Thank you so much for the well wishes this week! It’s so nice to finally tell everyone – both online and at work – and it really makes this pregnancy feel real now. I’ve put together a Q&A post to cover what my experience was like during the first trimester. When I first became pregnant, it was so helpful for me to read through other people’s experiences and get an idea of what to expect. If you’re currently in early pregnancy or trying to conceive, I hope this is helpful for you too!

Fair warning – there is puke talk in question 2, so if that kind of thing makes you squeamish, I suggest you skip over it.

1. So, how far along are you?

I’m currently in the middle of my 13^th week, and while there is much debate over whether the first trimester ends at 12, 13 or 14 weeks, I’ve decided that I’m now in the 2^nd tri. I’ve found this website to be really helpful for understanding the different ways a trimester can be calculated.

2. Did you experience morning sickness?

I was terrified about getting morning sickness. As soon as I got that positive pregnancy test, I armed myself with every preventative measure I knew. Crystallized ginger, ginger tea, crackers, cereal, granola bars, trail mix … I kept snacks at home, in the office, in my purse, and in my car – and hoped for the best. After getting the okay from my doctor, I took extra vitamin b6 to help prevent morning sickness. If you’d like to do this, definitely check with your doctor first as the amount you can take depends on how much is already in your prenatal vitamin. My insurance also covers acupuncture during pregnancy, so I started getting regular treatments as well. I had no morning sickness for the first 9 ½ weeks and was pretty much eating crackers every morning for fun.

Then, on the day we were to drive almost 8 hours to Cincinnati for Christmas, my body decided it was the perfect time for nausea to strike. I woke up that day feeling nauseous and dry-heaved around 5AM. I couldn’t have been happier. While I was doing everything I could possibly think of to prevent morning sickness, I also desperately wanted nausea symptoms to reassure myself that everything was okay with the baby. Giddy with excitement, I couldn’t go back to sleep. The announcement post was actually written that morning as a result of my dry-heaving delight.

Hearing the heartbeat at 7 weeks. With no morning sickness, I was terrified something was wrong. Kevin snapped this photo of me as I saw the ultrasound. After seeing the photo, I had no idea I was pulling so anxiously at my scarf!

Before leaving the house for Cincy, I grabbed a trash bag to take in the car – just in case. Well, one Panera stop and five pickles later, that trash bag was put to good use. I’ve since puked on three other occasions and dry-heaved on random mornings as well. While I’ve heard many women experience an “all-day sickness”, mine has pretty much stuck to the morning.  I feel my morning sickness has been relatively mild, but I’m hoping symptoms completely ease off in the next week or two.

a fortune cookie I received this week. I think it’s safe to say it’s referring to “normalcy” here.

3. What other symptoms did you have?

Huge, loud and long truck-driver man burps. This started immediately and has yet to go away. I’ve heard from other pregnant women that it probably won’t until the day you meet your baby. Luckily, my burps only occur in the mornings and at night, so I haven’t (yet) freaked out my coworkers with any earth-shaking roars.

I also felt a lot of twinges in the abdominal area around weeks 4-7 as the uterus began to grow. I still feel occasional twinges, also called round ligament pain, but it’s not nearly as frequent as the beginning weeks. Also, the occasional sneeze or cough sometimes makes my uterus feel like it just body-slammed the baby in half. OUCH. It can be painful.

Other symptoms included an expanding chest area (whoohoo!), constant peeing (seriously considered getting a catheter or adult diapers), plus major fatigue and extreme laziness. Thankfully, the fatigue is easing up, but my house is still a disaster zone. When I get home from work every night, the only thing I want to do is eat dinner and lay down. And if Kevin isn’t cooking, we order take-out. The only “dinner” I’ve made for myself is scrambled eggs. I can’t get enough of them. Other food favorites include oranges, grapes, apple sauce and pasta.

4. Are you finding out the sex of the baby?

We are going for the surprise! I’ve had dreams that the baby has been both a boy and girl, so I really have no idea at this point. And I’m all for gender-neutral clothing and nursery décor since it makes it easier to reuse items for future babies.

5. Why do you call your baby Sweet Pea?

Well… if you do the math, little miss (or mister) sweet pea came into this world around Halloween weekend. This year, Kevin and I decided to dress up as Popeye and Olive Oyl.

If you know anything about the cartoon, the couple eventually has a baby together whom they name Sweet Pea. You can bet this will be our baby’s first Halloween costume (let’s just hope I can fit back into mine!).

And yes, our families have already informed us they are telling baby Sweet Pea one day why he or she has the nickname.

And yes, I’m already saving up for the therapy sessions.