Still Growing....

I had my Six month appointment today. It went well!

THE BEST NEWS EVER is that I only gained 3 pounds! And I was wearing my heavy ass shoes since my heel spurs and sciatica have been acting up. (They are gross ass New Balance shoes that I call Frankenstein Shoes--for reasons you can imagine I'm sure.)

Last month I gained ...well lots more than three pounds! :) So I was very happy to see that number go way down this month!

The baby is healthy and seems to be growing more than the norm. She could feel the baby and said she seems large! She said, "You just don't have small babies." I concur. I knew this kid was big based on the movement and pain inflicted on me in the process of her wading around inside me!

Elena came with me and gave up one of her homemade sugar cookies to the midwife. She had a blast in the waiting room talking to all the moms and looking at all the babies. This girl is so social it is bizarre to me sometimes. I mean I like a good chat as much as anyone, but WHOA, this girl takes it to the level of a competitive sport it seems! :)

Next month will bring my second sugar test and another ultrasound. This should be my second to the last one. We'll have another at the very end just to determine birth weight and decide if it will be a planned C-section or if we'll attempt vaginal delivery. Since this kid is already running big, we'll see how things go!

OUCHIE!

So it started.

A few weeks ago I had little ouches and owies, but today, it was here in FULL effect. :( My pelvic muscles feel like they are screaming for mercy. My belly is growing, and with it, the weight on my muscles. OUCHIE doesn't begin to cover it.

If I'm sitting, it is fine, but once I stand up to walk, OUCH! It means I am growing realy fast. I'm just a few days shy of six months, so it feels really early to me for this to be happening, but they say it happens faster the second time.

While I'm mostly enjoying this pregnancy, I'm worried about what this pain means. At just 24 months, what is in store for the REST of this long journey? Will my pain get worse? Time to whip out the pregnancy girdle (sounds horrible but its a blessing and a half ladies). I just didn't think I'd need it so early!!!!

The second time is definately NOT like the first.

Other new development is realy bad heartburn. I didn't have much with dd or at the beginning of this pregnancy, but now it is everpresent! :( I'm curious to see what the next few weeks bring!

All I know is that this kid is HUGE. Feels like she has to be much larger than they say. I can *see* my belly moving now! Those kicks and bumps are visible to the naked eye because they are so strong! One kick woke me up two nights ago! :) Dh has felt kicks on his back waking him too! This kiddo is gonna be a tae kwando star!! ;)

Our Day Today...More Appointments!

We started the day off SUPER early. Well...early for me! :)

My girl was with her grandparents by 8am and we were on our way to the perinatologist for the second ultrasound. We got in quickly and the tech measured all of the body parts on the baby. Pretty much, looks like the baby is RIGHT at where it should be.

Heart has the right number of chambers. The organs all look to be developing fine. The brain looks good. All the stuff that should be there is there.

And the really good news is that the placenta has moved up some, meaning it won't be in the way later on when its time to give birth! We also found out that my fibroids haven't grown much at all, meaning one less issue to contend with later. Apparently when they grow too much they sap some of the blood supply from the baby, so they will want to keep an eye on that going forward...JUST to be safe.

We were asked again if we wanted to know the sex and dh and I looked at each other. I told him it was up to him. He said he wanted to. I asked the tech if she knew yet, and she said, "Oh yeah! I saw it at the beginning." So then dh says, "TELL US!"

LMFAO!!!!

So much for self control this time around, huh? Heheehee!

So we found out. No more not knowing. Will it be pink or blue? Will we need hair bows or little sneakers? Will Elena have a baby sister or a baby brother?

We had a hunch it was a boy. I hoped for a girl (afraid of the unknown). Josh had a boy dream and I had weird unable-to-figure-the-sex-out dreams. :)

At the end of the day, I was STILL surprised. How is that even possible? LOL!



After that excitement, I had my regular appointment with the midwives. Nothing happened there. Pee in cup, get measured, weighed and poked at. It was fine. No more ultrasounds for two more months. Gestational diabetes test at the same time. Next appointment is the week before Christmas! :)

So that is that!

Boogie Woogie Baby!!!

I thought this kid moved a lot three weeks ago after the ultrasound I had. But it seems like that was NOTHING!

The kid stopped moving and worried me some for a couple of weeks and now he/she just WILL NOT STOP! It is crazy and now this image:



has a complete new meaning to me!!!! THIS IS WHAT I FEEL is happening in my abdomen MOST of the time lately! :) LOL

It sometimes makes you feel a bit sick. Sometimes it is just entertaining for hubby and daughter. It makes it feel more real and gives them a way to interact with the baby. Sometimes it is very comforting because it reassures me, letting me know the kid is growing and thriving inside of me.

On occasion, it can be weird when you feel a round bump up against one part of my belly, and then feel it slowly move away. Was that his/her rump? Was it a head? What was that weird rubbing feeling that just went past against my hand? Yup. It can be weird!

Regardless of the feeling it gives me or others, it is life growing inside of me. I'm completely humbled by the miracle taking place. I'm also worried to some degree. it is just past the half way mark for me and yet, I feel like this kid is HUGE! There are 20 more weeks to go! HOW MUCH BIGGER will he/she get??? Hopefully no bigger than his/her big sister! She was a whopping 9lbs 4oz. I would like to not have a baby any bigger than that! I want a cute little guy who fits in all his/her newborn clothing! :) My daughter left quite a few outfits unused! :)

Things are going well. I go in one week to get another ultrasound and I look forward to seeing this little tatertot. HOPEFULLY he/she is right where he/she should be sizewize! CROSS YOUR FINGERS!

Germs, Boogers, and Sneezing...OH MY!

Feeling pretty gross right about now!!!! It has been a rough few days as I seem to have caught a cold from my daughter. I am not entirely convinced it is merely a cold, however, since I have never seen boogars this copious and this GREEN! SICK-- I know! :)

Hopefully, this will be passing soon. I'm as drugged up as a preggie can be and pretty tired and miserable. Lots of headaches, and lots of emotions running wild. I think my weakened state has left me more emotional and weepy. NOT GOOD!

I cannot wait to get my strength back!

Oh...and I'm almost 20 weeks! Almost at the half way mark! I just have one more week to go! :)

Say CHEEEESE!!!

That is exactly how it felt at the ultrasound last week. This kid was totally posing and almost vogueing it seemed. LOL. He/she (yes we still don't know) was MOVING LIKE CRAZY! I'm convinced they hate the U/S because of the sound waves or something.

Because the tech didn't copy images to the cd we brought, all I have is a pic of one of the shots. It is hard to photograph these and dh hasn't scanned them at his job yet, so this is all I have!



ANYHOW....he/she gave us side, front, back, etc views. We saw nothing between the legs, but you mostly see the skeleton anyway. The tech does things to tweak the pic to see certain areas better and she was about to when I reminded her (she hadn't read our paperwork i guess?) that we did not want to know. Part of me REALLY wished I didn't say anything, because hubby wasn't listening and he wouldn't have stopped her. :)

I asked him again if he was SURE and he said yes he was (after having wavered the week before the u/s). SO THERE YOU GO!

The baby has a beautiful spine and long toes and fingers...much like another spawn of mine. Hmmmmmmm.

This baby also has a VERY familiar profile. This leads me to seriously wonder if we have another carbon copy of daddy. When we saw the profile, hubby said with a HUGE GRIN plastered across his face, "Uh-oh. DEJAVU huh?" That grin was too much. He must love having dominant DNA. Bastard! lol

I am hoping that things change somehow or that I saw wrong, because I want a child to look related to me. IS THAT SO WRONG!!?? LOL

The best news is that baby is good. 13 cms (I think) and half a pound. I say I think because the tech said, "The baby is measuring 13" and moved on to a long list of other things and I never got to ask. I am assuming 13 cms although I don't know the conversion to inches. I know by now they are supposed to be about 5 inches rump to head. Apparently, this kid is right on schedule to where he/she should be and looks healthy.

The "bad" news was that the placenta is low (near cervix) and I have a fibroid across from it, also by the birth canal. This could make vaginal delivery (which I'm trying for after having a c-section last time) difficult. They say that its very early and with the growth of the uterus, the placenta moves, so not to worry yet. HOWEVER, they do wanna keep me under observation to see how things develop. I am going back the week before thanksgiving for another ultrasound to see if anythings changed.

WITH ANY LUCK the placenta will move up as my uterus grows AND the fibroid WILL NOT GROW at all. *Fingers crossed*

Bump Bump!

It was a happy moment a few minutes ago. I was typing away and felt a bumping in my abdomen. I stopped and moved my hand to the side where I felt it and waited. Sure enough, a minute or so later, I felt more thumpitys! Very neat.

I called my daughter to come and feel, but the movements stopped. She sure was patient, keeping her hand there and encouraging the baby for at least five minutes (an hour in normal-adult time). No luck this time, though.

Those weren't the first bumps I felt, but they were the first ones I felt with my hand. Probably the third bump in total. This one hasn't been too active yet. We'll see if that changes with time.

Tomorrow I'll be back. I have an appt with the midwife and one with the perinatologist. I get to meet with her because of my "advanced maternal age". You know how ancient I am and all. The good news is that I get an anatomy scan where they size the baby, check organs, etc.

Although we were decidedly against finding out the sex, there is some wavering happening now. We are weighing the pros and cons and need to make up our minds by 9 am tomorrow! We also have to cross our fingers to get a room that has the capacity to tape the ultrasound. If we are allowed to do that, then we can share with family/friends the baby's "first" pictures. (We have a 7 week ultrasound that is TECHNICALLY the first picture, but honestly, I couldn't see much in it.)

We will see what news I have tomorrow when I return from our appointments!

Food! GLORIOUS FOOD!

Finally, my palate is returning!

With the second trimester, I'm noticing higher emotions and higher tolerance for a variety of foods. For the longest time, I have had severe aversions to MOST foods, which has made eating a varied diet (or a good one) hard to do. I was hoping that with time things would get back to "normal" and thankfully that seems to be happening.

Last night I had grilled chicken with an assortment of veggies. It was great! I followed it up with a small bowl of chocolate ice cream, but hey, baby steps, right?

I still have quite a lot of gas (both directions) and bad congestion that leads me to toss my cookies from time to time (few times a week) but aside from those things, life is good! :)

Enormous boobs? CHECK!
Growing abdomen? CHECK!
Wedding Ring getting tight on finger? CHECK!
Bad gagging and throwing up at times when brushing teeth? CHECK!
Aches and pains, including the awful return of "Sciatica"? CHECK!
Feeling ugly and fat everyday? CHECK!
Zits-o-plenty? CHECK! Check! CHECK! ;)

Things are going well it seems. I'm so glad that we are almost half way through this and that things are okay. The first time around, once past week 12, I never gave things a second thought. This time, however, I'm more cautiously optimistic. I know a few people who have experienced loss recently, and one was as late as 20 weeks! You seem to think you are "okay" after the first trimester, but bad things still happen. I hope that we don't have to worry about that, but it is always on your mind.

My guess is that knowing how great it is to have a child and loving her so much, I feel more aware that things can take place to rob you of that joy. I fear for her on a regular basis (even dropping her off at school) and so this one in my belly gets the same treatment.

The OTHER baby news

Dh had a sex dream! No not that kind...the kind that gives you a hint to the sex of the child. During my first pregnancy I was CONVINCED I was carrying a boy. Dh had two "girl" dreams, and viola....My girl *was* a girl when she popped out. This go round he had a boy dream. I tend to agree with him due to the fact that the pregnancy feels very different with very different symptoms thus far.

He says he's waiting for a second dream to "confirm" the sex. It will be our only confirmation since we have decided NOT to find out the sex in our next scan, happening two weeks from today! I trust DH's dreams because they have been right about *other things* during our courtship and marriage. He seems to have some weird sense of things that comes through every blue moon. I cannot wait to learn if he's still got it! ;)

Big Girls DO Cry!!!!

Especially THIS ONE!

These days everything upsets me more easily and the tears flow much more easily than they have in ages. I remember during the last pregnancy, I had a terrible time with the emotions I felt were overwhelming me. This happened EARLY on and was hard to get used to since I'm not a crier by nature.

This go round, it is a big different. I have been fine...until now. Last night the water works started over a few words with my husband and lasted a while. Today my mom snapped at me about some stupid ass crap and as soon as I calmly hung up, I was bawling. Believe you me....I was ready to cry on the phone but I wasn't going to do that since I knew she was mad at me to begin with and looking for a fight. She wanted to get my goat, so I wasn't going to let her know she had.

I got a call soon after that and was bawling on it because I hadn't worked the mom call out of me yet and so when I tried to talk calmly it just led to more tears!

My daughter and I watched Cars (the Pixar flick) two days ago and i was CRYING hard at the end. They are cars! And animated ones at that! Today we watched Nemo and--you guessed it--way way way more tears. (Fish are much closer to being human than cars ever could be!)

We don't usually watch so many movies but without cable...that is all we have!

I hope the tears dry up soon. I am having a hard enough time getting enough water down as it is. I don't need something else depleting my stores! :)

In the still of the night....

I sit here after doing much needed grading, thinking about how much my body is changing. The reason for the contemplation on this topic is how sore I am. I was helping us move the past two days and I didn't even do any "heavy" lifting. I did do a lot of packing and was on my feet for a LONG time, but I didn't feel like I should FEEL things as much as I have.

Last night, I was really wondering if I'd be able to get out of bed this morning. SERIOUSLY! I was so worried because my lower back was KILLING ME! My feet were throbbing. I was just exhausted.

That evening--around 9-- I was SO close to tears because I knew my night was NOT close to being over. I finally was in bed around 11:30, and it was just not soon enough for me. PLUS, I had to be up early this am, so there wasn't a chance to sleep in. No cat naps. No resting.

I did wake up fine this a.m. with small reminders of yesterday and made a strong effort today to take it easy. I *did* help with cleaning/packing things, but didn't lift much of ANYTHING and took LOTS of sitting breaks. It has made a world of difference.

Now, I am not in the best shape to begin with, but being pregnant is a serious handicap when moving. Note to self: Next time, DON"T be pregnant. I moved into our house 4 and a half years ago when I was 3.5 months pregnant and now we are moving when I am just about at the same place in my pregnancy.

Glutton for punishment? Stupid? Unlucky? All of the above? :) PROBABLY!

Off to rest now...for two! :)

This is a "quiet" kid!!!!

Well it has been a while, but things have been eventful!

Last week we went in for a regular appt and expected to hear the heartbeat of this little one. With my daughter in tow, we went in and hoped for the best.

No such luck. This kid would NOT let us hear him/her! IT was making me NUTS! She tried a few times, two different dopplers, and nada. So we made a follow up appointment for a week later--today.

I wasn't panicked, but I could have been more at ease had we heard it. Given that my symptoms are all still there, I have not freaked out too much, but I have worried, of course.

So today comes and we go --again-- with high hopes. Today is also daddy's bday! :)

With daughter in tow we go in for round two. Doppler and goo rubbing all over my belly and the only heartbeat it picks up is MINE (which apparently is a show off). After a few minutes of trying, and trying, and trying, the midwife opts to pull in a sonogram machine (a mini one, super small, tiny screen) to see if she sees the heart beating.

Very quickly we were looking at our little tater-tot! He/she was looking RIGHT at us. Weird. Anyway, this kid was sitting there, but fluttering in his chest was a little heart, beating away! The sono machine had no volume, so we only saw it. The midwife poked away at me a few times hoping to get the little one to move and he was WAY too comfy and just sat there.

Lazy? Sleeping? Down-right disobedient? We will know very soon!! Those personalities pop up fast...if memory serves me right! ;)

After the sono she decides to take another listen with the doppler, and after a minute or two, there it was...swish swish swish....nice and fast and hard. Beating away.

So glad we got to hear it and see it beating! VERY exciting day! :)

It is official!!!!

I've entered the:



Yippeee!!!!

Things are going well. Still sick sometimes and nothing EVER sounds good to eat. I'm looking forward to being able to eat whatever I want, whenever I want without thinking "ewww". Unfortunately, the stuff that sounds "eww" is stuff that is GOOD for me. Mostly bland comfort type foods are sounding half way okay.

Looking very forward to my next appointment in two days. I hope it goes well! I'll be back to post then! :)

Sooooooooooooooooooo

TIRED!

Nine weeks and counting!

Things went well today at my second appointment. It is week nine of the pregnancy and this was the full physical examination, along with an early glucose test (since my mom is now borderline diabetic).

The test was much better than I remember it being last go round. I think maybe the required drink has changed or something. Had I not hurled right before I got there, I think I would have rather enjoyed the drink! Unfortunately, my newly-raw throat hated the carbonation! :( PLUS, I generally avoid anything carbonated due to the natural gassiness that God gives you during pregnancy. So I was a burping fool for hours after the appointment! ;)

The best news to come out of this appointment is that we will be returning in three weeks to hear the baby's heartbeat again! The even better news is that I'll be taking my daughter with me!

As much as I'd love to spring this on her as a great fun surprise, the midwife said to prepare her before hand so that she's ready and knows what is going to happen. Getting to see her face as she hears the baby's heartbeat will make my month! The midwife also said that she has some cool models she can bring in to illustrate some things for my daughter's benefit. I'm excited for that little experience we'll get to share.

All of this in only three week's time!

Until then, I hope not to hear from the office. If i do, it will be a call to say that my blood work wasn't good and that I will have to start the GD diet. If I don't hear anything from them, then I'm off the hook! :)

Whatever comes my way, I hope for the strength to face it easily!

Headache Hangover

Going without my allergy meds or any other meds really has seriously caused me some issues lately. Yesterday was horrible, with lots of head pain and sinus pressure. My headache only got worse over night and didn't leave until late morning today. I've been okay today but I am starting to feel the headache coming back now. I took a LOT of Tylenol in the past 24 hours and I'm about to take more. Hopefully, by using the neti pot more regularly, I can avoid having too many more headaches.



I haven't been a huge neti-pot fan, but it does help some. It *always* hurts my ear on one side however. I think I'm too congested there because every time I've used the neti pot I get pain in that ear after blowing. I reread the directions and cannot figure it out. I have my head positioned right according to what I've seen in the images. I asked my doc about it and she said it sounded fine and even though the paperwork said that you could be "too congested" to use the pot effectively, she didn't seem to agree and said I must be doing something else wrong. THAAAAANKS!

Only four more weeks until I can start taking some meds again. I CANNOT wait! I really want to avoid a sinus infection and that is where I'm afraid I'm headed with this pressure and pain. :(

Aside from that, things are going well. I'm exhausted ALL the time and hungry quite often, but I can work around it thus far!

THAR she BLOWS!!!

It was a matter of time. It happened yesterday and was disgusting. I hurled the only thing in my belly--a plum.

Note to self: While sweet and tart and DELICIOUS going down, plums are disgusting coming up and HIGHLY acidic! No more plums for a morning snack!

Aside from that, my nausea has really subsided. I am gagging more from the build up of gross stuff in my nose and throat since I'm on no meds for sinuses or allergies. This is annoying, but not as bad as it was with my first pregnancy. My symptoms on the whole seem less severe. I'm still starving quite frequently so I try to eat slowly and snack wisely, but it can be difficult.

Aside from that, I feel pretty good! I am almost eight weeks now, so only four more weeks before we hit the all-important first trimester end marker! :) I am looking forward to it. :)

Swarsh, swarsh, swarsh...

...and flutter flutter went his little heart today! :) We saw our baby's heart! THERE IS ONLY ONE IN THERE!!! (Thank goodness!)

It swarshed very quietly on the Ultrasound and it flutter-flicked on the screen. There is no "baby" to really view at this point, but there was a clear and distinct heart pumping away. I'm showing at 7 weeks, 2 days, which is right around what we expected just based on my cycle.

It was exciting, but now that I'm of "advanced maternal age" and because my family now has a member with diabetes, they want to test me early for gestational diabetes. I get tested in two weeks! VERY Early for that test, but I guess it is good to get it out of the way.

I'm terrified of the test. I was last go round too. I had very clean eating for the first 7 or so months last time around and tried really hard to avoid empty carbs. I tested a few points within acceptable range (a couple of points from the cut off) and so I was good to go. This go round, I'm older and (as of late) not eating as well.

It is really harder this time around because everything makes me ill. Almost everything, that is. The idea of a potato, mac and cheese or slice of bread is NOT unappetizing. The idea of most other things do make me wanna hurl. My stomach isn't easily settled in the a.m. I am able to eat a lot of fruits, but most veggies are not appetizing. I can eat some salads, but I cannot handle most vegetables except the ones i grew up with, which aren't the healthiest. (Think: corn, peas, green beans, especially canned or frozen).

Too early to really freak out. I'm going to do my best to at least eat homemade meals the next two weeks and get to the gym (which was dang near impossible over the past week and a half). I have been feeling so zapped lately, but I have to make it a priority. The longer I'm away, the harder it will be as i grow to get BACK to working out!

It was exciting to hear that things look good and as they should. It was nice to hear that the last doc I had sewed me up correctly to where I might be able to Vbac if I don't have other issues that come up along the way. The midwife we met with is really nice but seemed slightly put off by my...exactness? And questions. I guess they aren't used to people like me! She asked my husband, "Is she always like this?" and when we left, I told him, "WOW! That was NOTHING!" I usually have a long list of concerns and questions in tow and question doctors about everything, not just things I'm doing. They don't always like this. I don't care. I think its odd that they expect people NOT to be more involved in decisions concerning their BODIES!

Anyhoo. I had a good first visit and look forward to the next one. I haven't told the little one about her sibling yet, and do not know when to start to introduce the idea to her. She's ready and willing, but I want to be sure things stay "okay" before I get her excited! :)

Great day!!!!

Rumbly tumbly....

It has come!

Feeling sick and having an unsettled tummy all day some days. I hate the sound or idea of most food but do eat a lot and find the worse the food is, the easier it sits in my belly. (Think: white pasta.)

I want to eat well but it is NOT easy to do these days. I wake up famished and try to choke something down but the uneasy feeling doesn't settle until my belly gets something it likes. Today that was at 1pm. Yesterday it happened at 6pm.

To make matters worse, my sense of smell is EXTREMELY amplified. I am not exaggerating at all when I say that nothing smells "good" and that all smells are making me sick. :( This means the smell of my husband is nauseating. The smell of my daughter's clean hair, kinda makes me wanna hold my breath. The smells are just so strong, that they are no longer pleasant. I open the fridge to be assaulted by so many smells that I wanna hurl.

This is all new because I had none of this with my first pregnancy. I have heard of these issues before, but never experienced them . With dd, I would feel ill if i hadn't eaten and upon eating, the nausea would subside! It was wonderful because it would clear out and I'd be fine for an hour or two. This lasted from the early stages of my pregnancy through the end. I am hopeful that this, whatever it is, does not last very long!

They say that most women have morning sickness until about 12 weeks or so. I hope that that is when this goes away! I say this because I have a strong desire to eat healthily and it is extremely hard when those foods make you wanna hurl!!!! :(

I guess this means the baby is doing QUITE well in there! I hope so anyway! :) We'll know in just a few short days! :)

So in less than one week...

I will be hopefully taking a peek into my UTEROTOPIA :)

On Tuesday of next week, I get my first visit with the midwives to review my records from the last pregnancy, discuss my risks for doing a vaginal (after a C-section the first go round) and take a peek into the growing condo in my belly! :)



Inside, I won't see anything that (to the naked eye) looks anymore exciting than what you see above. Except it will mostly be black with a few fuzzy voids w/in the image. It is a baby, in its very early stages, that is too small to really see the "parts" on. Although, I am assured by everything I read, the parts on my baby at six weeks (today) are visible and definite. The entire baby, in fact, is quite small and about the size of the apple seeds pictured above or the lentils below.



If you have an apple, cut it open. If you have a bag of lentils, hold one in your hand. That is the size of my baby. It has eyes and a spinal cord well on their way to being real functioning body parts. He/She has tiny arm and leg buds in place as well. It is a boy or a girl already!! Since we won't be learning the sex of this child (to have a surprise like we did last pregnancy) we won't be finding out until the baby is evicted from its comfortable home in April 2009.

I am excited to see the new heart fluttering on the screen, if we are lucky enough to do so. It cannot be heard yet, but it is there, in motion. Conceived only weeks ago, this child is forming at quite a fast pace. It is a miracle to experience and an honor to be involved in the process of life and procreation. I cannot think about it too long or I sit in awe of my own body and amazement at the process.

I *love* being a woman, despite the other stuff that hasn't been so fun along the way in my last 34 years. Being able to support life and be a mom is a special calling for many as it is for me. I thoroughly enjoy my role as a mother and look forward to expanding our family with a second child.

First food run!!

HOPEFULLY there weren't be many of these, but tonight I was starving. I ate too light of a dinner too early and 4 hours later (too late to eat really) I was FAMISHED!!! I had dh pick something up for me to have so I could feel better and take my prenatal (which requires you to eat first). I feel tons better, but I thought, "hmm...its a bit early for this, isn't it?"

OH WELL :) Hopefully, this doesn't happen too often this pregnancy or my weight-gaining goals will be history! I didn't have many the last time I was pregnant, but they say each pregnancy is different.

For instance, last pregnancy I had two bad cravings. That was it!

TWO the entire pregnancy. One was for chipped ice (snow cone like) and the other one was for Mexican Hot chocolate (something I found hard to find in the town in NJ where I was living at the time). One happened closer to the beginning of my pregnancy (first trimester) and the other happened in the last half of my pregnancy (end of second trimester).

Thankfully, it was summer time in NJ and the shaved ice wasn't too hard to come by. It took me three days to finally find a shaved ice guy on the corner somewhere and those three days were the WORST days I recall. I cried from wanting that ice so bad! I thought i wanted a snow cone but later found out it was just the ice I wanted. Had I known that, I might have saved a lot of time and had ice at home! :)

From the stories I have heard regarding pregnancy cravings, my experience was not usual! I was glad for it but now think if the cravings come, my husband may not believe me since our first time was such a different experience!

There are still so many unknowns and I'm eager to see where this experience takes me! They say each pregnancy is completely different. I had an easy go of it the first time around, save a few physical set backs and limitations. I will be interested in finding out what my crosses are this go round. I look forward to bearing them in the hopes for that sweet child at the end of the ride! :)

Waiting for the other foot to drop...

Everyone has morning sickness right? I am *that* early on that it hasn't reared its ugly head yet. The thing is, last time around, I had it for the entire pregnancy! I don't remember when it started and I don't nkow that i could easily locate the books where i kept track of those kinds of things when I was newly pregnant.

I have heard from a few sources so far that it usually doesn't start until week six. That is one week from wednesday. I am REALLY early on. So no morning sickness yet and I am enjoying it.

I know its on its way, and I'm almost eager to get there because its another mental marker that lets me know things are progressing as they should and that I am moving forward.

I'm also pretty afraid of it. I remember it well and I also remember that it never went away like it does for many. I remember being 8 months pregnant on the floor of an Olive Garden in Princeton, NJ, puking my guts out before lunch.

That afternoon, I walked out of the bathroom (after a quick adjustment and cleaning up) and into the dining room where my husband told me that they could hear me from our table. I was mortified, but what is a pregnant woman to do? I blushed for a moment or two then dove into the basket of bread and the salad when it *finally* arrived! :)

So this go round, I am trying to enjoy the few days left that I may have free of morning sickness. I could be one of the lucky ones who has it fo a short period of time or I could never get it at all!

There *are* some lucky gals who never know the evils of puking throughout their pregnancies. Lucky bitches! :) I wanna be one too! ;)

Eight HTPs later....

I am starting to BELIEVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so early on it isn't funny but the tests are darker and coming up quite fast. Today's was amazingly fast!!!! I'm stoked, but still cautious because it is just such a scary place to be after suffering early losses. **fingers xed**

Today we had a family gathering and it was hard to be hush hush. With things this early on, it is just too early to share the news with too many people. This part is *very* hard, however. I am also dying to tell my daughter, but being that she is 3 and a half and it is so early on, I want to hold off. Since she talks about her "siblings" often, I know she's going to be thrilled that her prayers (literal ones) have been answered! Seeing her face when she finds out will be priceless!

I need to call the doctor on Monday to make an appointment because the one I have was to calm my nerves and "confirm" the pregnancy but at this point I am starting to believe that I *am* pregnant and know that at seven weeks, it will be unlikely that we can see anything going on in there. I think we'll reschedule for 10 to 12 weeks, closer to when the OBs/Midwives want to see us.

The symptoms have started as well although so far, they seem manageable. I know the worst is ahead of me and I am braced and ready for it. I feel the symptoms are good because they remind me that my hormones are surging and that the pregnancy is thriving. When I don't feel any, I get nervous. I know I'll still complain as each one sets in, but secretly I'll be smiling and excited to experience them.

No pain no gain, right? :)

Welcome to the Wild Ride!

This is the beginning of the adventure that begins with two little pink lines! I recently took that test and continued taking them for a few days before finally believing that I was actually going to be expecting. After a couple of early losses, I wanted to be sure before I got too excited.

But here we are. Number two's arrival is guesstimated for April 1, 2009--over four years after the arrival of number one. It is a bigger gap than I would have wanted, but hopefully the timing is all part of a master plan that will end up being for the best! :)

I wanted to keep track of all the ups and downs that go along with a pregnancy, from the unique perspective of a non-first timer. I also want to review products that I find myself looking into along the way since the trip to momhood is strewn with choices for mother and baby--some more important than others, but all decisions that have to be made!

Stay tuned for interesting tid-bits from the road to childbirth and beyond! :)