pregnancy / weeks 12, 13, & 14 / end of the first trimester

We have a nickname! I tend to lean towards visions of tiny growing fruits or vegetables. Baby Hudgins #2 is now known as Pea Pod.

symptoms

Hallelujah, the almost constant nausea is gone! This pregnancy is so much different from my first, which I'm attributing to the battle of hormones going on between my breasts and uterus. I'm still nursing, although my son is beginning to show signs that he's ready to wean a bit. I have a desire to eat somewhat healthy things now instead of the constant onslaught of carbs and grease I've been forcing myself through, and my body feels so much better, even if I sometimes have a tough time getting things moving. Otherwise, I feel back to normal! It also helps that we've sort of started sleep training Number One, which means I'm getting a few hours of uninterrupted sleep each night.

There's a teeny bump and significant cravings for peanut butter milkshakes. 

baby

Pea Pod is four inches long and peach-sized! Baby looks discernibly human now, and has all the basic parts necessary for life outside the womb, even if those parts aren't developed enough to survive yet. Tiny hairs called lanugo are starting to sprout all over the baby. Pea Pod may also be sucking on his or her fingers, and can control his or her facial muscles to form expressions!

midwife

I am loving the very hands-off midwife I've been seeing. She is kind, polite, and cheerful, but not obnoxious. My husband has been on break from teaching this week, and he was able to come to my 14 week appointment. We got to hear the heartbeat again, and this time she found it as soon as she put the wand to my belly! I'll go back in another four weeks for a quick check-up, and we have an anatomy ultrasound scheduled at the end of May. I'm looking forward to taking home a few snaps of our tiny Pea Pod.

It took about 20 weeks for me to really feel my first baby rolling around in utero. I've already started feeling tiny flutters, and some not so tiny flips, of this new baby. It feels very alien, having a tiny separate person inside of me, and it can be a bit of a mindwarp when I sit and think about it. Knowing that I have the opportunity to bring another soul into the world is humbling and empowering all at once.

women are amazing in so many ways but growing babies is absolutely the most impressive thing we can do, physically.