Week 16: To be frank, the most “pressing” pregnancy symptom these days is the constant urge to pee. At this point in the pregnancy, it’s not due to the physical weight of the baby/uterus on the bladder. According to my “research,” it’s all because of everyone’s favorite pregnancy hormone hCG (it increases blood flow to the kidneys, causing a larger volume of blood being filtered and thus, more urine). I don’t remember this being such an issue with my first pregnancy. This time around, I go to the bathroom at least once for every waking hour. A side effect of all those bathroom visits (with requisite hand-washing) is that my hands are incredibly dry–by looking at them, you’d think it’s the middle of February, not July.

On another note, I ordered a new breast pump through our insurance this week, and I am downright giddy about it. As some of you may recall, I ended up exclusively pumping for Caleb from the time he was about 4 months old until 1 year. As a result, I became intimately familiar with the ol’ Medela’s functions (and lack thereof), so this time I’m trying something new. It seems that many moms prefer the Spectra models to those by Medela, so I ordered the Spectra S2 (which, like the standard Medela PISA, is completely covered by insurance). I’m sure there will be a bit of a learning curve in operating it for our needs, but being my nerdy self, I’m actually kind of looking forward to it. The only thing I don’t like is that the pump itself is pink, and I’m about 99% certain at this point that we’re having another boy, ha!

Week 17: I’ve started running regularly again, which feels great and indicates that my energy levels are back to normal. My round ligament pain is kinda-sorta back again; it’s really only noticeable when I get out of bed in the morning or generally twist my torso too quickly. No fetal movement yet, but I’m trying not to rush that–once Caleb started kicking (around 20 weeks), he didn’t stop until the day he was born!

Not to keep dwelling on the breast pump, but I feel like I have to share a story related to it. The pump came in the mail, and I told Caleb that it would help me make milk for the baby. He asked if he could have some of the milk too, and I said sure (why not?). Then Seth had to chime in and say that the milk would be mostly for the baby, which made Caleb quite upset–pouty lip and tears in his eyes. It made me so sad for him! I guess that qualifies as the first instance of sibling jealousy?