If you still need information about the beginnings of the pregnancy, only at 16 weeks so can't tell ya anything passed that point, but I could think of a few things that I didn't see in the earlier posts. At least not in the ones I read.

Someone mentioned the baby getting hiccups, which I haven't gotten to yet, but I get them like crazy, but they only last for a few minutes and then come back throughout the day; especially in my first trimester.

During the first sonogram, which hurts if your bladder isn't full enough btw since the technician really has to push down to get a clearer image, the baby actually kept 'head banging' every time she tried to gauge how long the neck was so she couldn't get a clear shot. When she tried to measure other parts, I don't remember what she was saying she was measuring cause I was too busy watching the screen lol, the baby kept swimming backward kinda like a frog. Every time she moved the wand to get a better view, the baby would push back and then come back down almost instantly. It was so funny.

Not at that part yet, but I have heard when you go in for the sonogram to tell gender, you can only find out if the baby is in a favorable position. If they can't position the wand in the right spot to view the correct side of the baby, you won't be able to tell the gender lol. We're expecting this with the little prankster we seem to have.

If the mother is a negative blood type, they have to get a shot called RhoGAM at about 28 weeks and after the baby is born if it is a positive blood type. Also if there is any bleeding during the pregnancy.

There is a site that sends me weekly updates on what's going on with the baby and myself as the pregnancy progresses. It might be a good idea to check it out to give you more ideas; tells you what to eat and what not to, which vitamins you need more at that moment, and shows a sonogram of each week. It's called Welcome home baby.

No strange cravings yet, but for some reason the texture of fruit is different to me then it was pre-pregnancy and now I can't eat it. And I have been told that the things you crave or can't stand during your pregnancy is the things the baby will like or not like. The baby is taking after daddy so far, everything that he can't stand that I usually like if not love, I can't eat. Tomatoes, any type of melon and deserts.

And this may sound bad, but at the beginning there are long stretches of time where nothing happens and it's actually rather boring. You go from the joy of getting a positive result to having to wait weeks for anything to happen. And if you're like me and get really bad morning sickness, thankfully without throwing up, but I did have to take medication for it; little white pills with a red drawing of a pregnant woman on them. It makes the wait even worse since nothing fun seems to be happening. The first sonogram isn't until around 12 weeks or so and the time in between is rather boring. We helped make the stretches between the big stuff seem better by planning a few of the smaller things. We have the hat, gloves and booties, along with the take home outfit, picked out for the big day already.

There's also the nesting stage you go through. We're downsizing our front room to make room for the baby. I've spent the last couple of weeks packing away everything we don't need, rearranged the shed, changed all cardboard boxes into plastic ones, our shed leaks a bit, and cleaned out the closets.

The pregnancy brain starts really early as does the trips to the bathroom every 10 minutes. During the first trimester, I had this from about week 6 or so. Plus I craved water like crazy so that didn't help. Thankfully it went away toward the beginning of the second trimester.

And depending on where you're story is taking place and what Kagome does as a living, it can greatly change the maternity leave and benefits. I work with infants and small children, as an early childhood educator, and because of that I had to stop working pretty much as soon as I found out I was pregnant. I actually worked a little longer than I should have because I thought I had to wait until I got the doctor's note for preventive leave before I could stop, which I had to wait for an apt for, but turned out I could have walked into any clinic and said that I was pregnant and worked with children and they would have gotten it done right then.

Thankfully I happen to live in Canada since not only do I get 90% of my pay for my maternity leave, but I also get the 90% for my preventive leave as well. Which works out great since I wont be able to work for a least a year and a half counting both of those. Also we have both paternity leave for hubby and parental leave we can share. And if anyone is wondering, preventive leave is basically anyone working with children, young or school aged, or working in an unsafe job for pregnancy or breastfeeding, gets put on paid leave unless they can be given another safer position. It lasts until your maternity leave kicks in or you are able to be put on a safer job. Educators and teachers have to get a test to see if they have immunity to fifth disease and teachers can go back to work if they do.

Educators, because they work with much smaller children and especially those such as myself that work with infants, do not get sent back because of diaper changes and such. They can be sent back technically, but my doctor says it doesn't happen.

A few strange things that I have noticed...when you sneeze, you can actually get a slight cramp. It's from round ligament pain. Your nose dries out so much that it will bleed a bit when you blow your nose sometimes. And you have really weird dreams. I haven't gotten to the rated R ones yet, but they have gotten much weirder than usual. I had one last night where my increased heart rate actually woke me up when I realized the people coming closer were about to steal my bike. Plus I had a Black grandmother, when I usually don't, who was locking up the house at 5am.

Wow that was much longer than I meant it to be...Sorry.