My First Trimester and 13 Week Bumpdate

Wow! Wow, wow, wow, you guys. Cory and I have been blown away! We have received so much encouragement from you guys and we can’t thank you enough! I have so much to share from the past 13 or so weeks so let’s get started because this is a long one!

Cory and I were trying to get pregnant but we kept it very hush, hush. We actually planned on starting to try for a baby after we got home from Rwanda in 2014 but I fell in love with the country and just knew I had to go back this past year. And yes, I have cried many a night knowing that I will have to take a year or two off from Rwanda but after praying about it for a year, I finally had peace about it after returning from our trip in September.

Because we had been thinking about it for a year, I went off my birth control back in March, that way I’d be ready to bake a baby after our trip. When we returned in September, I knew that I had to finish my malaria medicine {which was another 20 days} but got too anxious and decided to stop taking it after about a week. Oops! For months, I had this weird feeling that it would take us a while to conceive and after the first month, I wasn’t pregnant. I’m just gonna say right now that if you have suffered with infertility, God bless you, you sweet, strong ladies. I’m not sure that I would’ve been able to handle that emotionally or mentally and I’m praying for anyone who is having a difficult journey to pregnancy.

God knew what I could handle, though, and the next month, I missed my {very regular in the past} period. I’ve been shocked that the most common response I’ve gotten was “How did you know you were pregnant? Did you just start throwing up?” No offense, men, but that mostly comes from you guys! That was on Wednesday, November 18th, and I patiently waited all day. It never came! That night, my friend Jessica that went to Rwanda with us came over and we prepared a presentation that we were giving to the ladies of our church that weekend. I kept my mouth shut and went to bed but I just knew I was pregnant. The next morning November 19th, I woke up and took a pregnancy test first thing.

Within seconds, it was positive. I didn’t scream, I didn’t shout. I just got in the bath tub and proceeded to get ready for work. Maybe I was in shock?

After I got done with my bath, I calmly walked into our bedroom to wake Cory and tell him the news!

Once he got up, he asked if I thought I should take another just in case but why waste another one? Those things aren’t cheap! I called the doctor when I got to work that day and our first appointment was scheduled for December 18th. I was so bummed that I had to wait another 4 weeks but thankfully, with the holidays, it went by quickly. I wanted to share with our family at Thanksgiving but Cory made me wait since we had just found out we were pregnant the week prior.

Up until my first appointment, I had some cramping and few days of bad sickness but it would normally fade away around lunch time. Normally, I would get sick if I hadn’t eaten. So, we headed to Austin, and I felt pretty good. But after returning, it all pretty much went downhill from there. On Christmas Eve, I started to get a cold, which made my nausea worse, and from that point forward I suffered with all day sickness, throwing up every day. After a miserable two weeks, the doctor put me on Zofran and it has helped tremendously. I’m still suffering with all-day nausea but it’s much better than before and although my appetite still hasn’t completely returned, I’m at least able to keep food down!

We had our second ultrasound last Monday, during which we had our genetic screening done and got to see our Hot Pie for a good 45 minutes. It was bouncing around my stomach like a wild child {probably the Mt. Dew I had before I went}. I know, I know. You aren’t supposed to have caffeine but I did. Everything looked great and we are considered low risk for genetic birth defects.

So, if you made it through all that, you deserve a gold medal! Now to my first bumpdate! EEK! I’m just so excited to get to do these!

How Far Along: 13 weeks 4 days
Size of Baby: A peach! 2.9 inches long!
Gender: It was too early to tell at our last ultrasound at 12 weeks but I’ve said boy since we found out and I’ve had dreams with a baby boy in them. Cory is still holding out for a girl.
Movement: Still too early for movement, I think. If I’ve felt any, I probably thought it was gas.
Fun Fact: My tiny baby pooch {not really a bump yet} is already hard right under my belly button.
Sleep: Sleep has been pretty good. I am having these crazy, vivid dreams that last all night long, no matter how many times I wake up. I’m also having pain in my hips already so I’m flopping around most of the night.
Labor Signs: No! Thank you, Jesus!
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Workouts: Negative. For the past few months, all I’ve done is gone to work, puked, and slept. Not necessarily in that order.
Maternity Clothes: All my pants still fit but I’m most comfortable in my sweat pants. Why is it not acceptable to wear those to work??? Also, I will be investing in some new bras very soon because hello, boobs.
Weight Gain: Due to all sickness, I’m actually down about 4 lbs.
Symptoms: All day sickness, fatigue and a few headaches. Since Christmas, I still wake up with congestion in the morning. And goodness, y’all…the heat. I’m a cold nature person but our house hasn’t been over 67 degrees since all this sickness started. If the heat is continuously blowing, it makes the nausea worse.
Cravings/Aversions: So far, my only food aversion is eggs. I can’t take the smell of them and honestly just the thought of them turns my stomach. Also, anything hot like coffee doesn’t sit right on my stomach. Since I’ve been so sick, I haven’t really had any cravings other than just anything I can keep down. I have killed about a pound of grapes every few days though. And if they are frozen, they’re even better! Also, greek yogurt with granola has been a big hit.
Missing Most: Honestly, just having an appetite. So many times, Cory has either made supper or picked it up and as soon as I sit down to eat, I just can’t. I’m either not hungry or whatever I thought sounded good, turns my stomach. Cue the frozen grapes!
Nursery: Nothing much except playing around on Carousel. They have a design tool that will occupy hours of your time if you’re not careful. We’ve also been trying to work out a new design for master closet to make room for Cory’s clothes that are currently in the guest room which will be the nursery.
Hubby: You guys, I have to brag on Cory. He has been my rock the past couple of months. Not only has he taken care of me and been at my beck and call, he’s kept up with the laundry, the housework, the dogs….everything! I literally haven’t had the energy to do anything but lay on the couch or in bed and he has not once complained about taking over everything. Just typing how much he has done for me the first trimester makes me tear up with so much pride and joy. How lucky am I that he gets to be Hot Pie’s daddy?
Best Part of the Week: Finally getting to announce our pregnancy! We announced on social media on Friday and our preacher told the church on Sunday. This proud mama was just busting at the seams!
Can’t Wait For: Our next ultrasound is on February 9th and since I’ll be 15 weeks, I was told that unofficially they would be able to tell the gender. Officially, they are just measuring my cervix and we will have our full anatomy scan at 20 weeks. If everything goes as planned, we have our gender reveal planned for February 21st! On to the planning!

Okay…I’ve covered everything I can think of for now! I’ll be back next week with week 14 bumpdate!