Week 16: The Week Dad FELT PREGNANT for the 1st Time
This was the first week when I really, truly *felt* pregnant. Early in the week, my abdominal muscles started being very tense and store. This would be due to the continued growth of my uterus and the stretching of the ligaments in my abdomen to support the uterus. The discomfort lasted about 2 days – the first day I took a warm shower and massaged my belly for a bit, which made it feel a bit better. The 2nd day I resorted to Tylenol, which helped some as well. I posted to a support group on Facebook asking for suggestions, and they had lots of good ideas about what can help.
In addition to the abdomen discomfort I also experienced what seems to be a much more sensitive gag reflex than earlier in my pregnancy. One morning this week I had some normal mucus in the back of my throat; something hit the wrong spot and it caused me to gag and then throw up. The retching lasted a couple of minutes and was very unpleasant. My stomach was sensitive for the rest of the day. Id’ gone the whole pregnancy so far without anything like this, so I was pretty bummed – I hope it doesn’t happen often!
One fun experience this week was telling more people at work about the pregnancy. I realized that it was time to start telling folks because discussions about things that would need to be done for year end were starting to come up, and I won’t likely be there for year-end accounting close!! So, a little at a time as it made sense to do so, I told various individuals who I work with the news. Everyone was excited for us. I’d had some anxiety about telling my team at work because most of them don’t know I’m a trans man, to my knowledge. I ended up keeping it simple – telling them that Sara and I are expecting, and that I’m carrying, due Jan 3rd. Only one person who I told 1:1 expressed some confusion – I suspect those who I told as a group might’ve just kept any confusion to themselves.
Baby Stats:
Size: Avocado, about 4 inches long
Major Developments: Heart can pump 25 quarts of blood per day!! Might be growing hair. Can bend elbows/knees.
Dad Info:
Dr Visits: None!
New Symptoms: Abdominal muscle discomfort, Sensitive gag reflex