Second Trimester: Hallelujah!

14 weeks as of yesterday! Can I get a hallelujah?!?! While I'm not feeling 100% yet, my nausea comes and goes - rather than being a constant companion - and my energy level is starting to improve. It was at this point with Banner that I began to feel like eating again, when I stopped throwing up, and when I didn't want to crash after work every single day. I'm hoping to feel the same way with this little one soon! For many women, the second trimester is their most symptom-free time, so I'm really hoping to agree with them once again!

At this point in my pregnancy my biggest complaint is my reflux/heartburn/indigestion which has been starting around 1 or 2 in the afternoon no matter what I eat. By late evening, I'm sick of that feeling and a nice few (okay, many!) spoonfuls of ice cream help cool off the fire in my chest. I have reflux anyway, so being pregnant just exacerbates it. I had a hard time with it while pregnant with Banner as well, so I'm not surprised. I just have to be extra careful with eating anything that would make it even worse: spaghetti sauce, spicy foods, citrus-y foods. Another complaint is my very sore boobs (sorry if that's too much info). With Banner they felt better by now, although they started hurting much earlier with him. With this pregnancy, they only started hurting a couple weeks ago, so I guess I have a few more weeks of this annoying pain. And, finally, I have been getting awful headaches for the past couple weeks. Only one or two have been debilitating, but I've had about 6-7 of them that just put a damper on the day, and I certainly hope those are on their way out soon!

In other news, I have an annoying belly. It's not a pregnant-looking belly, but it's getting rounder. It's at that in-between stage of just feeling and looking pretty bloated. I started wearing maternity clothes with Banner when I was 15 weeks pregnant (or at least that's when I finally felt like I had to go shop for some). This pregnancy, I begged Sam to go to our storage unit last week (at 13 weeks) for my bin of maternity clothes. Not that I've been looking forward to the fashion statement that is maternity wear - but what a feeling of "AHHH!" I felt when I could actually wear clothes all day and not feel like I was suffocating my belly. So much more comfy now!

We also got to share the results of the blood test we had a couple weeks ago with our family and close friends. I won't share that publicly until we get another confirmation in a few weeks at another sonogram, sorry! But, we were more than thrilled that the blood test showed no chromosomal abnormalities! Everything came back perfect, thank goodness, and that's the most important part! I will also tell you that the doctor's prediction based on bone structure and the blood test were the same - so we're pretty sure the test is right.

As this baby and I enter this second trimester together, I am so anxious and excited to start feeling some movement - my absolute favorite thing about being pregnant! Those flutters-turned-jabs are the most rewarding part, making the first trimester sickness, pains, and worries so worth it. I'm so ready to really feel this little nugget and to start "playing" with its movements! I can't wait for Banner to actually feel his little sibling in there, too - maybe helping him understand that we are not just making it all up and saying crazy things like, "There's a baby in Mommy's tummy!" I mean how insane would that sound to a toddler!? It's gotta be confusing!

So, here we go - saying "ADIOS!" to the first trimester and giving a warm, much-anticipated welcome to this second trimester! May it go smoothly, be event-less, and bring only good things to our baby and me!