Pregnancy update at 20 weeks

Good morning! Liana is eating a snack so I thought I throw together another blog post before she's up running around again.

I am twenty weeks pregnant today, and already half way to labor and delivery! My pregnancy seems to be flying by because we've only recently gone public, but it also seems like such a long time until we get to meet our new little one. I am both scared and excited. Will I enjoy being a mother of two (under two)? It will be hard, but I know I will get the hang of it. Liana was a pretty chill newborn, so maybe this baby will be too. And eventually they will play together and I will watch as Liana teaches her new sibling everything she knows. I'll watch them play, laugh, fight, and cry together. And I will love the heck out of them along the way. Will I be able to focus my attention equally among them? Realistically, probably not. I can try my hardest, but it might not be necessary. Newborns sleep quite a bit so I imagine I'll have plenty of time to spend with Liana at that stage. I also imagine Liana pulling her rank as diva and demanding the attention be on her at times. I'm not exactly looking forward to that stage, but I won't fight the inevitable.

I have had such an odd array of cravings this time around. Last time my first craving was [bread and butter] pickles and lots of cake and ice cream. This time it's been completely random. And when a craving comes on, I desperately want the taste in my mouth as soon as possible. I went through a 'no chocolate' phase, and didn't want a single thing that had chocolate in it. Right now it is the complete opposite. I wake up every morning wishing I can a chocolate bar to munch on for breakfast! I've made chocolate muffins, a 'brownie in a mug', hot chocolate in the morning to bring to work, chocolate milk, and dark chocolate chip waffles. As I type this I'm remembering that I've used all of the cocoa powder and am contemplating a trip to the supermarket later. Besides chocolate, I've also craved homefries, cake, starbursts, french fries, cake, hummus, berries, peanut butter, cake..... well you get the picture.

When I was pregnant with Liana, I had gained 8 1/2 pounds by 20 weeks. As of today, I've gained about 3 pounds. However, after having Liana, I never returned to my pre-pregnancy weight; I kept about 10 pounds on me. And just because I've only gained 3 pounds, that doesn't mean I don't have the roundest little belly already. It is much bigger than it was at 20 weeks last time, and the baby is already measuring bigger as well. I'm expecting to gain about the same amount as last time (I'm really trying to to go overboard with the cake!).

I've had a few other pesky symptoms, my first being food aversions. I had been having a grilled veggie wrap almost daily for lunch at work for over a week straight. Then one day I just couldn't eat it. I took a bite and had to force myself to swallow it. It was the exact same wrap I had been enjoying all along, but suddenly the smell made me want to vomit.

Next, some sneaky acne decided to pop up in clusters around my chin and jaw line. That was lovely.

I've also had fairly awful round ligament pains. There was a week where I couldn't walk without limping, and I couldn't carry Liana without wincing in pain. I had to sit down to put on pants and shoes. I felt like something underneath my belly was tearing a part. I talked to my doctor about it and eventually (and thankfully) it subsided. Now I only get little twinges once in a while.

I never had allergies until I was pregnant with Liana. I never realized how good I had it. And they're ten times worse during pregnancy. I've been taking allergy pills almost every single day since I became pregnant. And I still have a terrible stuffy nose, sneezing fits, and itchy and watery eyes. Gross!

And a good night's sleep... what's that? I wake almost nightly to move my belly every time I want to roll over. I tend to fall asleep while Ashton is watching tv or playing a video game, and if I happen to wake up in the night and the tv is off I usually have a difficult time falling back asleep.

Yes, we did find out the sex of the baby... or should I say, Ashton found out. He really wanted to know (he says he has 'planning' to do), but I wasn't sure I wanted to know just yet. This will probably be my last child, and the last time I find out the sex of a baby I am carrying. I'm just not ready to give that moment up so easily.

However, I will admit that with only one of us knowing the baby's sex, it really throws off our name game. I am constantly searching for names and making lists, but Ashton doesn't quite like many (or any) of the names that I have chosen. He is also having a hard time coming up with and suggesting names because he knows whether to look for only boy or only girl names, and doesn't want to reveal the secret (although I do have my suspicions!).

Stay tuned for my 5 month pregnancy update in two weeks!

You can read my 20 week update from my pregnancy with Liana by clicking [here].