I have so much suppressed details to write about this pregnancy. Three months into it and I have not blogged about any maternity stuff, other than the announcement. That might not sound like a big deal, but I have a chronic case of documentia. It’s a disorder that I made up to label my impulse to document everything.
So I do plan to catch up on all the first trimester updates, but let’s just start with how I knew I was pregnant.
First of all I was not expecting to be pregnant. Here is the TMI version of the story.
I don’t do birth control pills or anything like that. I did once when I was a newly wed and have decided against it for the past 14 years due to personal medical reasons. However, we were trying NOT to get pregnant through every NFP (natural family planning) method in the book. Now some of you might laugh and say “Yeah, that NFP stuff is a joke and it never works”, but let me repeat I have not been on birth control for 14 years and the three children that I have were not accidents. Let’s just say we had a good system going. At one point at the beginning of this year we discussed the idea of having another child soon. Except we decided it wasn’t good timing and we wanted to wait a bit to be completely ready. From that point on though I will admit to being a little more laid back with charting and all that. It’s not the first time I have taken the casual-trust-my-gut approach to NFP. However, it is the first time it resulted in an unexpected pregnancy.
I knew pretty early on what we were in for. I made this list on March 23 (which would have made me almost 5 weeks pregnant). I even titled it-
“Am I Pregnant?”
1. Weird Dreams
2. Fatigue
3. Late period
My period used to be all over the place so this one isn’t that big of indicator for me, but I was expecting to start any day.
4. Nausea
5. Ear problems
This is something I commonly struggle with when I am pregnant. That is part of the reason I had to go to the Doctor recently.
6. Forgetfulness
Not that I want to attribute everything I do to pregnancy, but there have been some CRAZY mix ups. I feel like I am in such a fog.
7. Insomnia
I knew when I woke up at 3:30 am hungry and unable to sleep that something was definitely up.
8. Metallic taste
During those first few weeks I had a slight metallic taste in my mouth. Which was probably the biggest indicator.
9. Numb Arm
My right arm had a lingering numbness to it. It’s not even a pregnancy symptom I have ever felt in the past, but when I looked it up, sure enough, it’s a pregnancy symptom.
10. Gas
Bloating and intestinal issues. Bleh.
From there the list just grew and was of course later confirmed through a pregnancy test. Even though it was kind of a tough first trimester I considered all the symptoms a blessing because it was a constant reminder that this was real. I knew it probably meant I was having a very normal healthy pregnancy.
Did any of you other mamas have tell tale signs when you were expecting? Did you know right off the bat, or were you oblivious for the longest time like those women on the show I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant? Just kidding, don’t even get me started on all that craziness!
love this!! It’s all so true. It’s so hard to google ‘pregnancy symptoms’ because pretty much anything and everything goes! But it is good to narrow down those few keys ones. I had ZERO idea I was pregnant. I ended up in emergency at 4am thinking I had a ruptured appendix or something similar!
I always figured we would have a classic revealing where I feel nausea and fatigue then take a test and surprise hubby when he got home from work!
Nope! Elliott had a different way of doing things, extreme pain was his way of introducing himself! Hahaha
This is a great and helpful post for so many! Looking back, I’m sure it’s facinating to see the symptoms. I don’t remember too many but I was pretty scatterbrained for a bit – and that never went away 😉
With Elly, I really didn’t know. I had missed two periods before I found out I was pregnant, so I had been taking tests for a month and half. I had breast tenderness [TMI?] but attributed it to my cycle (that I thought was starting). I gained 5 pounds before I knew I was pregnant both times. I didn’t realize it with Elly until I was weighed at the doctor. But with Cody, I realized it and thought maybe I was pregnant. Then I started spotting and thought I was starting my period, but it never happened. That’s when I knew! 🙂
{RYC, I hadn’t noticed the matching girls in the background until you mentioned it! It’s funny how that happens with peers! And I’m glad my comments encouraged you to continue. I plan on keeping up with things here, even with you picking up the pace. I may just be behind at times!}
No worries about TMI here. That was definitely my first symptom with Zion! I have stretched and changed so much over the years of having babies and breast feeding I seem to notice the breast changes less (or at least later) every time.
I have 7/10 on a regular basis….uh oh!;)
Laugh out loud. That’s all I can say.
I really liked your article.Much thanks again. Keep writing.
Great article thanks for sharing! The waiting to test time BMP seemingly lasts forever! I guess it’s natures way of getting us use to waiting as the next 9 (10) months if you are positive is a long wait!