With all the craziness that is our everyday lives, Brian and I thought a lot (& prayed a LOT!) about when would be the best time for us to begin our little family. We've both switched jobs in the last 3 months, we've been crazy busy with church and just every day life, and now we have even bigger changes heading our way. Brian has been looking into Master's programs for after he graduates this upcoming April, and with that comes a lot of planning. We knew we didn't want to worry about potentially moving for grad school while I was pregnant and I didn't want to worry about missing his graduation if the baby was too little or not here, so we decided the beginning of 2017 would be a good time, and that's how Baby Baldwin's due date is February 18, 2017!
I jotted down notes as soon as I started feeling different, because weeks 1-6 were highly uneventful. We found out for sure I was pregnant at 4 weeks because I was impatient, and we were going camping in Moab and I decided I had to know before that. The test came back positive and the following Monday I went to the doctor to verify and the blood tests came back positive!
Week 7: baby is the size of a blueberry!
TERRIBLE nausea started hitting after getting stomach flu. The Friday before the 4th of July, I was at work and suddenly was running for the bathroom and threw up everything I had consumed in the last 10 hours. I thought morning sickness was already starting but it turns out there was a stomach flu circling around the office and I was the 4th person to come down with it. However, as soon as I was starting to feel better, the flu set off the true morning sickness. From then on, I was constantly nauseous, but not throwing up too much... until week 8. I was craving juicy fruits like watermelon, strawberries, and peaches, probably because I was ALWAYS thirsty. This also marked the start of being SO TIRED. Prior to week 7, I had no problem keeping food down or any food aversions. Just really sleepy a lot. Started retaining water and feeling a bit heavier but hadn't gained any weight. Skin got burnt a lot easier, especially starting week 4 when we were in Moab. We went on some really long hikes to the far away arches when we were down in Arches National Park and when we got back to the car, my fingers and ankles were so swollen I couldn't close my hands and I could tell I was somewhere between retaining water and being seriously dehydrated. It was my first wake up call that I would need to start drinking about double as much water now that I was pregnant.
Week 8: baby is the size of a raspberry!
This week was so surreal. I finally got a presciption to help with the nausea when we went for our first baby appointment. I was holding my breath, half expecting the doctor to start the ultrasound and tell me I wasn't pregnant because it didn't feel real. But there was baby, looking very similar to a gummy bear. I couldn't believe it but we were already able to hear the strong & crazy fast heart beat! Other weird things about this week was that I was hardcore craving Mexican food, but I was still throwing up a ton so I don't know why I thought Mexican sounded good... I pulled muscle in my back throwing up on the morning of my first appointment so that was a joy. I was hobbling around in serious pain for about 4 days before it started to subside. I was veryyyy tired all the time. Still always thirsty, but not dehydrated according to the doctor. We made a decision to cancel the Bahama's cruise we had booked back in March due to the spreading Zika virus. Although it hasn't been reported there yet, it's in Haiti, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and basically every other island around it. Luckily I bought the insurance and we got a full refund for cancelling far enough in advance.
Week 9: Baby is the size of a green olive!
I guess I really am my mother's daughter because even after getting the prescription from the doctor for nausea, I was hesitant and tried everything I could to avoid taking it. Alas, all the ginger in the world in every form couldn't help my sensitive stomach and I finally caved when I realized I was only able to eat and keep things down with the medicine. The new trend was throwing up in the mornings when I was brushing my teeth. I apparently have the most sensitive gag reflex ever now. I didn't have any specific food aversions or cravings other than not wanting heavy foods or dairy. No interest in meat like chicken or roast. Exhaustion like usual. Noticing hair growing a lot faster and have to shave my legs like every other day. My hair on my head is growing faster too and seems a little thicker.
Week 10: Baby is the size of a prune!
VERY tired this week. More than usual, and it hits me hard around 4-5 PM every day, to the point where if I don't take a nap, I'm ready to throw up and my body aches. Once I wake up though, I'm totally wrecked like I always used to be when I would nap prior to being pregnant. For awhile I could nap without any issues and wake up feeling great but not anymore. Clothes are getting tighter and it's not fun trying to find something to wear. I only want to wear baggy clothes or nothing at all. Apparently the placenta is forming and this is the most tired I've been since this pregnancy started. Poor Brian, because all I ever do is fall asleep when I get home and sleep until the next morning. He's started coming up, tucking me in since I've passed out sprawled across the bed, turning off the lights, and playing videos downstairs until it's actually a respectable time to sleep and then coming back up. No cravings whatsoever this week and no interest in eating at all. Haven't gained any weight.
Week 11: Baby is the size of a lime!
Week 11 was pretty brutal. My nausea came back in full force, stronger than it was weeks 7-8. I tried everything under the sun from raw ginger, in smoothies and on it's own, ginger chews, candied ginger, and finally broke down and had to take the prescription the doctor had given me at my week 8 appointment again. But, to no avail. I kept telling myself I could make it to my week 12 checkup, and I made it.... just barely. I threw up every single day of week 11. During this time I also had to suffer through some time at Girl's Camp. Normally I would have loved every second of it (which I sort of did), I just didn't love how I felt. I was bloated and nauseous and the heat only compounded everything. When I got home my ankles were swollen and I'm pretty sure I got a little dehydrated and I threw up all day the next day. Not a pleasant time in my pregnancy. Cravings this week consisted mostly of Watermelon slushies from Sonic.
Week 12: Baby is plum-sized! (Which my dad says still isn't golf ball sized yet)
I survived through the first part of the week and had my 12 week check up at 12 weeks & 5 days. They prescribed me a different prescription and so far it has helped me keep things down and reduce the nausea as much as possible so that I actually have an appetite. Cravings this week was pretty much limited to KFC mashed potatoes and gravy. Which is funny since the potatoes are instant and have zero nutritional value, but whatever, I kept them down. At least my cravings have been cheap things as opposed to filet mignon or something that would rob me blind, I left my week 12 appointment at the doctor's totally livid. A few weeks ago we decided to cancel our Bahamas cruise that was planned for the end of September due to the spread of the Zika virus that's hitting every country around the Bahamas currently. The plan was to fly to Orlando, go on our cruise, then head to Tampa for a few days after the cruise. Luckily we had only purchased our flights home from Tampa. After checking flights for awhile, we finally bought a flight to Tampa and began planning out how to spend our vacation in Florida instead. But when I went into my 12 week appointment and was asking about X-ray machines at the airport, my doctor informed me I should not be going to Florida due to the Zika outbreaks. I had only heard of it being in Miami but apparently it's slowly spreading all over the state. On top of the fact that Baby Baldwin was wriggling around so much that none of our ultrasound photos showed anything AT ALL but fuzziness, I left pissed off and an emotional mess, which I'm blaming on pregnancy. Not that I blame my unborn child and I definitely don't want to risk it, but I am so sick of stupid Zika, ruining all my babymoon plans. I still haven't cancelled the flights but I'm coming to terms with it and probably will in the next week or two. Hopefully we can put the money toward flights home for Christmas, since this year we're east coast bound.
And now we're in week 13 and apparently Baby Baldwin is peach sized, which is one of my favorite fruits so I like week 13. And this marks the last week of my first trimester which is SO crazy to think about. Can't believe I'm 1/3 of the way there! I think the best part of this milestone is finally being able to start telling people and make our big social media announcement, AND Brian will finally let me start buying things for the nursery! It's crazy to think at my next check-up I could find out if it's a boy or girl! I already have almost all the nursery furniture picked out, the theme, and a lot of baby products.. I'll probably start putting together a registry insanely early to make sure I don't forget anything I think I need and use it as a checklist as I start buying. Oh, here's more funniness. For anyone that knows me, you know I'm basically insanely OCD and I'm the biggest planner on the planet. I love planning parties, showers, etc. So, now I've got like everything for this unborn child planned out and it's been that way since week 6 because I can't help myself. Pregnancy has only made it worse, but oh well!
So here's our big announcement, we're so excited!
Love,
The Baldwin's
Loved your update! I can so relate to so much of this.....early bedtimes, naps, nausea, tight clothes....yup!
ReplyDeleteI STILL haven't updated my blog with pregnancy info. I'll add it to my to-do list :) Thanks for the inspiration.
I'm quite enjoying my 2nd trimester so hopefully things will get easier for you, too!