Other than growing a belly it looks like I went through a grey/white to pink/red color-change in my wardrobe during the second trimester!

As I've been writing in my bump picture updates, the second trimester has been glorious. The nausea and exhaustion that were my constant companions in the first trimester completely went away and I've been enjoying food again as well as staying awake past 7:30 PM. I've enjoyed my growing belly and people being able to see that I'm pregnant and I've had lots of energy. 

Probably best part of the second trimester has been feeling the baby move. During the first trimester we would eagerly await each midwife appointment so that we could hear a heartbeat or see our baby on the ultrasound and *know* that we had a healthy baby. During the second trimester, starting in week 18, I've been able to have a daily - and sometimes nearly constant! - reminder that there is definitely a healthy baby in my belly. It's also been amazing to have Chris be able to feel the baby move (starting in week 20); what an incredible experience to share with him.

As my belly has grown and the baby's kicks have gotten stronger I've started to feel even more protective of my son and grown increasingly excited to meet him. During the first trimester there were one or two times when I suddenly thought, "Wait, everything's going to change and that seems so overwhelming!" I wondered how my relationship will change with Chris, how we'll afford to have a family, and if I'll still feel like "me" when I have to dedicate so much time to caring for a baby. But as I've talked with Chris about all of this and as we've experienced pregnancy with so many other couples (friends, couples in our birth class and in Family Circle) my worries have dissipated. I still acknowledge that parenting will be hard at times and in ways I can't know yet but I'm fully confident that Chris and I will find our balance, both in our relationship and in finances, and that I'll find new dimensions of myself. I'm really, really excited about starting this chapter of our lives.

My pregnancy at first seemed to go by very slow. The second trimester felt like time sped up but still hasn't gone by too fast. There's been plenty of time to enjoy my pregnancy and to plan for our little one. Now that we're in the year our baby will be born it does feel like April will be here very fast. We have a great start on the nursery and acquiring baby gear that so I'm confident we'll feel ready by early April (or as ready as you can!) but there are lots of things to do and to buy before then.

Right now I'm feeling pretty calm and confident about the birth. I try to focus on everything we've learned in birth class and frequently envision having a very positive birth. When I imagine meeting my son for the first time I usually start to tear up. How amazing will that be? I can only imagine right now but it's closer now than it's ever been...and only getting closer.