First trimester: The pie chart edition

Hello!

What have I been up to for the first week of 2014?  Well, I'm so glad you asked!  

I've been a little incapacitated, but I thought that some super-nerdy charting action would make up for it.  And so, I present to you...

Ta-Da!  As experienced by yours truly, the first trimester, divided out all accurate and geeky-like. 

I mean, sure, I could also tell you about the memory loss.  Like that time when I was at Chipotle (see the red category above, only this time hubby wasn't available) ordering my much-dreamed about carnitas burrito with black beans, rice, verde and corn salsa, lettuce, cheese and... and my mind drew a complete and total blank.  I could see it in front of me, but where once there was a word that defined it, there were now only several little dust bunnies.  And they were pointing and laughing, just for good measure. 

You know, that green stuff...

Whatsitcalledagain?  That green stuff that's not salsa.  It's kinda thick.  It's made from avocados (hey, that's a pretty good word! I'm not totally crazy!)

Luckily, as the impatient mouthbreather behind me began inching closer, invading my personal space - HEY! Back off, dude, you're not going to make me move any faster by sighing and breathing on me.  That's right, I smell that Coors Light at 4:37 in the afternoon, take it down a notch! - my pathetic look and wild pointing must have done the talking for me.

"Guacamole?" says the lady behind the counter as I shoot her a relieved look and nod furiously.  YES!  Guacamole!  Thank God there's a word for it in someone else's brain!

Or, I might add that the crying isn't limited to commercials.  Or TV, for that matter.  It could be the neighbor children playing outside; a song on the radio; a comment from my sweet Leah.  Sheer exhaustion.  Casey making a run because I asked for something (red category again).  Yellow category, for sure.  Heck, the green category has been at fault more than once if I'm being totally honest.

Or, really, the waterworks can begin for no apparent reason at all, which of course makes me look even more like a mental patient than I already feel, particularly when you add my very intense new-found love of sweatpants and lying horizontally on the couch.  At 10:00 in the morning.  ...  Aaaaand maybe also at 3:30 in the afternoon.  Really, name a time throughout the day and I'll probably find a way to make it horizontal-in-sweatpants o'clock (see also: big blue category above).

In the past, I would have ended with some comment about gratitude and how worth it this all is.  I haven't changed my tune, exactly, it's just much harder to feel that way with two little ones running around, what with their needing to be fed and have attention paid to them, and the fact that they're not nearly as excited about sweatpants or being ignored while I lay horizontally.

It's weird, really... almost as if they're not all that impressed that Mommy's growing a human.

So we've been really lucky that Casey has been home - up until this week, anyway - and that he's not afraid to pay it forward by single-parenting.  I'm awfully lucky to have that husband of mine.

I'm lucky too because I know that in just a few short weeks, most of this craziness will go away.  Maybe not the pointing helplessly because I've randomly blanked on a word, but certainly the sweatpants and need to be horizontal, at least for a while...

Yes, in a few short weeks, I'll forget again all the reasons I'm currently stocking up that no one in their right mind would ever go down this road another time.  That baby will start to move in my belly, and true love will again be upon me.

Actually, even as I think about that soon-to-be moment, I've decided that maybe the first trimester's really not so bad after all...

12 Weeks

Baby size: Plum

Weight gain: -1 pound

12 weeks brings another doctors appointment, and although we were hoping to get to see an ultrasound, our doc was able to find that strong little heartbeat right away.  Really it's a blessing, but Casey and I were both just a touch disappointed.

I'm definitely excited that this will be my last post in the first trimester.  Every time we go to the doctor, I feel a little like I'm supposed to take a test but I haven't studied... in other words, there's a nervousness that I'm not going to pass. 

I know from experience that feeling fades, especially as the first trimester comes to an end.  Although I also know it will more than likely be replaced by other anxieties since, well, I am me after all. 

Overall, though, I really can't complain.  It's been a super easy first trimester, just like it was with Leah.  Although I've definitely had my days of not feeling the greatest, I'm so lucky in that I can always keep food down.  It might have even been easier this time around, because I already knew that I could do it and I had some proven strategies for fighting off those yuckies. 

Two more weeks, and we're that much closer to "in the clear." 

And it has been decided (by the former Pumpkin) that this baby shall be called Peanut.  I like it, and it won Big Sister's vote, so it works for me!

We love you, Peanut!

10 weeks and a snow day

I like this moment right now, because I know that sometime in June at around 30 weeks, I'm going to look back and remember what it felt like to only be at 10 weeks.  To remember how nerve-wracking this whole early-pregnancy thing is, and appreciate how far we've come and how darn fast those last 10 weeks will go.  Getting to 10 always seems like it takes forever. 

Hopefully by then my arms will have lost their oh so attractive white-girl-in-winter look.  Just one of the many reasons I'm looking forward to summer. 

Baby size: Prune (about 1.5 inches).

This has been the week of the stomach flu.  I'll absolutely spare you the details; they're totally disgusting.  So, moving on to the only other news I'm willing to talk about...

We had a freak February snow storm here in Colorado.  Everything was cancelled, and before it even snowed a flake to boot.  That includes the state government and my home school district.  To put that in perspective, I went to school there from K-12 and had 2 total snow days in all those years.  Of course, my current school district was closed, too, which meant that I got to stay home with the little. 

And, what can I say?  The girl loves to play in the snow!

And, of course, she always manages to entertain herself in other ways, too...

Made it to 8. Weeks, that is.

Somewhere, there is a very pregnant woman who is missing her belly.  I know this because I seem to have stolen it. 

Baby size: Raspberry. (AWESOME!)

I am amazed by how similar this pregnancy has been so far to my first, even in its early days.  I've lost the rolling nausea I had right away.  Although it's been replaced by that gagging sensation I remember so well, it hasn't resulted in barfing.  That's a very good thing in my world.

There are the moments I am teaching - always, always in my 5th period class - and I know I have to stop talking and not open my mouth for a few minutes.  If I don't, I'll throw up.  I didn't remember that this happened to me before until it happened this time, and now I remember that I used to keep saltines in my desk drawer.  It still works.

To my knowledge, no or very minimal weight gain as a result of pregnancy; although it's hard to separate what I gained as a result of Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

The only significant craving I have to report is an odd one: Cinnamon Toast Cruch cereal, which I haven't had since I was a kid (and even then we very rarely got that special treat!). 

I'm also surprised by how much more distractable I seem to be by food.  I don't know if it's cravings exactly, but if someone suggests something that sounds good to me, I cannot get it out of my head.  I don't actually know that I want it until someone else brings it up, but once it's there... you can bet I'll be getting some by the end of the day.  That is different this time around. 

Other than that, pregnancy feels pretty much the way I remember it!  My biggest symptom is exhaustion, and unfortunately it hits me right at a time that is least convenient: between about 3-7:30.  After 7:30, I get a second wind.  The severe tired hits right when I'm home with Leah.  Let's suffice it to say, we've watched a lot of Caillou around our house in the last two weeks. 

It's usually when I'm in the car on my way to work that the waterworks hit me.  When it's just me and my tiny one, and I can fully appreciate the miracle that is happening.  I haven't started talking to the baby - yet - but it's hard to hold back the tears when I get a chance to remember just how special each one of these all-too-few pregnant days are.  And how lucky we'll be at the end of it all, to be adding this beautiful little life to our family.

Yes, these are very happy and treasured times.  :)

Size matters

I have lost 3 pounds since the beginning of the school year three weeks ago.  I want this noted because of what I'm about to tell you next, so you don't think that being pregnant has given me some kind of license to eat everything in sight. 

Because, as luck would have it, I have gained 3/4 of an inch in the belly region.  No, seriously.  I measured a few weeks ago (I was ordering pants of the internet, before the sense got knocked into me and I decided to go to a real store with real people and real pants), and I measured again on Friday. 

It sounds impossible, but when I was pregnant with Leah I got a little rounder by about week 6, so I suppose being 5 weeks and already a different size shouldn't surprise me, especially the second time around.

The difference this time is just how big a difference that 3/4 of an inch makes.  I'm rockin' a belly that hangs over the jeans, people.  Leaving me in a constant state of having to hike up my pants.

So, in honor of my growing tummy, it's time to play guess how pregnant I look!




September, 2011
5 weeks (ish)

September, 2009
14 weeks

October, 2009
16 weeks

Yeah.  So can we call that 'nuff said???

Now, to be fair, last time around I was starting at a size four and weighed as much as I did in high school.  Clearly, that's not realistic for me without a crazy diet and more exercise than Jillian Michaels.

This time around, I'm a little bigger and admittedly carrying a little more fat on my body.  What is amazing to me though is how it has shifted.  As long as I stood up straight, two weeks ago I had a flat belly. 

Now, well... there is just no way for me to suck it in enough that I don't look three months pregnant (or, er... more). 

And you know what?  Even though I might wind up the size of a circus tent before this is over (let's recap: I'm the same size this September as I was two Septembers ago, even though that one was due in March and this one is due in May), I'm happy. 

Like, really, really happy.