Joys of pregnancy

I've wanted to write this post for a long time. It'll be a long one folks.

I feel this need and want to record everything I can think about and remember that has happened or changed since I've gotten pregnant. It's fun to look back on the earlier stages and remember stuff. And now that it's not a secret, I can share my 1st trimester experience.

The first thing I love talking about it graduation weekend. My parents were here and so were Scott's. They both took us out to dinner on separate nights. After eating at Texas Roadhouse with the Dodds', I got really sick later that night when we were hanging with my parents at Shay's house. I thought I had food poisoning! I almost threw up, but I hate doing that, so I didn't. I figured it was some weird bug. Later on, in the middle of the night I felt horribly sick again. Then again in the morning before I ate breakfast. Then we had graduation and all the hooplah. I felt sick to my stomach when it had been awhile since eating, but didn't think much of it. I got sick feeling at least once or twice more before everyone left. Little did I know, I was pregnant.

A few days later I was standing in the hall at my school waiting for my kindergarteners to come in from recess. One of the girls in LaurAnn's class looked at my dress and went "CUTE!" then she said "Are you pregnant?" "no. Do I look pregnant?" "yes!" I chuckled and went back to the testing I was doing. That was the week I missed my period. I couldn't go more than a couple hours without food and I kept feeling sick. Pregnant? Yes. I knew I was, woman's intuition, but hadn't confirmed yet.

Two mornings later I decided to take a test. I figured I had waited long enough and if I was going to be positive, it would be. I couldn't sleep that night and woke up a little earlier than normal. After seeing the positive, I ran and jumped on Scott and woke him up. 30 minutes later I called mom and dad. A couple days later we told the rest of our family and tried to keep it a secret from everyone else.

Oh, also during that time of graduation and the week I found out I was pregnant, I craved salty buttery popcorn every single day. Sometimes I ate it twice or three times in a day. I could not get enough! I thought nothing of it until I felt more pregnant and realized it was a symptom. The first trimester went by without too much sickness. I felt nauseas all the time, especially if I didn't eat every 2 hours, but I only threw up twice because of car sickness and not eating. I didn't have any crazy cravings, but I did figure out that cravings are real!

1. I was reading Eclipse and Bella was eating poptarts in the story. I had to get poptarts. It wasn't a maybe or an if, it was a need. Scott got me some :-)

2. I had a Mexican kick. I wanted a soft taco from Taco Bell, but decided to make homemade tacos. Very unsatisfactory. I ended up getting a soft taco later that night. That same week I craved Jose Peppers. Unfortunately, it is the best Mexican restaurant known to Karissa and it is sorrowfully located ONLY in Kansas City. I tried my best to satisfy the craving by eating at two Mexican places here in UT, but that only made it worse.

3. I did not like sugar. Nope. No way. None. I still don't like it as much as I used to, but I eat more than I did in the 1st tri. I only wanted salty foods.

4. I had to eat Life cereal every morning for several weeks. If I did not eat Life, I started out sick and didn't recover the whole day. I tried to be healthy and eat eggs and oatmeal. No. Didn't work. Only Life. For about a month and a half at least.

5. Toast was (and is) my best friend. Also string cheese.

6. Lately I have this wonderful relationship with eggs, cheese, canadian bacon and whole wheat pitas. Also, glasses of milk.

7. Last night was the first time I experienced eating a bite of something and almost throwing up. It was leftover artichoke chicken. Delicious the night of, but horrible reheated (to me) (I wasn't in the mood for the smell).

I have now moved from the 1st to the 2nd trimester and I'm feeling lots more energy, lots less nausea and overall better. I started getting a belly (to me) around 10 weeks, but it really started poking out more at 12 weeks, and definitely more now at almost 15 weeks! I don't really know if it'll be a boy or a girl. I'd love to have a boy because they're so fun, but I'd love to dress up a pretty little daddy's girl. I've had 2 dreams that we were having twins, but no significant dream of only a boy or only a girl. So who knows.

Hearing the heartbeat and seeing the first ultrasound was the highlight of my life so far. It was incredible to actually see the tiny fetus in there and then hear the heart beating. I almost cried, so did Scott. It was so surreal to think "my heart is beating, and something inside of me has a heartbeat too!"

Now I've noticed that my hair seems to be growing at super speed and my nails are getting longer too. Also, being pregnant is like getting instant implants, and feeling bloated all the time. I was so happy that between 8 and 12 weeks I had only gained 1 pound. I felt like I'd gained 20! Also, it's very uncomfortable to wear pants that rest on my tummy. I like rolling things down or wearing them lower under my tummy so it doesn't cut in. I learned last Sunday that pencil skirts and pregnant do not belong together (unless you have a belly band, which I bought yesterday!). I also bought some belly cream yesterday that's supposed to help with an itchy tummy and stretch marks. We'll see. I'm not horribly worried about stretch marks since I heard it was genetic and mom never got any with 5 kids. Also, it's true about having more sensitive skin...I spend 40 minutes in the sun and I have a tan (or burn if I don't put on sunscreen). And my tummy does itch!

As for the food restraints, flu shots, infant shots etc...hah. That's a whole different can of worms I won't open right now. So that's all folks!