20 weeks already?!

I can't believe we are halfway already! This pregnancy has flown compared to when I was pregnant with Alice! And fortunately it has been such a great pregnancy for the most part. From weeks 6-8(ish) I was super nauseous. I never got sick, but I just felt crummy all day, everyday. I never wanted to go anywhere on the days Clayton was off, and I nothing was appetizing to me either. I basically lived off of bananas, cheese and crackers, and chicken noodle soup. Oh, and lemonade! But it would take forever for me to find something I could tolerate. However, lucky for me (and Clayton and Alice) that only lasted about 3 weeks or so. I still had the occasional day I felt bad here and there but nothing compared to the beginning or my whole first trimester with Alice. And another thing I thought might hit was fatigue. You hear every second-time, third-time, etc. mom say fatigue is worse than when it's your first. But with me, I had no fatigue at all! Which I was dreading because, again, with Alice I was tired all day everyday the first trimester. But I was scared I'd be a boring mom for Alice for a few months and I was just not ok with that. She loves to play outside and go places and just play in the house, and I didn't want to be putting her in front of the tv while I took little naps all day (not that I'm judging people who do this because I definitely would have done it if it had come down to that :). So, only a little nausea, no fatigue, and also I've only gained around 8 lbs so far this time around. Another biggie for me because with Alice, I gained like crazy and was FINALLY back to my pre-pregnancy weight right before I got pregnant again haha :) So I am bound and determined not to lose control again with my weight!

Luckily I've been walking with two friends from high school, Liz and Jessica who both have sweet baby boys, and we walk pretty much every weekday for about an hour (3 miles) which has been awesome and a huge help for me. If I do it alone I never exercise that long by myself. So that's been nice! Also I've been craving salads. With Al I ate tons of carbs in the first trimester because I felt so sick but I've been able to not only keep down salads and vegetables, but I actually really want them! And I've been eating tons of fruit too and can now tolerate water aaand...coffee! Of course I drink the half-caf kind and limit my caffeine, but I'm glad I can drink it and even smell if again without feeling sick. However, the toothpaste still smells gross to me and thankfully Clayton finally ran out so we can now use the same kind again :)

Starting at 16 weeks I had to start taking progesterone shots since Alice came a little early and because of our history with miscarriages. So far those are going fine, except for the soreness and they make me a little extra tired for a couple of days.

I also had to start wearing a heart monitor to watch my irregular heart beat. I had the same thing with Alice but they wanted to monitor it this time since it happened sooner and more often in this pregnancy. But I've had an echocardiogram (ultrasound on my heart) and there was nothing alarming. So it's probably just something I'll have to tolerate again until after Baby comes.

Other than that, things seem great! The baby had a healthy heart rate at my last check up and I've been feeling lots of little kicks and punches in there. With Alice I felt her around 17 weeks but this time I felt the baby around 15 weeks. It's neat the second time around comparing things and knowing when you feel movements that its definitely the baby!

Hopefully the second half will go as well as the first! :) Here is a pic of my bump at 20 weeks!