Week 11
I hate to jinx myself, but this week has been pretty great. For a few days, I still had some light nausea before bedtime, but now that the week is over, it seems like it’s gone. (At least, I’ve had several good days in a row now.)
Adorable baby gift from my mom:
Now that the nausea is passing, I am regaining some interest for food. For some reason, cooking it doesn’t interest me, but I have cravings and fixations and clean my plate these days. Here are some things that really, really interest me lately.
- Brie cheese. Cannibalism! Seriously, love it.
- Specifically, turkey sandwiches (heated!) with Brie cheese on a pretzel roll from this place near my office. Heavenly.
- Crispix cereal.
- Pasta. Specifically, with meatballs, and vodka sauce. (Can I eat vodka sauce?)
- Beer. Womp womp. I could totally go for a Blue Moon with an orange slice right now.
- Anything spicy, acidic, or salty. Pickles, salami, Mexican food, orange juice…I love them all.
- Dairy. I really like cheese, and milk, and yogurt. This is not really anything new.
Foods that do NOT interest me much include sweets (unless they’re strawberry-flavored), chicken (un-shredded, I’m fine with it mixed in stuff, but I don’t think I could just eat a piece of chicken), and veggies (some combination of the texture and moisture level just doesn’t work for me). The sweets thing is weird because I’m usually a huge chocolate fiend, but I’m pretty neutral towards it right now. (Strawberry sherbet, however? Love it.)
Also, I’ve started gagging on my prenatal vitamin every night, which is kind of randomly irritating, because that didn’t even happen when morning sickness was at its worst. The fishy smell and huge pill size get to me, even though I’m usually a pill taking champ. (I’m almost out—anyone have a recommendation for a non-fishy prenatal?)
Other stuff this week:
- I have a serious, undeniable bump. By the start of week 12, I am officially unable to button my pants, and the ponytail holder trick is starting to feel precarious. And my shirts are already tight. I am definitely showing, and it’s almost…scary? There’s no hiding this anymore. (I forgot a bump picture, but maybe I’ll add one later.)
- What I didn’t expect was the body image issues that would come with this. We’re so conditioned to feel like tight pants are bad that I just find myself really self conscious lately. And as much as I hate to admit it, I find myself doing the comparison dance, as in, “She’s 20 weeks and I’m almost as big as she is already! You must be pigging out too much!”) At my NT Scan on Monday, I SHOULD have been measuring at 11 weeks, 1 day. Instead, our monster baby was measuring at 11 weeks, 5 days! So maybe I’m just ahead of the curve. I don’t know. But either way, it’s jarring to see your body change so much, so quickly, and not have control over it, you know?
- Acne. I’m breaking out like a teenager and the good zit creams aren’t pregnancy-safe. Which adds to the self-consciousness as described supra.
- Need to snack frequently. If I don’t, I get nauseous. Except I don’t really enjoy snacking these days, it’s mostly out of necessity.
- Middle of the night peeing is out of control. 3-5 times a night is standard.
For the record, I’m still on team “it’s a boy” and Tim is firmly on team “it’s a girl.” Only 7 weeks until we find out! I can’t wait.
Here’s hoping week 12 is as kind to me as week 11!
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I know a number of people are fond of the gummi prenatals. I personally used the CVS store brand, but when I was pregnant I had very little nausea.
(And someone please explain to me who thought it was a good idea to make prenatal vitamins overly large and smell bad? That’s just plain stupid!)
Peggy recently posted..Happy Christmas! (2011 can kiss my ass.)
http://www.babycentre.co.uk/pregnancy/nutrition/foodsafety/cheeseexpert/
I mean no harm – I know ppl jump all over pregnant bloggers, but I was told not to eat Brie when I was pregnant. I’m sure it’s no big deal but in case you haven’t heard it, just an FYI.
I know exactly what you mean about having mixed feelings about how your clothes fit. I’m currently 14 weeks pregnant (mostly in all maternity pants), but when I was around 11 or 12 weeks, I had to keep reminding myself that it was the baby that was making my pants tight. It was so hard to not go straight to, “omg I’m gaining weight, I need to start counting calories again.” Now that I have jeans and pants (and sweatpants) that are maternity friendly, it’s so much easier to just enjoy it.
Also, I take the regular CVS brand prenatals, and I don’t notice a smell with them.
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I already foresee major body issues arising for myself. I probably need books and a professional to lean on during these times so I dont beat myself over gaining weight. I’m 7weeks today, not showing but have gained a few lbs. I go to the gym and think, “that person probably thinks I’ve gotten fat.”. Not the best place to be in really and definitely not a trait I want to pass on to my kids.
Have you read any good books that address body issues for pregnant women?
Carolyn recently posted..Tofu Scramble
ditto the gummy prenatals. they saved me
When I started choking on my prenatals, I switched to the chewables available at Target and a few other places. I switched back to the pills again closer to my third trimester when I could swallow them.
Something to consider for your breakouts- I’ve been using the oil cleansing method on my face for almost 2 weeks now and have been pretty happy with the results. The generally idea is that you use a mixture of oils to clean your face because they help remove the dirty natural oils from your face and replace them with clean oils, without over-drying. I have oily skin generally, so I use almost a 50/50 mix of castor oil and grapeseed oil with a few drops of tea tree oil. I also touch up zits with straight tea tree oil and have noticed that it drastically reduces the healing time. Anyway, could be a good, all-natural method for dealing with those hormones.
Here’s the breakdown from Crunchy Betty: http://www.crunchybetty.com/nitty-gritty-on-the-oil-cleansing-method
For what it’s worth (in reality, probably nothing), your cravings sound like mine with the boy – I was alllll about cheese, salty stuff, and Taco Bell. When I was pregnant with the girl I wanted way more sweets. I’m excited for you to find out too!
the salty/acidic cravings screamed BOY to me too
I also had terrible breakouts during the first tri. I found that making a paste of baking soda and water and applying it to my trouble spots (my chin and forehead) has really helped. I usually do it first thing in the shower and just leave it on a few minutes while I soap up, then rinse it off. It’s the only natural remedy that has helped so far
It’s really hard to go keep things in perspective when your body is going through all these changes. I had many a day where I just felt ‘fat and ugly’ instead of pregnant.
Could totally have written this post! I wanted pasta and any kind of red sauce for my entire first trimester, which is funny considering we ate paleo/primal pre-pregnancy. But once the nausea set it, I just ate what I could.
The prenatals were IMPOSSIBLE for me for months. I stayed on a chewable/gummy until like week 26. Gagged every time otherwise.
And the acne has been out of control. 38 weeks now and I feel like I had about a month of decent skin! Haha. And the nighttime peeing has come back (but it will get better for you soon-it just comes back at the end).
All good symptoms to have though-means bambino is growing!
i also started taking the gummies when I started vomiting up my regular prenatal pill! I’ve had body image issues my entire life, but for some reason (so far) I’ve really embraced my bump and look forward to the baby growing!!
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I went with the One A Day Prenatal vitamins with the DHA supplement. The DHA didn’t have a fishy taste. (They are big pills though.) I have heard good things about the gummies though. The body image feelings are normal. I had the same problems when I was pregnant. (I used to be 50 pounds heavier, and I was afraid of gaining weight.) I would switch to maternity pants. They are so much more comfortable and make you feel less like you’ve gained weight. Your baby sounds like he/she is ahead of the curve. Remember, it is the baby growing, not you!
I went with the One A Day Prenatal vitamins + a DHA chewy supplement from Costco. Now that Costco has the OaDPV with DHA in them, I take those.
I couldn’t handle cooking/touching food I was going to eat for the first few months of my pregnancy. Seriously, I’d wretch in the sink a few minutes into dinner prep.
I can’t wait to find out what we’re both having, because if there’s any truth to cravings, it’s bound to be the same gender!
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Carrot seed oil. I have friends who had terrible, full body acne during their pregnancy. Carrot seed oil worked wonders for them.
Glad you’re feeling a lot better! I am with your hub, team girl!
I am almost 15 weeks and so far I’ve had luck with Nature Made softgel prenatals with DHA. They’re big pills, but no fishy smell or taste. Good luck and glad we’re both feeling better! I could have written your earlier posts
That’s what I’m taking! They are definitely not working for me and I can smell the fish in them. Blech.
Crazy that you’re craving chocolate less than normal, but I suppose that’s good right?
Kind of cruel that you crave the blue moon (I love that stuff.) I think the vodka pasta sauce is okay though. Hope you continue feeling good and healthy. I haven’t commented in a long while I know, so congrats again on your pregnancy!
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