I’m at 13 weeks now, and still having “morning sickness” 3-4 times a week. I’ve found a few ways to at combat the worst of it – I’m often ill around dinner time, which means I eat very little if anything. That of course means by the time I’m ready for bed, I’m starving. If I ignore my hunger and go to sleep (exhaustion has also been a much bigger problem this time around, so I’m always looking to get into bed early), I know that the next day I will be punished by feeling incredibly ill all day. So, I’ve taken to snacking at night. I once heard that eating cheese as a snack in the evenings is good because cheese takes longer to digest, so you won’t feel hungry in the morning. This works for me sometimes. Sometimes I eat some raw veggies, and if I’m particularly hungry, I make myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and wash it down with a glass of milk. This usually helps the following day. Unfortunately, it’s not a guarantee. I’m worried that I’m into my second trimester and still having “morning sickness” and maybe I will be one of those horribly unlucky women who has this awful nausea for the whole 9 months. Another 7 months of this feels like an awfully long time…

The most popular question I’ve gotten so far is if we plan to find out the sex. The answer is most definitely yes! We wanted to know with Xander, but he was less than cooperative. In retrospect, this was ok – we got lots of gender neutral stuff for the baby shower, which was great. This time around I don’t have to worry about being inundated with all pink or all blue, so I’d like to know as soon as I can. I don’t really care either way, and the old cliche remains true, as long as the baby is healthy, I really don’t care either way.

If I had to take a guess today, I would tell you that I must be carrying a girl, because she is already giving me so much trouble But other than the extreme differences between the two pregnancies, I really don’t have much of a feeling about what gender I’ve got growing inside.

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baby, pregnancy, babies, trimester, fetus, baby books, baby websites, baby reading, morning sickness, second trimester

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So, unable to contain my excitement, I told Zach as soon as I got out of the shower. Since I had been discussing my conception woes with several women at work, I was also eager to tell them, and of course it didn’t feel right not to tell my family immediately too – I mean, if co-workers know, then family should too! So, I called my sister at home. Her reaction was great. She must have said ‘oh my God!’ 50 times. She asked me a bunch of questions, and told me I had to call Mom at work, which I did. My mother I think was a bit in shock when I told her. She said congratulations and not much else. I think she was also worried about how hurt we would be if things did not go well, but at that point, I was thrilled to know that I was actually able to conceive! I also called Mandy (my sister-in-law), who also had an excellent reaction and was almost reduced to tears on the phone, which of course also almost reduced me to tears. She asked me a few questions, and then let me go so that she could call P.J., Zach’s brother at work and tell him the good news.

After getting the word out, I began to panic that maybe I had spilled the beans too early. I mean, my family has a history of miscarriages, and this is our first attempt, and I was only six weeks along. I began dreading that I might have to go back to everyone I told and tell them that I had miscarried, and then face down pity looks for weeks to follow. So, I tried to think positively. I started taking pre-natal vitamins (apparently they don’t write prescriptions for these anymore, but simply tell you to buy some over-the-counter, which I did). I ate as much fruit as I could tolerate, and made sure that there were vegetables at every meal.

Ginger ale and ginger snaps became my morning routine for many weeks. I discovered that I couldn’t eat first thing in the morning, or I would be face down in the toilet before I walked out the door for work. Now that I am headed out of the first trimester, my morning sickness is slowing down – it is much more sporadic, though some smells (such as pizza) can still set it off. In the first few weeks I craved Big Macs, though I only indulged once or twice. Recently, I can’t get enough strawberries. When I discovered this at the grocery store one day, I couldn’t even wait to get home to eat them – I rinsed them in the restroom sink, and then ate half the pint during the 8 minute drive to my house. I have also threatened friends and family with bodily harm if they get between me and my strawberries – something I didn’t think food would ever influence me to do!

At nine weeks Zach and I went to our first doctor appointment together (I had gone the previous week to meet with the nurse, give a social history and 6 vials of blood for testing). We got to hear the heartbeat which was the most thrilling sound I have heard up to this point. It registered at 174 beats per minute. We went back this month (12 weeks) and got to hear the heartbeat again, slowing down to 166 beats per minute, which is apparently good and normal.

Now that I am at 12 weeks, and out of the biggest danger zone, I feel safe enough to blog about my experiences with the rest of the world. Two weeks ago I had to purchase bigger pants, and I’ve been buying up bigger bras for several weeks now. My breasts are starting to feel more normal, not as tender, though I’m starting to develop a complex about how big they are getting (I’m much more comfortable with smaller breasts). I’m thinking that having a round belly will be somewhat acceptable – I mean at least pregnant women have a good excuse for their larger size. However, I don’t really look pregnant yet, just a little fatter, and that is depressing at the moment.

I return to the doctor next month at 16 weeks for more testing (and more blood taken from me). As I do not have much medical history on my mother’s side, I am eager for any testing they are willing to do. So far, I’ve learned that I do not have any sexually transmitted diseases (no big surprise), and that I’m not a carrier for cystic fibrosis (phew!). Next month they will test for spina bifida and downs syndrome, and hopefully start talking about a sonogram! And yes, Zach and I do want to know the sex of the baby – Zach explains it best: people who don’t want to find out the sex generally say they want the surprise, and in Zach’s mind, what’s the difference between a surprise at 18 weeks and one at 36 weeks? Plus, if you find out early, then you get a surprise at 18 weeks (the gender) and then again at 36 weeks when you find out what the baby looks like. As I am a Type A personality, and need to have everything planned far in advance, I don’t think I could handle waiting until the end (unless the kid doesn’t cooperate and I dont’ have a choice)

So, you can expect about 24 more blog posts on this pregnancy topic – I’ll do my best to blog at least once a week and give everyone an update as to what is going on medically, what Zach and I are talking about, how things are going with nursery planning, and anything else I can think of. If you have any questions, please feel free to comment – I’m happy to answer pretty much anything to do with my pregnancy experience.

baby, pregnacy, conception, pregnant, babies, expecting, birth, child, children, morning sickness

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