14 weeks – Baby KERF

First Trimester Recap

The highs and lows of the first tri!

Most Exciting Moment…

I think the obvious answer here is getting a positive test, but I actually think my most exciting moment was hearing the heartbeat for the first time. More than the positive test, more than the first ultrasound, this is when pregnancy really became real to me. The second ultrasound was pretty sweet too though : )

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Most Challenging Moment…

This is also a hard one. I’d be inclined to say the morning I woke up with the severe cramping, but I actually think overall the 2 days of horrible nausea were worse. Worse because I really thought I was going to feel that badly for 2-3 more months. Thank goodness I was able to find a solution through medicine.

One Thing I’m Proud Of…

I’m really proud of the level of activity I’ve kept up! During the past 3 months, I only missed a few days of exercise. On my worst days I took short walks, and on good days I went to Body Pump (twice a week almost the whole time!), Cycle and lots and lots and lots of long walks. I only ran a few times, but that’s OK with me. I’d rather walk for an hour than run for 30 minutes these days. Walking rocks and I can do it anytime, anyplace, no workout gear or shower necessary.

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One Thing I Wish Were Different…

In hindsight it’s easy to want to change this, but I wish I had eaten a little bit healthier from weeks 6-12. But I’m not sure I could have even changed it if I did it all over again! Honoring cravings for things like cheese or red meat is one thing, but there were also times when I just couldn’t figure out what would make me feel better and ate too many sweets. But overall, I think I did a good job with nutrition given the circumstances of my stomach.

Favorite Food…

CHEESE! Hands down.

Least Favorite Food…

Broccoli. Or anything green.

My Physical State Included…

Nausea, huge boobs, strong sense of smell, solid sleep, insatiable thirst, medium level energy, many food aversions, about a 5 pound weight gain

Symptoms I [Thankfully] Didn’t Have…

Extreme fatigue, insatiable hunger, headaches, frequent urination, constipation, heartburn, roller-coaster emotions, acne

One Thing That Surprised Me…

How long it takes for the bump to appear! Even though I began to notice physical changes in my stomach around 8 weeks, at the end of the first trimester, my stomach is pretty much still flat if I stand up straight. I had no idea how long women spend pregnant without any kind of bump!

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Looking Forward To…

Feeling kicks and movements regularly, buying baby stuff, a big bump!, nursery decoration

PREVIOUS 14 WEEK POSTS

The Middle Part

Physical Changes

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13 weeks

14 Weeks: Physical Changes

A few changes I’ve noticed this week:

1) I think my blood volume is definitely increasing. I can feel my heartbeat in all kinds of strange places – in my back, in my head, in my uterus, in my toes – at random times. And not to be totally gross, but I’ve heard that the inside of your nose often reacts to an increase in blood in the form of…blood. And I’ve noticed that too.

2) I can definitely feel my uterus! It’s hard to feel standing up because the core muscles are hard and on top. But if I sit down or bend over and make my abdomen mush, I can wiggle my fingers deep in there and feel a huge, hard melon in there. Like a big coconut in size. No wonder my organs are pushing out! I’ve heard if you push on the uterus the baby reacts with movement, and I’ve tried pushing a few times [very gently!] and sat verrrrrrrrry still but I don’t think I felt it.

3) My stomach volume seems to have gone down….just a little. For the first 3 months of pregnancy, my appetite was raging and I also felt the need to eat all the time to keep the nausea down. Now it seems this week that I get full fast and don’t have any desire to even finish my meal. Thus, ice cream after dinner is no longer appealing (although popsicles are!)

4) I think I’ve felt the baby move a few times this week. Once it was like vibrations inside of me. Like something battery operated. While I have no idea if these ticklings, vibrations or bubbles are actually the baby, they are new enough that my body is like “I haven’t felt anything like that before.” It will be interesting once I am definitely feeling it move if the types of movements will vary and if they will feel similar. Will a roll be a tickle? A kick a vibration? Or will they feel totally different!?

5) It’s getting more uncomfortable to bend in half. It almost feels like my uterus is a blown-up whoopee cushion and I’m bending it in half over my pubic bone.

Like so:

It doesn’t really hurt, but it’s an odd feeling and has made me more aware of my bending positions. Maybe the uterus is still growing up and once it passes the pubic bone completely I won’t feel any of this pressure. I’ve also noticed a small amount of cramping this week. Not anything painful or long-lasting, but maybe that means it’s growing?

6) The idea of vegetables is becoming more and more appealing. More so at lunch than dinner though. It seems my nausea gets progressively worse all day long, bit by bit. The opposite of morning sickness for sure! This could be because I’m taking the Unisom + B6 in the morning and it wears off by the evening. But green smoothies for lunch and lots of avocado are at the top of my food favorites list right now!

7) Gone are the days of sleeping soundly. I’m having all these little physical things that are keeping me from sleeping well. It’s like my body is full of nerves firing all night – like those restless leg syndrome commercials. I want to stretch all my limbs every 5 minutes and can’t seem to get comfortable despite the lovely layers of bedding and memory foam on our bed. I finally banished the Snoogle pillow from the bed and the past 2 nights have been better. Last night I even slept through Matt’s 6:30am alarm. I’ve never had trouble sleeping, so I hope this isn’t going to be a symptom for the next 6 months (thereafter I’m prepared for!) I wonder if these tingles and stretches are related to the blood volume increase?

8) You know how the camera adds 10 pounds? I think in my case the camera actually subtracts weight! I feel like I am so pregnant and when I look in the mirror in our bedroom as I pass by, my stomach is sticking right out – a nice little bump. But when I take my weekly photos, I am actually surprised by how flat my stomach actually is when I stand up straight!

This:

Compared to how I often find myself standing:

Posture is everything!!

9) This morning I got out the fetal heart detector and took a listen. I found Baby KERF right away, and the heartbeat was strong! But more than ever, the baby seemed to be moving around, back and forth, because I could not get the heartbeat to stay strong. It kept going in and out, loud and soft. Guess it was an active morning! I can’t wait until I can start playing music or eating food and seeing how it reacts. The thought that you can interact with a baby in utero is quite incredible!

10) BERF is now supposed to be 3.5 inches long (it was 7 cm at my ultrasound 2 weeks ago) and is the size of a LEMON. So amazing.

Previous 14 week posts

The Middle Part

PREVIOUS WEEKS

4 weeks

5 weeks

6 weeks

7 weeks

8 weeks

9 weeks

10 weeks

11 weeks

12 weeks

13 weeks

14 Weeks: The Middle Part

Second trimester is OFFICIAL!!

I was listening to a Pregtastic this morning and one of the panelists compared the trimesters to high school. When you’re just a freshman, the seniors look so cool. I think that makes me about a sophomore right now. Hard to believe that [knock on wood] someday I’ll be a senior too! On the one hand, pregnancy seems like such a long time (almost a year!) but on the other, the days really are going by faster and faster. I wonder if they continue to speed up or if time starts to slow again as one gets nearer to her due date watching the clock.

My bump is getting more and more noticeable. Friends are commenting that it’s definitely there, and I’m also noticing it more as I look down. Of course my poor posture makes it stick out further than it does when I stand up straight!

During the suck-in test, I can tell that a little of it won’t suck all the way in, and when I bend over and press on my abdomen, I can feel my uterus in there. Nice and hard like a small cantaloupe. I cannot WAIT to feel the baby in there too!

Based on my ~~stalking~~ observation of other bloggers’ belly shots, 14 weeks is when bumpage really takes off and over the next 1.5 months, the bump seems to go from curve to pregnant belly in almost everyone. I’m really looking forward to watching my body change!

You know how there are those women who just loved being pregnant? I’m not sure I’m one of them…at least not yet. So far it has been very challenging, mostly due to not feeling well. I guess I didn’t expect to feel this badly for this long (I had a resurgence of nausea this week). I also think more women don’t talk about it! You hear little bits of “ooooh the nausea” but I just had no idea it would be this bad (perhaps because it’s not so horrible for many women). It’s been helpful for me to stay connected online with other bloggers who are going through the same thing, and it’s so comforting to know that I’m not alone.

Food this week varied from bland, simple dinners on a bad night to more colorful, veggie-infused dinners on a good night. My appetite and nausea is so unpredictable. The only thing that is predictable: I do well in the mornings and not-so-good in the evenings. Maybe my body just misses 5:00 cocktail hour : )

Plus some usual staples!

And some new favorites!

I’m still obsessed with fruit..

Although salads are appearing more and more

Especially in this form!

I went to a Baby Expo this weekend and there were so many cute babies there! Despite the ultrasounds, I’m still in a bit of disbelief that I have one inside of me!

The Expo was actually really helpful. I got information on doulas (I need to start interviewing them soon they say!) and some breastfeeding classes.

I was disappointed that there weren’t more childbirth classes represented. I think there must be a really shortage of them in our small town. I’ve heard of two – one at the hospital (that’s very basic) and one Bradley-style class that’s a 40 minute drive one night a week for 8 weeks, which I’m not sure we could handle. I suppose I can read lots of books, but I had really hoped there would be more in the area. Perhaps I just haven’t looked hard enough – please share if you know of more!

Those of you who attended classes or only read books: I would love your feedback on what was most valuable to you. If I can’t attend a formal class, do you think the book would be a good enough replacement?

I would love some ideas on how to share the gender news with our families (and you guys!) once we find out. We likely will video chat with our long-distance relatives, so something we could do over video would be good. Any ideas?! How did you guys share the news?

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