1st Trimester Recap

Secret, Secret
One of the hardest things about my 1st Trimester with Baby Punkin, was keeping it a secret. With Silly Baby, I didn't suspect pregnancy until week 6, didn't take a test until week 8 and our first doctor's appointment was at 10 weeks. We told our parents in week 11 and all of our friends in week 12! In that time, there was only one gathering (a game night w/friends)where I had to hide it and pretend to drink - otherwise I had it pretty easy!

Not so much this time around. Since I suspected it in week 4, took the test right away and had our first doctor's appointment just before week 6,  I had 6 weeks of secret keeping ahead of me. And, of course this time, we were in the midst of one of our busiest summers to date! Every weekend we had some sort of gathering or event, so every weekend I had to come up with a plan on how to hide it and pretend to drink/hide the fact that I wasn't. This also made me realize, even though I'm not much of a drinker anyway, it amazed me how alcohol was suddenly a huge part of our social life. The difference is that even though I'm not a big drinker, I'll usually have one or two - and we all know that's the first red flag to go up when you see a woman not drinking at all!

Vommy Mommy
I was VERY nauseous from the very beginning with Baby Punkin. July and August were awful. The nausea subsided in September and completely ended by October.

With Silly Baby, I was nauseous almost every morning, but as long as I ate some crackers or cereal, I was fine and by 10am it would be gone for the day. With Baby Punkin, it would come and go at the drop of a hat. I almost always felt sick when I woke up.
However, same as Silly Baby, I didn't actually throw up all that often. A couple times with Silly Baby, and a handful of times with Baby Punkin. But the hard part this time was that it would come out of nowhere. I would be feeling just fine and BAM! I'd get lightheaded, nauseous and have to stop what I was doing. And of course I had to act as though I felt just fine when it would hit at work or at a gathering! 

It was worse on the nights and weekends at home, most likely because I was up and about much more than at work playing with Addison and doing housework. Tim got used to me doing housework one minute, and the next minute laying on the couch looking like death. [TMI Warning] The nausea was so bad some days that I wish I could just throw up to make myself feel better! But usually, I couldn't even make myself throw up. My gag reflex was very sensitive so brushing my teeth became a very difficult task. Same with anything that I thought looked/smelled or sounded gross. If I saw or smelled food that I didn't like it wasn't just an "ew" thought like normal, it would floor me and I'd have to leave the room. The thought of whatever the food/smell was would leave me nauseous for like an hour! And sometimes, I'd be enjoying a meal, then halfway through - all of a sudden it would gross me out and I wouldn't be able to finish it. So then that food had to be added to the "I guess I don't like this anymore" list.

The worst was the weekend before we finally got to tell our parents about Baby Punkin. I could barely get off the couch all weekend. Some food would sound good, then bad and nothing I did could prevent another onset of nausea 20 minutes later. BUT, after that weekend is when it all settled down to just a once or twice a day mild annoyance. I am so happy those days are over!

Baby Punkin is a Teenage Boy?
Actually a boy or girl, we don't know. But that's certainly how Baby Punkin made me feel this summer. On top of the up-and-down nausea discussed above, in Mommy Punkin's first trimester, my appetite sky-rocketed. It's a wonder how I lost 6 pounds in July and only gained 4 back in the entire first trimester.

Similar to the attacks of nausea I talked about above, this often times coincided with attacks of hunger. Sometimes even just 30min after I'd eaten, my stomach would start to growl and ache as though I hadn't eaten in 8hrs. There was no mild hunger pains, I'd go from 0-100 on the hunger scale immediately. To combat that, I just found whatever quick food was nearby to shove in my mouth. Many times I had to eat when I didn't even feel like it or have a craving for anything. I thought for sure I'd gain 20 lbs in a month.

On top of the hunger attacks, I also only craved salty crap food. Frozen pizza was my go-to. Some of it had to do with wanting convenience foods, because many times nothing sounded good to me, so I'd just fall back on junk food. But other times it was a craving - it would pop in my head and I had to have it. Some of my impulse cravings were Italian subs, Combos, Pizza Rolls, burgers, Super Pretzels/Auntie Anne's, sweet & spicy kettle chips and Cocoa Puffs.

Thankfully, my impulse cravings - and the heavily teenage boy-driven ones have subsided somewhat. I've also made a point to get more nutritious food into my diet. For lunch at work I've been having Healthy Choice meals that come with a side of veggies, and have been trying to get back into preparing dinners at home for the week. Most of our meals lately have had veggies on the side so that's a good start. I've been taking pre-natal vitamins since the day I found out, but I know there's more I can and should be doing!

I know this entry sounded like an awful lot of complaining, but hey - isn't that what the first trimester is all about? Feeling lousy and complaining about it ;)

I kid, but all in all I've been very happy this whole pregnancy, and I know my suffering pales in comparison to many women out there who have had a much rougher time in their 1st trimester and beyond, so for that I am thankful!

I am gradually catching up here, so stay tuned for my next entry where I recap the 1st Trimester Dr's appointment!
Thanks for reading!