Looking Back at the First Trimester

My first trimester weight: 107 lbs

When I first started to show: not this trimester

Biggest change in my body: lots of trips to the ladies' room

Most significant change in my life: eating every few hours so my stomach stayed settled


What I did to stay healthy: prenatals of the gummy variety, no more piping hot baths

The hardest thing to get used to: having no control over what is happening in my body

Most memorable/emotional moment: seeing the heartbeat on our first sonogram

My favorite part about being a new pregnant mom: dreaming about the future

Reflections on the first trimester: Overall, I had a very, very easy trimester. With the exception of some cystic pain in the first couple months, I felt great and only experienced mild symptoms and no morning sickness whatsoever. Sometimes, I almost wished I had some additional symptoms just so I could make sure it was all really happening! I can only hope the pregnancy continues this smoothly. Emotionally, it was a bit of a roller coaster. There were days that were all smiling and staring at sonogram pictures, but also nights that were spent anxiously awake worrying about having a healthy baby and being able to provide for him or her. I am really looking forward to getting out of this trimester and being in a "safer" place for the pregnancy and getting to focus on the fun, tangible things like buying furniture, decorating the nursery, registering, finding infant care, etc.

14 Week Appointment

March 14, 2011

 

Today we visited Dr. Benz for our third appointment. I'm 14 weeks completed and 2 days into the 15th week.

Our first two appointments centered around lab work and sonograms, so I didn't know what to expect at this routine check-up. Except for the 20 week and 36 week sonograms, which are medically necessary, and a few other tests, the rest of our appointments should go like like today's: 1) urine sample 2) weight and blood pressure test 3) listen to baby's heartbeat 4) visit with doctor

Little One's heartbeat was a strong 161 bpm. I held my breath at first because the nurse took awhile to find it with the doppler and we could only hear mine. I started to well up, but when she moved it over to my left side we heard the quick goosh goosh of the baby. Whew!

This is our second old wives' tale to predict a girl (heart beats over 140 = a girl, they say). Fortunately, we won't have to rely on superstition much longer because we scheduled our sex determination appointment! JR is consenting to let us do the elective 4D ultrasound so we can find out the sex at 16 weeks instead of waiting until our next routine sonogram at 20 weeks.

So, less than two weeks away, on Friday, March 25 at 3:00 p.m. we will find out if our Little One is a boy or girl and get to start using gender-appropriate pronouns instead of calling it "IT" all the time! Yay!

In other news, I ordered our crib today and taped off tenative placement of all the nursery furniture. :-)

First Panic Attack

February 5, 2011

 

I flipped out after reading a baby magazine (published by Babies ‘R’ Us) about all of the baby gear we’re going to “have to” buy and store. "The 5 types of strollers you and your baby need" it says! A new car seat for every stage? A jumper, a bouncer, a swing, an entertainment center.

“I don’t know anything about babies!” I wailed. “I didn’t even know there were three kinds of bottle nipples with different rates of flow for different ages,” the sobbing continued.

JR assured me that we would learn all the important things along the way and that we most certainly did not need 5 strollers.

Unexpected First Trimester things

Weird cravings: Krispy Kreme and Curly Fries

Weird cravings fulfilled: JR brought home biscuits and gravy from Central Market AND donut holes from Dales (without me asking)

 

Weird symptoms: Heightened sense of smell - I had to take out all the air fresheners in the house because they were making me feel sick). hyper-sensitive gag reflex - I gagged just thinking about certain foods in the first trimester and can still barely brush my teeth without lurching. Lower abdominal pain from a cyst that eventually cleared up.

More from our second appointment...

Just wanted to share some live-action video of our little Valentine!

Second Doctor's Appointment

Our second appointment with Dr. Benz was on Valentine's day and I was just over 10 weeks. Let me just say, that getting to see and hear Little One was the best Valentine's gift ever! (although a sweet little pearl necklace from JR was a close second) :-) I was desperate to put the ultrasound photo up on Facebook while everyone else was putting up photos of their V-day flower arrangements and gifts, but we still had some family left to tell so I kept my lips sealed until the following Sunday.

Before my ultrasound, I felt: so excited to see the baby again and make sure it was okay

The ultrasound revealed: an actual tiny, human-shaped baby!

My reaction when I first saw the baby: speechless

My reaction when I heard the heartbeat: amazed. The doctor turned on color so we could see where the blood was moving in and out of both the baby and me.

My parent's reaction: my mom got to be there for it and her excitement is definitely audible on the Iphone videos JR took!

Any surprises: No, there was only one in there! But I was so surprised to see that it had grown from a little blobby ameoba to a baby with a nose and arms and legs so quickly. I thought we would just see something peanut-shaped. I was also shocked to see how much it moved. I think I imagined that they were kind of stationary until they got bigger, but this Little One was twitching and doing flips. The doctor even "banged" on my belly with the scanner to get it to jump around some.

After the scan, I felt: shocked for awhile. Even now, I still am when I stop and look at the ultrasound photos pinned up on our fridge.

Pea in a Pod - The first trimester

During the first weeks, I felt: a roller coaster of emotions

My energy: zapped - I tried to get 9-10 hours of sleep each night so I could make it through the day

My skin: unchanged

My hair: desperate for highlights

My body: crampy

Any sickness: none, thankfully

My appetite has been: for junk food

My new favorite food: Eggo waffles

Food I can't touch: meat - no meat for the first trimester and for awhile, the mere thought of most savory foods provoked my gag reflex. One night the sight of a pack of chicken breasts in the fridge sent me heaving over the kitchen sink.

Staples of my pregnancy diet: carbs - lots of carbs