I’m Pregnant! Here’s A 17 Week Update!

With the craziness of the holiday season I haven’t had a chance to write a single pregnancy post yet – and here we are and now I’m 17 weeks ! I thought I’d give a big update, answering a lot of the questions sent in on Instagram and then stick with what will be more of a normal update every few weeks! I always hesitate to write these wondering if anyone really cares but they tend to get a bit of traffic and it’s fun for me to look back upon.

The most asked questions on Instagram!

Was your 3rd pregnancy planned? How did you know you wanted another baby?

This pregnancy was NOT planned. It was a total and utter shock and took a few weeks for us to really wrap our head around the fact that we were pregnant!! I hate saying this because I know so many people struggle to get pregnant and I’m so aware of that, and my heart aches for these women, but this is what happened to us. We are very excited, grateful and feel so fortunate to be expecting another baby in our family. I always thought I may want 3 kids and didn’t completely feel that I was done this ‘phase’ of life, but at the same time Austin and I didn’t know if it was the right choice or timing to try and grow our family. Things were finally comfortable and easy with our family of 4 and financially adding another baby into the mix is a big deal! But, we got a blessing and a surprise and didn’t have to talk or think about it anymore, I guess!

Are you finding out the gender?

Nope! I’m surprisingly REALLY excited about this!! I desperately wanted a girl when I was pregnant with Piper and so we found out. With Flora I kind of wanted another girl but also liked the idea of it being a surprise, and at the last minute , during the ultrasound anatomy scan appointment I changed my mind and wanted to KNOW! So for our final baby we decided it would be really exciting and fun to find out when I deliver. I will admit it makes planning a little more difficult seeing as I have about 10 bins of baby girl clothes to sort through!

How are you feeling?

Again I hate to say this because I know many aren’t as lucky, but I’m feeling so great right now! It’s that 2nd trimester bliss! I was so uncomfortable with my pregnancy with Flora that I dreaded the idea of even being pregnant again so I feel really fortunate that I’m feeling good for now! My first trimester wasn’t that bad either, I had about 3 weeks of nausea where I constantly ate snacks all day but it passed around 10 or 11 weeks. I also was pretty tired and tried to get to bed by 8:30 or 9:00pm in the first trimester, knowing that I need to stock up on as much rest as I can!! My bump has started to grow as of last week and sleep is getting a little uncomfortable.

As most of you know I have anxiety and am forever worrying about medical issues, so being pregnant I’m always on high alert. Right around now is when you start to feel the baby move (I haven’t really too much) and so I’m starting to get anxious about that. I know it will continue throughout the rest of my pregnancy and I try to be aware but not obsess. There’s a fine line.

What prenatal vitamins are you taking?

I’m taking Ritual right now! What I like most about them (after trying many throughout my pregnancies) is that they are actually designed not to make you nauseous. I take them at night before bed and never have I felt sick from them. I also love that they just show up in the mail when you’re running low.

Ok and now my typical pregnancy updates that I will continue to share!!

How I’m Sleeping

Pretty good, starting to have trouble finding a position to sleep in now that my bump just popped out over night. I am looking for a new sleep pillow and thinking of trying this one, I found myself tired of the huge body pillows towards the end of my 2nd pregnancy.

I’ve enjoyed reading before bed religiously and can’t wait to read more books this year!

What I’m Eating

Not healthy enough!! Haha. I blame it on the holidays. Trying to up my fruit & veggie intake along with protein to help with low blood sugar. When I make the time to prep breakfast sandwiches it’s great and I’ve also been turning to protein bars for snacks (though I really hate the taste).

With my other pregnancies I didn’t have too many random food cravings (especially this early on) but I’ve been LOVING some cheesecake (typically would never eat this) and Chinese food (again, not my preference normally).

I’ve been drinking tea EVERY night – I was sick for 3 weeks and relied heavily on Trader Joe’s Ginger Turmeric Tea and I also love this nighttime tea.

I usually drink my coffee black but I’ve had a pretty strong aversion to coffee my entire first trimester. Now I’m drinking a cup every morning with a lot of milk (very out of character)!!

Wardrobe

Definietly hit that hard to dress spot in pregnancy. Most of my pre-pregnancy clothes don’t look great. I just got a new belly band so I can wear my jeans again! I’ve been living in leggings (these for around the house & these amazing Zella ones otherwise) honestly. I also just got this adorable tunic sweater that I will be wearing NON-stop! My goal this pregnancy is to buy as little maternity clothes as possible. I did a pretty good job with this when I was pregnant with Flora. Sizing up and picking styles that will work now and in post-postpartum is much more worth the money in my opinion. Though ASOS and H&M do have some pretty cute maternity clothes!!

What I’m Nervous About

Right now I feel pretty good about everything! One thing that I keep thinking about and dreading is the hours and days after giving birth. I had such a hard time physically after having Flora during this time (those after labor pains + heavier bleeding were awful) and could not sleep well in the hospital at all. I was just miserable and uncomfortable – so more than being nervous about giving birth I’m nervous about that part immediately following.

More Pregnancy Content

For some more of my favorite pregnancy content check out these posts:

How To Relieve Heartburn During Pregnancy (had it awful with Flora, crossing my fingers it doesn’t happen again)!

Pregnancy & Childbirth Books I Like

Pregnancy Safe Skincare Favorites (an updated version of this post coming out this week)!