Gag me with a Spoon!

7 weeks, 2 days

If it was a beating heart that helped me feel more secure about the outcome of this pregnancy, it's the onslaught of morning sickness that has sealed the deal. Something can always go wrong, of course, but the most common thing would be a 1st trimester miscarriage. And the odds are increasingly in favor of success with every nauseous day that passes. As much as I hate this part, morning sickness is evidence of a healthy pregnancy. That doesn't mean if you don't get sick, your pregnancy isn't healthy; you just have no evidence either way. Sickness screams it from the roof tops. So in that regard, the bug and I are passing with flying colors.

This pregnancy is definitely different from with Wyatt, though. The queasiness and milder symptoms showed up earlier this time, but the all-out morning sickness hit later. (Which is a blessing, because if I'd followed my last pattern to a t, I would have been in the midst of the worst of it over Christmas.) And of course, I have a toddler this time around. That's the funny part, actually. My son is now playing pretend with the sounds of gagging and moaning. I even saw him this morning fake puking into a toy bucket! Holy cow, kid. You're a riot. Ryan's been home a lot over the holidays, so that's been great. But when Ryan's gone, it's pure comedy. When I'm at my worst, my son runs wild while I lay pretty helplessly on the couch. Last night, he found a box of tissues that he emptied all over the living room. Luckily, the hard parts come and go, so when I feel better, I can right at least the worst of the wrongs, ha. But my son is under a little less supervision than usual...

Hello, television nanny. What's up first? Handy Manny or the Backyardigans?

A Beating Heart

For the last few weeks, I've really wanted to blog about our latest news. Wyatt's gonna be a big brother! I've wanted to write down every little thought and feeling and physical change, and share the news on the forefront of my mind. But, thanks to the confidence-rocking miscarriage experience of a year ago, I decided to bite my tongue and wait. And wait. And wait. Every day felt like a week. Our goal: To see a strong heartbeat at our first ultrasound. Well, yesterday we saw just that. A heart rate of 154. Our little bug is thriving, so we're ready to tell the world. It's still early. A lot of people would wait longer. Hit more milestones. But I'm a writer. I need to write about milestones. I need to share, because keeping it inside hurts my head. There's a tiny little being with a beating heart hanging out in there, and I think she (hopeful thinking) is here to stay... well, until August at least. Then she gets to take up residence in the rest of the world.

So, changes. I've lost 8 pounds since I got knocked up. And, no way, I'm not dieting. I think the bod's just working really frickin' hard. I actually thought maybe it was twins, because I hadn't lost weight in the beginning with Wyatt until the morning sickness began. This time, I've only had a few bouts of nausea and sickness so far, but I'm dropping weight pretty fast. Who knows? Maybe it's a girl! Maybe that's the difference. Or maybe we really are having twins, and one was just hiding behind the other one in the ultrasound, haha.

I'm not shy about the fact that I'm hoping for a girl. I know that's not very PC. And I will obviously be madly in love with a little boy, too. But we're not planning on any more pregnancies after this one, so I'd really like to complete the set. Heh. And, while we're not quite ready to share our current name options yet, I have a girl's name I would really like to use. And I want to SHOP for a girl. They're superficial reasons, of course, but reasons nonetheless. And of course, mostly, I just want to experience being the mother of a girl. I want to give my parents their first granddaughter. Yep. A definite preference. Sue me.

I think that's all for now. I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas! God bless us, every one. ;)