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.
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