Friday
August 10, 13wk.4d.
So, am I in my 2nd trimester now, or not yet?
I always thought that your 1st trimester would go up to 13
weeks. In my mind and "logical" thinking, that would
mean that the 1st day into week 14 (i.e. 13wk.1day) would
mark the beginning of the 2nd trimester, just as when you
turn 30, you've completed 30 years and the next day you start
with your 31st year.... Then I just read that apparently you're
not in your 2nd trimester until you reach 14 weeks..... CONFUSING!!!!
I can't keep up with all that counting, I tell ya!
Anyways, I'm feeling as if I've moved into my 2nd trimester,
that's for sure. I have more energy - mornings and early afternoons
are still the best part of the day though - and my appetite
seems to be coming back. (For which I am utterly grateful!)
Slowly, I'm starting to have to change my wardrobe a bit.
It's funny, 'cause in the morning I look like I did before
I got preggers: nice tight belly, you can even see some abs!!!
Then, as soon as I have lunch, the pregnancy belly is there
and if I let my belly go anyone can tell that I'm pregnant.
Weird huh? Oh, well, and then there's the evenings....in the
evenings I'm really pregnant. It's great though, 'cause I
can play great mind tricks with people: "now she looks
pregnant, now she does not".
Work on the house is moving forward. The cabinets in the bathroom
are in, they need to be adjusted so all is level, and then
they can be stained. They look awesome. This week we've had
help from a guy who worked for us as well last week and he's
an absolute  !
Every night David and I look at the progress and we get excited
about how it looks. It's great.
I finished painting the walls in the nursery. Hopefully, I'll
be able to start with the sage green band around the top of
the walls as the beginning of the decorative painting. Can't
wait to see it come together.
Well, that's all. Have to wait another 2 weeks for my next
Doctor's appointment. I'm excited and just like the last time,
am starting to get a bit nervous, just because I just want
everything to be okay. I'm quietly hoping that we'll be able
to find out whether our Bula is a 
or a  ,
but...I'm aware that we may have to wait until the 20 week
appointment. I guess it's just another example of how patience
is a virtue.
Yesterday, I treated David to a massage for our datenight.
I had booked one for him and a pregnancy massage for me. It
was nice, just what we needed. Afterwards he took me to a
clothing store and got me 5 new tops for less than $35!!!
A great deal and the tops are great!!! I really needed some
tops that were Mediums (instead of my pre-pregnancy Small
size) and that were a bit longer. With my pants starting to
ride low on my hips (yes, I've started getting a little poochy
belly), my tops need to be a little longer, to still cover
my belly. Next week, I may actually give in and buy myself
my first set of maternity pants. My pants are really starting
to become a bit tight and uncomfortable.
Well, off to grading midterm exams I am. Will be back when
there's more to report. In the meantime, I'm delighted with
the fact that I feel so much better, have more energy and
have gone back to cooking again. Am already looking forward
to tonight's dinner - and the other dinners that I've planned
for this weekend.....
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Friday
July 27, 11wk.4d.
WE HEARD THE HEART-BEAT!!!!! AND IT WAS AMAZING!!!!!!
As
soon as the nurse put the doppler on my belly, it was there,
loud and clear. The baby was being very active and was moving
around a lot, but we got to enjoy a great heart-beat concert!!!
I got all emotional and David also got misty-eyed, it was
a great experience. Many of my friends told me that the sound
of the baby's heartbeat was one of the most soothing and amazing
sounds they heard during their pregnancies, and I now I understand!
The Dr. didn't do an ultrasound as he explained that it was
kind of difficult to get a clear pic of the baby based on
where it's located. He wouldn't be able to get to it well
either from well, either position, so he put forward that
we'll probably be able to do an u/s at 16 weeks.
The comforting thing was that he told me that I was taking
great care of my baby, which was just so reassuring!!!! I
love my doctor, he's amazing, an absolute angel.
Anyways, am completely on cloud 9 and cannot find enough people
in my cell phone to call.
I actually just went grocery shopping and find myself in the
situation that I'm actually looking forward to cooking up
some great dishes I saw prepared on the Food Network yesterday.
I'm such a sucker for that channel....
Oh crap!!!!! Haven't put my groceries away yet. I should probably
do that before doing anything else huh???
Wow,
pregnancy brain is trippy!!!!
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Tuesday
July 24, 11wk.1d.
To be quite honest, I don't remember much of Sunday. I think
I painted 3/4 of the bedroom, but that may have been Saturday
as well - I just don't remember...
I started the 2nd summer semester yesterday. Although my class
doesn't seem as much fun as last semester's, I think it'll
be okay. It's always a matter of waiting and seeing who actually
hangs around and who drops off the face of the earth before
the end of the week is near....
Today
is so-so. I had some dried fruit yesterday which my neighbor
had made herself (which was absolutely delicious and I vowed
that I would buy fruit and dry them myself, 'cause it was
yummy....), but I think it didn't quite agree with my stomach:
had some strong intestinal cramping this morning and ... well,
let me not go into any more detail... I've been a little queasy,
not feeling great, so I assume that the "2nd trimester
better times" haven't fully set in yet....can't wait
for that to arrive though - I want my appetite back!!!! Where
did it go? I can't seem to find it....
The
mail yesterday overwhelmed us with baby-surprises. One of
my online buddies sent me an extra copy of "What to expect
the First Year" that she had. We started reading it last
night and it has some great info in it. Then, Saskia (I still
have a hard time imagining that we've been friends for 26
years) sent me 2 little onesies with a card AND the niece
of David's dad sent us a rattler and a card! She (18) had
been sooo excited when we told her that we were preggers,
even more excited than David's step-mom...(go figure: the
first question his step-mom asked when we told her we were
engaged, 5 years ago was "when are you going to have
a baby?") She is ALL about family and babies and yet
her niece out-did her in how excited she was when she learned
the news.
Friday is our next OB-appointment. I'm excited and a bit nervous
at the same time. I just want everything to be okay. The Dr.
had mentioned that maybe we might be able to hear the heart-beat,
but I'm trying not to count too much on it, merely because
I don't want to stress out if we can't find it yet. I'm looking
forward to seeing our baby though and to see how much it has
grown.
Well, that's it for now. I guess I'm going to sit down and
relax a bit. Looking forward to another early night tonight
- sleeping seems to be the one thing that is a success day
after day .
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Saturday
July 21, 10 wks. 5d.
... and "tomorrow" became 4 days later. Where was
I? Ah yes, indigestion. As annoying as it may be, last weekend
it was the least of my worries. On Friday I'd gone to Trader
Joe's to get a new bottle of Omega-3 supplements (the odorless)
- they were out. Instead I bought the non-odorless version
(or whatever you call it) and took my first pill right before
going to bed. Within 6 hours I was up and running in the general
direction of the nearest toilet. (We're still sleeping in
the garage as our new bedroom is still "under construction"),
so the track led me through the entire house. I got incredibly
sick that night. Several episodes and then there were the
runs....
I concluded that the new Omega-3 supplements must have had
some trace amounts of shell-fish in them as this is my "classic"
shell-fish allergy-reaction. Nothing I ate that Friday could
have caused this and as the was accompanied by just as much
fluids out the back end (sorry), it had to be an allergic
reaction.
I spent Saturday in bed with incredible kidney pains that
pulled all the way down to my feet (even my skin hurt). Sunday
I was up, but I couldn't walk straight up as a result of the
stomach pains. Luckily I was feeling good enough to go to
work on Monday and all got better again.
Surprisingly, on Thursday I noticed a slight increase in energy.
I wasn't as exhausted as I had been before and actually got
some work done around the house (taped the bedroom as we had
decided to re-paint it).
Friday (yesterday) was an amazing day. It was our 4th anniversary
which started out with class. It was the last class of the
1st Summer Semester and we had decided to a little potluck-breakfast
action: I brought in 2 dozen Krispy Kreme donuts, there were
drinks, fresh fruits, yummy. My class surprised me with a
AmEx gift certificate to say "Thank You" for the
good and fun semester. I was completely blown away by it -
it left me speechless. When I got home, prepared lunch and
when David came back from his audition, he walked in the door
with 3 bouquets of sunflowers: 2 red, 1 yellow. My favorite!
He'd also bought me the cutest top (baby doll cut) that looks
so cute and flattering - I LOVE it!!!!
After lunch we went out to Babies R Us to register. It was
a lot of fun, but after 3.5 hours we left suffering from great
overwhelm, having only completed the "Gear" and
"Activity" categories. We were both exhausted, our
feet hurt and my back was killing me.
Dinner was amazing. We had dinner at a small Italian restaurant
Downtown where our friend works. Dinner got compted, so sweet...and
it was delicious.
I ended up painting 2 out of the 3 walls in the bedroom. It
looks so much better now - the light grey makes the room look
a lot bigger. Unfortunately it looks like our contractor is
giving us an amazingly hard time with things agreed / not
agreed - a major source of stress the past weeks. Here we
are, almost a year after we broke ground on a project that
was supposed to be done in 9 months. As of today, we're still
sleeping in the garage (which, oh by the way, doesn't have
A/C and well...it's July in Southern California - need I say
more?). Let me just not go into it too much, it gets me all
wound up and that's the last thing we need right now.
I do have to say that more and more I'm getting in the mood
of "we can finish this job together, we can do it",
so I'm really eager to takle this one project at a time. I'm
seriously going to try to get the walls painted tomorrow.
Hopefully I'll feel physically well enough that I can last
the entire day.
Well, time for me to go. David suggested to go watch Ratatouille
to lift our spirits a little bit. Off we go!
Until later,
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Tuesday
July 17, 10wks.1d.
It's early in the morning, I almost have to go to work, but
I'm going to try to start updating my journal here. I'm way
over due (writing in it) and feel bad for not having kept
it a little more diligently (which I had kind of promised
myself I would do about 8 weeks ago...)
Overall, I have to say that I've been feeling pretty well.
The Sunday after I last wrote, I spent the entire day in bed
- I felt so miserable. I was terrified that that feeling of
nausea and overall yuck-ness would continue for another 6
weeks and wasn't "grooving" too much on the pregnancy
idea at that point. Miraculously, that Monday, I woke up feeling
okay. I decided to take every hour that I didn't feel like
throwing myself in front of the toilet to throw up and consider
it a blessing.
An hour became a few hours which became a day. That Monday
(7wks.) was a great day and all I could do was being grateful
and feeling blessed. To my surprise the week continued just
like that Monday had been: pretty good compared to how I had
felt earlier that weekend. Overall, the queasiness would kick
in as soon as I became hungry, but overall, no real morning
sickness. Phew.
The following weeks continued with a similar pattern, however,
I do need to mention that my food aversions are stronger than
I imagined they ever could be. This is ME (!!) we're talking
about here!!!! I'm the person who LOVES food, who LOVES to
cook, who pretty much LIVES for food and entertaining. Well
nothing of that kind going on at our house at the moment.
The thought of most foods make me want to hurl, and let's
not even go into dinner time - a downright disaster here.
Cannot eat what I cook, heck, sometimes I can't even stand
the thought of cooking itself, let alone "satisfying"
my stomach with it.
For several weeks, the contents of my diet consisted of: bread
with nutella, cold milk, fruits, fish sticks, pizza, hamburger,
and anything high in carbs (no sweets though).
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely don't want to complain as
I'm very grateful for the limited nausea and morning sickness,
but...since a few weeks...indigestion. Aaahhhh, indigestion.
Lemme tell you: I now know that I never knew what indigestion
really entailed. Well, now I know and I would have lived just
as happy a life not knowing, trust me. Pretty much everything
that goes into my stomach causes it to cramp together and
give me the feeling that I just ate 4 dinner servings of the
greasiest dish ever. Sometimes the cramps manifest in such
a strong way that all I want to do is curl up in a fetal position
(pardon the pun) and cover myself with blankets. Tums you
say? No help. I will talk to my doc next Friday about that,
see if there's any relief that he may be able to share with
me on that front.
Well, having written all this, has brought me to the point
of having to leave for work. I'll continue this at some later
point today. (Or tomorrow...)
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Friday
June 22, 6wks.5d.
I felt absolutely miserable all day. All I could do while
waiting in the waiting room of the Doctor's office was sit
leaned over my knees feeling, well, miserable. (I hardly got
through class without puking...)
The nurse got me some preggie pops, not sure if they work
(and I don't like the ginger flavor, but until my order arrives,
that's all I have). The U/S showed that the heart-beat had
indeed gone up to 120/min, which was where the doctor wanted
it. However, now the amniotic sac wasn't quite round and had
a couple irregularities in it, together with the fact that
the content wasn't quite clear, it could be a bit of blood
that was in it. He didn't want us to share the news with our
parents yet, and wanted to see me again on Thursday. So Thursday
11 am it is. Overall though, he did say that once there is
a hear-beat the chances of losing the baby are less than 10%,
so I really didn't have to worry.
He suggested to get some lactaid pills, so I could start drinking
some milk, which would calm the acids in my stomach.
I slept the rest of the afternoon. In the eve, we had to go
over to friends to celebrate David's birthday. Luckily I felt
better in the eve, so we had a good time.
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Wednesday
June 20, 6wks.3d.
Today
was a stressful day. Let me start by saying that everything
is okay, but this experience terrified me. I started spotting
last night around 6 pm. Called the doctor's office and since
it was after-hours I ended up calling the doctor colleague
of my OB (as she was the one on-call). She told me that if
it was brown (which it was) not to worry, to take it easy.
If it turned red, to go to the emergency room.
I went to bed early and slept the whole night through. This
morning I woke up at 6 am to go to work, I realized that I
was bleeding lightly. It completely wigged me out. Woke up
David and told him to take me to the hospital.
We arrived there at 6:30 and they were wonderful. Took blood,
hooked me up to an IV, had me pee in a cup, the whole shebang.
After a bit, they transported me to the U/S room where they
did a 20-min. ultrasound. The lady operating the U/S wasn't
allowed to say anything, but when she pulled up a "split
screen" on the monitor and David asked what that was,
she said....."to keep it in technical terms: I'm measuring
the heartbeat...." What a relief! According to David
the U/S looked good, it looked like the baby had even grown
in comparison to Monday's U/S print out.
When we got back to the ER, we waited for while, David went
to get me something to eat, as I was starving. And then, as
a surprise...my OB walked in!!! I was so delighted to see
him, it almost brought tears to my eyes. He had checked out
the U/S data and reported that all was well. That the heart-beat
had gone up a bit, but that he still wants to see me on Friday,
as it's only 2 beats away from where he wants it. In addition,
my HCG is at 41,956, so that looked good. My OB said, that
as soon as there is a heart-beat, the chances of a successful
pregnancy increase to about 70%, so that was re-assuring.
The bleeding had started as a result from a "Threatening
Spontaneous Abortion" as he called it. The cyst was disintegrating
and could have something to do with it, but my brain doesn't
retain info that well at the moment, so I don't quite remember
what he all said.
I spent the day sleeping and watching TV. I feel very tired,
nauseous, and very, very light-headed. The dr. said it was
okay to teach tomorrow, as long as I take it easy. My follow
up appointment remains on Friday.
I'm very relieved that it all turned out to be okay, but it
has proven to me, how fragile life is. In addition to that,
I'm learning from this to try to trust in nature. David compared
it to a bull fight, with the bull being the force of nature.
Flow with nature, don't try to steer it, nature and your body
know what's best. It's difficult to fully trust in that, but
I'm trying.
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Monday
June 18, 6wks.
I ended up going to the doctor as the pain in my right side
didn't seem to go away, and since I had that cyst there, the
doctor wanted to see me. I do have low blood pressure (hence
the dizziness), but the cyst is disintegrating - good news.
We also found a heart-beat!!!: only 114, but then the doctor
realized that the baby only measured a little over 5 weeks
(which I don't understand, since I'm 6 weeks, but oh well...)
and for a little over 5 weeks, this is a good heart beat.
I will be going back on Friday, so hopefully it'll be stronger
then.
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Saturday
June 16, 5wks.5d. - Sunday June 17, 5wks.6d.
My birthday was absolutely amazing . It started out last night
with David taking me to the movies. I really wanted to see
"Surf's Up" and he surprised me with taking me out
after dinner. It was a lovely movie. We got home around 11:30
pm, so by the time I went to bed, it was past midnight - thus,
my b-day. On my pillow was an envelope with one of our cards
(we used to have a Greeting Card Business). Inside was a YMCA
family-pack membership!! I really wanted to start swimming,
so he bought a membership for the both of us!
Since sleeping through the night now belongs to the past,
I woke up around 6 am to go to the bathroom and found that
he had decorated the entire house in the middle of the night.
Growing up that was a tradition at our house and ever since
I told him about that, he decorates the house and my chair
with my birthday.
In
the morning we started out with opening gifts, and OMG, I
got spoiled: a 12-pice beautiful dinner set, with serving
trays and everything included: white porcelain, and everthing
in a square design. Gorgeous!! It came in 5 huge boxes, the
size that I could fit one of our dogs in it. Then I got a
Razr cellphone (fuchsia) (since my phone wasn't working anymore),
2 tops, 1 blouse and a large food processor. Got a ton of
phone calls, we had a lovely breakfast, our neighbors swung
by with a gifty and in the afternoon we went out: we were
going to go to this furniture store in Santa Monica that I
really wanted to go to to look for a new bed and afterwards
we'd have an "intimate picnic" at Point Dume on
the beach in Malibu, where we got married.
On our way to the store, I the morning sickness really kicked
in and I almost asked David to pull over so I could throw
up (sorry for the detail), but thankfully that didn't happen.
He stopped at the first 7-Eleven to get some ginger ale and
that helped a lot (I should buy stock in that company, I tell
you!)
The picnic turned out slightly different: it was a a surprise
party with all my friends there!!! David had taken care of
everything: these beautiful cabanas and pillows in Indian
Silks, live music, drinks, food, it was amazing.
Afterwards
we went over to the house of our friends where I opened gifties:
a fondue set, an ice cream maker (yummy), a cook book stand
for on the kitchen counter top, lounge wear, bath products
- in other words: I got spoiled!!!
Then,
on Sunday eve, David took we out for dinner to Roy's Downtown
LA, so I could wear the dress that I had bought for the make-belief
party there was gonna be Saturday evening. Dinner was absolutely
delicious. David's Blackened Ahi Tuna with Chinese mustard
& butter souce was perfect (I did have 1 taste...), but
my Butterfish in a Soy-Miso sauce was that eve's winner. Very
refined. The chocolate soufle for dessert was (as always)
perfect.
Well, that was my 30th Birthday. It was a lovely weekend,
a party that I won't soon forget. David did an amazing job
in putting it all together, he completely blew me away. I'm
so incredibly blessed with him, he truly is the best.
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Friday
June 15, 5wks.4d.
Has the week already passed?? Wow, that went fast. The Spring
semester ended on Wednesday, however, now I'm dealing with
students who don't agree with the final grade they'd received.
Funny, most of them received an "F", I wonder why
the ones with an "A" aren't complaining.....
Anyways,
I've been busy prepping myself (read: beautifying myself)
for my big B-day tomorrow. Yep, I'm turning 30 (for the 1st
time.... ) I had my hair trimmed and weaved (is that the correct
word...?) on Wednesday, eyebrows waxed yesterday and today
I had my manicure & pedicure. I'm ready to turn a year
older!!! Bring on the party!!!!!
On Wednesday night I got this sharp pain in my right side.
It made me fold over slightly, but it didn't last longer than
5 seconds. The pain came and went during the day yesterday,
although less sharp. And I had it a few times today, even
duller. I did call the doctor's office - they called back
while I was having my nails done. David talked to the doctor's
assistant who said that the doctor seems to think that it
is indeed the cyst disappearing. The pains are actually a
good sign and the cyst going away is exactly what we want,
so there's nothing to worry about. If the pains get worse
over the weekend, I can call the emergency number at the office,
but he really thought it was actually a good sign. Phew, that's
a relief.
Overall, I'm feeling great. The light-headedness does seem
to get worse, I even get dizzy when I just get up from the
couch or out of my chair, so I'm learning to really take that
easy, although it's so easy to forget. BUT...I get reminded
soon enough if I don't do it, so it's just a matter of time
until my brain is programmed to take it easy when rising up
out of a seated position.
Okay, so this is what they mean by "breast tenderness".
I'm starting to get the picture. David had a friend over the
other day, picture this: about 6'5" and the size of a
body guard / bouncer. He was happy to see me and gave me a
big hug, one of those squeeze hugs...know what I mean?? Yeah,
well, NOT comfortable, or let me put it more acurately: Holy
Crap that hurt!!!!!
At night, I seem to get light waves of nausea. I think it
has to do with the prenatals / supplements I take, so tonight
I'm planning on taking them right before I go to bed....see
what happens.
And then...tomorrow...my big day!!! I'm so excited about it.
I still have no idea what David has in store for me, but I'm
sure it'll be great. That reminds me, I should probably re-charge
the battery for the camera, so we can take some pics.
And finally: I've been taking belly shots daily and guess
what....my breasts are growing!!!! I saw it yesterday when
we put the 1st day and the last day over each other in 1 file
and clicked back and forth between the 2. They're growing!!!
Yeahhhhh!!!!! A "boob job" without any surgery!!
Well, I'm off. Ready for my daily glass of ginger ale and
some salt 'n vinegar chips....crazy huh?? Never liked them
before, now, I can't get enough.... Yes, yes, I do pace myself,
my face is not yet disappearing in the bag of chips. Don't
worry!!!
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Monday
June 11, 5wks.
I just returned from the OB's office. All is well. I have
to admit that I was pretty nervous about it, but when the
nurse said "Marieke, I have good news for you",
it was as if a load fell off my shoulders.
Beta @ 15 dpo: 400
Beta @ 17 dpo: 980
The Dr. did an ultrasound and there was indeed 1 baby in there.
I had thought about how exciting it would be to have twins,
but I'm thrilled nevertheless. It measured a little less than
4 wks, which worried me a bit, since I'm 5 wks. today, but
the doctor had a good point. He said: "it's the same
as asking how old a 5'9" person is". I guess that
makes sense. The EDD is indeed February 10/11. Next Friday
(the 22nd) I'll have another U/S appointment and hopefully
we'll have a heart-beat then.
On
our way back, David took me to Porto's Bakery where we said
down to have a delicious pastry to celebrate. He's so sweet,
I married such a great guy and am so blessed to be making
this journey with him.
I decided last week, to weigh myself once a week, at the full
week mark, so being 5wks. today, I did... I had lost 4.5 lbs.
last week, without once throwing up!? I seriously think that
it is because I haven't eaten any refined sugars last week.
The thought of it, really turned me off. I've been eating
a lot though, but it was all healthy food, so I think that
may have something to do with it.
Finally, I feel great physically. It almost feels like most
pregnancy-symptoms are gone, aside from the breast tenderness.
Is this the silence before the storm?? All I know is that
I'm enjoying every day I feel well, 'cause I know that morning
sickness can kick in at any time...
I bought myself "The Pregnancy Journal". I'm going
to get myself a glass of healthy water and go sit down at
the dining room table to fill it in and date it back from
our Estimated Due Date 'till today. Every day David and I
will take a few minutes to read up on what's going on in my
body right now and answer any of the questions that are posed
on different days. Neat idea huh?
'Till tomorrow,
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Sunday
June 10, 4wk.6d.
It was soo nice to sleep in this morning. Fell asleep yesterday
on the sofa right after we'd started watching some TV - I
don't last long when I lay down....
Am
feeling great this morning. Little light-headed, but that's
about it. Had breakfast this morning - I seem to get used
to the cereal with Low Fat Soy milk (how healthy does that
sound??) and had a perfectly boiled egg. Sometimes eggs taste
soo good...
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Saturday
June 9, 4wk.5d.
Wow, so I found out the hard way what they mean by "pregnancy
brain". My Saturday class was supposed to start their
final exam at 9:00 am this morning. I was running a bit late
to begin with, but nothing serious (I'd still make it on time)
when I was only a couple of exits away from the college when
I realized that I had forgotten my Saturday folder, which
contained the grades of my students' last speeces. The horrible
thing: some students had gotten extra credit and didn't have
to do the final, so they'd only come to class to get their
grades back!!!! I exited, turned around and drove back (20
min.) to get the papers. The final exam ended up starting
at 9:30....
Wow, I still CANNOT believe that I spaced on that!!!!
The division party last night was fun, although I have to
admit that I had a hard time with David's function we went
to afterwards: I just realize that standing in a bar, with
way too many people is really not for me anymore. In addition:
the smell of alcohol made me queasy as heck!! Even though
I stuck with water, it was rather "uncomfortable"
to talk to David's friend who had a glass of red wine in his
hand - his breath smelled like red wine / alcohol and it made
me feel...let's say..."less than good". In addition
to that, standing for a long time really started bothering
my back, so after about 2 hours I was ready to go home. (Thankful
for the fact that I'm 6'ft. tall and could look over most
heads in the room, otherwise claustrophobia would have absolutely
gotten to me).
How am I feeling today?
I had some sharper pains in my left side last night. The kind
of pains that you get when you run for a while. This morning
I felt a few pinches in my right side, but that's about it.
The fact that I'm tired isn't quite that new anymore, but
yes, I'm still tired.
I guess I'll be grading papers for the rest of the day - trying
not to fall asleep.
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Friday
June 8, 4wk.4d.
I still have to get used to the fact that sleeping through
the night belongs to the past. I used to be the one who would
fall asleep as soon as I saw my pillow and I wouldn't wake
up until my alarm would go off. Here I am, getting up 1-2
times a night, making the track to the bathroom (we're still
"camping out" in the garage/photo studio until the
new Master is done) to pee. (On the bright side: at least
I know now what David goes through, but really, I could have
been just as happy not knowing that, believe me.)
Anyways,
last night, with my first commute to the bathroom, I noticed
this pressure low in my belly, pretty strong. I cannot imagine
it being anything else than my stuff starting to stretch,
but is that common this early on?? Oh well, maybe it is, it's
my first time, no references here to compare to.
Tonight
we have the "end of the semester" division party.
After that David has a reception at a bar that he needs to
go to for work purposes, so I'll join him for that. I think
tonight's excuse for the alcohol-free drinks will be "I'll
be the designated driver..."
In
that light, I really want to take a nap. Am exhausted. Did
grocery shopping this morning, made a strawberry pie for tonight's
party (which is supposed to be yummy, but I really have no
interest in eating it...too sweet - wow, did I just say "too
sweet'??? Wow, pregnancy does change your body....fascinating...)
Time for a nap. Gosh, I LOVE sleeping.
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Thursday
June 7, 4wk3d
Today was pretty uneventful. Spent the majority grading papers.
This afternoon I got extremely tired, don't know if it was
because of the pregnancy or because of the papers....
In
the morning I felt great, no symptoms whatsoever. Later in
the afternoon, I did get some dizziness and some waves of
nausea, but nothing that a Ginger Ale didn't fix.
Anyways, am excited as tomorrow we're having the stucco work
done on the addition of the house. Almost all of the siding
is hung, except for a few small finishing pieces here and
there, it's really starting to come together. Can't wait to
move into our new bedroom and start using our new bathroom.
Oh, and being able to actually find my clothes in my closet
- lovely idea. At the moment every morning is a struggle:
what can I wear and where the heck is it?
The nights that I slept through the night are merely wonderful
sweet memories. I wake up 1-2 times a night to go to the bathroom,
I guess space is getting smaller down there for my blatter...
Well, off to bed I go. Would love to lay down and sleep. Night
night.
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Tuesday
June 5 - 4wk.1d.
I
had some waves of nausea and an ongoing appetite, but that
was about it. The light cramping I've been having these past
few days was gone today. It immediately made me wonder if
everything was okay... I mean, this is my first pregnancy,
so I absolutely have no clue as to what I'm supposed to be
feeling right now. At the end of the day, I did have some
twinges on my right side (earlier in the day around the left),
I hope that's normal.
Breakfast is still a challenge. I want to stay away from milk,
as the intestinal cramps I had last week, were so incredibly
scary, I don't want to have to go through that again. They
were the exact same as the cramps I used to have as a kid,
when I had a lactose-intolerance. When they appeared again
last week, it was the first sign that made me wonder if I
was preggers. I will ask the OB about that on Monday. Anyways,
I find myself struggling in the morning with breakfast. Nothing
really appeals to me, yet my stomach is growling ...
I did go in to the lab today to have my first Beta testing.
I don't suppose they'd give me the results tomorrow, so I
guess I'll have to wait until my Dr.'s appointment on Monday.
Thursday will be the follow up Beta bloodwork - I hope that
Monday will bring me a good early birthday gift.
Have to admit that I'm quite nervous, especially about the
blood results, but I guess that those nerves will continue
throughout the entire pregnancy, 'cause after the blood results
is the 1st U/S, then comes the next thing and the next thing,
etc.
David, in the meantime, is amazingly calm and lives by his
motto that "he knows that everything will be fine".
I guess I have to learn to trust a little bit more, although
at times that motto can drive me up the wall.
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Saturday,
June 2, 2007
This
morning started just like the past 2 days: I woke up, took
my temperature, realized it was still high (although down
from yesterday), and went to the bathroom to take another
pregnancy test. I was 12 days past ovulation and I had started
testing Thursday (day 10). Within the time frame of 3 minutes
an almost too-hard-to-see faint pink line appeared, seriously
making me wonder if I was hallucinating. Maybe I just wasn’t
awake enough yet. I discarded it and went on to feed the animals,
make a sandwich and get ready for work. Just like the past
2 days.
It all of a sudden hit me on my way to work: heck, I bought
the digital pregnancy test, why not use it and be sure. That
way I don’t have to fuss with cheapy HPT’s, holding
them into the light, trying to take a photo and enlarge it,
or even worse: asking for a second opinion for someone else
to conclude whether or not I was pregnant. After class, I
rushed home and hardly could say “hi” to David,
my need to use the bathroom was, well, let me call it “urgent”.
I pulled out the digital HPT, did what the instructions said
and yep, the little hourglass appeared…cool, nifty devices
I must admit. Then, within 40 seconds, there it was…my
answer…”pregnant”. My heart skipped a beat
(maybe 2, I don’t remember) and I felt this overwhelming
need to burst out in tears, but then I realized: I wanted
to surprise David with a gift, couldn’t have him see
me with red, swollen, puffy eyes that screamed – I’m
emotional and just bawled my eyes out. No, couldn’t
deal with any questions, I suck at lying (or acting for that
matter)
On
my way out the door, David got a “I forgot something,
I’ll be back in a minute, Love ya!” and off I
was to Target. I found myself in the elevator of the store,
wanting to share with all the people around me that “I
just found out I’m pregnant!!!”, but I contained
myself. I mean, it wouldn’t be right for others to know
before my own husband, right?? About 15 minutes later I walked
out with a onsie that said “I [heart] Daddy”,
a card and wrapping paper.
It was soo difficult not to let David in on my “little”
secret before lunch. Heck, it’s a good thing it was
around noon, but I can tell you: had it been around 10 am,
lunch would have been served no later than 10:30, I wouldn’t
have been able to keep it to myself much longer…
As we said down, I offered him the little pile of gifts: 2
books, a card and on top the onsie with the pregnancy test
in it. When he opened the gift and saw the text on this first
piece of clothing, his eyes got big and for a moment he actually
had a slightly hard time formulating a sentence. I think it
was a “Really?” that he was able to pronounce.
I think he was both surprised (although he admitted that it
wasn’t really), overwhelmed and moved. I almost heard
him think “oh my gosh, is this really happening?”
It’s funny, but personally I don’t think I’m
quite getting it completely. It’s almost like it’s
a dream, like it’s not real. I mean, I don’t feel
pregnant. Well, maybe I do, but I don’t know what “pregnant”
feels like, I lack points of reference. The dull, constant
cramping has been going on since a few days past ovulation,
so that’s nothing new. Tonight though, I did have my
first wave of nausea when I put on a body lotion that almost
made me want to throw up. Guess I won’t be using that
for the next 9 months.
I’m sitting here not quite clear what to think or feel.
I guess the best way to explain it is by saying: I know that
I’m pregnant, I just don’t realize it yet. When
will I though??
As far as I can tell, my due date will be February 11, 2008.
That makes me 3wks. and 5 days pregnant today.
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