Poop on a Stick

You know how they say that after the first pregnancy things start happening earlier in subsequent pregnancies? Your pants get a little snugger a little sooner than the first time, your boobs are tender in week 5 or 6 instead of week 6 or 7 like the first time around. It's true. I figured out I was pregnant at 5 weeks and immediately had to pee. The cravings started right after that. One day, I wanted fries but not just fries, awesome fries. Chili fries. No, not chili fries, disco fries which I've never had before in my life. I Googled where in the KC Metro area I might get disco fries and then Googled pictures of them. (In case you're wondering Houlihan's makes them.) So here I am in week 6 and I feel like poop on a stick. With Charlie I found that if I ate something high in protein first thing in the morning, I could keep from feeling nauseous all day. Not so this time. I take a medication which has to be taken on an empty stomach and I have to wait 30 minutes to eat after I've taken it. This is the equivalent of poking my angry bear appetite with a stick and does nothing to quell the waves of nausea that have turned my morning routine into a battle of wills between me and my gag reflex. Then there are the matters of texture and smell. The idea of having to chew is nauseating all by itself, let alone the smell of food. If I could live on strictly banana milkshakes right now, I would. My dear sweet husband and resident chef, in his best attempts to be sympathetic and helpful, asks me what I might want to eat and then begins to list all of the things he could make. The longer the list, the queazier I get. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, I never do throw up although sometimes I feel it might give me some relief if I did. On a scale of glowing fertility goddess to living dead girl, I feel pale and sickly.

The other problem we find we're having is keeping our big secret under wraps until we're ready to announce it (11 or 12 weeks). I know how difficult it can be to "untell" people in the event of a miscarriage. Still it's difficult when my absence has been noted at what has become a weekly gathering in our neighborhood, which has more to do with the weather and fatigue than my being pregnant. Questions are arising about my sudden abstinence from alcohol. This, of course, has led me to questioning my previous alcohol consumption, specifically the quantities and frequency but I digress. Also, I had begun a 5-day-a-week regime of going to the gym with a neighbor which at this point seems more like punishment than a health benefit. At any rate, I'm pretty excited about the big reveal.You can see how we announced Charlie's pending arrival here scroll to week 13. Thanks to Pinterest I have tons of ideas about how to go about it this time.

Here We Go Again

January 8th- I am a week late. I've been carefully tracking my cycle since it returned after Charlie but as my  doctor pointed out, it's not very consistent so it's hard to predict my ovulation. Still, a week is a long time for me to be late. I stop on the way home from work to pick up a test and take it as soon as I can. Almost instantly, I have two blue lines. Micha and I both knew we wanted another but I wanted to wait just a few more months before trying again. The end of 2012 was financially turbulent for us and I wanted to make certain we'd made a full recovery before we had another baby. Charlie was a surprise but we felt as prepared as parents can feel. With this baby we will outgrow our family vehicle and our home. We'd no longer have a ready baby sitter, as I feel it's far to much to ask Taylor to watch a toddler and an infant. Still, I'm pretty excited and have what I'm sure is the most ridiculous grin on my face when Micha comes home from work. Here we go again!