First Pregnancy Verses Fourth Pregnancy!

I’ve been around the block before with this whole pregnancy thing. As most of you know, this is my fourth pregnancy. It’s my fourth time dealing with morning sickness, fourth time feeling the baby kick, fourth time feeling exhausted, and fourth time having no clue what I am doing…Granted, I will say I find myself looking things up on Google a little less. But let’s be honest. Mama to mama, we all Google the sh*t out of stuff. You start feeling the baby kick a lot more – you look up while you’re baby is moving so much. You feel like your baby isn't kicking as much as normal – you Google why your baby isn’t moving as much. You start craving sweet things – you start googling if it means you’re having a boy.Google is the guidebook for all things, and we all know it. Even fourth time mamas. I still can't believe how different this pregnancy is the fourth time around. I knew it would be different because it’s been a little while. My youngest will officially be five years older when his baby sister is born. Five years doesn’t seem like very long, but apparently, my body thinks otherwise.I can’t tell if this pregnancy is in a league of its own because I’m having a girl for the first time or because I’m officially in my 30s. According to my son, "Mom, you're not a young chick anymore." Let me tell you, this pregnancy is kicking my tail. I feel the same way now at 20 weeks that I did at the end of all three of my other pregnancies. @#$#

Let’s take a second and talk about the new things that have come along with this pregnancy.

First of all, it started off completely different.

I had always had a touch of morning sickness, but nothing could have prepared me for the level of morning sickness I would have with this baby girl. I even lost 7 pounds in my first trimester because I was so sick. Thankfully the morning sickness calms down after the first trimester. I still have bouts of it if I’m not careful and don’t eat or drink enough, but it’s much easier to maintain now.

You start showing like week two!

I have always showed pretty early, but the more pregnancies I've had, the crazier it got! I'm 20 weeks pregnant and people are shocked when I tell them how long I still have to go. First of all, thanks... I hate the shocked look! Makes me want to smack them upside their surprised little head! I haven't gained an insane amount yet, but it just pops out! I guess my body really knows what it's doing!

Everything hurts.

Round ligament pain. What the heck is that? I have never experienced this pain, but my stomach feels like it’s going to burst at any moment. I know it’s truly growing all the time, so why wouldn’t I experience some discomfort, but I have never noticed how uncomfortable it is to become a humongous pregnant woman.Then there’s also the super fun tailbone pain. I look like an idiot sitting as far on my side as possible because I don’t want any contact with a chair in my tailbone. Even my couch at home drives my tailbone crazy.

If you've had more than one pregnancy, you also notice that you tend to put things off more and more.

When I was pregnant with my first son, I couldn't wait to buy everything, get the room ready, and make sure everything was 100% ready for that baby to get here. The second pregnancy and on is a different story. Instead of worrying about getting it done as fast as possible, you put it off until the last moment. I know I’m only 20 weeks, but I just now got my very first baby items. I’m sure I will go crazy because it’s my very first girl and who doesn’t to buy all the adorable girl things at Target… I’m pretty sure everything else is going to have to wait, though. I think you just get so busy with your life and the kids you currently have, that you know everything else can get done when it needs to.Do you want to know what I’m looking forward to probably the most? Obviously, next to meeting my baby girl for the first time…

I can’t wait to spend time in the hospital.

I know some of you have your babies at home and some at hospitals. I think their are amazing benefits to both! In the past, I usually hated being in the hospital. I got out of the hospital as soon as I could to come home and rest in my own house; however, it’s starting to look like a vacation to me now. Going to a hospital without laundry, dishes, mediating three boys, and making dinner… I think I’ll take a hospital suit for all that. Actually, that’s a lie. I’ve never done the whole hospital food thing. I send my husband out 1 million times to fetch coffee and all the takeout my heart could desire.On top of all the new changes this pregnancy has brought with it, there’s also a new very special thing I’m able to do this around. My kids are very close together. They are all about two years apart. Which means they’ve all been too young to understand what it meant when I was pregnant truly. They understood a little bit so they could feel the baby kick, but that was it.

My kids understand I’m pregnant.

They all understand the fact that I am carrying their baby sister, and they can't wait to meet her. My youngest Lucas is a little on the fence on this whole thing, but he’s warming up to it every day. Every day the boys come up to me, rub my belly, and talk to their baby sister. They've even been telling me all the things I have to do when she’s born. They told me I need to make a bottle for them so they can feed her at least once a night so I can sleep and are currently in negotiations over changing it for us. I think I can win them over with a little bribery, but they aren’t so sure. Needless to say, this pregnancy is a whole different beast. There are some parts that are similar to my other pregnancies, but in general, it’s so different. I’m really curious to hear your stories. For those of you that I’ve had more than one pregnancy, did you notice a difference? What were some of the things that were difference in your pregnancies?