My Early Signs of Pregnancy

Long time readers of this blog may recall my bitching and moaning that the information out there doesn't tell you percentage of people who experience which signs and on what days.  Although this is not scientific, here is my effort to sort out that problem.  I'm going to share my "signs" and what day they occurred which I hope will start a trend out there in the blogosphere, if not the scientific community.  I encourage folks to add their own experiences whether you're reading this today or at a later date when you find this entry or you have your own experiences to share!!  I'll refer folks back to this blog entry when we get new comments!

Before I start, I'm going to use the days past my temperature shift as the timeline here.  I'm pretty sure I ovulated 36 hours before my basal temperature shift, but that's hard to break down into 1 day or 2 days. (cuz it's 1 1/2 days!) So let's just stick with the temp shift and count that day counts as day 1.  For those of you reading who are not trying to get pregnant, these details actually DO matter!  When you're searching around for info about every little twinge, it actually does matter how many days past what!

OK! So here were my clues that something was up:

• Increased Temperature.  5 days after my first temperature shift, I had a second one.  It lasted for 2 maybe 3 days, definitely went down for one, and then came back and stayed there starting 9 days after the shift.
• Implantation Cramps:  I may have some sort of twinge of something 9 days after the shift.  However, on 10 days past, YEEEEE-OOOOWWW!  This was the night Dave and I were collecting data from his work.  We were coming home and it was clear to me that I was having cramps.  (As opposed to residuals from that bean burrito I had at lunch).  These guys were centered and low--about 2-3 inches below my belly button. And I could have easily have hopped in bed with a hot water bottle and some Midol.  I don't usually have cramps, but there was no question to me what these were.  I have had questions in the previous 2 months about whether I was having cramps or not.  There was no question that these were cramps.  Clearly, Sparky and Ovalina had found a site they liked for the house, and were breaking ground in Utica.
• Home Pregnancy Test #1:  My mom had sent a high-falutin' pregnancy test for me to try.  This one test for 25 units of HCG.  The morning after the cramps (11 days after the temperature shift), I did the first test.  YES, I know that was too early!!  (Thanks to Jenn for the link on when one should test!  Wanna hear a weird coincidence?  Jenn sent that link the day we did this test.  I was like "Does she know!??!" ) But, despite knowing it was too early, I did the first test anyway that morning.  The results?  A definitive "Maybe."  Hmmmmmm?  The tests Mom sent are very nice and easy to read.  The spot where you look for the second line is smooth and clear.  3 minutes after we started the test, I could see the faintest of faint lines on it.  It was not colored in any way, but both of us could see something there.  Why was that too early to test?  If Sparky and Ovalina implanted 12 hours before, the HCG level would be, oh, let's be generous, about 5 units!  This was  25 unit test!  OK.  Fine.  We took this as a Maybe. Not Yes, but not necessarily No. 
• Home Pregnancy Test #2:  The next morning, because I sometimes have a problem with delay of gratification, we tested again using the Consumer Reports Recommended First Response Home Test.  They are "allegedly" supposed to be able to test for 15-25 units of HCG, but FertilityFriend is not so impressed with their claims.  Originally, I had told Dave that I was going to wait two days after the first to test again, but then I discovered an extra test in the FirstResponse package and I thought, what the hay!  So, I did the necessary things to start the test, and was looking at the test results.  I saw a line starting to develop in the positive you-are-pregnant place.  Now, here is where I realized that I may anticpate my reactions to an important event, but my responses may not coincide with reality.  My  anticipated response was to give some sort of joyful cheer and run to tell Dave.  My actual response was to nearly fall off the toilet.  In my defense, I started shaking really hard. I put the test down and due to some poor planning had run out of TP, so I had to begin reaching back to find some more. And then I was still shaking so hard that I couldn't actually grab onto a roll of TP and get it out of the closet.  And instead of thinking to myself as I anticipated, YIPPEE! I was actually thinking HOLY F(&#ing SH!T.  I finally straightened myself out and went to find my man.  Knowing this was an important moment in our lives, I wanted it to be special and romantic and memorable.  Unfortunately, my blared eyes and shaking body and hands clutching something behind my back clued Dave in to what had just happened and what the results were.  So no cute knitted booties being handed over by woman to man to "reveal" the results of the test.  No.  Instead we had wild eyed, wild haired, thrashing about wife saying LOOK AT THIS!
• Boobage:  Although I thought it was the afternoon of the test that I actually was feeling more sensitive and tingly with the boobage, my brother and his girlfriend pointed out that I had said 7 days past the temperature shift that my boobs hurt and "Gee, I wonder if that is a sign I might be pregnant."  The boobage issues are not what I expected. I am not sore all the time.  I can definitely feel them more when I'm doing stuff and they are bigger.  I should point out that no one would ever confuse me for a busty chick, so any change is pretty dang obvious.  But I'm not so sore I can't get out of bed as I've heard some women report. 
• Nausea:  I don't have morning sickness.  Instead,  I have late afternoon and early evening queasiness.  This started most clearly 2 weeks after the temperature shift, but it may have been there 12-13 days before.  I'm not sure.  It's not really that bad, and if I eat some a little something mild, it goes away. 
• Heart-rate and Breathlessness:  Here's one I wasn't expecting--my heartrate speeds up with even moderate movement and my breathing quickens along with it.  I'm a recreational athlete so I have a pretty low resting heartrate.  So imagine my surprise when I clocked my heart at 93 beats per minute while I was brushing my teeth.  A new cardio workout!!!  Aerobic Hygiene!  I first noticed this during a run 13 days past the temp shift and it was unusual because I didn't feel like I was working as hard as my heartrate and breathing were going.  The scoop is that for the next 2 months, my blood volume is going to increase by 50%, so my veins are relaxing to let more blood go through and my lungs are working to oxyginate the extra blood.  I experiencing "underfill" in my veins right now.  More on that later when I talk about exercising and pregnancy. 

Long blog!  I know! 

I'm still worried that the pregnancy may not stick.  It's really early on in this process, but I'm still naive enough in this process to be excited about everything that is happening.  20-25% of pregnancies end in miscarriage.  That number scares me.  It's so common that I read that doctors don't get worried until a woman has three in a row.  And then with my age and all the 1000s of diseases that could happen, I feel like I could be setting myself up for a huge public heartbreak.  I am scared about that.  But this is like a first love.  You only get a first love once because you're only that innocent from heartbreak once. So, I'm stepping off the ledge and plunging in.  I don't want to challenge heartache to come after me.  But I fully understand how precious innocence is.  And I'm going to accept it as a gift until I can't have it any longer.   

9:14:54 AM