Symptoms - A Lack Thereof

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. Life has been busy...

There's been a few things sucking up my time.

1) I seem to have come down with a kleenex-box-a-day-worth-of-kleenex type cold... and it won't go away. I think this has something to do with pregnancy, because, as we all know, our immune systems are a bit compromised in this lovely state, but boy, do I wish it would go away. My poor nose is so raw and sore that I rub Vaseline on it every night before I go to bed in hopes of making it feel a little better. Oh, and the chest throbbing coughs... those are fun... SO FUN! But my neti pot has been my new best friend.

2) I spent the last two days in Vegas... whooping it up!!!! oh... I mean, grading papers for one of the board exams for my profession. I volunteered for this committee and while I was going through it, I cursed my stupid nice-ness for accepting this "job". And when I did accept it, oh 6 months ago or so, I thought, hey, grade a few papers and get a free trip to Vegas! SO worth it, right? But I guess I didn't figure that I'd actually be pregnant in Vegas....

It was a good experience though, but I've spent much of my weekend after Thanksgiving going through the 1000 papers and making sure that I was being consistent in grading. Then in Vegas, we meet with our grading partner, who graded the same papers, and we have to reconcile our grades and then re-grade any of those papers that were close to the pass-mark so that we could verify that those who passed deserved to pass and those that didn't it was clear that they didn't master the material. I definitely have a new appreciation for the process.

3) And finally, last weekend, I was in Philly for my brother's wedding! My little brother got married!!!!!! It was a beautiful long weekend with family and his friends. And now he's off on his honeymoon, baking in the sunshine of Hawaii... and I'm freezing my little butt off in the cold. Jealous, me?.... Yes, just a bit.

So here I am, just a few hours shy of 11 weeks of pregnant and I am going to now start talking about this pregnancy... ready.... go....

11 weeks.

11 weeks.

That's pretty nuts! I can't believe sometimes that we really are here. I think one of the reasons why is that I've had little to no symptoms. Here's a few of the common early pregnancy symptoms, per the American Pregnancy Association... and how I've experienced them:

• implantation bleeding - NONE
• swollen/tender breasts - definitely no tenderness, although around 6-7 weeks, they did start to get fuller and they continue to be. some days they felt less so and other days they felt bigger. right around when I was to have missed my period, I had some nipple sensitivity, but other than that, nothing much to speak of. I still don't need a bigger bra yet, but I definitely fill them out more. My one sister said, "What are you now, a FULL B cup?" Yes... I'd say that I now fill out my "B-cup" bra :-) YAY!
• fatigue/tiredness - NONE! I still have energy to run and go to the gym and say up to my normal hours. I didn't sleep all that well the first few weeks after we found out, so maybe from weeks 4-7. I would wake up a bit with a racy mind around 3am and couldn't get back to sleep. But fatigue, none.
• nausea/morning sickness - Little to None. There are times that when I don't have any food in my belly, I feel a bit uncomfortable and know that if I put food in there, it will feel a lot better, but no urge to puke and no major nausea. Feeling VERY luck on this one.
• backaches - NONE
• headaches - I've had one migraine, and just recently a few days ago, I've started to get a few headaches in the back of my head. Hopefully these won't last too long and they may also be associated with weening off my prednisone. 
• frequency of urination - Somewhat, but only because I'm drinking a LOT more water/liquids because my mouth is dry and I feel very thirsty
• darkening of areolas - Not yet, but they do look a little bigger... probably because I can wear a big-girl bra now. LOL!
• food cravings/aversions - This is the only real true symptom that I can put a finger on. In "pre-pregnancy" life, I was pretty much a vegetarian and somewhat vegan... I like to call it vegan-ish. But ever since about 5 weeks, when my monster stomach, Snackzilla as we call her, has taken over, I've been craving protein, in the form of eggs and turkey dairy, and sugar, in the form of fruit and juices and jelly.  I've also added back in some wheat as it's just too hard to get lots of food into that endless pit of a belly without it. Peanut butter filled pretzels (thanks Running Mama!) have been my life saver when I'm in need of a quick food fix. 

So there you have it. just about 11 weeks and little to no symptoms. Just the need to eat... lots...  Oh, and this morning was the first time that I put on a pair of work pants and they just weren't comfortable anymore... I think a shopping trip for some new pants is in order soon...

Sorry again that it has been so long. I think I'm going to start trying to update weekly so that I can have a record of my changes. And soon, as I have a difference to show,  I will start some belly pics too... 

Hope you all are well... Know that I'm thinking of each and everyone of you every day, weather you are still in the trenches, in my shoes, or new to the parenting world...