I can’t tell you how happy I am to FINALLY write this post. I have felt so disconnected from my blog and all of you while trying to keep this secret. I share so much of my personal self as part of BFC. Keeping a secret that was impacting my everyday life made it SO hard to feel like I was being honest and authentic. But, the wait is over and I can finally let you know that our family is growing!
Michael and I have wanted to have a family for pretty much as long as we’ve been together. The journey to this announcement has been a pretty long, rocky one (more on that some other time.) We’re so elated and feeling truly blessed that we will finally become parents in October.
I definitely plan to share parts of my pregnancy (and life as a mom once the time comes) here on my blog in ways that it makes sense with the content I already share. Currently, I’m 19 weeks so, for now, I thought I’d share an update you on how this pregnancy has been so far.
Waiting to announce
Waiting until we’re just about halfway through our pregnancy to announce might seem like a little longer than normal. Certainly, WHEN you tell the world is totally personal and some people choose to tell sooner and some later. The truth is I’ve been dying to share this news and we originally planned to announce around 14/15 weeks. But, the first half of my pregnancy has been a little unpredictable.
We found out we were pregnant at the end of February. Early in my pregnancy, I was put on bedrest due to two enlarged cysts on my ovaries. These cysts can put you at risk of your ovary contorting (essentially they would flip over on themselves). I honestly don’t know what would have happened to my pregnancy if my ovary did twist (if anything) but was warned by my doctor that if it DID happen it would be “the worst pain I’ve ever felt.” And, that’s a direct quote from two different doctors. It’s safe to say I wasn’t interested in risking that, so I spent weeks 7-12 on a soft bedrest. I call is a soft bedrest because I was still OK to go to work (I sit at a desk all day), but wasn’t allowed to exercise, walk the dogs, lift anything more than a few pounds, or basically do anything that might “exert” myself.
After entering my 2nd trimester I was looking forward to having a normal rest of my pregnancy. Unfourtantly, we ended up in the doctor’s office for emergency visits on three different occasions between week 14 and 17. Each visit was a nervewracking experience as each time we didn’t know what was happening and what the outcome would be. Luckily, each visit ended in the magical sound of hearing our baby’s heartbeat and our doctor assuring us that the baby and the pregnancy were fine. I can’t tell you what a rollercoaster of an experience that was and how humbling the process makes you for the TRUE miracle that creating life is. You wonder how on earth there are so many people when the magic of creating one is so fragile.
My First Trimester
I’m currently 19 weeks so I’m well into my 2nd trimester now, but I figured I’d recap what my first trimester was like.
Symptoms
Morning Sickness: Y’all I suffered through some pretty bad morning sickness weeks 7-12. It certainly wasn’t as awful as some people get, but I spent pretty much every day from about 5am-9pm feeling nauseous. Luckily I was able to curb the puking to the morning to avoid that joy at the office, but it was a pretty rough couple of weeks. I could mostly only eat soup, bread, and saltines (so much for healthy eating for the growing baby…)
My favorite morning sickness remedies were:
- Ginger Ale
- Stork Morning Sickness Tea – this stuff really worked for me. It wasn’t a long-term fix but would soothe the feeling of nausea for at least an hour or two.
- Saltines – I actually lived off of these. I should have taken out stock I bought so many. I’d eat some every morning before getting out of bed which helped with the early morning nausea. Then, I carried them with me everywhere and ate a few everytime I started to feel sick.
Fatigue: Wow, the level of fatigue I felt in my first trimester was unlike anything I’ve ever felt. I remember reading about first-trimester fatigue and thinking “ok, yea so I’ll sleep more.” But you guys, it was SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT. Not only was I falling asleep on the sofa at about 6pm most nights, but my actual body just felt exhausted all the time. I remember laying in bed feeling like I could not get up. My entire body felt like cement.
The fatigue faded around 11 weeks and slowly migrated into insomnia, which I can’t tell if that’s worse or better. I went from sleeping 12 hours a night to 2-4 hours a night.
Food Cravings
My food cravings in the first trimester were ALL about the morning sickness. The nausea totally dictated what I wanted to eat. In general, my meals consisted of soup (I craved soup of every kind), saltines, and toast. Thrilling, I know.
I had major food aversions in my first trimester to my favorite veggies like broccoli and avocados which was really hard because I was trying to get in enough fruits and veggies during the day. But, the thought of most veggies made me want to hurl. I’m so glad those aversions have finally subsided!
Body Changes
The MOST surprising change in my body in my first trimester was the change in my rib cage. I feel like you hear about everything else getting bigger. People talk about the belly bump, breasts getting bigger, feet and ankles getting bigger, etc. But you guys, my rib cage must have grown by INCHES in the first trimester. By about 9 weeks all my bras were already feeling tight and I was buying bra extenders and new bras. I knew that I would likely go up in a cup size during pregnancy but was so unprepared for the girth of my rib cage to grow so much, too!
Other Updates
Baby’s gender: Yep! We know, and will be sharing soon!
Baby’s name: We THINK we’ve picked a name, but we’re sort of teetering back and forth between two at the moment.
Nursery: We haven’t done a single thing in terms of the nursery, or really anything baby gear related. As I mentioned, the first half of this pregnancy has been pretty rocky and buying things was at the bottom of our list. I’m looking forward to getting to start that process! Our lil’ babe will have a sort of temporary nursery since we’re likely moving a few months after he/she is born. The lease is up on our current rental in January and we’ve been saving to buy a house (eep!) But, I know I’ll get in major nesting mode soon enough (I’ve always been a nester, even before pregnancy), so I still plan to put together a nursery.
Currently Missing: The baby does NOT like coffee (I know, it’s very tragic). Well, really the baby doesn’t like black coffee, which is how I drink it. My guess is it’s too acidic because I end up with a stomach ache after just a few sips. It’s been pretty hard not having my morning coffee, but seeing as you’re supposed to limit your caffeine during pregnancy anyways, it has been OK.
I’ve also been craving sushi like crazy. This isn’t anything new as I craved it before pregnancy but now I just can’t have it. A good friend of mine is also pregnant and we’re planning to get together to make our own “pregnancy safe” sushi and I’m literally so excited I could cry.
Best Purchase so Far: Maternity jeans. WOW, what game-changer. I shouldn’t have waited as long as I did (I didn’t get any maternity clothing until about week 16). The minute you start to get a little bump/bloat just do yourself the favor and get yourself some maternity pants.
