18 weeks... blah.

Here's a summary of the last four weeks:

Week 15 - I get the flu and vomit.
Week 16 - I get over the flu, start working nights, and vomit.
Week 17 - I vomit, start cramping, start medication, and vomit some more.
Week 18 - The baby kicks me in the gut and I vomit even more.

I've been getting a lot of questions about how second trimester has been going, and so far, it's not been super. I no longer have the overwhelming feeling of impending doom that I felt the entire first trimester, and I've had a lot more energy, but every time something changes in my life (i.e. going from working days to nights and back, getting the flu, getting a bladder infection, starting antibiotics, etc.) I'm thrown back into a few days of first-trimester-like activity. Which means being confined to the bed and the toilet. Yuck.

I'm now feeling the baby move all the time. It has also developed a very strong kick, which it likes to do at the worst possible times, like kicking me in the stomach when I'm queasy or in the bladder when I need to pee. And yes, I am certain it is a kick because you can watch my stomach move when it happens! Jim can put his hand on my stomach and feel the baby move when it really gets going, but he has yet to feel it kicking.

Speaking of my husband, he has been the one continual blessing through this whole experience. For the past four months I have given up on cleaning, cooking, buying groceries, and doing laundry, and he never complains about not having any food to eat or clean clothes to wear. He is always looking for ways to make my life a little easier, like holding my hair and rubbing my back while I vomit or dropping his very busy schedule to bring me food when I need it. I am very thankful for God's provision to me through Jim.

The next time I post will be to update everyone on the results of our ultrasound next week. I'm very anxious to find out if this baby is developing appropriately or not. The past two weeks I've taken care of patients with serious complications who are roughly as pregnant as I am. That, the cramping I experienced last week, and the two nightmares I've had about this pregnancy (both in which I died and the only dreams about this baby I've had to date) have reminded me how very fragile my condition is.