Pregnancy :: First Trimester Recap

9-Week Ultrasound. Baby is the upside-down peanut you see dangling. :)
As promised, a little update on this pregnancy and first trimester recap! The weeks are just flying by right now and while I know this update is a bit long-winded, I wanted to include a bit of back-story to this pregnancy as well.

Getting Pregnant

With Dylan, Adrian and I somehow got lucky and succeeded on the first try after deciding that we were ready for a baby. It took us both a little bit by surprise but fortunately by the end of 9 months we were ready. This second time around, we actually ended up trying for close to 9 months and I was beginning to think we had second infertility issues. I was using ovulation kits for months and was tracking so many different details on my fertility calendar. Towards the end of 8 months, I decided to go in to my OB's office to have some tests done. Tests revealed that my progesterone levels were a bit low and so I ended up deciding to go on one round of a low dose (50 mg, I think?) of Clomid on my next cycle to see if it might help. For the few days that I was on the Clomid, I definitely noticed a slight increase in my appetite but otherwise no other side effects. I decided to skip using the ovulation kit this time around as I felt like it was stressing me out too much and just played it by ear (and luck!). Fortunately, everything just worked out!

How I Found Out

I bought a home-pregnancy kit about 4 days before my expected period and took the first test 2 days later (the test claims that it can who results up to 6 days). Unfortunately, it came back negative and it was yet another disappointment. But, 3 days later my period still hadn't come. It was a Sunday and I went to my normal yoga class in the morning. About 45 minutes into class I started feeling nauseous, something that has never happened to me in my 6 years of doing yoga. The last time I had felt the same kind of nausea was actually during my first pregnancy and it was how I ended up finding out that I was pregnant in the first place. After taking it easy through the rest of class, I went home and took the second pregnancy test and I was so excited to see that it came back positive! I actually sat on the toilet seat for the next few minutes with tears of joy when I saw the results and couldn't help but share the news with Adrian right then!

Morning Sickness

Right when week 6 of my pregnancy hit, the morning sickness came on full force. Weeks 6-10 were the absolute worst for me and there were days when I felt like I could barely get out of bed. The morning sickness was definitely much worse this time around and nothing seemed to help. The Saltines and Sea-Bands that worked last time were completely ineffective on me this time so I was just toughing it out. All I can say is, thank goodness Dylan takes solid 3-hour afternoon naps!

Food Cravings

My food cravings were similar to my last pregnancy yet so different at the same time. Again, I couldn't stand anything sweet or sugary -- even fruits I couldn't stomach. It was basically salty, savory foods for me only. Also similar to last time, I craved lots of carbs. They were very specific carb cravings such as Einstein Bros Honey Whole Wheat Bagels, IHOP Harvest Grain-n-Nut pancakes, and Pei Wei Dan Dan noodles -- carbs that I actually don't normally eat when I'm not pregnant! Last time the carb cravings completely went away after the first trimester, but this time they've continued to linger around a bit longer... And a new craving this time around has actually been ice cream! I actually haven't had ice cream since high school but strangely enough I seriously wanted some Cookies and Cream and finally caved in after a couple weeks. Thankfully, the ice cream craving has mostly gone away now that the first trimester is over but I still do linger over the ice cream aisle at the grocery store at times. :)

Working Out Weight Gain

I had a high-risk pregnancy last time starting at week 13 and was pretty much recommended to stick to bedrest as much as possible. I actually think it was overstretching in yoga last time that resulted in my SCH. This time around, I stuck to my crossfit workouts which I modified at times and luckily everything has gone smoothly (funny enough, I actually feel crossfit is a safer pregnancy workout for me than yoga). I've been able to continue working out 3-5 times a week and it's been wonderful! It's kept the weight gain at bay (still at 0 lbs gained so far at 14 weeks) and has let me keep my sanity too .

Breastfeeding

And last but not least, a note on breastfeeding. I'm still breastfeeding Dylan (he's down to just 1 nursing session now at night) but am planning on fully weaning him when I'm about 5 months pregnant. Even though my OB has mentioned that she's had other moms tandem nurse a newborn and toddler at the same time, I simply don't think I'll have enough supply as I barely had enough for Dylan when he was a newborn. There have been moments when nursing has been a bit painful simply because I'm more sensitive right now but I love being able to hold and rock Dylan at the end of the day. Given how busy on-the-go he is during the day, the evenings are a nice a time when we can both settle down and just re-connect before the day is over.

The first trimester of this pregnancy was hands-down harder than the last time around but I am so grateful that I don't have any complications like last time to worry about! Hopefully getting through the first trimester will be the toughest part of this pregnancy and it'll be smooth sailing from here. :)

Let me know if there's anything I missed or anything you have questions about!

Kileen Valenzuela