I am about to begin Week 6. I’m excited to see what happens this week. I don’t really have any symptoms other than my BB are big and sore. I’m starting to get tired in the afternoon. So far, no morning sickness, but I feel funny if I don’t eat on time. There are a few other symptoms, but I’m not sure if it’s a symptom or just a random things happening. I’m peeing more, but I am also drinking more water. I’m constipated, but I’ve been eating less vegetables lately. I’ve been more hungry for carbs lately… It’s little things like that I find in pregnancy symptom books, but I’m not sure it’s pregnancy or just me being me.
Previously, I was not quite a D, but a C wasn’t quite perfect around PMS time. So, I’m not surprised that I have jumped up to a D so early in the pregnancy. Today I treated myself to some new bras. It feels so much better. I’m thinking I might wear a stretchy one to sleep in at night. I looked at the maternity bras, but they didn’t fit as well as the bigger size in regular bras. I’ve read that your bra size changes all the time, so I’m going to pack my C’s away for a later time. I’m wondering just how big these BBs will get over the next 9 months!!!!
I was very sick on Friday. I even had a fever- yuck! I felt like I had the flu. Cold, achy, sore throat, cough… It was no fun. I’m feeling much better today.
We had a nice breakfast yesterday with my in-laws. They were coming over to celebrate DH’s birthday, but little did they know they were about to become grandparents for the first time! I had the table set with some pretty china, and each setting had it’s very own pregnancy test with two pink lines. I thought that was a clever party favor. They were very excited for us, and it was fun to share the secret with someone other than doctors. They will be the only ones we tell for awhile. We’re going to keep it quiet until March- just in case… I’d like to tell my parents, but they have a terrible track record with secrets. They would tell everyone and anyone, so they will have to wait. They have 5 grandkids already, so it won’t be quite as special to them as with my in-laws.
I’ve been treating myself to setting up my Target baby registry. You can keep it private, so I’m having fun playing with it without anyone knowing.
Maternity leave in the United States is terrible! We are one of the only countries without a paid maternity leave. We may be leaders of the world, but some of our decisions are questionable… But that’s a topic for a different blog!
I called Human Resources yesterday at my work to figure out maternity leave. I read the policy, but it made no sense to me. The lady was very bitchy about the whole thing. She kept saying that FMLA only required that 12 weeks are offered without losing our job, but it doesn’t require being paid. Yeah for my company for doing the bare minimum for parents! After she explained, she asked for my due date. I thought that was a little pushy- I was just calling for information. I told her we were still trying. She said that’s so great because so many women wait to the last minute to find out about maternity leave and then they are upset. I’m assuming she has a lot of hormonal pregnant women mad at her because they had to use up some Paid-Time-Off for morning sickness and doctor appointments. I understood her bitchiness, but it didn’t forgive the behavior. It really should be written clearer in the policy manual.
All my maternity leave comes from my Paid-Time-Off and Sick Leave. I just took 10 days off over the holidays! But- no regrets there since that’s when we conceived! If nothing goes wrong in the next 9 months- then I’ll have about 9 weeks. But, it’s crazy to think I won’t need a sick day in the next 9 months… or even after with a newborn. So, I’m estimating that I’ll have 6 weeks paid. I’m going to go back to work only 2 days a week. As we get closer to needing to really decide this, I’ll either take 6 weeks unpaid or work two days a week. The catch with the unpaid leave is that you have to pay for your benefits since you won’t be getting a paycheck. The hard part is that it will be December, but work is slow in December. It might work well to just get back to work since it’s only two days a week. It’ll depend on finding a babysitter. So many decisions between now and then if this bean sticks around!
Filed under: Baby Worries, First Trimester, Pregnancy Symptoms | Tags: AF, OPK, Pregnant
I’m only four weeks pregnant, so I’m not sure what is a symptom or just my mind playing games on me. Today I woke up with a sore throat. I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I’m just so excited. I’m exhausted in the morning and keyed up at night. I dragged myself to work. Thankfully it was a slow day. I’m so tired and achy feeling, but I couldn’t take a nap after work. I’m taking off tomorrow. My in-laws are coming for breakfast this weekend, and I can’t seem to get motivated to clean the house. I do one thing, and then I have to sit and be lazy for awhile. I figure with that rate it’ll take me a whole day to get everything done for the weekend.
In summary, at a little over 4 weeks, my pregnancy symptoms are:
- Mild cramping in the evening or if I move suddenly
- My BB are slightly tender and big
- Sore throat, achy, and tired
- I’m not nauseated, but if I feel funny if I wait too long between meals
- Creamy CM
- The most important symptom- No AF
Yesterday I was reading about chemical pregnancies, which was a terrible thing to do to myself. I got a little worried and stressed about it. It was later in the evening, so I didn’t want to use a pregnancy test without FMU. Last thing I wanted was to see was a BFN! So, I used an OPK- Still pregnant. It was such a relief to see the two dark lines. It’s pretty neat how the OPK picks up HCG as well as LH. I felt better! FX that the baby sticks around for the whole 9 months.
I think it’s so weird that I’m four weeks pregnant already. I know I wasn’t pregnant for two of those four weeks! I made my first OB appointment. It seems so far away- Feb. 19th. I’ll be 8 weeks pregnant by then. OMG- I’m pregnant! My fingers and toes are crossed that all goes well between now and then. The appointment is going to be about an hour, and I guess they will do blood work then. It feels weird to actually tell people I’m pregnant. I told my OB, my acupuncturist, my BF, and DH.
DH is out of town. I was going to wait to tell him in person, but that wasn’t going to happen. I just blurted it out to him. His birthday is this weekend, so his parents are coming up for a visit. I think we’ll surprise them with the big news. The baby will be their first grandchild. I was searching for creative ways to tell them. All the ideas made me just cry! It will be my parents 6th grandchild, and my grandma’s 13th great-grandchild. (I’m trying to not focus on the 13!)
I had a hard time sleeping last night. I was anxious and excited. I was also hungry, and I had to pee. I spent yesterday cooking, and the lingering food smell has been bothering me. I think it’s a psychosomatic symptom. Otherwise, the only symptoms I have are an aching in my uterus and sore BB.
I keep checking the pee stick. It still has two lines on it. I wonder how long they will stay there…
Filed under: Baby, Ovulation, Pregnancy Symptoms, Trying to Conceive | Tags: BBT, BFP, CM, OPK
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I POAS this morning and saw my first BFP. I’m still shaking a little bit. I didn’t take my BBT or really use OPK this month. I just watched my CM. DH was also more relaxed than usual. We took a nice vacation with our dogs. I didn’t feel pregnant at all. My BB had stopped hurting. Last weekend I cried because I didn’t think I was pregnant, and I was so upset that DH didn’t want to do a SA. This weekend I kept feeling a pull in my lower abdomen when I stood up quickly. Which was odd. This morning I woke up and my BB hurt again. I’m about 12 dpo, so I POAS to encourage AF to start. A BFN is usually a good way to get the next cycle started. Instead I found two bright pink lines. I didn’t really expect that! I’m pregnant! I keep checking the stick, and there are still two lines!
DH is out of town, so I haven’t been able to tell him. SHHHH! I want to think of a great way to tell him, but I’m sure I’m just going to blurt it out when he calls to check in.
My acupuncturist gave me a handout about the Chinese New Year later this month. This is the year of the Ox. The handout talked about different things to do to make the most out of the year, and they all boiled down to getting back to the basics. That’s exactly what I plan to do. I’m going “Back to Basics.” I’m going to try to make TTC as basic as possible. I have to admit that not charting my BBT has made it difficult to know for sure if I’ve ovulated yet. I wasn’t sure if that would matter to me since we are BDing every other day, but BD on a schedule is hard when you aren’t sure when you can stop! I broke down and used my last OPK yesterday- it was negative. So I’ve either ovulated, or I’m going to soon. Grrr… I’m fighting the urge to buy more. I’m glad that I will use the fertility monitor next month. I should change it to going “Back to Basics within Reason.” Just can’t give up total control to fate!
I find it interesting to read about the traits of people born in the year of the Ox. Dependable, leaders, smart, trustworthy, caring, organized, etc. They sound like typical first-born children to me, so I’m hoping that’s a sign that this will be my baby year.
First off, the Instead Cup is designed for AF. It sounds like a diaphragm/tampon. It’s a neat concept, but it sounds a little uncomfortable and messy for me. I’m not big into tampons… or diaphragms. But, not much has changed in the area of feminine products, so it’s fun to find something new. I wanted to check this product out, but they don’t sell these where I live. I’ve looked at Target, Walmart, Rite Aid, CVS, etc. just to see what these things look like.
I’ve read on FF that many women use them for keeping sperm in the right place after BD. I’ve noticed, as many women probably have, that BDing is messy without a condom! I could see how this might make it easier to TTC with less mess. Anyone looking into TTC has come across the suggestion to elevate your hips with a pillow after BD, so one could imagine worrying about sperm leaking out. But, the strong sperm is already where it needs to be after BDing, so I think the instead cups aren’t necessary for me. I don’t even use the pillow anymore. I just relax with DH. In my opinion, I’d rather the weak sperm leak out and not risk a less healthy conception. I would also worry that if I inserted it in wrong I would block the sperm from getting to the egg! I hate making TTC more clinical than it has to be. I think I will file this away as something that couldn’t hurt the process, but it’s not for me.
