1 Trimester Down!

Today marks the beginning of the 2nd trimester of our pregnancy....14 weeks! (Yes, I thought the 1st trimester ended after the 12th week, but apparently not.) With our first pregnancy, I journaled like crazy and took a belly picture every single week. This time around I haven't written down one single thing. Nada. So I thought, for my own personal file, I should spend some time jotting down any noteable information about the first 14 weeks of this pregnancy.

-We have been to see Dr. Hansen three times. The first was to verify that I was pregnant. The second was the hear the heartbeat for the first time (around 9 weeks). Last Friday we heard the heartbeat again. It was nice and strong and Dr. Hansen found it immediately. The heart rate was 169. We scheduled our ultrasound for June 11th. I can't believe we're going to know the sex of this baby in a month!

-The baby is currently the size of a lemon and can squint and suck it's thumb. Unbelievable.

-I have been much more sick with this pregnancy. My nausea comes and goes, but when it comes, it comes on strong. I don't get sick every day, but it probably averages about 3 times a week. I hadn't gotten sick one time this past week, until last night when I was emptying Carter's diaper-genie. Not a good idea. It seems that my "good" days are becoming more and more frequent, so that is very exciting!

-Just this week, I have started transitioning into maternity clothes. I can still wear some regular pants that were always a little big, but now they fit quite snuggly. I wore a pair of maternity capris to school last week and they felt FANTASTIC! So slowly I'm giving in to the elastic waist-bands!

-I think my belly is starting to become noticeable. I had a couple of parents ask me if I was expecting at a school mass yesterday, so I think I at least look "questionable." At Feast on Monday night, my friend told me that several people asked her if I was pregnant. So yep... I guess I'm showing. I definitely look pregnant in the evenings, but I'm sure that mostly has to do with bloating.

-I've already started to have some problems with my eyes again. In my last pregnancy, I couldn't wear my contacts for the last 6 weeks. I guess the hormones in my body made my eyes hurt every time I put them in. Just this week, I've noticed my eyes burning when I put in my contacts and when I wear them for an extended period of time. I'm trying to wear my contacts to work and then put on glasses when I get home. That's been working okay for the past few days.

-I haven't had any cravings or any aversions. I tend to drink more milk than normal just because it tastes really good to me. I also haven't been a big fan of coffee...which I LOVED pre-pregnancy. I think it has to do more with the hot temperature rather than the taste. A frozen decaf coffee drink actually sounds pretty good.

-I find that I feel the best if I eat about every couple of hours. For the last month, my eating schedule has been this: cereal for breakfast, granola bar mid-morning, possible piece of fruit mid-morning, lunch around 11:30, banana around 1:00, crackers or some sort of snack around 3:00, cereal or something of substance after school, dinner at 6:00, cereal or fruit around 8:30. Yes...I've been eating a ton of cereal.

-I remember being very uncomfortable after every meal when I was pregnant with Carter. I was constantly bloated and had to really limit what I ate. I haven't noticed that discomfort at all this time.

-My energy level has definitely been drained, especially during the work week. I rarely am awake past 9:00 and could easily take a nap in the morning and afternoon. I nap whenever Carter naps on the weekends and just relax after work while Carter plays. I feel a bit guilty about that, but so far, it's worked okay.

-Carter knows that there is a baby in my tummy. Leading up to the doctor's appointment on Friday, we told him that he was going to hear the baby's heart beating. So when we walked into the exam room, Carter looked around and asked "where's the baby?" He's really too young to know what's going to happen to his life in 7 months, but we try to talk about it alot. I feel some comfort knowing that there is a new baby at daycare and Carter is used to the baby being held, crying, needing fed, etc. I hope that will make this a little easier for him.

-We are planning to move Carter to his big-boy room this summer. The extra bedroom has some work that needs done (new paint and trim, new closet door, new shelving in the closets, new curtains, etc.), so it will be a summer project. Carter's excited about sleeping in a big bed and we talk about it alot. As for the nursery, we'll decide what to do when we find out if this is a boy or girl. If it's a boy, I assume it will stay mostly the same. If it's girl, I've got my eye on some cute bedding!

-As for my feelings on whether or not this is a boy or girl...I just don't know. I know that it is probably a boy and I feel really happy and content with that. In ways, I think that would be alot easier. I feel like I know how to have a boy. We have all of the clothes and toys and that's really all we know. Carter would love to have a little brother to play with and I smile just thinking about two boys growing up together and playing sports together in high school. I can definitely picture my life like that. At the same time though, I've always hoped that I'd have a daughter someday. It's honestly not that I am dying to dress her up in pink and do all of the girly things, but I'd love to have an adult daughter someday. So we shall see. The gender of this baby is decided already and I'm just happy knowing that we get to add another member to this family, whether it be a little boy or little girl.