Half way there...update.

And I thought I'd be better this time around keeping up with the blog, but I guess it's true what they say about pregnancies and keeping track as you have more.  I just haven't kept up, although I am enjoying this pregnancy better now that I am over the nausea and have begun an exercise program.

So, let's look back at the first half of this pregnancy...

The first trimester was probably by far my worst out of the three in terms of nausea and exhaustion.  I think I was probably much more grumpy this time around, too...mainly because of the nausea and exhaustion.  Work was also much more stressful than my first two pregnancies, I think, and the hours were longer, although during my first trimester while I was active duty, I worked much longer days...

Anyhow, the first trimester passed without incident, thankfully, and although I spent more time in the bathroom than I would have liked, I am just thankful it passed.  Things of note, however, is that during the first couple weeks after discovering I was pregnant, all I wanted to eat was steak.  Not just red meat, but straight steak with steak sauce.  Marinated meat made me more nauseous, so I ate lots of just regular beef seared during the first week or two after discovering I was pregnant. Perhaps I was a little iron deficient.  Much like the two previous pregnancies, however, I never really had any cravings other than the red meat, and I was more ambivalent about what I wanted to eat than ever before.  I did eat constantly, though, whether or not I could keep eating whatever I chose was another story, but I had to keep munching on something.  I pretty much stayed out of the kitchen the first trimester due to the nausea, and only cooked when I had to for the kids. 

Jeff has been so much help with the girls this whole time.  Letting me nap for hours on the weekend, putting the girls down when I pass out after getting home from work, cooking, doing laundry, dealing with my hormonal outbursts and insecurities...

Speaking of hormonal outbursts...this job I have now requires a lot of patience and friendliness on my part because of the international relationships that I need to maintain and the senior leaders I come in contact with regularly at meetings.  Well, with the surging of hormones and my constant discomfort with the nausea in my first trimester, I noticed that I get very irritated and frustrated during my meetings...and apparently in my writing as well.  As I draft up letters to be sent from one office to another, occasionally I get a little more emotionally invested in the work and tidbits of "rosa rage" kicks in and my boss comes chuckling holding the letter and asks if I'm doing okay.  I seem to have become much more aggressive and directive at the office, which actually has made for much more efficient meetings, although I'm not sure everyone leaves as "happy" or as "appeased" as most of my meetings used to go...at least it cuts out a lot of the political back-rubbing and explaining and re-explaining (and re-explaining and re-explaining) why things have to be done a certain way or why the answer is "still" no.  I am enjoying the efficiency, personally...now that my hormones have settled down a bit and I am a bit more stable (at least at work), I am trying to maintain my "more aggressive persona" and it seems to be working, for the most part.  I am keeping the "rosa rage" out of the papers, though...

Another first trimester symptom (that contributed to the excessive nausea this time around, I'm certain) was my bloodhound nose.  I smelled anything and everything, and boy, was it not a pleasant experience when working in an office full of men (sorry, men).  I had to go to one meeting with the big boss and it was hot in the room already and the entire room smelled like old corn chips...Fritos...I lasted about the first 10 minutes before I had to excuse myself and step out for fresh air before coming back in so I wouldn't hurl on the table.  After that meeting, I started carrying around a plastic bag...just in case. Luckily, I never had to use the bags.  I did huff a lot of Altoid mints, though...the strong peppermint smell actually helped quell the nausea much better than actually sucking on them.  (They actually tasted awful to me...like sucking on gasoline drops or something...bizarre).

Although the nausea lingered this pregnancy longer than I wanted it to (around 16 weeks), now that it has passed, my energy has picked up and as I mentioned, my moods seem to have evened out for the most part.  I actually don't pass out right when I get home from work and I have made dinner a few nights. 

As I transitioned into the second trimester, I started having a lot of insecurities about my ballooning body, breakouts on my face, general personality...etc...so after much discussion with Jeff, I decided to do the on-ramp for Crossfit at our local gym by our house and do it throughout this pregnancy.  I had been running about six miles a week through the first trimester (about 3 miles twice a week), but it just wasn't helping me in my moods as much as working out with others could...and as good as swimming felt once I was in the pool, getting myself in the pool took so much motivation, I'd frequently just skip it, even if I had all the stuff with me to swim at lunch!  So, I on-ramped and finally got certified on 31 October!  I am reading up on the safety of Crossfit-ing as a pregnant woman through the crossfitmom website (http://crossfitmom.com) and am scaling and focusing on technique as much as possible now.  It's giving me tons of energy that I didn't have before (although I'm sure it also has to do with the fact that I'm well into my second trimester now), and my mood is so much better every day.  My body and belly continues to balloon, as I expect, but I feel fitter and healthier for this pregnancy than my two previous ones, so the outlook is good that I won't make my doc fall out of her chair from my weight gain...I hope. ;)

OK, so I think I've covered most everything that has been happening to ME this pregnancy, but let me close with a note about my little one growing within...

As of our 17-week ultrasound check-up, the baby is going to be our princess number 3!  I got to feel her fluttering inside for the first time in mid-October while I was in a meeting, although I failed to write down the date.  And, this morning, I felt her hiccuping in my belly for the first time! :)  I'm not sure why hiccups seem to be such a significant milestone in my pregnancies, but I seem to take note of it because it's such a funny sensation for me...it makes me smile. :)

In more medical aspects, all the tests have come back clean and she's growing on par with her estimated due date of 16 March, so I'm hoping I have a late late February or early March baby.  Here's to hoping! 

Next doc appointment is on 12 November, and that one is the full ultrasound with all measurements and such, so I'll see you then, Little One.  In the meantime, keep kicking and fluttering in there!

And we begin the journey again...:)

So...

Here I am again at the beginning of a familiar road that leads me for nine months.

Destination: Baby #3.

I honestly couldn't be more joyful! (Well, maybe if I allowed myself to tell people about it and didn't keep it a secret!)

Here's how the discovery went...the long version:

On the drive home from the airport after a grueling flight back from the US, I was feeling quite nauseous and I let Jeff know. His initial response was: "You'd better not be pregnant!" The thought hadn't even crossed my mind...I just assumed it was the long plane ride, lack of sleep, and just the muggy air...but we both laughed it off and didn't think of it again. This was Sunday, 8 July 2012.

The ever-so-slightly nauseous feeling still lingered through Monday, but I assumed it was due to lack of sleep. I did think it was a bit unusual that I still hadn't started my cycle even after I had stopped nursing for about three months already. I scheduled an appointment with Dr. Sung on Tuesday just to get checked out down there to make sure all was well. I figured I could also ask for about six months of birth control to ensure we were fully moved into Germany before having a baby. We had decided we definitely want another child in our life...we just wasn't sure when yet. We figured since we are definitely moving to Germany next summer, it would probably be a good idea to delay getting pregnant until after we were settled there.

God clearly had other plans for us. :)

Tuesday rolled around and at lunch time, I went in for my appointment. The nurse called my name for the initial assessment and she asked me what I was here for. I explained that we were leaving Korea in the next 10 months and wanted to discuss some birth control options to reduce the risk of disrupting the move timeline. She asked if there was any possibility that I was currently pregnant since I still haven't had a period since I stopped nursing. I told her, not likely. She recommended we do a pregnancy test just to rule it out before talking about the next step. I went and peed in a cup, she took it and went back into their lab. I waited in the waiting area not thinking anything of it. She called me up and casually showed me the pregnancy test result and at first, I just glanced with the assumption that it came back negative because she didn't say anything particular; she just said, "here's the result" with no surprise or excitement (considering our conversation before the pee-test, you'd think she would have given some indication...maybe she was afraid of my possible reaction?). I looked again and there was the faint pink line. As I stood there staring at the test trying to decide whether or not it meant positive or negative, the nurse finally spoke up and said, "Looks like you're pregnant!" The biggest grin spread across my face unwittingly and I couldn't stop smiling as I stood there speechless.

The nurse told me they would confirm the pregnancy with a sonogram shortly, so I waited a bit longer and debated internally how I should let Jeff know the news. The tech called me in and lo and behold, there was the little speck, confirming the just barely 4-week mark of my pregnancy! Who knew?

At this point, I was led back into the waiting area to wait for the actual Doctor consult. That's when I just sent a text to Jeff with this: "Um...prepare to move to Germany earlier than planned if you really want a German-born baby..." His response, "What? You suck!"  haha...

Well, long story short, the doc said, "Here we go again!" and told me I needed to start taking prenatal vitamins. I'm surprised she didn't mention I needed to exercise considering her opinion of my pregnancy last time...

Jeff and I had a fairly lengthy discussion about the timeline, but ultimately decided it probably doesn't need to be affected since the expected due date is 16 March 2013 and we can plan on leaving country at the end of April or beginning of May. The date seems SO SOON. I can't believe how quickly things are happening now...

Now the question is, how to break the news to the rest of the world. :)

Looking forward to seeing you again, Little Speck. See you on the July 24th. :) I love you already!