A Tale of Two Pregnancies

I've now been pregnant twice and have thankfully carried both babies to term. I've had a boy and a girl. I delivered in Spring [May] and in Fall [October]. I've basked in pregnancy glow during the holidays and baked in pregnancy hell during some hot summer months. And while both pregnancies were pretty similar for the most part, they definitely had their differences. Little Gabriella will be four weeks old tomorrow and before all memories of pregnancy fade, I want to document how different it was carrying both of my children.

Let's start at the veeeeery beginning.

Planned vs Unplanned: As you all know, Eli was a planned pumpkin as we tried for almost a year before conceiving him. For 10 months or so, I took my temperature, charted and we timed all those baby making activities. Gabriella, on the other hand, was a HUGE surprise. I breastfed for 7 1/2 months, got one period and found out I was pregnant a month later. I didn't even have the chance to comprehend the fact that I was fertile again. Even though these seem like two completely different situations, both positive pregnancy tests were a total surprise. The two cycles of conception didn't involve "trying". With Eli we decided to take a break from everything and that was the month I got my BFP. As much as I despise this advice, I might just be the poster child for "if you relax it will happen."

The First Sign: I spotted very early on with both pregnancies. Since I wasn't charting the month I got pregnant with Eli, I have no idea what DPO the spotting began. I just remember going to the bathroom before bed on Labor Day 2009 and seeing the beginning of what I thought was my period. I crawled into bed, told Jim and we both agreed that it would have been "kind of cool and totally ironic" to get pregnant the month we stopped trying. I spotted on and off all week and finally caved out of pure frustration that following Friday afternoon. Within seconds the test was positive indicating to me that I was probably "very" pregnant and past the day my period was due. With Gabriella I also spotted. Again, before hitting the hay on a Friday evening, I went to the bathroom and saw my "period". By morning, all bleeding had stopped and that was when I had my suspicions. I kept my eye on things all weekend but Aunt Flo never made her appearance. That Monday morning I took a test which again was positive 2 seconds later. In both cases, the spotting stopped as soon as I got my BFP. Do you think it was God's way of tapping me on the shoulder and saying "Hey...take a test!"?

Morning Sickness: Ugh, do I have to remember this? Quite possibly the worst experience of my life. Both babies made me terribly sick. And while I was out of commission for both first trimesters, each experience was still different. With Eli, the grossness set in at 5 weeks. That's right...I had about one week of new pregnancy bliss before bowing down to the porcelain god every morning. Smells made me especially nauseous. I still remember going to our newly remodeled bank with Jim and that "new" smell turned my stomach. As soon as we got into the car, I hurled my entire breakfast into the vomit bag Jim provided from work. There was also a strange smell that permeated from a corner of my living room that made me gag and run to the bathroom. Problem was...no one else could smell it and to this day, even I can't smell anything so it was probably just my imagination. After struggling through normal daily activities I finally got an Rx for Zofran which was heaven sent. It worked like a charm and I felt like me again. I tried tapering off the meds once the first trimester was behind me but a few hours after I missed a dose, I was deathly ill. I think I was finally able to stop refilling my prescription around the 20 week mark. With Gabriella I had a few more weeks before that morning sickness kicked in. While I was utterly miserable, I wasn't puking as much. And again, after a week or two of being useless, I called in for my Zofran. This time though, the medication just took the edge off. I still didn't feel like myself but was able to function and take care of my toddler. Luckily I was able to kick those meds to the curb shortly after my first trimester.

Other Early Symptoms: I felt pregnant much earlier with Eli than I did with Gabriella. I immediately had tender breasts and my ab muscles even felt sore. On my second go-around, if it hadn't been for the morning sickness, I don't think I would have even believed I was pregnant. During that glorious second trimester, days would go by and I wouldn't give a thought to the fact that we were expecting our second child. Between the lack of symptoms and having to take care of a toddler, it was much harder to give this pregnancy all the attention it deserved.

Skin Changes: When I'm not pregnant, I get about 2 zits a year. When I am pregnant, I never ever break out. Both babies gave me fabulously clear skin regardless of how many times I forgot to wash my face in the evenings. That's probably the one and only arena pregnancy has served me well :) Well, that and the fact that I got two much wanted babies at the end.

With Eli, I got a pretty dark linea negra that made its appearance in my second trimester. With Gabriella, there was absolutely no sign of one until the very end and even then it was super faint. Mr. Eli James gave me teeny tiny stretch marks on the right side of my belly. One lonesome stretchie made its appearance around 34 weeks and it wasn't until after I delivered that I discovered a few surrounding ones. A little time and TLC pretty much made them completely unnoticeable and I was sporting a bikini that summer. The little miss, however, made those suckers worse. And when I say worse, it's worse for me [because I'm psycho like that]. I'm still pretty lucky in that they are below my belly button and not really "raging". Most of the time you can barely see them, expect of course, when I stand 2 centimeters from our full length mirror and inspect them from every angle possible. Again, I'm confident with time and some skin pampering, all will be well again. I've learned that in my case the FEAR of stretch marks is a million times worse than the reality of them. You'll see me sporting a two piece again.

Showing/Maternity Clothes: Between blog hopping and real life friends, I've discovered there are two types of people. Those who show early and hate it and those who show late and hate it. Both receive rude comments and both are constantly trying to justify why they look the way they do. I'm that person whose belly pops almost immediately. However, looking back with Eli, I don't think I looked as pregnant early on as I thought I did. It's really all subjective based on your starting point, I guess. But I was, in fact, in maternity jeans before entering that second trimester. I naturally lean towards tight fitting clothes so that might have something to do with it. Since I'm an early shower, I can't really say I looked pregnant any sooner with Gabriella. Both babies apparently just wanted to make their appearance known right away :)

Weight Gain and Swelling: Much to my dismay, I packed on 35 pounds with both babies. I really thought I'd avoid that this time around with Gabriella but the scale at my last appointment delivered the bad news. Oh well ... this is me not caring :) Anyway, even though I gained the same amount both pregnancies, the rate at which it came on was very, very different. The scale climbed fast and furious right away with Eli. In fact, I didn't gain a single pound in my third trimester with him. On the other hand, I stayed at the same weight with Gabriella until I was in my second trimester and slowly went up from there. While my gain decelerated with Eli, it accelerated with Gabby and I saw the biggest climb in my third trimester, right at the very end. Water weight, perhaps?

The swelling issue confuses me. The majority of my pregnancy with Eli was during those cold winter months and yet I swelled like crazy. Elephant feet crazy. My wedding ring went on hiatus before I was even 20 weeks!!! And yet, being pregnant in summer - and a HOT summer at that -didn't cause any water retention. My ankles were slim and svelte for 30+ weeks and didn't expand until a week or two before I delivered. And even then it didn't hold a candle to the swelling I had with Eli. With Gabby, my wedding ring didn't come off until I was 38 weeks and thankfully I'm already wearing it again. Did I ever tell you all about that time I forced my ring on WEEKS after having Eli and ended up getting it cut off in the jewelry store a few hours later? Yeah....not fun...and not painless AT ALL.

Annoying Pain/Symptoms: Two really strange things come to mind with Eli. First off was that horrid Tinnitus. I couldn't escape the sound of my own heartbeat in my ears 24/7. Trying to fall asleep at night was the worst! And then there was the pregnancy induced carpal tunnel. Every morning I woke up with numb, painful hands and I still remember having a difficult time writing or using a fork while eating breakfast. And maybe because it was the first time my body was preparing to have a baby, but I had some wicked sore hips too with Eli, especially at the end of the pregnancy. Luckily, I managed to escape all of those with Gabriella but that isn't to say I wasn't in any pain. I was probably in MORE pain this time around. An excruciating back ache had me seeing a chiropractor two times a week. And baby girl must have been laying funky because there were weeks when I felt like my stomach was going to bust open from all the outward pressure. It was especially painful on my left side. Wanna hear something interesting? The top of Gabriella's left ear was scrunched those first few days after birth and if I'm picturing this correctly, that would explain the localized pain I felt from her hanging out on one side of my belly.

Cravings: I had practically no cravings with baby girl but I couldn't eat oranges fast enough with Eli. Yesterday he ate a whole can of mandarin oranges in two seconds flat. Coincidence?

Labor: Ah, the fun part :) Let's start with Eli. He made his appearance at 39w4d with no induction. Labor itself lasted pretty much 24 hours exactly. When I tell people this, they cringe, but that includes the first painless contraction all the way up to the second I pushed him out of my body. I woke up on a Sunday morning at 4 am to what felt like period cramps. While I felt those contractions all day long, they didn't get serious until 5 pm. We got to the hospital around 7 pm, entered epidural bliss around 9 pm, started pushing around 2 am and had baby boy at 3:56 am. Gabriella was born at 38w4d and a membrane sweep may or may not have induced labor. It's true what they say....that second baby comes much faster! My whole labor experience with baby girl lasted a whole 6 1/2 hours. Contractions started at 4 pm and got painful around 6 pm. Like Eli, we arrived at the hospital in the 7 o'clock hour and got that epi around 9. This time though,I dilated crazy fast and instead of pushing for two hours, I did it in 20 minutes. Can I get a Hallelujah, Amen to that? Gabriella was born at 10:24 pm. I still think it's crazy that I woke up that morning pregnant and NOT in labor and went to bed that night with baby girl in my arms. Pretty fabulous timeline if you ask me :)

Comparing these two pregnancies makes me realize I had some pretty different experiences. At times it was hard and felt like I couldn't muster up the energy to get through another day, especially the second time around. But looking back, it was all worth it. Before conceiving Eli, I asked God for my "babies" [yes, plural] and begged for the chance to experience every aspect of pregnancy. It's safe to say He absolutely answered ALL of my prayers :)