1st Trimester

Since I'm a little late starting this, the 1st trimest will just be in one post.

I was SOOOOOO lucky in my first trimester. I had maybe a handful of days where I felt nausea, but never got sick. I had a few days of low energy or being more tired than normal, but never was it to the point where I couldn't still go about my regular life.

The thing that was hardest for me in that first 12 weeks, was keeping it secret and the constant fear of something going wrong. Every doctor, website and book tells you that first 12 weeks is so critical and anything can happen.

At my first doctor's appointment, the doctor just did a physical exam to make sure everything looked good, along with a few blood tests, we didn't get any confirmation that the baby was actually there. We had to wait another 4 weeks to get to hear the heartbeat and that was the longest 4 weeks of my life!! They say once you establish a heartbeat, your chance of miscarriage goes down to almost nothing, so I just wanted to hear that little beat.

Well, being me, I got impatient and we bought an at home heart monitor to try and hear the baby's heartbeat early. We read reviews and all these things about where to listen and what to listen for. We thought FOR SURE we found the heartbeat right away. Now, I look back and laugh because we were WAY off. What I thought was the heartbeat was actually my own heartbeat behind what they call 'fetal movement'. And I couldn't have been more off on the location. I was all the way over to the right side of my pelvis and the baby is actually almost right under my belly button! After discovering that no, that was in fact NOT the heartbeat, I was even more anxious to hear it!!

On Friday, October 29th, we had our next appointment and this was the 'heartbeat' appointment. I was nervous because our doctor wasn't going to be there (thanks to my impatience in wanting to bump the appointment up and having to go on a day she was out). Also, our annual Halloween party was the next day so if they found the heartbeat, GREAT! We could tell anyone that didn't already know because we'd be in the clear. BUT, what if they didn't find it? I was so afraid I'd be so distraught I'd want to cancel the whole party. That Friday was the longest day of my life!! I could NOT wait for our 4 pm appointment!

We got to our doctor's office and I was just so ready. My doctor had already warned me that there was a 50/50 chance they might not find the heartbeat right away so they'd have to do an ultrasound, so I was prepared for that. The doctor that day also said 'I'm right on top of it so it might take me just a minute to find it'....he didn't even finish that sentence when I heard the most wonderful sound in the world! He found it right away, beating strongly and loudly confirming that our little baby was there!! I immediately broke into some of the happiest tears of my life. It was a mix of emotions - happy AND relieved. I had no reason to be nervous, as we have no family history of pregnancy issues, but that first 12 weeks was brutal for this already anxious mama!! We then felt like we were 'in the clear' to tell any one else who didn't already know about our wonderful news!