Hey everyone,
Just thought I'd check in here and try to unpack some of the thoughts that are swirling in my head!
I'm almost at the 5 week mark (according to my last menstrual period - LMP. I really don't know how to best "date" this pregnancy, since I'm not sure when I actually ovulated. So going from my LMP, I'm nearly 5 weeks. That doesn't seem very far along at all! Still, the largest worry on my mind is that I'm not feeling enough symptoms. When I look at that rationally, I know that 5 weeks is still very early to feel symptoms, right? I think I need some reassurance of that. I do have a few symptoms, but they seem so minor to me, that sometimes I wonder if my mind is playing tricks on me, haha.
The symptoms that I have had are:
- Cramping/stretching in abdomen: This has subsided but was more last week (hopefully the little guy is snuggling in cozy!)
- Going to the bathroom lots (but I am trying to drink more, so it could just be that)
- Fatigue: This was worst on the weekend but seems to be alright now; last night I had insomnia)
- Some nausea/heartburn: I only had one episode of nausea where I thought I was going to puke (but didn't), but have felt just slightly off. Towards the end of the day and when I go to bed I have slight heartburn.
- Excema: My hands are super dry and breaking out in excema again
- Changes in appetite: This past week I just haven't felt very hungry but forced myself to eat regularly to avoid nausea. Both yesterday and today I had a moment where I all of a sudden was ravenous and HAD to have food! Both times I've had to eat out as I was not prepared and had nothing to satisfy my insatiable hunger. And both times, after I ate a little bit I was full. It was kind of weird.
- Moodiness! Okay, this one is for real. DH gets such a kick out of it and almost eggs me on to see my emotions. I haven't been crying a lot, but I've been irritated at things that normally don't irritate me. I get mad at the dog for taking up too much space on the bed. I got mad at DH for no reason this morning. Actually, we were laughing together about something, but then all of a sudden he did something that I told him to stop or I was going to punch him in the face! It was really comical.
Anyways, I don't want this to be all about pregnancy symptoms, but that is just what is on my mind right now. I'm keeping myself distracted planning this tea party for the weekend (It is going to be so much fun and I'll definitely post pictures!). I also couldn't resist, but called the midwives and set up an appointment for after my ultrasound. I let my family doctor know too, since she had given me blood work to do and I haven't done it yet. She suggested I wait to do it along with my prenatal blood work (which I'll do after the ultrasound). With my doctor's office you speak to the receptionist and they pass messages through the computer. When I called the receptionist told me the first thing my doctor had written was, "Fabulous!" about our pregnancy. That was nice to hear! It is fabulous. And hopefully it will stay fabulous.
But for any of you who have been through this... how did you manage not going crazy watching symptoms, and are my symptoms what are to be expected this early in?
I've noticed that everyone has different symptoms and varying degrees of them, and I haven't found a correlation between certain symptoms & better pregnancies. Though, I did *love* to tell myself when I was puking (starting around 7 weeks, I think) that there was a correlation between morning sickness & healthy pregnancies... even though no one in my family, with all their healthy pregnancies, had morning sickness.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had great advice for not going crazy watching symptoms (I was totally guilty of this, especially since I had bleeding weeks 4-6), but I tried to just tell myself it was pointless to fret –and instead to just focus on the excited, happy emotions. I figured the less stressed I was about it, the better for baby anyway.
Soo excited for you & baby!
I didn't have a lot of typical pregnancy symptoms and it did worry me. There's something oddly reassuring about puking your guts out, I guess! Early on, probably the first two or three weeks, I experienced a lot of cramping that felt like mild menstrual cramps. I also had to pee a lot and had some food aversions, but my nausea was very mild and I never had to throw up. The biggest symptom for me was fatigue and it got worse as the first trimester progressed.
ReplyDeleteAs Steph said, there doesn't seem to be a way to predict a healthy pregnancy by symptoms alone. Some women have no symptoms at all and wind up with healthy babies at the end of it. That being said, I know that it's hard not to worry about it and I know you'd probably feel better (mentally, anyway) if you felt worse physically. :)
I didn't have any symptoms with my first pregnancy. I had mild nausea but it was later on nearing 9 weeks, and more affected my by motion sickness than just plain nausea. This time I started getting nauseous around 6 weeks and it's been awful. So it just goes to show you every pregnancy is different.
ReplyDeleteI hope things continue in a positive fashion for you. Do you have your first ultrasound scheduled yet? I can't wait to hear how things go! Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers for a happy healthy full term pregnancy!
Symptoms do come and go and what you're experiencing sounds very normal. The cramping is your ute getting used to not being empty anymore. The fatigue will come and go. I was starving the entire first trimester, even when I was sick to my stomach. Fun right? :P
ReplyDeleteAnother thing to remember is that symptoms alone don't mean anything. My first pregnancy, I was sick as a dog, all the way up to the day I found at 15 weeks that our boy was gone. This pregnancy hasn't been nearly as bad. (I think I've thrown up maybe ten times) and I'm 25 weeks right now.
I feel like you are writing exactly what is happening to me- cramping, no appetite (which is NOT normal for me), and peeing all the time. I'm glad that I'm not the only one!
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