Second Pregnancy, Month 4

Pregnancy number 2. What can I say? It’s been, uh, different.

When I was pregnant with Silas, my husband was deployed. He left when I was around 15 weeks pregnant and came back stateside a few days before I gave birth, but because I was staying in San Diego with family and he had to in-process back on base in Washington, he missed the birth by a few hours. I was lonely most of the time and bored and the days seemed to drag on in between my trips from Tacoma to San Diego for my prenatal checkups. I felt great physically. No nausea, no swelling, and because of the warm fall and winter weather in SD, I lived in sandals and never had to struggle to tie my shoes.

This time, I think things are as different as they could possibly be. For starters, I’ll be giving birth in the Netherlands. I’m half Dutch and am rather excited to be having my quarter Dutch baby here. I was also super nauseous for a month straight in my first trimester. I couldn’t cook and I definitely couldn’t keep anything remotely nutritious down. Thankfully, my husband will not be deploying this time so he’s been able to help out when I need it. And somehow I am already 17 weeks pregnant, though it feels like I just found out I was pregnant last week. Time is flying!

Aside from weekly shots of my belly and a few (and I really mean only a few) random pictures toward the end, I have no great pictures of my pregnancy with Silas. One of the biggest changes this time is my determination to get in front of the camera as often as I can. So far it’s been twice weekly, but as I get bigger and look more pregnant, I expect it to happen more often. I really wish I had more pictures from last time because I love being pregnant and I am having such a hard time remembering how big or small I was at each stage. I definitely started showing a bit sooner this time, but most of it was just from bloating and my sad abdominal muscles that forgot how to do their job. This week I’ve finally noticed the bloating going back to normal and I’m feeling a little smaller.

So here I am weeks 13-17, trying to take self portraits without being awkward. I hated the idea of just standing next to a wall, mug shot style, so I decided to take my progress pictures when I get ready in the bathroom. I’m also working on getting in front of the camera each week while I do something more natural for my 365 and I’m loving how those are turning out. Stay tuned for my month 5 update!

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