Snips and snails, and puppy dog tails!

All of those ladies out there that say the second trimester is all flowers and butterflies, never had a chest cold that lasted 2+ weeks and daily headaches that border on migraine status. Don't get me wrong, I'm seriously happy the nausea has passed, but these headaches are killer!  Sometimes drinking a little caffeine will do the trick, which is more than Tylenol will EVER do.  And as for the chest cold...when it rains, it pours as they say, right?!  Just when I was getting used to sleeping more than 4-5 hours a night (the one thing I've been thankful for from the 2nd trimester!), I can't stop coughing when I lay down, which in turn, brings on NASTY headaches.  Needless to say, I've been a miserable mess lately!  But one horrible symptom that has pretty much disappeared is the constipation.  Thank the Lord!!  I was beginning to think I wasn't going to be able to push this baby out if I couldn't even poop!  

Talking about all these lovely symptoms, one may get the idea that I'm not enjoying being pregnant.  That's not the case at all!  Of course I'm loving it - but I'm definitely more excited about the end result than I am about my current state.  I hate to complain since I wanted this so bad - I feel like other infertiles out there reading this might think I'm ungrateful, or that they'd do anything to have morning sickness and constipation.  Trust me, I know how you feel, I was there not that long ago.  And while I am very thankful for my headaches and inability to have a bowl movement on a regular basis, it's a day to day struggle to remind myself of this!

Speaking of all the symptoms, I've been thinking about all the lovely ones that come along with labor and delivery.  This is mostly due to the fact that I've had the summer off work and can't help but watch TLC on a daily basis.  Those 'Baby Story' shows have a whole new spin on them these days!  I watch in complete horror now.  Adam walked in the room when I was watching one that featured a particularly horrific 'natural birth' (sorry, there's nothing natural about that!), and said I looked like I had just seen a ghost!

So I've been talking about my fears lately with family members (mostly since it's all I can think about these days!) and for the most part everyone has been very supportive and told me it's going to be okay, and not as bad as I think (I'm well aware they're all lying to me).  But, if you notice, I said for the most part they've been supportive.  My husband's aunt is the exception to this.  We were all out for a family get together last weekend and when it came up in conversation that I'm a little nervous about labor/delivery, instead of the typical comforting phrases every always says ('Your body is meant to do this', 'It's all worth it in the end', 'You'll be on such a high you won't feel a thing'...blah, blah, blah), she proceeds to tell me every gory and horrific detail of her agonizing experience giving birth to her son.  And I'm talking details...very specific details...very visual details.  I about threw up at the table where we were sitting.  Good thing pregnant women pee a lot because it gave me a great excuse to get the hell out of there!

Well, since we're on the topic of the lil' peanut arriving in about 5 months or so - let's get to the best news this blog has experienced since I announced our first round of IVF worked....the sex of the baby!!!  We had the gender-cake party with our parents this past weekend.  It all started with the ultrasound two days before the party.  The ultrasound tech found the sex within seconds of putting the wand-thingy on my stomach, so we all had our ideas of what that meant ;-).  I drove the sealed envelope straight to the bakery and ordered the cake to have either pink or blue icing in the inside.  Those were the longest two days!!  Well, I'll cut to the chase;  I cut into the cake and...well, see for yourself! ;-)

IT'S A BOY!!!   Reid Douglas will be his name...so no more "Lil' Peanut"!! :)  Adam didn't stop smiling all night!  He couldn't sleep and wound up coming to bed at 4:30am still smiling.  I asked him what he was smiling about, and his response was, "We're having a boy!".  He's so cute!  He was talking about all the things he can't wait to do with him; Bears, Bulls, and Hawks games, golfing, etc.  I sure hope Reid is a jock, or he's going to have one bored daddy ;-)

Well Reid has definitely made his presence know - I feel HUGE (I know it's only going to get worse!) and I can feel him kicking stronger and stronger every day!  I love feeling the little flutters - such a neat feeling.  I somehow doubt I'll feel the same when he's jabbing my bladder and ribs in a few months!  

Here's a picture of my 16 week belly - taken the night we found out the lil' guy is a lil' guy! 

And I'll leave you with the food of the week that resembles Reid's size.  

Watch what you say... tiny bones forming in baby's ears mean the little one can now pick up your voice. Eyebrows, lashes and hair are starting to fill in, and taste buds are forming. And, if you're interested, an ultrasound might be able to determine gender.

"Well, she's not as big as you yet"...

Whew!  It's been a while, but I've been BEYOND crazy busy, so I apologize!  It's been a non-stop summer so far, but I finally have down time to do nothing, and I'm loving every minute of it!  Adam and I went on vacation to visit my aunt in Minnesota for a week a few weeks ago.  We left on the day I hit the 12 week mark, so that was exciting!  It was a great trip full of boating, fishing, good eats, a Twins game, and of course, SHOPPING!  By the way, A Pea in the Pod is a phenomenal store - a  little expensive, but the clothes are so soft and fit so well!  It was also an amazing trip because all my 'lovely' lil' peanut symptoms disappeared!  But, it must have been the Minnesota air, because it seemed that as we were crossing the Illinois state line I started feeling like losing my lunch again.  I was home for no more than 24 hours and was on the road again - this time a straight through drive to North Carolina to drop my little brother off at camp.  Nothing like a weeks worth of road trips to ease morning sickness...blah.  Since I've been back (just a few days now), my nausea actually seems to be getting worse/more intense, so I don't know what's up with that!

I think the biggest fear I've had beyond all the obvious/typical fears that come along with a pregnancy is all the weight gain.  I'm not exactly a 'skinny' girl, but I'm not obese either - but hearing stories of women gaining 60+  pounds would probably put me close to that category!  But, I'm proud to say, I haven't gained any weight yet!  I had a doctor's appointment and she didn't mention anything about it, so I'm assuming it's still okay at this point to not have gained.  I'm sure it'll catch up and even out at some point though - that would be my luck!  I have on the other hand, added 10+ inches to my belly!!  I'm only 14 weeks and I look like I'm in my 3rd trimester already!  When I was shopping on vacation I was asking a sales woman if they had a maternity section and a conversation ensued about her daughter also being pregnant, but she 'wasn't as big' as me yet...wonderful.  I was hoping she wasn't going to ask how far along I was, because I totally would've lied and said, 'Oh, I'm due next week!'  I feel like I'm still in that, "is she fat, or pregnant?" stage, so I've started touching my belly when I feel people looking at me trying to figure it out, because I figure fat people don't like to touch their bellies, right?!  Anyways - below is a picture of me the day before we left on vacation, so the day before I turned 12 weeks! - I'm already bigger than this picture!  (Sorry the quality stinks - it was a cell phone shot)

Those that know me know that I'm a fairly impatient person...well, VERY impatient actually.  Remember, I'm the girl that was trying on wedding dresses  before I was even engaged (my mother told me it was okay, so I'm not 100% taking ownership of that!).  So of course it's KILLING me to have to wait another month to figure out the sex of the lil' peanut.  Soooo, after some research, I found an independent ultrasound place near us that will do gender determination sonograms as early as 15 weeks, and it's only $70!  So technically I could be finding out next week if lil' peanut is a girl or boy, but I have to wait another week (grrrr...) because my in-laws will be on vacation.  We're going to do the 'cake-thing', as it has become fondly known as in my family, to announce the sex.  If you're unaware of what this is - read on.  When we go in to have the ultrasound, we'll ask the tech write the sex down on a piece of paper and seal it in an envelope (Adam is having a hard time coming to grips with this; he wants to know right then, right there), and then I'll take that envelope to a bakery, who will then bake a cake with either pink or blue cake.  We're going to have our parents come up our way for dinner and we'll cut into the 'mystery cake' in front of everyone, so we'll all find out at the same time!  I think it's more fun and exciting than sitting in a dark room with goopy stuff on my belly while a stranger tells us, "it's a girl!" (I've had two dreams so far that it's a girl - and they were in Minnesota, where good things happened to my body, so I'm going with it!).  Our family is pretty excited for it too!  But I'm going to have to ask the bakery to duct tape the cake box shut or I'll be too tempted to do a little finger-swipe of frosting! ;-)

Well since I missed a week or so, I'll just a do a quick update on the food-of-the-week:

Week 12 = Plum
Week 13 = Peach

And here we are at week 14:  The Lemon!

        
Your adorable little fetus is busy with thumb sucking, toe wiggling, and (not so cute but equally amazing) making urine and breathing amniotic fluid as the liver, kidneys and spleen continue to develop. Lanugo (thin, downy hair) is growing all over the body for warmth.