15 Weeks!!

It is hard to believe that I am already in my 2nd trimester!  It seemed like it would never come during those first few weeks, as I was memorizing the location of every bathroom to accommodate my 10-second bladder and trying to squelch my seemingly endless nausea.

It is true that 2nd Trimester is the "Honeymoon" period.  Like clockwork, my nausea shut off at 10 weeks and I have been feeling a growing amount of energy since then.  My appetite has healthily picked back up.  The food cravings and aversions are now under control.  I no longer feel like a chipmunk, having to munch all day long on granola and crackers.  Overall, the last 5 weeks have flown by and have made pregnancy pretty enjoyable.

Here are some of the notable moments from Weeks 10-15:

- The awkwardness of that in-between belly:  Starting around 10 weeks, I started to notice "the look" when going out in public... that questioning facial expression where you can tell people are thinking,  "Is she pregnant, or is that just a beer belly?"  Thankfully, it is becoming more obvious that there are, in fact, two of us here.

- My first time getting stuck in small places: Having been roughly the same size for several years, I have never really had to think much about gauging the amount of space my body actually needs to safely navigate my environment.  That is no longer the case.  In the parking garage, I usually park close to the concrete barriers... this is in an attempt to protect my car from the door-dings graciously bestowed by the large Texan trucks.  Last week, I discovered I need to start giving myself more room... my belly literally became wedged in the small space I had allotted for myself.   It is still starting to sink in that I am carrying the equivalent of an ever-inflating doughnut around my waist.

- The belly button: I really should have been expecting this one, but it ended up being the biggest surprise of these last 5 weeks... the mutation of my belly button.  I guess I wasn't expecting it so soon.  My "iny" is quite rapidly turning into an "outy."  I have never actually seen the inside of my belly button before, and it is still a tiny bit disturbing to me.

- My love affair with my body pillow: I seriously don't know how pregnant women survived before the invention of the body pillow.  It fits perfectly between my legs and under my belly.  If it wasn't for having to get up to pee multiple times per night, I would say my pillow is the answer to all of my pregnancy sleeping woes.

- Pregnancy paranoia: First trimester seemed to be dominated by finding ways to stop feeling pregnant... getting morning sickness under control, trying to muster up some energy to get out of bed in the morning, and wishing that I could just stop feeling so darned bloated.  Since these symptoms have subsided, I find myself wondering if something is wrong because I am NOT feeling so crumby anymore!  It is a bit embarrassing to admit, but the absence of symptoms bothered me so much that I went out and bought a fetal heart doppler!  Pregnancy is one of the few times in life where you find yourself worrying ALL the time, even if it is because you are feeling too well.

- Vegetable-sized: My friend Joanna (whom is also pregnant!!) put it well when she told me that you find yourself thinking of your baby in the sizes of fruits and vegetables.  This statement stuck with me and has made it easier to visualize the growing life inside of me.  The family seems to have jumped in on this one too.  A couple weeks ago, my father-in-law, Paul, posted this picture on Facebook...

...representing Baby Bean's 11th week as plum-sized. This week, my little one is now the size of an apple!  However, I think all this talk of produce is getting to me... I had a dream this past week that, instead of a human, I gave birth to a dancing peach.

Next week I have my 16th week appointment!  It will be the first appointment, since my initial intake visit, that Tony will also be attending!!  I am hopeful that my OB will sneak in a quick look at Baby Bean for me Tony with the bedside ultrasound.