Pumpkin: Weeks 4 & 5

October 6th through October 19th

First, if you think I'm crazy for posting baby updates this early.. just remember: this is more for me than it is for you ;).

I don't think I'll bother with a picture yet.. there's nothing there besides my pre-pregnancy fat! Sometimes Blake will put his hand on my abdomen and say, "How's Pumpkin today?" I generally just give him a report about what Pumpkin is doing this week and how s/he's making me feel that day. I did have to point out, just once, that what he is putting his hand on isn't Pumpkin.. it's pumpkin pie, pumpkin scones, pumpkin cheesecake and pumpkin lattes... but not our Pumpkin, not yet!

How I Feel
I'm feeling pretty good, which isn't a surprise. 'Morning' sickness/nausea isn't expected until after week six. I have headaches most days, but that is usual for me. What is unusual is not taking something for them! I could take Tylenol, or so they say, but it doesn't really do much for me and I figure, why put anything through my body that I don't *need* at this point. I also have a lot of bloating and, eek,  gas. I think that it's my prenatal vitamins. I've been trying to work out like I was before Pumpkin, and it absolutely helps me to have plenty of energy and most importantly keeps my GI system in better harmony. I am a little more tired than usual but not remarkably tired. I have noticed some greater emotional swings, but nothing crazy. I'm definitely getting more familiar with the bathrooms at work and in the middle of the night, but I'm also drinking a lot of fluids.

What I feel
During our two week wait, I felt all kinds of things going on in my uterus, I thought it was July 4th in there. In week four I still felt a lot of cramping and tingles/pains but not as constant and pronounced as before. During week five, things have continued to mellow even more and now I just get occasional cramping (like once a day) and the occasional sharp pain (like once or twice a week). I'm really feeling changes and tenderness in 'the girls' and that is starting to get old.. but probably not going anywhere!

What We're Doing
We had our first midwife appointment on Thursday of week five. It was just a consultation to get to know her and decide if we want to use her for our prenatal care and delivery. She has also been to Israel and I was glad to be able to pick her brain about anything that I should be concerned about with traveling during early pregnancy. She said that the food should be mostly fine and that flying will be no problem, just the usual get up and walk around, drink lots of fluids etc. The only unknown factor is whether I'll get daily nausea and that I should know before I leave, in which case she has some safe remedies for that.

On a side note.. I kind of wonder if my mom is going to flip out when she realizes that I took her first unborn grandchild to more than one foreign country without her knowing about it. I'm pretty sure that in the end, she'll thank me and realize that she'd be even more stressed knowing that all three of us were over there instead of the moderate level of stressed out she is experiencing from what she thinks is the two of us being there.

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