2nd trimester!!

Today is the first day of my second trimester. I am feeling really good. No more morning (all-day) sickness! I still get tired pretty easily, but I'm able to stay awake until 9 or 10 at night now! I started back up with my personal trainer this week as well. I'm really sore but it feels good to exercise again. I'm no longer trying to lose weight, but I am trying to make my arms/back look better for Matt and Audra's wedding! (I'm a bridesmaid in their June wedding.) Not really much else to report. It's been a pretty uneventful last couple of weeks. My next appointment is Feb. 4. They will start taking measurements and listen to the baby's heartbeat. I'll also be scheduling the "big" u/s, which should be the first week of March. That's when we'll be able to tell the sex, if the baby cooperates! :-)

Dancing Baby!!

I had my second (and much more detailed) appointment this morning. At my doctor's office, you always meet with a midwife and she does all the yucky stuff (bloodwork, pap, cultures, etc.) for your 2nd appointment. It was awesome . My blood pressure was good (120/80) and I'd lost 5 lbs (thanks morning (aka all day) sickness!!). Then the poor nurses tried to draw blood. My veins are TERRIBLE and one nurse stuck me but got nothing. After searching for another vein, she called in a 2nd nurse. She looked too and found nothing. They said I lucked out because my midwife (Casey) used to work in a lab. Casey came in and we talked for awhile about the dos and don'ts and then she tried. First stick and she got it (whew!) They needed 3 vials and she filled them quick. After she put a band-aid on it, I immediately bled through it. Mini-crisis until she could get it to stop, but it was fine. She laughed that I was impossible to stick but once I got going, I wouldn't quit. Then she did the fun pap and internal. Not much fun, but I survived..haha. After all that, she got the doppler and tried to find the heartbeat. She tried for a few minutes and then turned the ultrasound machine on. She tried with the external ultrasound and of course, the baby wouldn't cooperate. (She said it was a boy since it was being a pain..haha). Then, because Casey is the best person in the whole wide world, she offered an internal ultrasound! She said that her sister and husband tried for 6 years before getting pregnant so she knew how much I'd worry if I didn't get to see the baby or hear the heartbeat. It was the best thing ever. The baby was doing flips and dancing around. There is music pumped through the rooms and "Footloose" was playing. Casey said it looked like the baby was dancing to it! Then, I swear, it looked like it turned towards us and waved! I got a little teary-eyed, but held it together. Because it's an older ultrasound machine, she couldn't listen to its heartbeat so I don't know the heartbeat rate but I'll take looking at our baby dancing any day!! :-)

My next appointment is Feb. 4. I'll be 16 weeks.

Back to work...

Vacation is over! What a way to start back... a hour and 45 minute drive to work! There wasn't much snow but the wind was blowing it over the road so it was impossible to see the lines. Makes interstate driving interesting!

Well, morning (and afternoon and evening and night) sickness began with a bang over the Christmas break! The best way to describe it is having a bad case of motion sickness that never goes away. I've told and read that it eases up in the 2nd trimester but that seems so far away (1/25). But I can take it (I think..haha)

I was shocked but very excited to get some baby things at Christmas. My cousins bought the baby two very adorable outfits. We also got a very soft turtle bid from mom and dad. Mom and Dad also bought me lots of maternity clothes for Christmas. Nick's sister bought the baby his/her first Snoopy and it plays the ABCs. She also got the baby an orange onesie (Nick's favorite color) and some bibs. I also got a nightgown for me and matching onesie for the baby. The day after Christmas, I went shopping with my sister-in-law and niece. They bought the baby a yellow onesie (that says "I love Mommy"...aww) and a pair of maternity shorts, capris and pants. While we were out, I used a gift card I got and bought a sleeper and a very soft blanket from Kohls. It seems much more real now! Maybe it will motivate me to get the nursery cleaned out now.

My next appointment is a week from today. They will draw blood and try to pick up the heartbeat with a doppler. I hope they can find it or I'll worry until my next ultrasound! I will also be scheduling my NT scan (which is an u/s and more bloodwork) and that *should* be within a week or two from next Wed.

I'll try to take some pictures of my baby gifts and post them so everyone can ooh and aww over them like I did! :-)