On the lovely first trimester

This'll probably be one of those posts that's mainly for my own sake, because even though at this moment I swear I'm never, ever having another baby, who honestly knows what the future holds? Also, maybe someone out there can find some something useful here.

I'd heard going into this that every pregnancy was different, and I was hopeful that this one might be a lot different than last. Unfortunately, I did zero documentation of my pregnancy with Ellie, so during those first couple of days & weeks that absolutely seem to DRAG on, I found myself once again googling "pregnancy symptoms at 4w5d." It's just nice to have reassurance that somebody out there had a similar twinge or backache, ya know?

Some of my symptoms are a little different this time around, but mostly, I'm dealing with the same things as last time. Maybe that means it'll be another girl?

So, here we go:

3 weeks:
-Before I found out I was pregnant, nursing suddenly became SO painful! We're talking, pain like in the first couple of days of the newborn stage. Even though Ellie's been a pro at latching on for, oh, 17 months, I found myself trying to unlatch and relatch her, and wondering what the heck?
-The day before the test finally turned positive (yeah, I'm a serial POAS-er. Even when we aren't trying), I was so, so exhausted. I kept complaining and telling Peter it felt like I was seriously hungover, or maybe pregnant?

4-6 weeks:
-Fatigue. Total exhaustion, lots of napping.
-Low back aches, constantly
-Stinky!! Hormones went crazy, and all of a sudden, I smelled like a teenage boy who hadn't showered all week.
-Cravings/food that sounds palatable: fruit, citrus, lemon/lemonade, cheese, mac & cheese, bagels & cream cheese, sausage, french fries, pizza, Mexican food, gatorade, sour candy
-Unappetizing food: dairy, caffeine, veggies, sweets, water
-must eat first thing in the morning
-dry, itchy, flaky scalp. Gross, gross
-nighttime insomnia
-insanely complicated and detailed dreams

7 - 12 weeks:
-Nausea. Round the clock and totally unrelenting. Less vomitting than last time, but possibly worse nausea. Totally debilitating
-Fatigue still there
-Back ache: check
-Started really showing around week 7-8
-No appetite, forcing food to keep stomach from going empty (makes my nausea way worse)
-Food: same as before. Also loving: grape juice
-Week 11: discovered Trader Joe's carbonated, unsweetened flavored water. Discovered I can drink the lemon flavor (0 cal!) and actually almost achieve hydration.

13 weeks:
-slightly less nausea
-slightly less fatigue.
-new food obsessions: guacamole. still loving french fries. chocolate milk shakes. Did I mention my intention to not gain 60+ lbs? Not sure how that's going to happen. :)
-headaches kicking in
-hungry!!

Hopefully I'll start documenting moving forward. :)

I disappeared, again...

Two years ago at this time, I disappeared from the blog for a couple of months. I reappeared with a quick little life update, ending with a picture quite similar to this: 

And, look! Lo and behold, it happened again. (yes, both the hiatus, and the fetus). 

(Funny little fact: not only did it happen again, but it... ahem... "happened" on the same date it happened two years ago. That puts baby 2.0 due exactly two years to the date after his/her big sister. I'm predicting May 16th, 2013). :)

We are so incredibly lucky to find ourselves, against the odds, in this position again. We're excited and totally just a little bit apprehensive about the reality that two children will bring. Mostly, we're just grateful at this opportunity and hopeful for a healthy baby. I cannot wait to do it all again.

Needless to say, our Fall season has been very low key. It turns out that I'm not that good at being pregnant. Granted, I've got a great record of making super babies, but man is this first trimester thing rough for me. Totally sick all the time, massive amounts of fatigue, back pain, body pain, moodiness, etc. Not to mention the HUGE belly I'm already sporting - they aren't kidding when they say you show sooner with your second! I'm pretty sure I popped out around 7 weeks. Pregnancy while "parenting" a toddler is quite an experience, and I use the word "parenting" lightly. :) Sweet Ellie is pretty bored these days - kicking her toys and throwing them across the room with a look of despair on her face once she realizes that, once again, our day will consist of watching an endless stream of Baby Einstein and PBS, me trying to convince her to take a second nap, and her eating french fries for lunch because that's the only thing which won't make me want to throw up. Wait - that last part makes her pretty happy. :) Every time Ellie naps, so do I, which means that I have little time for house cleaning, grocery shopping, and yes, showering. My mom has started offering to watch her so I can get a shower in, which is usually by the time the third or fourth day rolls around and  my hair is so greasy it looks like I dumped it in bacon grease. Thanks, Mom! 

seriously. 11 weeks pregnant - and yes, there's only one. Photobomb courtesy of my darling little sis.

What else? We've still managed to make some fun memories this fall. Maybe I'll blog about what we've been up to, but probably not. Halloween was incredibly adorable this year thanks to a sweet little ladybug. We celebrated our third wedding anniversary, and my nausea let up just enough to enjoy a fabulous Mediterranean dinner out. Lastly, this little thing called the election kept us glued to the news nightly, and gave us something to talk about ad nauseum. Poor Ellie. She was bored to begin with, and on top of it, she had to listen to her parents political ranting over dinner every night. Needless to say, and I won't spoil the results here: we WON, and last night was one of the happiest nights of our lives. Literally - it was probably among the top ten nights for me, and made so much better by the fact that I was able to celebrate and dance with my sweet girl when the race was called. She (and baby 2.0) are the reasons I'm on this planet, and I was waking up nightly with anxiety about the outcome prior to last night. I know the world isn't perfect, but where we can live in a place where we trust elected officials to have our backs and elect a Supreme Court which isn't threatening to make decisions about our bodies for us, and we can love the ones we are made to love - well, I'll rest a little easier. :)

There you go. A small update on our lives. Hopefully I won't disappear for the rest of this pregnancy, as I did with my last one!