January 29, 2009

Week 4

~~Amanda











End of Week 4 Status:
Weight: 136lbs
Estimated Baby Size: Sesame Seed

Well, it's officially week five today, so I thought I would recap the first week of expectant parenthood, Week 4:

A majority of new parents decide not to tell their family and friends until they are past the first trimester. While I can understand the reasoning behind it--the greater risk for miscarriage in the first three months--it's not my style. If I were to have a miscarriage I would be devastated, and would want the support and understanding of my close friends and family. I also don't like the idea of giving into that kind of fear. Expect the best unless you have reason not to. As for those unfortunate ones of us who get morning sickness, hiding the real cause for our condition may simply worry everyone if they don't know what's happening.

So, once the initial fun of telling family and friends was over, by day 2 of week 4 ( Jan. 23rd, 2009) I became very anxious and overwhelmed. I began to analyze my every action and how it may impact the baby. I went out and bought a book "What to Expect When You're Expecting," which really only seemed to perpetuate my fears. I started to worry about the baby, whether or not my diet was sufficient, whether exercising would effect the pregnancy, and so on. After a day or two of nerves, some good advice from friends, and embracing the reality of the situation, I managed to relax

Around 6pm on day 2 the nausea hit me. I felt gruesomely ill, hot flashes, accompanied by a chill sweat and dry heaving. I won't go into all the grisly details, but lets just say I ended up sitting on the toilet not leaning over it. This particular side effect seemed only to affect me for that one evening, thank goodness! However, the nausea continued for day 3 and less severely on day 4. It generally felt like my body was rebooting its digestive system to adapt to the many hormone changes and new hardware being installed. Digestive problems, whether accompanied by full out nausea or not, are very common in the first trimester. By day 5 I reclaimed some normalcy, and didn't feel apparently pregnant at all. I would have been concerned by this, but I had checked out a video blog of a girl who had actually delivered her healthy baby a few months ago, and she had almost the exact same experience. She had nausea around week 5 for a couple of days and then she was fortunate enough to have it dwindle away.

Days 6 and 7 were the same as day 5, with everything seeming normal except for some fatigue which I had been experiencing since day 1. Andy and I spent these last few days searching for new places to live. We contacted our friend's mother who is a realtor, and she is going to start showing us places starting this Saturday! We know all will be well in that category of our lives, some way or another. Well that's pretty much it for Week 4!

We're Pregnant!

~~Amanda

On Wednesday, January 21, 2009 I noticed I was not experiencing any of my usual menstrual symptoms and I was supposed to start my cycle that day. So, I took a Walgreen's Early Response pregnancy test first thing that morning. It was positive! However, the line was very faint, so I didn't want to get overly excited. I sent Andy a text message--he had already left for PT at school--and started scouring the Internet to see the likelihood of a faint line meaning anything other than "positive." After browsing several answers websites and blogs, it was apparent it was extremely rare for it to mean anything but positive, so I decided I would go to the doctors and get a blood test to confirm it after school.

Needless to say, it was hard to concentrate the whole day. Andy was really excited about the possible pregnancy as well, so he decided to accompany me to the clinic. When we got there the physician's assistant drew my blood and told me it would take about 30 minutes for them to let my blood clot, spindle it down, and to confirm the presence of hCG (the pregnancy hormone). After an interminable 35 minutes, the PA came back and with a slight pause, looked at us both and said..."Positive!"

Woohoo! We did it! :)

On the drive back home, we both called our mothers and told them the good news. I decided, however, to keep it a secret from Rachel (my sister) and my Dad until Friday, since it was my dad's birthday, and my sister's was Sunday. Happy Birthday dad, you're getting a grandchild this year!

Welcome to Amanda and Andy Schwartz's Baby Blog

Welcome all! This is the Amandy Baby Blog: A Journal of the Journey of My Pregnancy.

I really wanted to keep a record of my thoughts and experiences during the next nine months. I realized when I first heard the news how intriguing it is for first-time mothers to hear the experiences of other women, especially family. I plan on recording all of my ups and downs along the way, so I can someday share my story with new moms and my family-to-be. Enjoy!