update...2nd trimester

ahhhh the wonderful 2nd trimester.

that beautiful point in your pregnancy when you start to feel better, have a little more energy and start to resemble an actual pregnant person rather than a person who has been indulging a little too much at holiday parties

this is where i am currently residing. granted i am still pretty darn tired all the time and the weight seems to be evenly distributing itself all over my body rather than sticking to the middle where i'd like it to be...but other than that i am feeling good! the all day nausea is long gone, thank goodness!! i still find myself sneaking in little afternoon cat naps every now and then but definitely not every day like it was during the 1st trimester.

i am currently 17 weeks.  

i had my monthly check up last week and thankfully it was an uneventful one. very routine. doc found the baby's heartbeat fairly quickly and it sounded nice and strong. this was not the case at my 12 week check up when i was seconds away from having a quick ultrasound because she couldn't find the heartbeat. after about 5 agonizing minutes of looking we finally heard it. you little stinker. your big sister may pulled the same stunt.

the week after christmas i go back for my big 20 week appointment and ultrasound. i didn't address this in my last baby post...but we will not be finding out the sex of this baby. i think i could have been persuaded this time around to find out...but dan really wants a surprise. i can't say i blame him. there really is nothing that beats that moment in the delivery room...well except maybe holding that precious baby!

 honestly i would only want to know if it was a boy...and only so i could prepare myself for dan's reaction. i would still want him to be surprised of course because boy or girl his reaction is priceless. if this baby is another girl his reaction will be pure joy. dan loves his girls...that is obvious. i would only want to be prepared for him to possibly pass out from shock should they say "it's a boy!"   

i also contemplated for a minute finding out for the girls. ryan and lilly, especially. they are old enough to truly understand what is going on...and have an opinion about it. (they both say boy, by the way.) i also, selfishly, wanted to find out so i could see their reactions. with lilly, ryan was so young she didn't really have a reaction. with may they were old enough too and i didn't get to see it first hand because i was in the recovery room.

however, i think lisa and i have come up with a solution to this. instead of having pat and dan tell everyone in the waiting room...we are going to have them grab our kids and bring them back to the recovery room so they can meet their new brother or sister and we can be apart of that moment. then the girls can run back out to the waiting room and tell everyone. i realize this means more agonizing waiting for our family...and i'll probably be cursing this idea myself come march when i am the one in the waiting room...but if this is truly our last child then i want to cherish that special family moment together.

ok, back to the pregnancy. like i said this is a fun time. the baby is moving around and i am starting to feel him/her more frequently. i swear i felt my first movements around 10 weeks...i know that's crazy early...but i'm telling you i did! granted, it was very randomly but i know it was my little pal in there. now i am feeling him/her much more frequently. the kicks and jabs are not quite strong enough for dan or the girls to feel...but those are coming soon i'm sure!

the only slight complaint i have is i can sense my carpal tunnel is making a comeback. from those of you who know my previous pregnancies this is really the only negative side effect i have. it's nothing serious, which i am so grateful for, but it is very annoying. it isn't too bad yet...only waking me up maybe once a week...but i'm sure it will flare up again. i just pray it doesn't affect my immediate recovery from surgery like it did with may.

other than that we are cruising along on this pregnancy road. i am working hard to keep the holiday sweets in check and continuing to exercise. unfortunately running has taken a backseat to the baby. i just didn't have any energy the first 12 weeks and can't seem to get myself out there now that it's freezing cold. i am still dragging my butt to spinning and yoga a few times a week though. 

i'll be back at the end of the month with a new update, hopefully, a fun picture of our little babe. the big girls are coming with us to the ultrasound...so that should make it even more interesting. i have to continue to warn them that the picture will not be like the ones on my camera...