Monday

I took a "4 weeks" photo on Saturday, with the (again) optimistic intention of chronicling this pregnancy all the way to the end, which will hopefully be 36 weeks from now.

The bloat doesn't really hit me until late afternoon, so this picture taken in the morning serves as a good baseline photo of my pre-pregnancy body:

Sorry for the crappy lighting and the mess on the floor. As you can see, I'm a pretty small girl, which is why the doctor was able to hear the first baby's heartbeat so easily on the Doppler at 8 weeks last time. I'm guessing that I will probably show a little early, as there is not a lot of places for the baby to hide on me.

My boobs haven't expanded yet, but ohhhhh man they get so sensitive and hurty. Like all my symptoms, everything is pretty mild in the morning, and increases slowly throughout the day and into the night. By the time I went to bed last night it hurt to lay down on the girls, even on my side! It's definitely a slightly different kind of boob pain than PMS boob pain. It's more around the nipples, and sometimes kind of burning, like electricity, rather than that bruised feeling.

Other biggest symptom: drowsiness and fatigue. Now, let me say up front that I am NOT complaining. Every time I feel tired, hungry, or like my boobs are trying to shoot lasers through the nipple, I LOVE IT. I am just chronicling these things... and the fatigue, it is powerful. So much stronger than in my first pregnancy, it's crazy. I remember last time I felt like I was easily tired out by activity and would need to take a break and sit down. After a brief rest I would be fine. It was kind of like just being low energy for most of the day. This is different. Most of the day I feel pretty normal, but then the fatigue hits me like a speeding train. And it's not so much a bodily fatigue as it is a totally overwhelming need to SLEEP. NOW. It happens whether I'm being active or just sitting on my behind. Suddenly I feel a strong animal instinct to lie down and shut my eyes. It lasts for... I know know, maybe 30-45 minutes, and it passes even if I don't nap, which is good.

I'm a little nervous about how I'm going to function at work when this hits me. I'm going to arm myself with water and snacks and hope that those help a little bit. I'm unlucky in the sense that my job is pretty physically demanding, but I'm very lucky in the sense that my days are usually short and I am my own boss. I'm just going to have to be kind to my body and not push too hard.

Beyond the boobs and fatigue, I have a range of gastrointestinal issues that are only mildly disruptive. Gas, bloating, sometimes my tummy doesn't feel so good, but nothing terrible. No nausea or morning sickness yet, knock wood, although right now I (probably overly confidently) believe that I will welcome anything this baby can throw my way in terms of discomfort.

First thing this morning I'm going to stop into the OB's office and get my bloodwork done - I will post the results later today.