Pregnancy 1: Week 15

Week 15:

Symptoms: Some nausea (random not as frequent!), back/feet pain (I do think this is associated to me trying to do more than my body wants), fatigue (I seriously could go to bed at 7pm but force myself to stay up until around 8:30pm), constant peeing, and occasional headaches (I used to get headaches/migraines a lot before so having them occasionally now probably isn’t associated with my pregnancy, just increasing water and rest!). Weight: I have slowly been gaining my weight back and now am at -3.5lbs from my original weight, versus at my peak I was around -7 lbs.

PICTURES: So I am in this forum group and so many women are posting selfies of their bumps and some are even “I am only 9 weeks but look how big my bump is, omgosh!” and prior to the end of 14 weeks I really just felt fat and bloated, not like I was cute with a little bump. I definitely felt a little envy over these moms, (especially after my experience last week with the lady telling me I just look fat). However, I started this week super excited to take my chalkboard bump photo (see right below) because I could see that I was showing, I looked cute starter pregnant! YAY! My hubby even noticed first, which is saying something trust me, heehee.

Then I was so excited I figured I could share a selfie with my forum group. Well let me just show you this….

I look HUGE! I promise you all as you could see in the picture before I am not this big. This actually kind of made me get over that envy I was experiencing, because I realized the picture was probably all about angle and most the others were taken in a similar fashion as mine. I share this in part to be open about my feelings, also to let you all out there know that yes we are all different sizes during our pregnancy and “pop” at different times but don’t be worried it always happens (you will wish you weren’t huge once you are bigger I am sure), and lastly to say consider taking photos like my chalkboard photo that is NOT a selfie but in fact taken by my husband and then edit it to add information pertaining to each week. I love adding our baby’s development each week!

I started this week so excited because on day 2, I was actually able to completely clean my kitchen and do ALL the dishes! When you are pregnant, especially that first trimester but even some now, you are so nauseous at times and exhausted you just don’t feel like you can do anything. The truth is I was so sick all the time, I was constantly tired, and then when I wasn’t (seriously rarely) I was trying to take care of stuff with my work. So here is my nice clean kitchen, yes I am that proud, but I won’t show you the before.

It was kind of embarrassing. For me, one who constantly wants a clean house, I didn’t even want to have people over. I told people I wasn’t feeling well, which was still true, but really just because I didn’t want them to see anything (Shout out to Super Auntie Sarah, for not judging me the 1 time I caved and let you in my disaster!).

This does make me understand more why so many say be willing to accept others help. When someone offers to help you be specific on what you need and they will be happy to be helping and you will get a sense of relief when it is done. You can always show your appreciation to them in simple ways: lunch date after, movie day in or out, or for you crafty moms pre-plan and make “Thank you so much for helping this new momma” gifts that you can give to anyone who helps out! :)

Tomek’s 25th: Yesterday we celebrated Tomek’s birthday. I do sometimes feel guilty as we do the same thing every year but he loves it and always wants to do the same thing. We started the day going to a friend’s, Pat’s family, house. We were also happy to see Pat sharing his 4D ultrasounds of his and Hannah’s baby girl! :) I can’t wait to know more about our baby, but our time will come. :)

After we all ate and enjoyed pictures etc, we went to a bar downtown. It was cold but we stayed under a propane heater lamp most of the day/night. We did occasionally go inside but oh boy was it crowded! Honestly, I will take slightly chilly over crowds anyday.

Many people asked me if I was actually going to go out this year, I guess being nearly 4 months pregnant makes that a reasonable question. So, why did I go? Truthfully the main reason was that I wasn’t just going out to celebrate St. Patty’s Day but also my husband’s birthday!! This is why I chose to just pack some pregnancy prep stuff, take with me, and spend the day doing whatever my hubby wanted! Overall the day was pretty good. Tomek’s friends knew I was pregnant and were super respectful about smoking where the smoke didn’t blow towards me or even distancing themselves when they did. Tomek was always checking in to make sure I got food when I needed it and that I was feeling okay, seriously he is wonderful.

One quick fun story: Tomek went to go use the bathroom and this guy who was calling himself a leprechaun gave him a gold coin (which I guess there were a bunch in a pot at the bar, can’t say you were supposed to take them but okay), then he checked his pockets and pulled out a tiny baggy and gave it to Tomek, what was inside? Dicks. No joke! Heres a picture….

We could not believe it. We died laughing and it definitely made for a memorable moment, and reminded us of a family moment with Tomek’s aunt Sarah (maybe I will explain that one in the future). ;)

I had so much fun chilling at that bar outside most of the day, even watching some Irish dancers and a band perform!

RANT MOMENT:I did get a little bothered and upset when a woman was talking to me and told me that I was at the “pregnant stage” where I just looked fat and had gained weight rather than being pregnant. I didn’t even know this lady, she had been drinking but she didn’t look or act drunk, she was just bitchy, (yep I went there). I tried to be polite and asked her if she had any children and she pointed to two young ladies with her, but they immediately said well we consider her our mom but none of us are related. That is fair, I have a lot of family that aren’t biologically related to me, that doesn’t make them any less my family. But I did learn that this woman had never even attempted to conceive and had never been pregnant. It took all of me biting my lip not to say oh so that is why you said that to me, because I feel like a pregnant woman or someone who had wouldn’t go and super criticize a random stranger’s appearance at 4 months (4 months pregnant is defined as weeks 13-16 fyi). And obviously as I rant right now I can tell you it got under my skin a bit. But I didn’t let it change my night and we still had a great time!

We left there to meet up with some other friends but that bar was only indoor and packed, thankfully even my group realized this was going to have to be a “no go” and we decided to leave after saying hey to our friends and went to the bar where Hannah works, chatted with her, ordered some food, and ended our night there.

Seriously it was a blast! I also was proud of myself for lasting so late at night, though I will say I was exhausted by the end. Our friend, Wade came home with us (Thanks for driving us all home about 10pm Mr. Wade!!) and I even managed to stay awake through the some of the new Jumaji movie we turned on and watched before actually going to bed, at about midnight, though I did fall asleep on the couch before

Since I mentioned my pregnancy prep pack let me tell you what typically is in it (though depending where I go some items vary): 1) peppermints, 2) fruit snacks, 3) Pretzels, 4) nutritional shake mix, 5) bottle of lactose free milk, 6) bottle or 2 of Sprite, 7) lotion, 8) chapstick. As I progress through this pregnancy I will likely add in the addition of a full change of clothes and if discharge becomes an issue which it hasn’t for me then also pads. I highly recommend the pregnancy go pack!

Today was spent cuddling, watching movies, class prep, and resting after such a long but fun night. The rest of this week has been spent with work (last week was spring break, it was nice!), and ended.