Sunday, July 1, 2012

Rebirth - My Top 10

Over the past few days, I’ve been going over my pregnancy journals and trying to trim everything down to fit into one post. I wrote in my pregnancy journal at least once a week about random thoughts and new info I had researched. I also tracked things like how I felt emotionally, how my body felt, exercising, dreams, cravings and/or diet, baby movements, and info from my doctor’s appointments. It has been fun going back to those weeks and giggling, now that I have a semi-sane brain, at some of the entries. The task of putting even just the highlights into one post, however, has my head spinning. One version of this post actually had half of the verbiage abbreviated just to fit it into 2 pages… Not the easiest read. So for this post, I’ve decided to make two parts, my top 10 pregnancy confessions and the short version of my Tuff-man’s birth story. Hope you enjoy!

My Top 10 Pregnancy Confessions (in no particular order):

  1. Medical Provider: Switching from my OB to a midwife practice made my pregnancy so much easier. The midwives made me feel important and I never waited more than 20 minutes to see them. I got to meet and get to know each of the midwives, so I was comfortable with whoever would be on call when I gave birth. A plus to having amazing medical providers was the labor and delivery rooms in the birthing center, equipped with birthing tubs and plenty of room to move around.
  2. Baby Movements: The first several times I felt baby move, I thought it was just gas. I guess, if I’m speaking truthfully, I still can’t say whether or not it was a poot or the baby dancing around. It feels like little bubbles at first. But by the 3rd trimester, you can definitely tell which movements your baby is making. My little nugget would roll around and stretch out, kicking my cell phone off my stomach or causing a big bulge out the left side of my abdomen. He was also very active the entire time I was in labor.
  3. Oopsie’s: My poor bladder. It wouldn’t leak at random (thank GOD), but when I sneezed or laughed it would just sputter out. It was terrible! My husband is totally clumsy and a bit silly at times; I would laugh so hard that I’d have to go sit on the toilet until my giggle fit was over. And when I was at work and about to sneeze, I would have to cross my legs and squeeze as hard as I could causing my sneeze to sound something like the Tasmanian devil… even then, I still had to change my delicates twice a day.
  4. Granny Panties and Maternity Bras: They really are the best thing since pairing peanut butter and jelly! I loved my granny panties… I sported them in all different shades of pastel like I was a Victoria’s Secret model. My husband teased me and said he thought I looked sexy in them… I could care less. On weekends, sometimes that was all the clothes I could muster to put on.
  5. Pillow Fight: Starting about week 20, my pillow count was up to 10. My poor husband hardly fit in our queen sized bed, and I dared him to touch a single one of my pillows for the punishment would be as severe as loosing limbs! I had one between my legs, one to support my back, two under my head, one in the front to snuggle with, one tucked under my belly for support, and an extra one by my butt. It was ridiculous how many I needed to stay comfortable. And once I got perfectly situated, I would have to get up and pee… ugh!
  6. Swollen Appendages: At 37 weeks, I seriously swole up. My toes and fingers looked like little Vienna sausages, my ankles had so much fluid that I had to rotate them every 30 minutes, and I could only fit into one pair of the most hideous shoes. I had carpal tunnel in my hands… It was bad. I would have to answer my phone, put it on speaker and situate it in my bra upside down to talk on the phone. Looks funny when you’re walking through the grocery store. That’s what I call hands free.
  7. Maternity Clothes: Elastic and stretchy material everywhere. I felt so comfortable during pregnancy. I was ignorant when it came to clothes to wear when pregnant. I didn’t want to be in muumuus all day long and I couldn’t really afford to spend money on a whole new wardrobe. Thanks to Old Navy, I got to wear normal looking clothes and the maternity jeans were comfortable and cheap.
  8. Emotional Rollercoaster’s: I didn’t have too many ups and downs during pregnancy. But I did have some triggers that would just catch me on fire. We were super slow at work and I was the only female, so that triggered some negative feelings during the day. To keep the blues away, I would crank up some Justin Timberlake at work and do little 10 minute workouts or just dance (yes, I would dance my butt off at work), and it helped that I only worked 4 days a week. I also started volunteering at the hospital so I could be around some women that were interested in my pregnancy progress. And let’s not forget the other side of the spectrum. I didn’t just giggle here and there, when something was funny it was SO FUNNY! I would nearly kill myself laughing. Something would tickle me and I would spaz out. Sometimes I would have to get in a cold shower to calm myself. I would laugh so hard that nothing would be coming out my mouth (except for drool) and I would be hyperventilating with tears running down my face. We would watch America’s Funniest Home Videos and I would crumble onto the floor… and once it started, I’d be a hot mess for the next hour (not to mention all the “oopsies”… see #3).
  9. Cravings: I didn’t crave weird things, per say. No peanut butter pesto pasta sandwiches covered in syrup or mashed potatoes with chocolate chips and pineapple (both actual cravings of friends of mine). But I did have pregnancy staples. Cinnamon… Oh cinnamon! Whether it was mixed in butter as a spread for my morning bagel, or sprinkled on my French toast, or mixed in with the dry rub we put on ribs… Cinnamon was my dearest friend. I also became very fond of Mega Sour Gummy Warheads… The phone would often ring at work when I had just put 4-5 in my mouth at one time, making it a fun challenge to answer without drooling all over the handset.
  10. Sex: I dare not go into detail, but I will say that it is both the best and worst you’ve ever had. I know it’s either black or white with most women. I’ve heard a few women say that it sent their sex drive through the roof, but most women I’ve spoken with say pregnancy was the brick wall that kept them from intimacy. All I               can say is that when I wanted it, I WANTED IT… and when I didn’t, I did everything short of putting on a chastity belt and throw away the key.
I loved being pregnant. It felt so natural and wonderful and besides the last few weeks (which I was warned is the time during pregnancy when you know God was a man) I felt great. I mean, I walked about 1.5 miles a day and swam laps for an hour 4 days a week. I even did a 1 hour water aerobics class the day before I went into labor. It was a wonderful and exciting journey, and I’m so glad I documented those little details. I will be able to look back on that and get taken back to those days when my children are older and having children. And I can’t wait to share with them their birth stories, and tell them how they came into this world. Here are a couple pregnancy pictures for fun!

16 Weeks

 22 Weeks


28 Weeks

32 Weeks

39.5 Weeks

1 comment:

  1. Lol #8 was me too! Especially at work I would lose it just thinking of something funny. My coworkers thought I was crazy.

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