It is Friday and this is a check-in post. I do not have much new news to share, but I wanted to spend a few moments to write down my thoughts and feelings in this 9th week of pregnancy.
When I write it that way, I realize that I am nearly one-quarter done. That means embryo/fetus is also one-quarter done. I am having trouble with nausea. Just yesterday the
round ligament pain started up again after not really being noticeable for a few weeks. I guess that means my uterus is growing.
I switched from taking Vitamin B6 in a 100 mg dose once per day to a 25 mg dose 3 times per day, as recommended by my OB. Meeting her was a big milestone, I still have not opened the big blue folder of stuff she gave us. She wrote down all the names of all the prenatal screening tests that she has ordered for us and I will be submitting to those at my next appointment on September 4th.
I have been receiving support calls from my longtime friend (BFF). She mentioned lots of things yesterday that brought me comfort. One being that the first trimester is a lot of work for the body with very little outward change. I feel like my hips have shifted, like actually gotten wider. I feel like the fat on my "saddlebags" has migrated somewhere (or vanished). But getting through each day is a challenge because I have so little energy and I am nauseous nearly all day every day.
My OB clarified that I should plan to gain 11-15 pounds throughout my entire pregnancy, which pretty much seems impossible but I guess if the nausea keeps up it will not be difficult. I have already increased the daily calories I eat from 1700 to 2000 and shifted my macros from 25-35-40 to 20-40-40 for protein-fat-carbohydrates. I have difficulty meeting the 20% protein goal since the thought of meat makes me want to vomit.
Month 1 - June
Month 2 - July
Month 3 - August
Month 4 - September
Month 5 - October
Month 6 - November
Month 7 - December
Month 8 - January
Month 9 - February
I have been looking into birthing classes, so if we want to start the class in month 5, then that would be in October. So it is not too soon to start contacting people. I will definitely speak to my OB at my next appointment to see if she has any serious recommendations, or if there are any mandatory classes at the hospital where I plan to deliver. I am sure they cannot make these classes mandatory, but I guess I mean highly-recommended.
Of the "diet" books I have purchased, I am not super-satisfied with any of them.
The Whole 9 Months: A Week-By-Week Pregnancy Nutrition Guide with Recipes for a Healthy Start by Jennifer Lang MD has some nice color illustrations, for example folate-rich foods to eat during the first trimester. There is one meal idea that I would like to try, curried squash, but I have just felt too crappy to actually go into the kitchen and make it.
Eating for Pregnancy: Your Essential Month-by-Month Nutrition Guide and Cookbook by Catherine Jones is a more practical book. Many of the recipes are as simple as opening cans of beans and heating them up on the stove. Or some other recipes are for raw foods like guacamole, which does not have to be cooked. I have made three recipes from this book successfully. Dear husband made one of them also, so that gives you an idea that it is user-friendly for a more novice home cook. The only complaint I have is that these recipes make like 6 or 8 servings and I have been spoiled by The IVF Diet by Zita West being portioned out for two adults only. I have not been very good at eating leftovers since many sources caution you against eating soft cheeses that may contain listeria unless they are straight from a package to your mouth.
What to Eat When You're Pregnant: A Week-by-Week Guide to Support Your Health and Your Baby's Development by Nicole M. Avena PhD has been completely useless. I really did not find any meal plan or recipes in this book and have basically not found it to be helpful. Maybe it just was not what I was looking for.
Healthy Eating During Pregnancy: 100 Recipes for a Nutritious Delicious Nine Months by Erika Lenkert is a book we found at the $10 or Less Bookstore (used) while the other three we bought on Amazon. This one is funny because it is more for gourmet foodie types of people, all the recipes are contributed by chefs of high-end restaurants. There were three recipes in there that I flagged as "want to make" but I have not made any of them yet. Dear husband approximated one of them, since we had bought the ingredients, but he was not working from the cookbook. Instead, I was shouting instructions at him from another room. This book has full-color glossy photos of some of the meals, which may or may not be something that entices you.
We bought some other books just about pregnancy, and we are working our way through reading them.
Your Pregnancy Companion: Everything You Need to Know About Pregnancy, Birth and the First Weeks of Parenthood by Zita West is a book that I got on Kindle first and then a hardback copy arrived in the mail from Amazon (used). The way this book is worded really puts my mind at ease. Many other pregnancy books have language that hints at natural pregnancy and Zita West always makes a point to acknowledge that her readers may have concieved through IVF and points out how the advice may differ for IVF babies compared to "free sex babies." Of course, she does not use that term, that is something that I have picked up from the infertility reddit.
The Pregnancy Book For Men: From Dude To Dad in 40 Short Weeks by Gerard Janssen is a book that we found at the $10 or Less Bookstore (used). It may be silly or it may be useful, time will tell.
Sacred Pregnancy: A Loving Guide and Journal for Expectant Moms by Anni Daulter is another one we found at the $10 or Less Bookstore (used). It has color illustrations and meditations and space for you to journal for each week of the pregnancy. I have not written in it yet, mainly because I am terrified of miscarrying and I feel like writing to the embryo is weird. But maybe I will be able to get into this more as the pregnancy gets further along.
The Expectant Father: The Ultimate Guide for Dads-to-Be by Armin A. Brott is one that I ordered through Amazon. I want my husband to feel like he is involved and informed about what is going on and that the process / journey is something that he is an important part of.
Last but not least, we got hooked on smoothies for breakfast when we were doing The IVF Diet. I found the following book at $10 or Less Bookstore (used).
Innocent Smoothie Recipe Book: 57 1/2 recipes from our kitchen to yours. Something about this book spoke to me, it was irreverent and goofy but the recipes seemed pretty straightforward. We have made at least four of the smoothies, which were great, and it has been the perfect way to add variety into our new breakfast regime. I find it interesting that the "Innocent" company is owned by the Coca-Cola corporation, but this book gives you everything you need to make their shakes at home. Some of the ingredients are more Euro-centric, meaning that I am not sure where to get things like lychee and currants, but I would say that it is possible to make more than half the recipes here in the US.
In other news, during the summer heat I have been watching the Harry Potter movies. It kind of makes me want to go to Universal Studios to the Wizarding World, but I would not be able to ride any of the rides so it might be kind of pointless. My OB said do not do anything "dangerous" which I felt was kind of vague. Why are most of my favorite hobbies (cycling, rollerskating) dangerous?
I have been feeling a bit more energetic since stopping progesterone in oil (PIO) injections. It is a real treat to have only a teeny tiny shot every third day. My butt muscles are still a bit itchy but healing and feeling better every day. Also, another random observation is that in weeks 5, 6, 7, 8, I felt like I did not NOT want to drink water. Like my morning sickness was making me afraid of water. I did NOT want to throw up. For the last few days, I can finally feel my thirst picking up and I could drink all day, every 5 minutes, which is good. Drinking less water was making me nervous.
Other symptoms: acne! My extremities are so dry. I finally broke down yesterday and slathered my feet with lotion, which I hate doing because it feels like walking on slime, but I was getting so dry that my skin was itching. Like, to the point where it would wake me up at night. When I had leg cramps, it was around the time I stopped PIO. I also took a Vitamin D supplement with calcium and magnesium, instead of strictly Vitamin D, and I think that helped.
Week 5 - July 8-14 - morning sickness, nausea, tender breasts
Week 6 - July 15-21 - headache, abdominal ache/pain, morning sickness, acne
Week 7 - July 22-28
Week 8 - July 29-Aug 4 - morning sickness, abdominal ache/pain, leg cramps, appetite decrease, headache, gas/bloating, food aversions
Week 9 - Aug 5-11 - morning sickness, nausea, acne
Week 10 - Aug 12-18
These are the symptoms I logged using the app
Ovia. This app gives you some recipes here and there, it reminds you to take your prenatal vitamin, and there are articles on other topics such as maternity leave, maternity bras, kegel exercises and prenatal screening. I also check in with the app
Hello Belly. The feature I like on that app is that it has checklists by week of your pregnancy. I feel it helps me take things at my own pace (you can scroll through the weeks and check off past-due items) but it also does not let you look more than 1 week ahead. I do feel a bit resentful that the “femtech” data is being anonymously sold, but I also appreciate what I get out of these apps (information).
In other tech news, I am considering upgrading MyFitnessPal account to premium. The reason for this is so that I can increase the daily target goal for calcium. I'm worried that I'm not getting enough. I find it frustrating that apps like MyFitnessPal and Clue don't have a setting where you can tell it you're pregnant. I guess the people who make those apps just don't consider it, or they figure the number of pregnant people at any given time is small, or they figure that pregnant women just eat whatever they want. I don't know the reason, but it is frustrating. My OB said that she will refer me to a nutritionist. When I get the recommendations from the nutritionist, then I will program those into MyFitnessPal to help ensure that I will be meeting those new goals.
