We were on vacation in Colorado the week before we officially found out, but the whole time I just knew I was pregnant. After all, we had tried the month before. Either way, I was anxious to find out but we both decided to wait until we got back to Florida. So the day after we got home, I took a test - even though I was only 4 weeks. It was early Saturday morning, I was the only one up, the house was quiet and the morning sun was starting to filter through the curtains. I crept into the bathroom and once the five minutes were up, my suspicions we were confirmed... we were definitely pregnant! Alex was still asleep, so I crawled into bed with him and quietly whispered into his ear that we were pregnant. He turned to me and smiled, "Really?". "Yes," I said and we hugged for a very long time.
Needless to say, keeping our little secret was hard - very hard. The only people that knew for the first four weeks were my mother and my best friend Megan. Our reasoning behind keeping it a secret was this: I experienced a blighted ovum back in March. Which is why Alex & I decided to wait to tell the rest of our family until we had an early ultrasound to confirm that there was actually a baby in there. We had our first ultrasound at 8-weeks. I was a nervous wreck until the technician found our little bunny bean and once she found the heartbeat and we saw the flicker of 165bpm I broke into tears and Alex & I exchanged the biggest smiles. Afterward, we shared the news with his parents, our siblings, and closest relatives. Then at 11 weeks, we were able to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time when our midwife used the doppler. That was even more amazing!
Now for the fun stuff...
Symptoms:
So much bloating (as you can see above) and nausea. I had to make sure that I ate every few hours because if I didn't nausea would overpower me. Most nights I had constant nausea, even though I never threw up. My energy was at an all-time low and as a result, I slept A LOT. Needless to say, my workout regimen flew right out the window. I was lucky to even get in a 20-minute prenatal yoga once a week. I was also riddled with crazy food aversions - I couldn't stand the idea of chicken or scrambled eggs. Most nights, while Alex cooked us dinner, I had to stay in the bedroom with the door closed because the smells would make me nauseous and I'd end up not eating as a result. Bland food became my best friend.
Cravings:
Oh, Moses smell the roses, my cravings were bad because I mostly wanted junk food - which is something I normally avoid. Some weeks all I wanted was a hamburger and french fries. I was obsessed with cinnamon gum too. But thankfully I craved healthy things to like fresh strawberries, grapefruit, cheese, fruit smoothies, peanut butter, and no sugar added cranberry juice (I drank two large bottles in less than a week!!). Oh, and a childhood favourite of mine: cheese and tomato sandwiches with mustard. Mmm. Thankfully most of the cravings for junk food started to dwindle at the end of the first trimester and I was back to my normal healthy-ish eating habits.
Well, that about covers it for my first trimester. Keep your eyes peeled for a post on the second one in a few months.
