17 & 18 weeks

the morning sickness is officially gone, as of about a few days ago... i think. i thought it never would. it went off like a switch again, just like last time. this morning was rough -- i stupidly went to the park with river and a friend and her toddler, without eating or drinking anything. the combination of that, the heat, and chasing river around got to me, and i almost passed out and ended up throwing up, which was tons of fun. the rest of the day i've had very little energy and have had a few waves of nausea, but i think that's because i wasn't taking care of myself. for the most part, i feel pretty good lately, which is a huge relief.

i have been having braxton hicks contractions for about a week now. i thought i felt them earlier in the pregnancy, and i'm pretty sure i did, but i know for sure i've been feeling them for the past week. i am still very tired; the other day i slept eight hours at night and took a late three hour nap, only to go to bed at eleven and sleep ten more hours! it's ridiculous, but the naps are the best thing in the world. john is very sweet about keeping river occupied and letting me sleep during the day if i need to. i'm still not feeling the baby very often, and my midwife said it's probably because the placenta is in front, acting like a pillow (or punching bag). everything else is the same. hopefully we'll be able to find out what the gender is in a few weeks. :)

15 & 16 weeks

15 weeks, in terms of morning sickness, was awful. i don't know why. i had some of my worst days and was seriously considering whether i'd have to go through an entire nine months of morning sickness. now i'm coming to the end of my 16th week and i can say i may finally be seeing an end to this all-day nausea. i hope. i always wake up nauseous and i still throw up every morning, but after some protein i am normally good to go. i've actually had enough energy the last three days to do a little laundry, wash some dishes, vacuum, and cook a meal or two. this is my only consolation that things are looking up though, because evenings are hard. it doesn't seem to matter what i do or do not eat, i get to a point where nothing will take away the nausea but sleep.

i am still just as tired as i was in my first trimester. i'm sleeping eleven hours a night, and i still wake up thinking noooo, river. go back to sleep. mommy needs sleeeeeep. i woke up at 8:30 this morning and it's only 8:45 this evening and my head is heavy and i'm sleepy enough to hit the sheets.

after i posted last, i realized i was definitely feeling some baby movement, but even though i'm going on two weeks of feeling movement, they are still tiny and hardly noticeable at times. this baby has yet to give me a kick anything like river's!

as happened during my pregnancy with river, during my 17th week of pregnancy (16 weeks along) i seemed to have exploded! i actually look pregnant now, and got my first "how far along are you" question yesterday. i'm sure there are still plenty people out there who think i am just a skinny girl with a fat belly.