What Felt Different
The temptation to say ‘I knew something was different’ right when you find out you are pregnant is pretty strong. While I would like to think that I know my body pretty well, I’m also aware that it’s easy to project more meaning onto situations and memories than they had at the time once a revelation or discovery starts to color your precise recollection of the moment. Hindsight is 20/20, right?
That said, there were definitely a few things that stood out to me as feeling different this month. This may be TMI but, in the interest of sharing with those who don’t get to experience this with me in real-time and to give myself an outlet for all of this (as I write this specific entry the only people who know about the pregnancy are Elliot, Augie, the doctor, and me), I’m going to go ahead and get right to it.
The big things that stood out were some cramping and a little bit of spotting around key moments (days 8 - 9, day 24). While cramping in and of itself isn’t abnormal for me, the timing of it felt a little bit off. Combine that with feeling tired, a little sore in some key areas, and a fluctuating appetite, and the signs were all pointing to…something.
Of course, I travel a lot for work, and this month (February 2016) has been a CRAZY one. Part of me did think that it was possible I was just getting sick or that I was run down — but there was also a little voice in the back of my head thinking, ‘maybe…just maybe.’
So here we are. As I write this I’m four weeks and five days (almost six!) pregnant. According to the various trackers, #BabyTarhall is somewhere between the size of a poppy and a sesame seed, which means that #BabyTarhall would be a delicious bagel accoutrement. Speaking of food, I find my appetite to be a little odd: I’m FAMISHED in the late afternoon / early evening for dinner, but feel very full pretty quickly. Just one of those things to get used to. I don’t have many symptoms yet, other than feeling a little tired (not out of the ordinary), finding myself making more frequent trips to the bathroom (though I’m also drinking a LOT of water), and I’m a little distracted as I try to keep myself from wearing our news on a sandwich board while trying to understand everything that’s going on and everything that is about to happen.
What is going to happen? You moms (and dads!) out there already have a sense of what I’m just starting to learn. Around week five is when most people start to feel morning sickness if they’re going to feel it. I’m REALLY hoping I manage to avoid that particular symptom. Some fatigue may set in more significantly around weeks 7 - 10, which isn’t ideal for my work travel purposes. Hormones? I’m just telling myself I’ll manage them.
I guess that this is where you just say, ‘here we go.’ It’s going to be a hell of a ride.
#BabyTarhall coming your way in late October 2016. Holy smokes.