Diary of Real Pregnancy - Week 7: Back to Normal?

Week 7 seems to be a weird one. Sometimes you feel totally and utterly normal... which of course freaks you the heck out, because you stress about whether everything is okay. These first few weeks are so tumultuous and you have no real way of knowing whether things are progressing as they should. If you're lucky enough to get an early scan at this point, you might get a peek at your little bean, and even see the heart fluttering.

Funny story about that... with my second pregnancy I selfishly wanted an early ultrasound... so, knowing they have to give you one if you don't know the date of your last menstral period I... totally lied to my doctor. Yep, I did that. I knew exactly when I got pregnant, but I got The Hubs on board and we totally fibbed and hummed and hawed over the whole date thing ("Gee, I really don't know... *giggle*") and sure enough the doc sent us for a 'dating ultrasound'. Hehehe. Little did I know this would be an INTERAL SCAN. Say WHA?? Yep, that's exactly what it sounds like. Note: when the ultrasound tech gets out a huge condom-looking thing and a bottle of lube... be afraid.

Of course, at this point, even if you feel (eerily) normal, don't tell anyone that you feel fine (if you have told anyone the news at this point). That's a sure-fire way to get hit with nausea, heartburn, gas, or more of the mind-numbing exhaustion from last week, just as punishment for opening your big mouth.

Oh yes there are moments where you feel normal or even forget you're pregnant, and then WHAMMO, it hits you again... just typing the words "back to normal" above brought me a wave of nausea as a slap in the face. I should have known! Or the weirdest things will set you off... the other day it was someone's cologne in the elevator (the heightened sense of smell doesn't help, but seriously this person must have taken a bath in the stuff... gross). Or, when I was cleaning up from supper the other night, and the sauce that had tasted so good just 20 minutes prior, suddenly made me gag and wonder what had died.

So, the constant state of starving and yet not wanting to eat anything is still lingering. Pants are difficult to button up... maybe now's a good time to sneak into a maternity store ("I'm shopping for my... er... sister...?") and get one of those Belly Bands. Or try my handy-dandy first trimester trick: a hair elastic looped through the button loop and then around the pants button... gets you about an inch of wiggle room which is just about what you need at this point. And for me, heartburn has been rearing it's ugly and burny head... but only when I eat chocolate. NOOOooOOOoooooo!! Chocolate is the only way I get through the afternoon! Sigh. And so it begins.

For coffee lovers (like me) -- if you haven't given up coffee altogether (like me), the day may come where you just can't stomach the stuff (like right about now). For now I am powering through it... because seriously nobody wants to deal with me, including myself, if I haven't had coffee. But there may come a day, and soon, when it has to be given up. And that will be a dark day, indeed.

Still keeping the Big Secret for now... Literally lying to people's faces, even though it's always right there on the tip of my tongue. Especially difficult when, somehow, half the conversations that come up have to do with pregnancy, babies, maternity leave... BUT, since there's still the very real possibility of something Bad happening and if (heaven forbid) it does, I want to be able to tell who and when I choose, not because the Big News has to be untold, a secret it will remain. For now, I hold my tongue, worry about lack of symptoms, go to bed early and keep a stash of uneaten chocolate in my desk drawer...

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