Lauren's 1st Trimester

This week I returned to work part-time after taking two months off to deal with my morning sickness. I don't always feel well in the morning as I'm driving, but once I'm at work I get distracted and forget about how sick I might be if I were still in bed.

Jared and I were very excited and somewhat surprised when we learned that I was pregnant. We found out at home in February, when I was four weeks and four days along. I felt great, optimistic, and ready to eat whatever I could. Then the nausea, vomiting, and food aversions hit me one week later, and I began missing work.

Over the next two weeks I refused to get out of bed and leave my room because the smell of the bathroom and our front room made me vomit. I was on medication by then, but still nauseous all day, and barely eating. I lost eight pounds, and am positive I would have wound up in the hospital if my mother-in-law had not driven up from San Diego to take me back to her house. For three weeks she brought me breakfast in bed and made sure I had something to eat every two hours. She also had me get outside and walk around so I would have some exercise, and made sure I bathed. I was seriously disgusting. My hair got so tangled that my mil spent several hours and days combing and cutting it, which led me to get my hair cut to my shoulders. We watched at least one movie every day while I lived on the couch, and I slowly started to have "good" days.

At twelve weeks along the nausea and vomiting stopped, though I continue to take medicine to prevent those, and now at sixteen weeks I'm getting my own breakfast, and working four hours a day. I'm still wearing my pre-pregnancy clothes, but my stomach is definitely growing. Baby is the size of a pickle, and we will find out the gender on May 15th.

I'm of course a little afraid of what my body will go through to have this baby, but Jared and I are ready to share what we have with our child, and are eagerly awaiting his/her arrival this Fall. Peace out first trimester!

Ultrasound at 9 weeks along