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After a less than ideal fertile window, where I came down with a cold and thought ‘no way did I ovulate this week.’ I started to feel funny. I was craving sugar and kept feeling dull cramps days before my period was even due. I don’t get cramps before my period, I really don’t have any PMS symptoms. I started to think that maybe something was up but I didn’t test early. I didn’t keep cheapies in the house and I purposefully waited until the day my period was due before I tested.
The first test showed a super faint positive. I thought I was imagining it at first. So I took another test the next day. Also faint, a little more visible but didn’t look very pink. So despite their bad reputation I ordered some Clearblue tests. They arrived the next day and there was the positive. Of course I confirmed with a digital the day after that.
I didn’t schedule my first appointment right away like a lot of women have the tendency to do after a loss because realistically I knew that this early there isn’t much of anything that can be done. So I didn’t go in for my appointment until I was 8 weeks (the doctor would adjust my dating to 7 weeks at that appointment). When she said ‘yep there’s the baby’ I was happy, relieved but still a little disbelieving so I asked ‘does everything look okay?’ She confirmed everything looked perfect and there was a heartbeat.
It was about this time that my nausea started to kick in. At first we thought it was from reflux but then I learned that it was actually being caused from low stomach acid. So I started treating my tummy with Pepsin tablets and apple cider vinegar gummies and things started to improve. Keeping down fruits and veggies was nearly impossible though even though I was doing better with the Pepsin therapy keeping other things down. You can check out my Instagram Highlight for more details on low stomach acid during pregnancy. I was pretty nauseous until about 13 weeks at which point it finally started to subside.
In the midst of being sick and tired from first trimester symptoms I was also getting our house in Charleston ready to put on the market. My husband couldn’t help much because of the way his work schedule was and well he has a tendency to break things. He’s got a little bit of chaotic energy around him — God love him. So I had to install a sink, paint two bathrooms, patch up I don’t even know how many walls, scrub floors, touch up stairs, and a hundred other little projects for weeks – all between Rigel naps and working full-time on a pretty stressful (never ending) case.
After I was finally kind of done with the repairs at 13 weeks pregnant it came time to start packing up the house. I also had to do most of that by myself because residents don’t really get time off to transition to their new jobs like normal people do. They also don’t get moving stipends or bonuses so during this time we watched our modest savings dwindle to nothing. It’s been the most broke we’ve been during our marriage honestly.
All the while my little Sugar Cube was growing. I decided to give the baby the code name Sugar Cube since my first cravings were for sugar. I haven’t had much cravings since those first weeks, just a lot of things that kind of gross me out though I’m into sandwiches again like I was with Rigel and also enjoying pasta.
So if the first trimester is any indication of what this baby will be like I will say that this baby is tough, is a hard worker, and is very laid back. We can’t wait for the Cube to be here and get to know Big Brother Rigel. He’s very excited and talks to Sugar Cube all the time. I am due the week of Thanksgiving so let’s see who arrives first the turkey or the baby. Feeling so grateful to God for this opportunity to carry this little life. What a tough little egg!
Sending love to all the other women out there hoping to grow their families,
Let’s go cube!!! Beautiful and inspiring. Swear I did more than it sounds like…