Okay, well I guess I'll try my best to go back and cover as much as I can.
Morning sickness. Yep, I had it. Never actually threw up, but I never can, ever. Instead I spent my mornings feeling consistently hungover (and I'm talking about a long Tequila night, not just a drink or two). I was miserable.
Cravings. Check. Of course, all things bad for me and baby. Carby-goodness, sugar, dairy. For about two weeks, all I ever wanted were bagels and cream cheese from Dunkin Donuts and cookies 'n cream milkshakes. Oh! How could I forget the meat?! Yes, I craved meat. Hotdogs, chicken nuggets with honey mustard from Wendy's, and McDonald's fish filets. I never gave in, though. Not only would I have regretted it, I'm positive it would've made me really sick. Also, I had some serious food aversions, some of which actually continue even now. They were all healthy things that I used to love like carrots and bell peppers and celery (all fresh, cooked is okay) and eggs. I think I realized why that is, though. In those first few weeks of knowing I was pregnant, I was very fixated on doing everything right and healthy. So, while I was in the worst throes of my morning (and afternoon and evening) sickness, I tried to force myself to eat things that were good for me. Therefore, I associate those things with nausea now. Even the thought of eating carrots right now makes me gag.
Exhaustion. Oh, yes. From about week 4 until week 10, I was like a zombie most days. It didn't help that right around the same time, my schedule at work changed from getting off at 2:30 to getting off at 5:30, still starting at 8:15. I'd be okay until about 2 or 3 and then I'd hit the wall. A few nights I fell asleep around 7, I think.
Cramps. They were bad in the beginning. A few times, I got really worried, but everything was alright. Apparently it's normal, but no matter how many times you hear it, you still worry.
No real difference physically, really. Well, except for the boobs. Oh, the boobs. Every couple of days, they'd be really sore and then I'd wake up and they'd have damn near doubled in size. (K, that part's not so bad, really.)
We had two OB appointments during the first tri, November 18th and December 18th. Back before this whole thing started, when we were planning to start trying to get pregnant and talk to the fertility people, I needed to see a GYN but didn't have one. Thankfully, Geri was able to get me in pretty quickly (about three weeks later, as opposed to the two month waiting list every other doctor was going to put me on) with a doctor she knew at St. Agnes. Well, by the time the appointment rolled around, it changed from a regular gynecology exam to our first prenatal appointment. I had always planned on using a midwife and going about my pregnancy and delivery a very certain way--not to mention would have liked our doctor and hospital to be close by--but we both fell in love with Dr. Rafi. She was so great we just couldn't bring ourselves to switch to someone else. So now, we drive all the way to Baltimore and we see a real "doctor", but so far, so good.
Morning sickness. Yep, I had it. Never actually threw up, but I never can, ever. Instead I spent my mornings feeling consistently hungover (and I'm talking about a long Tequila night, not just a drink or two). I was miserable.
Cravings. Check. Of course, all things bad for me and baby. Carby-goodness, sugar, dairy. For about two weeks, all I ever wanted were bagels and cream cheese from Dunkin Donuts and cookies 'n cream milkshakes. Oh! How could I forget the meat?! Yes, I craved meat. Hotdogs, chicken nuggets with honey mustard from Wendy's, and McDonald's fish filets. I never gave in, though. Not only would I have regretted it, I'm positive it would've made me really sick. Also, I had some serious food aversions, some of which actually continue even now. They were all healthy things that I used to love like carrots and bell peppers and celery (all fresh, cooked is okay) and eggs. I think I realized why that is, though. In those first few weeks of knowing I was pregnant, I was very fixated on doing everything right and healthy. So, while I was in the worst throes of my morning (and afternoon and evening) sickness, I tried to force myself to eat things that were good for me. Therefore, I associate those things with nausea now. Even the thought of eating carrots right now makes me gag.
Exhaustion. Oh, yes. From about week 4 until week 10, I was like a zombie most days. It didn't help that right around the same time, my schedule at work changed from getting off at 2:30 to getting off at 5:30, still starting at 8:15. I'd be okay until about 2 or 3 and then I'd hit the wall. A few nights I fell asleep around 7, I think.
Cramps. They were bad in the beginning. A few times, I got really worried, but everything was alright. Apparently it's normal, but no matter how many times you hear it, you still worry.
No real difference physically, really. Well, except for the boobs. Oh, the boobs. Every couple of days, they'd be really sore and then I'd wake up and they'd have damn near doubled in size. (K, that part's not so bad, really.)
We had two OB appointments during the first tri, November 18th and December 18th. Back before this whole thing started, when we were planning to start trying to get pregnant and talk to the fertility people, I needed to see a GYN but didn't have one. Thankfully, Geri was able to get me in pretty quickly (about three weeks later, as opposed to the two month waiting list every other doctor was going to put me on) with a doctor she knew at St. Agnes. Well, by the time the appointment rolled around, it changed from a regular gynecology exam to our first prenatal appointment. I had always planned on using a midwife and going about my pregnancy and delivery a very certain way--not to mention would have liked our doctor and hospital to be close by--but we both fell in love with Dr. Rafi. She was so great we just couldn't bring ourselves to switch to someone else. So now, we drive all the way to Baltimore and we see a real "doctor", but so far, so good.
Anyway, those appointments went well. We got to have our first ultrasound November 19th because of our situation... Past chemotherapy treatments can have an effect on embryo implantation and development. Dr. Rafi wanted to make sure everything was going smoothly early on before we got too excited. Those 24 hours in between killed me, but everything looked great! Saw the baby's little heart beating away, everything was in the right place for 7 weeks. That little blob was the most amazing thing we'd ever seen.
Well, until that point, at least. We had our second ultrasound--our NT screening--December 30th. This time, it actually looked like a baby! Head, hands, feet, face... Dancing and kicking and being just about as uncooperative as it could be. (Wonderful preview of the future. More on that later.)
All in all, it was a great 13 weeks and 3 days. (Oh, don't you worry. Some of those girls on thebump.com can be scary! I learned exactly when you are allowed to graduate into a new trimester and not a moment sooner.)
Onward and upward (or outward, as it were) to second tri!
Oh, also! My belly (or lack there of) at the end of the first trimester...
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