Who's the Pregnant One?

It's no surprise that the first trimester was tough. A funny kind of nausea overcame me nearly every day at 4:30pm. I grew sick just thinking of having to eat things like bread and cereal. I felt as though I was running to the bathroom every 5 minutes (and surprisingly each time something came out!). It's sorta nice that I can chalk up any weird symptoms I have - including the sudden appearance of stray hairs on my chin - to pregnancy. But the weight gain has been the most fun: it's finally excusable!

All these symptoms have been a source of amusement for Rosh and me, but it's been especially fun to see how Rosh is changing, too. In our case, this pregnancy is all about BOTH of us, which I quite enjoy. All of a sudden, my dear, loving husband and father of this little nub growing in my belly is experiencing back pain, fatigue, food cravings (moreso than myself...hmm...what's that about?) and, best of all, mood swings...in a very sweet way, not the PMS way we're used to thinking about when we see the words "mood swings". Luckily he's experiencing all the things I'm NOT. So together we make a great pregnant team. Just as one symptom lifts off him, I seem to acquire it (i.e. sharp back pain, ugh!).

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I'm now in week 20, and think I feel the little one buzzing around inside. Other mothers say it feels like a butterfly flying inside their stomachs, or gas bubbles bursting, or popcorn popping. To me it feels exactly like a drill bit trying to drill through my abdomen. A light, gentle one, but a drill bit nonetheless. Other times it feels like tap dancing on my bladder. Sometimes it actually feels like the baby is waving at me. Creepy...but also kind of cute.

It happens the most in the mornings while I'm still in bed and it makes me giggle. I wonder what she's doing in there, why she's moving so much, how she's getting used to her growing body. The fact that she's moving so much feels like she already has a mind of her own. When we try to hear her heartbeat each time at the doctor's office, she's always causing so much static with all the cartwheels she's performing for us.

Symptoms: Back pain, heart burn.