12 Week Summary

Estimated Due Date: January 6, 2013

Pregnancy: 12 weeks 2 days- First Trimester

The baby is as big as: A Plum

Weight gain: +2lbs

Baby bump: Just a tiny one that is hidden very easily!

What am I craving?   My cravings come in waves. I call them kicks. This past weekend I was on an orange root vegetable kick so we ate a lot of sweet potatoes and butternut squash. Past kicks have been much less healthy: lemon desserts, ice cream bars, skittles to name a few. 

How am I feeling?    I’ve been so fortunate not to have had much by the way of nausea. With the exception of one day around 6 weeks, I have been mostly nausea free! My most prominent symptom is definitely fatigue. Over the past weekend, I made the mistake of thinking I could stay up until my old weekend bedtime of 1:00 am twice in a row. Let’s just say that my days of staying up past 12am for recreation purposes are probably pretty much over! I’ve been paying for my late night fun since Sunday! 

Interesting/Noteworthy events of the week:  Our OB appointment on Thursday was mostly uneventful except for one little bump; our doctor was not very pleased with my blood pressure. I have a history of slightly elevated blood pressure but not so much so that any doctor has ever been concerned. However, as I’m learning, pregnancy can do whacky things to your body that you have NO control over! Unfortunately for me, pregnancy induced hypertension is one of those things. The good news is that the (totally safe) low dose of medication that I was put on is working and my blood pressure is back down to where the doctors like it. I’ll be closely monitored for the remainder of our pregnancy as a precaution but as of now, all looks well!

Interesting thoughts: Being put on blood pressure medication was a challenge for me. It was tough to accept the fact that I’m not a super-mom and that there are aspects of the pregnancy that my body just can’t do unassisted. I have been consciously eating balanced meals, staying active and getting enough rest (with the exception of last weekend!) but it had never crossed my mind that, while I’m doing all the right things, our baby might not be getting the most vital component, enough blood (which is the risk to the baby when the mother has high blood pressure). It was a scary reminder of how complex the process of growing a life is and made me very thankful that the process has been going so smoothly for us otherwise.