Tuesday, March 8th

Today we get to go see the belly-bumbler!!

Emerald has speech therapy at 11--she adores it--and I think I am going to take Gabriel to the park if the weather is still lovely. Then Miss Beth will come over and watch the kids eat the suckers their Oma sent them for Valentine’s Day while Michael takes me to my doctor's appointment.

Michael had to switch his day off so that he would be available to take me to doctor's appointments, which have to be on Tuesday or Thursday because that's when my doctor sees patients.

Anyways, the Bumbler is still growing along a pattern along with all the other babies this age, so just shy of 13 weeks, he should be about the size of a peach but weighing less than an ounce. All the pieces of the baby are there--all the organs and limbs and everything all ready exist and are in place, so for the next 6 months, it's all about growth. Last week, he got his thoracic diaphragm, which means he was constantly hiccupping inside me as it was forming. J

This week, he's starting to work his reflexes--his little arms and legs will kick and stretch, and his fingers and toes will curl and uncurl. I won't be able to feel it though yet, since he's just so teeny.

Every morning though the little baby comes right out under my belly button and presses against my tummy so I can feel him before Mike scares him off. J

As of now, I am not getting any read personally on what gender the infant will be. While its little genitals are all ready formed, we are talking some teeny tiny little baby bits, so there is no way to tell on the sonogram yet either. But I hate calling the baby "It"--it feels so wrong. So I will try and switch between genders, but I tend to favor "He"--maybe it's my subconscious trying to tell me something. ;)

What I know was that with Emerald, I was exhausted all the time, I threw up everything I ate that wasn't cereal, was very sensitive to smells, lost tons of weight, and cried at the slightest drop of the hat. I craved sweets, mostly cereal, but also avocados by the bucket full. And throughout the whole pregnancy, I lost weight and couldn't put it back on.

Gabriel, however, I still had my energy, smells didn't bother me; I never threw up or had nausea, didn't really feel like crying, but boy, was I angry. Everything made me so mad, and I was ten times as aggressive and as feisty as I had ever been. I craved salads, fruit, and peppered things, such as Marie Callender's Alfredo dinners, grilled chicken, Campbell's potato soup, etc. But I had no problem gaining weight, I didn't lose any either, and the pregnancy was pretty much smooth sailing.

This time, I feel queasy all the time and have been sick a few times; gag daily. Hate every smell, nothing ever sounds good, except salads and avocados and sweets. I eat about my weight in sweets a day, between cinnamon toast crunch, Raffaello's, lemon heads, and fruit. I have no energy and just want to sleep all day. One minute, Michael will say something and I will burst into tears even though it wasn't that upsetting if I think about it; the next, I am picking a fight with him and yelling and so angry I can't see....and he is baffled and frightened and just wanting to run the heck away from me.

Amber says its twins.

I hope her birth control fails. :P

But I know every pregnancy is different, but that's why I can't get a read on this baby. We'll find out soon enough--April 20th!!!

--Andie--