So you're pregnant, what now?

Wow...I like actually can't get over the amazing support and crazy congratulations from our network on the internet - facebook, blog, etc. It's insane. We definitely continue to feel loved and supported on this whole journey. I mean...people were so so so excited and now they still are! I mean I know I'm excited...so it's pretty amazing to see how excited the people are around us. I swear, half of my pregnancy glow would be just from the joy of those around us!

So! You're pregnant, and you're allowed to talk about it. What now?

It feels weird right? I mean, it all depends on how quickly you found out. Personally I found out right away - I mean, my cycle normally ends on day 23, so on day 26 I was taking a test and visiting the doctor. I was so newly pregnant! But it felt so surreal. Here the doctor is confirming it and you might have some symptoms (at that time I only dealt with a very tender and sore chest). Slowly the tiredness came for me and some dizziness in the day, but mostly I felt the same. All of a sudden you need to change a bunch of stuff though - no deli meats, no raw fish, no alcohol....and yet it hardly feels real! It almost seemed like the biggest adjustment was purely lifestyle - switch to sparkling water with berries and to watching the food I eat more carefully. 

And telling people? Generally people are so very very very excited for you. It is so encouraging. Personally I felt so loved. But when you tell people  so early it's basically like telling them, by the way, I didn't get my period. It's kind of weird. And sometimes they react like it's weird you're telling them. I think this has been my biggest pet peeve in the process, we started telling more of the people around us at 9-11 weeks...and I know, most people don't start talking about it until 12 weeks. But I am not, nor ever will be, most people. We told our closest friends and family right away - Day 26 to be exact when we left the doctors office. Then at week 7 I got to tell our next ring of family and friends - especially after the 8 week ultrasound. At 11 weeks I was telling most people I saw. I've loved the support we've gotten from most people...but it's also true that sharing with others before the 12 week mark can freak them out. I hardly care - honestly, if the reason we don't share before that is because of the risk of miscarriage then I'm DEFINITELY going to tell people because I'll need people to have my back if that happens to me. I'm a classic over-discloser - no secret too big to keep in my closet. I like my closets free of secrets so they can hold more clothes. But I've noticed it can be hard for others to bear the weight of our news - "Oh! You're only x amount of weeks...and you're telling people". They wonder, will they accidentally blurt the news out? Will this person miscarry and if so, how will I love them? For that reason I tried to keep it to 12 weeks to tell more people - coworkers, acquaintances, etc. It isn't always loving to share everything, even if I want to!

For me I think the weirdest part of all this is right before we got pregnant I cut out wheat and rice - I mean RIGHT before, like only days before conception. So while there are symptoms with pregnancy - I mean I am so tired already and showering is like a minefield, so many sharp water jets, so hard to avoid them hitting my top half! - mostly I just feel great! I've been losing weight (13 pounds so far!), which just makes sense when you cut out wheat and white rice, and not eating wheat and rice has made me so much more energetic and less lathargic! Pregnancy does try to dampen that by bringing it's own special brand of exhaustion but I hear it's nothing compared to later in the game or having a newborn!

I just realized the danger of blogging while pregnant, similarly to blogging under the influence, one never knows what one might say! In a more level headed moment when cooler heads prevail one might realize much of their pregnancy pet peeves come from being hormonal! Plus I am entirely too drained to want to check to make sure this was all spelled correctly and with good grammer, sooo yeah.

So far I have had only 5 days of nausea (I know I know, so lucky) and I only spell nausea correctly if there is a spell checker around and even then I'm still not sure it's right. I get killer headaches and easy dizzy but also feel great because of the healthy eating I'm doing. So it's not too terrible. I have had two bouts of pregnancy tears - moments of crying when I for sure wouldn't have been normally crying. All in all it's been a pretty fabulous experience so far.