16 Weeks Prego

Sixteen weeks, and my baby has graduated to the size of an avocado. Seeing as how he/she is half-Mexican, I figure that's pretty appropriate. Maybe I should nickname my baby something with a Mexican/Japanese mix. Guaco-roboto or Sushi-salsa. Hmm, maybe Senor Sashimi!

Okay, moving on. This week has been a bit of a roller coaster for me. At the beginning of the week I didn't think I really had much to report. Same ole. Same ole. Feeling good. Getting back into a routine. Tackling my yard. But then the end of the week came, and my oh my, what is this? Nausea again?!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

It's not the same as first trimester. I don't feel like lying on the couch all day. I have my energy (though I didn't get it all back like I did with the first baby), but I have that sick feeling creeping through my body again. I'm not sick, but I feel like if I cough too hard or don't eat as soon as the hunger monster flexes his claws, I may, ahem, spill my cookies. I've described nausea before as the feeling of toxins streaming through my blood. And THAT is what I'm feeling again.

On the happy side, this is a different thing for me, so . . . different pregnancy = different sex of the baby?!??!? But, alas, I know enough to know it really doesn't mean anything. I've decided to adopt the get-psyched-for-a-girl strategy. I've been day dreaming of matching dresses on Easter, extensive craft projects, and chic flicks dominating movie nights.

I'm really excited about the possible giraffe theme for my nursery. I found this photo too--it's a real giraffe! How fun! And giraffe books at the library catch my eye now. Also I'm wondering where I can get a four-foot stuffed giraffe to put in the nursery!

A question for you veteran moms: How old were your kids when they started playing alone in their rooms? My oldest is almost two and still has no interest in playing in her room. It doesn't bother me at all; I just want to know what the average age is so I can figure out what to expect with this next one. Here are my ideas if the baby isn't really going to use his/her own room for a couple of years:

1. The only room left for the nursery is also our office. It'll probably remain an office/nursery to begin with.

2. If it really takes a couple of years for the baby to care about his/her room, if it's a girl, in a couple of years, I might just make the office an office/playroom and have the girls sleep in the same bedroom. Is that reasonable? (One girl would be two years old and the other would be four.)

3. If I really have two years, there's also the possibility of moving to a larger home by the time the baby cares. In that case, I really have nothing to worry about now. The nursery is pretty inconsequential.

So, moms, what do you think? Reasonable expectations? I can't wait to hear your feedback!

**Bonus** Check out Pregnancy and Newborn's recent mag. Page 38 has ideas for healthy snack options to substitute when you're craving less healthy stuff. Oh, and there's a really good BumGenius (our fav cloth diapers) coupon in the back of the mag too!

**Photo courtesy of HarmonyRae**

11 Weeks Prego

I spoke too soon. When I talked about cravings during week nine, I said that I haven't had any craving consume me and make eat something at that moment. Well, last night, it happened . . . sort of.

It started like any other normal craving for me. I saw something--Taco Bueno--and I thought, "Hmm, a bean and cheese burrito sounds good." But I drove right by the restaurant and tried not to think about it. Maybe this weekend, I reasoned.

Well, let's just say I didn't make it to the weekend. That evening we went to my in-laws for dinner. It was a delicious dinner, but it was at 5:30. So, by 8:00, when we left, I was hungry again. At first I thought I'd just eat some crackers when I got home, but then a monster started to stir within. I could feel its evil tentacles clawing through my body and reaching through my arms taking control of the steering wheel. Within minutes I was in line at the Bueno drive thru.

Could I have resisted? Yes. Did I want to? Not really. The thought of yet another saltine cracker or an even sexier rice cake just was not going to tame the beast. Since it was toward the end of the week, the options in my fridge were sparse, and for a mere 99 cents I knew I could solve all of my problems right then and there. So I did. I even had hot sauce with it--I was pretty sure I'd get sick and pay for it later. But lo and behold, I slept great that night, and I felt the best I've felt in two months the next day! Hmmm, maybe I should have Bueno every night . . .

On another note, for the past week or two, I've already felt my baby move. They say that you usually don't feel it for many more weeks, but I think it's because it's my second pregnancy--I'm more aware of what movement feels like, and I'm not so cautious to just pass it off as gas. It's amazing to feel the movement this early, but I'm beginning to wonder if this means I'm going to have an active baby the entire time. My first one was pretty calm--this would be the first notable difference between the two pregnancies. We'll see if the baby keeps up its happy dance throughout the next few months.

8-9 Weeks Preggo

I'd like to set the record straight for those of you who haven't been pregnant yet and are worried about crazy cravings.

To begin with, I can't think of a single person I know (and I've got lots of friends with kids) who had a desperate moment when she woke up at two in the morning, grabbed her hubby's shirt, and pled with desperate eyes and a frantic voice, "I need pickles and ice cream now!"

Now, I'm not saying this doesn't happen to anyone; but from my experience, there's a more realistic scenario to expect:

More than dealing with cravings, I've had to deal with what DOESN'T sound good. To be honest, this ends up being more of a factor because after you've eliminated everything that doesn't sound good, there's not much left to choose from. This is even more difficult if you're dealing with nausea. You need to eat every couple of hours; but there's so much that doesn't sound good that your variety is limited--and if you're eating the same things over and over, those items quickly graduate to the doesn't-sound-good list because you're sick of eating them.

As for craving something . . . I have had foods that I either see on TV or hear someone talking about that sound good, and that food just gets stuck in my head. I want to eat it, but many times I don't actually eat the food for a few days, so it's nowhere near the must-have-now syndrome.

There are a few foods that I've wanted more than once. With my first pregnancy I ate quite a few burgers (and I had been off of red meat before the pregnancy) and grapefruit. The only reoccurring craving so far with this second pregnancy has been Japanese food. I think the main reason is because it's generally more bland than other foods I regularly ate pre-pregnancy (i.e. Mexican).

It's probably important to note as far as crazy cravings (e.g. a friend of mine craved marshmallow cream--straight from the jar!), it's hard to say with me. I love cooking. I love new things. I love love love pickled things--so pickles, olives, sauerkraut, etc. are all common players in my diet. The only thing I can think of that would be "strange" for me to eat would be the stuff I'm slowly eliminating for health reasons--processed prepackaged foods, foods with high fructose corn syrup or MSG, canned food, etc. And right now, those things haven't had much appeal, so I've been doing pretty well.

As for nine weeks progress--not a lot has changed for my day-to-day living. I'm finding strategies that work for fending off nausea--crackers before I even get out of bed and waiting 20 minutes to get up; toast/rice cakes with honey; avoiding high-sugar items, fried foods, and dairy; etc. I was eating a lot of yogurt at first, but now I'm starting to think that's the reason I wasn't feeling good--I eat very little dairy usually. I also switched from my prenatal to kids' gummy vitamins. I'll switch back once my stomach settles down.

My little peanut is about an inch long, but since this is my second pregnancy, he/she's already making its presence known in the form of a small baby bump. We'll get our pregnancy-confirmation ultrasound next week. I'm still super super nervous that it's going to be twins. I think I might cry if it is. Of course, I'll be fine with it; it's just really overwhelming to think of right now.