Bumpdate: 15 weeks

Oh, the bump. Here it is at 15 weeks. Baby is approximately the size of an apple

(despite the balloon-like appearance of my belly).

Pregnancy-wise, once I crossed the 12-week mark (and got over that cold that just 3 weeks later I now have again), I felt much more like myself again. During the first trimester, I felt like sloth. No energy. I would lay on the couch and watch BB run around the living room and feel like the lamest mom alive. I was terrified thinking that these could be some of BB's first permanent memories of me, a sloth-like couch-dweller who lacked the energy to do anything other than the absolutely necessary. I was heartburny and nauseous, pausing between bites during meals to try and determine if yes, this was now the moment that I would break my no-actual-vomiting-during-pregnancy streak and would have to make a run for the bathroom. Week 7 was the worst, nausea-wise. I actually remember thinking "Did I feel this way with BB? How did I ever think I could do this again? This is so horrible, I don't think I can ever be pregnant again!" But no, I never actually threw up (I have an iron stomach, just like my mom - Outside of pregnancy I rarely ever feel nauseous, and the one time J and I ate somewhere and I was like "Ooh, I kind of don't feel good from that", poor J was hanging over the toilet with food poisoning.) And the nausea improved after that horrible 7th week.

And then the glorious second trimester began, and all of the sudden the energy I had had for just a couple of hours in the morning extended into midday, and I had motivation again! And desire to leave the house! I took BB to the park, and the zoo with friends, and we have been going to a playgroup once a week. I feel so much better. I am blessed to be able to nap during BB's nap most days (other than when I'm at work, of course), and although I don't always feel energetic in the afternoons and evenings, I am usually able to rally when needed and always feel better once I'm up and about. While I do have most of the classic pregnant symptoms, they are all pretty mild, and (other than when the insomnia strikes) I actually feel great. I forget that I'm pregnant sometimes, especially in the beginning of the day, and then I walk by the mirror and am surprised with a bulbous protruding belly.

This pregnancy has felt just as I remember BB's, right down to the 7th week being the hardest. Some people take that to mean we are having another boy. But while I feel the same physically, my food cravings have been totally different this time around - I want chocolate, cake with rich filling, key lime pie, milkshakes, sweets, sweets, and more sweets, which J takes to mean we are having a girl. With BB I craved fresh fruit and vegetables, lots of raw, unprepared foods and dessert? I could take it or leave it (which is so not like me).

BB seems pretty oblivious to the pregnancy so far. I like to tell him that he is going to have a baby in a little while, we are going to have a baby. I know he is going to change so much in the next few months and will understand more and more what it means to become a big brother.

With BB having pinkeye and an ear infection, we have been encouraging him to watch a movie as a way to get him to sit still and rest a bit here and there throughout the day. Otherwise he just wants to play, play, play. We have Horton Hears a Who saved on the DVR from last weekend and have been showing it to him the last couple days. He paid attention here and there but didn't seem too into it the first couple of days (he doesn't watch TV unless he's sick or at Granacky's house). This morning once breakfast was over, I sat down on the couch and BB ran up to me, climbed on the couch, saying "Ho...ho...ho..." - at first I was like, huh? and then I realized, oh, you want Horton! How cute is it that he requested it? I turned it right on for him and he laughed and squealed, pointed at Horton and said "Ho!", and said "hat" when Horton turns his ears into a swim cap. And he sat still for FIFTEEN MINUTES watching Ho. That Dr. Seuss knows what he's doing. Plus, Horton is teaching BB a lesson now that will only become more important when he becomes a big brother:

"A person's a person, no matter how small." - Horton