16 Weeks/ 4 Months

16 Weeks! Four months, second trimester, time to announce!

During week 14 we had our first appointment in Clarksville. Since I am a new patient they gave me and ultrasound to check everything out and to verify due date. I was certainly not complaining about getting to see my little baby bullet again! S/he had already grown so much! I was so surprised at how developed baby was already. I was hoping the Dr. might check for gender, even though we may not have been able to see anything, but he didn't. When we were checking baby out I caught a glimpse of baby's rear end. At first I thought I saw a little thingie ding, then I thought it might've been the umbilical cord. We'll see in a month!

Baby looked absolutely perfect and was kicking a little and had his/her hand by his/her face. S/he wasn't as active as Jackson when we had his 10 week ultrasound, but it was definitely fun to see him/her swimming around. A breath of fresh air knowing that everything is well and baby is growing and healthy. The baby was measuring 14 weeks 5 days, even though I was 14 weeks 1 day from my LMP. We kept the original due date of April 27 since the Dr. thinks that will end up being the most accurate. Hopefully since baby is measuring a little big s/he will decide to arrive early like Jackson did. Baby's heartbeat was 152 bpm- so the high end of the healthy scale.

I normally would have announced at 12 weeks, but since we had an appointment just a little later I decided to wait to make sure everything was all set. Since everything looked good, it was time to announce publicly (meaning on Facebook). 

The announcement was made on October 28. Since it was so close to Halloween I took advantage. We had carved pumpkins together during week 13. Pumpkin carving has never been one of my favorite things. I still am not a fan. I did one for New Baby, one for Jackson, and one for me. Matt did his own.

True to himself, Jack wasn't a fan of the mess on his hands. He touch the goop on the inside and then just watched us carve them.

I posted this picture online with the simple statement of "Expected April 27, 2014". It was so fun to share the news with the world. While most of our close friends and immediate family knew, congratulations were very welcome. My pumpkin ended up being larger than Matt's so it is first in the lineup. It just has drilled holes in it that make the light shine out pretty, Matt's is a artillery casing he traced from a manual, Jack's is an etch of his handprint since I couldn't get the pumpkin open!, and then New Baby with a paci!

 I wanted some cute pictures of Jack with the New Baby pumpkin, but of course, he was so squirmy! He loves being outside and he wanted to play with the pumpkin.

This is the best I could get with the pumpkin and his "Big Brother" shirt.

My weekly mark hits on a Sunday. We have been visiting churches and not many of my dresses fit anymore. I took this picture of belly before church.

I change into this dress, which accents belly well after church for another picture. I didn't have a cardigan I liked to wear over it to church and it was too chilly to wear like this on it's own. I had been eating a lot of Christmas tree cakes, so it was included in my monthly picture update.

Symptoms:
*Growing baby belly! I am growing so much more quickly this time than with Jackson. I think I look about the same as 20 weeks with my first pregnancy.
*Fatigue- I have spurts where I want to unpack, clean, and organize; but then I have times I just sit on the couch and try to stay awake while Jackson plays.
*Fast growing hair- this makes Daddy happy as he wants me to have long, long hair. I would be happy keeping it around shoulder length.
*Large appetite- I eat so much! Like enough for three people!
*Overly emotional about everything.
*Sudden moments of morning sickness. I was at church, started feeling a little dizzy, went to the bathroom, and threw up. Then I felt completely better. I never had sudden bouts of nausea with Jackson like that.
*Pangs in abdomen when bending over etc. Nothing major, all normal.
*When carrying boxes while unpacking they stick out because they rest on belly.
*Itchy breasts- I had forgotten about this side effect.
*Not as comfortable to carry Jackson with belly.
*Tight calf muscles- hoping they don't cramp up.
*Small bladder.
*** Felt baby thumping around! I started feeling it around 14 weeks but wasn't positive it was baby since it felt different than when I first felt Jackson. After two weeks of the same movement I was sure it was New baby! This baby is much more fluid in movements, while Jackson's first movements were very "poppy".

Cravings:
*Christmas Tree Cakes- though I love them every year when they come out so that may not be a legit craving.
*Spaghetti Bake
*PB&J
*Cranberry Juice
*Apples always make me feel better
*Little Debbie Swiss Rolls
*Oreo McFlurry
*Eggs- On the Walking Dead episode we watched they had scrambled eggs and we had to pause it so I could make some!
*Starburst/Skittles
*Cake
*Cereal
*Cookies and Cream Ice Cream
*Smores
*Potatoes
*Hot dogs

Aversions:
*Greasy, cheap food- i.e. China King Buffet
*Queso Dip- apparently over that craving
*Block cheese
*Chicken
*Ham sandwiches
*Seafood, but I always hate seafood
*About half an hour after I eat something it doesn't sound/taste good anymore. Burps can be dangerous!
*Bananas
*Pickles

So far in the pregnancy I had gained 10 lbs. This is a quicker weight gain than last time, but I also didn't lose weight during the first trimester. I hope to keep my weight gain around 30 lbs, but I'm not too worried about it since last time I was back in my normal jeans 1 week post partum. Good genes, thanks Birthmom!