Bump Watch: The Beginning

Well folks, now you know why my blogging has been sporadic, at best.  I've been super nauseous and tired, and pretty preoccupied with not spilling the beans until we were ready!  (Also, preoccupied with being nauseous and tired.)  I promise to pick up the pace as soon as I am able.  In the meantime, I'll keep you all updated with baby news each week!  Thanks for hanging in there with me!

4 Weeks- I am over the moon to find out that we're adding to our little family.  I'm having trouble eating and sleeping, due to my crazy excitement and racing mind.  Boy or girl?  Name?  Nursery?  How far along will I be for event A, B, C?  How will I keep this a secret until we feel ready to spill the beans?  I'm working hard on quieting my mind as I get used to the idea of growing another baby Anderson.  And also hoping beyond hope that morning sickness doesn't find me this time- or, at least, takes it a little easier on me than she did last go round.

5 Weeks- TIME. IS. TICKING. BY. SO. SLOWLY.  This is the hardest part of pregnancy.  J and I haven't yet told anyone that we are expecting.  Last time, I was so excited that I blurted it out to the whole world right away.  I literally just couldn't hold the words in my mouth.  This time, of course we are just as excited.  But last time, after I opened my big mouth, I felt very uneasy. I regretted telling so many people so soon.  So this time, we are keeping it under our hats for awhile.  At least until after our first appointment, which isn't until JUNE 7th.  I've made it through one week- only three more to go!  It feels like an eternity.  I just can't wait to see the flicker of a heartbeat on that screen to put my mind at ease.  Because for now, instead of enjoying feeling good, I'm fretting that the lack of symptoms means something is wrong in there.  Yes, I know that most women don't experience too much morning sickness until between 6-8 weeks, but that doesn't stop the fretting.  I'm a fretter.  What was that I was saying just last week about hoping morning sickness didn't show this time?  Well, I take it back.  She could rear her ugly head right about now, but then quickly disappear after I get a glimpse at the bean.  Yeah, that would be perfect.  

6 Weeks- No longer fretting.  Morning sickness is here.  I pretty much feel like I'm about to barf, all day, every day, all.of.the.time.  J and I have a tiny fear of twins, since last go round, I didn't feel this sick until the 8-10 week mark.  Of course, the earlier onset of the sickies may just be because this isn't my body's first time to this particular rodeo.  Or maybe it's because we're having a girl.  Or maybe it's because my hormones are flowing a little more freely.  Maybe it's just because.  Time will tell!  And speaking of time...it seems to have resumed its normal pace.  (Which is nice, seeing as how my countdown to the last day of school was really creeping these past two weeks.  I'm down to 25 days, and they can go ahead and fly by now.)  Really looking forward to my appointment in two weeks!

7 Weeks- Morning sickness (er, all day sickness) is the name of the game this week.  J has started showing me pictures of me holding a teeny tiny minutes old Gabe on my chest to remind me what this is all about.  And it usually works!  At least until the next wave of nausea hits.  So, you know, I get a solid 30 seconds of peace.  Mood swings are also in full effect.  My poor husband.  He is fearful of "the rage."  Sometimes it just hits me, and usually about the dumbest things.  Driving seems to be the worst- I have ZERO patience for idiot drivers.  Luckily I still have (some) patience for my child.  He's cute.  Now if I could just get him to stop using me as a jungle gym, we'd be good.

8 Weeks- Oi.  I'm officially down 5 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight.  That should pretty much sum up how I've been feeling.  We made a visit to the emergency room last weekend.  I was having some pretty severe and persistent abdominal pain (always on a weekend!) that  I thought warranted a check.  I was afraid of appendicitis or ectopic pregnancy.  Luckily, it was neither of those things.  Merely a perfect storm of pregnancy related issues.  You know, awesome things like gas and constipation, stretching and pulling and growing muscles and ligaments, and soreness from all of the serious heaving I've been doing.  I felt a little silly afterward, as I am most certainly not one to rush to the hospital on a whim, but I was glad to have a little reassurance.  There was a bean in there, in its perfect spot, measuring exactly on schedule, with its itsy bitsy heart beating 167 beats per minute.  Whew.  Now that we know things are progressing as they should be, we are excited to let our families and friends in on the big news this week!

Baby's First Picture

9 Weeks- I have perfected the perfect medicinal cocktail to keep my nausea at bay.  Unfortunately, the doc recommends not taking the magic pill every night, but instead on an "as needed" basis.  Well, I've decided that it's NEEDED at least every few days.  So the bright side is, I am getting a little relief a few days a week.  And it's nice.  I've started to really settle into the idea of a healthy pregnancy, as it's clear that all is well with the hormones based on the morning (noon and night) sickness.  This was the week where I lost the ability to comfortably sleep on my stomach (sad face!) and I also started with the crazy dreams.  Last night, they were all about zombies.  And every time I'd awaken from a scary zombie dream, I'd find that I had turned over onto my stomach, and was wildly uncomfortable.  So I'd flip back onto my back and continue with the zombies, until somewhere in my subconscious the zombies and stomach sleeping became intertwined, and I dreamed that stomach sleeping induced zombie attacks.  So apparently if I can't manage to stay on my back, the apocalypse is on.  You've been warned.   

10 weeks- If I haven't barfed, it must be a day that doesn't end with a 'y'.  The end.

11 weeks- This week, I've tried to find my positive attitude.  I am growing a tiny little miracle.  All of the sickness will be worth it when we get to bring home a new little bundle of joy.  This too shall pass.  'Tis my motto for the last few remaining weeks of this dreadful trimester.  Also, the fun stuff is starting to happen!  They say everything happens more quickly with your second pregnancy, and I think I'm finding this to be true.  My belly has popped out the tiniest bit.  I'm starting to look a little pregnant.  And I maybe, maybe, maybe felt my first movement yesterday.  This seems really early, so I'm not positive that it wasn't just gas.  But I am definitely hyper-aware of what's going on in there, and I'm waiting patiently for another little bump.  That is the part of pregnancy that I really love.

12 weeks- Well, it's now Facebook official.  That means I'm really pregnant, and it hasn't all been in my head.  I just left my 12 week appointment, and the babe has a nice strong heart rate of 150 beats per minute.  It's always so wonderful to hear that whoosh whoosh whoosh coming from the doppler machine.  In other appointment news, the doctor was concerned about the severity of my morning sickness, which has caused a ten pound weight loss thus far.  SO, she has prescribed a medicinal cocktail for me to try, as at this point she'd rather have me taking some drugs than end up in the hospital due to dehydration.  (Yes folks, sometimes I can't even manage to keep water down.)  Fingers crossed that this will be magic, that I'll feel better, and that in a few short weeks, the worst will have passed and I can carry on with life as normal!