Week by Week with Your Preggers Geek: Pregnancy Announcement and Weeks 1-12

Well, it’s no secret anymore! I, your faithful and nerdy Women’s Healthcare Topics pregnancy blogger, am pregnant with my first child. Yay! Follow along with my ups and downs, the hemming and hawing, and the general “do this, not that” learning process of pregnancy.

First, for a little about me. I’m a 27-year-old PhD student living in Ohio with my husband (also a grad student!) and my loveable mutt, Nanuq. We are on a limited budget, as you might imagine, so the tips I’ll provide in my regular articles will be friendly both to your pregnancy and to your pocketbook. Next, I’m a giant pregnancy geek; it’s been my favorite topic to write about since 2006, but this will be my first look at pregnancy from the personal side. I am a Certified Health Education Specialist, but I am definitely not a doctor—send any medical questions to the real expert, Dr. Brann!

And now for the first bit of what you can expect with me and my “profile of a pregnancy.” Since I wanted to wait for some medical reassurance and a period of time to spread the word among family and friends, I’m already through the first trimester (and due August 4, 2013). Because of this, I’ll start with just an overview of my first 12 weeks.

Weeks 1­–6 with Yours Truly

This time period consisted of total, uninterrupted ignorance, without a thought in the world about pregnancy (all the way through Thanksgiving and final exams). Hmm, nausea isn’t a typical problem I have, and—oops!—did I miss something recently?

Weeks 7–9: Does a Faded Second Line Count as a Positive Test?

Um, yes. Pregnant. Panic. Planning! Due to the holidays and a family wedding, my husband and I announced our news right away to immediate family (I didn’t want to have to keep explaining why I wasn’t drinking wine or avoiding certain foods like the plague).

Nausea and a sensitive gag reflex are two joys of pregnancy I never wish to repeat.

Week 10: Babies ‘R’ Us Should Provide Maps and Guidebooks

We had our first visit to a baby megastore, and quickly realized we knew nothing about what was required for actual parenting. More importantly, we saw the first ultrasound—the Blueberry was dancing! This was the first moment I absolutely, positively felt a bond to the baby. This was followed by an immediate commitment to be the best parent possible. Funny how that process works.

Week 11: Cocoa Puffs and Carne

Dry, crunchy foods (like cereal and graham crackers) were my new favorite treat and helped quell my tummy discomfort. I also became an ardent fan of all things meat—especially bacon, which was previously not a regular visitor to my refrigerator. Neither was beef. Or pork. Oh, how things have changed…

Week 12: Seeing the Light at the End of the Morning Sickness Tunnel

Morning sickness is a very deceptive name. My sickness was off and on, all day every day. Only at week 12 did it decide to leave me alone during the day and just bug me at night. Little by little, it started to let me have even part of my evenings in peace. I am now nearly nausea and cramping free.

 

I’ll leave off there, to keep you oh-so-eager to read about weeks 13 and 14 later next week. I am so mean, I know! In the meantime, though, let me know if you are pregnant, too, or what your first 12 weeks were like with a past pregnancy.

Finally, thanks for checking in for the first installment of Week to Week with the Preggers Geek—it’s going to be one heck of a ride!

Tagged as: pregnancy, pregnancy announcement, pregnancy by week, pregnancy journal, week to week with the preggers geek