The First Trimester (A Guy's Perspective) | Strouse House Baby
This whole pregnancy & STROUSE HOUSE BABY thing is a new frontier for us at Strouse Photography so every week brings new developments, food cravings, and exciting moments. Here's how the first 12 weeks played out according to Brad:
First Doctor's Appointment -
We were pretty sure Allie was pregnant, but were holding onto that last shred of doubt until someone with a medical degree told us it was so. We walked nervously into the ultrasound room and when the machines were all humming, the tech said "there's definitely a baby in there. Congratulations!". We were speechless....First off, we were staring at a living being with a heartbeat and an arm nub (we just loved that lil nub so much!) and second, she was the first person to congratulate us. We'd been keeping it a secret so long it almost felt weird have a few new people in the know!
Allie's cravings/general temperament -
We always assumed that morning sickness was like the movies. The mom-to-be was always racing to the restroom each morning and the slightest foul scent would send her back. Allie was only sick to her stomach on a few occasions, but she was nausated all the time and did spend nearly three weeks on the couch asleep! She'd come home from work and immediately go to bed. She'd wake up late on Saturday's, move to the couch, and go right back to sleep. Bump on a log status! She also found a lot of food intolerable. She survived those first few weeks on mac n cheese, pbj, and chicken noodle soup. Several of the food's on the "no no" list were staples of her diet (ie: lunch meat and sushi) so it was a tough transition.
Pregnant in Europe -
This is a chance for me to brag on Allie. In the midst of one of the toughest weeks sickness/fatigue wise, we boarded a plane to Europe for a vacation we'd been planning for over a year. We found that with plenty of naps and a meal/snack every three hours, Allie could keep the nausea at bay and enjoy our trip. One day in Ireland, we walked almost seven miles. What a trooper!
The joy of traveling alone meant we could go at our own speed. We typically woke up and got ready slowly, hit a few sights and ate lunch, came back to the hotel for an afternoon nap, then went exploring again for dinner. It was a true test of my patience because I'm a doer. I like to wake up and be out the door within minutes....didn't happen. Also several times after getting all ready to go and making it through the front door of the hotel, we turned right around for a potty break! Patience is a virtue, right?
Friends and Family in the Know -
After WE TOLD OUR IMMEDIATE FAMILY, we started leaking the news to a few groups of close friends (check out our parent's reactions from last week here). It was so much fun to see their reactions and also start integrating ourselves back into normal society. We'd been avoiding contact for so long because of Allie's fatigue and wanting to find out from the doctor that everything was looking good. Now that we were past the 12 week "danger zone," it was time to start spreading the news! Now when someone asked "How's Allie feeling?" I could avoid my typical answer of "doing great!" and tell the truth of "she's been asleep on the couch with a pack of saltine crackers for the last six hours".
That's a quick recap of the first 12 weeks. What are some of your funny food cravings or tricks for avoiding morning sickness!?