And the morning sickness begins.

I didn't realize how lucky I was to more or less dodge morning sickness with my first pregnancy. But last night it hit me really hard - after feeling "off" all day - and I vomited for the first time in quite a while. Luckily I didn't have much in my stomach other than peaches and peppermint tea, and I felt a lot better afterwards, but I went ahead and ordered Sea-Bands on Amazon at 1:00 in the morning because I am not dealing with this for weeks on end. So far all I've had today are oyster crackers, ginger ale and a tangerine, but I'm feeling okay.

To take my mind off the nausea, I watched "13 Going on 30" on Netflix. I straight up sobbed at the part where the main character goes home to see her parents after a long time. Like, shoulder-shaking, snorting, ugly-crying.

I'm making a grocery list right now and am alternating between being hungry and a little queasy. I'm looking forward to those Sea-Bands getting here and hoping they work for me.

Okay, one more little update.

Okay, I caved and decided to buy the baby its first outfit on eBay. I love Burt's Bees clothing for tiny ones... it's so soft and cute and neutral-colored. They sell it at TJ Maxx, but it's always wintery long-sleeved stuff. Since this will be a summer baby, I thought this would be perfect for a boy or a girl...

The watercolor bees do look a little flowery, but orange is unisex, right?

And here: two photos of my 5 week progression, which I'll admit doesn't look like much, but you  have to start somewhere. Taken with my DSLR propped up on a box of gauze and a toothpaste tube, so you know.

5 weeks today...

I was a little off on my calculation, so I'm actually 5 weeks, not 6. Still not really having too much in the way of symptoms, except none of my pants fit anymore. I'm already about 8 pounds heavier than I was with my first at this point, and while that doesn't seem like much, I'm not a particularly big person and I'm carrying it all in my stomach area. I had to go buy a new pair of jeans yesterday because I'm down to about two semi-fashionable pairs that still button properly. I ended up finding a pair of - ugh - Jessica Simpson jeans that are so comfortable that I considered wearing them out of the store. And they were only $20. Score, I guess, even if they do have that dippy woman's name on the tag.

So it's come to my attention that I need to start walking as much as I can to keep my energy up and my weight under control. I'm going to try to talk my husband into going and getting my parents' unused treadmill tonight.

Other symptoms:

• Hunger. Eating has become the most important thing in the world to me. I threw a huge fit last week when my favorite restaurant had an hour and a half wait.
• Tiredness. It's not too bad, but when the weather is icky and rainy, like it is today, all I want to do is sleep.
• Hot flashes. This isn't uncommon for me; I sleep with two fans on in shorts and a t-shirt in the dead of winter. But that feeling of roasting from the inside out was particularly bad yesterday, especially since we were in my husband's car and I couldn't get the temperature regulated.

Other than that... it's pretty much business as usual. "They" say that similar symptoms in pregnancies point to the same gender, but who know. I can't lie - I do want a boy. I know what to do with boys. I have boxes upon boxes of boy clothes saved. And we have an awesome boy name picked out. I won't be disappointed if it's a girl, but I'll be overjoyed if it's a boy. I guess I'll have until mid- to late March to wonder.

I saw the doctor last Wednesday. He was kind of surprised that I had shown positives so early, but I also ovulate earlier than expected, so I guess it all works out. He's a nice guy; very conservative and reassuring. I go in for an ultrasound on the 7th and I'm hoping to hear back about blood test results in the next couple of days. I have cats and I'm so paranoid about toxoplasmosis; I was negative for it the last time I was pregnant.

I've already started a couple registries for things that we either gave away or need replaced from our first. I feel kind of guilty about doing that, but I figured I can pass the links along to anyone who asks and it's a good way to keep track of the things we need to get for ourselves. We still have a crib, a changing table and a playpen/bassinet combo that are in good shape, not to mention piles and piles of clothes, blankets and whatnot. I think I gave away the bottles, though.

I'm just rambling now. Back to work.  

Let's see how long I can keep this up.

I'm 4 weeks today, and so hot. I had to shut the heat off; I mean, it's December and near 60 degrees, but still. I am absolutely roasting. I went to take a "progress" picture (or maybe just establish a baseline), but I felt gross and deleted them. I guess I better get used to that.

After I dropped Hank off at preschool this morning, I spent almost $100 at the grocery store and spent most of the time wanting to curl up in the cart and go to sleep. I bought some vanilla-flavored Carnation instant breakfast things, mainly for the protein to keep me awake now that caffeine is out of the picture, but also for the extra vitamins. This pregnancy, so far, is exactly like the last: no real symptoms except tiredness and appetite increase. I made sure to get lots of healthy snacks because I am determined not to put on a ton of weight this time around. With Hank, I gained 31 pounds, which my midwife said was perfect given my body type. I think I weigh slightly more than I did when I got pregnant the first time around, but it should all even out as long as I don't give into the Dairy Queen cravings.

I guess the other difference is that I'm REALLY impatient for things to start happening, now that I've been-there-done-that. Then again, I don't want it to go by too quickly, because I want to enjoy the time Hank and I have while it's "just us." I'm going to take him to a children's museum after his dentist appointment next Tuesday.

I'm enjoying this writing every day thing. I hope I can get back in the habit.