An Amazing Journey: Ch. 6 -- The Second Trimester About This Page:

[Jennifer Marx]

The Second Trimester



Once I passed the first trimester goalpost, I became eager to share my news. We’d been keeping it a secret, and as I write this, we are only telling a select few family members and friends. Why? This will be a big deal in Allie’s life, and that’s very important to us. We want her to hear it from us, not someone else, and we weren’t yet ready to tell her. We want to wait until after the amniocentesis results are in, just in case there is a problem, and we want to tell her in person. So we’re hoping to share our news with her in March.



I did satisfy my urge to “share” with one small thing, however -- I added a “countdown timer” to my signature on the PassPorter message boards . It reads “Countdown to our next big adventure!” and displays the days remaining to August 12 (our due date). I didn’t think anyone would think anything of it, and so far no one that hasn’t been told has commented on it. Dave didn’t even notice until I pointed it out. But it is “out there” and every time I see it, I smile.



Week 14 rolled around without incident. I discovered I had to get a few maternity clothes, which was exciting for me. I’d been seeing a difference in my silhouette for a few weeks, but I hadn’t needed anything special until now. Around this time, I also received a special surprise delivery from Walt Disney World. It turned out to be a character sketch that Dave “commissioned” for me while we were there for our Pop Century trip. It’s the sweetest thing, and Dave earned mucho points for thinking of it. Here it is:







Dave, by the way, has been incredible during this adventure: supportive, helpful, understanding when I wasn’t keeping up with my share of work or chores, and loving. It’s really meant a lot to me, as I know this isn’t a given and I like to think I’m not one of those “pregnancy princesses” who expects her partner to wait on her hand and foot. I enjoy my independence, but he’s also been there to help when I asked. I think the picture above says it all, really.



This week also brought the return of my normal drive and motivation, and I began cranking out the second edition of our Disney cruise guide. I can’t tell you how good it feels to be able to do this again. People say the second trimester is a time of great creativity and productivity, and boy, they were right. I feel really good. So I’m taking advantage of this time to get as much done as I can, because I know it won’t last.



Week 15 brought my next doctor’s appointment. It was simple and quick, as I had no complications to report. My doctor did another scan to check things out. Here it is:







Ok, ok… I know it looks like an alien, but on the monitor it looked like a real baby. We saw it move and roll, and I was able to see it’s facial features quite clearly (and they didn’t look nearly so alienish). It also has legs, though you can’t see them in this scan. It looked healthy and its heart looked good! Another huge sigh of relief could be heard from Ann Arbor. I’m really pregnant! Let me say that again… I’M PREGNANT!!!



Our good fortune meant we had to cancel a cruise we had booked for May at a great rate, as I’d be 26 weeks at that point and they don’t let you board after 24 weeks. That was a bummer. So we won’t go on a cruise again until MouseFest. It’s hard to imagine that by December, just about nine months from now, we could be going on a cruise with a 3-4 month old baby. That just doesn’t seem real to me.



We are planning to find out the sex when we have the amnio (which is in less than two weeks now -- I’m nervous!). We already have names picked out. Alexander for a boy and Alexandra for a girl. We haven’t really considered other names. These work very well for us.



While Allie still doesn’t know, we did watch the last few minutes of “She’s Having a Baby” the other night while waiting for another program, and at the end I asked her what she’d name a baby -- she rattled off a few of names, and then said, “Alexander.” I was surprised at that, and then I heard her say “Alexandra” and my mouth dropped open. There’s no way she could know, of course, but it’s pretty cool she likes of those names already. She also started talking about babies spontaneously at dinner one night. She said something like, “I hope you don’t have a baby boy, because younger brothers are annoying.” I asked if she had friends with younger brothers, and she say “No, but I watch TV.” I then said something like, “You seem pretty sure about this baby stuff. Why is that?” and she just sort of shrugged. But it seems clear she doesn’t KNOW. We think she’s just thinking about it. She has brought up babies occasionally over the years.



I find that I still get anxious about whether the baby is gone and I don’t know it, but the feelings aren’t as strong as they were before. I’m able to go longer now (about a week) before I pull out the Doppler and check because I’m nervous. I hope that’s a good sign.



[Read the next chapter.]

[RaySharpton]

<font color="blue"> ºoº An alien...lol. Jennifer you are so funny. ºoº

ºoº And way to go Dave. ºoº

ºoº I can't wait to see y'all at the 2004 Mousefest DCL Wonder cruise. ºoº

ºoº On to Chapter 7. ºoº

ºoº Sincerely, ºoº Ray ºoº </font>

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