Pregnancy Milestone: 20 Weeks--Halfway!

This past Wednesday marked 20 weeks pregnant for me, the halfway point of a full-term pregnancy.  Since I know I'll be delivering this baby via c-section at 39 weeks, I'm actually more than half way through this pregnancy.  It's gone by so fast!  I'm really liking this timing, since the holidays and such made the time fly by.  I can't believe I haven't posted any belly pics yet.  It seems every time I think about it, I've already gotten ready for bed, or Nate isn't around, or something.  So this time, I snapped a picture of myself in the mirror one day when I thought about it.  This is actually at 19 weeks.

As with Cooper, my body is not hiding the fact that I'm pregnant.  I'm just one of those lucky women that show, show big, and show early.  Apparently up until recently, I've looked like I've just been gaining weight to those not in the know.  This week Nate commented, "Wow, Babe, you're looking pregnant; I mean really pregnant."  He meant it as an endearing, sweet comment, but it was a bad day, and my mind quickly translated that to "Wow, you whale of a pregnant woman--look at the size of that belly."  Ah, hormones.  In my defense, the doctor does estimate this little guy to be a bit ahead of schedule as far as size.  At 18 weeks they estimated through ultrasound him weighing about 10 oz (granted there's a margin of error), while most babies at that stage are around 8 oz. or so.  I've only gained 7 lbs. thus far, something I'm rather happy about as I'm trying to stay as healthy as possible considering where I started from.

I can't be thankful enough that the morning sickness went away at 16 weeks 6 days--11 weeks to the day it began (6 weeks, 6 days).  It disappeared with Cooper at 17 weeks as well, and I was hopeful that would be the magic number again, since it didn't subside after the first trimester.  Thankfully it was, and I was able to enjoy the holidays and all the holiday food, along with not feeling nauseous all the time.  I had forgotten what it was like to feel "normal" about food.  It is such a big relief.  Nate is also relieved as he no longer has to cook dinners, and we're back to having delicious meals, as he put it.

Baby Cheese is quite the soccer player, just like his older brother was.  Today while visiting the doctor, the nurse was trying to get a heart rate, and Cheese kept kicking her, and moving around.  It took her almost 5 minutes to get a good reading.  I enjoyed every minute of it, hearing and feeling him move so much.  I can feel him kicking quite often, and if not during the day, then reliably at night around 10 pm, and usually once or twice during the night when it wakes me up.  That's when he seems to like to do his kicking, especially to my poor bladder.  With him being breech, and kicking so low, Nate and Coop haven't been able to feel any kicks just yet.

Coop asks every few days whether Baby Cheese is ready to come out yet.  He's getting more and more excited about being a big brother.  He was especially excited the other day when he announced to me that he could teach Cheese how to do things like play football, and dig in the dirt.  Most nights after stories, he'll hug my belly and say goodnight to Baby Cheese, or say something like, "That's Baby Cheese right there, huh, Mom."

Nate and I are coming to the realization that in five short months we'll be the parents of two, which is a little daunting.  We're so excited for this little one to join our family.  As Nate puts it, we'll be a real family, not a single-child family.  I think it's funny he says it like that.  He is so happy that his boys will have siblings to grow up with, and not have Coop be an only child.  We are both saddened a little that Coop is growing up so much, and although he's still little, he's so big, and will soon not be our little baby any more.  It is certainly going to be a big change for us all.

Meanwhile, I'm getting excited.  I am resisting the urge to pull out all the little baby clothes and start washing them and setting up the crib and such.  With it all going in Coop's room, it's just way too early to start doing those things yet, so I gotta find some other way to curb my nesting instinct.

This pregnancy is definitely harder for me physically than with Coop, probably because I was out of shape before getting pregnant this time, and I'm three years older.  But while it hasn't been without challenges, I relish every moment.  Even though pregnancy is hard for me physically, I am so thankful to have the opportunity to carry my child, and be a mother to another little boy.  Here's hoping the second half of my pregnancy pass as quickly as did the first!