And the pregnancy posts begin! I’ve started from four weeks, which is approximately when we found out I was pregnant. I’ll be doing these posts weekly or bi-weekly for the rest of the pregnancy.
The Belly
Not much of a belly yet (I’m still flat in the morning), but in the evening after I’ve eaten dinner, my belly definitely sticks out a bit. For comparison with future posts, here’s a pic from six weeks:
Weight Gained
I’ve gained about 5 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight so far. Since you’re only supposed to gain 1-5 pounds in the first trimester, my goal is not to gain any more weight for the next couple of weeks :)
Symptoms
During the first couple of weeks, I had symptoms right away, including very sore breasts (even walking hurt), acne (everywhere – even my butt), frequent peeing, cramps, and insomnia. By week 5, a lot of the symptoms started to abate and were replaced with some fatigue and a little nausea, particularly in the mornings. It honestly hasn’t been that bad though – I imagine my overactive thyroid has been compensating for the fatigue, and I’m eating frequently, which probably helps with the light nausea. My boobs have remained really sore though – I picked up bigger regular bras and very supportive sports bras in week 7.
Eats
So far, I’ve definitely preferred salty/ spicy foods over anything sweet. Some favorites from week to week have included olives, spicy pickles, sour patch kids, jalapenos, and asian noodle soups. My previously mostly healthy diet has now gotten decidedly unhealthy, and I’m trying to find healthier substitutes for my cravings. Oddly enough, I have a hard time eating creamy foods like avocados. Here’s what’s been good week by week:
Week 7 faves included cereal, cookies, and ice cream (the sweet tooth lives!). Siggi’s drinkable yogurt was a huge hit this week – I went through 5-6 small bottles.
Week 8 faves included grilled cheese and tomato soup, cherries, costco fried rice with an over-hard egg on top (miss runny eggs!!). Aside from the cheese in my grilled cheese, I’ve had a hard time eating dairy this week – I’ve been avoiding the boxes of cereal I bought last week, the last Siggi’s is sitting untouched in the fridge, and I’ve cooled on the ice cream.
Week 9 was allll about the fruit. I must have gone through two bags of cherries and two containers of strawberries! Strangely, I have no desire to eat chocolate or ice cream, so I think it’s the sour factor enticing me. I also ate a plate of celery at Mike’s coworker’s house and it was the best thing ever – probably the first time in this pregnancy that I wanted to eat raw veggies.
Week 10 faves were mango juice, smoothies, soy yogurt (regular yogurt bothers my stomach), and salty noodle soups (udon, pho, ramen, etc). Fruits and veggies are still pretty good too!
Sleep
Oof, this has been rough. During weeks 3-6 or so, I slept about 4-5 hours on average, alternating a good night’s sleep with one or two nights of next to no sleep. During week 7, my doctor put me back on the methimazole at 2.5 mg and my sleep improved quite a bit. It got worse in week 8, but improved the week after. Now in week 10, I’ve been sleeping fine and napping every once in a while too.
Pregnancy-Related Purchases
Ha, I have been shopping quite a lot. Week 4 purchases included acne exfoliating pads (these are awesome), a snoogle (hard to sleep on my side because my breasts hurt, but I’m actually not using it yet), and sleep aids (didn’t help).
In week 5, I bought some pant/ skirt extenders (work clothes are already uncomfortable) and a copy of What to Expect When You’re Expecting (honestly, I read two chapters and haven’t picked it up since – there’s way more information online). We also bought a bunch of stuff to announce the birth to our family members.
In week 6, I bought a whole bunch of loose dresses on Poshmark (mostly Madewell and Express shirtdresses) for work/ casual wear. My summer work wardrobe consisted of sheath dresses and pencil skirts, none of which are comfortable even this early in the pregnancy. I think the looser clothing also helps with preventing nausea for me.
In week 7, I made the best purchase ever – two Victoria’s Secret maximum support sports bras. Holy cow, these let me run again, after two or three weeks of being unable to run in Orangetheory! I tried a bunch of bras before getting to these, including a Champion max support bra and several models of Brooks/ Oiselle bras at REI. The VS bras work the best for me – I think it’s a combo of the crossback straps, thick fabric, and the underwire. I got the lightweight max bra; the front close max support bra is even better, but the lightweight max has more room for me to expand. I can still use my old bras for non-running workouts.
Week 8, I bought two more loose dresses from Poshmark and Gap as well as some Tummy Drops from Amazon.
Week 9, I actually bought a stroller. Yup, and a car seat. I was researching things for the baby registry, and found a good deal on eBay and sprung for it. Yes, I recognize that no one buys baby stuff this early, but I couldn’t help myself. I also borrowed a bunch of casual and work dresses from friends – they’ve been lifesavers in extending my wardrobe!
Week 10, I bought some belly bands from Poshmark! I’m planning to start using them to wear pants again as the weather gets cooler.
Thoughts/ Stories
Week 4: I’m so, so excited to be pregnant and finally starting a family. It’s made me less anxious in some ways – I don’t stress as much about work and I’m surprisingly calm about the decision to buy a house (basically left it up to Mike) – but I have to fight hard against thoughts about the baby’s health. It isn’t great that I’m on methimazole during the first trimester for my thyroid, but I really just have to trust God at this point. We can’t wait to tell our family and friends, which we’ll do starting Week 8!
Week 5: The disappearance of some of my symptoms made me nervous, as did the fact that my resting heart rate went back down to my normal resting (~58 bpm, after rising to nearly 70 last week). I’m hoping that’s because my uterus is expanding and the watch isn’t sensitive enough to pick up the baby’s heart beat. I also came off methimazole, praise God!
Week 6: We saw the doctor for the first time this week, and she was able to find the baby and see the heart rate! We were so excited after the visit that we ended up telling Mike’s family through Google Hangout; we held up a onesie that said, “Cousins Make the Best Friends” because Mike’s brother and sister are expecting! It took a minute for it to sink in and then Mike’s mom yelled, “are you serious?” and then there was screaming and crying, lol. We told my mom next with a card that said “Only the Best Moms Get Promoted to Grandma” and she was so excited as well. I waited to tell my sister in NYC with a shirt that said “Best Aunt Ever”, and we called my brother afterwards to show him the shirt. Obviously, I had a little too much fun on Etsy ;) We’re waiting to tell extended family till the next visit, when the doctor can confirm the due date.
Week 7: Ha, so I have a funny story this week. I came home from work and called for Kitty as I entered the condo. She didn’t show up right away, so I checked her hiding places – but there was no sign of Kitty. I started shaking her food, and got really alarmed when she didn’t come out of hiding – when I didn’t find her on the balcony, I thought that she must have escaped into the hallway when Mike went to the gym. So I ran up and down the hallways looking for her, even checking in the trash room. No cat. I came back into the condo and started to cry, thinking that she must have gone into the elevator or someone had taken her. I finally had the depressing thought that maybe she was dead under the bed, so I checked one last time, shaking the food close to the bed…and she came out! Mike came home to find me sobbing while feeding her treat after treat, lol. Pregnancy hormones, I guess?
Week 8: I went back on methimazole last week, but couldn’t sleep more than an hour or two every night with Mike gone on a work trip. The lack of sleep really stressed me out, as did the methimazole, and I worried a lot about Piglet this week. We also decided to put the condo on the market, which probably added to my stress.
Week 9: This week was AWESOME because we had another doctor’s appointment, where we saw Piglet (much larger than six weeks!) and its heartbeat – strong at 147 bpm. Our doc said the baby looked great, and was actually moving around, which is unusual for nine weeks and indicates the brain is developing great. We gave our parents the thumbs up to start telling extended family and friends after this visit.
Week 10: I decided to tell my boss and coworkers this week, especially since we’re starting to make plans for 2019. Everyone was very excited! Al was really thrilled and said that he was becoming a grandpa for the second time :) I had some bad cramps this week, which worried me, but apparently it’s completely normal and due to my growing uterus. My belly also started sticking out in the evenings – some nights I really look pregnant, and then in the mornings my belly is flat again. I can’t imagine my belly growing even more, although it certainly will…
I bought some loose dresses and a maternity top from Loft, which I think I’ll start wearing this fall, and a couple of maternity sweaters second hand from a lady nearby. We also picked up an Ergobaby carrier and infant insert (second hand again) upon the recommendation of our friends. We’re trying not to buy too much stuff till we move later this fall!
We had a light dinner at home, with my favorite dessert to cap off the weekend – “hostess” cupcakes from Buzz Bakery. 
After all that eating, it’s a good time to talk about how last week’s training went!
I spent most of Saturday driving to and from Richmond to help my mom with her taxes at an H&R Block – the five hours I spent driving went a little faster thanks to Lauren Graham’s memoir, 
