Baby's First Picture

Baby is smiling at us! Taken at 16 wks. 1 day

I had my "dating" ultrasound Monday to make sure that baby's measurements match-up with my due date and they do. As you can see by my baby ticker above I am now 16 weeks and time is flying. I can't believe I haven't blogged about my progress before. The first trimester was fairly good. Thankfully I never really have gotten sick with any pregnancy but I typically do feel nauseous from time to time throughout the day. It helps to keep snacking and I also find that sucking on ginger root candy works great. (Probably the only time I can stand the stuff as it is strong!)

I do have food aversions which makes it so difficult to plan meals when so many favorites no longer appeal to me. I haven't been able to eat onions in anything which is hard because it seems that I put them in almost everything. Even looking at a recipe with them gave me a yuck kind of feeling.Thankfully that is now starting to diminish so hopefully we'll be able to enjoy some favorites like Chicken Potpie before too long.

I am exhausted and somehow forgot that is what happens. After breakfast I am ready for a nap and if you know me, I do not like taking naps. Now that I am in my 2nd trimester I am waiting for my energy to return.

The biggest problem I have in pregnancy is round ligament pain and also pain from stretching scar tissue. It started early and I know it will only continue to get worse the bigger I get. The thing is you never know when the pain will hit and it can vary from mild to an intense stabbing feeling. I had hoped that the length between pregnancies this time would have maybe helped with this but I guess not.

My belly has popped and did early on. It seems it comes out sooner with each pregnancy probably because I have a pooch to begin with. This time it caused quite a few people to question if I was having twins. Missy and Seppy insisted that we were having two babies. A girl for Missy and a boy for Seppy. All the comments started to make me wonder too but no, God is blessing us with one baby and I am quite happy about that. The thing I find funny about popping out and outgrowing my clothes so soon is that I look back to my first pregnancy when I couldn't wait to be able to wear maternity clothes. I was itching for people to look at me and know that I was expecting. By this pregnancy I long to stay in my normal clothes as long as possible. Oh how time changes things.

This time around I had to switch doctors for my prenatal care which is turning out okay. Although I reached the magic time of life when I am of "advanced maternal age" and so had the whole discussion on all of my risks now that I am older. What a strange feeling. No matter, I don't feel old in the least! I will have another ultrasound in four weeks and I look forward to seeing our baby waving and moving all around again. I think they do 3D too which will be fun.

John and I decided not to find out what we are having. We have done it both ways for different reasons but last time when I was lying on the table waiting to be cut open for my c-section I found it a helpful distraction to ponder if we were having a girl or a boy. I also think it will be fun for the kids when Daddy comes walking out with the baby in his arms and can say "It's a ....!"  All but Tank hopes we are having a girl for Missy. (Well, Seppy changes his mind from time to time.) I think they realize how very different she is from them and how much she would enjoy a sister. I am guessing another boy because the odds are really good in that direction. Either way, I am looking forward to holding a baby in my arms again!