The 2nd Trimester is in sight...

All ready I've fallen down on the job of updating this thing. I have a good excuse though...I'm pregnant! (I've found that this excuse is good for pretty much everything...for 9 months, at least). Believe it or not, sitting at the computer has been making me feel icky. The word "icky" is my new staple. I don't like "sick" or "nauseous" so I'm going with "icky." So, lots of things have been making me feel icky - but as I come upon the second trimester, I have been feeling a little bit better on a daily basis and hope to keep up with our blog more regularly for those that care to read. I've been promised by many more experienced people (mothers) that trimester #2 is better than #1 - the best, even! Kerry is already having a taste of what it's like to be a dad because I will be the first to admit that for the past few weeks, I've been a big 'ol baby. He's been a good sport though and seems to get more excited about our little person everyday. The other day he told me as I was coming out of the bathroom that he can't wait to thumb wrestle with him/her. Random? Yes. But excitement is excitement so that makes me happy (don't worry, I did warn him that it would be a few years before he could declare any sort of war on our baby's thumb...)

As for me, I won't lie- it is a little strange to think about another individual that a) I don't know yet and b) I am fully responsible for living inside me. It would've been nice to meet baby before I agreed to let him/her live there for 9 months. But I think I'll probably be thankful I let him/her rent the space in the end. Amy Poehler commented on the Today Show this morning that her baby is "the nicest person she's ever met." I think I'll feel the same way :) Doesn't every parent?

Although it's been a couple of months since my first and only post, not a whole lot has happened in my world (you know, besides another living being growing in my belly at an amazing rate). We haven't accomplished a whole lot; we haven't even told all of our friends and family yet! We're getting there slowly but surely. We were hoping we could tell most people face to face but that is proving difficult...people are busy! Pretty soon people aren't going to need to be told...I'm starting to show bigtime! I've gained at least 5 pounds - and it's pretty much all in the baby region, as far as I can tell.

Our one major accomplishment thus far: we've met with our midwife and her team. We looked everywhere for a birthing center but go figure - Richmond doesn't have one. The alternatives were a) hospital birth or b) home birth. We decided to go with option b. Our midwife, Kim, is super experienced and besides being very likeable and personable, is very professional. We feel that we and our babe are in good hands. Our first official meeting with Kim was last Monday (the 13th) where we had the option of listening to our baby's heartbeat. Kim explained that the doppler fetal monitor wasn't "dangerous" but that nevertheless, it would send radio waves to our little one, and it sounded to us like there was no real reason to use it except for the pure joy of saying "ooooh! there really IS a baby in there!" Kerry summed my feelings up perfectly when he said "I know there's a baby in there and I know it has a heartbeat...we don't need that." At our next appointment, we're going to try out listening for a heartbeat the old fashioned way - with a stethoscope.

Finally, I'm a fairly impatient person so it might surprise you to hear that Kerry and I are going to wait until the baby's birthday to find out baby hutch's sex. I never planned on decorating a nusery in pink or blue anyway so no, that's not going to be a problem. For the record though, I think it's a girl :)