Journey through Pregnancy: Month 3

If you read my previous post on pregnancy loss, you would know that we’ve struggled through 2019 & 2020 with 3 miscarriages. Long story short I am a high risk pregnancy with essentially a flip of a coin for success rate for the first 8 weeks. Therefore every day is a new set of nerves because I know I am not guaranteed tomorrow. This post is coming much later in my pregnancy because we were, understandably, not ready at all to announce to the world that we were pregnant, especially with so many losses. But I wanted to document how I was feeling about all of this as I went along. The first two pregnancies I bought pregnancy journals but with the third I said f*ck it. I’m not wasting my money when who knows how long this will last. And so birthed this blog series (pun totally intended).

How far along

12 weeks (January 24)

Sex

We found out the baby’s sex a few weeks ago. ITS A BOY!!! I present to you William James Furiosi III.

Total weight gain/stretch marks

I weigh myself every other morning just to keep track of any consistent weight gain & I’ve only gained like 2-3 lbs; however I feel like I’ve gained weight because so much has shifted to my stomach.

Maternity Clothes

Negative but I did buy some comfy tees a size up from my usual for comfort/stomach hidability.

Sleep

Still sleeping peacefully but thankfully no crazy exhaustion anymore.

Miss Anything?

We don’t go out to eat much (even pre-COVID) but I miss not having to google things on the menu every time we go out. Yes, I know many women just eat what they want and they’re fine, but I am not most women and this is not most pregnancies.

Cravings

Nope, except some types of veggie meals & saucy meat dishes are still a little unappealing (it’s weirdly random so I can’t pin it down). I definitely gravitate towards carbs a lot more, that however could be a side effect from how freakin cold it is right now (for Florida).

Symptoms

So I don’t get morning sickness but for 2 weeks I would throw up right after brushing my teeth for the night. It was only 2-3 nights a week, thankfully. No nausea at all. I’ll just be brushing my teeth for bed, feeling fine, and then oop! I’ve gotta puke. . .brb. I puke; I still feel fine and then resume/redo my nighttime routine & go to bed. It’s annoying but I can’t complain.

Mood

We told our parents & siblings during week 10/11 & that really lightened my mood. I literally have to feed off of other people’s joy because I was still very much emotionally wavering. However, now at the end of my first trimester I am starting to get excited. I sheepishly started looking at registry stuff and nursery ideas.

Best Moment this Month

The ultrasound at 8 weeks & 4 days. You could see the baby squirming around – it had a head!!! It’s also super surreal and feels so alien that this thing is literally living inside of me. Totally creepy but it was the thing I needed to get out of my emotional shit funk from the previous months.

Hardest Moment this Month

Hiding a belly at work when you teach high school girls has been harder than I thought. I am not one to normally wear baggy blouses but, thankfully, it’s been pretty cold during January, so I been able to pull of the slouchy sweater thing to hide the slight belly swell. I am not putting on much weight yet, but I do not normally hold weight in my stomach so any weight shifting is noticeable. Teenage girls notice EVERYTHING.

Looking forward to

Very much looking forward to my second ultrasound with the Fetal & Maternal Health doctor (for high risk pregnancies) week 13. That will give me so much peace of mind & we will do some in depth testing to see how I am doing with my conditions. Also, Will & I decided to wait until that appointment to tell the world. So now I have to come up with some announcement thing I guess???

Exercise

Now that I talked to my doc I feel much better about exercising again. Because of my heart condition (SVT) I need to be careful my heart rate doesn’t jump too high & I get lightheaded but I am determined to workout. I am trying to jog/walk, prenatal yoga or stretching & at least 1 strength workout each week. So far it’s going great & I feel fantastic!

JMF