{Almost} First Trimester Recap

This post is mostly for me, super long and full of probably way too many details (so I don't forget everything from the last three months)... I won't feel bad if you have no interest in this post, but if you want to know the real reason I haven't been blogging much, feel free to read on!

May 2 - I had expected my cycle to start over a week earlier, but didn't know how regular I would be given the fact that I had just gone off birth control after having been on it for ten years.  I couldn't imagine that I could actually be pregnant!  I had bought a home pregnancy test earlier in the week, but it just sat on our counter - I was almost nervous to take it. I finally broke down and decided to give it a shot while Matt was out for his morning workout. In like half a second the test confirmed that I was pregnant.  It was a little surreal.  I kept looking at that little stick wondering if it was telling me the truth, but deep down I knew it was.  Now the question was, how was I going to tell Matt?  I hadn't thought that far ahead.  As I showered and was getting dressed for the day, I remembered I had bought a shirt a couple years ago that would be perfect (never too early to prepare, right?!).

Can you see what it says?  It says "Future Bronco" with an arrow pointing toward the stomach.  I quickly put that shirt on and headed downstairs as I had heard Matt come home from the gym.  I walked into the kitchen as he was making his protein shake.  He talked to me for a minute about his workout and then completely stopped, looking at me, and asked, "You're pregnant?"  I told him yes, that's what the little test told me.  He immediately pulled me toward him and gave me a giant hug and just told me how happy he was.

Month of May - I was definitely happy (this is something we had wanted), but I was also nervous.  I didn't want to get too excited because it was still so early.  Matt wanted to share the news with everyone, but I wanted to keep it to ourselves for a while just to get past the really early phase.  I was a little emotional at first - in addition to being happy and nervous at the same time, I was thinking about how my life was changing right away.  I knew that things would change when I had a baby, but didn't realize the things that would change before then... like the fact that I had wanted to lose some weight this spring (I'd gained quite a bit since I got married last year) and that I had been sooo looking forward to motorcycle rides with Matt now that the weather was getting warmer.  There are mixed reviews online about the safety of riding a motorcycle while pregnant, but I knew that Matt would prefer I didn't ride just to be extra safe.  I admit I cried a little thinking about how we would probably sell our bikes and I wouldn't even get in one last good ride with Matt.

That first week was probably the hardest/most emotional for me (I hate to admit that, but it's true)... I had to get all that selfishness of weight loss plans and motorcycle riding out of me to be able to move forward in a more positive way.  I think it was also hard because I didn't "feel" pregnant.  I felt just like I always did.

May 13 - I called Matt from work on the afternoon of the 13th, almost a week and a half after we found out we were expecting.  I was all excited, whispering in the phone to him that I had felt sick all day!  I knew that was a good sign.  Little did I know that I wouldn't stop feeling sick for weeks.  That was about 7 weeks ago, and there have only been a couple days since then that I haven't thrown up.  On a good day, I only throw up once or twice.  This past Thursday was a bad day, throwing up 8 times in one day.  I'm still hoping the sickness doesn't last too much longer!  I did get some medication from the doctor a couple weeks ago, and that has been helping (most days), so that's good.  I get sick when I go to the grocery store or when I try to cook anything or even when I just walk up the stairs in my house.  My poor family has been living on tortilla roll-ups (Matt's favorite - string cheese, sliced turkey, and spinach wrapped in a tortilla), macaroni and cheese, and canned food like black beans or spaghettios.  I've been so proud of the few times I've been feeling well enough to make fish and rice or baked chicken strips.

In addition to being sick, I've been soooo tired.  All I want to do when I come home from work is lay down on the couch.  My poor house has suffered, as I haven't really been able to keep up with housework, but Matt and I are doing our best to "pick up as we go" and call it good enough.  Matt's also been super sweet to clean the toilets again and again for me.

June 3 - I had gone for my first doctors appointment mid-May, but this was the appointment I was really looking forward to.  Matt came with me to this one because it was our first ultrasound.  I think this is when it became real for me.  I had no idea the emotions I would feel as the ultrasound tech showed us pictures of our little baby (gummy bear as Matt called it).  I couldn't even look away from the screen, and I tried my best to hold back the tears as we heard the heart beat for the first time.  They told us it was a good strong heart beat, at 166 beats per minute.  I couldn't have been happier, and each time I looked at those pictures over the next couple days, I grew even more and more excited.

After hearing the heart beat, I told Matt we could tell our parents (and Kylee).  That's when we made this video.  Matt's mom screamed, my mom cried, but we were all smiles.  Kylee keeps asking when it's going to be Christmas time (since we told her the baby wouldn't be here until after Christmas)... she's pretty excited too!

June 15-16 - We broke the news to our siblings this weekend, and then on June 24 decided we didn't want to keep it in any more and posted the video for all to see.  Plus, I'm looking pretty thick around the waist and people were going to start wondering on their own if we didn't announce it!

So that brings us to today!  I am 13.5 weeks now, so I guess I'm not officially out of the first trimester for another few days, but thought I'd record a couple more details:

• My diet has completely changed.  My "every day" foods used to be a protein shake for breakfast, a chobani yogurt for snack, and a sandwich for lunch.  I haven't had a single protein shake in 7 weeks (the thought of drinking one makes me sick), I can't stomach yogurt right now, and I'm not allowed to eat lunch meat, which has totally killed my lunches.  Instead, I've been eating eggo waffles or toast for breakfast, granola bars for snack, and I've been eating out for lunch way too much.  Nothing usually sounds good, but I almost always go for something pretty bland - a bagel and cream cheese, pita and hummus, breadsticks, maybe chicken strips.  Or potatoes - mostly mashed potatoes and gravy (thank you Fred Meyer deli) or McDonalds hashbrowns.  I know, super healthy, right!?  I'm hoping as I start feeling better I will want to eat more fruits and vegetables and that I'll want to have my morning shakes again.
• My bedtime has changed to around 9pm.  I want to stay up later, but most days I just can't, and I'll head to bed when the sun is still out.
• People have asked if we have started picking out names... the answer is no.  I have started to notice names I like, but will likely wait to really start thinking about it until we know the gender.  We will definitely be finding out, by the way!
• My skin has totally broken out... I have major acne on my chin and neck and chest and I think it's disgusting.  I hope this doesn't last the entire pregnancy.
• My pants don't fit anymore - they were already getting tight from the fact that I had gained so much weight in the previous year, so now they really aren't fitting.  I am definitely starting to get a little baby bump (hopefully it's not just from all those potatoes I've been eating!).  Looks like it's time to go shopping.  Right now the baby is about the size of a lemon... I'm thinking that has to be a large lemon since a week or two ago the baby was the size of a peach!