Pregnancy Sucks

I seriously did not like being pregnant.  I had a really hard time visualizing the end result of a baby and I mainly just felt like my body was being taken over, which essentially it was.  I hated that I couldn't eat, do or drink what I wanted.  I hated that I was constantly worrying that every action I took could harm the baby.  I worried when she didn't move much and I worried when she moved a lot.  Some of this constant state of worry was due to the fact that very close friends of ours had lost their baby very late in the pregnancy.  I was so afraid of getting attached only to loose her so close to the end.  Not to sound like Negative Nancy, I did love some things about pregnancy.  I loved feeling her move inside of me everyday.  I loved hearing her heartbeat at each Dr's visit.  I loved seeing her little hands & nose on the ultrasounds.  Now that I've met my little precious I look back on the time with a bit more fondness than when I actually went through it. 

I resolved to keep active and fit throughout my pregnancy.  I've worked really hard the last few years to get to a place where I was happy with my body and in relatively good shape, I didn't want to derail that totally over the course of 10 months.  I would drag myself out of bed everyday at 5:30 am and head to the gym where I did 30-45 minutes on the elliptical.  I did stop running and & weightlifting, but kept up my place in kickboxing class up until 6 weeks before she was due.  I would have kept going to class but I felt like I was freaking my teacher out since I was getting bigger. 

 Week 8

 We had planned earlier in the year to take a trip to Mexico during the summer.  We decided it would be a good idea to keep those plans despite the pregnancy.  I figured it could be our last hurrah as a child-less couple.  Although it was a ton of fun, it was also a bit difficult.  We were at an all-inclusive resort where I couldn't take advantage of the free booze!  I did have the odd shandy (half beer, half sprite) here and there but it's not the same as sipping margaritas on the beach all day.  Add to that the restrictions my Dr had put on me for eating fresh fruit & veggies in Mexico and I was stuck on a diet of soda & tortillas.  All in all though, I enjoyed the last few days of sitting on a beach reading a book with no little one demanding attention.

Week 17 - Mexi Bump

We had an ultrasound at 13 weeks and the Tech felt fairly convinced it was a boy.  Then, Surprise, Surprise! at our 20 week ultrasound it turned out to be a girl.  I was beyond excited.  Although a boy would have been wonderful I had really been wanting a girl. Ultrasounds were always one of my favorite events because I loved seeing my bubs move around.  However, by the end of the pregnancy I was getting ultrasounds every 3 days and was more worried than excited.

Week 20 - Outside the belly

Week 20 - Little Miss H. inside the belly

The next 10 weeks or so were uneventful, mainly just trying to survive the sleepless nights and long days at work.  Around week 30 was when I really began to look pregnant.  However, through the entire pregnancy I was incredibly small.  I never gained more than 22 lbs, partly because I just couldn't eat much. I believe that the Little Miss was pushing right on my stomach making me feel full very quickly. 

Week 30

Even though I felt huge I truly wasn't.  Every time we would attend a class I would announce my due date and get shocked looks from my classmates and occasionally the teacher.  Typically I was the next one due and the smallest by far.  It became a constant item of discussion amongst anyone who saw me.  Frankly, all the concern by others caused me heaps of distress.  Everyone would comment about how lucky I was to be small, but you could see a small bit of worry on their faces.  I could see the questions formulating in their heads "Is she eating enough? Should she be working out? Is the baby growing okay?" 

Week 37

My Dr felt very confident about the health of my baby and that I was doing everything as I should, her thoughts were just that this is how my body carried babies - close and tucked into my insides.  However, as we got closer and closer to my due date my growth hit a plateau.  Between 36-39 weeks I didn't gain a pound or an inch.  At this point my Dr started sending me for ultrasounds every 3 days.  Because my body wasn't giving any external indication of growth she wanted to ensure that the baby was still developing normally. Her concern was that maybe my body was no longer giving the Little Miss enough nutrition to grow.   Each test showed that things were coming along smoothly with no cause for concern.

At my 39 week check-up my Dr informed me that my baby was breech, meaning she was still heads up and hadn't made the transition to facing down for delivery.  I was told that I had a few options: (1) wait it out and see if she turned on her own, possibly helping it along with yoga, (2) have inversion therapy where they physically turn the baby from the outside, or (3) have a scheduled C-section.  I did some research on the inversion therapy and it seemed really really risky.  Essentially they cover your tummy with lubricant and try to massage (that's putting it gently) the baby to turn around, however, the procedure often causes fetal distress causing the Mom to have to go through an emergency C-section.  I also read that some babies are breech for a reason, such as having their umbilical cord wrapped around their neck.  If they were to turn the cord could cause problems during labor.  I wasn't one of those Moms that felt committed to going through the labor process, at this point between the growth concerns & breech presentation I just wanted my baby here safely and quickly.  Jason and I decided that a scheduled C-section would be the best option for us. My Dr completely agreed.  I went in for my 38 week appointment on a Wednesday, she checked her schedule and had an opening for Friday at noon.  It was surreal to be scheduling our baby's birth.  

Thursday I went to work for about 2 hours and wrapped things up, headed to Target for last minute shopping and then home to try to get all of the last minute things taken care of in our house before the Little Miss' arrival... 

39 weeks - Delivery Day