New symptoms

Last week we traveled to New Orleans for work and had a great time. The city, full of culture and delicious food, treated us very well and we're so thankful for the opportunity to visit.

It also was the time when I experienced the most pregnancy symptoms. The great shift and expansion project (as my BFF calls it) has started and on more than one occasion, I was certain I had burst my placenta. The first time it happened was on the plane ride heading South. I had to shove my backpack under the seat in front of me and I leaned down to position the backpack, squished everything inside me and felt a very painful pinch. I got lightheaded just for a minute and realized I cannot do that again. It hurt. A lot.

The rest of the trip, my awareness of this internal phemonenon had me paranoid about actually popping the placenta, so I really took it easy. Until I had to tie my tennis shoes one morning. Again, not giving it much thought, I bent right over (I was seated) to tie the shoe and same thing. Sharp, pinching pain. Luckily I had a much quicker response this time so it didn't hurt nearly as badly.

Needless to say, I now have a "no bending" rule.

The other symptom I'm experiencing is headaches. In real life (prior to pregnancy), I rarely experienced headaches. Maybe once or twice a year I'd get one.

Now, they are frequent (almost daily) and uncomfortable. I'm really trying to stay hydrated since I know that most headaches are caused by dehydration. When you're pregnant, your body is creating more blood (by the time you deliver, you have 40% more blood circulating in your body...thats insane!) and that can more easily lead to headaches if you don't take extra care to stay hydrated. Without more water, you have more blood rushing through the same sized veins and that can quickly lead to headaches (and swelling). My understanding is that when you're well hydrated, your veins expand which allow the same amount of blood to rush through a larger area (thus no pounding and throbbing that usually can accompany a headache).

While traveling, staying hydrated is always a challenge (mostly for me because I refuse to spend $4 on a bottle of water in the hotel room and the 4 block one-way trips to CVS at the end of the day weren't helping the swelling in my ankles). I also didn't want to drink too much water before the plane flights since they were relatively short rides and often times during short trips, the captain doesn't turn off the seat belt sign and then you're trapped in a seat without access to a bathroom.

I needed to drink more water to help with the symptoms, but I also had to plan the water intake carefully because I wasn't always near a restroom. It was a vicious cycle ;)

I'm now 15 weeks. I guess I should start feeling the baby move sometime in the next month or so. From what I've read, the baby also makes it's way out of the pelvic area and more into the abdomen during the next few weeks, which is OK with me because I have a lot more room in my stomach than I do in my pelvic area! I've prepared my stomach well over the past few years and trust me, there's plenty of room in there ;)

I know people will say, "be careful what you wish for" when I say this, but I cannot wait to feel the baby move. I realize that as the baby grows, the random internal movements may get annoying and even uncomfortable, but for a first time mommy, it's exciting waiting for that time when you KNOW your baby is moving. I'm sure all of the other mommies out there remember that feeling. I can't wait to experience it.

This should be a pretty busy week at work, but hopefully I'll keep up with blogging.

Oh, and one of my next few posts will likely be about registering and I'm really interested in any and all advice about where to register, what to register for, what to stay away from, etc. For example, do we need a diaper genie? What about suggestions on how to set up a separate diaper changing area since the nursery is upstairs and I don't see myself running upstairs every few hours to change a diaper. Are diaper caddys worth it? They seem too small to be able to keep well stocked. Almost seems like keeping everything in a milk crate shoved under the coffee table is more efficient (although certainly not more attractive I realize).

So if you have some thoughts and tips, BRING IT ON! I'm all ears.

Until then, XOXO...