Pregnancy Step By Step Archives - Page 3 of 3

March 19, 2015

22 And 23 Weeks With Baby #2 In Disney World!

Doing Disney World pregnant is no easy feat I’ll admit that but the smorgasbord of food choices and plethora of fun to be had makes the slower pace and aches and pains totally worth it. We took advantage of every bit Disney had to offer despite my blossoming belly and I’m so glad that we did. From delicious breakfast, lunch, and dinners, oh and snacks too, to fun rides and shows that are right up my alley pregnant or not, we gave our little girl a fantastic vacation to remember before we add her little sister to the mix.

22 Weeks in Disney World — 22 Weeks with Baby #2 in Disney World

And let’s not forget the little girl with the obstructed view of Disney World; she had a fantastic time as well in mommy’s belly, enjoying some different foods, flip flopping on Dumbo and the Magic Carpets, and bopping around to the music of the Electrical Parade at night. There’s no doubt in my mind that we have another little Disney lover on our hands already, something that her sister will be happy to share with her!

23 Weeks in Disney World — 23 Weeks with Baby #2 in Disney World

As I neared 6 months, I definitely started to feel the aches and pains that come around at that time. While I was pregnant with our little girl I had some sciatic pain which reared its ugly head this time too, but right before we left for our vacation. With some bed rest, hot showers and baths, and tylenol, thankfully the pain went away just in time to enjoy our trip. Despite the aches of pains of just me and baby getting larger, there are those truly amazing moments of feeling this little girl swirling around and giving some pretty big kicks just to remind me that she’s there. As tough as the weeks will be from this point on, feeling her move like that is such a sweet reminder of why being a mother is my favorite role in this world!

A few more details of what 22 and 23 weeks looked like in Disney World:

Go to gluten free foods: Bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwiches courtesy of Roaring Fork, my absolute favorite: Dole Whips, and I can’t forget the roasted nuts and legendary Disney popcorn.
How am I sleeping?: While we were away I had a little bed buddy join me in the form of a restless, tossing and turning toddler. The only time our little girl sleeps with one of us is on vacation so it’s a special treat for all parties involved. Don’t get me wrong, I love snuggling up with my little girl but she is definitely a restless sleeper and I’m an extremely light one, especially while pregnant, so that meant mommy barely slept while in Disney. There are worse reasons to not sleep though, so no complaints here since I got to sneak in some extra special bedtime snuggles with my little girl.
How’s baby doing?: Mommy and baby went for our most recent check up the day after our return from Disney which was excellent timing since I was antsy to make sure she fared okay from the trip. All seemed to be progressing well size wise but this little one of mine is quite the swimmer, making heartbeats pretty tough to clock in. My little fishy’s heartbeat is strong and healthy though!
How’s mommy feeling?: This mommy-to-be is definitely getting more sore and tired but still trudging through, especially while in Disney. I have to say I was definitely a trooper even though my feet were incredibly sore and pretty swollen by the end of our trip. All in all though, as I just turned the 6 month corner, I have to say I’m feeling pretty good, just slowing down a bit now.
A little sister is on the way!: We did the big reveal on the blog of who Baby #2 will be and we couldn’t have been more excited to share the news with everyone else. We put a little Disney magic into the big reveal so check it out if you missed it last week.

Sincerely,

Lindsay (24 weeks)

March 12, 2015

Wonderful Disney Vacation As A Family Of Three! Can’t Wait For Our Next One With Our New Little….

We’re back from our last vacation as a family of three! Every ounce of our trip was filled with so much magic and so many memories. Our little girl was in love with every bit of Disney from the big castle and seeing all of her friends to riding rides and watching parades, there is truly no better feeling than watching your little one love something so much! We certainly did create memories for a lifetime and I can’t wait to tell our second little one of their first unofficial trip to Disney in mommy’s belly.

Couldn't love my family more! — Couldn’t love my family more!

It’s hard to believe next time we venture down to Disney we’ll be a four rather than a three but we couldn’t be more excited to make even more Disney memories with our little one and her new baby sister. That’s right! We’re having a little girl! While I never really had a “feeling” of what this little one might be I would’ve sworn it was a boy judging by how different I had felt this pregnancy from my first but after two ultrasounds confirming it we are definitely going to be welcoming our second little girl this summer! I’m so in love with our first little girl and I just can’t wait to shower our new little one with just as much love.

Little one is going to have a little sister coming this summer!

Stay tuned for more pregnancy updates and Disney gluten free recaps!

Sincerely,

Lindsay (23 weeks)

February 27, 2015

We’ve Reached The 21 Week Mark!

I have to say this pregnancy has ticked by pretty slowly for me, probably because we’ve had a freezing cold winter keeping us cooped up inside and also because this mommy-to-be hasn’t really felt too good since day 1. But I’m happy to report that we’ve passed the halfway mark and we’re now headed into countdown mode. Baby is moving around like crazy, even letting daddy feel a kick for the first time! After now experiencing two totally different pregnancies, I can officially concur that pregnancy as a whole is a crazy, roller coaster ride with tons of ups and downs, both emotional and physical, but by far the peak of each one is feeling that little one swirling around and kicking inside, there’s nothing more euphoric than that feeling.

As baby and mommy grow, we just keep getting busier and busier over here, but that’s how we like it! It’s hard to believe that Disney is just around the corner and then soon after comes Easter, spring time which means plenty of outdoor time finally, Memorial Day parades, and then some early summer adventures before baby comes. We’re in for some eventful and exciting weeks and months ahead! But for now I just wanted to catch you up on how I’ve been feeling now that I’m nestled snugly in my 2nd trimester!

A few more details of what 21 weeks looks like in our house:

Go to gluten free foods: Absolutely loving my Sweet Note Bagels with cream cheese!, lots and lots of salads with Marie’s Blue Cheese Dressing or Olive Garden’s Italian Dressing, some of my favorites from Toscano’s Ristorante vodka rigatoni and their antipasto salad, Schar wafer cookies are one of my favorite go to snacks right now, and slowly but surely I’m getting back into making smoothies
How am I sleeping?: This is hit or miss with me, some days are definitely better than others and waking up to go to the bathroom at least once is certainly not helping.
What’s happening in our world this week: Being cooped up inside because of our freezing cold temperatures is certainly no fun by myself let alone with an ancy toddler who just wants to run around but we’re making the best of it with lots of coloring, painting, reading, and tv and movie time. Feel free to share how you keep your 2 year old busy and happy when you’re cooped up for the winter.
The big secret has been revealed, well kind of: We finally know who our second little one is and I have to say it’s the sweetest secret that we’ve gotten to share just us three and a few others too. Now we have the biggest task ahead, picking a name! We have our list started and a few front runners have emerged so we should be narrowing down on that one pretty soon but as far as the final name choice, we’re keeping that between just us three until baby arrives and meets the rest of our family and friends.
What I love most at this point: Baby seems to be moving constantly these days giving me plenty of swirls and twirls but even some notable belly jump kicks in there too. But my favorite moment recently is when Dan was able to feel baby for the first time, he’s been a second too late for every single other feeling until this week when he got a little reminder of the little one that’s been living in my belly!

Sincerely,

Lindsay (21 weeks)

February 20, 2015

Halfway There And The Countdown Begins Until Baby #2 Arrives!

20 weeks down and 20 weeks to go, maybe less if we get an early appearance like our first! Oh my, it sounds so long when you phrase it like that right now, especially since this week I’ve been feeling less than stellar, but I know as the weather warms up and we’re able to be out and about, time will really start to fly. The next 20 weeks are going to packed full of finishing little girl’s big girl room, sprucing up the baby nursery to make it personal for Baby #2, unpacking and washing all of the baby equipment that we stashed away in the basement after little girl outgrew it, signing up for CBR for Baby #2, and picking up a few new baby items for round two. The good news with Baby #2 is that we have tons of the necessary baby equipment already so we’re really only left with picking up the obvious newborn necessities and filling in our supplies with a few accessories better suited for two little ones.

On our list of Baby #2 purchases:

Side-by-side double stroller
Two camera video monitor so we can keep an eye on both little ones
A baby sling that’s a bit more comfy than the Baby Bjorn that we used round 1
New diaper bag, how does anyone get there diaper bag to survive more than 1 baby I’ll never know
New food processor/blender that would work well for baby food and smoothies, I tossed around doing this with my first but had a rough year after she was born so kind of forgot about then
Some odds and ends for the Bambi nursery which we did very gender neutral before babies, except for a few personal touches: i.e. new name letters in pink on the wall, hang some pink lanterns above the crib that we held onto from our It’s A Small World party, and thinking about getting a new rocking horse and a few stuffed animals so Baby #2 can have their own set of friends that our little girl seems to have fallen in love with

Thankfully, we already made some head way on this list and picked up a new diaper bag on our last adventure to Disney. Our trip was pre-baby on board so it wasn’t picked on any gender, so no baby reveal here by the color choice, but instead I picked mommy’s favorite. It’s an adorable and subtly Disney Vera Bradley bag with Mickeys and Minnies here and there throughout the floral pattern. I’ve stashed it away until the big day of Baby #2’s arrival this summer so I’m very eager to use it but wanted it to be something special to start our new adventure with our next little one.

Vera Bradley Disney Bag, check it out on Disney Store’s website for more details

Other than the diaper bag we’re on the hunt for the rest of the list which I’m sure will grow as I see new baby items out there. But for now, those are the basic essentials we need to get started on our next adventure. As the weeks tick away, I’m planning on sharing some of my favorites in each of these categories and hopefully hear some of yours too to help our decision making. While in many ways this pregnancy seems to have been chugging along slowly, I truly can’t believe that we’re halfway there and we’ll be meeting this little one in only a few months! Here we go!

Sincerely,

Lindsay (20 weeks)

January 30, 2015

Almost Halfway There And This Mommy-To-Be Can’t Wait To Find Out Who Our Little Swimmer Is Next Week!

With a predicted blizzard on our hands earlier this week, we’ve been somewhat snowed in or at least frozen in because it’s been so cold outside lately. But no amount snow or cold was going to keep us away from taking our little girl to see a special surprise that was perfect just for her. We were treating our snowed in bunny to Disney On Ice, Princess And Heroes. I was a bit skeptical back when we purchased the tickets if she would actually sit through the entire thing but boy was I wrong.

With a two hour ice show filled with all of her favorite Disney princesses, princes, and characters galore, she was in awe of everything from start to finish, even straining to stay awake not wanting to miss a second at the end. We had amazing seats so that way little one and her cousins would catch all of the action from up above and did they ever. It was a fantastic show even for us adults, and our kids couldn’t get enough of the fancy ice moves, music and lights flashing, surprising stunt work, and even better sets and props. And what would a fun night out be without a funny anecdote about your toddler, this night was no exception. While nibbling away on her special soft pretzel, she happened to notice the people controlling some of the spotlights who were seated near the ceiling above us and she couldn’t get enough of them. So between enjoying the show she would crane her neck to admire, point at, and even wave and say hi to the light controllers up in the rafters. Bet they didn’t know they were part of the show for a certain little girl! While Disney On Ice was certainly a winner for our little girl, I think we might just have a future Disney lover swimming around in my belly too. With my bump getting bigger and bigger, I’ve been feeling a little bit of movement but none compared to the swirling around that’s been going on this week. By far though the most movement was at the show, where it literally felt like I swallowed a 5 inch fish and it was swimming around like crazy in my belly. Such an extraordinary feeling that never gets old.

To find out more on my 17th week of pregnancy and catch a peak of my little copilot, check out my surprise vlog! Ignore the lovely thumbnail image from the video, because I’m sure there were no smiling moments that youtube could snapshot for me, gotta love it!

A few more details of what 17 weeks looks like in our house:

Go to gluten free foods: Fruit salad, bagels with cream cheese, homemade pizza with Schar crusts, lots and lots of salads with Marie’s Blue Cheese Dressing, Ore-ida fries with Lawry’s Seasoned Salt and blue cheese dressing….as you can tell my appetite is returning a little at a time
How am I sleeping?: Things are going pretty well here with only one bathroom wake up each night, which really isn’t too different than the norm for me.
What’s happening in our world this week: As I mentioned earlier, we were in that blizzard prediction earlier this week with no blizzard to be found which is fine by me. What we did get was about 5-6 inches of fluffy white snow that our little girl just loved playing in, mommy not so much seeing as it is beyond freezing outside. But watching her get out and get some fresh air, laughing and smiling away was worth a little while of me not feeling my legs.
Countdown to baby gender reveal: We’re almost there! Just a short, really excruciatingly long weekend, away from seeing our little baby live and in person Monday and learning what we have in store for us. I couldn’t be more excited to not only find out boy or girl but to see that little one swimming around in there again.
What I love most at this point: That first real feeling of baby moving around is truly extraordinary. Up until now I’ve felt tons of swirls and small little movements but none like this week where baby has been literally swimming laps in there. I guess Baby #2 is going to be a water lover/ swimmer just like it’s sister and mommy!

Sincerely,

Lindsay (17 weeks)

January 5, 2015

That Day You Realize Your Family Is In For A Huge Change! Plus My 12 Week Reveal!

Nothing beats the moment you go from just regular you to an expecting mommy. The 2-3 minute wait before that seems like forever and the Clearblue blinking countdown just can’t move fast enough. But when that word “Pregnant” flashes across the screen you’re instantly filled with excitement, tears, butterflies, and about every other emotion in the book. It’s a feeling you’ll never forget and one that pretty much doesn’t leave for the next 40 weeks or so. Each time I faced the dreaded couple minute wait I had Dan right by side, just the way it should be. We had hoped and prayed together to be blessed with a baby and decided it would only be fitting if we learned the news together. And together we did! A moment neither one of us will ever forget and one we can share with both of our little ones in the future.

With my first pregnancy, I was working and we were traveling quite a bit so time just kind of got away from us making it really tough to document every step of the way, but in retrospect, I wish we had been able to capture at least more of my pregnant moments for us to look back on now. So for this time around, Dan and I decided to try our very best to capture week by week my progress through this pregnancy, from when we first found out to the day we meet our new addition. With the hoopla of the holidays passed, I decided to start with my 12 week picture even though I’m a little past that now. But no worries I’ll catch you all up in no time.

12 weeks along with Baby #2 and a blossoming bump already!

12 weeks and I already had a blossoming bump, that’s what you get with a second baby! I personally love the growing baby bump, it just reminds you of the miracle that’s happening inside. By 12 weeks I still didn’t have much of an appetite yet not to mention much of a stomach to support it even if I did. But by far my favorite part about the 12 weeks mark was seeing our little one live and on camera at our 1st trimester screen ultrasound which happened to take place a few days before Christmas, can’t ask for a better present than that! The little one was so active, bouncing around constantly, really making the ultrasound tech work hard. But the moment that really took the cake was when our little one was sucking its thumb, so precious to see this little plum sized baby look and act just like one in your arms. For a few more details about the nitty gritty of this week, take a look below for things like my go to gluten free foods.

Go to gluten free foods: Bagels, apples with peanut butter, pretzels, chips, and some holiday treats too! Yay, homemade, gluten free pizzelles!
How am I sleeping?: Sleep, what’s sleep? Sleeping is always tough for me but I’ve been pretty restless lately.
Have we told our friends and family yet?: So we did spill the beans a little earlier than 12 weeks just because I was showing already but we revealed it to some of the others as our early Christmas present. I’m working on a cute formal announcement as we speak!
What’s going on this week: Christmas is finally upon us! We’re even more excited than usual this year especially since our now two year old seems to kind of get the fun of some of the Christmas traditions.
Looking forward to: The wait to finding out if the baby is a boy or girl reminds me of that few minute wait for the pregnancy test. We’re so excited to hear the news, 18 weeks just can’t come soon enough.
What I love most at this point: Since we first found out we were pregnant we starting telling our little girl about the baby but now that my belly is sticking out more she’s just loving kissing and hugging it and saying hi. Each moment of her love just steals another piece of my heart!

Sincerely,

Lindsay