We’re Expecting! First Trimester Recap

We’re expecting! I’ve been slacking at blogging the past year or two, but figured I should come back now that we’re expecting our first child! I want to be able to look back at these posts and remember all the moments and stupid things I said, and look at the photos.

How far along were you when you found out?

We found out we were pregnant when I was about 10 weeks because 1. I wasn’t showing any symptoms; 2. We took a test in June when I was actually about 4 weeks pregnant but the test was a false negative; and 3. I got pregnant immediately after going off birth control, so my body was all out of whack. I assumed not having a period was normal when going off the pill for 10+ years. And again, the tests were negative! So I basically went 90% of my first trimester having no idea I was pregnant at all.

 

Pregnant and I didn’t even know it… yet!

What made you take another test in July? 

I was doing OPKs (Ovulation Predictor Kits) to try to find out when I was ovulating. Because I was on the pill for so long, I wasn’t ovulating and had no idea when/for how long I would ovulate until I went off of it. The OPKs in both May and June were showing that I had the ovulating hormone surge lasting for 5+ days, which is NOT normal (normal is around 1-2 days). After researching why that would happen, the answers were 1 of 3 things: 1. You’re reading the test incorrectly (it’s a line or 2 lines — I’m not an idiot, so I knew I was reading them correctly); 2. You have PCOS (I don’t have any of those symptoms and would have known this by now, at age 30); or 3. You’re pregnant.

So I took a test in June and it said I wasn’t pregnant. When I had wildly long OPK results again in July for a third month in a row, I said “Screw this, I’m taking another test because this is weird”, and it was positive!I immediately booked an appointment with my OBGYN for a blood test to confirm the pregnancy and gave them a lowdown of my last period, my odd “situation”, and then when I think we conceived based on when I was told I was ovulating by the OPKs. The results came back as pregnant, with a range of around 8 weeks pregnant. This was longer than we thought — based on our math, I assumed I was only 4 weeks.

Now here’s where the story gets fun. We came in for the 8-week ultrasound only to to see a huge baby. Like a giant human. At 8 weeks, you typically just see a tiny acorn-sized blob on the ultrasound. But we saw a legit baby, a human with arms and legs who was moving. “Oh honey, you’re not 8 weeks. Something is off. You’re actually 13 weeks”, the technician told us. She was really giddy and amazed, as we James and I. Actually we were more shocked than anything and kept doing math in our heads of how this was possible!

It turns out we got pregnant almost immediately. Why was that June test wrong then? “False negatives happen all the time. People get pregnant on birth control. It just happens.” That was the advice I was given by the doctors. Cool. That’s reassuring! And why was the blood test so incorrect as well?

On a serious note, we were expecting this to take much longer and we’re so thankful and grateful that it happened so soon, as I know so many women struggle to get pregnant.

Cravings &Food Aversions

Cravings: barbecue Pringles, mostly. And then sugary drinks like lemonade or Slurpees/Slushies. I haven’t indulged too much in the drinks though – only a few times. I try to be good and watch what I eat.

Aversions: None, really. I’m not craving burgers like I used to, but I’m not really disgusted by them either.

Weight Gain

I’m weird in that I fluctuate by 5 pounds when not pregnant, so it’s really hard for me to tell if I’ve lost or gained weight. All my appointments have been early in the morning when I don’t weigh much since I’ve only eaten a small breakfast, too, which makes it hard to gauge. But by taking averages, I’d say I gained 1-2 pounds during the first trimester, if any at all.

Symptoms

Somehow I avoided morning sickness/nausea, which blows my mind. I’m a chronically nauseous person (I get motion sick and say “I feel nauseous” at least once every other week), so I was expecting to have it hit me really bad. But other than sore boobs, feeling tired, and some other small digestive issues, I’ve been feeling normal. I made it through most of my first trimester not even knowing I was pregnant and I think that’s mainly because I had no symptoms.

How We Told People

I told James by just running downstairs and showing him the test. I was so shocked/surprised it happened so quickly, and I didn’t want to hold it it any longer. I debated thinking of a creative announcement, but said “Fuck it”. I told my parents on my Mom’s 60th birthday when we went upstate to visit them. We got her a shirt that said “Soon to Be Grandma. Coming 2020” and gave it to her as her present. We told James’ family by having my niece Ava come out in a shirt that said “Big Cousin”. Then I told work during a fake “meeting” (I told my boss first and then she made a fake meeting to tell the rest of the team). Finally, we told the world of social media via a photo of our ultrasound with some winter boots and a Jets helmet since our baby is due in the winter/around the Superbowl.

Boy or Girl?

Yes, we are finding out the sex. And yes, we are telling people. We actually already sort of know the sex— one of our ultrasound techs told us she saw a penis (which we can see on the photos too), so we’re pretty much going with a boy here. If it ends up being a girl, it will be quite the funny story to tell everyone. We already have a name picked out too which we’re 90% sure we’re running with: Henry.