Halfway through....

On Valentine's Day tomorrow, I will officially be halfway through my pregnancy. I feel fortunate that I have been so healthy this pregnancy. No morning sickness and a normal weight gain. At this point, I am 14 pounds heavier than before the baby. I take pride in the fact that I have been able to do exactly what needs to be done to take care of both myself and my baby. And so, for the new picture of the month:

I have been told that I am getting bigger at a rapid rate. Lindsay saw me just last weekend in Raleigh and when she came to visit with the boys this week, she told me I looked twice as big. So apparently, something really is happening.

I have definitely found some staples in my wardrobe-- the pictured white tank top, for one. It is fun to get to try on a new set of clothes for a while. Some of my shirts are actually cuter than my normal clothes, but then again, I think I like everything more with my new and improved upper body shape, if you know what I mean.

While I am commenting on the pregnancy overall, I must say that today, for the first time, I felt what I know had to be the baby kicking. I was laying in bed this morning, dreading going out into the cold and ice. It was silent and I had my hands on my baby bump. And out of nowhere, there was a tap from under my fingers. Now, I have had what I think are baby kicks. I was unsure of these because it always seemed there was something else that could explain it. A gas bubble, my ever expanding innards, or something else going on in there. But this felt different. I felt it from the outside, a movement outwards. There is no other explanation other than a little arm or leg moving about. It was really cool and I successfully poked the little one until it did it a second time. I haven't felt it as strongly since, but then again, I think if I were laying without noise around me, I would feel it again.

There are so many things with this pregnancy that really, you can't put into good words. As a writer this is frustrating. Not being able to explain how it felt when I KNEW I was pregnant at two weeks along. Not being able to explain the aches and pains I feel each day or the throbbing I feel in my leg in my sleep. And now, I can't explain the way this felt or how I knew that it couldn't possibly be something else. But I did know. No offense to all those out there, but it didn't feel like a butterfly. Then again, I don't really know what a butterfly feels like either.