John and Bethenie: 12 Weeks!

This post is about a week late I am now just over 13 weeks but I am going to try and write about the pregnancy every 2 - 4 weeks unless something big happens between that time frame. Since we just told people a couple weeks ago I am going to throw the first 12 weeks all in one.

We found out we were expecting when I was a few days short of being 5 weeks, and we were both super excited. Part of me wanted to tell everyone right away and the other part wanted to keep it a secret for a little while, to make sure everything was going ok.

Fatigue: Not much changed for me in the first few weeks, except being really tired. I couldn't make it through the day without having to take a nap at some point. This was really different for me. Growing up and still since living out here I always have energy and am always on the move so being so tired was a hard adjustment, especially when we were on vacation in Germany and Austria when I was around 6 weeks. I wanted to just go, go, go but by mid afternoon or so we would have to go back to the hotel so I could lay down for a little while.

The fatigue has kept up ever since. When we were in the states I would get tired but for the most part I think I did a pretty good job keeping up with the rest of the family. It has got a little better but there are still days that I will get in a nap if there isn't much else going on.

Morning Sickness: I was really worried about this symptom of pregnancy. You always hear the stories of women being sick and throwing up all day for the entire 1st trimester. Well I am lucky enough to say that I have yet to throw up but nausea is another story. This really didn't even hit that back until I was closer to 8 weeks pregnant. It started a little bit before we left for the states, but the first time I really felt real bad was the weekend I was in MN. By the time I got down to TX I was doing a lot better, I don't know if jet lag had a play in it or what, but it did get a lot better for a few weeks.

I did still get nauseous at times, but not all day or really bad. Then we got on the plane and flew back to Italy and all that changed. I thought that the nausea had been bad before but that was nothing compared to how I felt when we got back to Italy. I was almost 12 weeks and didn't even get off the couch for a few days I felt so bad, and to go with that I had no appetite. It is starting to get a little better and I hope it gets a lot better after this week.

Food Cravings/Aversions: Before getting pregnant I wondered what weird craving s I would get, but there really haven't been that many so far. Although even if there were it might be kind of hard to full-fill them living over here, so it might be a good thing there haven't been any. The one thing that I can't get enough of is potatoes. Yes, potatoes and cooked anyway: hash browns, French fries, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes I LOVE them all right now. The only other thing and yes you hear this with most pregnant women is pickles. However, I don't know that you could call this a weird craving since I eat pickles all the time.

Now on the flip side there are quite a few things I can't stand the first being chocolate. Yes, anyone who knows me knows I LOVE my chocolate, but while we were in Germany we had some white chocolate covered strawberries and they were really good but after one I didn't want anymore. I even turned them down when John asked me another time if I wanted some. The next thing is really any type of sweets. This one is kind of odd to considering I am starting a bakery, but no cookies or cupcakes for me for now. The last thing I don't like at all anymore is pizza. This is a hard one not to like, especially living in Italy, but yea I can't stand the stuff.

Gender: This is a big question I have been asked, if we know yet or are we going to find out. I have even had people tell me what they think we should do. Well if you know me you know that there is no way in the world I am going to wait until July to find out if I have a sweet baby girl or boy inside me. So the answer to that huge question is YES we will be finding out. I will be 16 weeks at our next appointment and hoping I can find out then!

Well I think that just about covers everything on the pregnancy. Here a a few pictures from the past few weeks and some ultrasound pictures from our last visit.

10 Weeks