13 WEEKS

Weeks: 13

Waist size: + 0.5"

Weight gain: down 4lbs

Symptoms: My abdomen feels a little tight/sore if I stretch or move in a certain direction. I'm still pretty fatigued as well.

Cravings: No cravings still

Aversions: I still detest most foods. I haven't had any chicken in 3 months. 

Sleep: I'm sleeping a little better, but still can't sleep through the night. I'm averaging 5-6 hours of sleep a night this week.

Wedding ring on: Yes, it's actually feeling a little too loose.

Best moment this week: We finally announced our pregnancy to the world (Facebook world, lol) I was a little nervous not having it a secret anymore, but it was also a relief. It was wonderful to see all of the support, as well! This week was also the first time I heard the baby on a doppler. It's amazing that the baby is big enough to hear the heart beat that way :)

12 WEEKS

Weeks: 12

Waist size: no change

Weight gain: still down 6lbs

Symptoms: I still have nausea, but I haven't thrown up for a week. I'm so tired all of the time. I really hope to get my energy back in the second trimester.

Cravings: I'm still not "craving" anything. The only things that sound ok are fruits and vegetables, though. I've been eating a lot of broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots with roasted red pepper hummus. I also enjoy Carnation breakfast essentials in the early morning, when my growling stomach won't let me sleep. It's fast and refreshing.

Aversions: Pretty much any other food I avoid. I haven't had any meat in weeks.

Sleep: I'm still not sleeping very well. I am sleeping more, though. I would say I average 5-7 hours of sleep a night now.

Wedding ring on: Yes

Best moment this week: We had our 12 week ultrasound and NT screening. It's amazing to see how much the baby has grown in 4 weeks. It actually looks like a baby! They said that everything was measuring perfectly, so that relief was priceless! The baby was jumping up and down, and opening and closing its fist. 

7-11 WEEKS

Weeks 7-11 were really tough. My headaches were so intense I was missing work and couldn't even get out of bed. I just thought I was unfortunate to have this as a horrible pregnancy symptom. Ryan decided to call my Dr and tell her exactly how I was feeling. She said it was absolutely not normal and sent us to the ER. At the ER they pretty much just dismissed me and said, "Yeah, pregnancy isn't easy." I felt like it was such a waste of time and money. Three days later we had an ultrasound with my DR. She asked how I was feeling and I told her that it was just as bad. Her office is attached to a different hospital, so one of her nurses walked me down to that ER. My Dr told the ER that they needed to do tests to see what was causing this. They ended up doing an MRI and they found fluid on my brain, right were my headaches were most intense. A few weeks later I did a follow up cat scan and they still saw the fluid. No one really has an explanation, they just said if it gets worse we may have to do surgery. At this point, they'd like to wait until after the baby is born, before doing more testing. I still have headaches 24 hours a day, but they are not as severe as before.

Weeks: 7-11

Waist size: no change

Weight gain: down 6lbs.

Symptoms: Now that I know what was causing my headaches, we don't know whether the symptoms are caused from the fluid on my brain, or the pregnancy.   

Cravings: I am craving absolutely nothing! I wish I could just take a pill to fill my stomach up. That way I wouldn't feel sick and I wouldn't have to force myself to eat.

Aversions: Everything!

Sleep: I've been sleeping terribly. I sleep with an ice pack on the head every night. I would say I average 4 hours of sleep a night.

Wedding ring on: Yes

Best moment this week these weeks: We had another ultrasound at 8 weeks. Seeing little Cocoa (Ryan came up with Cocoa, instead of the standard "bean.") makes all of this worth it. We also got to tell our families the news over Christmas. For my family, we wrapped up a big box of pink and blue helium balloons, with an ultrasound picture attached to the ribbons. We had my mom open it as the last present on Christmas morning! For Ryan's family we wrapped up a shirt that said PROUD GRANDMA on the front and . . . OF TWO GRANDBABIES! on the back. (My brother-in-law is expecting a baby in June.) When she held up the shirt everyone else read the back.

  

6 WEEKS

Weeks: 6

Waist size: no change

Weight gain: down 3lbs.

Symptoms: The morning sickness is just starting to kick in. I've had nausea, throwing up, dizziness, and pretty severe headaches.  

Cravings: I'm not really craving anything, it's hard to get anything down.

Aversions: Pretty much everything sounds disgusting to me. Poor Ryan, everytime I say I have to eat, he asks me what I want. I never know, so he begins naming ideas. I have to tell him to stop, because the thought of it makes me sick!

Sleep: I'm not sleeping well at all. I wake up to an hour to three hours every night. Usually between 1-4:00AM.

Wedding ring on: Yes

Best moment this week: The best moment this week was seeing and hearing the heart beat! It suddenly made the terrible morning sickness not seem so terrible!

5 WEEKS

Weeks: 5

Waist size: no change

Weight gain: Down 2lbs.

Symptoms: I have been extremely tired. Usually once I get out of bed, I feel pretty good, but this week I'm yawning all day and it's hard to keep my eyes open. I'm also still starving.

Cravings: Hot ham and cheese. I don't think I've ever ordered this from a restaurant, but this week I can't get enough of them.

Aversions: Still sweets

Sleep: I would say I'm sleeping longer than last week, but I still don't sleep soundly through the night. I'm usually up by 7AM now.

Wedding ring on: Yes

Best moment this week: Spending time with our families for Thanksgiving and plotting how we're going to share our news with them over Christmas!

4 WEEKS

Weeks: 4

Waist size: no change

Weight gain: 1lb.

Symptoms: I'm feeling great, except a little tired.

Cravings: No cravings this week.

Aversions: Still not very interested in sweets.

Sleep: Remember how I said last week that I was waking up early? Well scratch that, I didn't know what early was until this week. I've been up between 3-4AM every day this week. 

Wedding ring on: yes

Best moment this week: Getting the blood test results, that show baby is growing wonderfully!