I came across this little questionnaire this week so thought it would be fun to try and fill it in each week (at least, when I remember!):
How far along? 7 weeks
Total weight gain/measurements: I was hesitant to weigh myself, but I wanted to know how much I gained out of interest, so I’m doing so! It’s too early to really tell any gain because I seem to fluctuate up and down by 1-2 pounds every day.
Maternity clothes: I may have bought a pair of maternity denim shorts and a pair of black leggings in the ASOS sale – I was worried it was too early but they were in the sale – I might as well!
Stretch marks? Nothing yet!
Best moment this week: Picking up my parents and sister from holiday and revealing the big secret to them when we got home!
Miss anything? Salami – I LOVE salami and will eat it by the slice as a snack…not right now though!
Movement: Too early!
Food cravings: White wine – and I don’t normally like alcohol, it’s so weird!!
Anything making you queasy or sick? Chicken. That’s normally a “safe” food for me, in that if I don’t know what I want or I’m not feeling great, it’s bland enough to eat, but even the thought of chicken makes me feel sick right now. Also pasta – see below!
Gender: Too early to tell but I’ve been convinced since the very beginning it’s a boy.
Symptoms: Feeling tired and falling asleep during the day time.
Belly button in or out? In!
Wedding rings on or off? On!
Happy or moody most of the time? Mostly happy, although I’d say Ben would beg to differ.
Looking forward to: My first midwife appointment next week.
I decided I could see a bump in the middle this week – let’s pretend that it really IS a bump and not the bloating that it really most likely is considering I’m still about this size right now…at 13 weeks.
This week, I learned about round ligament pain and realised THAT’S what those weird muscle-y type pains in my lower abdomen probably were I had a couple of weeks ago when I laughed and sneezed. I had a couple of pains really early – basically I think this was probably implantation – and these feel similar to that.
On Monday evening, we ate filled pasta for tea then I had it for leftovers for lunch on Tuesday. That evening, all I had to do was think in passing about that pasta to feel pretty horrendously sick. Apart from that, I was really hungry though. This was especially weird because I really enjoyed eating it, but even writing this (a couple of days later), I still couldn’t think about. Even now, at 1 day shy of 13 weeks, I’m not back onto it. First proper food aversion I think – and they’re no fun, believe me.
I’ve had occasional mild nausea that I’ve been persevering through with ginger biscuits, mints and cold water. Then there was my first proper moment on Saturday morning of REALLY feeling sick where we were getting ready to leave to go my parents’ house with the dog. I was gathering our overnight bag when I suddenly started feeling a bit nauseous. I hadn’t eaten anything yet so I shouted down to Ben to cut me up some melon (fresh fruit seems to work well for me in the mornings). 5 minutes later, it was like a wave where I was like – IF I DON’T EAT RIGHT NOW I’M GOING TO BE SICK. I grabbed everything and hurried downstairs where the melon was waiting, then sat in the middle of the kitchen floor eating it to stave off the waves of nausea.
As someone with emetophobia, I completely and utterly panic when I feel even a little bit sick, so I’m pretty proud of how well I’ve dealt with it so far. I’ve planned a post all about how I’m managing this phobia right now, but the main thing I’ve found is to keep snacking and to eat when I start to feel sick. And this is SO WEIRD. It totally goes against every instinct I have to eat when I’m feeling sick, but it works and it’s SO WEIRD.
See more of my pregnancy diary posts here or check out the whole thing:
Monday was a day I’d been waiting and waiting and WAITING for – my GP’s appointment. I booked it the day after we found it, but had to wait what seemed forever. These early weeks are the most difficult as I honestly didn’t really believe I was pregnant and just wanted someone to confirm it. Sadly they don’t actually do that at the first appointment – or at least in the UK! Apparently pregnancy tests nowadays are so accurate that they don’t need to confirm, and if they have no reason to think you’ll be high risk (ie. previous pregnancy complications, existing medical conditions etc.), they don’t do any further tests.
Basically this appointment was me sitting down, the doctor asking what she could help me with, and me exclaiming “I’m pregnant!!”. I have to admit, I’m not the biggest fan of my local doctor’s surgery, but this was a new GP I saw and she was lovely – she was really pleased to hear some good news (they’d just had an emergency prior to my appointment which had required an ambulance, so I think she was quite relieved it was a positive appointment!) and I came away feeling pretty happy, despite no real confirmation of tiny baby in there. I was given a due date which was the same as the one I’d calculated myself, but has since changed twice, and booked in an appointment with the midwife for a week later.
The next day, I decided it was time to tell work. I’d been feeling so exhausted and vaguely sick throughout the days at work, and since I’d had the appointment the day before and one the next week, I thought they might start to wonder what was going on. For some reason, I was both very nervous and very excited to tell them! I’ve worked at Bronco for 5 years and we describe our little team as being like a family, so I knew they’d be happy for us, but it was also weird to say it out loud in such an “official” capacity! Luckily they took it very well and my boss has been absolutely fantastic – she’s got 2 boys and has been readily offering up any information as well as sympathy when I need it!
Wednesday brought more food aversions. I couldn’t figure out what to eat for lunch on Wednesday when I had no leftovers but was feeling starving. Absolutely nothing sounded appealing and most things were making me feel vaguely sick, but I finally realised PITTA BREAD AND HOUMOUS! Luckily Aldi is close by so I managed to grab those.
This was the week I also ate an entire sharing packet of Morrisons salt and vinegar sticks – at the time I had no regrets. When my tongue was still tingly the next day, I had a few regrets…
We had Lottie to stay again this weekend, then our friends Sarah and Beeley came over for an evening of fun too. We made friendship bracelets and the boys drank beer, but sadly we couldn’t fit any jigsaws in this time! It was REALLY difficult to keep it a secret then – I was worried I might start feeling sick or exhausted or accidentally say something, but luckily I was absolutely fine, and Sarah and I had lots of cuddles with Lottie!
Finally, the most exciting part of the week and the other thing I’d been waiting and WAITING for – my family returned from their holiday! We stayed at their house the night before as I was to pick them up from the train station. Unfortunately, things got a little crazy when their train was cancelled and they were put on a bus from Manchester airport all the way to North Yorkshire. I was originally going to pick them up at a more local station to their house which would have required them getting off the bus in York then onto a train, but we agreed it was probably just easier if we met them at York. In the end, Ben came too and drove, which was good as I was feeling that weird excited and nervous combination as well as exhausted again!
Since it was originally just going to be me picking them up and we wanted to tell them together, we’d made a plan – we used one of our peg board signs from the wedding to write “Welcome home Grandma, Grandad & Aunty Beth!” then propped it up in the kitchen so it would be the first thing they’d see – keeping quiet in the car was REALLY hard, and Beth actually mentioned something about me potentially getting pregnant in the future which nearly gave the game away!
But, of course, like all our reveals, apparently we were too subtle again! My dad got it immediately – he saw the sign and started grinning. My mum, however, was confused and thought the sign was from the dog, saying “Don’t be silly, Beth’s Lottie’s sister, not her aunty!” My dad and I exchanged glances across the room and said, “She hasn’t got it, has she? She STILL hasn’t got it?!” This went on for a good 30 seconds while we waited for her to figure it out (let’s blame the jet lag ;D), then suddenly she said: “WAIT, are you pregnant?!” At which point I replied: “MAYBE I DON’T KNOW YES I THINK SO I DON’T KNOW”, because apparently even when you’re married, in your late 20s and it was planned, you STILL feel like you’re going to be in trouble when your mum finds out!
The problem had been getting them all to stop faffing and come into the kitchen at the same time, so my sister and Ben had walked through the door during this exchange, and Beth immediately started crying when she realised. But FINALLY I’d been able to tell them – keeping a secret like this from my family was the most difficult thing EVER!! I talk to them pretty much every day when they’re at home, and even talking on Skype the past few weeks had been difficult because I didn’t want to let it slip while they were away!
