Second Trimester

Thankfully, the first trimester went beautifully. The second trimester was also a breeze.
I was so glad to be able to  eat normally again. I stopped eating Mexican food, which is a top four cuisine in my book. I couldn't handle the smell of fajitas in my hair. To this day, it is still not my favorite.
We had planned to tell our extended family after my cousin Megan's wedding. I didn't want to detract from her big day. Well, that plan went down in flames thanks so some people who don't know when to hush (no, I'm not still bitter...ok, just a little). Our Scottsvegas family knew, but out of town relatives didn't. We called and told them at the end of July. Then, the pregnancy became "Facebook Official." Once we announced it to the world, January 27th couldn't arrive fast enough!!

September 11, I was 20 weeks pregnant. We went to the doctor for another routine monthly check. But this time, it was for THE ultrasound. You know. THAT one. Where we were hoping to find out if the alien growing inside me was a "he" or a "she." I was SO SICK of calling the baby "it" and was ready to start using his/her name. My students had been pestering asking me when we would find out the sex of the baby. This was the day and there were side bets from the band kids. Half said girl, the other half said boy. My sweet special babies all said I was carrying a little girl. Seriously. All of them. Even the non-conversational child with autism looked at my ever-growing stomach and said "Mrs. B has a baby girl." And that was that.

3:00 could not arrive fast enough. Dr. P was so nice to Hubs and myself. He's a family friend and I really enjoy his dry sense of humor. The first thing we saw on the screen was the grainy outline of a little face, and that little mouth was just a-moving! Doc said "Well I guess we know it's a girl. Look at that mouth. Moves just like the mama." Ha, thanks Doc. After a little more moving the wand thing over my stomach, we saw two thighs, and what looked like an equal sign. You know, "=" that thing. (Let's not divulge how long it took me to find that on the keyboard. I'm obviously not a math teacher." Well, that little = meant only one thing.

BABY GIRL!!

We were thrilled. But let's be real here. We would have been just as thrilled if there had been a little turtle indicating a boy. We left the Doc and went to tell family. Everyone was excited. Hubs' brother, Coach, said he was happy for us, but "y'all gotta try again, we need a boy." I left Hubs at his office and went to band practice. Telling the band kids was quite possibly my favorite. I got more hugs and laughs from them, and it seemed like they were more excited than anyone else. It was precious.

That's basically the highlight of Trimester 2. I'll get on number 3 next.

First Trimester

As you know, we found out a baby was on the way. Hubs and I went through a whole bunch of emotions. My first one was excitement, then immediately followed by gripping fear. I didn't mention it on here before, but we went through two first-trimester miscarriages from October 2011 to March 2012. After those, to say I was scared would have been an understatement. Moving on...

The only people that knew about this pregnancy right away were Hubs and myself. That lasted about two days. I couldn't stand it and told my sister in law, Amber, and my cousin, April. I knew I needed two prayer warriors who would be there to hold my hand (or my hair if the morning sickness got bad) through the whole pregnancy. 

We went for the 8-week scan and when we did, we saw the most beautiful little alien on the ultrasound display.

Of course the baby was upside down and butt-first to the camera...takes after me!

I need to pause a second and mention that my doctor was ah-may-zing throughout the pregnancy, but he was just about as excited as Hubs and myself to see this little one on the screen. Dr. Megehee was with us through the hard six months we had, and he was thrilled when I got pregnant with that jellybean in the photo.

Right after the ultrasound, Hubs and I went to tell our moms. Thankfully, they both work within a block of Dr. Megehee's office. We just pulled them both into their offices and showed them the picture you see up there. We told my mom first, and she cried. When we told Brent's mom, she screamed. It was sweet. We didn't tell my dad at first. After the last miscarriage, he said he didn't want to know until it just couldn't be hidden anymore. So we honored that. 

Fast forward to the end of June/4th of July week. Hubs and I were at the beach and we spent our last evening there with my parents, my Aunt Debra, and Uncle Jack. We went to eat at Doc's in Orange Beach, and thanks to a lovely combination of shrimp, heat, and someone's body odor, my pregnancy nose kicked into overdrive and I got super sick. My dad knew something was up when I turned green, ran to the bathroom, and came back all smiles. But he didn't say anything... (my aunt totally called me out on being pregnant when she and I were in the elevator later that night).

Well, as some of you know, living in a small town where everyone knows everyone can make your secrets get out sooner than you want. That happened to Hubs and I, so I had no choice but to tell my dad before I was ready to. But he was thrilled and very surprised we had waited so long to tell him. The real shock was my mom's ability to keep it a secret from him for almost a month. 

My friend Stephanie and her boyfriend Ryan came to visit, and I knew I couldn't have her in town and not let her in on the secret. Steph and I became best friends in college, and were totally inseparable about 24 hours after we first met. We met up at a cookout in Scottsboro, and afterward she and Ryan came over to our house for a little visit. I told her, "Hey, go look at the pictures on the fridge. There's some new ones." She saw the ultrasound pic and said, "What's this picture of? Wait...WHAT??? OH MY GOSH!!"

Less than an hour before she found out about Baby Benson

So I had someone else in on the secret! Sorry I had to wait to tell you, Steph. Please don't hold that against me...

I mentioned my sensitivity to smells earlier. The only smell I really could not tolerate was body odor. It would make me gag. Band camp with 120 high school kids at the end of the summer was...yeah...

I had some food aversions in the first trimester. I didn't want anything that wasn't a citrus fruit or something sour. I lived off lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruit, orange juice, orange Gatorade, lemonade, and Warheads candy. Oddly enough, I did NOT want pickles. Or meat. 

Nausea: oh yes, morning sickness is very real. I didn't get sick in the mornings. I felt nauseated all day. Joy.

Weight: I gained seven pounds in the first trimester. Not bad!

Bump: I didn't start showing at all until the second trimester. Pictures of that to come in the next entry.

Okay, I totally suck at this game.

Let's run through the past year, shall we? I'm horrible at this blog thing, but want to update and get current. So we will start at the beginning.

A few days after my last post, actually, Memorial Day, The Hubs and I were jet-skiing with friends and enjoying a day on the lake. I wasn't feeling fantastic after a really fun jet-ski ride with my friend Carrie, and when I got home that night I tore the house up trying to find something spicy to eat. Hubs suggested I take a pregnancy test... So I did...and...

The rest of the story unfolds from there. Stay tuned.