In the first trimester, I feel like it was similar to what most women feel in the beginning. I was extremely tired; so much that I would get off of work, come straight home, shower, and get in bed. This would have been ok if I worked until 6 or 7, but my schedule had been 8-4 :) I also felt nauseous constantly. I will do anything to avoid throwing up, so I avoided smells and foods that seemed to set it off. I only threw up a few times, with the worst being one early morning before work. I had gone shopping at Bath & Body Works and bought some new plug ins. I found a scent called "Cranberry Woods" that seemed like it would be a good winter scent. I went home that night and plugged it in in the living room and by the next morning the smell filled the rooms. After waking and showering, I walked into the living room and the moment I smelled the plug in, I felt sick. I bent over to pull it out of the wall and as I did this, I felt if all coming up. I ran (literally) to the bathroom and well... you can guess the rest. I felt like it lasted forever and that I was loud enough for Otto to hear, but after a few minutes it was all over and I stood in the bathroom by myself :) Needless to say, I will probably never be able to enjoy "Cranberry Woods" in my house. The only other time that I felt really sick was when I came home from work and Otto was cooking hamburger meat. It was so sweet of him to make dinner for me, but I really didn't think I could stomach it. After taking a shower, I was able to choke some of it down, but for a while there I thought it would come back up. Other than that, I tired to avoid eggs and most meats, I let Otto do the cooking and I tried not to stick my head in the refrigerator, in fear that a smell would set me off :) It was also hard for me to smell any fast food that was brought into the house. One day, jokingly, I asked Otto to eat his Chick-fil-a outside (ok, maybe not so jokingly). He didn't comply with that request though :)
In addition to the nausea, I had bad headaches on a daily basis. I have always had bad headaches, especially in high school, but these seemed to have subsided during college and over the last few years. Once I got pregnant, they came back full force. The worst day was one when Otto and I went to the gym. As we pulled up, I decided that my head was starting to hurt too bad and it wouldn't be worth pushing it. Instead, I asked that we go over to Boston Market to eat dinner and go home. As Otto was ordering, I sat at the table with my head in my hands. As I waited, I started to see spots in my vision and lost some of my peripheral sight and we had to immediately leave. I went home, took Tylenol and slept it off. After weeks of these headaches, I asked my doctor and he prescribed medicine for the nausea and headaches. I found that the nausea medicine gave me horrible headaches and the headache medicine made me feel too loopy. Fortunately, as the first trimester ended, the nausea and headaches stopped abruptly and I started to feel like myself again.
All of that sounds so negative, but like magic it all went away as the second trimester started. This trimester was a lot like how the doctor said it would be. I started feeling really well, slept normally, and had more energy. My appetite started coming back around the time that he said I could start gaining weight, and I was ready to prove to him that I could follow his instruction :) I didn't have any particular cravings, other than peanut butter. And when I say craving, I mean I wanted it all the time!!! I would eat peanut butter throughout the day, on sandwiches, with bananas and jelly, and straight out of the can. At one point, Otto requested that I stop bringing spoonfuls to bed with me. Unfortunately, I read that eating peanut butter can increase your baby's chance of developing peanut allergies, so I started to refrain from giving into my cravings. Instead, I enjoyed other sweets like ice cream, snack cakes and fruit. The second trimester also brought with it the realization that there was a baby in my belly. I felt kicking and movement at 18 weeks. The first time I felt Baby B, I was sitting at my desk at work early in the morning. I had just finished eating my breakfast and was settling in to start my day. As I worked on the computer I felt a little "spasm" in my stomach. It was under my belly button in the exact center. I stopped for a second and thought "was that a kick?" I paused for a few seconds and waited to feel it again, but nothing. The next day, at about the same time, I felt it again. It was very soft and quick and I only felt it because I was sitting so still. But, I just knew that it was Baby B and all I could do was sit there with a huge grin on my face as my eyes filled up. It was the best feeling in the world!!! From that point on, movement started to increase and I was convinced that the first feeling I felt a few days earlier, was my baby moving for the first time :)
The rest of the second trimester passed without any real hiccups. As we started the third trimester, I started to have back pain and swelling in my feet. One morning as I was getting ready, I bent over to get pants off of the bottom rack in the closet, and as I stood up I felt a shooting pain throughout my lower back. The pain lasted throughout the day and I had to hobble around like an old lady :) I ended up coming home early and asked Otto to bring home a heating pad. I laid on it throughout the night and by the next morning it had improved quite a bit. I continue to have a little pain here and there, so I have tried to take it easy. Other than that, my only other pregnancy symptom has been swollen feet. As it gets hotter, I know that it may get worse, but it doesn't hurt. I will gladly have cankles for this little guy, but I really hope that they go away once he gets here!!!
So here we are at 30 weeks and well into the third trimester. We are anxiously waiting the arrival of this sweet baby boy and getting ready to bring him home. Over the next few weeks, we will have baby showers and will be working on our new home. This experience, full of all kinds of surprises, will be a time that we will always remember. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful man to experience this all with. Otto has taken care of me and Baby B every step of the way and I am so thankful for him. The countdown continues...10 more weeks to go!
Love you guys and I can't wait to hold that little boy and love on him and kiss him! Drew is very excited to be able to meet his "little brother" as well!!!
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