Oh, Boy!

Dear Conrad,

I was eagerly counting down the days until June 8th, which was when my appointment was. I had already been working night shift for a month by this point, and earlier in the week I had to drive 300 miles to be a bridesmaid in a friend's wedding, so by the time that 8:30 am appointment rolled around, I was exhausted.

When the sonographer finally got to the exciting part of the scan, I was nearly asleep. I worried for days afterward that she thought I was disappointed to find out you were a boy, because my reaction was less than enthusiastic due to my exhaustion. Maybe if she had told me that she was about to do the gender portion of the scan, I could have perked up and given the ecstatic response you deserved.

Second Trimester

Dear Conrad,

Second trimester is usually the easiest trimester out of the three, and mine was no exception. The minor stomach discomfort I sometimes felt went away completely, and my tummy was looking perfectly pregnant.

The only bad thing about second tri was that in order for your mommy and daddy to make enough money that summer, we had to take a night job working security for the University of Missouri - where your dad was studying to get his master's in music. It wasn't so bad. We worked four to five nights a week from midnight to 6 am, and walked about 3 miles a night, which was really good for me in retrospect. I learned that staying up late into the wee hours of the morning is completely different from being at work all night.

I hardly took any pictures of myself during pregnancy, which I regret now. I did get this one in the bathroom mirror, however.

I took this on June 19th, so I was 22 weeks and 1 day along here. I had known for 11 days that you were going to be a little Conrad.

Puckering Up

Dear Conrad,

Somewhere near the end of first trimester and through most of second trimester, I had a craving for all things sour. I drank lots of lemonade, ate blackberries and other tart fruits, and craved Sour Skittles and Sour Patch Kids. Normally I can only have a these things in moderation, but I couldn't get enough of them during pregnancy. Some old wives' tales say that should have been a cue to me that you were a boy, but I kept thinking you were going to be a girl. Forgive your mommy; with all her male friends, girls are still what she knows best. I have a lot to learn from you.