First Trimester Recap

If you know me then you know I love blogging. Journaling and taking pictures is definitely my thing so, it should come as no surprise I plan to blog this pregnancy! All of these posts will be categorized as pregnancy under my life. I hope you enjoy following along!
Now, onto the fun stuff!

BELLY PICS

CRAVINGS

Sumo citrus, Greek yogurt, lemonade, allthesweets (donuts, cupcakes; Lord help me!), all varieties of cheese (mac’n’cheese, cheez-its, and cheese sticks), pickles, and gummy bears – totally weird! Egg sandwiches and SweetGreen salads (especially the Harvest Bowl); candy – Kit-Kat and M&Ms. And I love a meal with steak and potatoes, and a side salad. Yum!

AVERSIONS

Chicken was a no-go for awhile and so were my beloved salads! I had a hard time cooking in the beginning because just opening the refrigerator would make me nauseous; there were too many different odors coming from it and I could smell them all – bleh! Finally around the end of Week 11 I got back in the kitchen. One of the first meals I made was Shepard’s Pie and it was delish! Did I mention craving corn? I’ve been loving it!

OTHER SYMPTOMS

Exhaustion! Pure exhaustion. I literally felt like I was walking in a fog. I’d go right to sleep when I got home from work, wake up to eat a little something, and then go right back to sleep! I even came home early from work one day to sleep. Aaron was worried, haha.

Morning sickness: I did experience nausea but it happened in the evenings, not mornings and it usually hit me when I hadn’t eaten. In fact, eating helped curb my nauseousness, if you can believe it! So did peppermint tea.

Dizziness/Faintness: One morning I sat up too fast and suddenly felt very dizzy! I got hot and prickly all over but thankfully didn’t throw-up (though, I felt close)!

Peeing: Every 10 minutes, I swear! It was the worst during CAL — the day of the final competition I’m pretty sure I peed 10 times within a span of 3 hours. (Also, the second trimester is worse! I didn’t think I could pee more often but I am!)

Cold/Flu Symptoms: I finally started getting my energy back in Week 11, but then a got a nasty cold. It started with me waking up with a sore throat which turned to a stuffy nose, then I was sneezy and coughing a lot. It was rough!

Weight Gain: I’ve only gained about 6 lbs but I feel like I’ve gained at least 10 or more! My stomach is really protruding!!!

EXERCISE

I really pulled back on CrossFit, going only once, sometimes twice, a week but that’s also been in part due to my new job. Between the exhaustion and my new routine (commuting a lot further) I just haven’t been able to get there as often. Thankfully the Capitol Affiliate League and CrossFit Open kept me going every Saturday, at the very least. My goal is to stick with it!

Kx Photography on Facebook / 14.4 at CrossFit Falls Church

SONOGRAMS

I have loved seeing little glimpses of our bean! This was the first sonogram photo. The doctor said, “You have a little gymnast in there, upside down!” I think he or she looks like an upside down teddy bear, too cute!

I had a sonogram at 7 weeks (above), 9 weeks and 11 weeks — all looked good. My next one will be at 20 weeks and at that appointment we’ll find out if it’s a girl or boy! Eek!

HOW I FOUND OUT I WAS PREGNANT

A few of my friends were trying to get pregnant and one of them posted to a shared Facebook group that they were testing — four days before their missed period. At the time my period was four days LATE. I figured if she was testing I might as well!

Next thing you know… two lines!!

MY REACTION

At first I was a little shocked and scared, I won’t lie! I was only two weeks in at my new job and this wasn’t exactly the plan. I spent that first day overwhelming myself with questions that — at the time — were impossible to answer. However, I turned to some mama friends online and they gave me the best advice: everything will work out. And, it has!

HOW I TOLD AARON 

Aaron went to CrossFit after work per usual but I was exhausted and just went home. I waited the whole day because I wanted to tell him in person and so, when he was in the shower, I placed the positive test on the bed.

He walked in and yelled, “BABE.”

We just hugged and (honesty) I cried! I was scared — is this really happening? Right now? Ah!

HOW WE TOLD OUR FAMILIES 

I was really excited to tell everyone but wanted to make it special. We also wanted to wait until we were in the clear (out of the first trimester) so a lot of anticipation went into the reveal.

For my mom:

I told my mom first and in the most unique way! I invited her over for dinner and suggested we order Chinese. Meanwhile I had slipped a fortune I wrote, printed, and cut into a fortune cookie and waited till after dinner to give it to her. The fortune said:

Two tiny hands, two tiny feet,
In September you’ll have a new grandchild to meet. 

She was in total shock you guys! She kept asking, “Did you do this? How did you do this?”

I don’t think she thought it was real!

Finally I yelled “I’m pregnant!” and she started crying. It was a sweet-sweet moment I’ll never forget!

My dad, stepmom, little sisters, brother, sister-in-law, and nephews: 

We decided to surprise my dad’s family at my stepmom’s 50th birthday dinner. We knew it was a rare opportunity because everyone was there. We were pretty nervous the entire night, but finally, after the cake cutting, we told everyone to gather for a photo. I stood next to Aaron who secretly pressed “record” to get video and then said, “1, 2, 3, Sara’s Pregnant!”

The look on their faces was priceless! I will cherish these photos (and that video) forever!

Aaron’s Parents:

Aaron’s parents almost always go to Aaron’s grandmother’s house after church on Sundays for dinner. We knew Easter wouldn’t be any different so we traveled to Williamsburg and planned to surprise them then — we knew his aunt, uncle and cousin would likely be there and lucky us: they were!

After church and a little chit-chat with the family, we gathered around the table to say a blessing over the food (another tradition). Aaron offered to say the prayer and when he did, he asked that God “Especially watch over Sara this year… and our child.”

I’ll never forget everyone’s head popping up and the shocked look on all of their faces!

They quickly put their heads back down and said, “Say amen!! Say amen!!” So Aaron did and then the hugs, tears, and joy ensued! This is the first grandchild on his parent’s side so it’s an exciting time.

Granny: 

Last but not least, we told my granny through FaceTime. We did our usual catching up and then I talked about getting our new couch, rug, “and we got something else new, too.” I flipped the camera to Aaron who was holding a onesie and she screamed with excitement! I wish I would have thought to take a screenshot because she was smiling from ear-to-ear!

There’s not much else to say about my first trimester except, I survived! I can’t believe I’m already almost halfway through the pregnancy!

If you want to read more about my pregnancy I’m also keeping a photo journal over at saraelizabethe.tumblr.com.