It’s a GIRL!!! Today we found out we’ll be welcoming a baby girl into our family in March.  When the ultrasound tech was showing us the baby, Baby was being super active, wriggling her feet and sucking her thumb!  We saw her opening and closing her mouth as she drank amniotic fluid and even got a peek at her little tongue.  She’s come a long way since we first saw her at 9 weeks, having tripled in size and developing far more in complexity since her gummy-bear-like state!

What incredible, first-time sights for us first-time parents.  Conoon and I have been in amazement each day since learning we are having our first child.  For me, it’s an incredible honor to be carrying this baby, to be this child’s first home in this physical world.  While the first trimester consisted of accustoming to drastic bodily changes and constant fatigue, the second trimester has been all fun and pleasantries so far (minus occasions of gassiness and indigestion pains from eating too much).  The shock factor of being pregnant has subsided and been replaced by an overall embrace of my new reality.  I’m intrigued by pregnancy symptoms that appear one day and are gone the next and welcome the gradual belly growth.  I enjoy basing my meals off of what Baby needs to eat more of and feel pangs of joy when I feel Baby jerking around at random times of the day.  Now at 20 weeks, I feel her moving and fluttering about regularly; it’s the coolest feeling and the sweetest reminder of my new role as a mom.  

While I’m making the most of these times, some days are still harder than others: I’ll feel overly tired for no reason or experience unceasingly long headaches that only a full night of sleep can cure.  But coming home to Conoon and resting together on the same wavelength makes the physical burdens easier to bear.  We are doing this together after all.

Conoon has been immensely supportive throughout the pregnancy, and to him I am so grateful.  We still have little spats every now and then, usually caused by miscommunication or heightened moodiness, irritability, or shortened patience, but we get through these harder moments by talking it out, being honest about our feelings, and committing to doing better next time.  Even though a lot of our focus is on our baby and our future, we still work hard at becoming better, more loving teammates and strive to cherish every single moment of the present.  We know that our lives will never be the same (or nearly as peaceful) come Baby.

I wish we could watch Baby every day through the ultrasound up until her delivery date.  It’s so surreal that this little life is going about her days in my tummy.  I can’t imagine what it’ll be like when she’s actually here.  

We’re halfway there!  Now the hunt for girl names begins…