Today's prompt is to write about something I know a lot about... I can't really say I know a lot about pregnancy, as each pregnancy is unique and women experience it in so many different ways. However, I have been trying to know everything I can about pregnancy since I was in first grade, the year my parents had "the talk" with me. The next year my mom had my little brother and I watched the delivery. Yep, it's true. I've been prepping myself for labor since age eight. Ever since then, I've been on a quest to discover anything and everything I can about pregnancy, labor and delivery, postpartum symptoms, breastfeeding, etc. When my first close friend had a baby almost ten years ago now, I hounded her with questions and I haven't stopped since. If you've had a baby, please tell me every gross and beautiful detail. I want to know it all. Now that I've acquired so much information over the years and experienced the first half of a pregnancy myself {21 weeks today!}, I thought I would share my knowledge. Many of you probably aren't as forward about asking your friends for pregnancy details, so I will just try to answer some questions you've possibly been wanting to ask. And if you are a guy {although I doubt many men read my blog}, you can stop reading now. Thanks. I'm going to break these posts down by trimester, and I'm going to share three things: my own experiences during pregnancy, stories/symptoms experienced by other women, and a bit of advice. Here it goes... Real life... The first trimester was a breeze. Zero sickness. Almost no tiredness. I thought I would get sick, because my mom was sick when she was pregnant, but it never happened, so clearly genetics aren't a determining factor in morning sickness. I worked out throughout my whole first trimester. I never felt nauseous. Quite a few of my closest friends were also NEVER sick during pregnancy, so it is possible and I wish a sickness-free pregnancy upon every woman I know who is hoping to conceive. The toughest weeks were 6-8. This is when I felt the most tired {but I still easily stayed up until 10pm and survived off 7-8 hours of sleep}. This is also when my chest started to grow, which was definitely my most uncomfortable symptom for about four weeks. Around week 10 the soreness went away, but I had already increased a full cup size. Eek. Scary! Also, your nasal passages get messed up during pregnancy {because of increased blood flow, sensitive membranes, etc.}, so it's common to get nose bleeds. I got one around week 8, right in the middle of a group meeting at school. I also would often see faint blood when I would blow my nose, which went away around week 12 but has come back recently. Additionally, I would wake up every morning feeling like I had a cold or allergies. I would typically sneeze and blow my nose for the first hour or two of the day, and then the problem would go away until the next morning. Apparently, this has an official name... the rhinitis of pregnancy, and it's also caused by swollen blood vessels and increased mucus in the nose. I had no major food aversions during my first trimester. Certain foods would sound unappetizing every now and then {yogurt, peanut butter on bread, etc.} but nothing that I couldn't eat at all for weeks on end. And did you know you aren't supposed to eat any extra calories during the first trimester and you should only gain 3-5 pounds? I gained five pounds in my first 8 weeks, and 10 by the end of the trimester. Oh well! My clothes starting fitting awkwardly during week five {which was actually before I knew I was pregnant}, but it felt like premenstrual bloating, so I didn't think much of it. However, other than a general tightness in my clothes, I could pretty much wear almost everything in my closet {with the exception of my skinniest jeans} all the way through the first 13 weeks. I went for looser fitting clothes when possible, so I never even used my Bella Band. Rumor has it... You can puke your guts out every day of the first trimester, sometimes multiple times a day. Sickness usually starts around week six and ends by week 13 or 14, but I've had some friends that have had to battle sickness for their ENTIRE pregnancy. There are meds for this if it gets extremely bad and you can't function or you are losing weight. Also, strong food aversions are likely. Many women hate the idea of eating meat, especially plain cuts of meat that aren't chopped up and hidden in a dish. It's also common to dislike fruits and/or vegetables for a while. My nurse told me that if I found myself not wanting certain foods, it was perfectly fine to eat ANYTHING that sounded good, even if that meant a whole box of Nilla Wafers, simply to get enough calories in my body. Since I had no major symptoms, I ate pretty normally, but a Nilla Wafer dinner is completely okay if you've been vomiting all day long and it's the one food that will stay down. Also, some women are extremely exhausted during the first trimester, needing 9 or 10 or more hours of sleep at night and naps during the day. Also, the chance of miscarriage is greatest in the first trimester, but it decreases as each week goes by. By the time you get to week ten, your chances of losing the baby are super low and by week 13 they decrease to less than 2%. My advice... If you think you might be pregnant, you should try to find out right away since the baby is going through crucial development during the first few weeks, and you will want to avoid harmful substances {alcohol, raw or under-cooked meat, etc.} and dangerous activities right away. The night before I found out I was pregnant, I almost went in our hot tub, which can be extremely dangerous for the baby {saunas also}. Thankfully I felt "fat" in my bikini, thought I was starting my period, and ended up not going. The next day I found out I was pregnant. I never thought I would say this but PRAISE THE LORD for feeling fat and uncomfortable! Also, remember, during pregnancy there is a fine line between being safe and careful, and believing your body will do what God made it to do. It's easy to get nervous and stressed about pregnancy, especially if it's your first, but you also have to remember that women have been having babies for thousands of years with none of the comforts and conveniences we have in this age. Even today women get pregnant and don't know or hide it on purpose and they never take a prenatal vitamin or go to a prenatal doctor's appointment and their babies are perfectly fine. I'm not advising carelessness obviously; I just think it's good to remember that our bodies are made to grow babies and under most circumstances they will do just that... produce a healthy baby without us having to stress our lives away! These are my twenty week pictures. I'm always a week behind! What about you? Have you experienced pregnancy? Were your experiences similar to those listed above? Did you have any first trimester symptoms that I didn't mention? Please share in the comments and educate us all! |Linking up with Busy Bee| ... Read more
300 words
The first prompt for "Blog Every Day in May" is to write the story of your life in 250 words or less. I cheated and today you get 300 words. I even wrote my post in Word to watch my word count, but I just can't do it. If there is one thing you should know about me {before you read my post below}, it's that I am a very verbose person, both when talking and writing. Growing up, I always went quite a few pages past the minimum or target when writing for school and today's post is no exception... The hubs... The fam... The babe... To sum it up quickly, I am a Seattleite-turned-Southerner living every day by the grace of God. I have an amazing family, great friends, a husband and a baby on the way. I love to write and read and drink coffee and eat ice cream. I am neurotic about having a clean house. I think every day should be started in the Word of God, and I believe Jesus can heal and redeem ANYONE. Here are the rest of the details… I was born on a Sunday morning in September after my mom dragged her 10 days past due body around the fair all day on Saturday. This September I’m due with my first child on my very own birthday, and I’m seriously considering buying tickets to a concert that night, hoping that an exciting event on my agenda will entice my baby to come out, just like my mom did with me. I grew up in a Christian home with my dad and mom and a little sister and brother. I started preschool at the ripe age of 2 and half and have been in school ever since, both as a student and teacher. I’m just finishing up the 3rd year of my PhD program in English, and I can't really imagine life after my classes end next year. At age 18, I ventured off to Texas for college and since that time I've been quite the adventurer. In fact, Micah and I moved to Arizona two days after returning from our honeymoon. We didn't know where we were going to live, just that we had jobs, but we packed up our Budget truck and hit the road. Although we love it here, I am ready for our next adventure in a few years. We could go anywhere, but I am {not-so-secretly} hoping for Nashville, San Diego or Texas. ... Read more
Blog Every Day in May
I've discovered something about blogging these past few months... once you stop {or slow down significantly}, it's hard to start back up again. Because there is a rhythm to blogging. Your head is constantly churning with ideas, your camera is clicking pictures, your fingers type out words as fast as they can. You carve out time daily or weekly to edit photos and respond to comments and questions over email. Blogging is so much more than publishing a post each day. But once you fall out of this rhythm, it's so hard to pick up where you left off. I have not been able to blog much this past semester. These four grueling months of school have taken their toll on me, especially with taking an extra class, which pretty much zapped the little free time I can sometimes find during the school year. Let's just say I'm thankful for everything I've learned this term and very pleased with some of the work I've produced but I am ready to be DONE with school {for a while} starting this Friday. But back to blogging... I don't think people need to apologize for not blogging. It is just a blog after all. And I also think that if you feel burnt out and disenchanted by blogging, by all means, you should take a break or quit altogether. But I am neither of these things. I am not sorry for a few measly posts a week lately, nor am I tired of blogging. I love it. It's so therapeutic and I truly believe that writing in this space for fun makes me a better academic writer as well. But I've lost my rhythm over the past few months. Sometimes Micah, knowing my desire to blog, would leave the house for an hour or two on Sunday evenings so I could have time to write. But when he left, I never knew what to do with myself. Should I FINALLY post pictures of the baby shower I hosted in January? Should I write about something current and exciting that happened this past weekend? Should I just sit down for an hour and edit pictures and hope I have time to write a post to go with them at some point during the week? Should I respond to the 100 encouraging emails from readers congratulating us on Baby Russum and asking questions about my pregnancy? All those tasks sounded fun and worthwhile, and since I couldn't decide what to do with my limited time, I often found myself doing nothing... and by "nothing" I mean folding laundry and watching Call the Midwife and ignoring my blog altogether. But all that changes this month, because I am joining my friend, Jenni, in a little challenge she is calling "Blog Every Day in May." You can read more about it on her blog, but basically she has provided a fun list of prompts to write about each day this month. With the semester ending in just two days, this is the perfect time for me to jump on the bandwagon. Want to join me? ... Read more
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