They Say Every Pregnancy is Different... "They" Weren't Lying...

I am officially into the 2nd trimester of my pregnancy now and I can say my pregnancy with this baby, compared to my pregnancy with Mason has been COMPLETELY different. That doesn't mean that I'm expecting one gender over the other, though. A person could have 5 boys and each pregnancy could be totally different (and somehow, I think if I had 5 children, that would be the outcome for me haha I just picture our family with a house full of boys)

Anyway, I felt like blogging about this topic, just so I could see just how different it really is, so here we go:

and p.s. SORRY ahead of time if any of this is TMI for anyone!

DIFFERENCES:

1)NAUSEA (morning sickness): This time around, the nausea has been far worse than it ever got with Mason. During my pregnancy with Mason, there were a few smells that made me gag or dry heave (never vomited),but overall, I felt pretty good! This time around, however, smells haven't had much to do with it. I have just felt like downright crap, on and off, all day, everyday. Think of how you feel when you have a stomach bug: lethargic, nauseous, your head hurts and you don't want to move, but then you vomit and feel a bit better until the wave starts over again. That was me the whole first trimester, only I didn't get the vomiting relief. It was just on and off, everyday, all day, feeling like I NEEDED to vomit. If I didn't eat something little every couple hours, I'm extremely nauseous. Smells have only gotten to me twice. Once was when I walked into the house after Mick had made fish and for some reason the fishy smell made me run right back out the door gagging in my front yard (a sight for the neighbors, I'm sure) and the 2nd time was when I opened the dishwasher without realizing it hadn't been run yet. The smell of dried up, sour yogurt from Mason's breakfast bowl smacked me in the face and had me running full speed for the bathroom. Thankfully, as I headed into weeks 12 and 13, I started feeling a bit better. I still have bad days, but I have some good ones as well now! (Thank you, Lord!)

2)EXHAUSTION: Maybe I'm crazy, but I don't remember being nearly this exhausted when I was pregnant with Mason. Maybe since I was working full-time then and was exhausted all the time anyway, I just didn't notice it as much, but this time, I notice it. a LOT. Taking care of a rambunctious toddler while being this exhausted is harder than I imagined. I just feel like I'm dragging all the time and never really "wake up"

3) SLEEP: (or lack thereof) When I was pregnant with Mason, I got the BEST sleep of my life all the way through my pregnancy. Even at the end when I was uncomfortable, I slept like a rock. I woke up with sore hips, but I SLEPT and I slept GOOD. This time, though, I couldn't get a good night's sleep if my life depended on it. I'm nowhere near "big and uncomfortable" yet, so I don't have the slightest clue why I can't sleep. I'm EXHAUSTED so why the heck can't I sleep?!

4) CRAVINGS: With Mason, I never really had cravings. In the 1st trimester, nothing ever sounded good to me other than pizza. I didn't really crave pizza, it just seemed like the only food that appealed to me. The last trimester, I preferred sweets. This pregnancy - I. WANT. CHOCOLATE. and lots of it. I make our grocery list and always add "CHOCOLATE!!!!" at the bottom. It's very weird to me, because I've never really been a chocolate person. I'm normally not a "sweets" person at all. I'd much rather have a bag of doritos over any kind of candy or cake on a normal day, but this time it's all about CHOCOLATE! Also, last pregnancy, I never had any stereotypical pregnancy cravings, but this time I want PICKLES IN my grilled cheese sandwich. I tried it one night, for some odd reason, and it was like a little taste of Heaven. It was SO GOOD. So probably once a week since then, I've had grilled PICKLES and cheese =)


5)MOOD SWINGS: During my pregnancy with Mason, I never got super emotional about stuff. The only time I really got upset and flipped out was at the very end of my pregnancy and in my defense, what happened that evening would have ticked me off on a normal day haha. This time, though, I cry at the drop of a hat. I CRIED while watching TOY STORY 2! I got a nice gift for my MIL's birthday in November, and in 5 seconds of being home, my husband knocked it off the counter and broke it. I cried over it, but laughed at the same time, because I knew it was ridiculous to cry, but I couldn't help it haha. Once I sent my husband to the store for Moose Tracks ice cream (the kind with the little peanut butter cups), but he came home with BROWNIE Moose Tracks?!?! If looks could have killed that night.... he would have been a dead man. Needless to say, he went back to the store and paid closer attention that time haha

6)BODY TEMPERATURE: I'm almost always hot normally. During my pregnancy with Mason, I don't remember noticing a huge change in body temperature, or how my body controlled it, until I started getting bigger and then I was hot a lot. However, this pregnancy, I'M FREEZING! I read that it has something to do with your body not being able to regulate all the extra blood pumping when you're pregnant. Reguardless, I'm cold. I'm constantly asking Mick to turn the air conditioner off or at least raise the temperature a bit. It's 75 degrees today and I'm in sweatpants and a t-shirt and I'm COLD. so crazy.


(as you can see, things are way different, but not everything is. There are still a few similarities this time around)

SIMILARITIES

1)VOMITING: Although I'm MUCH more nauseous this time around, I've still never vomited. I consider myself VERY lucky for this, because I know quite a few women who have ended up in the hospital from dehydration from vomiting so much. Even though sometimes I think I'd feel better if I just threw up, I'm thankful that I haven't. I've come very close a few times, but held back.

2)UNABLE TO WEAR EARRINGS: I'm the only person I know to have this happen. As soon as I'm pregnant, BAM, can't wear earrings. They get infected, itchy, oozy and crusty almost instantly. When I was pregnant with Mason, that was the first thing that happened. My ears got infected before I even knew I was pregnant. I took my earrings out, let the infection heal, and tried again. Within hours, they were itchy and oozing again. Literally the day after I had Mason, I put earrings in and was FINE. Never had issues again until I got pregnant again. This pregnancy, I got to week 6 before I had issues with my ears. I was excited, because I thought maybe this time around, I'd be able to wear earrings, but at week 6, all those fun symptoms crept up on me. They started itching one evening and within about 2 hours, they were full on infected. gross.

3)FREQUENT URINATION: I suppose this is the one thing that will always be the case in every pregnancy. I have to pee. all. the. time. There have literally been times that I pee, wipe, and have to go again before I even get up. It's ridiculous, but that's pregnancy haha


That's all the similarities I can think of for now. Like I said, though, this pregnancy has been VERY different than the first time around in so many ways. We will be finding out the gender in a few weeks when my parents come to visit and reguardless of all the differences, I'm guessing boy. We want a HEALTHY BABY, so pink or blue ultimately doesn't matter to us. Mick and I both want a little princess in the house eventually, but I just can't picture it when I think of our family. I just picture a house full of boys and that is just fine with me. Quite a few of my friends are saying they'd be shocked if the doctors don't say girl and Mason is still convinced that it's a sister, but we will see. Either way, pink or blue, we're excited to find out and start calling this baby by his/her name!