March 8, 2018

How we found out we were pregnant + first trimester recap

I'm 21 weeks at this point and we've had our anatomy scan and it seems quite official now... and I figure it might be worthwhile to post about what the first trimester was like for me at this point. 

Spoiler alert about the first trimester: I've had an easy go of it. 

+We found out I was pregnant the week of Thanksgiving and the only symptom I had was an achiness in my abdomen. I remembered that the embryologist I met with last year had told me that the achiness you feel from the effects of IVF injections (it's like a swelling feeling) is the same as what you feel during the first trimester.

That was the only reason I took a test to begin with and I bought it at the Laramie Wal-Mart (a sentence I never thought I'd type). While I expected it to be positive (because I felt like there'd be something seriously wrong with how I was feeling if it wasn't positive), I didn't expect it to result in an actual pregnancy because nothing in my medical history told me this would be easy to come by.

We were in shock because we had been told this would never happen for us. That's why we did IVF last year. When IVF didn't work, we assumed we just would focus on other things for now and then this just...happened. It was 4 1/2 years of not being able to get pregnant. Completely unexpected. The clarity you can get in one moment proves that, quite literally, God can do anything he wants whenever he wants. I'd never had a positive pregnancy test, ever. And I've taken a lot of pregnancy tests.

After another test at the hospital on base, they confirmed it and then I had an appointment with an ultrasound at the very end of November. I was going day to day at this point, never really expecting to make it to the next week. Each day felt different.

+Morning sickness hasn't existed for me. I had exactly two days where I felt unexplained dizziness and it was awful, but most people seem to know they're pregnant when they feel sick. I never had that clue, and was 6 weeks along before I even took a test. A lot of women seem to count on it as a reassurance of being pregnant in the first trimester, so I just had to rely on the fact that they told me I was pregnant, so I must be.

+The only true food aversion I came across was veggie burgers. There were a lot of things I just didn't want to eat, though. Candy lost all of its appeal. Vegetables were completely out the window and meat wasn't happening. Fruit is something I would force myself to eat, but I didn't really want it either. It was basically all carbs, all the time. Toast, bagels, chips, pop-tarts (that craving lasted two days), crackers, etc. I also went through a pretty intense hashbrown phase.

+We had a second appointment right before Christmas that Scott was also able to go to, and they found the heartbeat with the doppler. The midwife said that was a very good sign because once you can hear it, it's pretty strong and they like to find it that way, instead of with a sonogram, if they can. That was at 10 weeks. (Side note: did you know that too many sonograms are actually bad for the baby? I had looked all this up and it turns out that's why they really just schedule a big one for 20ish weeks.) Also, they gave me the option of a doctor or a midwife and said I was low-risk (ha ha ha) but I could have an OB if I wanted. We really liked the midwife, so I stuck with her.

All of my bloodwork was fine and they even did a glucose test extra early and ran a kidney function test, all because of my history with PCOS. I kept asking if I was high-risk and they kept insisting that I was not: trouble getting pregnant and trouble staying pregnant are apparently very different things to obstetricians. Though you can have both issues, one does not guarantee the other.

+We drove home for Christmas when I was 10 weeks and drove back to Colorado when I was 12 weeks along. We had planned this trip before we knew I was pregnant and I knew that still attempting it would be dependent on whether or not I felt okay. Oddly enough, I felt better traveling and moving from house to house and hotel to hotel than I did when I was going to work each day in December so that's something with deeper meaning to be considered. It messed with my sleep schedule (I could not, FOR THE LIFE OF ME, get a good night's sleep during those two weeks) and my exercise routine, but I was very aware that most people can't exercise during the first trimester anyway because they feel sick, so it was nothing I couldn't get back to once I returned home.

+Most of the first trimester was a mental mind warp for me. I never expected this. I expected IVF to work last summer and I expected to have a baby in Colorado in April 2018. When that didn't happen, I expected to not have a baby at this point and we'd move onto other things (like another puppy...those plans have been pushed ahead a year now). Instead, we will have a baby this summer, in Laramie (which will likely be an insurance/Tricare nightmare), while trying to sell this Colorado house, and will have moved away from my friends in Colorado and any support system that we have here. We will move to our next duty station with a 6 or 7 or 8 month old, depending on what/when those orders say.


Have I missed anything? 
-More than one cup of coffee. I realllly miss over-caffeinating myself. It's obvious that this has been my crutch for years now.
-Ab workouts.
-My clothes fitting (Since we're moving this summer, I packed up everything I know I won't wear until next fall, already...it's just better to get all that out of my way when getting dressed for work is somewhat challenging as is, because I've basically been trying to disguise this since December.)
-Also, candy. I don't want it. One day, I "forced" myself to eat some SPKs and they tasted awful. I end up with horrible headaches and usually a stomachache at some point after eating candy or too much sugar..for awhile, it was like candy literally had no flavor; it was just "sweet"... even candy bars. So sometimes I'll have ice cream or something for dessert, but most nights there's no dessert at all. Which is completely unlike me.
-Meat? I want nothing to do with it. I wish I did because it'd be easier and I wouldn't have to bother with iron supplements then. I can get chicken at restaurants or as take-out but I can't actually remember the last time I had red meat.

These are second trimester photos because in the first trimester you just look and feel like you ate too much.






17 comments:

  1. Ahh... God is so amazing with His timing.
    Good for you skipping the puking part of pregnancy!!!
    Am I pregnant? All I want is carbs too. Haha

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  2. I was hoping you would post an update about your pregnancy!
    I’m so glad it’s going well for you!
    Smart move on packing up the clothes - I totally would have done the same haha!

    Congratulations again, I’m so happy for you guys!

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  3. This happened to two of my friends - after stopping IVF, it happened on its own within a year. It's crazy.

    I'm really glad you had a pretty easy time the first trimester!

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  4. I'm so happy for you guys. I know I've said that like a bajillion times now, but each time I read an update I just get all happy again <3
    I'm glad you had a nice first trimester. I feel like you deserved that after all the hell of IFV.
    I threw up frosted flakes when I was pregnant with Fin 11 years ago and still get icky feelings when I think about them. And I loved FF before that. Pregnancy is weird. It'll totally ruin things for you.

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  5. That is so amazing! I didn't have ANY morning sickness with my boy pregnancies, especially the toddler, and I had to keep Googling if it was okay. And I'm a doula, I should know lol

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  6. Hey there’s a baby in there!!!!! Still so so happy for you :)

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  7. I'm am so happy for you and jealous your first trimester was so easy!

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  8. I am so happy for you!!!! I loved reading this post.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Jen! It was a bit surreal to even write.

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  9. I'm so pleased things have been going well for you so far. The absence of morning sickness must have been amazing, but I would be seriously concerned about losing my sweet tooth. Enjoying sweet things is a core fundamental part of who I am so I'd be totally freaked out if I didn't even like sweets or puddings any more!

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  10. Clearly I am late to the party, but congratulations! SOO exciting and your bump looks precious.

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  11. i am glad you've had an easy go of it, i hope the pregnancy continues to be easy! i don't drink coffee but i do have 3-4 teas a day and i will be very sad to give that up.

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  13. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this! It is amazing how God works, isn’t it?
    I didnt have any major morning sickness either. I was nauseous a lot so I needed to snack constantly...I started keeping a bag of honey but Cheerios on my desk at work so I could just nibble. Haha
    I’m glad I didn’t like coffee before I was pregnant. Now, though, it’s a whole new story.
    I was able to wear most of my own clothes through my pregnancy. However, I had to get maternity jeans, and any shirts that I wanted to be more fitted had to be maternity. Since I wear leggings 90% of the time to work, I didn’t have much trouble. Haha

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