Alright friends! I thought today for this Monday that I would pop in with a first-trimester recap. I did this with KJ, and it was fun to look back and see the crazy differences! My doctor said, “each one gets their own story,” and I loved that explanation. This child is not KJ, he will be his own person, and therefore his pregnancy is unique!
PS, if you missed our exciting announcement, check it out here!
Heads up! I will occasionally be talking about pregnancy as Hungry Hobby has always been a lifestyle blog with lots of recipes, not just a food blog. If, for any reason, these posts are too hard for you, please feel free to skip them. My heart and prayers are with those of you who have or are struggling with infertility and or loss. I’ve had my own battles in those realms (and walked through the fire with friends), and the heartbreak is not something I would wish on anyone. Please feel free to take a step back from HH if needed. I’ll be here whenever you are ready. <3
Alright, here we go!
Pre-pregnancy: My doctor prescribed progesterone to be taken +3 days after ovulation until 12 days post ovulation unless a positive pregnancy test occurred, then I would keep taking it (if pregnant) or stop until next cycle if I wasn’t.
Week 3:
We’d been trying for a little while, and each time I would take a billion pregnancy tests right away, and the negatives were disheartening. This time I made myself wait till 10 days past ovulation to test. I knew that was still early, but for me, it’s not since my period usually starts 12 days past ovulation. (Normal is 14. 12 is considered a borderline luteal phase defect, and it’s why I take progesterone.) Mr. Hungry knew I’d been waiting for that day, so he was just as excited when I came back with 3 positive pregnancy tests. (The last one doesn’t look positive, but there was a line there! lol)
The only change I noticed was drinking tons of water and peeing a lot!
Week 4:
I felt pretty normal except for slightly more tender than normal breasts and still drinking a TON of water. I started adding cranberry juice to my water in the afternoons for UTI prevention (pregnant women are more susceptible to UTIs). The main symptom I had was I started to develop some anxiety at night, making it hard to fall asleep and hard to fall into a deep sleep. I’ve been a GREAT sleeper for the last few years, so this was both unexpected and SUPER ANNOYING. The anxiety bled over into the day, and I found myself more snacky due to not getting enough good quality sleep. I weaned down to two ounces of regular cold brew and 4 ounces of decaf cold brew.
PS I did keep taking pregnancy tests to ensure the line stayed “dark.” I did this every other day for a few days, then stopped. My doctor wanted me to come in for an early ultrasound anyway, so I figured that was more definite than continually peeing on sticks.
Week 5:
I started noticing waking up a bit nauseous but didn’t read too much into it because I often wake up just slightly nauseous even when not pregnant. I’m not sure why maybe because I eat dinner so early? At the beginning of the week, I noticed myself slowing down. I randomly fell asleep on our swing in the backyard in 100-degree weather for 10 minutes. Any time I sat down or laid down, I wanted to sleep.
At 5 weeks and 6 days, we had an ultrasound, which confirmed the baby has a heartbeat! I had no idea you could see it so early. I was fully prepared to have to go back, but they found it!
Week 6:
Nausea and food aversions in full swing. It’s not as bad as I remember last time, which, of course, makes me worry something’s wrong. I’m also more prepared with all my first trimester essentials and more distracted by a running around toddler than I was last time. I stopped wanting/tolerating most meat and most veggies.
Week 7:
Mornings are TOUGH – I figured out if I eat some toast with sunflower butter and banana, I’ll be able to feel better most of the day. But, eating that toast feels like torture. It’s the worst part of my day every day. Eating anything at the time is ughhhhhhhhh. I’ve had good days and bad days this week. It’s crazy the ups and downs. With KJ, I remember feeling the same all the time, but this time, I feel more normal, and other days I feel like I have food poisoning. So that’s fun, you never know what kind of day you will wake up too.
My diet mainly consisted of popcorn and Gatorade. I also found that if I add just one tablespoon of Gatorade powder to my 32-ounce water cup, I’m able to drink water again. This has made me feel like a new woman!
Week 8:
I get up every morning and eat a plain DKB bagel with cream cheese. I’m also still doing the watered-down Gatorade, but I’m weaning off it. While the first couple of days were rough, the rest of week 8 was surprisingly good. In fact, I went 3 days with diminishing symptoms, and then all of a sudden, ALL my symptoms disappeared (no fatigue, no boob soreness, no nausea, ate sushi the night before, so no food aversions.
I’d read on Dr. Google that can be bad, so I gave a call to my doctor’s office, thinking they would say, “oh, symptoms can come and go.” But that’s NOT what happened. They had me come in immediately for an ultrasound, which totally freaked me out. My mind went worst-case scenario, and I had a full-on meltdown.
Mr. Hungry joined me at the appointment, and thank God, everything was fine. The PA explained that 8 weeks is EARLY for symptoms to disappear, so they like to check, but it looks like I’m just lucky, for now. She did say the symptoms might come back, which they did a bit, but to nowhere even remotely near the severity of weeks 6 and 7. There were no real cravings and lots of food aversions, but I’m absolutely enjoying manageable symptoms as with KJ, and I was much much sicker for so long.
Week 9 -11:
This week most things were the same, so I didn’t record anything special. I had days where I felt great, most days. Some days had a bit more nausea and some days had way more food aversions than others. Overall, in week 11, I started to eat things that were previously revolting like eggs (not cooked at home but still), some meat, salads, etc.
. Heartburn started to pop up a bit during this time but wasn’t so intense I needed meds for it. Usually went away if I ate something. I had an appointment at the end of the 10 weeks, where I got to hear the baby’s heartbeat on the doppler, so that was fun. Still struggling a lot with workouts these weeks, but able to get in at least 2-3 per week. At this point, the ability to get in workouts is more of a time thing than how I’m feeling. Between lack of childcare and needing to sleep more, it was tough to fit them in.
Week 12-13
Went in during the end of week 11 for the NT scan and the blood work for genetic testing/gender. Got results back around week 13 (right before I announced) that it’s a boy, and all looks good so far! I was definitely nervous about the genetic testing, as I will be for the anatomy scan, and the delivery, and for the kid his whole life, haha. Symptoms come and go, right when I think I’ve got food aversions and nausea nipped in the bud, I don’t stay on top of eating, and WHAMMMM, I’m down for the count.
Overall, I’m prioritizing exercise more these weeks, and at 12.5 weeks, I started using the Aaptiv Move Through Maternity program, and I have to say I’m surprised how much I love it. Workouts are challenging (not super easy like I thought they would be), although I often scale them up to increase the weight (or use weight when none is prescribed.)
Other things not mentioned:
I’ve had super dry, sensitive skin pretty much since I peed on the stick! Also since about a week after I found out, my gums started bleeding again. I know, super gross, but I am to be totally honest here! Last time, I had this thing called a pyogenic granuloma – aka pregnancy tumor from a popcorn kernel that got stuck in my tooth and irritated the tissue. I eventually had the little red spot surgically removed after KJ was born, but the oral surgeon only removed the back part, not the front part. The front part healed on its own as my hormones leveled out, but man, it came back almost IMMEDIATELY. I’ll be headed to the dentist to confirm this is that reoccurrence and make sure it’s not something more serious. Yippee!!! Fun right?
Okay, back to the regularly scheduled posts/program tomorrow! I’d love to know how your experiences with pregnancy and the first trimester differed between kids though!
Im also pregnant, due in February and I also have been going through the Move through Maternity Aaptiv program! I was also surprised how challenging a lot of them are! I think because they don’t include a lot of rests so they’re so fast paced!
Oh yeah! SUPER FAST! In fact, since I’ve been adding weight to them I’ve been pausing and taking a one-minute rest between rounds. To be honest, even if I wasn’t adding weights to the workouts, I think I’d still need a break between rounds! And congratulations! Is this your first?
Nope, my second as well! My first will be 2 in December so we are on similar timelines 🙂
We are!!! Praying for a safe and speedy delivery for you and babe!
I’m very excited to follow along! My son was born November 2018, about 4 weeks after KJ and I’m currently about 5 weeks behind you in this pregnancy!
OMG, that’s so fun! I’m guessing you don’t know if you are having a boy or girl yet then? Either way, more chaos, more fun, more love!