Weeks 1-14

Now that we have announced this pregnancy, I want to do weekly bumpdates again just like I did with Taylor and Preston! They are fun to look back on and really help me keep things straight from week to week. I am going to do a blanket post on the first trimester and then start weekly updates with week 15. I announced our pregnancy at 14 weeks, so I kept notes on my phone of each week leading up to it.

Here's the first trimester with this sweet baby in a nutshell!

Week 4

We found out we are pregnant! Still feeling good and trying to eat as many vegetables as possible in case the nausea hits soon!

Week 5

I stopped craving sweets but otherwise feel okay!

Week 6

Aaaaand, nausea. Full on nausea hits, and I start having trouble eating anything. We travelled to Houston and told my family the good news! They were so excited! This week also started a 5 week trend of gagging every single time I opened the refrigerator.

Week 7

Still feeling really sick but craving fruits, fresh foods, and donuts. We got to see Parker's family and tell them the good news in person! They were excited too! I felt emotional this week and teared up really easily... hormones. ;) I also threw up for the first time ever in any of my pregnancies.

Week 8

I lived on yogurt parfaits. We flew to Virginia to see friends and had the best trip! I was sick, but honestly the nausea wasn't as bad in Virginia as it had been at home. There were different triggers at home that always made me feel sick (the refrigerator, all of the fast food restaurants in Kingsville, etc), and once I was in Virginia, I was away from those. I wanted to stay forever! Not 15 minutes after we got home from our trip, I threw up again. Welcome home. ;)

Week 9

Feeling nauseous and fatigued, and I found out at my doctor's appointment that I had lost 5 pounds. I was supposed to have an ultrasound this week, but the tech wasn't at work that day, so I found out at my appointment that I would have to wait another week. I am embarrassed to say that I started crying in the office. I apologized to the nurses for being so ridiculous, but hormones were through the roof and I was so sad I wouldn't get to see our baby that week! My doctor also told us that they would let me do the early chromosome blood test because of my history with Taylor, so they took blood for those tests. The tests would tell us if the baby is healthy and would also reveal the gender!

Week 10

Parker and I finally got to see our baby on the ultrasound! The heart rate was 167 bpm, and baby was the wiggliest little thing! It was amazing. I was still sick this week and wanting mostly sweet things. Lots of yogurt, fruit, and toaster strudel. I also got a phone call and found out we are expecting another healthy baby BOY!! We were thrilled!! We were also shocked! Because my cravings had been so different this time than they had with Preston, we were convinced we were having a girl! Another baby boy!!! (side note: I am literally 0-3 in predicting our children's genders. I thought Taylor was a boy, Preston was a girl, and this baby was a girl. I have terrible intuition)

Week 11

I am still sick this week but starting to feel slightly better! Yay!! I am usually in bed by 9 and asleep by 9:30 each night. Growing a human is hard work!

Week 12

I am feeling like a real human being again and craving any fresh food that I can get my hands on!

Week 13

As long as I eat every couple of hours, I feel like myself again! Praising God for a healthy first trimester and to be through the sickness. I truly love being pregnant, but being sick every second of the day for 2 months straight was tough, especially since I had a toddler to take care of. I know so many people are way sicker for way longer, so counting my blessings that it ended around week 13. I had another doctor's appointment, and the heartrate was 163 bpm. I gained 3 pounds since my last appointment but am still 2 pounds shy of my pre pregnancy weight.

Week 14

Eating avocado toast and paninis like they are going out of style, and I also made 2 batches of ambrosia salad! Parker has been gone for 2 weeks, and single parenting while pregnant has me feeling very tired! Without a doubt, the biggest difference between this pregnancy and last pregnancy has been caring for a toddler. When I was pregnant with Preston, Parker was deployed, so all I had to focus on was laying on the couch and growing a human. With this pregnancy, Parker travelled or worked late hours a lot of the first trimester, so taking care of Preston while feeling sick was tough.

That's the first trimester in a nutshell! If you made it through all of that, thanks for reading! ;)

Finding Out

Thank you for the sweet comments and well wishes as we announced the upcoming arrival of our newest blessing! We are so thrilled to be expecting a sweet baby boy! Pregnancy was definitely the reason for my recent blogging hiatus... hello first trimester sickness! I plan to share weekly updates about the pregnancy just like I did with Taylor and Preston, so feel free to follow along for all the baby news and updates!

For today, I thought I would share how we found out we are expecting and how I told Parker. We had been trying for 4 months, and the weekend before I took the test, we were in Houston visiting my family. There were a couple of little signs that something was off. We bought Play-doh for the kids, and the smell was absolutely killing me. My nephew also threw up that weekend, and as I was cleaning it up, I started to gag. I am a mom, so that stuff typically wouldn't have bothered me. I told Parker that Sunday night when we arrived back home that something was just off, and I wondered if I was pregnant. I just had a feeling that I was.

The next morning, Parker was already gone for work, so I decided to take a test before going to get Preston. Clear as day, that plus sign immediately appeared! I couldn't believe it! I was pregnant!! Even if you are trying and hoping to be pregnant, there is no way to describe the feeling of staring down at a positive pregnancy test. It is pure euphoria.

I went to scoop up Preston and told him he would be a big brother, and I told Jenny she was getting another sibling too. Both, as expected, were completed indifferent, so that made for a really special moment. ;)

Parker wouldn't be home until early evening, but I didn't plan any Pinterest-worthy ways to tell him the news. I just wanted Preston to hand him the pregnancy test, but I knew that would still be so special for both of us. He got home, and I told him to wait in the living room because Preston had a new trick. I gave Preston the test and told him to go give it to Daddy, and he dutifully marched right into the living room and handed Parker the test. Parker thought that Preston was just handing him a toy or something, so he said an emphatic "Thank you!" to Preston without looking down. Then, after a couple of seconds, he finally looked down at what he was holding. He gasped and started laughing and was so excited.

These next two pictures are screenshots from a video I took, so not the best quality, but I am so glad I caught his reaction on video!

It was a special little way to find out the good news, and we celebrated that night and about 4 calm days after before the nausea decided to move in and stay for a while. I enjoyed not being sick for the few days it lasted, but that's a story for another day!

Coming In June...

We are thrilled to announce that we are expecting another sweet baby BOY!! We are so grateful for this sweet gift and cannot wait to meet him in June! I've been blessed thus far with a healthy pregnancy that I will share details on in the coming weeks. For now, we are overjoyed to share our good news and praising God for this new blessing!

"For this child I have prayed, and the Lord has granted the desires of my heart."- 1 Samuel 1:27

4

On November 23rd, we celebrated the anniversary of our baby girl getting her wings. Taylor Grace has now been in Heaven, alive and healed, for four years.

This day is the hardest day of the year for me, but it's also the only day that I truly let myself feel the weight of losing her. I am a firm believer that you can't spend your whole life grieving, but on this day every year, I let myself feel as sad and angry and heartbroken as I want.

This year, her birthday fell on the day after Thanksgiving. We have a little morning tradition that we have done every year since she went to Heaven. We wake up, light a candle on a cupcake, and sing her "Happy Birthday". I have never made it through that short "Happy Birthday" song without crying, but it is one of my favorite family traditions that we have, and as long as I live, I will always sing her "Happy Birthday" on November 23rd.

It's crazy that four years have passed. I remember everything about losing her. It's funny how much we forget in our daily lives, especially now that mom brain has taken over, but I can recount November 23rd and the few days following it to a tee. I don't think that will ever change. I've never felt closer to God but farther from people than I did in those few days. It was an indescribable week but the most faith-affirming time of my life.

Four years later, I still miss her. She would be 3.5 years old. I still think about what her life would have been like. I still cry on Sunday mornings in worship because that's the day her heart stopped beating. But, life goes on. The pain of missing her will never completely go away, but the promise that I get to meet her and hold her in Heaven is enough to make me smile. Loss is so temporary compared to an eternity in Heaven, and if I didn't have that promise to hold onto, losing her would have been unbearable.

Happy four years in Heaven, angel girl. I love you so so much.