Trimester 1: tales of cravings, insomnia, dodgy joints and a big bump

Thirteen weeks. So early on, and look at that bump!

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With a second pregnancy, you can't help but compare it to the last. And this one is already so different.

I love noticing those little things that will add up to equal two very different people, my children (and that plural still sounds weird!).

Last time the pregnancy looked like this: no cravings, no sickness, slept fine, life as usual. Not even a baby bump to speak of until much later on. I worked a demanding full-time job. I was hiking during the second trimester. I did have terrible back pain, but it was through the third trimester.

This time, I'm a mess of cravings, food aversions (read: extreme fussiness), tiredness yet frustrating insomnia, and joints that are all over the place. I think my hips would collapse if I even attempted a hike. And the fact that I feel like this already, while the baby is so tiny, is a huge worry to me. How on earth am I going to walk with extra weight when I'm already hobbling around?

Yesterday we saw the little one inside that bump:

Amazing.

When we saw the baby seven weeks ago, he/she was half a centimetre. Just a little blob with a heartbeat. Now it's seven centimetres, with definable features - such a huge growth in a short time.

We saw its face (still a bit alien-like!), brain, heart, hands (with a little wave and a thumb suck) and its little toes. Its legs are only one centimetre long. How amazing is that?

So, now that I'm hitting the second trimester I want to do a few things. Like, try to stay awake and not fall asleep when I'm playing with Abbey (mother of the year), and actually stay up long enough to do some writing in the evenings. Maybe even eat normally.

We'll see how that goes.