Surviving the First Trimester!

As my 14th week of pregnancy begins this week, I'm happy to report that we have survived the first trimester! As many of you experienced moms know, the end of the first trimester marks several happy things... usually a decrease in morning sickness (if you're having any that is, keep reading), a decrease in the likelihood of miscarriage, a balancing out of some of the raging hormones, as well as (most importantly, of course) 'permission' to finally color your hair again (although self-tanner and teeth-whiteners are still forbidden, bummer). I'm only mostly kidding. And I did finally color my hair again.

So, in the spirit of celebration of the little things in pregnancy, here comes my own list of things people didn't tell me/things I basically learned as I went about the discovering of and being thrilled over getting pregnant! Gentlemen be forewarned, this one is for the pregnant ladies... those who are, those who have been, and those who would like to someday or are currently hoping to be!

1. If you are suddenly peeing literally every 10 minutes (including 5 times a night) you might as well do it on a stick. You are probably pregnant. I am a notoriously frequent pee-er and even I had this one as my first majorly noticeable 'symptom.'
2. If you've never experienced sheer exhaustion from simply lifting a pen, prepare yourself. And raising your arms to reach something over your head for more than a minute? Don't even... unless you have time for a solid half-hour nap, which you could honestly take on the floor at work on the nasty carpet and not even think twice.
   
3. If you happen to be the (apparently) 1 lady in a billion who does not get morning sickness, you will be told by pregnancy books and magazines everywhere how insanely lucky and slightly freakish you are, as though you found the magic cure of prevention. This doesn't mean I don't have extreme sympathy for the ladies who unfortunately have been tossing their cookies 24/7 daily for the last 3 months!
4. Don't think for a minute that acid reflux, constipation, and swollen ankles can't be yours, friend- all before you are pregnant enough to actually look pregnant, not just like you have been feasting from a never-ending buffet table.
5. When you're hungry (and you will never not be hungry) everything will sound good to eat. Except Mexican food. Or spaghetti sauce. And no Chinese food. But everything else will sound great! Until you eat it... then you'll feel nauseous, and then 15 minutes later you'll feel so hungry again you'll think you forgot to eat at all (which is also quite possible and likely, as forgetfulness will also become your new best friend along with the acid reflux).
6. From the moment the nurse practitioner explains the terrifying effects of listeriosis, you will crave nothing but turkey sandwiches full of (forbidden) deli meat, a big fat (evil) all-beef hot dog, salads laced with (dangerous) feta cheese, and even tuna (which normally disgusts you). And you can't have any of them!
   
7. Hug your husband when you remember that things that normally would roll of your easy-going, laid-back back now crawl under your skin and make you crazy. He has meanwhile been left wondering where on earth his once laid-back, easy-going wife has gone.

So there you have it. They say the second trimester is the "easy" trimester, where you have the happy glow and people noticing your baby-filled belly and you get to actually start wearing your cute maternity clothes rather than searching for the loosest, most stretched-out pair of jeans you've ever owned in the meantime because you didn't feel "pregnant enough" for the maternity ones yet. Hello, belly... goodbye, feet!

I also read somewhere that if you and your husband can survive assembling your baby's crib, and still want to be married and have a baby together when it's done, then you can survive parenthood! I'm happy to say that Matt and I made it through not only assembling the crib (and a new pack 'n' play without the instructions) but also painting the crib! This was not a small feat, and lasted all day on our Memorial Day off, and the next few nights after work. We were given a great crib for free, but decided we'd rather it be white.

Crib before:

on our back porch, waiting to be liquid sandpaper-ed, primer-ed, and painted.

Crib after:
up against the green walls of the baby-room-to-be!

I love how the white furniture looks against the green walls. Even if we end up moving to a new town because of Matt's job search, we'll definitely be re-painting whichever room will be the baby room to this exact shade of green. I love it! I just wrote that re-painting sentence while also thinking to myself, I don't want to paint anything else at all until after the baby comes. I guess that's one more thing we'll have to wait and see on!