I am now well into my 2nd trimester and I am 23 weeks to be exact. You are the size of a large mango and weigh a little over 1 pound. The second trimester is my favorite time during the pregnancy, not that the first and third aren't fun. But, there are so many changes that happen during the second trimester. The first trimester brought on exhaustion and nausea. Luckily I have not got sick with you like I did your brother. And the last trimester, from what I remember when I was pregnant with your brother, was exhausting, uncomfortable with an expanding belly and sleepless nights.
The second trimester is great because I get to feel your movements for the first time. I first felt you when I was 16 weeks. It was very suttle movements like fluttering butterflies in my stomach. But it is so miraculous. I continue to feel you every day and those flutter movements have gotten much stronger and kicks and jabs are being felt from the outside now. Your dad still has not got the joy of feeling you yet. I think he's starting to think you don't like him, so if you could do me a favor and make him not feel left out give him a kick soon, please :) However your brother has felt your kick already. It was such a sweet moment.
Let me tell you something about your brother before I go any further, he likes to "bat" his arms and hit when someone is laying or sitting next to him. He doesn't mean harm and we believe it's just his way of trying to communicate with us. But we are working with him on being gentle and not to hit, especially before you arrive. So the other night, you were being very active. So dad brought Tyler over to me and we all sat on the couch with everyone's hands on my belly waiting patiently for your next movement. I think you knew something was up, because you immediately stopped and became still. I guess you thought we were all ganging up on you. Your brother was somewhat being gentle but pushing his hand heavily on my belly. He has to use his hands to balance himself to sit upright and well he was using my stomach for much of that support, which resulted in him pushing on my belly. Shortly there after him pushing on my belly, you give your strongest kick you have given right on his hand. I thought, uh oh, I believe your first brotherly/sisterly fight began and wondered how many of those the two of you will have. I'm sure it won't be the last. Tyler just smiled really big and moved his hand immediately.
Another thing I like about this trimester is finding out your gender. Your dad and I went to the doctor's office together and found out that our newest addition is going to be a girl. So let's bring on the pink!!!
Now the biggest decision we have is deciding on a name. A name is a big part of your life and something you will have to live with forever. We are narrowing it down but decided to keep this between me and your dad until you arrive. We would like to surprise our family and friends with something on your big day.
Love, Mom
6 years ago today was one of the proudest moments of my life. It was the day Tyler was born. Finding out Tyler's diagnosis early in my pregnancy helped me prepare for that day, six years ago. There was many mixed emotions of happy, scared and worried. But overall, I was overjoyed to finally meet my son. We still had the unknown, is he going to make it, how severe is the hydro going to affect him, etc. But we knew that once he was here, we could and will do everything we can to help him.
