I will attempt to be better at documenting this pregnancy. This is how the third month of pregnancy (weeks 9-13) went for me.

sickness

This month was the very worst for morning sickness. It just seemed to get worse and worse, and my resolve to bear it with dignity withered with each passing day. I hit a huge wall at around 10 weeks. Emotionally, I just couldn’t cope with trying to keep up with life and feeling so miserable all of the time. The knowledge that I was only halfway through the worst part compounded my frustration. Dizzy spells, “noodle-arm syndrome”, nausea and food aversions all intensified. I spent a lot of time crying this month. I just wanted to feel better and be able to do the things I needed to do.

Now past that time, I have tried to analyze why this month was so much harder. There was a real, draining anger at my symptoms. I would think things like I don’t have time for this and wonder if I was being foolish and if this was all worth it. It was a very bad month. I really had to come face to face with my own professed beliefs about the blessing of children and the reality that I wasn’t acting like it very much. I felt like Bilbo in The Hobbit, riding his pony in the rain and wishing he was back by the fire in his cozy hole. There is quite a bit more to say on this subject, but I won’t do it here.

weight gain

Another struggle was that, unlike all past pregnancies, I had worked so hard to keep eating this time around that I actually gained weight in the first trimester. Usually I lose 10-15 pounds. I am trying not to let this bother me too much, but I’m not being very successful about it. That’s all I have to say about that.

first appointment/date adjustment

At 13 weeks I was finally able to go in to the doctor. I had considered my dates carefully–particularly when I got my first positive test–and had guessed I was at about thirteen weeks exactly, and due about 10/27.

The dating ultrasound, however, measured baby at just under fourteen weeks. Since this was only a couple of days away from my due date estimated by my last period (10/20) that estimation was left in place, and I suddenly jumped from thirteen weeks exactly to fourteen weeks exactly. It was a very efficient way to gain a week.

new EDD problems

This means that I still received a negative home pregnancy test until 4 w 4 d, or four days after the missed period. This has never happened before. I’ve always been able to get accurate, if faint, positives a few days before the expected period. Exceptions could be Ephraim and Anselm’s pregnancies, which I didn’t test for until around two weeks after the missed period.

It also means that my morning sickness started at six and a half weeks instead of five and a half. That’s also a bit on the late side for me, and later than all except for Anselm’s pregnancy and the one I lost after Anselm. Both started between six and a half and seven weeks.

The date change also makes a mystery of the bit of bleeding I had at just before 5 weeks. Had I been just under 4 weeks, this could have perhaps been explained by implantation bleeding. But I don’t think it could have been that now. At any rate, I’m glad it came to nothing.

I am not entirely convinced that the estimated due date is accurate. When I spoke to my OB about delaying my first appointment, he said the ultrasound is less accurate closer to the second trimester. The timing of the positive test, onset of morning sickness, and spotting makes more sense with my own estimated due date. It really doesn’t matter, though. It’s all a guess, anyway.