14 Weeks- Officially Starting 2nd Trimester

     Well, we've made it to the "official" second trimester. The eyes are beginning to move, and the arms and legs can now flex. Hands will soon open and close into fists, and such movements as putting the hands to the mouth are happening more frequently. The organs of taste and smell are developing. Also, the skin is starting to become thicker and hair follicles are appearing just below the skin surface. Little blip is now about the size of a lemon (3 1/2 inches) and weighs about 1 1/2 ounces.

     The idea that we are going to be the parents of two hasn't really sunk in. Maybe it's because we aren't going through all this for the first time so it's kind of old hat but I'm not nearly as anxious and overly into it as I was with Roxas. It could also be the ridiculously full schedule I have with school. They always say your subsequent kids aren't fussed over nearly as much as your first and despite my determination to defy that...well...it's turning out to be pretty true. This is proving to be a very mellow and relaxed (as relaxed as a 2nd semester nursing student can be) pregnancy. I'm pretty well convinced this little blip is going to be arriving late too, so just to make myself feel better I'm giving myself a new due date of August 12th. Something I learned the hard way last time was putting WAY too much importance on that due date. It made me an emotional wreck. So this time I'm learning from my mistakes and going for way late instead of way early this time! Hopefully I will be proved wrong, but if not at least I won't feel so let down and frustrated when that date comes and goes.

     I'm feeling pretty good. The only issues I have are an ever present stuffy nose (thanks pregnancy induced rhinitis!) and I'm dead tired all the time. Again...school might have something to do with that. I'm starting to get the weird stares that look like "Is she pregnant? or just pudgy?" I have a lot of fun watching them try to figure it out. But the bump is coming along nicely, I definitely feel bigger this time around. I still feel the baby move every couple of days. The movements are for sure getting stronger but they are still pretty weak. I enjoy every second I get of this feeling, it's one of the best in the world. We go to Las Vegas this weekend to find out if we are having a boy or a girl. Honestly I'm really excited but really nervous too. I want to know....but then I don't. I don't make it a secret that I really want another boy. I'd love a girl too of course, but if I could pick I would. Part of it is so I can reuse a lot of the same stuff from Roxas, especially clothes since we have a ton of them he never even got to wear! Plus, we all know if I were to have a girl...oh good grief would their be a lot of pink things happening. A LOT. It's probably just the fact that I've been in school more than at home the past two days (sleeping included) and I'm unbelievably exhausted but I'm not chomping at the bit for the weekend.

     Yeah, this whole pregnant while in nursing school thing is a little more than I thought it would be. Maybe I just convinced myself it would be fine, and I honestly don't know how much the pregnancy actually affects me but it's been rough. The general opinion is that this semester is the worst so if I can just make it through this I will be ok. Third semester scares me a little bit seeing as we will have a 3 or 4 week old baby at the time school starts again (I'm crazy...yes I know.) The bright side is I have a super family who is always there for me and helps out whenever I need them. I may put them to the ultimate test come this fall. 

     Well, that's all I've got for now. I have a cranky Roxas and a ton of homework to be doing so until Saturday...

13 Weeks Almost into 2nd Trimester!

   
       Wow, I can't believe first trimester is already so close to being over. It might have to do with being so distracted with school and Roxas but this trimester has just flown by! It seems like just yesterday we were seeing the little blip on the screen for the first time. I'm really looking forward to the next trimester since all of the fun stuff gets to happen then.
     Baby is the size of a peach and is beginning to grow at a quicker pace. The organs are fully formed and will grow even more in the coming months. The spleen is hard at work right now producing red blood cells, and testosterone/estrogen are being made now. Baby is starting to make breathing like movements and swallow amniotic fluid. It's still pretty rare but I absolutely LOVE when I can feel the little butterfly bouncing about in there. I can't wait for that to happen more than every couple of days!
     One of my favorite things I bought when pregnant with Roxas was our doppler. I'm insanely impatient (me? Nooooooo, never) so having a month between doctors appointments where I get to hear baby's heartbeat is like Chinese water torture to me. With my doppler I can listen whenever I darn well feel like it. I've gotten really good at finding the baby and was able to find it a few days sooner this time around. It's also incredibly comforting to hear that sound when your mind has a tendency to wander down less desirable thought pathways. Here is a recording of the heartbeat from today :-)

     So, I said last week I would be telling the story of how we told our parents. If you know me I might be described as making a big deal of important events in our life, pregnancy announcements included. After our creative display with telling about Roxas we couldn't just casually mention...oh hey, yeah....we're gonna have another kid. No. We needed pizazz!
     We found out not too terribly long before Thanksgiving so we used the opportunity to our advantage.

How we told his parents: I had a cute little handmade Thanksgiving Day card I had made at MOPS last year and just hadn't had a great opportunity to use it, until now. I wrote a little poem thanking my in-laws for all their love, support and help they have blessed us with (very true) and the very last line read as " I hope you are just as excited, or more....as we become a family of four!" My father-in-law was the first to read it and on the first run through he just smiled and nodded but as he handed the card to my mother-in-law he took a double look and re-read it then started smiling really big. I wish we could have gotten it on video. My mother-in-law was great too, and they were both very excited to have another grandbaby on the way.

How we told my parents: I made up a fake "progress report" with MCC letterhead and everything and listed all of my tests/exam scores I had taken in nursing school up until this point. The very last "test" said Pregnancy Test (+) and the "score") was 4.5wks. After fielding numerous offers of my favorite wine over dinner I every so slyly gave my mom the paper and said hey check out my grades. She read it, said something like "great" and then I asked her to read it again....I think it was the third time when she finally got it. The reaction was priceless, and we did manage to get this one on video hehehe enjoy.

So that's the story of how we told our parents. Facebook found out with a little less flare, although I did have this whole elaborate song I did. I re-wrote the lyrics to "Call Me Maybe" to be "Call Me Baby" and it was pretty awesome if I do say so myself but it turns out I can't sing worth anything. Hearing me sing could be considered too torturous even by Islamic extremists so that video will forever linger in my computer never to be seen. Just know I tried. 

     Anyways, things are going swimmingly. I'm feeling much better, although at any given moment I feel as if I could finish off an entire Vegas buffet. I would definitely say I'm blessed to have an easier time than most...although I hope that doesn't translate into the old "easy pregnancy=hard labor" thing. Eeep. So help me, I will go to 42 weeks before I get induced again. No way on Earth do I ever want to see a bag of Pitocin ever again. I'm really hoping to not only go without the epidural again but I'm aiming for a completely drug free birth too. We will see.
      We get to find out the gender in....are you ready for this? 9 DAYS!!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHH! I'm going bonkers with anticipation for next weekend. I'm sure it will come quickly though. We do have names picked out for boy and girl but we may or may not decide to tell everybody on the planet this time. Those who do know what names we are considering, I kindly ask you not to mention anything until we do. Thanks!

Well, for now that is it...until next time.