First Trimester Life

The news is finally out! I have wanted so badly to tell you all about the pregnancy, but we wanted to wait for two reasons — 1) We wanted to make sure everything was going well and baby was growing, 2) We wanted to tell close family members ourselves before announcing it to the public. It took quite some time to get around to telling everyone. In fact, we finally got the chance to tell Travis’ grandparents the day before we announced it to the world.

Since I’ve been dying to talk about it, this post is going to be all about my first trimester. This is going to be a long post because I have a lot to catch you up on!

First Appointment

We made an appointment right away at the hospital in Missouri because we knew we’d be moving soon. It was really scary knowing that we were about to PCS after just finding out I’m pregnant because that’s exactly what happened with our first pregnancy. I had began miscarrying during the move, so I was very anxious to get to the doctor and find out if everything was OK or if my nightmares were on repeat.

We had our initial appointment where they go over all your medical history and what not. During that appointment, we were able to see Nurse Alicia. She was the nurse who was with me for every appointment during my miscarriage. She was such a blessing to us after so much heartache and confusion. It was fantastic getting to see her again and share our good news.

Of course, the first appointment requires a blood draw. If you know me, then you know I am scared of needles and really anything medically related. I pass out easily. Thinking about it all just makes it worse. When I was told I would be getting 7 vials of blood drawn that day, I couldn’t stop the tears. The poor nurse didn’t know what to think until Travis explained that I seriously do not like having my blood drawn!

Let me explain — during my miscarriage, I had to have my blood drawn every week for over a month. Every time I was a mess — hysterical crying. When they saw me coming, they dreaded drawing my blood! There was only one guy there who seemed to be able to get it on the first stick. He was my favorite.

I went to do my urine sample while Travis waited near the room for my blood draw. Little did I know, he asked the people inside if they could find that one guy I liked. He was on staff duty that day, but they went and got him. The guy said he knew it had to be us when someone requested him. I find it so funny that he remembered us! I was so relieved to see him and know that he was the one doing the blood draw. He’s amazing because I didn’t feel a thing and didn’t cry at all.

(Side note: I do believe that all that crying and fear was also partially because of the miscarriage. Having your blood drawn over and over when you know the baby inside you is dead is WAY different than having your blood drawn for the baby that is alive and well inside you. For anyone else who is scared of needles or dreading the blood draw — focus on the fact that this is for your baby. The motherly love will kick in and you’ll be willing to be stuck a hundred times if need be!)

First Ultrasound

On our next appointment, we had our first ultrasound. They wanted to do it before we moved to make sure everything was good, but I was only six weeks pregnant. That’s really early for an ultrasound! The nurse told me that we may not see a heartbeat yet and I tried to prepare myself. I knew, though, that if we didn’t I would be a mess. We were supposed to move to Tennessee that week! I was so nervous that I threw up that morning. (It wasn’t morning sickness, it was scared sickness.)

Nurse Alicia got to be in the room with us during the ultrasound. Right away, I heard “There’s the heartbeat!” I didn’t see anything yet, but that was enough to start the tears! I felt immediate relief. We saw the baby — teeny tiny baby — and we could see the tiny flutter of a heartbeat. I cried and cried tears of relief and joy.

Second Ultrasound

When we got to our new home in Tennessee, we made an appointment right away. I was really hoping they would do another ultrasound even though we had already had one. When we arrived, we found out they weren’t planning to do an ultrasound, but because of my previous loss and, honestly, I think the terrified look on my face, they decided to do a quick one for me.

This was the first ultrasound I had that wasn’t transvaginal. It was so neat knowing they could see the baby through my belly at only 10 weeks. This time, the baby looked like a baby rather than a dot! The baby was moving a lot, which was so absolutely amazing. It kept kicking its little legs as it laid upside down. Then the midwife flipped a switch and suddenly we could hear the heartbeat. I became so emotional that my belly was shaking up and down! It all became so much more real, and I was so relieved to know everything was going well.

Can you believe how much the baby had grown in just four weeks? I can’t wait until the next ultrasound!

Some random fun facts:

• Travis caught 90 pounds of fish on our vacation in Florida, and I can’t eat any of it!
• Right now, we call our baby Little Oyster since we found out about him/her in Florida.
• I haven’t had any weird cravings — just normal cravings like chocolate chip cookies or French fries — so I’m not sure if it’s just me being normal or if it’s due to the pregnancy.
• For a couple weeks, I was getting very bloated and sick. So I changed my diet and only ate really healthy, boring foods like vegetables and protein. It helped, but I went four weeks and four days without ice cream, which is the longest I’ve ever went in my entire life!

What else would you like to know about the beginning of this pregnancy? I’ve got several blog posts planned, but I don’t want to miss anything!

If you are pregnant too, be sure to follow my new Pinterest board Pregnancy! It’s been a secret board for a long time now, but I’ve finally made it public!

You may also want to read:

• Coming Soon
• Our Miscarriage Story
• Having a Natural Miscarriage

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