First Trimester: Again.
Ok, so before it’s over and I’m so happy it’s soon, I’m going to record the peculiarities of this first trimester. It’s always something. I don’t think I got around to it last time, but last time it was M&M’s. Strong cravings for M&M’s. No other chocolate or candy would do; I would have none of it. But I could eat a pound of M&M’s before I’d realized that I’d begun! That was not good.
Raw vegetables. I psyched myself up as soon as I worked things out on a calendar and realized that tomatoes, zucchinis, peaches, apples, and all manner of other produce would be available fresh and in-season throughout most of this pregnancy. For the past year or two I have tried to consciously tailor our meals more around what is in season, so I began this pregnancy thinking of a plate of freshly cut tomatoes with coarse salt sprinkled over, cucumber and carrot slices, red peppers and mozzarella cheese….and it worked! I want to eat fresh vegetables all the time! Raw, too, interestingly. Cooked, sauted, or even grilled are not as appealing as simply cut up raw vegetables. I could eat a vegetable tray for lunch every day and be so happy. That’s a nice change after the whole M&M thing.
Morning sickness. I definitely have morning sickness this go around. I always did have it in the morning, but most afternoons I feel pretty steady. However, the mornings are generally worse than before, although I’ve only vomited once, so I can’t complain. It’s still the same old familiar nausea, but I think it had slightly but steadily increased each time. That’s not a good trend. Here’s an interesting trend: With Hans, food made the morning sickness go away. With Jaeger, sometimes it helped and sometimes it didn’t. With Friedrich, it had no bearing whatsoever. This time food is really unappealing while I’m sick and, when I’ve felt fine in the mornings the morning sickness will strike exactly half-way through my food and I simply cannot finish it. Moreover, with Hans I gained five pounds in the first trimester; with Jaeger I gained a little but not much; with Friedrich I maintained the same weight; this time I lost a couple pounds! While feeling sick isn’t the greatest thing, overall I do not mind these trends at all. Really, I’ve been grateful for this morning sickness. Every morning it’s my little confirmation that things are right this day.
Tiredness. I get so stinking tired during the first trimester. I sleep 10-12 hours at night and if I don’t, I’m dead tired all throughout the day whether I nap or not. First trimesters are the only times I can actually sleep in the afternoons.
No pregnancy test. I didn’t take a pregnancy test this time around. I think I know my signs now and I might not ever use one again. The day before I would have thought to use one (y’all know) was the day I was supposed to thoroughly clean the rental. So, as planned, after dropping off the boys I stopped in at Mocha Express. As a sat waiting my turn in the drive-through, wondering what flavor to get in my latte, I realized that no flavor sounded good. Coffee didn’t sound good. I inexplicably simply did not want coffee. But how in the world am I supposed to clean an entire house without coffee?! The answer turned out being that tiredness hit that day, too, and Matt ended up staying up until the wee, wee hours finishing my job. After that, I simply knew. I was so stinking tired. I called my midwife, she actually answered the phone, and on a Friday afternoon she sent me and an order to the lab for blood work and scheduled an appointment to see me on Monday. I love my midwife. I will always love her after I called her directly on a Saturday at 7pm during my last pregnancy with bleeding and she called the lab right then to get my results for testing that hadn’t come back yet and got them and called me right back and called in a prescription to the pharmacy for us to get Sunday and talked to me three times on Sunday, the day the miscarriage happened, then saw me first thing Monday morning and sent me directly to have an ultrasound. She is taking care of me and she is carefully considering my case, history, and possibilities in consultation with the best doctor in town. I like my midwife.
Paper plates. Moving is not the greatest time to be in the first trimester, but the timing turned out to not be too bad after all. Without the kitchen, we used paper everything and microwave meals. I had no dishes to do, I couldn’t unpack, and just sitting, watching the boys play and keeping them out of things was about all I could handle doing anyway and all I had to do and the most important thing I needed to do (two boys in a construction zone can’t be left unattended).
Not telling. Only a handful of people knew about this pregnancy until I was 10 weeks along. I didn’t tell any family but mom (who was watching the boys for my appointments) and only two friends before 10 weeks. I actually even considered not telling the public until more like 18 weeks, but I figured then my family would be pretty mad, not to mention I doubt I can hold off the maternity clothes that long. :) The first trimester has gone much faster this time, though, and I think it’s because I couldn’t openly complain about it and I didn’t have people feeling obliged to open conversations by asking how I was feeling. :) Now I’m seriously considering following in the footsteps of one friend and just not telling for a ridiculously long amount of time…maybe until 14 weeks. So you’re all on notice and can now watch me like a hawk in the future to see if I’m drinking coffee or partaking of proffered wine. :)
Blogging the baby. I don’t want to have one of those baby-gaga counters. I would jump on it, really, but I am simply not interested in seeing how many DAYS are left. How depressing. I like having my picture of the boys up in the corner and I’d like to add some sort of acknowledgment of our next guy in there, too, but I haven’t figured out the logistics of it yet. You all probably just read on your RSS feeder and it won’t make any difference to you, anyway. :)
