First Trimester Is Over!

So...on the 25th of August, I was 13 weeks along. By then I had declared BW on the WB...if you read along, then you know what that means. I was waiting to make the news public until my doctor's appointment and until I was out of the first trimester, just like we did with Fletcher. You just never know what might happen. And honestly, even after the first trimester you don't know, but chances of miscarriage decrease quite a bit.

I think the unknowns, even in a day and age when we can actually know so much, are an unsettling factor for many parents-to-be, both fathers and mothers. I do think that moms-to-be are much more connected to the actual baby for obvious reasons, and therefore in the back of our minds we are constantly having various thoughts about the little bun in the oven. In situations like this, I just don't ever want to get ahead of myself. I'm not exempt from some of the heartbreaking stories I've heard from friends and strangers alike.

So, each time I go to the doctor, I'm excited and still just a bit nervous. Each visit could bring along with it some news that maybe we don't want to hear. You just never know.

For my 13 week visit, I was sort of waiting for the "all clear" moment for myself to feel comfortable telling people our exciting news. That moment increased to several minutes...several nerve racking minutes...as the doctor could not find the heart beat of the baby. She kept reassuring me as I was telling her that it was making me nervous. She kept moving the magic wand to different areas of my abdomen, patiently listening for the energized thumping that can only be termed "fetal heartbeat." Still nothing.

Finally, she probably caught sight of my growing anxiety with every passing second and she probably was losing patience with Fletcher's non-verbal way of telling her he had already lost his patience with the entire visit. So, she kindly suggested that we allow the ultrasound technician to take a look. Still nervous, I tried to remain positive while we moved over there and got into position.

Within seconds, her magic wand performed magic and thumpity-thump...there was the sound I was waiting to hear. At a rate of 150 this time, it was loud and clear...and again offered no indication of gender. A couple pictures later, we were on our way out the door and looking forward to sharing our news with extended family and friends.

Each time I go in and even at various points between doctor visits, I know that I'll worry along the way. I think it's natural, but I'll have to remember that hopefully everything is going well in there!

We don't have our scanner hooked up to the new computer yet, so the ultrasound pictures on the last post and this post are pictures of the pictures.

I also asked the doc for a refill for Zofran, as it has been helping with the sickness. I've still gotten sick several times, but nothing like the "violently ill" episodes from before, as Jesse termed them. In addition, not throwing up as much means not having to wash my pants and bathroom rugs as much. TMI, but I've lost all control down there since delivering Fletcher apparently. So each time I was vomiting, I was roostering, as we called it in college...which means I'd pee myself. And with that going on, I was nervous to leave our house in fear I'd wet myself while getting sick in public places. So...thank God (and science) for Zofran!

Finally, this change in health has also seemingly helped my emotions. I still had rough days here and there, but the hormones have somewhat settled (for now) and the suspected depression symptoms have gone away for the most part. The tension in my back and shoulders has not, which is why I also got a doctor's note for a prenatal massage and hope to have one soon.

Each week, I kept telling myself to start taking pregnancy pictures, but didn't. So, at 13 weeks along, I grinned and wore the body I'm currently sporting proudly to start capturing the changes. You can see that I'm still a bit flabby everywhere and my mid-section never did get back down to pre-pregnancy size after Fletcher. I haven't really exercised regularly since I got pregnant with him and possibly even before that, so what could anyone expect? Whatever. Sometimes, you just have to embrace yourself...and as one blogging buddy puts it...embrace the camera!