Pregnant Me, Take Three - Second Trimester

Well, we passed the 27-week mark of pregnancy on New Year's Eve, so it's time for another blog installment looking back on my second trimester. My first thought, as I post this picture, is "HOOOOOOOLY SMOKES! I'm frickin' huge!!" No, seriously, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this image staring back at me. First I compared it to my first trimester picture, and I swear I've added at least two more babies in the meantime. Then, to console myself, I looked back at my second trimester picture from my Michael pregnancy, and it did not help much. I'm definitely bigger this time around...which means I may be in major trouble as Michael was a 9.8-lb. newborn!! Perhaps I'll blame all the extra size on the holiday feasting. Perhaps it's just because I've had a "It's my last time...who cares?" mentality. I just hope that I don't regret any of my actions when all is said and done.

Anyway, now that I've got all that negativity out of the way, I can happily report that our second trimester has gone extremely well. Aside from the normal aches, pains, and tiredness of pregnancy, I've felt really great. I haven't had any weird side effects or health concerns, so the trimester seemed to fly by. As my belly grows and grows, the kids become more cognizant of the changes coming. When we found out we were having another girl at the anatomical scan, Katie was instantly STOKED!!! She is so excited to finally have a little sister with whom to share all of her girly secrets. (We hope poor Michael will just learn to treat ladies extremely well, what with his two sisters and mother always being on his case.) Although Michael seems pretty oblivious to things, he does point to my belly whenever we ask where "Baby" is. (And, then he promptly tries to punch or squeeze "Baby" as hard as he can, but we'll address that on another day.)

Speaking of "Baby," we are still nowhere close to deciding on a name for her. That is just one of a seemingly bazillion tasks that we must tackle in these last 13 or so weeks. You would think that, by your third pregnancy, you would get this baby prep stuff down pat. Au contraire...we have some pretty major jobs (say, for instance, buying a mini-van) standing in our way. Pretty soon, I will start digging through Katie's old clothes, putting them in the closet to prepare for baby. There's also double strollers and other baby gear to buy...this time without the benefit of a baby shower! But, our most fun and most challenging task to overcome is the name. It's one of our favorite things to do every night as we settle down for bed. Katie definitely has her opinions (Reese, Emily, Carlin, Caroline), and we have ours. We'll keep that to ourselves as we near the time to unveil it.

Anyway, here's to a fantastic last trimester (EVER!). We can't wait to meet our little babe-ster in just three short months!