I’m officially(ish) halfway today y’all! 20 weeks have FLOWN by, and I can’t believe how fast this pregnancy is going. I’m going to start a little Friday tradition of a weekly bump update, but today’s announcement is a BIG ONE. Are you ready to find out if we’re having a girl or a boy? I won’t bore you with details and just get the announcement part over already…
Surprise! Cora is going to have a sister and we’re going to have two little misses running around before long! I am so, so happy this baby is a girl, because I know the relationships my sisters and I have and wanted that so badly for Cora. They will be just about three years apart so they may even be able to play sports together some day! Not to mention Orlando and I knew we wouldn’t be done with just two kiddos either way, so (if you’re old school and feel the archaic need for a male heir or something) there is still time for a boy – calm down.
The experience of knowing the gender has been so different this time around. With Cora, since she was a surprise I always found it a bit awkward to call her “it” or “the baby” while she was in my tummy. Now I feel that little kick here or there and can think…that’s my daughter in there! She is so lovely already, if you haven’t seen the ultrasound on my Instagram yet click here. The technician could barely get her to sit still for the different images she needed, she was such an active little thing!
Once we left the doctor’s office I had the envelope with the gender inside and called Orlando since he was in Mexico. Now, I have never said that patience is necessarily one of Orlando’s virtues. He’s put up with me for this long, so he must have SOME, but when it comes to big moments like this he can barely wait two minutes to find out every little detail. I wanted to wait until we were together again in person to find out, but with no trip to Xalapa planned for us in the near future, that envelope might have remained sealed for awhile. When he finally broke me down and convinced me to open it, I pulled in to a CVS parking lot and Facetimed him. We were both basically crying and giggling like nervous teenagers before we even opened the envelope, but the emotions really began to flow when we discovered we would be welcoming a little girl into the world. Nontraditional gender reveal party of two, perhaps, but it was a sweet and tender moment I’ll never forget.
So now that you know my bump is a beautiful baby girl, here are the rest of the details with pregnancy number two thus far!
20 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss? 161. Oy. That was weighing myself at the end of the day and I just ate a whole bag of Starburst mini’s, so perhaps I need to pick a better time. Or just remember that I’m growing a human and deal with the weight gain as it will inevitably come.
Maternity clothes? Finally switched over to my new Gap maternity jeans this week
Stretch marks? No, and I hope it stays that way. PLEASE, PLEASE, let it stay that way.
Sleep? I’ve been trying to get Cora to be better about staying in her big girl bed, so my sleep for the past week has been frequently interrupted and sporadic. Once I’m out though, I am out. 🙂
Best moment this week: Obviously finding out it’s a girl!
Movement? Little kicks and wiggles here and there. I love that I know what expect now so I noticed her movement much earlier on this time!
Food cravings? I wanted bean and cheese tacos a couple days ago, then today felt a need for something sweet. Hence the Starburst mini’s and hence why I weigh 161 pounds. 🙂
Gender? GIRL! 🙂
Labor Signs? No ma’am, and there better not be any for a while!
Belly Button in or out? Innie! I’m trying to remember if mine truly “popped” with Cora, but I think it just got really, really stretched out haha. We shall see if her sister is any different!
Wedding rings on or off? On, again I’m trying to think if I ever had to take them off with Cora. I’m pretty sure I didn’t, although my feet took the majority of the swelling towards the end.
What I miss? Being able to watch my diet and exercise exactly how I want and to the limits I want. Even though I have a plan to stay healthy this pregnancy, I still know I can’t do EVERYTHING I want because I have a little one to take care of first and foremost.
What I am looking forward to? Picking out a name. Now that we know it’s a girl we have started tossing names around, but it is SO hard. Cora’s name was just a perfect combination of everything we wanted, and doing that again feels like asking lightning to strike twice in the same spot!
Weekly Wisdom? We’ve already experienced the annoying “Don’t you want a boy?” questions and I’m this close to ranting for a whole blog post about it. Word to the wise? If we’re expecting a girl, say congratulations. If we’re expecting a boy, say congratulations. Because it’s not 1845 anymore and you don’t HAVE to have your boy to make your family complete. If we have one, FANTASTIC. If we don’t, it will not be the end of the world. End of discussion, and mini rant over. 🙂
Milestones? Finding out the gender was so much fun! I’m glad we didn’t do it with Cora, but it is kind of fun to know. 🙂
I leave you with this sweet, sweet photo of my eldest daughter and a quote directed towards her baby sister that I hope they will come to fulfill someday. Sisters are a special thing in this world, and I can’t wait for Cora to experience that bond. HUGE thank you to my girl April at Pure Happiness Photography for snapping these photos for us on short notice and with a SUPER cranky Cora to deal with that evening. Due to my toddler’s temperamental attitude I was terrified we wouldn’t have anything to work with and the gender reveal would be a gigantic flop. I should have known April’s talent would shine through and she would capture these precious moments for us to remember forever! Love you Ape! 🙂
XO,
A
