Oh happy Day! I am 3 months pregnant with our 2nd child. :)

As I watch my almost 2 year old son watching other kids at the park and striving to interact with siblings that he sees in the same way that he sees them interacting, the thought of our impending addition makes me so happy for him, for me, and for our little growing family as a whole. What has not been making me so happy is the toughness of this pregnancy thus far. I will openly admit that I underestimated how hard it would be to have a baby still in diapers and a huge increase in work hours while being pregnant. Besides being completely sleep deprived, feeling insanely nauseous, getting frequent headaches and heartburn and feeling wound up as tight as a steel drum, I am doing great. But it is the aforementioned feelings that have been getting to me. I find myself yearning for the days of my first pregnancy where I woke up at 9, ate some breakfast, took a nap until 1, watched some TV, read, took a walk, cleaned my house and had my feet up, relaxing before bed by 9pm. If I did have any nausea or discomfort with that pregnancy it is no wonder that I do not remember because I was too busy sleeping and relaxing all the time.

Well, so here I am, not feeling great, not able to drink much water, fairly stressed and even more stressed that I am not eating right, sleeping right or doing much of anything right for this baby. And through it all, the Portland rain has started with no end in sight, my son seems to have the energy of 10 two year olds and mommy is plain old exhausted. I pray that, when this baby finally arrives, they will quickly forget that they were forced to subsist on toast, pizza and saltines for 3 months because it was all mommy could stomach, or that they were deprived of much water for their first trimester because iced tea and diet Pepsi were all mommy could stand the thought of drinking. Even further, I hope they will have forgotten the endless stream of tums and the occasional coffee to keep me from falling asleep at work.

Baby, if you can hear this (or sense this rather), I apologize. I am truly trying my best no matter what all those mommy advice websites say about my actions. At this point, you are just a tiny, pea sized, alien looking being, but you are already so loved. Your beautiful 7 week sonogram picture is on our refrigerator, showing you resting comfortably. I have told your big brother that you are in my tummy and every day he pulls up my shirt and puts his hand on my belly to "visit" you. We are all eagerly awaiting your arrival. And don't fret little one, from everything I have heard, the nausea should let up here soon and mommy will be back to her perky, productive, healthy self! Lots of love from your dad, mom and your amazing big brother Giovanni. We love you and can barely wait the 6 long months until we get to meet you!

XOXO-Mommy