I think I am settling into second trimester now (it will officially begin this coming Saturday - stoked!).

So to sum up first trimester...I started out eating like an absolute PIG, afraid not only that I was going to gain a ton of weight, but that I was going to do it QUICKLY in second-pregnancy fashion. Once again, I never really experienced nausea or sickness, but I did experience the "blah's" with extreme fatigue, and the extreme fatigue has gone away and left me just with the "blah's." My numerous, insatiable cravings starting at 5 or 6 weeks subsided, and by 11 or 12 weeks I was left with virtually NO cravings and no appetite for anything. This bodes well for keeping the weight down, but it is very hard to feel like I am getting enough food in me to keep two people healthy. The toothpaste aversion came into full swing, but it was a much later onset this time around. My tolerances differ this time from the last in that last time, everything I put into my mouth had to be sweet, whereas this time I need salty and tangy. The milk craving I had last time is NOT there, nor is the chicken aversion, really, though I can do without chicken. Well-done red meat seems to be more of an aversion, whereas I had no problem with it last time.

Right now it's mainly this constant feeling of not being sure whether I am hungry or thirsty or neither or both. When you eat, you aim for a sense of homeostasis, without too much or too little of any element of your diet - sugar, protein, carbs, etc. Say I'm thirsty - I know I am thirsty and that, ideally, I need water, but the thought of water is so terribly disgusting and the thought of cran-apple juice so heavenly. Then I drink the cran-apple and start feeling very jittery, and I'm not sure if it's because I need more hydration or because I've had too much sugar or both. It's hard to find that balance to where I feel like I've had enough to eat and drink, and that I have eaten and drank the correct things.

I did have one bout of nausea early in the pregnancy, right at 7 weeks. I had told an abbreviated portion of about half the story in a Facebook status (and it made everyone, none the wiser, think I had had too much to drink the night before). We had been camping out in Helen, GA after a day at Oktoberfest (I was the DD, of course!). It was about 7:30 AM, and of course, I had to pee. The bathroom was about two football fields away, including some wooded steps and stuff. It was light out, and I didn't feel like I'd be putting my life in danger by going to the bathroom by myself. So I put my shoes on, exit the tent, and immediately trip over the tether of Christian and Hilary's tent, flat on my hands and knees (had some nice abrasions to the hands to prove it). I stood up, walked another 5 feet and tripped over the tether of Eric and Emily's tent. I did not want to fall again, so I went flailing for, literally, about 10 feet until I found a tree I was able to crash into.

Then I walk down the stairs and get right about halfway to the bathroom when this wave of absolute nausea washes over me - that cold sweat, the feeling of numbness in your face, the dizziness. It was so bad, and I had no idea what to do. I felt like I needed Andy, but I had no idea how to get to him. I was just as close to the bathroom as I was to the campsite, minus stairs. I kept on towards the bathroom and had to sit down twice and just be miserable, feeling like I was going o throw up (oh, if only I could have!). I made it to the bathroom and then had to sit down for a really long time on my way out before I could make it back to the campsite. I ended up being okay after that break, but man...It's actually kind of scary when you feel that awful and you're all alone. There were other campers, of course, and I certainly didn't want them all to think I had drank too much the night before!

Is that what morning sickness is all about? Do other women experience that same kind of episode multiple times a day for weeks on end? If so, then I need to stop complaining about ANYTHING because as "blah" as I feel all the time, feeling like that is a rare occasion, and I need to be SO thankful.

Well - my Xmas presents are done being wrapped, so I am un-banished from the living room. Back to my favorite spot on the couch!