13-14 weeks

So this is a combined 13/14 week post because last week was crazy insane busy for me and my family and I just couldn't find the time or energy needed to devote to blogging. Tis the season for crazy time! Between myself and Aaron, we had 3 holiday parties last week, PLUS an overnight work trip to Dallas for me, PLUS the Holidazzle with my dad. And then Friday rolled around and we thought we were in the clear until our kitchen sink pipe sprung a leak. Someday we will be retired and lazy with nary a thing to do all day. How I fantasize about those relaxing, uncomplicated days to come....in 30ish years.

13 weeks, 1 day

Me in my swanky hotel room at the Four Seasons in Dallas on Tuesday 12/11. I kind of wanted to just move in there like Eloise at the Plaza.

14 weeks, 1 day

Due Date: June 17, 2013

Weight Gain: I'm hoping I'm still hovering around the 5 lb mark, but who's to say. I never weigh myself unless at the doctor, which won't happen again until Jan 2.

Symptoms: Let's add again to the list of symptoms that I didn't experience with Alice. The most recent one is ITCHY-AS-HELL legs, and sometimes arms, belly, and back. I am definitely prone to dry skin, and it is the height of winter dry skin weather in MN, but this is different. It's been bugging me so much lately that I've even created a few scabs on my legs (ew). Thank god for my FB mommy group though. I posted on there, and it turns out there is a woman who had the same thing as me about a month ago and she discovered the miracle that is coconut oil and encouraged me to run out and pick some up. So that I did, applied it all over my legs as soon as I got home, and lo and behold the itchiness completely ceased! It is a strange consistency -- much more that of Crisco than actual oil -- but I could almost instantly feel relief as I put it on. The itching seemed to be below the surface of my skin, and apparently coconut oil can penetrate deeper than regular lotion. You can also use coconut oil as a supplement to your salad dressing or to treat diaper rash. Miracle of miracles!

As far as the other usual symptoms...still not sleeping well unless I take a Tylenol PM at night, in which case I sleep like a baby and feel amazing in the morning. My OB told me I could take this every single night of my pregnancy without any risk to the baby, but I worry about the risk to me. What if I become sleep dependent on it? And obviously once the baby is born I won't be able to pop a PM and just pass out for 8-9 hours. I'm going to try not taking one tonight and see what happens. Wild guess -- I won't sleep well. :) Nausea is pretty much under control though it does flare its ugly head every now and then.

What's different this time: Besides the different symptoms (headaches, insomnia, itching...all so pleasant), it's just amazing to me how quickly time is passing this time around. I am already in my second trimester!

Cravings: Cheese and bread, and anything that is made from those two ingredients. And pickles.

Aversions: I guess I'm really not into chocolate right now. We have like 8 dozen Christmas cookies in our kitchen and I have ZERO desire to touch any of them. And they include my favorite -- peanut butter blossoms!

Sleep: See symptoms section above. Depends on my Tylenol PM status.

I am loving: Actually somewhat excited for Christmas this year, mainly to experience it through Alice's eyes. Sometimes the holiday season can just seem like a bunch of stress and obligations and harried running around, but this year I'm hoping to relax a bit and appreciate how much fun it will be for Alice.

I miss: Now that I'm generally feeling healthier I kind of miss drinking again, and I know that I will for sure miss it at Christmas time. Oh well. Each day down is a day closer to a glass of wine -- hopefully in my hospital bed this time!

I am looking forward to: Really, REALLY looking forward to discovering the gender. I just will get so much more excited at that point. For one thing, we have all the girl clothes that we can either get all sentimental about using again, or we can ship them off to a friend and be done with them. And then there is the name issue. I do want to give it more thought since we are currently extremely undecided, but it just seems silly since we will be able to narrow the list WAY down in 6 weeks.

I'm spazzing about: Aaron thinks I am crazy of course but sometimes I swear I don't look pregnant or that my belly isn't growing and then I freak out that something is wrong. But then I have times when the bloat is just overwhelming, including right now, and it's oddly comforting. Love you, bloat!

Best thing about this week: Having pretty much nothing on our social calendar after a whirlwind week last week.

Milestones: Baby can pee! It can also frown and grimace. Apparently it's kicking up a storm in there although I have yet to feel a thing...I think.

Movement: Nothing yet. I keep laying on my side and kind of squishing my belly hoping for a reaction, but so far nada.

Exercise: Uh uh.

Diet: Not super. I feel so lucky that we have a free cafeteria at work so it's at least effortless to get a lot of nutrients out of the way during the day because by dinner time often I'm either not very hungry, or just nothing sounds good. I'm still having my oatmeal with berries every morning so I feel like that counts for a lot.

Alice Anecdote: Holy God she is a royal terror lately. It's like it all happened in the matter of just a couple of days. Nothing changed about her routine, she's not sick, not [actively] teething as far as I can tell...she's just kind of a B most of the time in general. Last night she finished her dinner apparently, so she dramatically tossed her half-full plate on the floor and screamed "Barney!" like a little dictator, as if we would let her watch Barney after that display. Everything is kind of an emotional struggle with her, including such elaborate tasks as putting on socks. I know she is completely irrational and we are supposed to be the rational ones, but I think Aaron and I are pretty close to resorting to her level soon. Might have to pull out "The Happiest Toddler on the Block" for some tips.

On a lighter note, she somehow shifted over the last week from calling me "Mama" to calling me "Mommy", with the emphasis on the second syllable: "Mom-MEEEE!" So funny. No idea where that came from and it's just sort of strange to have a new name all of a sudden, however slight the difference may be. She is busy as can be lately and her favorite things to do are putting together her car/truck puzzle, and COLORING. She cannot stop coloring. Tammy even told me that when art time is over at daycare Alice often throws a tantrum because she doesn't want to be done. Apparently today Tammy just let her stay at the table and keep painting. One of the perks of having only 3 kids at daycare. Sort of makes it easier to go with their individual whims I suppose.