Baby on the Way!

Michael and I are going to be parents! I am several days into my second trimester, and we'll be welcoming this little one into our family sometime in March!

I know these ultrasounds often look like a whole lot of nothing, so in case you can't see it, baby's head is on the right looking toward the top left corner. It looks like something is growing out of the forehead. That's the hand. During the ultrasound our baby was moving it around, which Michael and I both thought was the most thrilling and adorable thing ever. You can see the body below its head and its skinny little left arm. I promise the baby has legs. They just didn't make it into this shot!

I can't even begin to sum up the experiences and emotions we've had since finding out that I was pregnant on July fourth. So I'll just mention a few things.

• First of all, it is really strange and really amazing to know that I am growing a human being inside of me, and that kid is part Asian! Michael and I think I look pregnant, but to the average person, I probably look like I've just gained some weight. I am really looking forward to getting a cute little bump, then a big bump, then a huge bump, and then rocking the about-to-burst bump.
• Pregnancy sickness. Holy cow. It is no joke, and I didn't get it even close to as bad as some women do. I had no cravings but quite a few days where I was averse to every kind of food. I couldn't even look at our garden knowing that food came out of it. I wrote about my bar exam experience, but did not mention that a huge part of the experience was being seven weeks pregnant at the time and praying along with several other people that I wouldn't feel horribly ill during the test. Given that even without pregnancy that awful test alone is enough to make you nauseous, I consider it a mini miracle that I didn't have a single moment of nausea during the three day exam!
• Fatigue. Holy cow. It is no joke. I normally sleep about nine hours a night. When the fatigue set in, I slept about nine to eleven hours per night and would often take twenty minute to two hour naps to get me through the day. And I was still exhausted all the time. When I wrote that "we" moved, I really meant "Michael moved us." Shout out to my husband for doing 90% of the work without complaining at all. Fortunately, the nausea is almost gone, the fatigue is waning, and they've been replaced with an enormous appetite!
• Joy! Holy cow. The joy is no joke! Even in the throes of first trimester nausea and/or fatigue, there were moments where I just smiled to myself because I was so stinkin' happy to know that my child was growing inside of me! Every week, Michael and I have read about our baby's march through the produce section from blueberry sized, to raspberry sized, to prune sized, to lime sized, etc. (It's now bigger than a peach!) My favorite little baby development updates were ones like "Your baby's ears have moved from its neck to its head" (my baby's EARS were on its NECK?!?), or this week's "Your baby's intestines, which have been growing inside the umbilical cord (exCUSE me?), are now starting their trek to their permanent position in your baby's abdomen. (crazy!)"

I am sure there will be much, much more to enjoy, stress out about, and write about this child in the upcoming months and years! For now, my heart is so full, savoring the last few months of being just the two of us and loving the fact that my tiny, incubating baby is always with me wherever I go.