me again

Time flies.

I'm 16 weeks now, and finally actually feeling pretty good most of the time. The nausea is mostly gone, I still get occasional waves, but it's pretty seldom and considerably milder than before - so really nothing to even worry about.

I'm still having issues sleeping, but nowhere near as bad as it was even a few weeks ago. I had many nights when I was literally wide awake all night - which seems crazy given how exhausted I was all day. This went on for weeks and weeks and nothing helped - I tried benadryl, and my doc even prescribed a.mbien - it didn't touch it. But - not sure if it was just a timing coincidence or what - I think I started to realize that when I didn't take my prenatal vitamin at night, I slept a little better. I have been taking my vitamins in the evening for a while now, because they just seemed to go down better on a full stomach. But it never occurred to me that they might affect my sleep. So - as I said - it could be something, or it could be just the timing that I was already entering the 2nd trimester where a lot of these problems go away anyway. who knows. I'm still not sleeping all night, but I'm not laying wide awake for hours and hours, which is so much better.

That whole first trimester gross-ness doesn't really make you feel pregnant. You just feel gross. Now I am starting to feel pregnant - I'm definitely starting to show, and feeling like there's something in there. I think I'm also starting to feel some of that spreading/pressure on the pelvic bone - I think this is a lot earlier than last time, but I guess that makes sense. I'm not yet feeling any real movement, still just that faint tickling, flickering sort of sensation that you sometimes hear about - a little like gas, but faster and lower and more frequent.

We've had a few good looks at the babies, and they are doing great. Both right about the same size, growing right on track. The nuchal measurements were great, so we're not moving forward with any other screenings. We will have the anatomy scan in a few weeks, I need to get that scheduled.

My kids have decided that now would be a good time to start to have some sleeping issues. They both have been taking turns being sick for the last few weeks - our entire household, including the nanny, have been trading colds around. So we've had quite a few nights of sneezing, coughing, waking up just being generally miserable, etc. Fortunately for me, my husband has taken most of the brunt of this night time stuff - voluntarily. He wanted me to be able to get some rest. But I think that is coming to an end. He has turned into a total whiner about not getting enough sleep, and I'm getting so sick of hearing about it that I'd rather just get up in the night and let him sleep. seriously! I'm not sure what he thinks he's going to do when these babies are born - he is getting TONS of sleep now compared to what he will be getting in a few months, so it seems to me like it would be wise to not complain about it now. I'm not sure what has gotten in to him.

Having sick kids is no fun - especially when there is so little you can do to help them feel better, or even help them understand why they feel so bad. It's sad. We're definitely noticing the impact of having them in preschool and being exposed to the germs. But I really have a hard time with how many parents bring their kids to school when they are obviously sick and contagious. Especially our school - we are in a developmental preschool at a clinic where there are lots of kids with health problems and special needs - and still these people think nothing of bringing a kid who is coughing like crazy or has green snot running out their nose. It really makes me angry. And it's not because the parents have to work and have no place else to send their kid - this is a program that requires the parent to be present. I sat across the table at snack time last week from a kid with green snot running down his face, and his clueless mother was sitting right next to him doing nothing about it, until I mentioned that he needed his nose wiped. What is wrong with these people? I really love the place otherwise, Danny has done amazing there and has made HUGE progress. And I know this goes on everywhere, I just would have expected that parents in this kind of environment would be a little more considerate.

We have started to spread our news a bit more broadly - the preschool teachers and Danny's therapists all know now. And a few more friends. We still haven't told anyone we work with, although I am going to have to do that in the next week I think. I am running out of clothes to wear. I pretty much only fit in materity clothes now. I have a few baggy sweaters that somewhat hide things if I'm layerd with a cardigan, hold my coat in front of me or make sure I get to meetings early so I'm sitting when others arrive. Last time I was able to get away with it until around 20 weeks, but this time I started off much thinner, and I think it's true what they say about showing earlier with a second pregnancy. But I can't get away with it for much longer. I was holding off because I was trying to get a consulting contract locked in through June. I didn't want any knowledge of the pregnancy to influence any decisions about extending my contract. I mostly work from home, so I fully expect to be able to keep working until the end of June (or close to it). That would be basically the same timing as last time, and I have no reason to think this pregnancy will be any shorter. I had absolutely no complications or pre-term labor last time, no dilation, nothing - so my OB feels fairly confident that I will go pretty far again. Of course, anything could happen, but I need to move forward assuming it won't, and I'll deal with any complications if they arise. I feel a little bad keeping this secret, but it really isn't relevant to my job, so technically (and legally) it shouldn't matter. I think I've now got my contract secured through June, so I will probably break the news next week.

ok, that was long and rambling enough, but now we are somewhat caught up to speed.