14 weeks

For the most part, this has been a good week.  I've discovered two favorites, can't say I'd call them cravings, but I now really love eating slices of mild cheddar cheese and salad (specifically the kind you get at a salad bar with shredded carrots and cabbage, right? that's cabbage?) with French dressing.  Those are some pretty good favorites if I do say so myself.

I've been getting lightheaded at times, usually in the morning, so I try to make it a point to get plenty of fluids.  I let myself have one big glass of the Lipton sweetened iced tea a day (ok occasionally 2 glasses) then the rest is usually water.  I drink that sparkling water like nobody's business; the burps make me feel better if I need it, too.  My appetite in general seems to be getting better, thankfully, now I just try to stay on top of making healthy choices.  Some days I would love a nice, big sandwich piled with cold deli ham, but I'm following the no lunch meat rule.  Some people say it's fine, but I think I'll survive without it.

Overall I've been feeling pretty good, less tired, less nauseous.  In fact, Sunday night I stopped taking my Unisom.  Monday afternoon I started to feel kind of crummy and as soon as I got home from work I threw up, and it was a doozy.  First time I threw up from actually feeling crappy and not from gagging.  So, that night I was back on the Unisom, but I think the combination of food/fluid loss and having been off the meds, I still wasn't feeling right on Tuesday.  I went into work Tuesday morning at 8, left at 8:30 and threw up by 8:45.  I have been taking the 1/2 Unisom every night and have been feeling just fine, so I figure I'll give it another couple weeks.  I don't want to jinx it, but my gagging problem seems to be improving a bit, not a lot, just a bit.  Speaking of jinxing, I haven't wanted to mention this either, but here it goes.  My acne has been at its worst in recent years.  I was even given a few different medications for it (that I had to stop when trying to conceive).  I assumed it would go hog wild after stopping the prescriptions, especially getting pregnant right away, but by some miracle my skin has been clearer than it's been in a long time.  I realize I have a long way to go yet and that could change at any time, but I'll take it for now!

They say frequent urination typically goes away in your second trimester then comes back in the third.  I'm excited to announce I only had to get up in the middle of the night to pee 4/7 nights the past week!  Such a big accomplishment.  And I think that's all the excitement I've got for now.  I took two pictures this week because I've been getting a few comments here and there about my "bump."  I'm certainly not offended, but I wanted to prove that my "bump" is actually bloat.  I'm rounding out just a tad, but anything noticeable to others at this point is bloating.  The first photo I took right when I woke up and the second I took around 5pm after eating a couple meals and snacking.  See the difference? :)

P.S. anyone else who's documented a pregnancy in photos find it very difficult not to suck your belly in? 

This week's first time mom question: I'm almost positive we'll skip the crib bumpers, but just out of curiosity what are your thoughts on them?

-A

13 weeks

Call it what you want: 13 weeks, 3 months, 2nd trimester-we've made it.  It's actually kind of weird not having this pregnancy be a secret anymore.  I think we both got so used to it being a secret it started to feel normal.  We're certainly very appreciative of all the congratulations and excitement though.  And what a relief to even make it this far (a long way to go yet, I know!). 

Symptoms have been about the same this week as last week.  No gag barfing in the last week though.  Gagging, absolutely, just not causing me to throw up.  I've actually started to occasionally gag on nothing, just randomly happens.  I'm finding it difficult to drink plain water, so I drink carbonated water (the non sugary kind, just plain sparkling water-the burping makes me feel better, too) or water with sliced cucumbers in it.  I'm still needing the half a Unisom at night and still getting up to pee in the middle of the night, but it's tolerable.  In general I haven't felt quite as tired as I did a few weeks ago, but it still hits me every so often.  Yesterday I could hardly keep my eyes open all afternoon.  The weather today was much nicer than it's been so I was able to get out for a walk.  My appetite comes and goes.  I can eat snacks all day (I try to keep it healthy with apples, bagels, cucumbers) but actual meals, especially supper, just don't sound good.  I'm hoping that goes away soon.

Now that we're past the 1st trimester, this is all starting to feel more real.  We've discussed names (don't even ask! and while you're whining about that we're not finding out the sex either) and have decided on a "theme" for the nursery (ocean).  Right now what will be the nursery is more like one giant storage closet, something we'll need to tackle in the coming months.  Things I'm irrationally worried about: where and when to have a baby shower and what if Trevor is at class in Mankato and I need to get to the hospital (also in Mankato).

That's about all I've got for this week.  Oh, and for those of you reading this who can answer some first time mom questions for me...here's number one: What's your best pregnancy tip/advice?

  I should stop taking these after I eat.  It may appear there's a bump, but I think it's just post-eating bloat.  Correct me if you think I'm wrong.

-A

Second OB Appointment, 12.5 weeks

Hooray!!  OK, so we're a few days shy of the official 2nd trimester, but we're calling it good.  We just had our second OB appointment today and all is well!

For those of you just finding this out, obviously, we're pregnant.  Click here to read from the beginning.  If you skip that part, let me just tell you I won't be posting these to Facebook (to spare everyone the pregnancy details if they're not interested) but you can type your email address in the "Follow by Email" box to get updates when there's a new post.  I've been taking "belly" photos, but really there's nothing to see yet.  I was pretty bloated for a while, it went down, now I think it's back, but I'm not sure I can call it a baby bump yet.

Baby Gibbs is due January 25, 2013.  If you do the math, it will appear I got pregnant before Trevor got home.  For those of you who haven't been down this road yet, they start counting pregnancy with the first day of your period, not when you actually got pregnant.  But, again if you do the math, we really didn't waste any time!

Here is the post about our first appointment.  As for today's appointment, it was a quick one.  Well, after almost an hour and a half of waiting it was quick, gotta love the doctor's office!  The doctor came in, asked a few questions, then got out the doppler.  She assured us sometimes it takes a little bit to find the heartbeat, but it really didn't take long at all, phew!  A solid 160 beats per minute and we were happy :) As for symptoms, they've been gradually getting better the last couple weeks...for the most part.  I'm off the Zofran completely and surviving on half a Unisom in the evening.  Luckily, my "morning sickness" is actually "evening sickness" and Unisom helps with nausea and happens to be a sleep aid-works very well.  My boobs are sore, especially when I wake up, but I can deal with that.  My gag reflex is as bad as ever.  That's the only thing that's caused me to actually throw up...6 times now.  I gag on pills or food quite a bit, but if I gag twice-bad news!  Fatigue is getting better, but I'm getting the occasional headache and lightheaded at times, usually after a shower.  All in all, much more manageable than a few weeks ago!

We quickly started making phone calls and it's been so fun to share the news!  For those of you who continue reading, I'll be posting some first time mom questions-I'm sure I'll have plenty-I'd love some input in the comments.

-A

10 weeks, 4 days

No photo with this post.  I've been procrastinating the post because I've been waiting to take a photo, but that's just not happening.  No worries, there's really nothing to see yet aside from varying levels of bloating.  The good news is that by varying levels of bloating I mean it's actually gone down some.  Let me back up a bit...

A couple days after that first appointment we headed to visit family in Wisconsin.  I had been feeling pretty good minus the constipation issue.  I was still in need of nausea relief so I was taking Zofran, but the side effects of that were no good.  I decided to give it a shot without Zofran and have now been off it for about 10 days.  Throughout the day I feel good enough without it (at least to make it worth getting rid of that yucky side effect), but evenings are no fun.  Evening sickness is probably better than morning sickness because I can be lazy and just go to bed.  Also, I've started taking Unisom to help with that which is a sleep aide, much better to be taking that at night than in the morning.  All in all I've been feeling pretty darn good, relatively speaking.  I have to really make an effort to drink plenty of fluids and my appetite isn't completely normal, but I don't feel like death all day.  Oh, one more fun tidbit:  my gag reflex is awful.  I gag on my pills, supper, yogurt, when flossing my teeth, you name it.  Twice I've thrown up from gagging, not nausea, gagging. 

Less than two weeks til our next appointment.  I'm feeling pretty good about things, but still anxious to make sure there's still a solid heartbeat!  I'm sure I'll be nervous in one way or another the whole time, but I'm hoping my mind will be at ease to know we made it to 12.5 weeks and all is well.  And, bonus, that's when all of this stops being a secret.  CAN'T WAIT.  We have a couple get togethers/parties coming up that are going to be very tricky to hide.  I can come up with excuses not to drink, but no hot tubs, no slip n slides, no water skiing/tubing and no drinking get a little obvious.

I'll do better on an 11 week photo this Friday.

-A

First Ultrasound - 8 weeks, 5 days

Holy cow!  Waiting for that first ultrasound will fill anyone up with anxiety.  Waiting for it after having a previous miscarriage, one that came with no symptoms, seemed impossible!  But today finally came and here's how it went.

I went with Trevor to Mankato this morning and while he was in class I got to hang out with Angie and her girls.  I was pretty nervous and ended up spilling the beans.  Trevor and I had lunch at Noodles when he was done with class.  The first appointment for our last pregnancy was exactly one year ago and I ate at Noodles then, too.  I was hoping it would bring us some good "come full circle" luck.  We still had 2 hours to kill after lunch, so we went to the mall for a little bit.  After one hour we decided to just go to the clinic early and wait there, maybe we could even get seen early.  

I knew the drill at the clinic, and that the ultrasound part comes at the very end of this ridiculously long appointment.  First, the Medical Assistant called me in for some basic vitals.  My blood pressure was 122/64 and my pulse was 78, both of those are actually fairly high for me.  I wonder why...

The Medical Assistant sent me back to the waiting room for what felt like an eternity.  I'm sure it wasn't.  The next step was both of us meeting with the OB Nurse Educator.  She went over prenatal health and took a thorough medical history for Trevor, me and our families.  She answered a few questions about pregnancy "rules" then we were sent back to the waiting room.  Funny side note: I had to go to the bathroom pretty badly at this point, so she showed me the bathroom on the way back to the waiting room.  After I went to the bathroom, my doctor's nurse stopped me on the way out.  Typically the lab is the last stop, but I think they were filling time and wanted to send me down there now, before seeing the doctor.  We went down to the lab for blood work and, you guessed it, a urine sample.  Luckily, a pregnancy symptom is frequent urination so there was no problem.

We came back up to the waiting room...again...and we both were getting really anxious.  Trevor was focusing all of his energy on random cell phone games.  I couldn't focus on anything.  I was freezing when we arrived and was wearing a sweatshirt, but quickly started sweating and took it off.  

Finally...we were called in to see the doctor.  But, of course, doctors' time is more valuable than ours so once in the exam room, we still had to sit and wait.  Between big gaps of silence, we both expressed how we were anxious and nervous, but excited to finally be at this part of the exam.  Our OB came in and immediately said congratulations-something we've both been hesitant to accept thus far.  She asked how we were doing and I may have jumped down her throat with my, "NERVOUS."  She had read the medical history from the previous pregnancy and was very understanding.  She said she'd try to do the first part (talking part) as quickly as possible so we could get to the next part.  And she did just that.  Honestly, I don't even remember what we discussed, some brief medical history stuff, the last pregnancy, probably something else.  Then she brought in the ultrasound machine and it was time to change into my "paper towel" as Trevor called it.

First she did all the basics of a regular pelvic exam.  Then, first exciting thing, she confirmed my uterus has expanded (this is good!).  And finally, time for the big show!  The doctor got the ultrasound machine all set up, had Trevor stand by my side where he could see the screen and it was go-time.  She had to move around quite a bit at first (probably checking for quantity since I expressed that as one of my questions) then there we saw it, heartbeat and all.  I knew I saw the heartbeat before she said anything, but I kept it to myself.  I was afraid she'd correct me or something so I just waited.  At last, she said "I saw the heartbeat," and I said "me too" and the tears started flowing.  I still needed to know what the heart rate was and how baby was measuring, but this was huge hurdle number one.  Moving right along, she pointed out baby's head and arm while taking measurements.  Then she turned on the audio so we could hear the precious 172 beats per minute for ourselves.  Enter more tears.  She printed a few photos for us, honestly don't look like much to me on the photos (was much clearer on her moving screen), but I can pick out the head and arm.  But we know what we saw and we couldn't be more relieved.  A few noteworthy phrases from Dr. Carlson today were that baby looked "awesome," we "couldn't have had a more reassuring scan," and I don't remember the exact wording but we both know she said the word "perfect" a few times.  One of the photos says baby is measuring 8 weeks 4 days (one day off, no biggie at all), and the other says 8 weeks 5 days (right on schedule).  I can't express the excitement and relief, so instead I just want to keep typing about it, but I think you all get the point (reading this a few weeks after the fact).  Just for funzies-here's a close up of on of the photos we got:

The two plus signs indicate where the doctor is measuring, head to rump.  Left side is the head, and you can see an arm sticking up on top in the middle.  

Now we're both exhausted after such a long, emotionally draining (exciting!) day, so it's bedtime!

8 weeks, 1 day

I was home all day yesterday, but just too tired to write anything.  This week started out awful.  I had just started the Zofran which was helping, but I think my "morning" sickness was getting worse at the same time.  I was in a vicious cycle of needing the Zofran to be able to function at all, but I forgot how quickly that stuff made me constipated.  Let's just say it was a long weekend.  Luckily, the last couple of days I've been able to reduce the Zofran to three 4mg pills per day (instead of 4) and I actually feel decent.  Not great, decent.  I still take a nap whenever possible and get tired about 8pm, but this I can actually handle...with the help of Zofran that is.  My chest seems to keep growing and getting more sore, but I can handle that, too.  The feeling awful is the only thing really bringing me down right now.

I wore maternity pants for the first time on Thursday because I am SO BLOATED.  I truly think it's way too early for any type of baby bump, this is all the result of a high-carb diet (to settle my stomach) and some bloating/water retention.  

I had totally been slacking on household stuff, so today I was very pleased to be able to vacuum, do laundry, and empty the dishwasher.  That's about all the excitement I've got for this week.  We've graduated from an embryo to a fetus for those wondering what's actually happening.  I think we're both just getting really anxious for our first appointment (and ultrasound) on Wednesday!  All I want to hear is that everything looks okay.

7 weeks

My how things can change in a week.  The symptoms seem to be kicking in a bit more this week.  I feel more bloated-almost broke down and started wearing some of the maternity pants I've got stashed away, but instead I've gotten away with fastening my regular pants with a hair tie.  My chest has grown and gotten more sore.  I feel like I need naps even more.  And, the worst of all, my nausea has really kicked in, so much that I broke down and started taking the Zofran I have left from last time.  I haven't actually thrown up, but in some ways I feel like it's worse than having the flu.  At least with the flu you feel awful, throw up and have some relief, even if it doesn't last long.  With this, I just feel lousy all the time.  Oh, and I have a yeast infection-more common during pregnancy.  (I wasn't lying when I said this is where I'll put all the fun pregnancy stuff)

Trevor's been great-trying to keep anything that might smell bad away from me and not complaining that I'm too lazy to put laundry away.  He also spent all day today doing yardwork (fertilizing and weed killing) while I napped inside because I can't be around anything that kills weeds.  

Speaking of symptoms, it's getting to be my bedtime.  Here's this weeks picture...still nothing to see.