11 Weeks Pregnant: Cravings and feelings of this week

11 Weeks Pregnant: Cravings of this week:

– greek pasta salad

– beaners and wieners (if you know what this is, I love you 10X more)

– hard-boiled eggs

– lots of mustard on any sandwich

– homemade balsamic vinaigrette with lots of vinegar and lemon

Feel better:

I have started to feel a bit better this past week or so! I have been able to enjoy my healthy foods again, and feel a lot better all around because of it. The evening nausea is starting later into the day, and isn’t as intense which is a huge relief, and also right on track for how far along I am. My fingers are crossed that it will be totally gone as I transition into second trimester over the next couple of weeks.

The disappearance of the nausea isn’t the only thing I am crossing my fingers about though… Ok, I’m just going to say it. I am hardcore rooting for a girl! My son Caimen tends to refer to the baby as his sister most of the time, and deep down inside of me, I hope that his creepy kid sense that many kids have is right this time around. I know you’re not supposed to say this, but I will be a little disappointed if its another boy. Sorry, disappointed is a strong word; I will be devastated.

Now that I’ve made jokes about it, don’t take me too seriously! I am definitely hoping for a daughter, however a brother for Caimen would be just as loved. He would just have to get used to the name Coral and wearing dresses – that doesn’t mess kids up, right?

Our plan is to not find out this baby’s sex at the 20-week ultrasound. We found out with Caimen and it was exciting and we went right out and bought a bunch of baby boy clothes! We enjoyed finding out halfway through with him because we felt it better prepared us as first time parents, we were able to name him for sure, and bond with him a bit earlier on by visualizing our future, etc.

As a doula, having attended many births since my experience with Caimen, I have really enjoyed the moment when the baby’s sex is called out right after birth to a family who didn’t know what they were having (other than a baby). A while ago, I decided that I would like to keep #2 a surprise, and now here we are! For me, there are a few reasons for this decision:

– to experience both finding out and not finding out

– we don’t need to be as prepared this time around as whoever it is can wear lots of Caimen’s old clothes

– to avoid too many pink, blue, or gender-stereotypical gifts

– I am really looking forward to Ken being the one to call out either ‘girl!’ or ‘girl!’….

– I will be less ‘disappointed’ finding out it’s a boy with my baby on my chest instead of with 20 weeks to go and all the time in the world to stew about it

As I think you may have gotten the hint by now, I am going to wrap up with a few things. First, going forward with these blogs, I believe in the power of positive thinking and will be referring to my baby as ‘she’ and ‘her’ even though we are not finding out, and won’t truly know until I give birth. Second, I love my son more than anything and wouldn’t change anything about him for the world.