8 weeks, 4 days

Yesterday after church, the four of us:) went shopping to pick up some baby items-- a DHA supplement that I need to take daily and a bellyband (beband). Most of my clothes still fit, but my pants that are not hip huggers are alittle snug in the waist, so this beband works perfectly to hold up my unbuttoned pants. It was more expensive than I thought ($16.99) but I already love it and it will save me in the long run from buying so many maternity clothes in the future.

I am not showing, but my waist is pretty much gone and I feel very 'full' in my lower abdomen. I've been feeling some pulling and cramps above my pelvic bone, but the nurse said that this is very common as my ligaments are stretching. The nausea is not pleasant, worst in the very early morning and evening. I've been throwing up now, but not as frequently as I anticipated. Zofran has helped with that, I am sure. I have also been very tired-- I pass out at night like I took a sleeping pill! I do wake up in the middle of the night extremely hot, so I strip off all my clothes and then fall back asleep. I have also been getting very bad headaches, for which I take tylenol. I don't mean to sound like I am complaining, because I am not. I am almost relieved and pleased that I am having these symptoms because that means the baby is growing and alive!

This morning I spoke to Jim at work about my FMLA questions. Turns out, I can start taking it now if I wanted for appointments or wait until the baby is delivered. I will accrue sick and vacation time while I am off, which is wonderful! news, but I must exhaust all sick and vacation time prior to receiving unpaid leave. My plan is to take 6-8 weeks off straight, then intermittant by working 3 days a week and taking 2 days off until all of my 12 weeks leave is exhausted. Jim suggested telling work before I am showing, that way all my paperwork can be filled out and everything will be set with no surprises. I do need to find out the last day I took FMLA was, and that will start my year, which will go back into the pot. He was very happy for us. I told him we were not going to tell people until after the first trimester, just to be safe.