2nd Trimester Recent Events Motivated Me to Update

How far along: 13 weeks, 3 days.

How big is baby: About the size of a small peach.

Total weight gain: I've actually lost a few pounds.

Sleep: I've been sleeping well, I just have to wake up early every morning because I need to relieve myself.

Maternity Clothes: I bought my first pair of maternity jeans recently, and they're amazing.

Morning Sickness: Um, I had an excellent streak of nothing. Until this morning. I'll spare you the details, but it was so intense my nose started bleeding.

Food cravings : Taco Bell Mexican Pizzas, French fries with ketchup & pizza. I apparently don't crave healthy things.

Food aversions: I've just been avoiding what I know I don't want, and no new developments lately, although I think that bacon maybe added to the list before too long.

Challenges: Adjusting to my ever-changing body.

Movement: Too early.

Boy or Girl?: I have an extensive ultrasound today to test for down syndrome, and the doctor said that they may be able to see what we're having today!

What I’m looking forward to: Finding out the gender.

What I miss: Sleeping in.

Next appt:A few hours.

So seriously, everyone says and all of the books say that morning sickness goes away after the first trimester. I know I'm only a few days into the 2nd, but I didn't appreciate my quality time with my head over a toilet this morning.

We had an appointment on Monday with the doctor, and she said that everything so far is coming along quite nicely. She said that the baby's heart-rate was good and strong, (154bpm) and kept saying how pleased she was with the heart-rate.

At the appointment, I also found that I've lost a couple of pounds, and I know that a couple of pounds isn't much, but considering that you gain weight in pregnancy, I was impressed. I've been saying that through this process, I hope to lose fat and only gain healthy weight for the baby, and so far that seems to be working. However, that's probably not going to be successful if I give into my cravings too often. ;)

I also was in disbelief that I have lost any sort of weight since I feel fatter than ever. I had to break down and buy maternity pants because mine were just getting too uncomfortable, and I can't say that I regret that decision, because those pants are probably the most comfortable pants I own, and I will not be looking forward to give them up when the time comes.

In work related news, it's Thursday and my spring break has finally started. We had rehearsal Monday-Wednesday, and I'm definitely grateful for the next few days off, but I wish it had been all week. However, we got a lot accomplished in just a few short days.

And now, I'll leave you with the latest picture of our baby. :) It's a little blurry, but you can see the face and arms and legs! The baby kept waving at us and at one point jumped like a jumping bean. :)

12 Weeks Down.

How far along: 12 weeks, 1 day.

How big is baby: About the size of a plum.

Total weight gain: Still, as far as I know, none. I need to invest in a scale.

Sleep: I still get tired early, and I wake up early every morning because I'm about to burst.

Maternity Clothes: I'm on the verge of needing to break down and find a solution to tight pants.

Morning Sickness: Nope, thankfully. :)

Food cravings : No majors this week.

Food aversions: I've just been avoiding what I know I don't want, and no new developments lately.

Challenges: Adjusting to having to go to the bathroom every five minutes. How am I supposed to get anything done? I know it's just begun...

Movement: Too early.

Boy or Girl?: Again, too early to know.

What I’m looking forward to: Finding out the gender.

What I miss: Sleeping in.

Next appt: One week.

I love Sundays, because it's church, lunch with Travis's family, and being lazy for the rest of the day. Today, I managed to get a nap, which was surprising since I slept later than usual this morning.

During my nap, I had the first dream that I was able to remember about the baby. In my dream, the baby was a girl, and we were taking her to church. There wasn't much detail to the dream, but I do remember the love I felt for my child. It was so pure. I was overflowing with happiness and warmth. The baby was so sweet and precious, and when I awoke, I was a little sad that I didn't get to dream about the baby longer.

It's just one of those things that got me even more excited to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl, and even more excited to meet the baby.

For years, I've said that the way that I love my nephew, Ethan, was the closest I could imagine to loving a child of my own. I always add that I know that the love I have for my children will be different of course, but it's hard for me to imagine what that love must be like, when I love a child that isn't mine the way that I love Ethan.

My grandmother always is sure to correct my thoughts on this with that I will never love Ethan like I'll love my own kids, and that's fine, but I'm just always amazed at our capability to love other humans, whether they're our own children, or someone else's.

The fact that I love sweet Ethan the way that I do---it's an unconditional, overflowing love--makes me overjoyed at the thought of the love that I'll have for my child. It already amazes me how attached I am to this baby, because I love it already, but I know it'll be an overwhelming amount when I meet him/her for the first time.

Now, that I've been sappy, I'll share other bits about my life these days.

One-Act season is here, and I am busy, busy, busy. With my rehearsal schedule and commitments that Travis has to the church during the week, I feel like I rarely see him these days, and I've been missing him a lot. However, we were able to spend the whole day together today, doing nothing, and it was perfect. :)

With One-Act season, there are always challenges...feeling like some of the kids don't want to succeed like we want them to, the long hours, the bus trips, etc. On Friday we attended our first clinic, which is an event where we perform our show and a clinician gives us critiques on the show. Overall, it went really well, the bus trip, however, did not. On the way up, we were complaining about the heat on the air-conditioned bus, and the driver turned it up all the way, and it was sweltering.

THE HEATER WAS ON. That's a little counter-active, no? We didn't find out until we were almost there, because one of our students finally said, "there's heat blowing out of this vent right here."  I wish she would have said that much, much sooner. When we told the bus driver, she was like, "But they're all off." Then she switched a switched and it turned off. I guess not, lady. The intense heat caused many, including Bobbi, the director, to get carsick. How fun! Thankfully, I don't have to deal with carsickness.

In other news, I have read the first two installments of The Hunger Games trilogy, and wow. It's amazing.  I highly recommend anyone and everyone pick up a copy immediately and begin reading. With the first book,The Hunger Games, after the first few chapters of learning about characters and the setting, it became an imaginary playground as I ripped through the pages, salivating for more. As soon as I finished, I couldn't wait to start the next book.

With the second book, Catching Fire, I was already attached to the characters and knew the setting so it was instant. I would read as much as I could during the day (before rehearsal starts), and stay up late reading---it took about a day and a half. If my student that has been loaning the books to me remembers the third installment, Mockingjay tomorrow, I'm sure it'll be an equally quick read. The story is just sooo good and the pacing of the book is so well written.

And now I cannot wait to see the movie.