Pregnancy the second time around

danicavday210.jpgMy daughter's view of me pregnant with my "big, fat belly."

After several months of all day

morning sickness

and the other fun stuff that goes along with pregnancy, getting to the second trimester with my sense of humor intact seemed like an impossible dream. I know every


is different but I hadn't expected that the

second time around

would be the polar opposite of my pregnancy with my daughter, which was basically a breeze.

Along with the difficulty every parent faces of raising an older child while pregnant with another, my daughter became a surprising source of comfort - and humor.

She broke the news to my mom that we were having a second by yelling, "Mommy got warm jelly on her belly today (referring to an ultrasound) and I'm going to have a baby brother or sister!" We'd planned to tell my mom that day but leave it to my daughter to have her own presentation planned.

And while many women dread the inevitable pregnancy weight gain I have to laugh - and wonder - at my girl's impressions of me as a pregnant woman. For Valentine's Day she drew what I thought was just a wobbly stick figure but then she told me, "It's you with your big, fat belly!"

Ok, I'm not really showing yet, so how big a piece of paper is she going to need when she draws me at 8 months?
