Up to date and exactly 18 weeks :)

Yay! No more posting behind everyone's back. The gig is up, the cat is out of the bag -- I'm pregnant and a solid 18 weeks pregnant at that. So here's what you missed between weeks 9-18... don't worry it isn't a whole lot. 

Around week 10 I started noticing a slight different in my appetite and morning sickness in general. It continued to get better every day and by week 14 (the beginning of the second trimester), I felt great! My energy is up, I don't have any nausea, and you might even say that I kind of enjoy being pregnant. Now that I'm not dealing with food aversions (except for ground beef with any kind of tomato based sauce), gagging that turns into vomiting, or the need to eat every like 15 minutes, I'm having a good time. 

The second trimester is a wonderful place to be. 

It's especially exciting because every day that tiny baby is growing and so is my belly :) I'm starting to look like I have real baby bump instead of looking like I had a heavy lunch with a beer.

We got to hear the baby's heartbeat around week 14. That was awesome. For us, it was the first official sign of a baby. At 14 weeks I wasn't showing, I couldn't feel any movement (I still haven't felt anything yet - hopefully soon!), but actually hearing the pulse of another living thing... inside of me... it was just the coolest thing. It was also amazing to find out that even at such a young gestation, the baby is kicking and punching and moving all over. My update told me that my baby is yawning, hiccuping, sucking and swallowing, twisting, rolling, peeing, punching and kicking... not all at once of course but those are all the things an 18 week old baby can do. So talented.

Tomorrow we'll schedule our first ultrasound. The ultrasound will tell us a lot about the health of our baby... but should also tell us if baby is a boy or a girl. And yes, we will be finding out and hopefully we'll find out before Christmas! I'm thinking boy :) But we'll just have to wait and see. 

Emotionally, I feel pretty stable. Much more stable than the first trimester. However, now I day dream about our baby; about what he/she look like, smell like, act like... I think about this time next year. We'll have a 7 month old in toe, "helping" us decorate for the Holidays. I get excited about little things like buying Christmas pajamas (Children outfitted in fleece sleepers are the cutest!) and inserting various Holiday traditions into our family. 

I think about family vacations and car rides that involve a lot of raffi and The Civil Wars. 

I remember driving around with my mom and dad in the car when I was like three. Running errands with my mother is the reason why I still know, to this very day, every word to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolored Dreamcoat. I remember the best way to start the morning as a child was to snuggle with my mom. So now that I'm on the cusp of being in my mothers shoes, I can't help but think that I'll get to share those very same moments with my children. And oh my goodness! It makes me so excited. 

I know all this is probably enough to make a lot of people gag and think, "save it for Halmark, honey." But don't worry, that season will probably come to you one of these days. And when it does, you'll find yourself tearing up over your unborn child too.