Second Trimester

I am typing this at 24 weeks, so I am almost done with my 2nd Tri, but here goes:

How I've been feeling:
Less nausea, more hunger!
Less energy, more sleep!
Less fears, more excitement!

Aside from still feeling tired...wah wah.... I am feeling pretty normal. I feel super lucky, and feel that  I got a fairly easy pregnancy so far. Though I hear that from 20-30 weeks you feel your best anyways. My favorite thing about this trimester has been feeling baby move! I started feeling movement at around 16 weeks. By 17 weeks I could definitely feel little nudges on the outside of my belly, and they have just gotten stronger since. It's an amazing thing, and makes me feel such a bond and connection with our little babe. Dave started feeling the nudges around 18 weeks. Pretty sweet. He loves this little babe so much already.

Another exciting milestone was finding out the gender! We waited till our 20 week u/s to find out. And man...it was a hard wait! Honestly, before getting pregnant I pictured myself having a boy. In both of our extended and immediate families, the vast majority have an oldest boy, and this is just how I always pictured it. I also pictured a house full of boys and maybe 1 girl. Maybe it's because I'm not the biggest girly girl, and pink isn't really my favorite (despite what I'm wearing in the picture above! :). And I think I was scared about raising a girl...like I wouldn't know how to be good at it. Boys are easy: sticks, dirt, bugs, etc. But girls? So tender. Anyways, as this pregnancy progressed, both Dave and I were leaning towards the idea that it was going to be a girl. And so did most of our family. It was so weird. But it was good. We had time to warm ourselves up to the idea and get really excited. I was starting to get so excited at the idea of having a little girl, that if it was a boy I would have been super surprised. (We would have loved it either way FYI)

So the u/s tech tells us "Yep, it's a girl." And it just felt right. I guess I was more excited than I thought, because on our way out of the Dr.'s office I yell "We are having a little girl!" and started waving around our u/s pictures on our way out the door. People thought I be crazy. Pregnancy does that to people.

No I'm not that crazy. So far crazy pregnancy hormones haven't really been an issue. I feel pretty mellow most of the time. I think it has been easier for me to cry...at videos and other things. But nothing too much. This was something I was really worried about before getting pregnant, because controlling hormones is something I struggle with during that nice time of the month or when I am hungry. So I am SO thankful that I feel even better pregnant. Phew! I know Dave is happy about this. He's a trooper regardless, but I know it has been a relief to not have a psycho pregnant wife! So ladies...there is hope!

Overall, I loved this stage, and I am looking forward to the last stretch! Oh and my belly has tripled in size. Talk about last stretch. Woo!