Thoughts on Pregnancy - Second Trimester!

YES! That was my initial thought once that 14th week was over. I didn't wake up through the night feeling like I was going to hurl and grabbing ferociously in the dark for the saltine cracker box. I was able to eat eggs for breakfast without wanting to vomit at the first scent, and I actually had energy; a ton of it. I started walking my 4 miles or so every other day, yoga was actually relaxing again, I wasn't falling asleep in the bathroom at work anymore (big bonus) or heavy breathing through my meetings at work so I wouldn't get sick while talking over quarterly reports and premiums. Most of all, potato chips took a whole new role in my life and a rather big one (for about two weeks or so).

The second trimester was such a breeze compared to the first and I actually caught myself saying that I enjoyed being pregnant more than a handful of times. I felt like superwoman, not to brag or anything, because I'm sure almost every pregnant woman will say the same. I know this feeling is short lived but I savored every single moment during this time. I savored the return of my appetite and the slow progression of my growing belly; taking photos almost all of the time. It's a rather surreal and crazy experience to watch your body change drastically over these last several months. The changes take so many forms and at times can be scary and discouraging, while other times it is so rewarding and exciting to know that your baby is growing in there, every day.

Little Miss P, as we've been calling her around here (YEP, it's a GIRL!) started creating little butterfly flutters in my stomach this trimester. We found out we were having a girl at 17 1/2 weeks after begging our doctor to check before a trip we took home to Philadelphia. I remember sitting in the ultrasound room excited to see what this little being was going to be but just hoping she was healthy and happy. The tech told us it was a girl and it was the most exciting news we could imagine. Images of shopping, arts & crafts, and a little mini-me did cross my mind almost immediately (is that bad? I don't care if it is!). We had so many ideas for names at that point for a girl and had been struggling with names for a boy...but then we chose something entirely different for her name after some searching. We think her name is perfect but we'll reveal it later. Fo rnow, we call our little girl "Little P" : )

She took a little longer to start moving than I thought she would but I distinctly remember being in a morning meeting at work, right after I had breakfast. As I'm sitting there listening to a planning meeting for the upcoming quarter, I felt as though a bubble had burst against my stomach out of nowhere. It caught me so off guard, I think the emotion was clearly visible all over my face. Immediately I smiled and knew that Little P was letting her mama know she was getting bigger. After that, I started regularly feeling her little twists, turns, and jabs almost every day. One of my favorite things to do at night (when she is the most active) while sitting on the couch relaxing, is to watch and feel her move. I stare at my stomach for 15 minutes at a time watching the little flutters and my stomach just move and she finds a comfortable spot. David laughs at times because I look like a lunatic, just staring at the large basketball stomach of mine without breaking concentration. I admit it, I'm crazy but it really is the coolest thing ever and probably one of my most favorite things about this pregnancy. The connection you feel when your baby is moving inside of you is so unreal but it's shared just between us both.

All of these amazing things happened this trimester and with them came some of the not so great points.  While my days are so energetic, my nights went from somewhat uncomfortable to completely uncomfortable. I wake up A LOT for bathroom breaks, tossing from side to side, and just from failing to find a satisfying spot where nothing aches. I do miss my sleep because generally I'm a really good sleeper. The only thing that I have found to be somewhat soothing and allows me to sleep for longer periods of time without waking up uncomfortable is stretching and doing some yoga poses before bed. If I can stretch my legs and relax my body before I lie down, I've noticed I wake up fewer times and sleep for longer periods of time.

Another not so great aspect of this trimester is the body changes that you are not expecting and at the same time, attempting to accept this new body when you were so used to the old one! There are some days when I just don't feel awesome and the big belly and wider hips I'm sporting makes me feel like a huge waffle - or something like that. I'll admit at times that I have to remind myself that I'm blessed to be able to have this experience and bring this little life into the world and that my body is strong enough to be able to do so but as all changes hit us; they take some time getting used to. Just have to keep reminding myself that we as women go through this life altering experience because we are strong enough to do so and our bodies do amazing things during this time. It really is crazy but we receive the most beautiful gift in return.

Anyway, now that I have ranted on and on, I will leave you with this: the second trimester was extremely fun and great for me. I was able to get to connect with Little P and it's where pregnancy took a whole new meaning for me. Now as I hit the third trimester, I'm starting to see more changes but I will tell you about that another time : )

Thoughts on Pregnancy - First Trimester

It's been awhile and I know, that phrase is used all too much on this blog but I haven't really been able to pinpoint what is road blocking my creatively lately to keep it up, but it's something. I'm not sure if it's EVERYTHING that has been swirling around in this whole big world of mine for the last 8 or so months, but I'm blaming it on that. Big wedding, big move, big new jobs, and baby, and now another move (only across the highway! thankfully!).

Anyway, so I know one of my last posts was about David and I having a baby (yay!) and I regret not keeping up to date with this blog as my pregnancy progressed but I have some time to reflect right now and I figured why not? The sole purpose of this blog - if not to give me an outlet for creativity and writing, was to look back and have something where our lives and the crazy turns they take, are documented. The good and the bad, I always say. So let me get down to the good and the bad of pregnancy and what I've learned so far.

As a foreword- I am not claiming to be some all-knowing preggo lady that has ALL the advice for other baby carrying superheroes out there, so please do not take anything I am saying offensively. This space here is just for me to reflect on my life, feelings, and perspective : )

First Trimester 

I was on a complete cloud of fluffy goodness yet sheer panic and anxiety when we found out that little P was going to be joining our super little fam in 9 months. It was a little bit of a surprise but the best surprise we could have possibly imagined. We were just in the beginning of settling in our new home in San Antonio, adjusting to new positions/careers, and missing our family pretty badly; so it definitely brought a big burst of sunshine into our crazy hectic lives and gave us something so incredibly awesome to look forward to and experience. 

I was pretty tired, sick, and moody in the beginning. I'll admit it because I know David would say this if he were writing this blog - good thing he isn't. Everything made me feel sick and tired, besides the peanut butter chocolate soy banana smoothies I'd have every morning to get rid of my nausea and be able to stomach the prenatal vitamins I dreaded having to take. I lived on saltine crackers, my PB Chocolate Soy Banana Smoothies, and baked potatoes for the first 14 weeks of my pregnancy. The upside to this (which I was completely scared of for a long while) was that I didn't really gain much weight at all in the first trimester, so I didn't really feel like my body was different and to be honest, I didn't really feel pregnant besides the nausea. My body felt the same. 

On the downside - my workouts took a backseat which was a little excruciating for me. I'm a pretty avid walker, Jillian Michaels and Yoga guru. I love to walk about 4 miles a day for at least 4 days a week on a normal basis (I hate running, yet I do that when I'm feeling extra motivated) and I follow Jillian Michaels workouts like my life depends on it but more so my behind and my legs/arms. I also love my yoga and occasional meditating afterwards. During my first trimester, all of those workouts felt like I was running a marathon and was never going to make it. I pushed myself to walk every day but it was rough and I could get through about 50 minutes of yoga but either wanted to vomit or take a nap afterwards. I tried to keep it up but my fitness suffered pretty badly my first trimester and so that was one of the downs of pregnancy for me in the beginning. On the bright side, I was able to savor a lot of good sleep in that first trimester before the sleepless nights that I'm experiencing now hit!

Anyway, physically like I mentioned, I didn't feel pregnant and at times I actually felt really bad about myself because I wasn't exactly feeling "connected" with this little being growing inside of me. I'd tell David some nights that I felt like a terrible person because I'm not feeling a connection with the baby and that was a little hard to swallow at first until our second ultrasound. During our second ultrasound, the tech was chitchatting up a storm, as I saw this little body with legs kicking and jumping pop up on the screen. The tech handed me a mint and said "Eat it and watch what happens." So I did. In a few minutes, the little being I was watching intently on the screen starting doing little somersaults. David looked at me with his mouth wide open and said "wow, that's a baby." He has such great reactions people! It was honestly one of the coolest moments I have ever experienced. I couldn't feel the movements but watching them on screen as they were projected from what was happening inside of me was utterly amazing. That was my baby. We didn't find the gender out at that appointment but we did later on, which I will tell you about in my next post! 

After that appointment, we were so happy and excited to meet this little jelly bean! The rest of the first trimester went the same until about 14 weeks, when I miraculously was given my energy back and potato chips became my best friend for about a good 2-3 weeks. I'll tell you about that next time. I think I've gone overdrive on baby talk for one post!

Happy Tuesday!