Smooooth Sailin'...

Whew! SO glad that is over!  My first trimester draws to a close in just a few more days! If you can't tell how happy I am about this fact, please, allow me to throw in some more exclamation points !!!!!! I'm not trying to scare anyone (even though there is probably no one left to scare-pretty sure I am the last person I know who doesn't have a kid), but that first trimester is a DOOZY!

I can say, without a doubt, that the second trimester bulb went on for me at about week 12 and a half.  I woke up fully rested (WHAT!?!?!?!  FULLY RESTED!?!?!? NO WAY!), had a lovely breakfast (that I did not consume in record servings) and put on a damn outfit in less than 5 minutes!

It seems that the second trimester bulb is growing brighter for other reasons as well:
1) My cravings/hunger are less like a semi-truck and more like a Tacoma.  Is that a good example?  Or maybe this...my cravings/hunger are less like the Titanic and more like a 26 footer?  I'm tryin' here people!
2) Emotions in check...I think...well, it depends...don't ask Ken...he doesn't know anything...
3) GAS SUBSIDES! What!?!? That should be on the front pages people! It really should because I can finally allow my husband to hug me and sleep in the same bed without a mask!
4) HOLY MOTHER OF PREGNANCY SEX! Yes, ladies.  It's true.  My friend told me that it would be amazing and I secretly thought she was full of it (or a much better wife than myself...sorry Megs!), but after the first months of misery..."WOW" is all I can say (and I think Ken can say it, too...tee hee!).
(BTW-I'd like to apologize to all my family members, step children and especially mother for this one...blogs are a safe place, guys...just go with it.)
5) I am embracing my extra weight...EXCUSE ME????  Yes, you heard right.  I am embracing it...sometimes more willingly than other times...but I am trying to relax and let it be. 

I am hoping that these good things keep coming, because if they don't, I am afraid my husband has every right to put me on the streets...just sayin'!

I did go to the doctor and found out some news, however:
One, I have low platelet levels. Therefore, I will probably not be able to have an epidural...which is fine because I wasn't planning on it anyway. There is something about natural childbirth that I feel is right. My mother had me naturally and I feel like it is a way to understand what having a child is all about; it ain't easy but it is soooo worth it! Plus, I have a great friend who has encouraged me and had her child naturally as well.
Two, we are choosing to have sequential screening. Sequential screening is basically a blood analysis at 13 and 16 weeks that tells you if your baby has a greater risk of birth defects. If it comes back positive, it doesn't necessarily mean anything for sure, it just means that you run a higher risk for defects like spina bifoda and Down syndrome. That is when they do another test, look at your ultrasound a little closer and take amniotic fluid in order to make a diagnosis. I decided that I wanted to know if there was anything wrong with my baby...my doctor said that the results can ruin some people because they are so devastated when a positive result comes back. However, I cannot think of one reason not to be excited about having this child, and if God trusts us with a special needs baby, then so be it; we will start preparing now.
Three, my doctor is leaving me!!!! She was given a great opportunity at Vanderbilt to teach there. So now I have to deal with another doctor...she is gonna be so sorry she has me as a patient! And by the way, I say "doctor", but I actually opted for a midwife. I feel like a midwife specializes in more one-on-one attention and also in natural child birth. My doctor was so awesome even though I only got to see her a few times. It is hard to believe that anyone else could be as wonderful.
Four, I got to hear that little heartbeat again! "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh"...it made me and my mother cry all over again.

Ken and I are planning on going to Michigan and Florida for a little r and r in a couple of weeks. I am looking forward to seeing my family and visiting my underwater friends in the ocean...yes, I have friends that live underwater...duh! We will find out the baby's sex on the 25th of October...I already had a dream that it is a little boy...we shall see soon enough! And yes, I shall grace you with a photo...it was a skinny day...
                                                                           Week 13