20 Weeks and Halfway There

I can't believe I'm already halfway through with this pregnancy and have not once posted a real belly picture. With Grace, I was documenting the belly progress from the time we read that plus sign on the pregnancy test.

But in my own little way, I have been keeping track. Again, I have to be grateful for the iPhone. In the 'notes' section, I try to summarize how I'm feeling each week and jot down any Grace-isms about the baby.

So here's how the first half of the pregnancy has gone so far...

WEEK 5: I'M PREGNANT! Seven positive at-home pregnancy tests tell me it's so!

WEEK 6: WHERE'S THE MORNING SICKNESS? Wow, this is so different from my first pregnancy. I don't have any kind of morning sickness. Could those 7 at-home pregnancy tests, the blood test at the doctor's, and the additional 3 at-home pregnancy tests I took, just to be absolutely sure, be wrong?

WEEK 7-8: I SPOKE TOO SOON. All day morning sickness has hit big time. I can't keep anything down. Grace has seen me sick so many times that when Mike comes home and asks how her day was, she tells him that mama's been throwing up and then acts it out for him.

WEEK 9: HELLO, PEANUT! AND ZOFRAN, MY MIRACLE DRUG. I had my first appointment with my nurse midwife and we get a sneak peek at what's been making me so ill the past few weeks.
I also discovered the miracle of Zofran, an anti-nausea medicine. I was very hesitant to take any unnecessary medication, but the fact that I was so dehydrated that I had to get an IV put in and it was getting extremely difficult to care for Grace when I was always face down in the toilet, convinced me that modern medicine had its advantages.

An IV in my arm, a bucket at the ready, some apple juice refreshments, and a bell to call for the nurse.

My cute bedside companion.

WEEK 10: PRUNE JUICE. Zofran is making me feel human again, but one of the unpleasant side effects is extreme constipation. We were visiting Virginia Beach for the month that Mike was underway and one day the constipation reached the point where I asked my brother, Josh, to babysit a napping Grace while I ran up the road to the nearest grocery store to buy some prune juice and dried prunes. I wasn't feeling the best so I left the house with my hair unbrushed, not a trace of make up on, and wearing 'house clothes' that could have probably passed for raggedy pajamas.

When I got to the register, the cashier says to me, "Did you teach 8th grade English at Landstown Middle School? Are you Miss Copon? You were my teacher!" Talk about embarrassing. Not only do I look like death, but I am buying nothing but prune juice- and we all know that you only buy prune juice for one thing. Thankfully she was one of my sweeter students from a long time ago, but I'm sure her Facebook status went something like, 'OMG, I just saw my old English teacher, and dang- the years have not been kind to her AT ALL!'

WEEK 11-14: SOOOO SLEEPY. All I remember in these weeks is that I couldn't get enough sleep. The moment Grace went down for her nap, I was sleeping right along with her. I could not make it through the day unless I squeezed in a nap. And I was falling asleep the moment she went to bed at night.

Ultrasound at my first trimester screening. My sweet friend, Liezel, kept me company because Mike just couldn't get out of work. It was so reassuring to see the baby doing well and we even got to see a few cute little waves hello.


WEEK 15-16: 'NORMAL' AGAIN. I am starting to feel 'normal' again. The word normal is in quotations because if I wasn't pregnant, I would still feel like I wasn't well. But compared to how I was feeling a few weeks ago, I feel fantastic!

WEEK 17: ZUMBA TIME. Things are starting to get rounder. And I'm not talking about the belly. I'm talking about my face, my arms, my butt, and my thighs. So it's back to the gym for some Zumba time. I can't bounce around as much as I would like, and I can definitely tell my time away from the gym has taken it's toll, but it's nice to be back to a bit of my old routine.

WEEK 18: QUICKENING AND A PREGNANT BELLY. I am feeling sweet little flutters and gentle jabs. It's such a miraculous feeling, and definitely one of my favorite parts of being pregnant. I'm also starting to really show in the belly. Every week I ask Mike, "Do I look pregnant, or just fat?" And for a while, he would humor me and say definitely pregnant even though I knew I was still in the in-between stage where people are too afraid to ask if you're expecting for fear you've just gained a few pounds. But now, I actually believe him when he says I look pregnant.

WEEK 19: ACROBATICS AND HICCUPS Those sweet little flutters have turned into acrobatics. This is one active baby! Compared to this one, Grace was so shy in my belly. And the hiccups! All. The. Time. Sometimes I get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and then have a hard time falling back asleep because of the acrobatics and hiccups.

WEEK 20: GROWTH SPURT AND CRAVINGS. Either the baby is going through a growth spurt or I'm just a big fat pig. I am starving all the time! I can't get enough to eat. I'm trying to make sure I'm eating well, but I'm craving chocolate right now and can't seem to resist a few sneaks here and there. I'm also craving fish this week. I want to eat tuna sandwiches everyday and would love salmon suppers every night.

BABY GRACE-ISMS:

Uncle Josh asks her if she wants a baby brother or a baby sister. "Uh, just a puppy."

While we were in the car, Mike and I were bouncing possible baby names off each other. Grace chimes in with, "Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer, Donner, Vixen, Comet, Blitzen..."

(On another day) What do you think we should name the baby? Let's think of some nice names. "Uh, let's name it Pup! That's a perfect name!" (And so this child has been nicknamed Pup by his or her big sister. We have been referring to the baby as Pup since this little Grace-ism a few weeks ago.)

She hands me her fruit snacks and orders me, "Eat it, Mama, so your baby can grow!"

Mike asked Grace if she thought my belly was getting big. "Oh, yes!" Why is mama's belly getting big? "Because she eats a lot!"