Updates

10/21/2011
I'm officially 6 weeks pregnant today. Yay! I've been having bouts of morning sickness all week, but it hit really hard when I woke up this morning. I had to stop myself for a moment, sit down, swallow back the vomit, and let the wave of nausea pass. Unlike my first pregnancy, I can't just lay down when I'm feeling sick. I've got my sweet baby boy to tend to. Once I had him out of his crib and got some breakfast in both of us, I was feeling much better. Just had to keep taking sips of water and eating graham crackers all morning, and everything was aight...

At this time during my pregnancy with Kellen, I had already thrown up a handful of times. So, this is an improvement. As soon as I got the + sign, I prepared myself (and Aaron) for the fact that I would probably be just as sick this time, if not worse. Even though it'd be great not to get as sick as I did the first time around, I'm not going to complain for a second, because I'm blessed to have this child growing inside of me. I keep telling this baby to take anything and everything he/she needs from me. No matter how it makes my body feel. I just want him/her to stay put...to keep growing and developing...to be as healthy as humanly possible. Only two more weeks until our first appointment, when we can see his/her heartbeat for the first time, and breath a sigh of relief that everything is developing just as it should. I pray every day...talk to baby every day...keeping the faith alive.

Here's what I've been experiencing physically so far in my 6 weeks of pregnancy...
-lots of cramping - at first I was very concerned, but then remembered that I felt cramping for at least the first 2 weeks of my pregnancy with Kellen. I called the nurse line just to be safe, and the nurse said that as long as it isn't accompanied by bleeding and/or severe pain on either side of my uterus, that everything is normal. She said cramping can take place for quite a few weeks in that first trimester, because my uterus is growing like crazy, so not to worry.
-dizziness/light-headedness - I think this is probably a combination of pregnancy symptoms and pop/caffeine withdrawal. I stopped drinking caffeine the second I found out I was pregnant, and also told Aaron to stop buying anything with aspartame (pop, light juice, etc)...so I think my body is going through a slight withdrawal.
-indigestion - lots of burping and acid-reflux going on. I don't remember it being this bad the first time around, but oh well.
-nausea - this started early, around 5 weeks (whereas it didn't start until 6 weeks last time), but it's not an all-day thing. Usually when I wake up (I've had a few dry-heaving sessions already), when I've gone too long without eating, and around dinner time.
-fatigue - I'm very sleepy, but this is nothing new. Having a 14 month old tends to make one sleepy, so I just feel a little more sleepy than I already did before I was pregnant.
-increased discharge (I know, TMI) - it pretty much just seems like I've got EWCM around the clock now...which I've read is normal.

In terms of how I'm feeling mentally/emotionally...
-SUPER excited! Wow. We are going to have two children under 2! Kellen and this baby will be about 22 months apart...super close in age and I'm guessing they'll be best buddies! Crazy, but super-duper awesome. I know we can handle it. Many, many other families have done it, so there's no reason why we can't! My perspective is that it's probably difficult no-matter-what to have more than 1 child regardless of age, so it'll be great to have them be less than 2 years apart - they'll get to play together, walk to school together, have similar interests at similar times...such wonderful timing!
-Anxious. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. Totally wondering how we're going to function with two little ones...financially, physically, emotionally...but we KNOW we can do it and that we'll be such a happy family because of it. We're already starting to cut back with our finances; Aaron is close to having his credit card paid off, I should have my car paid off by spring, we're selling a bunch of the junk we don't need around the house. Now we just have to figure out daycare. Hoping our current daycare provider has a 2-for-1 deal (one can dream, right? lol...).
-Shocked. Still pleasantly shocked that it happened this fast. Whoa.