THE FIRST TRIMESTER
I thought about writing a weekly report since the beginning on this pregnancy, as I did with Bryson, but time just got away from me. And since most people don't know we're pregnant yet, I couldn't post the updates anyway...
BUT now that we're at the end of the first trimester, I'm planning to make time to write how I feel and say what's going on, as I've already referenced my notes multiple times from my last pregnancy to compare, because my memory is awful and I don't want to forget the details of this second pregnancy.
So to recap...
How we told our families:
We found out we're pregnant on October 21, 2013.
My brother got married on Oct 26th, so all of my family was in town for the weekend when I was 5 weeks pregnant. We told them all at a lunch we had on my 28th birthday on the 27th. Not only was all of my immediate family in town (my sisters and their husbands/families), but also my grandfather was in from Las Vegas, and I likely will not get to announce any other pregnancy to him in person.
We told them via our pre-lunch prayer. We all stood around my dining room while Caleb prayed for our meal. On birthdays, we always say a special "Thank you" to God for the birthday person. So Caleb thanked God for me and the beautiful son we have and the 2nd precious baby I'm carrying. :) It took a second for it to sink in to everyone what he just said, but then they all got excited and there were hugs all around!
The next weekend, at 6 weeks pregnant, we got together with Caleb's whole family to celebrate all 5 Oct/Nov birthday people in our family. Before dinner, while everyone was in the kitchen about to get their food, Caleb announced to everyone our good news.
How I'm feeling:
This pregnancy has been different in a few ways from the last one, though similar in the way that I've not been sick and am generally feeling great!
This time I was EX.HAUS.TED. from probably 4-8 weeks pregnant. To the point where I remember thinking (many days), "I just need to get to Bryson's bedtime, then I can pass out too". And I would sleep fine from 8:30 until 7 (when my alarm went off). Even after 11-12 hours, I felt I could still keep sleeping if only I didn't have to get up for work. Luckily that extreme exhaustion wore off, and I'm just moderately tired now. Some nights I'm beat and still fall asleep around 9- 9:30, but most nights I can easily make it to 10:30 or 11 like pre-pregnancy. It's probably safe to say that for every 3-4 nights I stay up until 11, I need a good 9:30 night in to make up for it :). To compare, I never had a noticeable difference in my energy level when I was pregnant with Bryson. Now I truly empathize with people who deal with pregnancy exhaustion and other kids at home! It's hard!
The only pregnancy "symptom" I had before getting a positive test, was very vivid and LONG (all night) dreams. I seriously need to give myself more credit for being a "creative" person! I never would have said that I can come up with such random stories/images, but MAN my dreams are interesting! lol I don't know where my brain gets this stuff! These dreams were so constant that even when I'd wake up in the middle of the night or when Caleb got up for work, when I fell back asleep I'd continue the same dream! Bizarre.... Luckily that only lasted a couple weeks, though I still have a "rough" night every once in awhile (like last night when I dreamt I had to help wash railcars in order to get our fleet (at work) back out of here by the end of the year). It doesn't feel very restful when you're busy "working" all night!
Another notable thing that has happened so far this pregnancy is that at 7w5d pregnant (November 13th), we had a scary experience. (Skip if you don't want details) While at work, I had some bleeding. I called my doctor and she said to come in right away for an ultrasound. Caleb picked me up at work around 3:45, and we headed out. Diagnosis is that I have a subchorionic hematoma (SCH). It is basically a sack of blood inside my uterus. Sometimes they resolve themselves my absorbing into the body, and other times, the blood comes out. Mine was relatively small (1.3cm x 1.4cm), but my doctor put my on "pelvic rest" and instructed me to not carry heavy things (like my 25lb son?!), etc. until it is gone. The silver lining of this unplanned appointment was that we got to see our new baby (just one!) early! His/her heartbeat was in the 130's (I believe - see? Hence needing to blog!) and s/he looked perfectly healthy and unbothered by the SCH sharing his/her home.
Starting around 8 weeks, I began having those pesky food cravings brought on by other people's delicious sounding meals. Once again, as with Bryson, I'm not craving any certain thing... but the power of suggestion is so strong! When someone else tells me what they had/are having, I WANT IT. Even if I have to wait days to get it. Like the donuts my husband didn't run right out and buy me! ugh... ;)
Another thing that started at 8 weeks was migraines. With Bryson I only had 3 (6w, 8w, & 10w). This time I had 2 at 8 weeks and probably 3-5 more since then. Not sure what the difference is (baby girl hormones?!?), but it is not fun. Wonderfully, they are the same as when I had Bryson; No nausea/vomiting, just blurry vision, tingling body parts, and headache.
Something that I wasn't expecting was to feel the baby move so early! Around 12 weeks, I felt a flutter! I convinced myself that it was too early to be the baby... but a week or so later I felt it again! The same exact feeling but in the middle of my pelvis. I know that feeling. That was DEFINITELY the baby! So, the first time I felt Baby 2 move was 12 weeks! Crazy!
Also at 12 weeks, on Dec 16th, we got to see Baby 2 again! :) We did the NT sonogram and this baby is a DANCER! We saw every square cm of that little girl/guy! S/he wouldn't stop moving and it actually took 21 minutes to get him/her to be in the right position to get all the necessary measurements. The sonographer was getting kind of irritated since she was getting behind on appointments, but we loved seeing him/her for so long! I only wish that I would've video recorded even a minute of it, like we did with Bryson's sonos. :( Makes me sad to know I won't get that back. Would've been fun to show everyone!
As it is, here is a still picture of precious Baby 2!
Baby measured right on track and had a heart rate in the 160's.
Unfortunately, the subchorionic hematoma was still there after 5 weeks, AND almost exactly the same size. Hoping it will be gone by the gender/anatomy scan at 18 weeks!
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