13 Weeks and Pregnancy Symptoms

Today marks 13 weeks!  I feel a little relief that we are this far in the pregnancy.  I tend to worry about everything, so the first trimester (and having 6 weeks between appointments) was nerve-wrecking for me.  As this is my first pregnancy, I have nothing to compare what I'm feeling to, which is hard for me since I like control and to know what's going on.

Since everyone has been asking how I'm feeling, I wanted to let you know how my first 12 weeks went.  Tot made me feel like I had a little belly at seven weeks. At 8 weeks, my pants wouldn't button. I'm pretty sure a lot of that has been due to bloating because, wow, HOLY BLOATING. So far, that's been one of the most prominent pregnancy symptom. 

I haven't had much nausea.  I think I can count on one hand the number of times I've felt a little queasy.  That's been the strangest thing for me.  If you know me, you know I get a lot of side effects from medicines, and my body is very sensitive to changes.  I guess God is letting me have a pass on the nausea given all the side effects I have experienced in the past.  I have some more thoughts about my lack of morning sickness, but that's a post in and of itself.  Guess you'll have to come back to read it :) 

The only time where I really wanted to throw up was after trying to have a small cup of coffee the day I found out I was pregnant.  As soon as the coffee hit my stomach, Tot said, "Yeah, no more of that for the next 9 months."  I had to stop cold turkey because the reaction was so bad.  Now, I LOVE COFFEE and normally get migraines if I don't get my cup by 10 AM.  This was what I was most scared of when thinking about getting pregnant: the withdrawal symptoms of not getting my caffeine intake. But lo and behold, no withdrawal symptoms at all! Again, shocked and thankful that God blessed me with not having to deal with massive headaches from not getting my cup of joe.

I've had a couple headaches here and there, but I think that's because of allergies.  I always get really bad sinus headaches in the fall from allergies.

I think the worst symptom I have had is trouble sleeping.  Since a week after I found out, I haven't been sleeping well.  I'll get up one or two times during the night thanks to Tot's pressure on my bladder.  It'll take me at least half an hour to get back to sleep.  One night, it took two hours for me to fall back to sleep.  I'm really hoping that changes in the second trimester.  Lack of sleep plus having this baby growing inside me, football season, taking care of a hyper dog with hip dysplasia, and being really busy at work do not go well with my heightened emotional state (another symptom which I'm sure Brett hopes will pass soon).

Overall, I am feeling EXTREMELY grateful and thankful that this pregnancy has been smooth so far.  My lack of symptoms just strengthens Brett's resolve that we will be having a boy.  We shall see come Christmas time.

Because my sis-in-love is asking for a bump picture, I figured I would start this week, so here you go!