Big (little) News!

I guess it’s about time I tell you guys the news. A little baby girl is joining us! Yes, I’m pregnant. And I’ve just made it to the third trimester. Seemed like a good time to announce it over here. I also wondered whether or not to even announce it since it feels like something very personal. But I figured I normally announce big changes in my life here, mostly moves, and I have gotten pretty personal in the past. So it made sense I should have a pregnancy announcement. Plus, she might start appearing in pictures, and people might be wondering where that baby came from. Well, don’t wonder, it came from me.

This week marks week 28 of my pregnancy, which means it’s also the start of the third trimester.

Here’s an update of how it’s all been going so far…

First Trimester (weeks 1-12):

The first trimester was easy as can be. Pregnancy-wise. I basically didn’t even start to wonder if I was pregnant until I was already 3 months in. At the time, I was focusing on other things, and I attributed the first missed periods to anxiety. And I had absolutely zero other symptoms of pregnancy. I luckily skipped through all that nausea and sickness symptoms you see on TV and read about. There was no running to the closest bin to puke.

Second Trimester (weeks 13-27):

Week 13

On week 13, February 17, while travelling in India, I took a pregnancy test to confirm the suspicions.

Week 16

(March) It wasn’t until week 16 that I went to my first OBGYN appointment after settling from my trip to India. I had an ultrasound and everything was going great. Baby was healthy. And we were told by the doctor that it was 84% chance a girl. This was actually not news because even before the appointment we knew it was a girl. We could just feel it.

I began having pelvic pain, and after 4 different chiropractors, I found one that helped me. I was worried because the pain started early in the pregnancy (more common in the third trimester). It made me worry about future pain getting worse and worse. Plus when you’re pregnant, you can’t take ibuprofen, an old friend of mine. Luckily the chiropractor kept the pain manageable.

I think I was more susceptible to this pelvic pain early on because of my hip injury (labral tear) that won’t heal. My pain is only on my right side, where the injury also is.

Week 20

(April) On week 20 we had a very cool 4D ultrasound, and confirmed 100% it was a girl. No surprise there.

Also, mom came to visit for 10 days. She came to the ultrasound and we also went shopping for baby.

We also, not on purpose ended up buying a lot of things with elephants on them. It looks like baby girl is going to like elephants.

Week 22

By around week 22 I started to worry I wasn’t gaining enough weight, based on what I had read in books. Supposedly, for someone starting off with a healthy weight you ought to gain about 12-15 pounds in the second trimester, or about 1 – 1 ½ pounds per week. I had gained about 4 pounds during the whole pregnancy so far. And I skipped an ob-gyn appointment, so it was going to be 8 weeks total until my next one.

I even once walked to the nearest dental clinic and asked if I could use their scale! (Crazy pregnant woman.)

So hubby bought me a scale after I voiced my concern. I started weighing myself on week 24, two weeks later I’d gained about 2 pounds. So, that was good. But because of my worry, I did try to eat more (healthily of course), so maybe my concern paid off. I voiced my concern to two other women, and they both brushed it off as a problem.

They say you worry about everything on your first pregnancy.

Other than that, the pregnancy was going great. I continued without crazy symptoms, cravings, or food aversions I hear are common. My appetite and cravings remained the same.

I really dislike taking selfies, but since week 20 I figured I should take a weekly bump pic just so that later on I don’t regret not having done so.

Symptoms

My mood swings definitely amplified a bit though. I had about a day a week where I was super emotionally sensitive and even sad, and cried, quite a bit. It was the kind of crying that you can’t stop yourself from crying and you think to yourself “I’m upset about this little thing but why am I crying and why can’t I stop?”. I had a few sad days. And several small things that frustrated me made me cry. Pretty annoying haha.

I also had a couple days where I was SUPER sleepy and it just hit me out of nowhere. One Saturday, I fell asleep around 5 pm watching TV, couldn’t wake up till around 9:30 pm, got up to brush my teeth, and went straight to bed and slept through the night.

I also had a clumsy fingers incident. Dropped a full glass bottle of purple fruit juice which splattered all over the kitchen. When that happened, I had recently read clumsy fingers are common in pregnancy, based on the relaxin hormone that relaxes not just your pelvis joints and muscles for birth, but it affects your whole body.

Week 25

I didn’t start feeling the baby until around week 23 or 24. By week 25, I was feeling her more often.

Pregnancy clothes? What are those? I’ve been able to use my own clothes so far. By around week 25 I did start using a band I bought that goes over the waist of your pants to be able to use them unbuttoned.

I’m being detailed here, but the second trimester was a breeze. Except for a week of pretty bad pelvic pain (before chiropractors treatments), mood swings, and two very painful middle-of-the-night calf cramps. Everything was easy and great. So much so that I often thought to myself “is this normal?, for it to be so easy?”. I know, I know… the harder parts are yet to come.

Third Trimester (weeks 28-40 or birth):

Well, that’s now. And like I said, all is going well.

I found this fun little questionnaire at MontgomeryFest, one of my favourite blogs, and thought I’d fill my version. Both to keep track myself, and well, to share with y’all. I think I have to say y’all now, because I’ve been living in Texas for 9 months now.

Pregnancy Update Questionnaire (Week 28)

Baby is the size of an:

Eggplant, apparently. Measuring almost 15 inches and weighing about 2.2 lbs. I really don’t like eggplant, so I’m looking forward to week 29 haha.

Baby’s movement: 

I feel her every day now. Every now and then I’ll feel a kick strong enough to startle me. And every night that I lie down on my left side to go to sleep, I feel a lot of movement. She’s a night owl, for now.

Clothes: 

Still using my own clothes. And occasionally this band I got at Target, over my pants. A couple of months ago I also bought a dress and some jean shorts at the maternity section, both of which I’ve yet to use.

At home, I live in these camis, and either my comfy sweatpants or sweatshorts. Out and about, I use my own pants or shorts with that band, and a nice sleeveless top. It’s getting warm. I stopped wearing heels at the beginning of the second trimester because it was making my pelvic pain worse. So I stick to my chucks or ballet flats.

I might have to get a new (bigger) bra soon. A couple still fit comfortably, but a few have been decommissioned.

Food cravings:

Nothing out of the ordinary. The other day I was craving dessert in general, so I made brownies. I was upset I had to make them haha, I did not feel like cooking, but the craving was too strong. I’ve also been craving cheesecake, which I have yet to satisfy. I did have one day crave grilled cheese, and another day I craved a turkey sandwich. The latter is probably the most random craving I’ve had. And during the pregnancy, I started every night having a cold glass of milk which has been extremely satisfying.

Total weight gain:

About but less than 9 lbs.

Health/fitness:

I’ve been trying to do at least 30min daily of some kind of mild to moderate exercise. My pelvic pain has been making me take it easy and skip some movements like lunges which aggravate the pain. Definitely no running. I go to the apartment gym about twice a week. And I try to go out for a riverside walk every weekday.

Sometimes I look up prenatal yoga or prenatal workout videos on youtube at home. Been focusing on squats, pelvic tilts, and arm and back strength.

 

Symptoms:

Um.. some pelvic pain and tiredness from bad sleep.

Sleep:

Not great. Waking up many times a night. I tried the pregnancy pillows that women swear by. Tried the Snoogle body pillow, it’s gigantic. Then the Snoogle Mini, still too big and not comfy. Finally tried the Boppy support pillow. Eh. I returned all three of them. Not for me, but if you read the reviews, women love them. I’m the weird one. I stick to my knee pillow I had pre-pregnancy. Use it every night. Dreams have been pretty wild too. And just recently started having to get up to pee in the middle of the night.

Since the beginning of the second trimester, you’re not supposed to sleep on your back. And they recommend side sleeping, especially the left side. Luckily, I’m a side sleeper. But I’ve found myself waking up lying on my back! I also wake up often to switch sides.

Baby items purchased:

When my mom was here in April we prematurely bought a bunch of stuff. Including clothes, a bathtub, and blankets. Still need to buy a bunch of necessary stuff.

Dad is:

Anxious about some things but very excited to meet her.

Looking forward to:

Meeting baby girl.

Missing:

Not having pelvic pain and being able to exercise normally.

General thoughts: 

I am a bit overwhelmed with everything that needs to be purchased, and all the pre-birth preparations that need to be done. I’m also quite worried about the first several weeks of sleepless nights and not being able to handle myself very well from the exhaustion and possible grumpiness of attending to a newborn, and dealing with taking care of the home and cooking.

And I’m worried I won’t have the help I need because hubby is gone from 7am – 6pm, and he needs his sleep to be able to function and keep unfortunate neurological diseases under control. And I’m also worried that for whatever reason they’ll have to do a c-section instead of a natural birth. Hopefully not. On a positive note, I’m quite excited for this little girl to become part of our lives, and I’m grateful for so far, having a very easy pregnancy.

And there you have it!