13 Weeks and a Tiny Beating Heart

I can't believe first trimester is almost over! The time has passed surprisingly fast in a way. Morning sickness has been getting better every week. It's been two weeks or so since I've thrown up and even then, it's been only occasionally. I feel pretty lucky that I've been able to go about my days fairly normally -- aside from sleeping when Aiyana naps, which has been awesome. I don't know how people make it through a third pregnancy with two kids and trying to nap. I bet it probably doesn't happen quite as often! So I'm enjoying the ease of this while I can.

I tend to get queasy around 5-6 pm and it gets progressively worse until I just give up and go to sleep. So really not a bad deal. I'm not sleeping great all ready though. My non-pregnant self can wake up, use the bathroom, and go right back to sleep. These days, I'm waking to pee at least twice a night (gotta cut back on that water in the evening, I guess) and then it takes me 30-40 minutes to fall back asleep again each time. I could take 1/2 a unisom if it gets bad . . . but I try and limit the meds where I can and save it for when I really need it.

Last night, I hardly felt sick at all! Maybe it was the distraction of throwing a party for my Beehives (Oh yeah, I was called as 2nd Counselor in YW a couple weeks ago and get to work with that rowdy bunch), but I think/hope this is the tail-end of morning sickness!

Best news was hearing the heart-beat yesterday at my 2nd baby appointment. I had a feeling my midwife wouldn't be able to hear it with the Doppler so, despite feeling the usual nerves before this appointment, I waited patiently and hoped I'd still get an Ultra-Sound when she couldn't find it. Instead, Angela chose to use the sonogram machine (which is so nice because I don't have to pay for it!) and found the baby in five seconds. I couldn't believe how much the baby has grown in 4 weeks! He/she looks so much more like a baby shape (with that extra big head right now). We could see the flickering of the heart-beat almost immediately. When Angela turned up the volume and I heard the quick rhythm of the heart-beat (150-ish bpm), my whole body relaxed and I exhaled . . . and teared up with relief and instant connection to that baby that I feel has been lacking the past few weeks. Or lacking because of fear.

I whispered with a smile, "You're OK in there . . . "

I then asked Angela if she usually pulls out the sonogram when she can't find the heart-beat or of it's just because I'm a nut-case (with my impatient anxiety). That made her laugh and she clarified that I'm not a nut-case and, while she normally can find the heart-beat around 12 weeks, she does "cheat" with the sonogram when she can't.

I get to find out the gender at 18 weeks on October 4th. That seems pretty quick to me! Gender bets? Before I became pregnant, Dan and I said, "OK, next one is a girl, then another boy." Dan still insists it's a girl, but since becoming pregnant I've decided to make things interesting and insist it's a boy -- with more Asian genes. = )

I had a dream a month or so ago about hearing the heart-beat and it was a slower heart-beat (like around 140) and in my dream I felt like it was a boy. But I'm not saying that's prophetic or anything. I think I was just dreaming what I have been feeling/hoping.

As far as "showing", I've got a softer tummy but I don't think I've started to show in an obvious way yet. I think once I do start growing though, it's gonna take off fast! Round #3 tends to do that to you, so I hear!