Amy and Mitch's Adventures: June Baby...Thoughts on the 1st trimester

Well I'm 13 weeks pregnant this week. I am due around June 22, 2014. On Saturday, I will officially be kissing my 1st trimester goodbye and welcoming the 2nd trimester. I heard this is the time where women get their energy back and the nausea/vomiting goes away. Let's hope I am your typical woman and this is the case. The first trimester has had its challenges which no one prepared me for (I'm not sure why women don't tell other women what they went through). I'm pretty sure there would be less kids in this world if women knew about all the joys of those first few months. For me, "morning" sickness (which by the way is a misnomer that should be renamed "all day sickness") started at about six weeks. I was nauseous in the AM which seem to ease with eating breakfast. I had about a 4-5 hour window of feeling like myself and then the nausea would set in at around 4:30 and last until I was done for the night. I always found relief when eating but then I'd quickly not feel well again. I had one episode of drive heaving where I had to get off the train. It looked pretty bad considering it was late at night and I was close to the university campus. Looked like I had too much fun at a party!! I can't say my eating habits changed that much (quantity wise) despite not feeling great. My bigger meals has definitely been breakfast and lunch and I'd have a smaller dinner because I didn't like the feeling of being full on top of nauseous. Because of the nausea, I often found it hard to know when I was actually hungry; I sort of lost that hunger feeling you get in your stomach when you're ready for a meal. That has been very strange for me. I just tried to eat three meals a day with a snack in between so I wasn't going more than 2-3 hours without eating. Sounds like what a Registered Dietitian would do, I know. In the evening I've relied a lot of dried ginger, digestive cookies, and crackers. I've even caved and my doctor put me on Diclectin. It makes my day time hours more manageable but again doesn't seen to make a difference at night. Then came the taste aversions like tomato sauce that always seemed to taste bitter and salads or any cold vegetables. I've had a lot of cravings mostly sugary candy, chocolate, pasta, and pickles. My cravings usually win.

I already have had one ultrasound at 8 weeks and got to hear the heart beat which I've been told was a good sign early on. A fetal heart beat is approximately 160 beats/min. So so fast! I can't even get my heart rate up that high when I'm exercising. I have enjoyed getting the week by week updates on how big the fetus should be and what kind of development is occurring. This week 'lil Weinberg is about an ounce and is 3 inches long. Last week, I had my follow up with my primary doc and I got to hear the fetal heart beat with this Doppler they use. That was very cool and reassuring because at this point I still can't feel any movement. That shouldn't happen for another 3-9 weeks. No rush!

I think this week I've starting showing just a tiny bit if you look at me laterally. I told my lab and office mates last week and I find myself after saying "I'm pregnant" I follow it up with "I know I don't look pregnant." I hoping soon I won't feel the need to explain myself. I still fit into my clothes even though I didn't think I would. Only time will tell when I need invest in maternity clothes. I hope it's a while because I have the worst time finding pants. Maybe being pregnant will be different.

After we move, we'll likely start the process of buying things. Until then we're in serious packing mode for our upcoming move on January 17. It's been challenging for me to get ready because of the fatigue but I try to do as much as I can earlier in the day especially on weekends. We're in really good shape and there aren't much more boxes to pack aside from our bare necessities that we're using now. I'm glad to be getting the moving over with early in the pregnancy while I'm still able to lift smaller boxes and actually help out.

That pretty much sums it up. Happy New Year family and friends! Exciting things to come in 2014!