well, i’m officially in the 3rd trimester. as a whole, time has gone fast. but the individual weeks and waiting for the next milestones feel so slow. i still have a lot of anxiety over the “what ifs,” but i try to take it one day at a time and pray my way through worry.
i haven’t done a great job of posting updates about my pregnancy so far. it’s funny because before i was here, i imagined myself keeping a journal, taking weekly photos, planning a gender reveal party, etc. none of this has happened. perhaps our rocky start put a damper on my plans. regardless, it doesn’t matter now. i’m thankful to be where we are, and everyday i pray that we will make it one step closer to a full-term, healthy boy. i figured i may want a recap of my pregnancy one day, so here’s my attempt to capture symptoms, emotions, etc by trimester.
first trimester
- weight gain: zero lbs {although i was up 5 lbs from IVF, so i considered this a win}.
- food aversions: sweet things, cereal, pretty much everything.
- food cravings: salt.
- symptoms: mild cramping, spotting, dizziness, stretching pains, insomnia for the first few weeks {thankfully followed by better nights of sleep}, acne, constipation {nothing a colace couldn’t handle}, excessive vaginal discharge {mostly clear}.
- emotions: weepy {tears for sappy movies or a touching article}.
- baby bump: baby bloat.
- movement: i started feeling flutters around 9 weeks… not constantly, but flutters nonetheless.
- stretch marks: nope.
second trimester
- weight gain: 8 lbs {seriously worried something was wrong since i didn’t pack on the lbs. we’ll see how the 3rd trimester treats me}.
- food aversions: most sweet things still, but i started to get back into dark chocolate {particularly dark chocolate paired with sea salt} towards the middle of this trimester.
- food cravings: taco salad, pineapple and pepperoni pizza, cheese, caribou coffee’s dark hot chocolate {they make it with real pieces of dark chocolate. you have to try this out if you like hot cocoa. it will change your life}.
- symptoms: stretching/round ligament pains, tiredness, massive headaches starting around 20 weeks, bleeding gums when brushing teeth/flossing, acne, extreme constipation {we’re talking fissures or internal hemorrhoids here. even colace didn’t cut it}, poor sleep/insomnia began again towards the end of this trimester, vaginal discharge {mostly thicker. mostly yellow. totally scary. maybe slightly less in quantity}.
- emotions: let’s just say there were a few times i went from zero to i may rip someone’s head off in like 10 seconds flat. not proud of that at all. also, if something bothered me, i would obsessively think about it until i could solve the problem. didn’t really feel like myself.
- baby bump: a little one. i didn’t really pop until 20-25 weeks. i could’ve still hidden it if i wanted to until then.
- movement: lots of kicks, punches, and rolls. if i didn’t feel anything for a few hours, i’d try to coax him into moving by rubbing my belly.
- stretch marks: still nothing, thankfully.
third trimester so far {weeks 28 and 29}
- weight gain: 1 lb.
- food aversions: overly sweet things still.
- food cravings: cheese.
- symptoms: bleeding gums when brushing teeth/flossing, sleeplessness {lots of tossing and turning}, rib pain, acne, pooping seems to be better after adding grape-nuts to my diet {this cereal is not overly sweet, so a win win}.
- emotions: been trying to work on that temper, anxiety.
- baby bump: according to my doc, a decent size one for 28 weeks {keep growing, little baby}.
- movement: he has busy times and quiet times. the quiet times stress me out. felt a couple of good rolls last week. this week he seems to be more about pressing and wiggling than kicking {not sure if he is getting too big or what, but also slightly stressful}. baby hiccups, at least once a day.
- stretch marks: not yet.
well, that’s all for now!
Tales of an Empty Womb 