When I found out I was pregnant, I began scouring all of the mom blogs I was already reading in hopes of finding some sort of pregnancy update. Shoutout to Julie at PBFingers for doing an extensive weekly update. I lived for those. I actually enjoyed keeping a little week by week log of how I was feeling and all of the big pregnancy milestones.While I don't plan on doing weekly updates, I'm hoping to do some more pregnancy updates until baby Hogan comes. I'll probably stick to doing one or two a trimester in the form of a log just like this one. This is all still so unbelievable and I still get giddy over words like trimester and baby Hogan. Anyways, here's a little update on how the first trimester went.
Week Four: We found out we were pregnant! After being out all day exploring Berlin, I told Mike on the way hotel (yup! We were still in the hotel) that I was going to take a pregnancy test, even though it was still a little early. We both got really excited and power walked home. After seeing two very solid lines, I started crying and Mike had a huge grin on his face. We celebrated with ice cream that night and a steak dinner the following evening.
Week Six: We headed to London for Kelly and Sean's wedding and made it a whole week of pub celebrations and champagne toasts without spilling the beans. We should have earned some sort of award for that one. I learned ALL the tricks for hiding your pregnancy that week.
Week Seven: I experienced my first (and really only) bouts of morning sickness. I don't even know if you can call it true morning sickness. Both times were after being on a boat or in a car, so I chalk it up to my already sensitive stomach that is prone to motion sickness. I did notice that I felt nauseous when I was hungry and I seemed to be hungry ALL THE TIME, so I began making sure to bring lots and lots of snacks wherever we went.
Week Eight: We met my doctor and the pregnancy was confirmed. I was happy to meet my doctor and felt comfortable with him and the entire staff. Since the baby will be born here in Berlin, it was important that the doctor spoke English well and that we felt comfortable with him.We got to see our little kidney bean sized baby on an ultrasound and were happy to hear that it was looking healthy.
Week Ten: I went back to the doctor to learn the results of my blood work they took the last time and got to see the raspberry sized baby moving and shaking on the ultrasound again. The doctor said it had a large head, which comes as no surprise since it's got Russo genes!
Week Twelve: Mild heartburn made it's appearance which was less than desirable. I've never had heartburn before, so to all of you regulars, I commend you. It sucks. I'm still not really showing, but I've noticed that my hip bones are buried under a little layer of something.
Week Thirteen: We had our first big scan and everything turned out great! The ultrasound tech reassured us that baby Hogan was growing as it should be and the likelihood of any sort of chromosomal abnormality was pretty small. Mike was able to see our little jumping bean move around and we both enjoyed the extra time spent on the ultrasound. The ultrasound tech did a few 4D scans, which are cool, but they definitely make little Hogan look like an alien. Besides the ultrasound, things have been somewhat normal. I've noticed I don't sleep as well anymore and have had a few nights awake. Heartburn is still making an occasional appearance, but it's pretty mild. I still don't feel like I'm showing, although there is definitely something there. I think I just look like I've gained a few pounds.
Week Fourteen: We FINALLY got to tell my parents and the rest of my family, as well as Mike's sister! My family was visiting and we got to break the news to them in person, which was really special since we've told everyone else over video chat/text/email. We also "went public" with the news, posting on social media. Baby Maximus sure is loved! I experienced a lot of pregnancy emotions this week, partially due to being exhausted from playing tour guide, but also just from all of the (happy) emotions that come with having my family around. Sleep also was an issue, with multiple nights of me just lying awake for a couple of hours before falling back asleep.
Overall, I've felt great. I was prepared for lots of morning sickness and just being out of commission for a while, but luckily that wasn't the case. I have been pretty tired and slept a lot of the time we were in the car (those audiobooks I raved about? I missed at least an hour of each one due to car naps!). I've also been super emotional at times. I found myself crying because I couldn't get the key to our front door to work and randomly one night at dinner with my family, but I'm also super excited to welcome baby Hogan into the world. We're so happy that we can guarantee Mike will be here for the birth and afterwards, which wouldn't be the case if we were in the states. I'm sure there will be a few challenges to giving birth in Germany, but we've been so impressed so far with our doctor and, luckily, we have no expectations as far as childbirth goes, so it's really a clean slate!
Weight gain: 2 pounds, but I'm not even sure if that really counts. That could be due to all of the eating out we've been doing with our travels and my parents.
Food aversions and cravings: None really. Sweet things sound really good, but nothing extreme. My worst fear is that I'll crave something super American, like Cheez-It's or Peanut Butter that we can't get here, but luckily, I haven't had anything extreme yet!
Gender guesses: Both Mike and I think it's a boy. I've been referring to it as "he" throughout this whole thing, although there was a week around week 14 where I thought girl. My aunt says boy and my mom said she has no idea. So, we're all guessing boy, but obviously would be just as happy with a little girl.
Baby related purchases: When my mom and aunts were here, they insisted that we add some baby shopping to the itinerary. Luckily, there is a small Babies R Us here in the mall, so we hit that up for some onesies and then made a stop at H&M for some maternity clothes! The little baby clothes are so cute and have adorable things like miniature sized pockets that make my heart melt. I started my registry and had fun with my mom adding things. It's nowhere near being done, but it's a great way to pass the time!
I think Mike summed up the first trimester best when he said, "You are eating an incredible amount." The same could be said for sleeping and peeing. Thankfully, not puking. I'm already able to tell the difference between the first and second trimester, both in my energy and in that little bulge around my stomach. We're hoping to find out the gender next week, which will be SO exciting! Here's to a happy, healthy and less exhausting second trimester!
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