Pregnancy Update: 12 Weeks!

May I just say how excited I am to be writing pregnancy updates again?!? Because y'all . . . I am excited! This pregnancy was unexpected and surprising, for sure, but it's still a beautiful, wonderful blessing. 

I'm playing catch-up a bit with my pregnancy updates. This post was originally written on Monday, May 8th when I was 12 weeks along. Technically, my "turn day" is Sunday, but my goal throughout this pregnancy is to write and publish my updates on Monday. I figure it's close enough, especially since we don't know exact dates of everything this time (which feels so strange compared to my other pregnancies!)

This is my first "belly shot" this time around!

As you can see, I definitely have a bump already! I tend to carry extra weight in my middle, and I've been about 15-20 pounds heavier than my normal for close to a year. As I mentioned in a previous blog, I was actually in the process of losing weight when I discovered I was pregnant. While my belly is a little bit bigger than it has been, it's not too much more prominent. It is, however, quite a bit firmer, and I can tell a difference when I lay on my back, for sure!

With my previous pregnancies, I took all of my belly pics in the same spot in our house. We've since moved, so I've had to figure out a new place to take the belly pics. The spot I've chosen can be a little shadowy, so please excuse that in my pictures! However, I like that the natural light brightens my face, so we're sticking with this spot for now.

My appetite has been better this week than it has been in three or four weeks. It's a relief to not have to force myself to eat, and food has been settling a whole lot better with me for the most part. I'm still battling mucus issues, so I'm still struggling with gagging some. I do think it might be getting better, thankfully. The fatigue has been less severe this week, and I'll be THRILLED to see that go away for a while! I'm so ready to have a bit more energy and just feel a little more like myself. The fatigue has been NO JOKE this time around! 

I typically struggle with severe headaches during my first trimester. They hadn't been bad this time around (I had only had about two), but this week I had several that have knocked me off my feet. Of course, being pregnant means I'm really limited as far as medications I can take for pain relief, and Tylenol doesn't help me out much. Other things that I use to help with the headaches include icing my neck, having Chris massage my neck and shoulders, drinking water, drinking caffeine, and trying to sleep them off. The ones I had this past week were severe to the point that my head throbbed anytime I moved, light hurt my eyes, and I was super sensitive to sound. Scrolling on my phone or looking at any type of electronics was out of the question. My kiddos have been great to bear with me when I'm suffering with a headache, but we are all ready for me to not be dealing with them anymore. 

Another interesting thing that happened this week was that I had to take my wedding rings off. Yes, already, haha! I noticed last Thursday that my finger was hurting right where my rings sit, so I took them off only to discover that my skin was blistered in that spot. This same thing happened when I was pregnant with Brenson, and I had to stop wearing any kind of rings due to my skin blistering wherever metal touched me. This included gold, white gold, silver, and platinum! For now, I'm still able to wear necklaces and earrings, but when I was pregnant with Brenson those things eventually began to bother me as well. Since this only happened with my pregnancy with Bren and not during the girls' pregnancies, maybe that means we're having a boy this time? We definitely don't know, but it's always fun for us to play the guessing game!

I had my first appointment with Dr. N (my OB that delivered all my other kiddos) today at 12 weeks and 1 day along. I had called his office to make an appointment almost two weeks ago and was told that he was booked solid until the week of May 15th. I was actually just going to wait, but his receptionist decided that they needed to see me earlier than that and "squeezed me in" for today. My appointment was at 11:00am - which isn't generally a great time for his office - so I went alone because I was anticipating a wait. However, I was actually called back to a room after only 25 minutes and saw Dr. N about 20 minutes after that.

It was fun to see his nurse, Tiffany, who was in the delivery room during the twins' birth. We chatted for a bit while she took my weight and blood pressure (which was 116 over 62), and a few minutes after that Dr. N came in with his usual "Nellieeeee!" greeting. He asked me how I was feeling and what I was doing there again (ha!), then began the ultrasound.

Dr. N is always a bit of a whirlwind, but I never feel like just another patient to him. He's loud and fast, but he's also personable and pays attention to details. However, this time I felt like he was really in a rush and kind of scattered. He does an ultrasound at every appointment, but it was super quick this time. The baby looked great though, measuring 11 weeks and 5 days along, with a heart rate of 184 beats per minute. Of course, this made me wonder if we're having a girl?!?

Hi, baby!

I never tire of hearing the sweet sound of my baby's heartbeat. 

Since I'm 36 years old, I anticipated that Dr. N may talk to me about extra testing or seeing a specialist. He did briefly discuss some testing with me, gave me a pamphlet on it, and said to let him know what I decide. Then, he was out the door. I said, "Wait! I have questions!" He told me to get dressed (it was a bottoms-off appointment), and he'd be back to talk with me.

A few minutes later, he came back in and we briefly discussed my blood-thinning injections and the other medications I'm on. I knew he'd keep me on them, but I wanted to bring it to his attention because he didn't mention anything about it during the ultrasound. He actually put me on a prescription folic acid called Folbic, so I was glad that we discussed it. Then, he sent me off to have my routine blood work done.

After blood work and a urine sample, I walked back through his area of the office on my way to check out. He was standing at the desk, stopped me, and said, "Hey Nellie, did I do measurements today?" I said, "Yes, the baby measured 11 weeks and 5 days." He said, "And that's about where you are, right? I didn't realize this was your first appointment." I said, "I'm 12 weeks and 1 day, so close enough," and he responded with, "Okay, good. See you in four weeks!" I know he sees hundreds of patients and is a busy, busy man, but it's really unlike him (in my experience) to not be right on top of things. He just really seemed to be in a rush, but maybe that's what happens when you are "squeezed in" on a Monday!

Since we had a great appointment, we are going public on social media with the news this afternoon! It's a little scary, but so exciting at the same time!