Today we are already a couple of days past 22 weeks pregnant...when did this happen? At this rate, I feel as though I'll blink and already be snuggling our precious little human! As much as I cannot wait for those moments, I truly am trying to embrace and cherish every little second of this pregnancy. After all, you're only pregnant for the first time once. We plan on having at least a couple more children and I know each pregnancy will bring different experiences, but, as I said, you're only pregnant for the first time one time. Which means experiencing those flutters in your belly for the first time ever, knowing what it's like to have boobs 3x their normal size and looking like road maps from the extra blood supply for the first time, being terrified due to not knowing the difference between growing pains and "trouble" pains, making the mistake of YouTube'ing natural births, seeing your husband's face when he realizes there really is a human in there, receiving endless compliments and love from complete strangers, walking up a small set of stairs and then having to take a knee due to fatigue, experiencing a legit rollercoaster of emotions for the first time, and just...ah, so many more firsts. I know there are an abundance of more firsts to come, but here are some of my experiences so far:
Trimester 1
It sounds strange, but I really did know I was pregnant as soon as it happened (no, this is not a First Response ad). My body just felt...different. Here it is, Labor Day weekend, and I'm already fixing myself NA Bloody Mary's and emptying beer cans only to fill them back up with water because of my pregnancy hunch. We were spending the weekend with my in-laws and surely they would have suspected something had I not had beverage-in-hand. Fifteen days and 12 pregnancy tests later, it was a sure thing. My husband and I were over-joyed. Well, there actually isn't a word in existence to even remotely describe how we felt. The first month or so I was feeling great, it was pure bliss. I was still exercising and practicing yoga on a daily basis and had a ton of energy, we even made it out to Colorado for a visit with friends and hiked in the glorious Colorado mountains. Fast forward a few more weeks...what happened. From the moment I woke up to the moment I fell asleep I felt as though I had the world's worst hangover. Never did I vomit (surely I probably would have liked to for some relief), but was nauseated beyond belief. I had so many food aversions I ended up losing a little bit of weight, and with ZERO energy I was not exercising/yoga'ing like usual. I was, however, beginning to feel a 'bloated' sensation. There was an endless supply of saltine crackers on my desk and I was slamming water and orange juice to get an ounce of relief. My doctor finally prescribed me some Zofran for the nausea which only helped for a couple of hours at most, so I stopped taking that. We also discovered that I had quite the Vitamin D deficiency, so I began taking 4,000 IU of D a day in addition to my prenatal. I absolutely tried staying as positive as possible and was still overjoyed to think of the miracle that was occurring in my body, but holy Hannah! What made it even more challenging was getting through the day feeling like I did and not being able to tell anyone about it (our immediate family knew early on but we didn't begin telling others until about 10+ weeks or so). As the 2nd trimester neared closer and closer, each week began getting better. I'd only be nauseated once every three days or so instead of daily, and I was actually starting to gain a little weight. Here is a photo of me at 10 weeks thinking that a teeny bump was emerging ( I think I was hallucinating).
Trimester 2
We made it!! That's all I could think. Now I was "free" to tell whomever I wanted of this miracle inside of me. Just like many women, I was sucked into the notion that telling anyone before the 2nd trimester was not a good idea. My advice now...tell anyone you want and as soon as you want to. I think it would have been much easier getting through those nauseated times if more family/friends knew of our little secret. Anyway, things were going fantastic. The only strange thing to happen this trimester thus far was the nosebleeds (and I mean gushing) on a daily basis...but I'd take that over nausea any day. I began experiencing more of those tear-worthy firsts I mentioned earlier and was actually starting to get a bump! Though, it wasn't noticeable until around 15-16 weeks. My energy finally came back enough to where I was able to exercise and practice yoga regularly again at around that time as well. I began feeling flutters at around 17 weeks and we found out that our little human is a BOY at our 18 week ultrasound (he was not shy).
Four weeks later and I have quite the noticeable bump. Now, I am feeling more "punches and kicks" as opposed to flutters. I still exercise regularly (but not intensely by any means); however, I'd be fooling you if I didn't say I was in bed by about 8:30-9 o'clock each night. My appetite is in full swing and I am totally soaking up the compliments and congratulatory remarks from strangers!
At 22 Weeks:
Sex: It's a boy!
Appetite: Oh it's there.
Cravings: Anything refreshing: fruit, olives, pickles, orange juice.
Weight Gain: 6 lbs
Energy: Good! But...getting as many Z's as possible.
Mood: Happiness.
Exercise: Mostly yoga and stretching.
Sleep: Getting it. Starting to get a little uncomfortable unless in certain positions.
Nursery: House is under construction, but John is working hard at getting it done so I can get my eager fingers on that room!
Body: Skin/hair/nails all great for the first time ever. Belly is a stretchin'.
Stretch Marks: None. But boy am I vein-y...looks like branches coming up from my lower region!
Creams: Nothing special, I slather on coconut oil daily.
No comments:
Post a Comment