So We’re Having a Baby… (Part Two)

I added a bunch of questions you guys left for me after my Part One post this morning. Thank you again for sharing in our excitement. It honestly means so, so much to me!

More Pregnancy Questions

• Will you be sharing weekly pregnancy updates on the blog?

I started writing “secret” blog posts documenting my pregnancy and our journey at 8 weeks and will publish them soon! I have them organized in three-week increments (weeks 8, 9 & 10 together, etc.), but may share weekly updates if it’s something that might interest you guys. Just let me know!

(That pic was taken right after we found out whether we are having a boy or a girl!)

• How far along are you now?

17 weeks and 3 days.

• You said you went off birth control several months before you and Ryan decided to start trying. Did you get your period right away?

Yes, but my cycles were a little strange. At first, my periods were something like 42 days apart, then 40, 37, 35, etc. until eventually they normalized to my usual 28-30 day cycle.

• Did you use any ovulation predictor kits or track your periods before you decided to start trying?

I didn’t use an ovulation predictor kit, but I had been tracking my periods for a few months using the (free!) iPeriod app since my cycles were a little wacky when I went off birth control.

• Were you nervous to tell your family so early?

No. If anything happened, I knew I would lean on them for support and love, so sharing the news with them was important to me. My mom is also a nurse, so I really, really wanted to tell her so I could ask her a billion questions and have someone I love to reach out to in the early stages of pregnancy.

• How have you been feeling?

Okay. I actually started to feel worse and more nauseous when I entered my second trimester, which goes against pretty much everything I’ve read about morning sickness. I felt great for the first seven weeks, but right around week 7.5/8, I started to wake up feeling nauseous most mornings. Thankfully eating something immediately makes a BIG difference and I joke that I need a solid layer of food in my belly at all times or I will feel pukey.

I felt more and more like myself last week after a rough weeks 14 and 15, but then yesterday I ended up throwing up in the bathroom right after my pregnancy announcement post went up. I do feel very fortunate that once I throw up, I tend to feel MUCH better and can eat again right after and go about my normal day.

Though I want to go to bed by 9 p.m. most nights, fatigue hasn’t really been an issue (thank goodness), except for a few (3?) days where it totally knocked me on my butt.

• Do you have morning sickness?

Most of my sickness does seem to occur in the morning. I wake up feeling like I have a hangover most mornings, but eating something immediately helps a TON.

• Do you have any cravings?

My overall food preferences have changed pretty dramatically. I want ALL SALTY FOOD all the time.

As someone with a perpetual sweet tooth, this is so crazy to me! So far my biggest pregnancy cravings have included: Sandwiches (I follow my doctor’s advice and heat all deli meat up before eating it), chicken noodle soup without the chicken (I’ll seriously pick it out), burgers, chips/nachos, gummy candy (Sour Patch Kids, red licorice and Swedish Fish are the jam), eggs and fruit.

• Have you had a hard time eating healthy?

Yes. This was such a bummer because I really thought that the moment I got pregnant I’d feel all the more motivated to eat ALL THE VEGGIES and give birth to a little kale baby or something. Well, aversions are real my friends and most cooked veggies still make me want to gag. Thankfully raw veggies are appealing again right now and I’ve been obsessed with FRUIT for ALL of my pregnancy.

• Do you have any food aversions?

This is such a strange one, but the thought of tortilla soup makes me want to gag. The smell of cumin in anything is also very off-putting. Cooked vegetables still sound horrible (which is so sad) – I actually avoided Whole Foods for a while because I didn’t even want to see the cooked veggies in their hot bar. What!?

• Have you experienced any crazy pregnancy-related emotions?

Oddly enough, I haven’t felt overly emotional or weepy at all. I joke that I felt “really rage-y” around week 10. Ryan said he was “lucky to make it out of that week alive.” Haha! It was so strange… I just felt way more easily angered over stupid stuff than usual!

• Any mood swings?

Not really. Except for the very odd anger in week 10. Yikes!

• Any unexpected feelings or symptoms?

A lot of anxiousness and anxiety. I’ve truly never worried so much in my life. A lot of praying is going on in our household right now.

As for unexpected symptoms, I feel like everyone talks about the “pregnancy glow” but I hear much less about pregnancy acne! My skin was quite clear until a few weeks ago when I got more zits than I’ve had in years!! If the pregnancy pimples would like to go away soon, that would be grrreat. I recently switched up my skincare (just purchased some of the Belli products), so I’m crossing my fingers that will help a bit.

• How much weight have you gained so far? Do you have a baby bump?

I hadn’t weighed myself in months before stepping on the scale at my 8 week appointment. Since my 8 week appointment, I’ve gained about 8 pounds, but I was about 5 pounds heavier than my usual weight at 8 weeks. It’s so strange, but I honestly feel like I’m showing most in places other than my belly right now. My arms and thighs are bigger and I feel like my hips are widening. My stomach definitely looks thicker and my belly button looks a little different, but I don’t really see a defined, round baby bump yet.

• You’ve mentioned before that you are scared of giving birth. How are you feeling now?

I’ll be 100 percent honest… I am still quite scared. And I don’t see that changing anytime soon, given my not-so-great history with anything medical. I am horrible with needles and was sweating and shaking going into my first round of blood work. When I told the doctors I was really bad with needles, I almost expected them to laugh and say something like, “Ha! Good LUCK with childbirth!” but they were all so understanding and kind.

Around 11 1/2 weeks, something rather unexpected happened though that has helped put my mind at ease. I was able to see an ultrasound before my first round of blood work and see our baby MOVE for the first time. This flipped a switch in my mind. I was still nervous about the needles and medical stuff, but I realized, as I watched my baby move, I would do anything for that little fuzzy black and gray image dancing back at me. I keep thinking back to that moment and feeling whenever I start to worry about actually giving birth and it helps a lot.

• Have you thought about how you will decorate the nursery?

Yes!!! I am SO excited about this! Ryan actually started painting the nursery a bit last weekend when I was in Chicago. I’ll share more pictures and nursery inspiration photos once I announce the sex of the baby, but I love a very calming/neutral look with lots of whites, creams and beiges.

Workout Questions

• How has working at the gym/teaching been going?

Pretty well so far! I fortunately feel great during Spinning classes and still love teaching PiYo, barbell strength and boot camp classes (<