opinion and few people are afraid to tell it to you what it is. With the twins, I didn't have strong opinions about anything. I my main and only concern was bringing two healthy babies into the world. I didn't care if they had to pull them out of my ears, they simply needed to be healthy. This time, I pretty much have the same attitude, but I realize there is more in my control. I'm "normal" this time. I'm not constantly being monitored and I'm still on a regular schedule with the doctor (as opposed to this time in my last pregnancy, I was already seeing the doctor every other week). Some people assume I'll have a scheduled c-section and others assume I'll go for a VBAC. I don't know why it bugs me when people assume *either* scenario, but it does. The c-sectioners think VBACS are dangerous and I'm stupid for even considering one, while the VBACers think that giving birth vaginally is superior and I'm somehow this heroine for trying one. So, here's the truth. I'm seeing a midwife, BUT I'm also seeing an OB AND I'm giving birth in a hospital with an epidural nicely secured in my back. Beyond that, I'm not sure what will happen. Will the midwife deliver this baby traditionally? Will the OB slice me open? Who knows? And you know what? I'm perfectly ok with either scenario.  I know, I know. I should have opinions on this, but really I don't. I'm not passionate about birth like some are (and I think it's great if you are) and absolutely refute the idea that a c-section is less empowering, less spiritual, less awesome than a vaginal birth. For me, I realized with the girls that it was all about my attitude going in, so I had a great one. And I had a great experience that I honestly wouldn't mind repeating. I do know that if I didn't attempt a VBAC, I'd probably always wonder and regret it a little, so that's why I'm going with the situation I have. Midwife, OB in the hospital with drugs. It's the perfect set up for me.

Overall, I'm feeling great. Josh might disagree because he's pretty much the only one I complain to and he gets it a lot, but I am feeling good most days. Some days are hard and the girls run me dry and they spend way too much time on abcmouse.com but that's ok, right? I go from wanting to do the pregnancy thing 5 more times to never wanting to do it again. I've learned that while being pregnant probably isn't the best time to discuss how many kids you want, but there's also a real possibility that this could be the last time we go down this road. That's a story for a different day, but knowing that makes me want really appreciate what's happening that much more. The girls love feeling baby brother kick and Sophie goes and "sees" baby brother on the fridge almost every day. Lillian is a little creeped out by him (her words) so hopefully real life baby brother won't be as scary as the ultrasound picture. ;)

It's also been fun this pregnancy because I have three good friends who are pregnant within a month of me. One a week before, one a day or two before and one about 8 weeks after. It's nice to not be the only person around (although they all live at least a half hour away) who's gut is rapidly expanding. It will be fun this spring when we all start having these babies. The one who's due just a week before me is also having a boy, so I'm really excited about that.

I'm ready for him. We talk about him in almost every conversation by name. I talk a lot about how he'll fit into the scenario that's going on and the girls often wonder why he's not here yet. It's crazy to think that we really only have the Holiday season and then just 2 months and he'll be here. I know everyone pregnant woman says this, but I'm up so much in the middle of the night already and it makes me frustrated that he's not here. If I'm going to be up with painful heartburn or needing to pee every 45 minutes, I might as well be holding a baby, right?

Anyway, here I am at 24 weeks with the girls. It's not a side shot, but take note that the shirt I'm wearing is NOT a maternity shirt and for kicks I tried it on yesterday and what do you know? It did not fit. Therefore, according to my scientific reasoning, I'm bigger with one than I was with two. Although, I was trying to find a picture I know I took at Josh's graduation (also basically at 24 weeks) and I looked a lot bigger than this one. Sadly, those pictures are on a broken computer in the basement. Guess I should figure out how to burn them to our external hard drive. Anyway, 24 weeks with the twins...

And here I am a few nights ago at 23 weeks. I've been terrible at taking pictures (just like last time) so right before I hopped into bed I thought I'd snap a selfie in my dirty bathroom mirror because everybody's gotta have one of those, right?

See? Bigger this time. I'm in for it. 

We're back!

 And I really mean "we're". Notice the girls' shirts (and their excitement)???

I made the announcement on facebook after we heard the heartbeat around 11 1/2 weeks, but as of today I'm almost 13 weeks along. This pregnancy has been completely different from the pregnancy with the girls. Easier in a lot of ways, but a lot harder in others. With the twins, I threw up everyday for 12 weeks at least once a day. I wasn't nauseated through out the day as much, but when it hit...it HIT! I was tired, but not "I can't get off the couch tired" I still went to school full time and worked part time with kids with disabilities, so I was usually on my feet. I was constantly looking up fruit I could compare my baby to (you know, when I just thought I was having one) and it was always on my mind.
 
This time around, I'm exhausted like nothing I've ever experienced. I can't stand for more than 5-10 minutes at a time and forget about talking while I'm walking, it's not going to happen. I've thrown up probably 10-15 times in 12 weeks, but I've been constantly nauseated. It never fully goes away. I've also been getting daily headaches that only caffeine will cure and a Coke doesn't always do the trick, so I just try my best to push through it. I've also been incredibly irritable. I wasn't this way with the twins and it's completely foreign to me. I get mad over the dumbest things and have hardly any patience with my girls. It's terrible how much I've changed in terms of my mood.
 
But things are good. The baby is due early March and I'm excited for a late winter/early spring baby. I'm excited for the excuse to not get out of the house and stay tucked in a little baby. I'm excited for ONE baby. People have joked a lot about us having twins again (or even triplets) and to be frank, I'm over the joke. I feel like I missed out on so much with my twins. There was always someone else that needed to be taken care of immediately. There were no middle of the night cuddles or really even rocking, we were in assembly line mode. When both babies were teething at once, somebody had to be taken care of first, which meant her sister was sad and screaming for 5-10 minutes. It was completely overwhelming.
 
And not to say that one baby is easy, because I know people can have really hard, needy babies that are harder than my two, but as my friend Becky and fellow twin mom said, "I don't think we have any clue how easy it is to take care of ONE baby!" She's right. I have no clue, but I'm excited to find out. I'm excited to not be out numbered by infants. Excited to only have one new person to bond with. Excited to be able to devote all of my attention at 3 am to just one person. Excited to most likely have a non high risk pregnancy and avoid physical therapy. Excited to give breastfeeding a real shot. Excited to only change 10 diapers a day instead of 20. And I'm excited to cloth diaper a newborn. I was so overwhelmed with newborn twins, that I waited until they fit into one size diapers, this time around I'm starting form the beginning.
 
Get my drift? I'm excited for a singleton.
 
What's weird to me is having a "normal" pregnancy. I'm used to bi monthly appointments by this point with an ultrasound every time. I have no idea what this kids' heart rate is or the level of my fluids or the location and position of the placenta. Those things just aren't as important when you're only carrying one baby. When you're pregnant with twins, you're treated like a queen. When you're pregnant with one, you're treated like everyone else. It's so different.
 

And since I'm assuming most of you didn't read all of that, here's some pictures of what we've been doing the last little while. 

 

 

 

 

Those pictures are completely out of order, but I don't have the brain power to fix it. School started on Monday and I dove in head first. Between that, the twins, Josh and this pregnancy, my brain cells are limited. ;)

Until next time...