20 Week Bumpdate



 

Well if watching my stomach grow outward by the day wasn't enough to make it real then the ultrasound we had this week did the trick. I am in fact growing a living being that does flips and kicks and punches and has the personality of her big sis. Yes, I said HER!!! After much anticipation we finally know what to call this babe something other than "it." My OB appointment was originally scheduled for Tuesday which was also the day seven inches of snow fell on our town. I was getting antsy and worrying about having to wait to find out the gender. If you haven't figured out by now I'm just a tad on the neurotic side. With the expected snow coming my favorite husband in the whole wide world checked to see if we could change my appointment to Monday before the snow arrived. Just one of the perks of him working amongst all of these doctor's offices. I managed to make it back to Woodward in time for a 4:00 appointment. Everything checked out great....blood pressure, heart rate, baby growth....we won't talk about weight gain. I settled in back in the ultrasound room for the big reveal. The reveal that never happened. Baby just wasn't ready to reveal her parts that afternoon. Dainty and cross-legged she remained during our ultrasound. Dr. Lehman guessed girl but said he couldn't give us a 100% since she wasn't cooperating. I left disappointed with not knowing. Riley left disappointed that he probably wasn't going to be having a tiny Marine. The week that followed was a long one with ice covered roads and record low temperatures which made for not so fun working conditions. Somewhere in the midst of working out in the cold and ice, chasing Hallie around and not getting enough sleep I ended up with the crud come Friday morning. But there was NOTHING that was going to stop me from making it to the big ultrasound. Hallie went with even though I had originally planned on surprising her at home and we met Riley at the hospital that morning. Baby girl made it clear what she was the second time around.....and daddy was no longer in denial about living in a house full of women...

 

Pink for Hallie

 

But I'm pretty sure seeing her tiny little footprint helped to melt his heart at least a little bit.....

 

  

 

Lil Sis was way more entertaining than I'd expected. Guess she was excited for the weekend just like her momma. That's what I get for expecting her to perform on a Monday...who likes Mondays anyways?! She was on her back most of the time doing all sorts of stunts for us. This was my favorite...hand behind head, fist in the air proudly proclaiming the female reign in the Fanning household....well, we can just pretend.....

Don't get me wrong, she did have her shy moments though....

 

And the moments that let me know she was definitely going to be a mini Hallie....kicking me pretty good here....

And arching her little back....looks similar to some of Hallie's two-year-old tantrums....

Riley kept Hallie busy and quiet while the tech finished up with the ultrasound. I think Hallie really wanted to understand what she was seeing on the screen but I'm 75% sure that she was just agreeing with everything we were saying. "Hallie, look! It's your sissy waving at you!" Her response: "oh, uh huh." Reminded me of the Friends episode where Rachel can't see her baby on the screen. "Hallie look! She's doing a flip!" Her response: "where?" I think once she knew she was having a little sis everything was sort of blah to her....she had confirmation of what she apparently already knew all along and that was enough for her. She returned to watching Mickey Mouse while I marveled at this tiny precious GIRL being.....

I had planned to surprise Hallie with a big box with a big pink or blue balloon inside but those plans changed once we didn't find out on Monday. Since she was in the know already she helped me share the news with family and friends.....

 

Two girls it is!!!!! I think I've secretly always wanted this. Just please don't tell Riley I said that. But this obviously begs the question I'd been hoping nobody would ask: will there be a third? We'll talk about that later. For now I have a nursery to decorate, Hobby Lobby trips to make and online shopping to do. Last pregnancy there was no Pinterest and I hadn't fallen in love with Etsy yet.....things should get interesting this time around.

I figured I'd end with a bit about the actual pregnancy side of things....I'm in that blissful period known as the second trimester where I can still breath when I walk up stairs, I can still see my toes to paint my toenails and I can lean over in a seated position to put my socks on. There are no nose bleeds, no nausea (besides that lovely altitude sickness I experienced in the mountains), no crazy food aversions (cravings is another story) and no overwhelming fatigue (ok, maybe just a smidge). My pre-pregnancy jeans have been placed up high out of my reach and I have a feeling it will be a very long time before we meet again. But honestly, is there anything more comfortable than maternity jeans??? I think not. As far as work goes, doc told me I can continue at my current activity level until 28 weeks and then things will have be scaled back a bit.....this means no more crawling on the floor, lifting and doing whatever other crazy activities I do on a weekly basis with my sweet school kiddos. I did find it eye-opening that I'm exceeding the recommended weight limit for lifting everytime I pick up Hallie....36 pounds of three-year-old.

 We're halfway through this journey and feeling blessed with a smooth ride so far. I'm hoping when next months' update rolls around I'll have a name for our princess to share with you. That is if we can convince Hallie that Butterfly Ladybug Fanning isn't going to be her official name. ;)