Let’s start off with the first trimester…weeks 1-12
As I sit here trying to come up with blog posts for the many scrambled, jumbled, and unorganized notes I’ve taken for the last 6 months of my pregnancy… I think to myself, “Why didn’t you write these pregnancy posts as things were happening?”
The first day of my last period was March 25th, 2016…a couple weeks later I started cramping right before I was supposed to start my period, so I chalked it up to pre-period cramps, but they lasted for 3 weeks, which was not normal at all. There were no signs of spotting for that entire 3 weeks that I was cramping. Two weeks into those cramps Derrick suggested that I take an at-home pregnancy test, but later that day we were both like, “Naaah, I don’t think so,” but we ultimately decided that I should.
On May 5th (5.5) I took the at-home Clearblue Plus Pregnancy Test. I was gonna take it with my first pee of the morning, but I forgot…
I sat down on the toilet, let my pee run over it for 5 seconds and it IMMEDIATELY turned positive, but I still waited the full 3 minutes like it was gonna magically change… nope. I looked at the test with big eyes and my mouth just dropped, like, “Whaaaaaa?!” I wasn’t happy or sad…I didn’t want a baby, but we weren’t doing anything to prevent it. I got dressed, put the test in a sandwich bag and headed to Derrick’s job. I started to record but couldn’t be discreet with the camera, so he knew something was up. His reaction wasn’t at all what I expected.
I called my Dr. the same day to see when I could come in for a legit pregnancy test and they said I didn’t need to make an appointment for blood work. I just needed to go to the lab between certain hours, so I went the same day. They said the results could take up to 3 business days, which would have been Tuesday, but they called me the very next morning and said the test was positive.
We told our closest family members the same day or week we found out.
Symptoms
Over the course of the first trimester, my symptoms were all over the place.
- I experienced the cramping first.
- I wasn’t able to sleep on my stomach pretty early…like, the day we found out I was pregnant, it became uncomfortable and I’m pretty sure it was just mental. So, if I wanted to sleep on my stomach I would sleep with one leg up towards my chest because I obviously wasn’t showing yet.
- Sometimes when I would go to eat…my usual, oatmeal and toast…and usual amount, I wouldn’t be able to finish it, but I would still be hungry, like, my stomach felt empty. Although I couldn’t eat all of my food, my appetite definitely increased. I would feel so hungry and not a normal hungry. My stomach would be like, “FEED ME NOW.” And I just ate 2 hours ago. I’m not a snacker, and never have been, so that was hard being constantly hungry.
- If I got up fast after laying down, I would feel light-headed/woozy when I started to walk.
- My breasts became tender and looked more plump way earlier than I expected…around 6-7 weeks, which of course my husband was enjoying.
- I would get so tired just walking from one room to another. My heart would be racing and pounding hard, which was not good. I didn’t like the feeling.
- I had zero energy up until about week 13, and I was glad to have it back.
And last but not least, the worst was how bad it hurt when I had to pee… I don’t mean a burning sensation like I had a UTI or anything, but my bladder felt like it was gonna explode every single time I had to pee. Like it couldn’t hold one more drop. It was especially bad when I would have to get up in the middle of the night. I had to roll out of bed so slow and mosey to the bathroom, kinda holding my stomach because it hurt so bad. It was so much pressure and not like a normal feeling for a full bladder. So glad that’s over. This also stopped around week 13.
Prenatal Appointments:
- Appointment 1. May 23, 2016. I was 8 weeks and 2 days pregnant. First they weigh you and I was 118 lbs. I took a urine pregnancy test and they took blood, which tested for sooooo many things. The nurse asked me questions about my health history, Derricks, and then about our family’s. I informed them that I decided to take the gummy prenatal vitamins because prenatal pills are humongous and I can’t swallow big pills.
She performed a vaginal ultrasound and Derrick, of course, was telling her it was a boy the entire time. He looked way bigger on the big screen than he actually was; he wasn’t even 2 cm. As she was moving the scope around, I thought I could see little eye sockets, but the Dr. said she didn’t see anything. I was able to hear his heartbeat as well. It was pretty cool. After the ultrasound, getting all that gel they put on the scope off of you is a task in itself… goodness.
- Appointment 2. June 20, 2016. 12 weeks and 2 days. Every appointment after your initial one is considered routine. So again, I peed in a cup, they weighed me…I was now 119, up 1 lb from last month, took my blood pressure and listened to the baby’s heartbeat (171 BPM). Not much info was given.
She told me the results from my 8-week blood test. Blood count was “great” at 12.5. I am negative for syphilis, gonorrhea, hepatitis, HIV. My measles, mumps, and rubella shot worked. I was confused when she said that the shot took because I hadn’t gotten any shots recently. My drug screen came back negative. I asked her how my iron levels were, because I didn’t know that was the same as my blood count, which she had already stated was great. I briefly questioned my prenatal gummies because the thing about gummies is that they don’t contain iron, because gummies appeal to children…if they get into them, they may think they are candy and can get iron poisoning.
Questions I asked the Dr. and her answers
1. Why do I get tired so fast just going from one room to another?
- She said being tired is exemplified in pregnancy.
2. Why does my bladder hurt or feel like a lot of pressure when I have to pee?
- She said that’s common because your uterus, where the baby grows, sits right behind your bladder. The further along you get, there’s gonna be more pressure on your bladder, and you might even leak with sneezing or coughing, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
3. Can I drink meal replacement shakes?
- She said yes, that’s totally fine.
4. When having sex, can my husband still ejaculate inside of me?
- She said yes, you won’t get pregnant again, which I knew.
Trimester 2: Weeks 13-27
It seemed almost instant that I got my energy back once I hit 13 weeks. Also, the pain and pressure I was feeling when I had to pee started to go away, yay! My appetite was definitely through the roof. I would eat, but still be hungry. I had to eat a pretty hefty amount of food in order to get full. I developed a cold during week 13 that continued for half of week 14.
Sometime during week 14 I made meatloaf, homemade mashed potatoes, and corn. After dinner my husband and I started to clean up our spare bedroom and the cramps started and all I could do was lie on the floor. The cramps were EXTREME; like nothing I’d ever experienced before. I honestly thought I could have been miscarrying. It hurt so bad. It happened for about 5 mins then stopped. I went back to cleaning and it started up again, so I just had Derrick come lay me down on the bed. I got up out the bed a few minutes later and went and sat on the toilet… turns out it was just diarrhea. TMI, I know, but oh well. I’ve never felt like that just to use the bathroom. Derrick said every time it’s time to do the deep cleaning I always get sick, lol.
During week 15 I felt where he… the baby, was for the first time. I was in MI visiting my mom and I felt a hard area on my stomach and everywhere else was squishy. I had to call my mom in the room to feel him. I also felt like I had to pee a lot throughout trimester 2, but only a little bit came out. Blah.
During the family reunion
We were in MI visiting family and for Derrick’s family reunion, we drove to Ohio. We were among the first ones to get to the hotel. As more people started to pour in, someone says to me, “You’re getting fat!” Before the family reunion, I had just read an article on the rude things you’ll hear during pregnancy…so I was kind of prepared. I just responded by saying, “No I’m not… I look the same.” At the time I was pushing 16 weeks and I had on a white, flowy two-layer shirt, so you couldn’t even really tell.
The Unwarranted Reveal
A tradition that his family has at reunions is for everyone to write down their accomplishments and it is read aloud, which I think is a great idea. You only get to see your family once a year, if that, and it gives everyone a chance to let others know what they have accomplished. One of Derrick’s cousins that we’re pretty close to told me that Derrick’s dad was planning on announcing that we were having a baby. Once I was aware of this I told Derrick and he told his dad not to say anything, but did he listen? Nope. After it was all said and done, Derrick went to his dad and said I told you not to say anything and his dad said “Why? You should have reiterated.” I understand he is happy to be a grandpa, but we asked him not to say anything and he did it anyway. We shouldn’t have to “reiterate.”
I honestly don’t know what we were waiting for when telling people, but it was still our decision.
One Gassy Pregnant Lady
And let me tell you about my gas…oh my goodness! So when it was time for everyone to go and do their own thing during the family reunion…I went with the ladies to the mall. I was so gassy on my way to the mall, but I just held it in. I know my body and that my gas smells worse if I have to poop. In the middle of shopping, I went to the bathroom, you know, spread out a couple layers of tissue on the toilet seat and sat down. I was probably sitting there for a good 10-15 mins and nothing. Blah. I left the bathroom and the gas and poop feeling came back so I went again. It wasn’t even much. Don’t ya hate that? You feel like you have to let out the biggest poop of all time and it turns out to be just a little turd. They had to come and check on me, I was in there for a while.
On our way back to MI, the gas didn’t stop. I tried holding it in since there was 4 other people in the car, but that only made my stomach hurt, so I started to let them rip. His cousin, who was sitting right next to me kept looking at me, covering her nose and yelling, “CHRISSY!!!” and all I could do was laugh because they had rolled the windows down, but I didn’t smell not one fart. I was laughing so hard my eyes started watering. Sorry y’all!
Back to our regularly scheduled programming…
I wouldn’t feel sleepy, but I would just be laying there and I would just fall asleep. Also, at around 16 weeks, I was sitting on a bar stool and when I went to get up, I had lower left stomach pain which continued as I tried to step into the bathtub. I had to try a few times to lift my leg just to get in the tub because it would hurt. My Dr. later told me that that is considered round ligament pain. (Round ligament pain is a sharp pain or jabbing feeling often felt in the lower belly or groin area on one or both sides. It is one of the most common complaints during pregnancy and is considered a normal part of pregnancy. It is most often felt during the second trimester.) (WebMD, 2016)
18 Weeks Pregnant – Finding out the sex
At 18 weeks (July 29th) we had to go to a whole different area of the hospital for the ultrasound to find out the sex. The ultrasound tech was pretty rude and very dismissive. When we first got into the room we had started to record and she rudely said, “You can’t record. We don’t let anyone record.” It seems pretty harmless, but the way she said it and her tone could have been different. We asked her a fair amount of questions during the ultrasound and it was met with silence. We even asked her a second time and still nothing. Me and Derrick just looked at each other like, “Does she not hear us or something?” She was not our favorite. She took plenty of pictures and told us it was a BOY…I wish y’all could have seen Derrick’s reaction. She took so many pictures of his weewee that I was thinking, how many do you need in order to tell that it’s a boy? Sheesh. She printed off a nice amount as well. On the screen we could see him moving around, but I had not started to feel him move yet.
Home Stretch
Starting sometime during week 27 I would be walking around a store or wherever we were and it would just start to feel uncomfortable. It felt like he was cradling at the bottom of my stomach, so I would just walk slow and hold my stomach until he moved. Moving too fast period is not comfortable. It stretches muscles/ligaments in a way that you are probably not used to.
Symptoms
- Increased appetite
- Cramping
- Super gassy – Never ending
- A little tired
- Round ligament pain – 16 weeks
- Acid reflux – Started at 18 weeks
- Uncomfortable to walk at times – Started at 27 weeks
- Leaking a little when I sneeze
- Racing heart
Sometime during this trimester when I sneezed I peed a little and most of the time Derrick would be around… I’d just laugh and say, “I peed a little.” He laughed every time.
Prenatal Appointments
Appointment 3: July 25. 17 weeks, 2 days. She asked if I wanted to get the quad screen blood test, where they test for abnormalities and we opted out of that. Other than that, it was a routine checkup. Weighed me…still 119 lbs, took my blood pressure, listened to baby’s heartbeat.
The results from the blood work were back and everything came back negative.
Found out the sex – July 29. 17 weeks, 6 days. It’s a BOY.
Appointment 4: August 22. 21 weeks, 2 days. This appointment is when my Dr. started to measure my stomach. For example, if you are 21 weeks, you should be measuring at 21 cm. and I was. I peed in a cup, they weighed me…I was 124 lbs, up 5 lbs from my last appointment. They checked my blood pressure, and listened to the baby’s heartbeat.
Appointment 5: September 19. 25 weeks, 2 days. Same ol’, same ol’. Peed in a cup, weighed me…now at 127 lbs, up 3 lbs from previous appointment, took my blood pressure, and listened to baby’s heartbeat. She measured my stomach and it measured at 25 cm. … right on target. I had to take the glucose test where I had to drink this bottle of sweet “juice.” It wasn’t terrible at first, but it was so much that I kinda started to feel a little nauseous/light headed. Results came back fine. I also got prescribed some iron pills. The thing that made me not upset, but question my doctor, was the fact that I had mentioned taking iron pills before since my gummies did not contain iron and she said it was okay. I know your body changes throughout your pregnancy, but I probably should have been taking the iron pills from the beginning.
Reference
WebMD. (2016, August 18). Round Ligament Pain During Pregnancy. Retrieved November 1, 2016, from WebMD: http://www.webmd.com/baby/guide/pregnancy-round-ligament-pain#1
