Week 13

WHUDDUP 2nd trimester?!?!  It's very nice to meet you!

It's a little confusing to figure out when the 2nd trimester starts.  Some books/apps I read say at 12 weeks and some say 13 weeks.   Since 40/13 = 13.3, I am going to say that I am in my 2nd trimester tomorrow.  So I'm close enough!  The other added confusion is something I've struggled with all through pregnancy (but came to a conclusion on over a month back) is: when I'm "13 weeks", have I just started my 13th week or am I just ending it?  Of course I'm just ending it since after that, you go on to "13 weeks, 1 day" which is more than 13 weeks and therefore, into the 14th week.  Make sense?  Like how when you're born you're in your 1st year and when you turn 1, you have finished an entire year - you're not about to start it.  Anyway... having said all of this, I've concluded that I can celebrate finishing my 1st trimester in this post.  Yes, I can.  :)

Hello, 2nd Trimester!

I've talked all through this blog about how many hurdles we must overcome to get to our end goal of having a family.  I feel like I've just gotten through one of the bigger hurdles and I'm ready to celebrate it a little bit!!  One whole first trimester!  3 months of nervousness, disbelief, pinching myself, keeping secrets and worrying, with a dash of queasiness thrown in on top.  I feel like it's a major milestone to get here and I'm very (still cautiously) happy.  A friend and I recently "came out" to each other and realized we're less than a week apart as far as due dates go.  And then she proceeded to ask me "how was your first trimester?" which struck me a little.  Like it's this secret rite of passage all we mamas-to-be have to go through and very often we go through it alone.  But if we're fortunate, we come out on the other side and can share the trials with friends after the fact.  Such a weird existence we live in that limbo of "The First Trimester".  Glad to have it behind me...

How far along: 13 weeks, 1 day
What did baby do this week: Baby is the size of a peach or pear and is about 2 1/2" - 3" long (crown to rump).  At this point, baby will grow about 1 inch per week!  All 20 teeth have formed and are hidden under the gums and Baby has fingerprints!  Baby can smile and its vocal chords are developing.  And Baby's head, which last week was about the same size as the rest of its body, will slow in its development as the body catches up.  Already its head is closer to 1/3 the size of the entire body as opposed to 1/2 last week.  You may catch your baby on ultrasound, with its thumb in its mouth - it is practicing for nursing, but the sucking muscles have not yet fully developed.
Total weight gain: 7.4 pounds (ugh!!!! seems like too much too soon!)
Symptoms: Still nothing new from past weeks.  My breasts are not nearly as sore as I'd been expecting they'd be when I found out I was pregnant.  But occasionally I do feel a painful tingling almost like the feeling when a body part falls asleep.  It's VERY different than soreness around your period.  In the past week I've also caught myself with an occasional slightly flushed face.  I don't normally have a tendency to blush so feeling my cheeks flush (like randomly - not after exercise or anything) stood out to me.  But with further thought, I suppose this is the "pregnancy glow" you always hear about.  I've also noticed a few more headaches over the last week.  Usually in the afternoon and nothing seems to help it.
Queasy or Sick: That sensitive gag-reflex is still here.  So is the queasiness, but it's better than it was last week.  I've been able to leave the house without stuffing my face a couple of days this past week (which I count as success since I've gained more weight than I'd like to at this point thanks to feeding my queasiness all day long).  I hear that 14 weeks is sort of the magic number for that queasiness to go away so maybe I just have ONE MORE WEEK?
Sleep:  I don't seem to be getting up to pee overnight QUITE as much as a few weeks back so this is very nice.

Best moment this week:  I haven't been doing a lot of exercising this first trimester.  Bad me, I know.  It's not that I've been feeling horrific but I've been hesitant to plan things in case I'm feeling queasy that day.  And then when the day hits, even if I feel okay and don't have anything to do - I just feel LAZY.  Like sitting on the couch sounds awesome.  So it actually felt SO GOOD that Hubby and I got out for a hike this past weekend!  It's a trail we're familiar with and actually last hiked it just prior to our transfer.  That hike was a piece of cake even if it's a little hilly.  Well this time I took it MUCH slower and with only 1 rest stop (and a lot of slow, steady breathing) along the way up, I made it!  We probably hiked around 1.5-2 miles.  Nothing crazy, but it felt great to be outside, exercising and gazing at the beautiful views in our area.  And just a couple days later I returned to yoga...something I have done for years prior to getting pregnant.  I'm doing a prenatal yoga class instead of my regular class though - less lying on your back and not really any ab work, just stretching and core strength.  I hope to keep this up until delivery!  Ahh...feels good.

Hardest part of the week:  Honestly, accepting my weight gain.  Pre-pregnancy, I was normal weight, but with a BMI of about 24.2 (where "overweight" is 25+).  I've always been a little self-conscious of my weight.  I carry it well and am very muscular (which makes me look a lot thinner than the scale says) but I still can't stand seeing the numbers go up to where I'm now considered "overweight".  I know, I know, I'm pregnant so it doesn't exactly work like that.  But I'm also scared of gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia (things I've come close to through family/friends) so I really DO NOT want to gain too much weight with this pregnancy.  I'm hoping that feeling better in the 2nd trimester will allow me to eat less (eating is what has helped the queasiness) and exercise more.  My OB said IVF patients tend to gain more water weight in the first trimester and it should level out a little as I go into the 2nd too.  I really hope so!!
Looking forward to:  NO MORE queasiness!  And finally telling everyone (we've been waiting for an event next weekend, where we'll be seeing a bunch of friends and plan to share our news.)  All of our family knows, but we still have coworkers and friends (and Facebook!) to tell.  Once "the world" knows then I'll feel like I can just let that belly hang out and not have to hide anything anymore.  That will be nice...

This was taken last week at our NT Scan, but I thought
I'd share since it's so cute: little hands up by its face,
kinda like "you guys are driving me nuts!" :)

Movement: Supposedly tons, but still not feeling it yet.
Food cravings: Nothing too serious lately.  But definitely still having trouble coming up with ideas for dinner and making a lot of things sound good to me.  I don't have any strong food aversions per se, but just have a hard time thinking of what I want.  This has been pretty consistent the past couple months.
Happy or moody: I really don't think so.
Labor signs: No
Maternity clothes:  Not QUITE yet but OMG soon!
Belly button in or out: In
Wedding rings on or off: On
Stretch marks: No
Learnings from the week:  We FINALLY met with our OB this week.  My first appointment.  At 13 weeks.  I would have liked to see her probably 1-2 weeks earlier, but because of summer vacations, her schedule was really tight when I called almost a month ago.  If I might suggest to you - figure out your OB at least a few weeks prior to your last appointment with your RE (for us that was at 10 weeks).  Dr. A was totally there for me if I had questions (or needed a referral for my NT Scan), but I did kinda feel like I was 12 weeks pregnant and doctorless for a little while.
Final Thoughts:  I came across this blog post at some point or another recently and it is HILARIOUS.  I shared it with Hubby immediately since in addition to being so funny, it's funny because it is so accurate!  Hope you get a few laughs...