As I mentioned in a previous post, we found out I was pregnant in February 2013. We were kind of surprised given what had happened the month before and I was really hesitant to believe it but beside all of that, we were excited! I made an appointment right away to calm my doubts and fears and we found out I was 7 weeks along and we heard the cutest little heart beat I ever did hear!!! At that point it felt more real though I was still scared to fully believe it or get excited over it. It took a long time for me to actually feel like it was real and believe it was true, I didn't get excited for a while.
I learned quickly for some reason when you are pregnant everyone wants to tell you how awful and horrible it is, how you will have this symptom or that issue, you'll be miserable, it sucks, its the worst thing ever and don't even get them started on actually giving birth! Why do women do that?! The last thing a first time mom wants to hear is how awful pregnancy and labor is. Why not talk about the good things and encourage that mom rather than put fear in her? Why did I read so many comments on blogs about all the bad things associated with pregnancy? With that being said, I know I will get a lot of eyerolls when I say this, mainly because I got them all the time while I was pregnant, but I LOVED it, I loved being pregnant!!! I had every expectation to hate it and be scared but it was a breeze. I kept worrying I wasn't actually pregnant because I never had any of those awful symptoms I had been warned about. I kept waiting for that miserable feeling to set in but it never happened. I know, half of you moms are cussing me out right now or think I'm lying. I'm really not. In a world where everyone strikes fear into new moms on what to expect, I would like to try to encourage the opposite. Obviously pregnancy is very different for everyone, which is why I think its really annoying when moms talk so negatively of it, but all I can do is share my experience. My hope is someone reading this who is either pregnant for the first time or will become pregnant one of these days will think back to my experience and not be so scared of the unknown.
The hardest part of my pregnancy was the beginning when I was SO TIRED I felt like I couldn't even function. Driving home from work every single day during that first trimester was hands down the hardest part of the whole 9 months. I would fight to keep my eyes open then go home and pass out for a few hours. Like full on dead asleep, Kyle and Pam and Jeremiah would mess with me or try to wake me up for dinner or to go do something but I was out of it. There was some brief round ligament pain but that didn't last long. I hated the smell of meat cooking and especially onions and my sweet twin loves onions. Around dinner time I would always hide in my room with a towel rolled under the door trying to block out the smell of meat cooking. Other than that, pregnancy is not as bad as some people make it out to be, I promise!!! The only other issue I had was completely self induced. Everything I heard and everything I read was about delivery and how exhausting and painful it is. I had such high anxiety over the whole birth process, it was on my mind non stop. It was that feeling of "welp, we're here now and there is no going back. One way or another I have to have this baby." I mean obviously I had to have her but the thought of actually going through the process to have her was enough to make me crazy. Every single morning on my way to work I would drive by Grossmont Hospital (where we were born!) and anxiety would set in. I would have my ac blasting, my windows down and Pam on the phone telling me to calm down and that I am, in fact, breathing and I will survive. It was bad. And it was all brought on by the fear that had been set in me time and time again about how bad labor is. I was TERRIFIED of having Remington. TERRIFIED!!!!! I was terrified of every symptom I hadn't experienced yet but was sure to set in sooner or later. It had to, right? No one says pregnancy is easy, I was sure to experience some sort of hell on earth eventually. Although this is very true for some, it is not true for all! Don't let the fear of others experiences get you as worked up as it got me! It is possible to have an easy, pain free, fun, healthy pregnancy. And even a delivery! My delivery with Remi was awesome. It was a party in my room and it wasn't nearly as bad as expected. I had great nurses and my husband and family by my side. I'm saving that whole story for another post so stay tuned for that, probably in a year at the rate I'm going now!
I know I kind of rambled but I really just want to encourage you not yet pregnant or you newly pregnant ladies that all pregnancies are not created equal. Getting pregnant is not the be all end all to 9 months of your life. You can still work, I worked up until one week before I delivered, you can still keep up with your volunteer commitments, your social life, you won't be covered in stretch marks, you can still exercise and you SHOULD exercise!!! I think taking my dogs on hikes almost nightly is what really helped with keeping me healthy. I mean I gained 50 whopping pounds still but I was healthy. My dr did tell me to slow down on the ice cream but, ya know, whats a girl to do when she doesn't have any other cravings but ice cream? You fulfill that craving, obviously! And no matter what you do, DON'T believe the saying that you can eat for two! That is so false its not even funny and you don't want to go down that road because getting yourself back will not be easy.
To sum it up, don't become like me and let the fear of other experiences make you so scared of your own pregnancy. Its always good to get advice and to have a general idea of what to expect but just because so and so had this symptom doesn't mean you will. You won't know until you're in the thick of it and I hope a lot of woman will start sharing the positives of pregnancy, the fun moments, the exciting moments, the "OMG I CAN'T BELIEVE THERE IS A TINY HUMAN INSIDE OF ME so unique and so perfect" moments, the "OMG SOMEONE COME FEEL HER KICK" moments, the hearing her heartbeat for the first time moments, the seeing their face on a 4d ultrasound moments, the finding out the sex moments, the raw emotions of realizing your life is about to change moments, the "dang my boobs are huge and look amazing!!!" moments, the pure excitement and joy on your husbands face moments, the feeling them wiggle around in there moments, the love and support from your families moments, the planning a baby shower, picking out a name, picking out bedroom decorations, outfits, hospital plan, daydreaming about their face, looking forward to getting that baby placed in your arms for the first time moments and so many more. There are so many amazing moments of pregnancy, lets start sharing those. Start sharing the excitement rather than the pain. Encourage rather than discourage. Be the person that your friend will look back on and be thankful that you didn't tell her all the things she should be scared of, the person who was so excited with her and told her what an amazing journey shes about to begin. That is helpful. That is supportive. That is what we all need.
To wrap it up I'm going to share some pictures of my little baby girl in my belly and then go pray that after all of this talking about how amazing pregnancy is, my next ones don't suck really bad. haha!
15 weeks and pregnant at the same time as my sister!!!
19 weeks:
20 weeks:
20 weeks part 2:
20 weeks part 3:
21 weeks:
25 weeks:
26 weeks:
27 weeks:
28 weeks:
29 weeks:
29 weeks part 2:
29 weeks part 3:
And just some random ones, I have no clue what the weeks are of these ones.
Remington at her first Taylor Swift concert!
And my very last day being pregnant. aahhh I miss it!!!
Wheeeeewww that was a walk down memory lane. I got a little carried away with pictures so if you're still here, sorry. I want them all here though so I can later look back on it so for your sake I apologize!
Anyways all you mommas out there-try to be aware of your words next time you're giving "advice" to those new moms, don't frighten them too much!
