Weeks 4-11 (SPRINKLE - HOT WHEELS CAR): 3.0 (August 4-September 29)

Well here we go again! Some of you readers are super excited, and some are groaning and ignoring my blog for the next 6 months haha! "Is she going to talk about her boobs hurting again? I'm her brother, I don't need to know that!" ... Maybe. We'll see ;)

Photoshoot partner at 11 weeks <3 She's going to be a great big sister

This time around, I've decided to not use the typical "fruits and veggies" size comparisons. My What to Expect app has an option for "'80s and '90s nostalgia", so I'll try that instead. This could be fun!

4 Weeks (ROUND SPRINKLE ON A CUPCAKE):

• I have a pretty good feeling we're going to be pregnant this cycle. It's our first month "trying", but I am still cautious because it did take us 18 months to get pregnant with Dom. We "did everything right" and my charting (basal body temperature) was pretty consistent the last while. However, it's already been 5 weeks since my last period by the time I ovulate, so who even knows if this is a real cycle! (These long cycles are a huge part of the reason I'm glad I chart, and why it causes some anxiety when it doesn't happen the month we try - who knows when we'll be able to try again!). During my two week wait I am treating it as my last two weeks before my body is taken over for a year. I eat all the sushi, drink all the drinks, and enjoy the energy. 
  Alas, I have agreed with David to wait until Thursday to test. I come home from work on Tuesday at 12:30 and decide that I'm impatient. I zip upstairs, pee on a stick, and confidently watch that second line show up. "Ah! I knew it!" This being our fourth pregnancy (I had an early miscarriage in December 2019), I don't feel the need to tell David by doing anything fancy or clever. This time, I make my lunch, walk downstairs, and put the pee-stick in front of David and just say, "I couldn't wait," and then walk outside to eat my lunch on the patio. 
  It is such a different experience finding out we're pregnant this time compared to last December. Last time I had all these gut feelings that something wasn't right, we weren't excited, and I even said the day before the loss, "I wouldn't be surprised if I miscarried." It's a horrible thing to say/think, but it was just an overwhelming feeling. This time we are excited, we have good, positive feelings, and are excited to grow our family!
• The fourth week of pregnancy is basically just a week of PMS: 
• Mild cramping
• Emotional/hormonal (tearing up about everything, which is not like me - ice queen ;))
• Hormonal acne
• While we are excited about the pregnancy and looking forward to sharing with our family, I am also really anxious this whole week and am quite convinced every time I go to the bathroom that there will be blood. There wasn't!

5 Weeks (BEAD FROM A LETTER BRACELET):

• Starting to feel nauseous/averse to food on and off. I can't handle smells of old food. Like the dishwasher or rinsing dishes. The nausea gets worse throughout the week and is constant. I didn't have super bad morning sickness with Dom & Emilia... or maybe I've blocked it out. I'm feeling nervous about the weeks to come since it doesn't typically kick in for people until they're 6 weeks. 
• My nails are starting to get nice and strong! This is likely partially due to the prenatals I'm taking, but I've been taking them for a long time. When you're pregnant you stop/significantly slow shedding hair, and maybe that applies to nails, too. They just get stronger! My nails usually chip and peel.
• I am still working my training shifts at the midwives. I feel bad about accepting a job, them spending all this time training me, and then me telling them I'm pregnant. I mean it wasn't exactly the plan haha!
• I'm hitting a bit of a wall this week. Too much going on. Too much responsibility. Not enough focus on self-care. How is this only week 2 of knowing I'm pregnant?!
• I was sitting at my desk and felt some phantom kicks that were so convincing I started questioning my dates. Not sure you can go from 5-18 weeks that quickly though haha. Wishful thinking! Something inside me was twitching and I could even feel it from the outside. It felt exactly like a baby wriggling around! Of course 5 weeks is MUCH too early to feel anything from baby. Phantom kicks happen all the time when I'm not pregnant too. Just gas...

6 Weeks (JELLY BELLY JELLY BEAN):

• Constant queasiness. No actual vomiting, but I have had a couple close calls. 
• Dave is away this whole week, so I've had lots of help from Gramma allowing me to rest up a bit more. One day Gramma took the kids for the day, so I had some self-care time! I was supposed to be productive, but instead I went and got a mani-pedi, came home, abruptly decided all I could eat was a McDonald's cheeseburger and fries. Back out I go! Had to take advantage of not having to pack up the kids to go somewhere. 
• Along with my McDonald's cheeseburger, I started craving Jolly Ranchers this week. So random. It's like I turned into a teenager again. 
• I order Hello Fresh for the week Dave is away, thinking it will be so helpful. Alas, that still involves cooking and I regret it. I have zero desire to cook or eat any of the meals that were sent. Unfortunately for Hello Fresh (or most meal-plan services actually), I am now totally triggered by the thought of them and their marketing and it sends me into a tailspin of nausea an gagging. How silly!
• I have never slept this much and been this tired simultaneously.
• I have occasional cramping which makes me nervous, but I know it's normal, and likely that everything is fine. 
• I am emotionally exhausted. It's been a hard week. The kids are acting out a lot. I'm not sure if it's our busier schedules, David being away, or if they sense something with me. Every time I try to tell Dom about another baby he just laughs and says, "no."
• Still having acne and long nails/hair! (Maybe I don't need to mention this every week since it'll probably just continue to the end haha)
• I booked my bloodwork and ultrasound for the next couple weeks! One advantage of working at a midwife clinic? Getting to see the behind the scenes, and book yourself in for your appointments with the midwife of your choosing! I have gone back and read through my labour and birth summaries for both kids and it was so interesting for me. Such a blast from the past!
• In week 4, I really really wanted yogurt. This week the smell of yogurt is absolutely revolting. It sends me heaving every time I go near it for the kids' breakfasts. So every day. Even when I open the fridge and just see the yogurt I'm gagging. So silly/frustrating. 
• I feel like I should be way past 6 weeks. Like at least 12-14. Not sure if I feel like I've been pregnant forever, or if I'm just eager to get the first trimester over with and get to my favorite trimester since I know what to expect!

7 Weeks (LEMONHEAD CANDY):

• I am feeling gross; so gross. I have no appetite. I eat half a bagel and crackers. I bought Ensure to get some more calories into me. I'm constantly on the verge of puking, and actually do puke for the first time... right before bed one night. I thought it was supposed to be morning sickness?! I puked a few times throughout the week. This is my life now. The nausea seems to correlate to how much rest I get. If I'm sleeping all day, I avoid some of the nausea. Funny how that works, eh?!
• I am having some increased cramping throughout the day. 
• I have this nagging wonder if it's twins. It could explain the extra nausea and extra cramping, though ideally it's just one baby :).
• I had my first midwife appointment with Nargess this week! She delivered Emilia and I saw her through most of both pregnancies. Since my last period was June 15, my dating put me at 10+ weeks already, though I knew when I ovulated, so I knew I was around 7 weeks. Of course she was skeptical and tried to find the heartbeat anyway. This exact same thing happened when I was 7 weeks pregnant with Emilia. Remember Nargess, I know my body well! Haha
• Weight: 122lb
  
• BP: 110/78 (higher end of normal for me)

8 Weeks (GUMMY BEAR):

• Constant nausea. Vomiting once a day or once every other day. This week I can only eat noodle soup. I made two big batches of noodle soup and that was lunch and dinner all week! 
• I am working too much!!
• I had my bloodwork done and my iron was actually higher than expected. It was 37. This is still on the low end of normal, especially for the beginning of a pregnancy, so when I saw Nargess at work this week she suggested I start taking iron supplements every couple days to try balance out/keep my levels up. (Another perk of working with your midwife is that you don't have to wait for your appointment for updates like that). Once you get over the fact that they see your vagina it's all good haha. 
• I craved a slurpee, and drinking it was the best decision ever. I never had any real cravings with my previous pregnancies, but this time I am getting such random ones. As I mentioned above at the 6 week mark, it's like being a teenager again with these "needs". On a normal day I wouldn't even be able to eat any of these things because they're such crap haha. 
• When I was visiting Katrina and Lucy this week, Brayden made Katrina a sandwich with pickles on top. I left their house and couldn't stop thinking about pickles. I came hoe and ate a pickle and have never enjoyed pickles that much. I know pickles are one of the more common cravings people tease pregnant ladies about, but apparently it's a real thing!

9 Weeks (JACK... like from the jacks game):

• I had my dating ultrasound at 9 weeks on the dot. My prediction was 9 weeks at the earliest, 9 weeks 2 days at the latest. The tech was impressed with my dating given my last period date put me at 12 weeks already. 
• I went to Medray in Coquitlam, because they are so worth the drive. The best bedside manner of all the clinics in our area (I can't speak to Vancouver clinics). 
• I was still a little bit anxious at the appointment, because until you see your baby, you don't know if you're actually pregnant. I know of a few ladies who have had missed miscarriages, and that brings the reality of that possibility closer to home. The tech kept things light and was talking the whole time, and finally she said, "Okay, just going to get the heart rate." Why can't they say that right away?! Like, "Okay, there's baby, now I'm going to look at x,y,z before taking a better look!"
• There is just 1 baby in there! Phew! Baby's heart rate measured at 176 BPM, and was a wiggly little nugget. 
• I had a pap with the nurse practitioner at work this week. She is just the most wonderful human being. I bragged to my friends after that it was the most pleasant pap I've ever received. I didn't even know it had happened and she was done. She also commented on/complimented my "very pregnant cervix", so I guess that's good. 
• Speaking of cervix, a long, closed cervix is good while you're pregnant, and of all the ultrasound reports I've looked at (which is a lot), mine is the longest! 5.1cm! Keeping that peanut safe! *One exception was when a tech wrote that someone's cervix was 36cm long haha! I can only assume they meant 3.6! Yikes!
• Getting to see my own ultrasound report at work (I did let a midwife look at it first) is a super special thing for me. I love all things pregnancy and babies (except actually being pregnant in the first trimester), and I love all the TMI. This is where I learn cervix length, and that my placenta is forming posterior. This means it's forming along the back wall and that I'll likely be able to feel baby sooner! 
• The nausea this week is on and off depending on the day. Some days it's an 8/10 all day, other days it's like a 4/10 with random triggers (always food related). I can change a poopy diaper no problem, but ask me to rinse an oatmeal bowl or wipe the table and it's game over! Hopefully this is me moving towards my new normal of no nausea! This is definitely the worst of any of my pregnancies. I am a complete lump. Poor David. 
• I am actually feeling so awful this week, that I reluctantly put in my resignation at the midwives. I love the job and the people I work with, but the schedule is just not working for our family. I'm sad I won't get the behind the scenes on my own pregnancy and appointment booking anymore. I love hearing others' stories and seeing all the beautiful babies. I'll miss Nargess walking up to me and being excited for me and telling me everything looks great with my ultrasound. Normally I'd have to wait until my next appointment (4 weeks from now) for that info. 
• After trying to resign, they have offered to keep me on one half day a week! I am going to be working Wednesday from 9-2 instead of 9-5 on Thursdays & Fridays! 
• Still having random cramping. Nothing serious, just noticeable. At least I have some peace of mind this week!
• I weighed myself again at work and I was down to 118lb. I have lost 4lb in two weeks. Not the best. To be fair, I've also lost a lot of muscle tone since i haven't been able to do yoga feeling this sick. Muscle weighs more than fat, so losing that probably contributes quite a bit. 
• I spent too much time on Instagram when I was really nauseous. Now certain accounts, or sometimes IG in general triggers nausea. I had this after Emilia's pregnancy too with this one table toy Dom (8-9 months at the time) played with in my first trimester. The music from it will still trigger me to this day. The brain is funny. 
• On Friday my nausea suddenly vanished. Two days straight with none! I forgot what that felt like!!

I recommend waiting until you're at least 9-10 weeks pregnant before your dating ultrasound. This is 9 weeks and baby is finally almost ditched the tail, and finally almost has limbs you can see haha. Head is on the right. 

10 weeks (TOOTSIE POP CANDY TOP):

• So I talk a lot about nausea and puking on here... boring and gross I'm sorry to my readers and future me reading back at this. Alas, I went a full week without puking. Then I had a bad day, but it's less constant now which is a major relief. 
• Gassy = lots of phantom kicks
• Air quality warnings all week due to the smoke from the wildfires, but I'm still trying to get out when I feel up to it. 
• Dom started preschool! I cried a little on his first day. I blame pregnancy hormones. 
• I borrowed a doppler from someone and found the heartbeat!!! 164 BPM (according to the machine). I am so surprised I found it myself at 10 weeks and 2 days! It is suuuuuch a wonderful sound.
• I got a migraine one day at/after work. Totally out of commission the whole evening. Yuck.
• I think I've started showing a bit, but I've also lost 5 lb now (down to 117lb). I've had people noticing a bump, but I'm not sure whether I'm just that much less toned because of the no yoga, or if I'm actually getting a baby bump. Or both?...

I'm out of practice... I forgot my pose!

Photoshoot buddies!

11 weeks (HOT WHEELS CAR):

• I got my first cold in over a year. Thanks preschool! Luckily it was just a mild one with a runny nose. No COVID test needed! One good thing that has come out of COVID is that everyone in our house has been healthy since March with the exception of this week!
• I am up 1-2 times per night to pee. 
• Nausea is much better. Just odd triggers, but I can eat my regular breakfast most days. 
• Sore boobs!! (Took me that long to mention my boobs haha)
• Lots of faintness when I stand up. I've almost passed out a couple times and had to lay down to prevent the full blackout. This isn't super strange for me as I always have low blood pressure anyway and now it's amplified by my blood vessels expanding to allow more blood for baby (so cool). I have to make sure I'm staying hydrated!
• We have started announcing to the extended family!
• Hello appetite!! I ate like a horse one evening at my parents' place and looked 18 weeks pregnant afterwards. Dad noticed, "Wow!! Look at you! You're really showing!" Nope, that's just meatballs and potatoes haha. 
• I think the iron supplements I'm taking every couple days is kicking in. My energy levels are much more manageable. I don't HAVE to nap EVERY day anymore. I just choose to most days :)

I'm totally that awkward size where my jeans don't fit, but I'm too small for any of my maternity clothes.