Here we go again...

First things first. Anyone who reads this blog already knows this news, but let's just pretend I posted this a while ago. Like maybe five months ago or so.

The news? We're having another baby!

I'm due September 4th and am currently 33 weeks along. Things have been going great with the pregnancy overall. Here's Baby Schmidt #2 at 20 weeks:

I had great intentions of journaling throughout this pregnancy. My memories of my first pregnancy were spotty and I wanted to make sure I kept track of everything this time around. Well, obviously that didn't happen. But here's a quick recap of the pregnancy so far.

 

Physical stuff:

 

We found out I was pregnant on Marla's birthday. It took a while for it to feel real, and I found myself constantly comparing this pregnancy to my first one. In general, I would say this pregnancy has been similar to my first, just... more. More symptoms, more weight gain, more hormones, etc. 

 

I didn't have any morning sickness with Marla, but got hit with it a little this time around. It wasn't awful, but enough to make me miserable from time to time, particularly between weeks 8-12 or so. I was also a lot more tired than I ever was in my first pregnancy. On a positive note, I haven't had as many headaches as I did with Marla. I got a major headache at least weekly for about half of my first pregnancy, but experienced far fewer of them earlier on in this pregnancy and they basically disappeared by about 16 weeks.

 

In addition to the nausea and fatigue, my belly popped out much earlier in this pregnancy, which means I've been in maternity clothes since about 12 weeks. I've had a lot of mild aches and pains, especially in my back and hips. I blame this mostly on chasing a toddler around, putting her in the car seat, etc. I feel physically exhausted most of the time.

 

Much like in my first pregnancy, my appetite has been huge. Even in the first trimester when I often felt sick, I wasn't stopped from eating a lot. These days, I've had a little heartburn and the baby is getting big enough to make me feel full after eating just a few bites. Oh, and the weight gain? I don't want to talk about it.

 

All that being said, I've been feeling good for the most part. Just pregnant. :)  

 

Emotional Stuff:

 

We're incredibly excited about this baby, but the experience is much different than the first time around. I'm not worried about becoming a parent or having the responsibility of a newborn, but I'm anxious about how a second child will change our family dynamics, how Marla will adjust to the change, and how I'm going to handle caring for a toddler and a baby at the same time.

Marla is notoriously territorial and jealous around other children, so I'm mostly concerned with how a new baby will impact her and our relationship. It's also hard to imagine loving another child as much as I love her, but I'm assured by pretty much everyone that it's possible. And while I'm freaked out about the multiple children thing, I'm really looking forward to watching them grow together as siblings. As guilty as I feel about splitting my time between two kids, I know I'm giving them both an irreplacable relationship that will shape their childhood and last a lifetime.

In some ways, it feels like Marla just came into our lives and is still our baby. But as I prepare for a new baby, I realize how much she's actually grown and how distant those newborn memories are. I think I'm forgetting the really hard parts and remembering fondly the things I no longer have with Marla: a child who doesn't talk back, poop that doesn't stink, maternity leave, multiple naps per day, etc. I know all the hard stuff will still be hard, but for now I think it's best that I put it to the back of my mind and just focus on the excitement of bringing Baby #2 into the world.

Baby Stuff:

We decided not to find out the gender of this baby. I use the term "we" loosely, since it was entirely my decision and Jeff really wanted to find out. I have the sense that it's a girl, but that may be due to the fact that I already have a girl and can't really imagine anything different.

Girl OR boy, this baby is doing great so far. I thought at first that it moved around in the womb less than Marla did and would thus have a more laid back personality, but lately it's been nonstop activity, so that may not be true. I've been measuring on target and baby's heart rate has been strong throughout the pregnancy. And, if the ultrasound pictures are any indication, we know baby has a larger-than-average head and a strange obsession with the placenta. Oh, and of course we know it's cute. Below are the pictures to prove it.

Seriously, he/she had his/her face smashed up against the placenta during the entire scan. He/she may have been trying to eat it? Snuggle it? Tell it secrets? Regardless, these pictures remind me of this priceless blog post by Honest Toddler. And this one, too.

 

Nose and lips.

 

Skeletor. 

 

 

Foot! 

 

 

Diva

Marla loves to dress up and accessorize. I know she didn't get this from me, so she must have inherited a diva gene from one of her aunts. Some of her get-ups are pretty entertaining.

Goodbye, old friend

Last month we officially said goodbye to Marla's pacifier, aka "nu-nu."

Marla's relationship with her nu-nu has been going strong since the beginning. As a newborn, we kind of forced it on her when, after commenting on how often she was nursing, her pediatrician told me, "If you don't offer her a pacifier, she'll use you as one." After a few months, she was hooked. We always kept the pacifier for naptime and bedtime almost exclusively, thus creating an amazing sleep association tool that I will never ever regret introducing. The pacifier always comforted her and helped put her to sleep when nothing else would. There are a lot of things you can't predict with a baby/toddler, and having just one thing that I could count on time and again was absolutely priceless.

When she turned two, I figured the time had come to part ways with the nu-nu, but I was afraid of the ramifications. Marla has never been a good sleeper even with the pacifier, so we worried that taking away our most trusted ally would lead to disaster, or at the very least a lot of sleepless nights (and we have enough of those already). We made a few half-hearted attempts at taking it away. We told her nu-nu's are for babies, not big girls. We cut a slit in it to change its sensation. But neither logical nor underhanded methods worked... bribery did.

While we were reading books one night, I told Marla that if she gave me her nu-nu and slept the whole night without it, she could have a donut in the morning. She hesitated for a moment and said, "I want a pink donut." I agreed, and with that, she handed it over. She fell asleep without issue and slept through the entire night. The nu-nu has been gone ever since. She's asked for it periodically since, but has only cried for it a couple of times. It's strange, because I thought I'd be a lot happier to see it go... but I really miss being able to rely on it during long car rides. Plus, it's just one more step out of babyhood. But it was time to say goodbye. We'll miss you, nu-nu!

   

Once upon a time

Marla has been getting more imaginative lately. She has most of her books memorized and recites them almost word for word, but when she picks up a non-children's book, she makes up a story and "reads" it. I don't know if her renditions are precisely what Russo and Garcia Marquez intended for their books, but I think it's engaging nonetheless. (Also note her fetching outfit, featuring a swimsuit top pulled over her hoodie.)

Marla had a little lamb

A couple of weeks ago, I took Marla to the Govin's Lambing Barn in Menomonie. It was a great time and I think we'll make it a yearly spring tradition. My only complaint was that Jeff was busy and I could have used an extra set of hands to take more and better pictures.

Marla's favorite part of the excursion was riding a horse-drawn wagon to the barn.

 

Mama sheep, looking for a handout.

 

 

CUTENESS.

 

I was so looking forward to getting a picture of Marla holding a lamb, but it turns out she liked looking at the animals a lot more than actually touching them. She was a little freaked out when this guy started to squirm in her arms. Also, I was later informed that this was actually a baby goat, not lamb. Oh well.

 

A farm worker went and found the runt of the litter so Marla could pet a pig that was more her size. :)

 

This made me a little nervous. Easy, Lennie.

 

The other major highlight was a pony ride! She LOVED it and threw a tantrum when it was over. Loving the farm!

 

Waterpark!

We made a one-night getaway to Wisconsin Dells over Jeff's spring break. It wasn't Marla's first time at a waterpark, but it was the first time the water wasn't freezing cold and she truly enjoyed herself. I didn't get any pictures of the first day, which I will eternally regret, as I missed a major photo op following Marla's eating a blueberry ice cream cone and getting her face almost completely blue. But here are a few shots of our second day.

Enjoying a donut for breakfast.

 

We went to Chula Vista, and there's an underground tunnel leading from the hotel to the waterpark. The walk was a little long, so Marla took advantage of this willing pack mule.

 

She is officially in love with her new swimsuit and matching sandals.

I was so impressed by how she handled the waterslides in the kiddie area. She went down by herself at least 30 times.

Easter

I can't believe this was Marla's third Easter already. Crazy! I'm not big on encouraging obsession with holiday mascots, but I have to admit it was fun to see Marla *sort of* comprehend the idea of the Easter Bunny. We started talking about him about a week before Easter and she somehow got it in her mind that the Bunny was going to be involved in our little getaway to the Dells a couple days before Easter Sunday. No such luck, but of course he visited our house on the actual day.

Checking out her basket.

 

 

Is there anything more endearing than a little girl in an Easter dress? 

 

 

Walking to the car with Dad following church. Isn't the snow lovely? (gagging noise)

 

This velvet coat was a hand-me-down from Jeff's brother's little girl. I remember receiving it when Marla was a baby and thinking she'd never fit into such a big piece of clothing, and here we are already. Funny how that works, huh?

 

Family picture at Jeff's sister's house after church.

Smearing her Easter cupcake all over her face. The cute ensemble was bound to be destroyed at some point, I guess.