{I popped around 12-13 weeks & loved the winter issue of Click Magazine… so much newborn goodness}
How we found out:
I had a health scare towards the end of the fall. Maybe I will share more details about that, but– I ended up needing to go back to my doctor for a closer look. I was so upset and scared that Seth took time off of work to take me. In hindsight I truly see that as a huge blessing. I had no idea we were expecting. As a protocol, they had me take a pregnancy test. I have probably taken about 15 of these throughout the years and thought nothing of it. There had been a bigger storm, and so I didn’t think twice about the longer-than-usual wait. When the doctor came in she had a huge smile on her face, and she congratulated me. I asked her “for what?” “You’re pregnant!” Ha. It went from being a stressful appointment to a happy one. After my exam she asked if I wanted to have Seth come in. I told her “yes!”
Meanwhile, Seth was sitting in the waiting room. When the nurse called him back he was nervous and scared, thinking something was wrong. She brought him into my exam room and shut the door to give us some privacy. I told him our news and he smiled a huge grin. “That’s the best news!” he said, It was very cute 😉 Thankfully, the results that I was so nervous about turned out in my favor.
How we shared our news with family and friends:
This was probably the highlight of the first trimester for me! We chose to share our news with our parents early. I shared more about that here. I had hoped to do a cute photo shoot for our public announcement, but was so sick that I ended up just shooting it myself in our home. I’m sort of glad we did, I love how it turned out. Here are our announcement photos.
Symptoms:
Awful!!!!!! I started feeling “sick” around 6 weeks, right after a quick trip I took to NYC and immediately in time for Christmas and my birthday. My symptoms were quite strong– vomiting up to 5x per day and sometimes nausea that was so intense I didn’t feel safe enough to drive. Thankfully, my midwife prescribed me with Zofran. I had already been taking B6 and Unisom, which helped some, but not entirely. Everything peeked around 12-14 weeks. It was intense. I felt worse at night, but often threw up right away in the morning if I didn’t eat fast enough or had the audacity to sleep past 6:30 or 7am. I am one who normally eats breakfast right before I leave and my symptoms required me to change that routine completely.
Cravings:
Anything fresh– fruits and veggies, mostly. I have never craved fruit before like I did in my first trimester. I couldn’t get enough oranges or berries. Once I drank an entire gallon of orange juice throughout the span of a single day. I also survived on white rice with soy sauce {not the best, obviously!}, and oyster crackers.
Aversions:
Rich foods. I couldn’t stand to eat heavy pastas, anything super creamy, or meat.
New Things I Noticed:
The best places to throw up… kidding 😉 I knew that my first trimester might mean lots of naps and feeling tired. For me it was not a “I need to lay down” tired, but instead an almost flu like, body ache exhaustion. I didn’t really want to take naps, but I felt like I was barely functioning. A the time, it didn’t occur to me that this was how tiredness manifested itself in T1 for me. Looking back, it seems so obvious to me. At the time, I just wanted to be left alone in a dark room. I was grumpy and argumentative. Poor Seth!
Weight Gain:
I lost about 4-5 pounds during my first trimester.
Things I thought I’d miss but didn’t:
Wine. I love red wine, specifically Malbec. During my first few weeks I had no desire for it. In fact, I remember telling someone that my desire for alcohol was totally gone, and if that someone asked me to give it up for the rest of my life, that I could easily answer “that’s fine.”
Things I missed but didn’t think I would:
Feeling energized and productive. This is a large part of my personal identity so it was challenging to feel so sick and tired all.the.time.
Feelings:
I was really grumpy and argumentative, poor Seth! I think I didn’t realize how much the hormones would impact my moods. Looking back I wish I could have relaxed more and recognized that so many changes were taking place and that I needed to chill.
