Week 16: Here we grow again!

Hello, sweet readers! I’m Tanya, P&N’s latest Knocked Up blogger, and I’m thrilled to have you along for the ride. My husband Jesse, daughter Anaïs and I live in Atlanta where we can be found discovering new haunts or dancing all over town. It’s a pleasure to meet you.

Being pregnant for the second time, I thought I knew what to expect. And to some extent, I did. The exhaustion, weird food cravings and/or aversions and the wonderment and realization that there was a tiny human growing inside of me all came back to me like déjà vu. Yet, everything still feels so new, and I somehow feel like an experienced rookie, if that even makes sense. For one, I had awful morning sickness from the very beginning of this pregnancy! I barely had any the first time around, so when the debilitating nausea and repeated bouts of daily vomiting kept me under the covers for most of the holidays, I knew that we were all in for something fierce.

It started over Thanksgiving weekend when we were visiting family in Florida. We had all just enjoyed a fantastic dinner and were catching up with one another when I suddenly had an urge to throw up. I ran to the bathroom, and everything came up. Surprised, I asked my sister-in-law how she was feeling, thinking maybe it was the food or that I had just over-eaten. Nope. She was fine. The next day, I felt ill again and thought that I was coming down with something. Deep down, though, I was hoping that I was actually pregnant, so while Jesse and Anaïs had a daddy-daughter lunch date, I snuck off to the pharmacy and picked up a pregnancy test. There it was: confirmation in the form of two very obvious pink lines! I immediately texted Jesse and asked him to come back to the hotel. When he came in, I showed him the test, and we both just stared at each other, giddy, nervous and most of all, excited. We had only been trying for a short time, and there we found each other with the knowledge that our trio would soon become a quartet.

Over the next few weeks, while I plowed through hormonal surges and bodily changes, we started planning. We researched midwives and doctors, pulled down baby books from the attic and kept soaking up as much information as we could. We heard and saw the baby and its strong heartbeat, which made everything that much more real. At 12 weeks, we created a fun video announcement (which you can watch below or here) to share with friends and family. Now, 16 weeks along, my nausea has waned, my energy is back and my bump is growing by the second. Oh, and I’ve already started feeling flutters and kicks in my belly!

It’s been a whirlwind so far, and I imagine it will only get better. I’d really love for you to read along each week!