I should probably document that.
This pregnancy has been so different than my first.
I started getting sick at a little over 5 weeks. With Maddie I was almost 8 weeks. The nausea was horrible. I kept reminding myself that it was a good sign, because that's was the only thought that got me through days of being sick and not being able to eat hardly anything. I lost a few pounds within just a few days of being sick. After that I started forcing myself to eat even though it just made me more sick. I still lost weight though, just slower. Taking my vitamins was the worst. It felt like rocks were just sitting in my stomach. I was sick 24 hours a day. I can remember 2 times where I didn't feel sick. It was so exciting! I just kinda started forcing myself to eat. My first pregnancy, nothing tasted good and I had a ton of smell aversions. This time, food tasted great, but the second it started heading down my throat, my stomach would go crazy. I couldn't even drink water. It sat like cement. Nothing was easy on my stomach. It was so joyous!
The fatigue with this pregnancy has been insaaaane. Thank goodness I am working part-time right now. I don't know how I'd do it otherwise. I sleep for 9-10 hours every night, and wake up exhausted. I take a nap every day after work, and am still ready for bed by 9 or 10. It's nuts. Way more intense than the first time.
I also started showing wayyy earlier. I know some of it was bloat, but a lot of it was just my uterus growing like it was on steroids. If I hadn't seen for myself that there is only 1 baby in my uterus, I would have thought it was twins. I actually had people congratulating me when I was 8 weeks along. I was like, "Oh.. thanks.. I.. um.. haven't told anyone?" I tried to wear flowy shirts, but I would watch them stare at my belly. So much for being discreet! We actually thought about not telling anyone until we knew the sex this time. Yeah, that didn't work.
Here's a pictorial representation of the first trimester.
I have heard it said many times that there's a chemical in a woman's brain that makes her forget the awfulness of childbirth so that she will have more babies. I disagree. I think it erases the awfulness of the first trimester. Those weeks are way worse than giving birth.
We got to have 3 doctor appointments and 3 ultrasounds during the first trimester which was aweeeeesome. I was having a lot of pains just a week after finding out we were pregnant and I basically called and demanded an ultrasound. I am one of those pregnant ladies this time around. With Madelyn, I knew something was wrong and everyone, including nurses and hospital staff, just brushed it off. I promised myself that this time around, I would fight anyone who tried to play down my concerns. When I first called with the pains, the nurse told me to just take tylenol. Sweet. (I ADORE my doctor with all my heart, but her nurses are the worst). The next night I called later at night and got through to the on-call doctor who kinda tried to brush things off until I kept questioning her and she agreed to schedule me to have an ultrasound the next day. Her ultrasound went well and she said the baby looked fine but she couldn't figure out why I was having pain. So she sent me for another ultrasound, which I didn't mind, because I got to see the baby more! They determined I have ovarian cysts, and that everything was fine! We went in for my first official appointment (about 8 weeks) and saw that sweet little baby again!
On our third appointment, we got to actually hear the heartbeat. It was the most incredible sound. I was actually really worried about this part. The last time someone tried to find my baby's heartbeat, they couldn't. And I got the worst news in the world. My doctor told me she was going to try and find the heartbeat, but I wasn't that far along so she might not be able to, but that didn't mean anything. It just meant I wasn't far along enough yet. But I panicked. If she couldn't find it, even if everything was totally fine, I would be a mess. I needed to hear that sound. I am so freaking glad she found it. And she found it fast. The heartbeat was strong and perfect. Biggest relief ever. Nathan recorded the sound, and I listen to it a lot. I will never take the sound of my children's heartbeats for granted. I can't; knowing how it feels when that precious heartbeat stops.
So goodbye first trimester. You and I have never been good friends. I am so looking forward to finding out the sex and feeling those first kicks. Oh, and my sickness leaving 100%. That would be nice too :) Here's a few random belly shots. The swelling has gone down so I am not as huge as I was in the beginning.
blah keep hanging in there lady! You look adorable with your belly :)
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