Weeks 3 and 4: Hello, Blump.

"They" always say that every pregnancy is different and that your symptoms with a second pregnancy can be completely unlike a first pregnancy. Well, "they" are right! Around the time I started to suspect I might be pregnant this time, the signs were mostly familiar, but not the same early signs that I had the first time.

The Early Symptoms:

• Head to toe pimples (well, head to ankle, to be precise. Ewwww).
• Ovarian pain and severe cramping around implantation.
• Slightly tender breasts (but not the howling pain of last time).
• Fatigue (this took longer to hit last time).
• Dizziness. This one is totally new to me - I've had it since 4 weeks!
• A "full" feeling in my uterus at 4 weeks. I thought, "hmm, this feels familiar!" It was the first time I really thought I might be pregnant. 
• Last, but certainly not least, constipation (and its awful minion, THE SUPER BLOAT).

What is Missing:

• Morning sickness. I have had only the most minor nausea from time to time due to the hormones slowing down my digestive tract. But no morning sickness! This happened almost immediately last time.
• Morning Sickness's buddy, Super Smell. It is heightened, for sure, but nowhere near what it was last time!
• Extreme hunger. I haven't been any more hungry than usual. Last time, I was like a Hobbit with my "elevensies."

Some of the ladies on my message boards call a bloat-bump a "blump" and it always strikes me as funny. I definitely have a "blump"! So much so that, when I told a close friend I was expecting, she said, "I thought you might be, because I noticed your little bump the other day." I was only around 7 weeks at the time, though I have been this big since about 4 weeks.

My pants already don't fit and I am actually having a skinny day here.
Last time I was 12 weeks before this happened!

My affectionate name for myself right now is The Whale-rus. As for the little one, we can't decide on a nickname. So far, we have tried and ruled out the following (I love bullet points, can you tell?)

1. Bean
2. Spud
3. Squib
4. Sparrow
5. Snowpea (this one might grow on us).

We'll eventually get there. It's kind of hard to follow after a great prenatal nickname like "Shrimpy"!

Whale-rus, OUT!