1st Trimester Highlights

Well, I am just past 18 weeks pregnant, but I forgot to post about my first trimester ... how's that for MommyBrain?!

Finding Out

We found out on April 29th, Chad's 35th Birthday. I took the test as soon as Chad left for work because I really suspected that I was pregnant … but I wanted to know before him because I had a plan. I had a dream that Chad opened a gift with a positive pregnancy test inside. That's exactly what I did and how I told him!

Symptoms:

• extreme nausea in the evening – starting at 3:00 and lasting until 9:00
• Weight Gain = 0 lbs
• could not eat dinner (or even make dinner most evenings); poor Chad and Natalie had to fend for themselves
• tired, tired, tired – I took a nap almost every afternoon
• craved chocolate milk, tater tots, strawberries, and apples
• ate a bowl of cereal late at night – or just before sunrise
• cried all the time and found my usual supply of patience for Natalie was running at an all time low – I really struggled with the guilt of that – guessing there's more of that to come, huh?
  

Ultrasound Craziness
I had three ultrasounds in the first 13 weeks, and each one was a little stressful.

1. @ 7 weeks – I mentioned to my doctor that I was having twin dreams and feeling more sick than I remember with Natalie. This, of course, peaked her “Could this be twins?” radar. During the ultrasound (which had to be done in the less comfortable manner), she had a weird look on her face and called in another doctor. There was an additional structure … without a heartbeat. We'll never know for sure, but that structure may have been the beginning of a second embryo … or part of the yolk sac … or a even a shadow. My doctor assured me that the structure would be re-absorbed and didn't pose a concern. While I was a little sad, I focused on the great news of one little grain of rice with a beating heart and a place in mine!
2. @ 9.5 weeks – Doctor Maplethorpe checked for the heartbeat with the Fetal Doppler. No heartbeat was detected, but that's not unusual at this early date. But because of the “weird” first ultrasound, Dr. M decided to follow-up with another ultrasound. The screen was turned toward me, and I could tell that there wasn't anything on the screen. Dr. M decided to take a look – in that less comfortable way again – and still there was nothing on the screen. I broke down at this point. She re-positioned the transponder three different times before pointing it down as far as she could – toward my tail bone. And just like that, I could see my little jelly bean. What a relief! We discovered I have a retroverted uterus, which also explains all the pain in my lower back.
3. @ 13 weeks – Still no heartbeat detected on the Fetal Doppler. Because of the other two strange ultrasounds, Dr. M brought in the ultrasound machine – again! And again, I was a mess. I definitely thought we'd hear a heartbeat at 13 weeks. But my retroverted uterus and a very prominent placenta was to blame. The ultrasound revealed good cardiac activity but the fetus was measuring a little small – not enough to be concerned because as the doctor said, I don't make big babies.

With extreme nausea and crazy ultrasounds behind me, I am actually really enjoying my second trimester ... and setting my goals on weight gain ... this bowl of rocky road ice cream should be helping!