The First Trimester

Baby Q at 9 weeks 4 days

At 11 weeks 4 days pregnant, I am almost through my first trimester. I am hoping that my "morning sickness" goes away quickly when I reach that mark. It has been rough. My husband thinks it's hilarious to tell me how much money we've spent in order for me to be vomiting daily. I'm not amused. Well, maybe a little. He's pretty funny when he says it.

I've been wanting to do weekly updates but haven't for a few reasons. First of all, I'm exhausted. Second, I wanted to add pictures of my "bump" or lack thereof, but I've been so disgusted with my body that I can't stand the pictures I've taken. Third, each week has basically been more of the same. I'm going to try to do updates from this point forward starting with a first trimester summary. I've enjoyed reading pregnancy updates on other blogs (even when there wasn't an end in sight to our infertility) and wanted to do my own version of that, so here goes.

How far along: Technically 11 weeks 3 days, but the baby measured a day ahead on both ultrasounds, so the doctor is saying 11 weeks 4 days. My due date according to measurements is November 22, but I'm still hoping for the 23rd as it's my Oma's birthday. Steve's praying I go right on time or a bit early, so he gets out of black Friday at work. :o)

Showing: Not really. My belly is sticking out further, but it's mostly because of bloating.

Maternity Clothes: Yes. A pair of dress pants and a pair of skinny jeans. I also have a couple maxi skirts I've been wearing. I only have one pair of regular pants that will button. I was doing the hair tie/rubber band trick for awhile until one day, on my way out the door to a doctor's appointment, Steve said, "What's going on with your pants? You've got a triangle of your stomach showing." Sigh. So maternity pants it is.

Food I'm Eating: For the first couple of weeks, when I was simply nauseated, without the puke, I wanted to eat everything. I particularly craved cheese and meat. Oh, and cinnamon rolls. But as of the last three or four weeks, I'm simply eating whatever I can tolerate. Unfortunately, that has been mostly carbs. Lots of bagels, pasta, and English muffins. I try to do whole wheat most of the time, but whole wheat isn't so great the second time around. There have been a few times when we've gone out to eat when I couldn't eat much of anything. Actually, all three of the times I'm thinking of were at buffets, where you would think I would be able to find something my tummy could handle. I ended up eating little to nothing each time except some chicken and some mac and cheese, and felt like bringing me along was just a waste of money.

Things that Make me Sick: Well, right now I'm throwing up most days. Usually in the morning, but a couple of times right before bed. The smell of the refrigerator makes me sick. I tried to eat broccoli at my mom's one day and that made me gag (I usually like broccoli). For awhile the smell of empty yogurt containers in my classroom garbage can after snack really threw me for a loop. Mostly though, the puking is rather spontaneous. Sometimes I randomly gag or cough and that starts me up. Somebody at work told me that she avoided getting sick in pregnancy because she has always struggled with motion sickness and was used to the trying to avoid puking. There is no avoiding this for me. It is totally involuntary. My mouth even opens of its own accord. It's terrible. I feel like a snake unhinging its jaw. It wouldn't be so bad if I felt better afterwards, but I usually feel sick ALL DAY. I have found that drinking Morning Wellness Tea made by Earth Mama Angel Baby Organics helps as well as sucking on vitamin C drops.

Other symptoms: Hmm, let's see. Bloating, sensitive smell (I can't stand the smell of my dog even though I just bathed him), funny taste in my mouth, sore abdominal muscles, SO TIRED, strange and vivid dreams every night (not always nightmares, just weird), peeing often, not sleeping through the night, some headaches though not recently, sensitive gag reflex (difficult to take my vitamins), constipation and/or diarrhea, tender and itchy breasts....basically the works.

Pregnancy Brain: I keep making dumb mistakes. I cracked an egg into the garbage can. I swore to the check out lady at Wegmans that I had not swiped my check card even though it was clear that I had because it was approved. There have been others, but I can't remember them now.

Miss anything? This sounds terrible, but I would love to enjoy a glass of wine. I'm also a little sad that I can't chaperon the Dorney Park field trip this year. I LOVE roller coasters, but can't ride them. Other than that, I just miss not feeling sick all the time.

Best moment: Going to Babies'R'Us with Steve as a date and exploring the different products available. He's so funny to watch. He had to play with the strollers, and he is a total sucker for technology like video baby monitors and things like the Mamaroo (Look it up! It's cool). We didn't buy anything, but it was fun to browse.

Oh, and this sweet gift from one of my former students. He sent them to school via his younger brother. He made them from scratch, and he is an excellent baker! I ate the chocolate one with the pink frosting, and Steve ate the vanilla with blue,

Movement: Not yet.

Gender: Don't know yet, but I feel like it's a boy.

Happy or moody most of the time?: Usually happy. I did notice some moodiness the other day when I went from wanting to punch my sister in the face to being near tears because I love Steve so much. I've also been a little shorter with some of my students. Today I'm a bit weepy.


Can anybody our there who has been through this already offer any encouragement? Not so much advice, I have plenty of that already :o), just some anecdotes about how it really does get better? I feel so terrible about feeling terrible. I feel like I should be rejoicing every time I puke, but that's not happening...