Pregnancy

A little pregnancy recap!

In the fall of 2011 we decided to “try” to get pregnant. 3 months later we weren’t pregnant yet and Mike’s job was up in the air so we decided it probably wasn’t the best time to start a family. Fast forward to June 2012 where we decided we were as ready as we could be to start a family but we weren’t going to try to make it happen. I chart as my method of birth control (Taking Charge of Your Fertility) so it was very easy to become obsessed with everything and in 2011 I did just that. Second time around I tried to throw charting out the door and be relaxed(for the most part) about the whole process. The last thing I was expecting was to get pregnant right off the bat. It can take 6 months to a year for normal couples with no fertility problems. A few days before I took a pregnancy test I started to feel really crampy(not normal for me) and I told Mike that I thought I was pregnant(we had the day off for Memorial Day and were on our way to Frederick). July 1st I confirmed my suspicions! I took a test on the 2nd as well and the line was a little darker that day. It was fun to get together with family on July 4th and have our little secret.

July 1st 2012 -

Everyone always asked if we were excited. I’m not sure excited was ever how I felt about being pregnant. I was two different things, 1) happy and in shock that it happened so quickly and 2) scared to death. As much as I wanted to start a family I was also perfectly happy with our life as it was and I knew that adding a little person to it would change things!! And change isn’t always easy.

Slowly but surely the physical changes started happening. And I will say that before I was pregnant I complained that I was fat. Until now I didn’t realize how skinny I was and I can’t wait to get back to the weight I was previously unhappy with!! Apparently it was so bad after all!!

The early days of waiting to start showing are so fun! Then it becomes to the point where you look fat and not pregnant. Then finally you look pregnant and then you get to the point where there are many days where you hope that you won’t get any bigger!! It’s amazing what your body can do!

Everyone would always ask if I was craving anything and I really did not. I don’t remember when I started feeling sick. It wasn’t right away but once it happened things were rough for awhile. While I only threw up 3 times my whole pregnancy(and once was during labor) once I started feeling sick it stuck around until I was 14 weeks. Carbs were my favorite food and I would sit at my desk and just nibble on food all morning until the worst of feeling sick went away. It was the only way I could survive without feeling completely horrible. After that phase passed I’m going to say my only pregnancy craving was cheese. And I ate LOTS AND LOST of cheese!!! I don’t even want to know how many pounds of it. ;)

 

Other randomness is that I stopped losing hair from my head(it just started falling out again last week). And if you know me I’m forever shedding. Mike says I shed like a dog. Haha! Also the hair on my legs started growing very slowly! Every woman is happy about that! However I started to grow more facial/neck hair. Not cool and most of it is still hanging around although from what I read it will go away eventually. I had sinus problems pretty much my entire pregnancy. And everything I ate left a bad taste in my mouth. That was quite annoying.

 

The long awaited ultrasound. I had myself convinced that we were having a girl because so many people thought that’s what we were having. A few old wives tales made it seem like we were having a girl as well. Much to my surprise it was announced that it was a boy! :) A few days later a phone call came that baby boy’s one kidney was dilated which could indicate potential problems. My pregnancy had been smooth sailing up until this point and I wasn’t expecting any problems to be found in the ultrasound. We were both a little worried but a second follow up ultrasound showed that the kidney was only mildly dilated compared to the first ultrasound and everything was looking normal and healthy. It was music to our ears!!

I tried to stay as active as possible and even toward the tale end of pregnancy I was still walking on the treadmill. Despite this I still gained a massive amount of weight. I was eating fairly healthy 95% of the time so it was a little discouraging. But in the end everyone was healthy so that’s what was important. I’m looking forward to getting this extra weight off but not looking forward to the hard work I’m going to have to put into it!

 

It was fun being pregnant at the same time as our friend Jenny. Our due dates were a month apart!

 

It’s crazy how much bigger I got the 3 months between Christmas and Levi’s birth!! I can’t remember when the heart burn started. I know that on Thanksgiving I had a horrible fever. It turns out I had a kidney infection. For some reason this brought on my first case of heart burn and Mike ran into Rite Aid on the way home from church one night and bought a HUGE bottle of tums. I thought I’d never be able to finish that bottle. And then it happened. Heart burn when you’d least expect it. I was getting into the bottle of tums right and left. I never needed much more than 3 a day but they brought much needed relief!!

 

This is the point where you think your going to burst if you get any bigger. It’s also when the stretch marks finally appeared. Just when I thought I had outwitted them too. :(

My due date, March 13th was also my 30th birthday. Little did I know Levi wouldn’t arrive for another 16 days.

Last picture the while we were still waiting…

To conclude this I didn’t love being pregnant. I didn’t hate it either. I felt great pretty much the entire time and was able to do whatever I felt like most of the time. Early on I was tired and needed naps but even that didn’t last long. Yes, it was fun feeling the baby moving around inside me but it’s much better to have him on the outside and I really don’t miss being pregnant at all like some people said I would. I didn’t think that I would…

Pregnancy is such a miracle.

It’s an amazing process.

It’s a process I’m glad is over!

Psalm 139:14 says it best:

“I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”

Next up, labor and delivery…