The Middle (weeks 16-27):
Weeks 16-27 seem to have gone by much faster than the first trimester did. I started being able to express colostrum (a sweet, antibody-rich liquid produced by the mammary glands before the baby is born and for a few days after birth) at around week 16, which was really bizarre, yet quite reassuring -- nice to know that I haven't been carrying these around for 25 years in vain! We also rented a home doppler unit from "BabyBeat.com" (an unfortunate name for a neat product) so that when we went visiting for the holidays, our families could hear the baby's heartbeat! That went over really well, especially with the older generation (our grandparents) who had never been able to hear their babies' heartbeats before birth, but everyone enjoyed the experience -- it made the pregnancy much more real, I think, since at that point, I wasn't showing at all and the baby's movements couldn't be felt from the outside. We were even able to put the unit up next to the phone so that my grandmother in Florida could hear it; I'm sure it was all she talked about for a week ;)
It wasn't until about week 22 that I could really feel the baby moving, but what an exciting thing that is! I'm still thrilled everytime baby kicks or hiccups; it's really an incredible feeling, to know I'm nurturing a real, independent future person inside me. Around week 21, David and I both got food poisoning (our refrigerator had been on the fritz, and apparently lost power a couple of times without our knowing it, causing the roast beef that happened to be inside it to go BAD). That was a whole lot of no fun, as we both threw up several times, and spent the better part of that week just recovering from the upset. But baby weathered the storm all right -- amazing what the body can go through and still be okay! I had an appointment with Celia the next day, which was nice, as she found the heartbeat with no problems and assured me that everything was fine. And, contrary to my family's fears, I hadn't (and haven't) been gaining tons of weight: in fact, at that visit, I was actually *down* six pounds from my first visit, and even at the last one (at 25 weeks) I was just back up to my weight at the second appointment. I haven't been dieting at all, of course, and I feel like I've been eating like a horse, but apparently pregnancy has been really good for my metabolism, plus I have made a real effort to stay away from concentrated sugars (bad anytime but especially during pregnancy) and eat very well.
David was first able to feel kicks from the outside at about week 24 (6 lunar months), and it was (and is) such a joy to see the look on his face! The baby is especially active about 30 minutes after I eat (which makes sense, as it's then s/he is getting some good, concentrated nutrients) and after we shower, though I have been feeling a lot of movement while I'm working, too. There have been a couple of instances of hiccups lately, which are really quite funny; and I love just lying in bed, feeling him or her squirming around -- especially nice at bedtime.
My only complaint during these weeks has been pretty minor. The pelvis -- specifically the pubic bone -- is actually made of two segments, joined in the middle by cartilage. This pubic synthesis can thus open up a little in preparation for the birth (widening the pelvic outlet); usually this happens later in the third trimester, but for whatever reason, mine started opening up around week 18, resulting in a constant ache with occasional awful pain. This has been pretty continuous, but it's only really bad when I've just gotten up in the morning, after I've done a lot of walking around, or if I've been sitting for too long. Compared to what a lot of women go through, though, I feel pretty lucky, and it is a consolation to know that the birth will probably be easier because of this stretching. And aside from that, I feel really, really good! Sure, I get winded a little more easily (during pregnancy, the heart expands to accomodate the increased blood volume, plus the abdominal organs are pushed upwards by the growing uterus, both of which constrict the space the lungs can take up), I have to get up at least four times a night to run to the bathroom (whiz, whiz, whiz, whiz...), and I am hungry every two hours (woe be unto he who crosses a Hungry Jan -- I get SOOOOO cranky!), but there's just nothing to compare to the feeling of knowing there's a little person growing inside me!
On to The End!