End of first trimester blues.

I'm 12 weeks, four days today -- and second trimester starts at 13 weeks, 1 day, so I'll hit second tri on Friday [thank goodness]. This Friday is a big milestone for me because I'll finally start to breathe a little easier when it comes to this pregnancy. The nausea, however, is looking like it'll stick around for a bit.

When I was pregnant with JJ, I had all-day nausea for a good 6-7 weeks [even though it felt longer than that]. I remember it settling in right around finals week and not really going away until near the end of June. This time, the nausea settled in around 6 weeks, and at almost 13 weeks, it's still around. Zofran hasn't helped that much, so I just stopped taking it and am sucking it up at night. I know that crappy food choices makes it worse, so I've stopped eating the fatty stuff [except for the Chick-Fil-A I had for lunch today] and have really tried to push more water and healthy food items. At least I don't feel like I have to throw up every five minutes...those days were around a couple of weeks ago, and that sucked big time.

I've decided that I'm no good at this whole first trimester thing. It's been really hard for me to suck it up and deal with it when I feel like crap. Add in my overactive 3-year-old, and that makes things even more interesting around here. My mom is on spring break this week and has him for the next few days, which I'm grateful for - that allows me to get some sleep and get some cleaning done around here. Well, really, I just want to sleep.

Random food cravings are starting to come and go, even though the thought of food still makes me feel blah after like, 6pm. I had two root beers last week, and I never, EVER drink root beer. I've had this aversion to it for awhile, but that's the only soda I've wanted the past couple of weeks. I'm seriously considering making a drive to A&W sometime this week for a root beer float - that sounds heavenly. [and i know you're supposed to watch your caffeine intake while pregnant...since i stopped drinking coffee, i have a soda or two a week nowadays] I've also had cravings for fruit [that aren't in season], like watermelon - and again, I'm not a big fan of watermelon. I know, who doesn't like watermelon, right?! Well, I normally don't...and I want some. I hope that craving sticks around when watermelons come out in full force this summer.

Today is the last day of winter...how weird that another season has come and gone. This winter was particularly mild in comparison the past two to three winters, which was nice. I will say that I missed seeing snow, but that's OK. Most of the state got a really good soaking today, which is what we needed, so I hope spring brings more of that type of rain [and little tornado activity, please and thank you]. I think we got more rain today than we did during the past 6-7 months combined...been awhile since my phone weather radio app lit up with flood and flash flood warnings. Thanks for the rain weather gods!

Wish me luck as I step in the world of second trimester. I can't believe I'm already near the end of the 1st trimester...holy cow.

Oh baby!

I've been waiting to write this blog post for ages...but I've been putting it off. I think it's partly nerves and partly lack of energy...but mainly nerves. Putting it in writing makes it so much more real, you know?

Anyway, I'm "out" now to the world, except for my blog, so I figured it's time I come clean.

12 weeks!

I'm pregnant!!!

Yes - semi-surprise baby no. 2 will be here on or around September 27 [heaven willing]. I've known from Week 4 of my pregnancy that I was actually pregnant, which was two months ago...so keeping it a secret for this long has been really, really hard. I suck at keeping secrets, but with so much uncertainty during the first trimester of pregnancy, I wanted to keep my mouth shut as long as possible.

But after my second doctor's appointment at 11 weeks - and after hearing that sweet, sweet sound of my baby's heartbeat - I decided I should either come clean or let my growing baby bump come clean for me. So, my mom took this picture, sent it to family, then I posted it on FB:

Isn't his shirt absolutely adorable? :)

I still can't believe that I'm pregnant. It's this surreal feeling...until the nausea hits again. Then I definitely believe I'm pregnant.Morning sickness started around Week 5, got worse around Week 8 [that's when I went on Zofran as needed] and is still lingering at Week 12. My days have gotten better, but my nights have sucked - between the lack of energy and the nausea, I've had no appetite after 5pm and hit a wall at 7:30pm. My productivity just stops, and I'm on the bed ready to fall out. Poor JJ has been so patient with his sickly-feeling mommy; I just hope this nausea finally starts to fade soon. I also hope my taste buds return to normal soon...nothing really tastes the same, and I really don't have any cravings because of nausea. I can't wait to be able to eat and not feel like crap for the rest of the day.

I find myself stopping to look in the mirror a lot and smiling, not quite sure I believe that another one's on the way. I have all these nerves about it [how will JJ adjust to a sibling? am i really ready to raise two kids? holy crap, by the end of this year, i'll have two kids!], but I'm just so, so excited. My parents are excited, my sister's excited, Joe's super excited...it's such a fun time in my life, and I'm hoping to enjoy every moment of it. Time is already flying, and I don't want this pregnancy to slip by.

Now that I'm out, I actually have something to blog about - yay! I'll be on more often [i hope] to talk about life, mommyhood and the second time around. I've got a little survey to finish out my first blog post about Jelly Bean [JJ's nickname was Peanut until I knew what I was having; this time, it's Jelly Bean]:

12 weeks, 2 days
Total weight gain: I think total has been five pounds.
Maternity clothes? I've been using a maternity band since my bloat bump started at like, Week 6. I'm still in a lot of my regular clothes, but those are becoming way too small nowadays...so I've recently starting buying maternity pants/shirts, and I've started busting out the maternity clothes from the first time around.
Sleep: Well, considering it's after 4am...yeah. Sleep has been hit and miss lately. I usually sleep solid for 4-5 hours, then I'm up and wide awake. I really need a new bed.
Best moment this week: Staying up past 9pm. I seriously never stay up past 9pm anymore...and on Wednesday night, I was up until 11. Not sure I'll see a night that late for a long time!
Food cravings: None so far, to be quite honest. I have random cravings that come and go, but nothing constant. I will say, though, that I really like root beer nowadays - and I usually hate root beer.
Gender: Not sure yet - will find out in 5-6 weeks!
Labor Signs: Yeah...still too early for that.
Belly Button in or out? In.
What I miss: Being able to eat. I hate my picky palate nowadays.
What I am looking forward to: My wedding anniversary and husband's birthday are both next week. Even though J's deployed, both are special days for me. Oh, and my mom's on spring break next week, so JJ gets to go home and spend time with someone who's actually functioning all day.
Weekly Wisdom: Everything happens for a reason. I keep telling myself that.
Milestones: I'm a week away from second tri! Time is absolutely flying right now.
Differences between #1 & #2: There have been so many so far. With JJ, m/s and nausea didn't really settle in until I was a good 8-9 weeks pregnant. This time, I've been sick and feeling like crap since Week 5, literally. And I never really threw up with him...ha. Not the case this time. I've also had different tastes this time than last time, and I'm definitely showing a heck of a lot sooner with this baby. With JJ, I got away with regular clothes until like, 14 weeks - again, not the case this time.

Oh, and Happy St. Paddy's Day!