1st Trimester Symptoms: Dreams, Hunger, Weight Gain While in media the biggest sign of pregnancy is always shown through women rushing to the toilet with morning sickness, my main first symptom has always been crazy dreams. When I woke up from a dinosaur dream at the end of November, I heavily suspected we had a little one on the way, and I was right. I made it through the whole first trimester with very little in the way of symptoms (don't be jealous though, I've got weeks of recovering from a c-section to look forward to). Like my first pregnancy, when I had most of my first trimester off work (summer break), I spent a lot of time napping as exhaustion was my main symptom. And we learned Eli actually will nap if you take one with him. And, if hunger can be considered a symptom, I definitely had that. I was a little picky about food for a while, and lost my appetite for a bit, but after that passed I just got hungry. For carbs. It seems every meal I plan revolves around or includes potatoes. It's been very hard going from a diet where I was still cutting calories to lose weight, to adding calories to start gaining weight. I was having a lot of times where when I stood up the blood would rush to my head and my vision would go black for a few seconds if I hadn't eaten recently. I pretty much want to eat everything in sight most days but then would regret that because my stomach doesn't really have that much room. According to my records, I've gained more so far this pregnancy than the other two, but I also started out a lot less so we'll see how it goes.
Exercise: Despite being especially tired, I actually continuing to workout through my first trimester (something I've never done in other pregnancies). I ran a rainy 5k race at 3 weeks, and was typically taking step/pump class on Monday, a circuit training class Thursday, and another step/pump class on Friday (assuming I could get a spot in the nursery for Eli during these morning classes). I also threw in some zumba classes and continued some short runs in my first trimester, but all the snow/cold cancellations and delays for school meant the gym nursery closed, which slowed me down quite a bit on this.
Going into the second trimester I slowed down even more. Running on the treadmill was starting to put a lot of pressure on my pelvis, and I had to slow down from about a slow 10 min pace to no more than 12 min/mile. And I started doing a lot more intervals of walking and running. At this point I'm down to mainly just walking outside when the weather is nice. I took my last zumba class at 16 weeks and my abs were super sore afterwards, so I decided to give that up as well. Depending on the instructor, it can just be too much jumping for me at this point. I still have no trouble with weights, so I strive to keep adding some weight circuits to my home workout routine as well as continuing to walk. Before being pregnant I signed up for the Cherry Blossom 5k (there's a lottery to get in, spots are limited) and it looks like I'll be a walker for it. I'm kind of bummed about that but I don't see myself running much at 21 weeks.
Beginning of 2nd Trimester Symptoms: Shrinking Air Capacity, Round Ligament Pain
Despite the fact that I was still able to run a 5k at the end of my first trimester, I can now barely get from the basement to the top floor of the house without losing my breath. And carrying a sleeping 2 year old from the car to his bed is a complete workout for me. Pushing the stroller to and from the rec center for swim lessons is also a big strain on me since a large hill is involved. It's tough to feel this way after spending the last six months trying to get in the best shape I could for this pregnancy. I also had to look up why I was experiencing so much more pain this pregnancy than I remember with the first two. For some reason (age, maybe? or due to exercising?) I'm having a lot more pain in my stomach and pelvic area, that I think can be described as round ligament pain. Some days it is pretty bad, while other I don't notice it at all.
Appointments: At our first appointment they did a quick ultrasound and the baby waved at the boys. Theo was so excited to see the baby, since we hadn't told him for sure that we were pregnant. We told him we had to wait and check with the doctor. This gave him only a couple weeks he had to keep the secret, though he told all his class the next day. My second appointment consisted of the dreaded blood draw, which really wasn't that bad at all. And my third was a basic check-up with everything looking good. We're not in a hurry for the ultrasound since we are NOT finding out what we're having this time. Basically, though I would prefer one sex over the other, I know that once the baby actually comes I won't care either way, so I'd just rather wait to find out then so I will be totally happy when I find out. And I assume it'll be a boy. By waiting we can avoid buying lots of cute things if it is a girl. I read this article the other day and it really reflected my feelings that I think I'd have if I found out now. And I'm not ready to mourn the idea of a little girl yet, though I highly doubt I'll have one.
Sibling Love: The boys are so excited about the baby. They tell it good morning, and cuddle my belly at night. They both tell the baby that they love him/her already. They have it all planned out so Eli will move into Theo's bed with him, and the baby can have Eli's bed (it turns into a crib). We keep telling them we have another bed identical to Theo's in the attic, but they just think they'll sleep together. Eli seems to have no problem with the baby taking his bed. His diapers might be another matter though. I finally figured out how to adjust them to the smaller newborn size. Eli didn't start using them until almost a year, so having a newbie in cloth will be new for us.
Photos: I'm trying to get a quick weekly shot of just me, and then one each month with the boys.
Anticipating: Being to the stage where everyone can tell I'm pregnant, and not just chubby. I've felt a few little flutter kicks, but I can't wait to be able to feel lots of movement to confirm baby is doing well. The ultrasound next week to make sure everything is going well. And for his brothers to get to feel the kicks.
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