Since I'm starting my blog back up so late in my pregnancy, I won't go into too many details. Rather, I'll just give a quick review over the first part of my pregnancy.
I found out I was pregnant at 6 weeks. I was a lucky one and experienced no morning sickness at all. Thank goodness! However, I was blessed with severe exhaustion. I was absolutely amazed at how much sleep I was getting and how tired I still was. 8:00pm was my new bedtime and I was still tired. I had to leave work a few times because I just couldn't function. I napped on my lunch hours and I napped at 5:30pm when I got home from work. Unfortunately, the tiredness continued through to my second trimester, despite everyone telling me how great I would feel. I still suffer with fatigue and continue to go to bed around 8:30pm now.
I'm a plus size girl and I have some health issues that have made this pregnancy high risk. Those two words are so scary for some women, but i guess I always knew because of one thing or the other I would be. One good thing about being high risk is I get a lot of sonograms. I had one at 12 weeks, one at 18 weeks, and a third one so far at 23 weeks. I'll have another at 28, and then one every 2 weeks until the end of my pregnancy.
Meeting my OB for the first time was eye opening. She told me that she didn't want me to gain any weight with this pregnancy. In my head I was thinking, are you nuts? She then told me that I would have to go on a specific diet through the pregnancy. She said if I followed her instructions that I would have the best chance of taking our baby home after she was born. If I ignored her directions and didn't follow through with the things she was asking of me, then more likely or not our baby would have to be in the NICU for a couple weeks. It was eye opening. My husband and I took it really seriously and I lost 15 pounds pretty quick. I have managed to keep the weight off, but have definitely struggled with the diet. The Whole 30 diet is meant to be a 30 day cleanse type diet. Not a lifestyle diet. It's been rough and what makes it worse is that the only thing I crave is a DQ Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard with Coco Fudge. At this point in the pregnancy I have really got to turn things around. I do great with my actual meals, they are on point. I have just got to work on not craving the thing I can't have. I wish I was one of those women that crave pickles. Pickles I can have!
At 14 weeks I was able to feel Baby L move. Just little flutters or what actually felt like muscle spasms to me. I wasn't able to feel anything from the outside and my doctor informed me that because of my weight, I may never get to feel them. That was a little disheartening, but it didn't stop me from trying every time she started wiggling.
Finding out the gender at 18 was the best part of the pregnancy so far. For as long as I can remember I have always wanted a little girl first. I always told my nieces I would have a girl and they would ask well how do you know? I always said, God knows how much I want a girl, he will give me that little girl. Nothing changed after I found out I was pregnant. I wanted a girl so deeply that I was just sure I would be devastated if the baby was a boy. People closest to me tried to tell me I wouldn't care, but they just didn't get it. I of course would have loved a little boy with my whole heart. But when you've waited 8 years, and this could possibly be my only pregnancy, I needed this baby to be a girl. When the sonogram tech said, "You've got your girl", I cried. The happiest tears I've ever cried.
At my 24 week check up, my OB informed me that she wasn't going to let me go passed 38 weeks pregnant due to being high risk. Some women would freak out about that. For me though, and please don't judge me, I was pumped. Two less weeks to be huge and pregnant and uncomfortable! Yes, please!
At 26 weeks, I really don't look pregnant. Which is a good and bad thing. Good because I don't have strangers coming up and touching my belly. Also, bad because I don't get that experience of people knowing I'm pregnant. I know it's not really something to complain about, but sometimes I wish I didn't have to explain to the lady in the fitting room that I'm worried a dress won't fit because my belly might get bigger. Not because I think I'm going to gain weight, but because I'm pregnant.
This 26th week has had a really great experience, but also come with some serious problems. My husband and I were finally able to feel Baby L kick and she is very active in the morning and at night. However, on the same day we got to feel her for the first time I started experiencing some serious abdominal pain/pressure with walking and standing. I was hopeful it was just a temporary thing, but it's been days now and it persists. My OB assures me that it's normal and that it's okay as long as I'm not having any bleeding. I'm hopeful that it won't last much longer, or at least won't get any worse. I guess we'll see.
That's all for now. I will do weekly updates from here until delivery.
-Julie
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