So, how about we start with a recap of the first trimester? Well, we officially found out that we were pregnant on Labor Day (September 3) 2010 after arriving home from a trip to the lake with our sweet friends, Matt and Sarah Beddoe. (And yes, for those of you doing the math, we had only been marrried for about 10 weeks at this point...God obviously has a sense of humor!) All weekend, I had been complaining about some abdominal cramping, tiredness, and just feeling "off." Sarah was 12 weeks pregnant at the time and just convinced that I was pregnant, too, but I was convinced that all that was just her wishful thinking because it would be so much fun to be pregnant together. Well, as you can guess by now, she was RIGHT! When we arrived home that day, I immediately took a digital test (without Blake's knowledge) that came up with not a plus sign or a smiley face or anything somewhat unscary...no, it simply came up with the word PREGNANT. Just like that - in all caps. Panic ensued.
I had always been one of those people who thought I'd have the patience to not immediately scream and cry, and I'd always hoped I'd find some really sweet way to tell my husband that I was pregnant. Maybe bring him a bib that said "I Love Daddy" or make him a special dinner or something. For those of you thinking that will be you, you are WRONG! Unless you've been pregnant before, the only reaction you will have to that first positive pregnancy test is sheer shock, inescapable fear, and excessive panic. True, there was some joy in there as well, but for the most part, the joy and excitement comes later. So, anyway, I digress. Back to the story...
As I am sitting in the bathroom staring at the most frightening word I've ever seen in my life thus far, Blake, meanwhile, is unloading our luggage and turning on the air conditioning with no idea what I am doing in there. As he is fiddling with the thermostat, I burst into the living room screaming, "Look! Look! Does that say what I think it says?!?!" Blake takes one glance at the pee stick, and says, "Hold on, let me fix the thermostat first." EXCUSE ME?!? I am PREGNANT 10 weeks into our marriage, and you are worried about the A/C!?!?!? (I came to realize later that he was in just as much shock as I was...he just showed it differently.) After successfully reprogramming the thermostat, we have the cliched hug and cry and all those things you imagine. We then went up to Walgreen's and bought four more pregnancy tests...all different brands...and came up four for four on the pregnant, plus sign, two lines results.
Joy slowly set in and fear began to subside over the next few weeks as we visited the obstetrician and got our official due date - May 12, learned that the baby was healthy, and I began to experience some lovely first trimester pregnancy symptoms. Here is our very first sonogram picture of our little blob from our 8-week appointment back in October, as well as "belly shot" of me at 7 weeks.
First trimester symptoms I experienced: major carsickness, some food aversions (particularly crunchy vegetables and ice cream), tiredness, and some migraines. All in all, I certainly can't complain compared to some of the horror stories I hear. My symptoms really lessened at the end of this trimester. We went for a special sonogram called an NT scan at 13 weeks which is where the doctor checks for fluid in the baby's neck. (If fluid is present, it can indicate higher risk of genetic disorders such as Down's Syndrome, Spina Bifida, etc.) All of those tests came back with the best possible results - 1 in 10,000 chance of anything being wrong - and we got this precious profile shot of the baby at the appointment. Isn't it amazing what a difference 4 weeks makes?!?!
Well, that brings us to the end of the first trimester recap! We are so in love with this little guy and can't wait to share more stories and pictures as he grows!
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