So pregnancy… it’s been a long eight months! But at the same time, they’ve flown by faster than I could have imagined. And one thing I haven’t done a good job of in the last eight months is blogging. (Although you can catch up on a few highlights on my mom2momdfw.com blog.
I’m hoping to do better once we have a cute little girl to tell you all about, but I’d also like to have some record of what pregnancy was like for me. One day she might want read about it. Or maybe I’ll want to remember. So here’s what I can remember as of now… they do say you get forgetful during pregnancy, and that’s been the case for me! So it might be up to Jason to remember many of the details…
How we found out: One day back in January… I don’t know the exact date anymore… but Jason and I had plans with friends to hit happy hour after work. We weren’t sure I was pregnant, but we had our suspicions! Figured what better time to find out for sure than before heading out to enjoy a few glasses of wine. So we headed home on our lunch break to take a pregnancy test. Or I took the test. You get it. I think we were expecting it to be negative, but it wasn’t! I have to admit we were both a little stunned at first, but more excited than anything. We didn’t have much time to think about it though, since we had to get back to work! And to happy hour we went later that night; I faked sickness as an excuse to not drink. Turns out we didn’t fool anyone, but hey, we tried! We went on trying to hide it for the first few months. In some cases I think our tricks and lies worked, but some friends of ours said they has suspected as much weeks before.
First trimester: I think I’ve been really lucky in pregnancy. I can’t complain too much about how I’ve felt. For a solid couple weeks in the first trimester, I was so tired I’d be on the couch asleep as soon as we finished dinner on work nights. Bedtime was not too long after 8. Hard to get anything done like this! And I had a few weeks when I felt pretty sick here and there, but I never actually got sick. For that I’m grateful! But aside from those few weeks, overall I haven’t felt all that bad. I managed to stay pretty active, which I think has helped all through this pregnancy. I stayed in my advanced yoga class (only got away with this by not telling the teacher I was pregnant, though!) and kept hitting the gym. And of course walking Bailey. Jason and I took a road trip north to Palo Duro Canyon state park and Caprock Canyon state park. Over the course of the weekend I think we hiked almost 20 miles. Not bad for a pregnant girl! Just glad we didn’t get lost at Caprock… it was close at one point!
Food: Aside from “when are you due?”, I think the No. 1 most asked question I’ve had is “do you crave anything?” I guess I’m a little abnormal when it comes to this part of pregnancy, because no, I don’t really crave anything in particular! And I really haven’t at any time during pregnancy. Early on, those weeks when I was feeling sick, I didn’t really want anything to eat. For a long time, I turned to Kraft Mac and Cheese when I knew I had to eat something. Is this a craving? Hard to call it one when that was one of my favorite meals pre-pregnancy! I think it was jut bland enough to taste OK when I was feeling a little nauseous. Even had it for breakfast once! In those early weeks I often knew exactly what I wanted to eat. Say a burger for dinner, or Italian. But there was never one thing that I always had to have. Jason never made any late-night runs. (I’m sure he would have though!) There was a short period during which broccoli would have sent me over the edge, and salads sounded horrible, but I think that’s about all. Early pregnancy felt a little like being hung over. The greasier the meal the better. But after those early weeks I was pretty much back to normal: Really wanting a pot of coffee a day, not just a cup, and missing the feta cheese on my salads. Not to mention my favorite taco at Fuzzy’s has feta! And I’m not going to lie, I was dying for a glass of red when we went out for Italian the other night. Soon, I had to tell myself! I have been on an ice cream kick lately. But again, can you count that as a craving!? Who doesn’t want ice cream every night when it’s 100 degrees out?
Boy or girl? We knew from the beginning we couldn’t stand not knowing if you are a boy or a girl! Hardly made it out of the sonogram without breaking down and finding out, but we did. The technician put the answer in an envelope for us, and there it sat for a few days until the weekend rolled around. We had dinner at Sardines that night (tasty Italian!) where we opened the envelope and found out you’re a girl! I think we were a little stunned, although I think we would have been boy or girl! But we were both expecting boy for some reason. Probably because Jason’s family is a little dominated by boys. But we couldn’t have been more excited to know we were actually having a girl. (Hope you really do end up being a girl since there’s pink all over your room now! Everyone we run into seems to think my pregnant belly looks like a boy.)
Second trimester: This one was a breeze. I was full of energy and feeling good. Not much to complain about really. We took a great trip to Boston/Cape Cod, and I felt great the entire time. There weren’t many late nights, but there was lots of eating, walking and even a 15-mile bike ride on Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard. We had a great summer, and kept really busy the weekends with friends and family (trips to Minnesota and Shreveport) and just taking advantage of the time we had left to just be us. One of the best things about these months was all the movement from our little girl. She might just be a soccer player with all the kicking she does. We loved just watching my stomach move up and down. She also seemed to make her appearance known during my many meetings during the day at work. Just doing her part to keep me awake I guess! She’s been an active baby though. Lately (trimester 3) she’s a little more subdued. Clearly has less space to move around. But she’s great at jabbing me with a foot or an elbow. We definitely know she’s still there!
Third trimester: Things have gotten a little tougher in the third trimester. I can’t roll over in bed without a struggle, and I’m up several time each night to use the bathroom. I’m also a little more uncomfortable because she’s most likely dropped and putting a little more pressure on the lower part of my stomach. So I’m moving slower, and feeling a little more tired lately. But really, all and all I can’t complain too much! I’m still feeling good enough to take Bailey on long walks ever day. I do yoga at least once a week, usually several times. And I’m still on the elliptical machine about once a week. Yoga classes have been great. It’s been a lot of fun to be around other pregnant women and to have the teacher there to tell you your aches and pains are normal. You always wonder the first time around I think! And most of all, it’s kept my body stretched out and feeling good. Or as good as possible, anyway. Most people really complain about a lack of sleep in these last months. I wake up all the time, but I’m lucky in that I can fall right back asleep. So aside from the occasional bad night here and there, I still feel pretty rested. I’m really starting to crave a real workout, not just a two-mile walk that leaves my feet aching! So I’ll be happy to get back on a bike, or even out on the soccer field again. I hope.
Your name: This has been a fun one, since our friends are dying to know your name, but we won’t tell! Had several people fooled into thinking you were going to be Jane Crane, but don’t worry, we would never do that to you! As of today (Aug. 30) we think we know what your name will be. We’re 100 percent settled on a first name (In fact there are painted letters in our house that set that in stone. I think your dad already bought the domain for your Web site, too.) and we’re 90 percent sure we have a middle name. That’s been the hard one for us though! How’d we pick your names? They’re names we love. You’re not named after anyone or anything, or a famous person or event. We just picked names that we love and hope you will too.
Well, I guess the rest of the story is to come. But I know as the days tick by, Jason and I can’t wait to meet our little girl and hold her in our arms. We’re hoping for an on-time or late delivery (no one ever says that, but maternity leave through all the holidays would be great!) but I think that probably guarantees you’ll show up early. Try to wait at least a couple more week though, k?