So, I'm Pregnant!

Thanks for all your congratulations and well wishes after our Big Announcement last Friday! Eric and I are thrilled to be expecting our first little one in March and I'm so glad to finally be able to share that with you! Eric and I decided not to make this pregnancy "Facebook (and blog) Official" until the end of the first trimester, which I'll be wrapping up this week. I've been dying to mention things here and there since we found out but have kept my lips sealed! Now it's time to play catch-up, I say.

I found out I was pregnant on July 19th, the week of my birthday and our Pennsylvania Road Trip. I saw my doctor the next day, on July 20th, for some blood work. She wanted me to do follow-up blood work two days later, on July 22nd, my birthday - also the day we were leaving at the crack of dawn for Hershey/Gettysburg/Pittsburgh. So, Eric and I actually found a lab in Pennsylvania between Hershey and Gettysburg and stopped along the course of our trip so I could get blood drawn! Happy birthday to me, eh?

The first people to know about this pregnancy (other than Eric, of course!) were my sister and my cousin Molly. I called them both right away, largely because they are two of my most favoritest people ever, and also because I knew that I would be expected to down large amounts of red wine at that weekend's family reunion, because that's how we roll at family reunions. So, I needed help keeping the booze away without arousing suspicion, as I was obviously not yet ready to spread the word. Molly and Heather were great wing-women (does that apply here?) and I made it through the reunion weekend with pomegranate juice in my wine cup. Less fun, but still delicious! And it looks strikingly like merlot.

I have spent my first trimester feeling fairly lousy. I was never full-on sick, and for that I am most grateful, but I have been nauseous pretty much constantly, and especially if I let myself get even a little bit hungry. So, that means I eat ALL THE TIME. It's so counter-intuitive to eat when you feel nauseous, but it worked. The other time it was particularly bad was during my morning commutes - have you ever been pregnant, nauseous and stuck in a hot NYC subway that smells like...well, NYC subway? Brutal. Ginger gum and seasick bands became my friends, both during my commutes and anytime I was feeling gross, really. In fact, if any of you were particularly observant, you may have noticed my oh-so-stylish seasick bands that I accidentally posted in my Chicago recaps:

Day #2 in Chicago was a rough day.

Those bands and I really were BFFs for a while there.

So you know I've been eating constantly, but as far as what I have been eating, I started off with cravings for Mexican food (mmm, Chipotle) that were quickly replaced by cravings for carbs, basically. And by carbs, I mean PASTA. I could eat pasta all day, every day. Luckily, I married an Italian (and it seems I am now clearly carrying an Italian kid), who was sweet enough to make a giant pot of his delicious sauce to have with our constant pasta. And if not pasta, I needed potatoes (hooray, maybe the kid got some of my Irish genes, too!) or rice. Basically, if it was a carb, I was stuffing my face with it. Bonus points if it was a cheesy carb! (Macaroni and cheese and Hot Pockets rocked my socks for like three weeks straight.)

The other symptom that really hit me was the fatigue. I always used to hear pregnant women talk about being so tired and I would think "how bad can it be? I'm always tired anyway, no biggie." People, it was BAD. Of course, starting a new job right when I got pregnant was pretty much the dumbest idea ever, because the combination of pregnancy fatigue and trying to adjust to a new schedule nearly killed me. There was one day when I literally spent 20 minutes sitting at my desk trying to figure out a way I could go take a nap in the office bathroom that wouldn't be weird or gross. Hey, guess what? There is no such way.

Also not mentioned on the blog, but related to fatigue: after sightseeing each day during our Chicago trip, Eric and I went back to the hotel so I could take a two-hour nap. Yeah, I would say our vacationing style has changed a bit in light of first trimester fatigue.

This feels like a good time to mention that Eric has been an absolute SAINT for the past 12 weeks. Not only has he been eating pasta like it's his job, and going wherever I want for lunch (even though he has been dying for Subway, the smell of Subway makes me nauseous so he skips it so we can eat together), but he has really stepped up and has been taking care of business around the house. He does the dishes every morning, and when I come home from work so exhausted all I can do is flop on the couch, he cooks our pasta dinner for me even though he just had a long day, too. Really, whatever he could do to make my life easier, he has done it. It makes this crazy hormonal pregnant lady teary-eyed just thinking about it. I hit the husband jackpot.

As for how I look, no real defined bump yet but I am definitely getting thicker around the middle. Of course, this could be either bloat (sexy!), a result of nonstop carbs for the last couple of months, the start of Baby W. making his/her presence known, or some combination thereof, but for now I just sort of look like I've been eating too many cupcakes:

This picture was taken last Tuesday, when I hit 12 weeks

Oh, mentioning cupcakes reminds me of another weird thing - I completely lost my sweet tooth. I mean, I'll still eat sweets, sure. But I used to need to have a bite of something sweet after every meal, and my obsession with Crumbs cupcakes has been well-documented. But since getting pregnant, I'll eat sweets if they present themselves, but I'm just not interested enough to seek them out. What has become of me?!

As far as how we are feeling as parents-to-be, sometimes we feel just over-the-moon, omg-I-can't-possibly-wait-till-March excited, and other times, we feel like this:

That is, FREAKED OUT. Of course, these two emotional states are not mutually exclusive, and overlap probably more often than not. That's normal though, right? I would imagine so. I think we'll be okay, though. I know Eric will be an incredible dad, and hopefully I'll do okay as a mom, so hopefully we'll be able to raise a pretty decent person if we put our heads together here.

So, now you know our news! I decided to make the big announcement after our 12-week ultrasound on Friday, when we were able to see our little one looking like an actual baby, complete with arms and legs and a head and the whole bit. It even kept waving at us! The heartbeat was a strong 164 bpm and we were just in awe.

Baby W. in profile, with a little blob above his/her nose that was the little arm he/she kept waving at us!

Now that we're all caught up on this subject, I should have some fun non-baby-related talk coming up this week, including a recap of this past weekend's trip to Boston!

And really, thanks again to all of you for your congratulations, etc. Eric and I are so thrilled and can't wait to share our experiences with you!