No matter how many times I google it, there are always contradicting answers as to when the first trimester ends and the second one begins. Hitting the 12 week mark, for all intents and purposes one would consider that 3 month period to be the first trimester. But it’s tricky because there are 40 weeks in pregnancy which don’t divide evenly into thirds. So some people say the first trimester ends at week 12, some at week 13, and some at week 14. I’m not sure what my status is!
Either way, this week is the big week for us. We are finally making it Facebook official (which makes it really real right? haha!). Over the weekend I subjected Will to making a loaf of bread while I photographed, and then posing for a final announcement picture. I posted the pictures, one at a time, on Facebook, with the final one including a caption that read, “We didn’t want to miss out on all the fun. Baby J fresh out of the oven October 6, 2014!” I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.
Our Most Popular Facebook Post EVER!
Even sitting here now I cannot BELIEVE the amount of people that like and commented on our post. From our personal friends, to friends of my parents. From family members back home to the ones spread all over the country. From coworkers old to recent. It was amazing! I hope that I am able to convey to our little one just how much he/she was wanted, and loved, and anticipated by so many before they were even born. We are so lucky to have such a great network of friends and family! We ended up with over 320 likes and 65 comments. It was crazy and so fun! Thank you again to all who posted and liked, you absolutely made our day!
A few people asked us if we felt relieved that it was finally out. I think in one way I am. I’m excited to finally share these posts, and be able to openly talk about baby stuff and pregnancy (especially being able to ask advice!), but really it doesn’t feel all that different.
In Come The Goodies!
Our family members are seriously life savers. But I do want to say that after developing a very complete registry, then putting said registry in an excel file and determining the total cost to get set up for a baby, I was kind of pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t the atrocious figure I had originally in mind. I won’t say it’s cheap to have a baby by any means, but I was thankful that it was at least affordable for us. With that being said, I cannot thank our family enough for immediately jumping at the chance to make sure Baby J has anything and everything he/she could need. As of this point all of our nursery furniture has been purchased, along with the stroller and car seat, and the fancy diaper bag I picked out (and TOTALLY didn’t realize was from Australia which ended up in a hefty shipping expense).
As the things start coming in, I can’t help but get excited. I know about zero when it comes to babies, and I’ll admit, until now I had never even glanced through baby stuff other than picking up my signature grocery cart cover for the few baby showers I’ve attended. This is all so new and exciting to me! I only wish I could tear the boxes apart and put it all together to ooh and ahh over. Outside of a little sneak peak here and there, everything is having to stay packaged up so it will be easy for the movers to pack up when the time comes.
The Fitness Decline
I’m not sure how to describe the absolute frustration in trying to do things that you have always been perfectly capable of doing before, only to find that you are not capable of them now. It’s safe to say that my level of fitness, both strength and stamina, have dwindled significantly, in spite of continuing to work out 3-4 times a week. I get winded SO quickly now, and I am starting to have to drop the weight in almost all of my workouts. I realized this week that I am down 5 lbs to my normal weight, and 9 lbs to my first doctor’s appointment. I am thoroughly convinced that it is nothing but lost muscle mass. I feel weak, and it sucks.
The trainer I work with most at crossfit has been great about not only encouraging me through every change, but also assuring me that it is perfectly normal to see a decline in performance. We have had four girls go though their pregnancies at our crossfit box and he has witnessed first hand their 1st trimester decline, 2nd trimester incline, and 3rd trimester plateau. I’m trying very hard to accept what he is saying, but when it feels like your body is just letting you down, and your mind wants to keep going, it’s a hard thing to swallow.
I have accepted that the clock is no longer important to me. I’m stubborn about lowering my weights, so instead I just take as long as I need to finish. I’m still refusing to walk instead of run, and taking regular breaks and drinking plenty of water is just part of my new game plan. As my trainer said, I just don’t want my decline to go too low. My body definitely needs a bit of a break these days, but I can’t let it be an excuse to totally give up and not continue to work hard.
Is That My Uterus or Ab Muscles?
At this point my uterus should have moved beyond my pelvic bones and should start to form a bump, or at least feel hard to the touch. I’m not saying I have great ab muscles or anything, but I’m a bit confused as to whether the firmness I’m feeling is muscle or uterus. I had Will check it out and give his two cents and I think we both agree it’s uterus finally coming through. I still don’t have a bump, but I am liking that I can actually feel what is hopefully the beginning of one. They aren’t kidding when they say the physical changes and growing are really assuring mentally and emotionally on this journey. Coming to the end of the 1st trimester so many of the symptoms disappear, and without a bump it’s back to feeling like you aren’t pregnant anymore. I’m happy to have anything that gives me something tangible to hold onto. Especially since our next appointment isn’t for another two weeks.
13 weeks down! One more week to finish the 1st trimester. I can’t believe we’re almost in the second trimester already! Time is flying!