Meet Mom & Dad!
And Meet our little bump. (March 17, 2010 - Going out for my birthday)
This pregnancy has been a trip so far. For as much as we planned this pregnancy out, it’s thrown us for kind of a loop. Well -- maybe not so much “us” as just me. Spencer is starting to really get into this new role again: hugging me from behind so that he can wrap his hands around my little bubble of a belly, including the new baby in plans that we make for the future, and really wanting to crack down on the work we have to do to the house before the baby arrives. I’m getting excited now too. My stomach is bulging something fierce already and from my heartburn to my boobs, I feel unmistakably pregnant. I feel lucky for that, because for as much as certain side effects of growing a baby really, truly suck, there’s just nothing else like it.
It is definitely fun to be taking on the expectant parents’ role again, but don‘t let that fool you, it’s not a total picnic. While Spencer gets to just sit back and lovingly watch the baby magic bloom as an outsider looking in, my end of the bargain is a little less rainbows and butterflies and a lot more gagging at every sight, smell, taste and touch that invades my space throughout any and every given day since this baby was conceived. Sometimes the color of a flower can remind me of cough syrup and I’ll want to vomit. Sometimes the sound of a name like Olivia can remind me of a food like olives and I won’t be able to finish my lunch. And sometimes, like yesterday, Matthew needed a bath before I had time to make breakfast and I threw up pure stomach acid.
My life, in almost every way, revolves entirely around my stomach these days; and my stomach, I’m sure, is out to kill me. I’m praying that this morning sickness subsides with the passing of the first trimester, which is either this week or last or next… I don’t even know anymore, and to be honest the only reason I care is because sometime within that 3 week window is a sliver of hope for me to be able to eat again. I dearly, dearly miss so many foods… :-(
Other than that, the worst of the symptoms that I’ve had have been fatigue like I never knew existed, and this terrible sour taste in my mouth. The fatigue is starting to dwindle now and I’m noticing a distinct boost in my ability to stay coherently alert for most of the day again. I’ve never been a heavy sleeper or a lazy person, so that dreadful experience of feeling like I was walking with cement shoes and weights on my eyelids square in the middle of the day was not easy to adjust to. I’m glad that it didn’t last any longer than it absolutely had to. The taste in my mouth is something I’m glad I looked up online early on. Even though I’d never previously read anything about it in the baby books or have ever known someone personally who had it, it’s insanely common. The foods that don’t make me nauseous, always leave a sour, vile taste at the back of my tongue, that only grows more potent the longer it’s left without being washed down by something new that will inevitably do the same thing.
So there are up sides and there are downsides to being pregnant again. Even though I could definitely stand to live without the things I’ve spent the past three paragraphs complaining about, I couldn’t be happier with the way the family’s adjusted. Mary took to the idea immediately, and even patted my belly a few times when she asked us questions like when we found out and what we hope the sex will be. When she asks me how my day was after I get home from work, she includes the baby now (“Did you and the baby have a good day today?”). Matthew was quick to catch on, too. We started telling him that there was a baby brother/baby sister in Mommy’s belly and within a day or two, he was pointing out to us where his baby sister was whenever we asked. “Sister” is not because we know what we’re having yet, it’s because “baby brother/baby sister” was awfully long and he made the choice to just shorten it to “baby sister” instead. When we ask him, he gladly tells the baby good morning, goodnight and bye-bye. We haven’t gone overboard with it, but we did want to at least introduce him to the idea before I start to obviously show. So everybody’s on board.
On March 22nd we had our first ultrasound. Compared to the only ultrasound I have to compare it to, this baby seems significantly less active than it’s big brother who tumbled and bounced from one position to another at every ultrasound we got. This baby was more of a little dreamer, which prompted both me and Spencer to agree about a distinct feeling that it might be a girl. It hiccupped so gently that we weren’t even sure that’s what the little jolts of movement were, and swung it’s arms and for a little while bicycle kicked until it’s legs floated up to the top of the screen and it was resting square on it’s head. There’s no doubt about the fact that this pregnancy and the only glimpse that we’ve had so far of our newest addition to the clan is different and will be bringing with it some definite changes to the dynamic of our little family… But it feels good knowing that we’re all so excited together for the new life that this baby will bring to us.
Yes, little one, you will fit right in.
It is definitely fun to be taking on the expectant parents’ role again, but don‘t let that fool you, it’s not a total picnic. While Spencer gets to just sit back and lovingly watch the baby magic bloom as an outsider looking in, my end of the bargain is a little less rainbows and butterflies and a lot more gagging at every sight, smell, taste and touch that invades my space throughout any and every given day since this baby was conceived. Sometimes the color of a flower can remind me of cough syrup and I’ll want to vomit. Sometimes the sound of a name like Olivia can remind me of a food like olives and I won’t be able to finish my lunch. And sometimes, like yesterday, Matthew needed a bath before I had time to make breakfast and I threw up pure stomach acid.
My life, in almost every way, revolves entirely around my stomach these days; and my stomach, I’m sure, is out to kill me. I’m praying that this morning sickness subsides with the passing of the first trimester, which is either this week or last or next… I don’t even know anymore, and to be honest the only reason I care is because sometime within that 3 week window is a sliver of hope for me to be able to eat again. I dearly, dearly miss so many foods… :-(
Other than that, the worst of the symptoms that I’ve had have been fatigue like I never knew existed, and this terrible sour taste in my mouth. The fatigue is starting to dwindle now and I’m noticing a distinct boost in my ability to stay coherently alert for most of the day again. I’ve never been a heavy sleeper or a lazy person, so that dreadful experience of feeling like I was walking with cement shoes and weights on my eyelids square in the middle of the day was not easy to adjust to. I’m glad that it didn’t last any longer than it absolutely had to. The taste in my mouth is something I’m glad I looked up online early on. Even though I’d never previously read anything about it in the baby books or have ever known someone personally who had it, it’s insanely common. The foods that don’t make me nauseous, always leave a sour, vile taste at the back of my tongue, that only grows more potent the longer it’s left without being washed down by something new that will inevitably do the same thing.
So there are up sides and there are downsides to being pregnant again. Even though I could definitely stand to live without the things I’ve spent the past three paragraphs complaining about, I couldn’t be happier with the way the family’s adjusted. Mary took to the idea immediately, and even patted my belly a few times when she asked us questions like when we found out and what we hope the sex will be. When she asks me how my day was after I get home from work, she includes the baby now (“Did you and the baby have a good day today?”). Matthew was quick to catch on, too. We started telling him that there was a baby brother/baby sister in Mommy’s belly and within a day or two, he was pointing out to us where his baby sister was whenever we asked. “Sister” is not because we know what we’re having yet, it’s because “baby brother/baby sister” was awfully long and he made the choice to just shorten it to “baby sister” instead. When we ask him, he gladly tells the baby good morning, goodnight and bye-bye. We haven’t gone overboard with it, but we did want to at least introduce him to the idea before I start to obviously show. So everybody’s on board.
On March 22nd we had our first ultrasound. Compared to the only ultrasound I have to compare it to, this baby seems significantly less active than it’s big brother who tumbled and bounced from one position to another at every ultrasound we got. This baby was more of a little dreamer, which prompted both me and Spencer to agree about a distinct feeling that it might be a girl. It hiccupped so gently that we weren’t even sure that’s what the little jolts of movement were, and swung it’s arms and for a little while bicycle kicked until it’s legs floated up to the top of the screen and it was resting square on it’s head. There’s no doubt about the fact that this pregnancy and the only glimpse that we’ve had so far of our newest addition to the clan is different and will be bringing with it some definite changes to the dynamic of our little family… But it feels good knowing that we’re all so excited together for the new life that this baby will bring to us.
Yes, little one, you will fit right in.
