Beach Vacation and 18 & 19 week Update!

We just got back from a trip to Emerald Isle, NC with Lila! Luckily my parents joined us, or I'm not sure we would've made it through the 7 days! Actually, we did have a lot of fun with her, but traveling and staying away from home with a 2.5 year old is pretty exhausting. This was Lila's first time at the beach and seeing the ocean.

Flying a kite

She loved it and was not scared AT ALL! It would have been easier on us if she did have some fear of the water, honestly. She was so brave that she would run into the ocean (luckily we brought her lifejacket) and let the waves knock her down and she'd just laugh. She was basically trying to body surf the whole time and wanted to go out further and deeper. Little daredevil!

At the pier

There was SOME of this!

And only a bit of this!

She also barely sat down and played in the sand, so relaxing was pretty non-existant. At least one of us was chasing her in and out of the water and making sure she didn't float away! My parents did watch her for some lunchtimes and naps (when she would take one!) so Neil and I could relax a bit. Thank goodness for Lila's wonderful grandparents.

Granddad and Lila time

Loving on Grandma

 But all and all it was a really fun trip! We ate lots of good seafood and ice cream, I somehow managed to finish a book, and most importantly we got some great time with Lila and made a lot of fun memories! Lila loved having a week with her Grandma and Granddad. What a special time.

Our mini-golf champ

18 weeks at the mini golf course :)

My cutie discovering she loves raisins

Neil under the shade of our Sport-brella!

While we were gone I "turned" 18 weeks and I will be 19 weeks tomorrow. I am feeling lots of kicks and taps and rolls from the little one. It's so amazing! This is the best part of pregnancy. Nothing can explain the feeling of your child moving around inside you! It's truly amazing and I'm so excited to meet this baby in a few months. For me, the true bonding and connection with the baby starts with movement and with finding out the gender!!! I hate calling baby an "IT" and once I know boy or girl and can name the baby, I really start to connect and bond with him/her.

We find out boy or girl in 8 DAYS!!!! If you can't tell, I am over the moon excited!! I cannot wait to see our little one again! We had an ultrasound at 11 weeks and I'm sure the baby is so much bigger. I of course also cannot wait to ensure that the baby is healthy and everything is going well with his or her growth. Of course that is the most important part. But I'm just so excited to find out if we will have two little girls or one boy and one girl! I really don't care either way, but I NEED to know! Since we are done after 2 children, this baby will complete our family, boy or girl, so I just want to know what I'm in for.

Here is my photo update for the week and I will for sure update next week with details from the 20 week ultrasound and whether we are expecting more pink or some blue! Woohoo!

Baby #2: 16 and 17 Weeks

I will be 17 weeks this Wednesday! Wow! This pregnancy is flying by and half the time I forget I'm pregnant. This pregnancy has been so easy so far I can see now how someone could not know they were pregnant. I always thought that was crazy, but other than not having a period, I could truly dismiss most of my other mild symptoms and just think I was crazy bloated or just getting fat from eating too many carbs.

I did wake up in the middle of the night on Friday in a lot of pain. It felt almost like labor! Very bad cramps and back pain. So much so that I had to wake Neil up to help me! He rubbed my back and got me Tylenol and a heat pack. I was a little freaked out that something might be wrong, but I think it was just uterus stretching and soreness from working out. Glad that's over!

I have a lot more energy now, so I'm trying to take walks everyday and I've started adding some yoga and strength training. I haven't worked out regularly in 6+ months, so it's time to get moving! I gained close to 50 lbs with Lila and I am hoping to keep it under 35 lbs with this one and I think exercise will help me a lot!

We have marked a few other things off the baby-related to-do list. I got a new car! We replaced my 9-year-old tiny manual everything (but transmission) Chevy Aveo with a 2012 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid with less than 200 miles on it and power everything, leather seats, awesome sunroof and touch screen navigation. I'm feelin' fancy and life and commute are much smoother with power locks and more space! We also ordered and received another video monitor just like the one we use with Lila. We love it and wanted to get another camera and receiver. Done!

Lila talks about "her" baby a lot. She kisses my belly and thinks she has a baby in her belly too. The other day after we got home she said, "I want to check my baby." She went to my bedside table and got the doppler, headphones and gel and started putting it on her belly and rubbing the doppler around. I also overheard her "talking to her sister" on her fake phone. She mentions "her sister" often. It's so stinkin' cute. I hope she understands if sister is actually a brother. So excited to find out in 23 DAYS! Not that I'm counting down or anything!

Well here is my 16/17 week update and belly shot. I'm wearing stripes again and sorry for the blurry photo. It's the best I could do today!

Baby #2: 15 Weeks

I was 15 weeks on Wed. July 3, but with the 4th of July holiday and a sick toddler, I haven't been able to post this update until now! Everything is good with me and baby. I went to my 15 week checkup on Wednesday and the heart rate was 153 and everything was good. The appt. was quick because I just don't have anything abnormal happening. I did ask the doctor about VBAC which I do at each appointment, but nothing else to report. They did say I'm not really gaining much weight, but not to worry. I don't think I've gained much since I first went in to the doctor at 8 weeks, but I am up about 7 lbs since before I found out I was pregnant. 

I also scheduled my anatomy ultrasound appointment and 20 week visit for Aug. 7. I'm a little miffed it's not for the week earlier. I was really hoping to know the health and sex of the baby before August. July 31 was the date I had in my mind. But my OB changed the rules about anatomy ultrasounds from 18-20 weeks to 20-22 weeks so they can make sure to detect abnormalities, etc. I guess we will be able to be pretty certain on the gender by then. Lila's ultrasound was at 18 weeks and a few days. I am SO tempted to get an early elective ultrasound because they can tell the gender at 16 weeks! But both my mom and Neil said it was ridiculous to pay $99 to find out a few weeks early when it doesn't accomplish anything other than satisfying my curiosity. So we will know on August 7th! I'm so excited to see the baby again, make sure it's healthy and find out the sex. I am thinking it's another girl at the moment! 

In other news, we bought Lila a new big girl bed from Ikea, but it is still in the box in the garage. We are planning on spray painting it white as soon as the rain stops enough to do it. I got my awesome Ergo carrier in the mail and it is super nice. I love the pattern and the fact that I can use it for Lila now and for the baby when it arrives. I also started looking through bins in the basement and found a lot of my newborn and breastfeeding stuff. I also located 4 or 5 giant bins of Lila's outgrown clothing. It'll be nice to know whether we'll be using it again or can give it away/sell it!

I'll update again soon because I will be 16 weeks on Wednesday!