Symptoms.....

I'm completely fascinated by my experience with pregnancy so far. Somehow (and I'm sure that I'm jinxing myself so I'm knocking on wood as I type this) I've managed to avoid a lot of the usual symptoms and side effects of being pregnant. For example, although in real life my stomach is usually pretty sensitive I had very little morning sickness. And while in real life I'm pretty emotional and cry at stupid commercials and sporting events I've been surprisingly calm throughout the first 4 months of this. In real life I crave all sorts of food but while pregnant I haven't really craved anything specific. In real life I'm fairly hormonal, but in pregnancy life I've been very even-keeled- no hormonal rages at my husband or random crying jags... Strange...

So I've decided to keep track of some of the "typical" symptoms and side effects of pregnancy and then check back in with the list every month (or whenever I feel like it) to see if anything has changed... I'm sure you'll all be FASCINATED by this but hey, I'm pregnant, humor me!

Here's where I stand at 18 weeks and 4 days (this list is in no particular order and might include some things that are too much information for some of you, just to give you a heads up!)

• Change and Soreness in Breasts and Nipples: (thought I'd jump right in with one that might be too much information, especially for my brothers). Yup. This symptom started pretty much IMMEDIATELY. I've always been large chested and now I'm especially "blessed." And I haven't been able to sleep on my stomach for months now as it's just way too uncomfortable. And if my 10 pound dog steps on my chest while I'm lying down you might think an ax murderer was in the room based on how loudly I scream.

• Visiting the Loo More Often: I've always been a frequent bathroom visitor as I drink a ton of water during the day but now I'm lucky if I can go an hour during the day without visiting the loo. I'm up out of bed several times every night too because of this... I've tried limiting my water intake in the evening hours but I'm soooo much thirstier than usual (perhaps this is another symptom I don't know about?)

• Change in Appetite and Cravings for Foods: So here's another strange thing. I've had one craving since I got pregnant- for vanilla yogurt with blueberries in it. And I HATE yogurt and don't particularly like blueberries either. But boy was it good. And healthy, so I figure I can give in to cravings for fruit and yogurt. Otherwise, my appetite is back and forth- I'm either not hungry AT ALL and don't even want to think about food or I'm STARVING and have to eat immediately...
  

• Fatigue: This is one symptom that I definitely have. I pretty much slept through my first trimester. Now that I'm into my second trimester I have a bit more energy but I'm in bed no later than 10 pm instead of my previous midnight bedtime, going to the grocery store wipes me out for the day, and I take a nap on the commuter rail on the way home almost every night.

• Stronger Sense of Smell: I've always had a strong sense of smell (in high school I could tell what cologne a boy outside was wearing by leaning out my 3rd floor window and sniffing the air... although perhaps my sense of smell then was heightened by raging teenage hormones....) so I don't think this has changed much...

• Heartburn: Yup. Got it.

• Constipation: Let's say that this is a recent development and leave it at that.

• Changes in Skin and Hair: I was hoping that my hair would get thicker while pregnant (and maybe even wavy!) and that I'd have that pregnancy "glow" but so far, I think things are pretty much the same... Thin fine hair and decent skin... (by the way, with the DNA Hubby and I have going for us as far as hair goes we'll be lucky if our child doesn't come out looking like one of those hairless cats.
  

• Mood Swings: Had them pre-pregnancy but not so much any more. I think this is strange as I'm generally pretty emotional and my husband agrees... I'd say we're both a little worried that when the mood swings finally do kick in they might be completely over the top...
  

• Lower Back Pain: Got this too, and all sorts of other aches and pains. Some of this can be attributed to the fact that I can't figure out a way to sleep comfortably at night (question- if you're sleeping on your right side where the heck do you put your right arm??? I put mine under my head and then wake up with a sore shoulder.... any advice will be appreciated!)

Fascinating, right? I'm sure that the few of you who actually read this far are dozing on your keyboards by now... But when your day to day schedule is as follows: shower, take dogs out, ride train, work, ride train, take dogs out, eat dinner, take dogs out, watch t.v., take dogs out, go to bed (and add hitting the loo 1,000 times) it's sometimes hard to come up with super exciting blog posts!