Before I get into this next update, I want to thank everyone who has reached out to me about my last post. Also, I am doing fine, baby is doing fine, and overall I am feeling much less anxious/ stressed. But I wanted to be honest in my last post and bring to light something that isn’t talked about that much- that this process is not necessarily easy for everyone and therefore some of those fears/ anxious thoughts don’t just end the day you see a positive pregnancy test. And I also want others who are struggling on their own journey to know they are not alone- and I’m always here to talk!

Now, let’s jump back in to the weekly updates!

Week 9:

The best part of the week was announcing the pregnancy to family. On Christmas Eve we went to Erik’s cousin’s house with his mom’s whole side of the family for our annual Christmas Eve party. We did our Yankee Swap, then Erik’s brother made a beautiful toast to their Dad who had passed away last July. He remarked on what an amazing man Dave was, and how holidays and other months, like July (when Dave was born and when he passed away) would be particularly hard. But at the end he said “But we now have something very exciting to look forward to in July and I have the pleasure to announce that I will be an Uncle”. It was so, so sweet and such a wonderful moment. There is a lot of sadness this holiday season, but this baby is already bringing so much happiness and joy!

As far as symptoms for 9 weeks go, I felt pretty good! As usual, this made me nervous, but other than craving macaroni and cheese (and being grossed out at the idea of salad- who am I?) I felt pretty normal!

Baby is growing like crazy this past week (and is the size of a cherry). Amazing to believe five weeks ago baby was only the size of a little poppy seed!

Week 10:

Week 10 flew by! Started out with Christmas which was a really wonderful day, then on Wednesday we had an appointment where we got some usual first trimester screenings/ testing completed. Feeling really good this week! If I wasn’t positive I was pregnant I would almost forget!

For New Year’s weekend we headed off to Portland, ME with a few friends and had an amazing weekend there. Our airbnb was super cute and even though it was incredibly cold (the high was 5 degrees!) we had so much fun just hanging out in the house, playing games (monopoly for the most part), going to a brewery (lots of water for me!), taking the dogs to the park to get their energy out, and eating some great meals. It was perfect for me being pregnant since we didn’t do anything taxing and I could pretty much go to bed whenever I felt like it.

On the agenda for this week is another doctor’s visit at a new office, getting back to work, the start of my January RESTART program, a few clients and a MASSAGE on Sunday (omg can’t wait).

Week 11:

Week 11 had a lot of great moments! I met with a second doctor at a hospital closer by who was recommended to me by my chiropractor. I wasn’t in love with her- she seemed very smart and competent but kind of a “tell it like it is” kind of person and I prefer a little more comforting/ gentle approach. But that being said, the most important thing is to have a doctor that knows what he/ she is doing and I will have a doula for that other type of support system. I’m also going to interview/ chat with some midwives. I don’t think I want a homebirth, but I would just love to know how their care differs from the standard, traditional care of a hospital.

We also got all of our testing results back and everything came back negative! We opted to do a test that tests for all of the Trisomy issues as well as some chromosomal abnormalities. I also did a carrier screening test to see if I was a carrier for any type of disease, and I am not! I know there is more testing down the line but it’s great to get these big ones over with.

Week 12:

Wow I can’t believe I am in the last week of the first trimester! I mean, I still feel like I have a super long way to go, but at the same time this day felt so far away when I first found out I was pregnant. And like I recapped in the last post, I obviously had a lot of fears getting to this point but everything is going perfectly!

This week we had our 12 week ultrasound so I felt like every single day was just a countdown to that day. As usual, I was a bit anxious since my symptoms mostly disappeared starting in week 11. My boobs weren’t as sore, I finally had my energy back (and have managed to get in a few good workouts finally!) and I can eat vegetables again- hallelujah.

The day of our ultrasound I was a nervous wreck, and driving there neither Erik nor I spoke much. But as soon as the tech put the wand on my stomach I could see our baby! The baby’s heartbeat was thumping away and was moving its legs and arms around. It was absolutely amazing to see. They also did some checks to verify no physical abnormalities and everything came back looking perfect! We got the most adorable pictures and I just can’t stop looking at them.

I know I feel like I say this every time, but now that I have verification the baby is doing great, I feel like I can relax and not worry about symptoms coming and going. We are going to start planning our gender reveal party and also I want to start planning out some trips that I’m going to be taking in the next few months including a “baby-moon” for me and Erik.

Week 13:

Week 13 actually flew by because I was SO busy. In fact, I was way too busy and had a few nights where I actually cried because I felt like I had too much on my plate. I had an event where I spoke about “Nutrition for Glowing and Radiant Skin” (that went awesome!), I had my RESTART class and I had to go to Pittsburgh for a work trip which involved a 3:30am wakeup call (yikes). But once we got to the weekend it was great. On Saturday, Erik and I took our announcement photo pictures and also had an amazing dinner at a friend’s restaurant. Sunday I spent a lot of time reading through some of my baby books (I have a few I’m reading right now that I’ll write a post about) and that made me feel better because I feel like I’m behind on my research! I know SO much about trying to conceive and getting pregnant but it’s equally important (actually more so!) to understand birth, and everything about the baby once he/ she arrives!

I can’t believe I’m in my second trimester now….I’m 1/3 of the way done with this pregnancy already! Knock on wood it’s been easy so far and so I hope it continues to go that way!

Week 14

This week pretty much flew by and overall it was a very good week.

I sort of went backwards in the cravings department though- I still mostly ate healthy food but really craved cheese, bread-y foods, pasta, etc. Very different for someone who ate mostly keto a few months ago! But I’m just rolling with it and assuming that the baby really wants some calcium and extra carbs so I just try to make my choices the best ones possible : )

Overall, I’ve physically felt pretty good this week- I was able to do an online Pilates class, an online strength class, go walking a few times, and go to 2 yoga classes (including a prenatal yoga class!) So overall, it was definitely a good week of movement and exercise. I’ve also been really focusing on trying to sleep as much as possible which I am happy to report that sleep is still going strong. I’m still not waking up to pee in the middle of the night, but usually I do wake up on the earlier side.

I also got a ton of research done this week. I spent a lot of time figuring out what i want to add to my baby registry (because I want to find products that are non-toxic and all natural, but also aren’t unnecessarily crazy expensive) and researching some things that will come up after the baby is born and what we will want to do.

Week 15:

This past week was really great! On Monday we finally met our doctor who will *hopefully!* be delivering our baby (unless she is unexpectedly not available) and I also think I made a decision on a doula. I just felt super comfortable with her and I think she’s going to be an amazing resource.

I also finished up my last RESTART class which went great! The women in this class did awesome and I’ll probably do one more class before the baby comes because I’ve gotten a lot of interest in another class!

On the activity front, I was also very happy with this week. Did a few online workouts including one called “bump at the barre” (I forgot how hard barre can be when you are out of practice!), Pilates, strength, walking at the gym and going to Zumba class.

I’m also finally seeing a “bump”! Day to day it’s kind of hard to notice but comparing week 12 to week 15 I see definite progress!

Thank you for reading this second update! As you can probably tell, things definitely got easier for me this second half of the first trimester but given that it’s my first pregnancy, I think it’s understandable that there is still some anxiety of the unknown.