Well the word is out as it is official. We are pregnant! As of today, I am 15 weeks pregnant. Agh! It was so difficult keeping it a secret the first 12 weeks, but after the miscarriage we had in the spring, we really wanted to avoid all of the awkward conversations if we suffered from another one. But when we went in for our 11-week-check up and the heartbeat was good and strong, the doctor told us that the chance of miscarriage from there after would be very rare, so we decided to make the announcement! We are ecstatic of course!

But until our little sunshine makes his/her first cry into this world, we must pass through the pregnancy stage. I’ve got 25 more weeks to go and so far, this pregnancy has been super different from my one with Kanan. Firstly, I am waaaaaaaaaaayyyyy more nauseous and tired this time around. Is it my age? Is it the baby? Could this mean I’m having  a girl? Who knows, but it is a fact. I’ve been blessed, however, after week 10 with a lovely little pill called Zofran which has helped me deal with my nausea enough so that I’m not completely useless. My role as a wife and a mother has already slipped because of the nausea. And prior to the magic little pill, poor Kanan and Owen were living off of fast food or mac and cheese because just the idea of me getting up and standing in that kitchen sent me to the bathroom hurling. And energy to do anything other than pass out on the couch? Gone! Praise God, people are much more understanding about me being a lazy lump on the couch when they know I’m pregnant. Still, I’d rather just not suffer from that at all. Zofran doesn’t make the symptoms go away, put it has helped me eat and begin doing some simple cooking again. It hasn’t helped the fatigue, however, so you can imagine how excited I am to finally be in the second trimester when the supposed energy returns! Second week into trimester two and still waiting……but, there is hope! 🙂 I’m really looking forward to getting back to the gym or running with my friend Courtney on Wednesday evenings. But it seems that with working all day, then coming home to being a mother and a wife, those Wednesday evenings have succeeded in only two things—-rest and some much-needed sanity time reading The Word. Now you may be wondering, what all of this laziness has done to my figure. Well, praise the Lord again, due to my nausea, I haven’t eaten nearly as much as I did the first 15 weeks with Kanan. I think by 15 weeks, I had already gained 6 or 7 pounds with him. But this time, I’ve only gained 2 pounds. And even with those two pounds of gain, I am exactly the same weight I was before I was pregnant with Kanan. So….in the end, I’m doing pretty well. Oddly, while I have not gained any significant weight, I look way more pregnant than I did at 15 weeks with my little boy. Right now I look as big as I did when I was 4 or 5 months pregnant with him, especially at night-time, after the food and the weight loosens my ligaments enough to make my belly swell more.

One exciting difference in this pregnancy is that I have five friends who are pregnant too and one family member! And even more exciting, two friends who are both 15 weeks along as well! My friend Kelly (who unfortunately moved to the East Coast) and I are now due date buddies over Facebook. And my friend Claire who lives in San Marcos! And then I have four friends who just had babies within the last couple of months. Yes, 2010 is the year for babies in our little part of the world. I can’t wait for all the play dates.

As for names, Owen and I are undecided as of yet. Well actually, I have two girl names I just love, but haven’t yet convinced Owen that either one should be the one, if we indeed have a girl. Owen has come up with one, which I refuse because I love our child and want to save her from ridicule! haha! As for boy names, I’ve come up with one, which didn’t go over very well with Daddy.And Owen hasn’t even thought of boy names because he is convinced it is a girl!

Okay, concluding Stats and dates before I close:

Weeks along: 15 

Estimated due date: May 20

Heartbeat/rate: 152 bpm (very good for those of you who are used to the adult 70 pbm)

Next appointment scheduled: Dec 13

Find out the sex: Dec 13

Food cravings: none

Food aversions: if I’m feeling nauseous, everything.

Other symptoms: stuffy nose and sneezing constantly! (the nose ring doesn’t help), breathlessness, intense insatiable thirst! Getting up to go to the bathroom one to two times in the night. And feeling more voluptuous in the décolletage area. 😉

Nausea: getting better but still not gone.

Fatigue: getting better but still not gone.

Size of belly: belly button starting to poke out and I’m using a rubber-band to help my jeans fit until I’m big enough for maternity pants.  

Condition of father: excited!