This Pregnancy is FLYING By!! Whoo, I'm out of breath! Literally! :)

Wow! Since finding out we were pregnant back in June, these last few months have been a whirlwind! We have been busy celebrating lots of babies being born, along with the blessings of new pregancies, while Marc has been studying away for his very last oral board exam coming up in a few weeks, and I have been dealing the best I can with that awful thang they call "morning sickness." That last part definitely hasn't been fun! So, as busy as we have been, Mason and I have also had A LOT of pajama days since June! I try to have at least 2 days a week where we just stay at home and rest and hang out; just momma and Mason. I am trying to rest as much as I can to take care of this precious baby growing inside me! I haven't been blogging much because honestly, I just haven't had the energy. I have lots of updates for y'all and fun stories and pictures of what all we've been up to, but I'm gonna start in this post updating y'all about my current pregnancy. I really wanted to be sooo much better at blogging with this pregnancy, but I just haven't felt up to it.

I will be 23 weeks tomorrow! PRAISE GOD!!!!!! Wow, I cannot believe how fast it has flown, but yet it seems like I've been pregnant an eternity since it's been an entire summer! We were so excited to get to 6 weeks of pregnancy, THRILLED to get to 12, and now, being 23... God is just too good! This pregnancy has been completely different from my pregnancy with Mason. I THOUGHT I was sick with him, but that was nothing compared to how I've been feeling this time around. I had morning sickness for 17 weeks straight, with it letting up a little around 7 weeks, but then kicking right back in. That included 24/7 nausea, fatigue, no energy, dizziness, and worse of all... throwing up! Yuck! And if you know me at all, you know I am NOT a throwin' up kind of girl! I hadn't thrown up in years until this pregnancy. It started around 7 weeks and lasted several weeks. The nausea was pretty bad to where some days I would be in bed the entire day while Mason slept and played around me. I have felt like a horrible mommy to him, but everyone has been so encouraging by saying that he will NOT remember this time, and that it is important for me to take care of the new baby and myself. Mason knows at the end of the day that I love him, and I know this will be over soon and I can go back to being his "fun" mommy. On top of it, I have been blessed with an amazing husband who has kicked right into "daddy mode" the second he walks in the door from work every single day. He takes over and plays with Mason, feeds him dinner, helps with dishes, gives Mason baths, and puts him to bed. It has helped me so much and has made me feel less guilty. I don't know what I would do without Marc!!!

Anyway, I have been SO THANKFUL for this sickness because it has been a constant reminder that my baby is growing strong and healthy, and that it's just a normal pregnancy. I know that sooo many women have been through this. Every day that I was sick, was another day that I was pregnant, and I'll take that over feeling great and NOT being pregnant any day! Around 17 weeks, the sickness went bye-bye for the most part. I can't even begin to describe how HUGE of a relief that has been!! I am still very tired all the time, don't have a lot of energy, and move very slowly, but as long as the nausea is gone, I'm HAPPY AS CAN BE!!! :) I'm waiting for that 2nd trimester energy to come where I start feeling great and kick in to that nursery-plannin' mode (which has already started!)! I loved, loved, loved weeks 23 on with Mason and felt like I could do anything!! I'm SO ready to be at that point with this pregnancy! I'm a girl who likes to go, go, go; so I'm not used to this stayin'-at-home kinda thing!

Here are some other tidbits about this pregnancy:

WHEN AM I DUE? My due date started off being February 18. It has since moved to Feb. 14, but I will schedule a c-section, so it could be as early as January! It seems like the due date keeps getting pushed up every time I talk to the OB. Updates on that later...

WEIGHT: At 4 weeks I weighed 122 lbs. Now at 23 weeks I weigh 136... I have gained 14 pounds! I am right where my OB says I should be. Yay! I gained 40 lbs with Mason, but I started off with a very low, unhealthy weight, but this time I should just gain around 30 to 35.

MATERNITY CLOTHES? I have been wearing maternity clothes six week 6. I am so grateful to all of my wonderful friends who have let me borrow clothes! I can't really wear any that I wore with Mason since I was so much smaller then. I LOVE wearing maternity clothes and actually think they're really cute! I have loved those sweat pants with draw strings and matching hoodies... soooo comfy! I discovered Jockey; Person to Person line of clothing at a friend's home party a few months ago, and I am lovin' that stuff right now! I don't like tight things around my belly, and I'm finding that a lot of maternity jeans are already too tight! I was loving my brown and black gauchos this summer and wore them about every day with tank tops and lip flops. I also have worn thin, cotton, high-waisted dresses and flats; now adding leggings since it's getting cooler. I could live in dresses while being pregnant since they aren't tight around the tummy. I'm still searching for THE pair of jeans that I can wear every other day! I borrowed Melia's when I was preggo with Mason and wore those about every day, but she has been pregnant these last few months, too, so she's been wearing them. :) Let me know if you have any that you love and that are comfy!! I really want some maternity "skinny jeans" to wear with boots; but do they even make those?!?!?! Thank you.

SHOWING?? I definitely feel much bigger this time around! I started showing at 7 weeks, to the point where people would notice in public that I'm pregnant and pat my belly! I didn't mind, though. :) The bad thing is, I already feel like my belly is sticking way out there at 23 weeks, so I can't imagine what 40 weeks will feel like! Ha!

FEELIN' THE BABY?? YES!!! And LOVIN' it!!! I didn't feel Mason move until 23 weeks, but I started feeling this baby around 19 weeks. I was actually sitting in the living room of our beach house in Rosemary Beach a few weeks with my mom and Andrea chatting late at night, and felt the first official kick! I had been having some spasms when I move a certain way, especially at night, but those were nothing compared to what I've been feeling since that first kick. The baby moves most of the day, but that is because I have been sitting and laying down a lot so I'm able to notice it more. Marc has even been able to feel the baby move, and I just LOVE that soooo much! This child is VERY active! Oh my!

SLEEP: Getting a ton of it! Since I have had no energy and have been so fatigued, I could sleep all day long! I'm SO thankful for a 2 1/2 year old little boy who loves sleep as much as his mommy! So, during the day when I just cannot keep my eyes open any longer, I put him down for a nap and we both sleep for hours! Most nights, the second my head hits the pillow I rest well the entire night until I wake up the next morning. And usually I am not a good sleeper. I busted out my good 'ole pregnancy pillow at around 15 weeks, so that definitely helps!
What I miss: Nothing really - maybe sleeping on my stomach?

CRAVINGS & AVERSIONS: I haven't really had an appetite with all the nausea & vomiting, so I haven't really been eating very much. I know I need to, and I eat when I feel like it, but it's not nearly as much as I shoved in my mouth with Mason! Which is probably a good thing. Ha! Since I've gained my appetite back, I have been craving baked potatoes, pizza (could eat this ALL day long!!), fake brand Lucky Charms cereal (seriously have 2 bowls a day!), donuts, salads, yeast rolls, pasta salad, Fazoli's baked spaghetti, chili dogs, & milkshakes.

Right away I noticed some aversions... and some very strange ones! I put a blueberry in my mouth one morning and immediate threw it up... right in the middle of the kitchen and in front of Mason! Did the same thing with a piece of toast. Also, another strange one... OLIVE GARDEN!! Yup, never thought I would be saying that one! I can barely stand the sight of it! I have definitely been missing feta cheese, ceasar salads, iced coffee drinks, and deli sandwiches! I do give in and have an Oven Roasted Turkey Breast sub from Subway every once and a while, but ask for them to toast it. Yum!!

Okie dokie, that's enough info for y'all for now, I'm sure! Ha! I'll post some belly shots soon and reveal our baby's gender!