The Pregnancy Diary

I always thought I'd be one of those ladies who document their pregnancy with weekly pictures tracking growth and symptoms, either standing in the same spot with the same shirt, or maybe holding the fruit coordinating with the size of the baby. But that just never happened. I think having 3 pregnancies that didn't reach their second trimesters kinda took the wind out of my sails so to speak. When we found out we were pregnant the first time, we staged a cute little picture to send to everyone as an announcement, only to have to give the bad news just a few days later. After that, people just received normal texts, and I think this last time I even forgot to tell a couple people who surely should have been on the list!

 With this pregnancy even after the weeks passed and the baby stayed safe, I was honestly too sick to worry about snapping a weekly picture. The business of morning sickness (which I'm sure everyone knows by now does not limit itself to the morning) is quite an experience, and hard to explain unless you've dealt with it yourself. I have a dear friend who is right in the midst of it's clutches right now, and she texted me recently and said please tell me this does end! While I haven't forgotten about it, looking back it's all kinda fuzzy and makes me feel like it couldn't have been so bad - so I guess the good news is the awful feelings do fade and aren't as vivid as you always feel like will be. In the beginning when I started to feel kinda yucky I almost welcomed the feeling, because it was a new symptom that I hadn't had with my other pregnancies, and it seemed like a good sign. BUT, after a week or so, I was ready to feel well again! My first 16-18 weeks were loooong days of throwing up, or not throwing up but feeling car sick all day, with zero energy, and eating about 1 bite every 2 minutes just to make sure that one wasn't the one that would send you running to the bathroom, which results in you feeling like you are eating all. day. long. just to sustain yourself. Thank God for a patient husband who would bring me a protein shake first thing, and then come home from work and ask what he could do for me. We also were so blessed with friends and family bringing us meals through out those weeks. Slowly the days came when I didn't have to hold my breath when I opened the fridge, when I felt up to going to the grocery store, when I didn't have to hide in the kitchen at church until my stomach settled down, and when I finally felt up to visiting with friends for an hour or two.

Back tracking a little to "beginning", right after finding out I was pregnant our midwife began drawing my blood weekly to closely track my Progesterone and HCG levels. She also had me begin taking Progesterone immediately. The second week of blood work showed that my Progesterone was borderline lower than it should be, so we upped the dose, and the weeks to follow it leveled out to mid-range, praise the Lord! Of course the ideal situation is your body functioning properly + not needing anything extra to sustain a healthy pregnancy, but I am so thankful that a dedicated midwife and 4 pills a day (and possibly some extra pukiness) were able to give me the aid I needed! Around 12 weeks we started cutting back on the dose, until eventually I wasn't taking any and my numbers still looked good. I am curious to see how future pregnancies compare, if this will be an issue I will always face, or if my system will straight itself out and rise to the challenge all on it's own. :)

Excluding the morning sickness weeks, I'd say pregnancy has gone well! I felt like I played the "pregnant or fat" game for quite awhile (I guess due to a long torso?) but there isn't any hiding it now! I usually have a nap when there is one available for the taking (but I did that pre-pregnant too ;)), I potty about 849382 times a day #imgoodathydrating, I can't paint my toenails anymore (but that's a recent thing), and heartburn is a vicious animal when I don't have calcium on hand (but I'm believing for a HAIRY baby!!). That may look like a list of complaints, but it's more facts, and those facts can be pretty easily dealt with when you think of the end result. You really do give up your body when you are pregnant, and some routines/comforts you may be used to. Summer activities this year have been different for me (read: I don't get to participate), ultimate frisbee at campfires, slip'n'slide dodge ball at the family reunion, even laying on my tummy to tan my back. Those things just aren't happenin. While I do looooove those sports and being active, I wouldn't change my situation for the world. I consider being pregnant and carrying our child a huge privilege. Plus, what's 9 months in the grand scheme of things? I'd be pretty selfish to not wanna set aside some of my silly desires for that short length of time. There's always next summer...plus I'll have a little tiny cheerleader then. :)

I'm sure it would have been better to have done a post by month, or even trimester, but since I'm nearing the end now I thought I'd just compile my (scattered) thoughts into one. In 5 short weeks this pregnancy will (most likely) be behind me, and all my focus will be on the sweetest tiny human and all the things he/she will be doing! I promise I'll do more than just one post about that in the future ;)

10 weeks

15 weeks

18 weeks

20 weeks

23 weeks

27 weeks

29 weeks

32 weeks

34 weeks

Mental Blogger

A few weeks ago a friend (and blogger) asked me if I had been blogging lately.  If you mean lately like December, than yea! Ha...no. I actually responded that I've been "mentally blogging", but that's about as far as it gets. Why it seems so hard to actually sit down and begin a post, I couldn't tell ya. But I've been in a slump that I'm trying to break!

The whole mental blogger thing is pretty legit though. As in, I find myself regularly drafting posts in my head. I think at this point it's hard to know where to start...do I go back and try to catch up on the last 7 months, or just dive in as if I just posted last week? I think I've hashed this out on the blog before after skipping a month or so. And unfortunately I still don't know the answer...shoot!

I guess we'll call this a slight re-cap. January 4th we found out we were pregnant. It explained my dependency on naps as of late, plus a couple other things. I would like to tell you that it was all tears of joy, bubbling excitement and the whole nine right from the beginning, but honestly that didn't come till a day or two later. My immediate reaction was FEAR. My track record for keeping babies was awful, and having just experienced the sting of death a couple months prior I didn't feel up to the task of facing another devastating disappointment. I remember it was a Sunday...and I was a bit of a mess at church just trying to keep it together but inside I was crying out to God to pleeeeease help me through this, and to take away the fear I was feeling. in the next 24 hours I just kept praying against fear and for strength to face whatever would happen, and of course well-being for the tiny life growing inside. It wasn't long until the fear subsided, and I felt peace about the situation. And extreme excitement, of course.

The next few months that followed included bloodwork every week to track my Progesterone & HCG levels, and morning sickness. Actually, all day sickness. The first little while of that was actually somewhat welcomed since it was a symptom I hadn't experienced with the other pregnancies, and so it felt positive...but you only enjoy that type of thing for a VERY short amount of time. Unfortunately I didn't escape that until week 16-18, I can't remember exactly. You'd think I would have had all the time in the world to blog during those loooooong days, but I really didn't do much but exist...or try to. :) I think it's hard to explain what it's really like unless you've experienced it.

Thankfully after I got over that, it's been really smooth sailing since! I'm sure the spring coming and then summer close on it's heels helped. We made a trip to NC to attend a precious wedding and visit family/friends, my mom visited us in June for a fun week of this&that, and we had a little Stoltzfus family weekend on the lake a few weeks ago.  On the horizon are two family reunions before baby comes, so time is just flying! These days I am trying to keep up with the mowing, hair clients, and naps. I just love a good nap. :)

We are about 7.5 weeks away from our due date...that really isn't long! It will be so surreal to have this little kicker with us "on the outside"...I can't wait. There are some things I'd like to get done around the house before that happens, but if not, it certainly won't be the end of the world. Our life isn't going to come to a screeching halt, it's only going to get sweeter!

Here's to hoping this becomes a regular occurrence now that I've jumped back in...I'm sure I will treasure these words/memories in years to come! So if future Patty can convince now Patty to just get with it, that would be great!

Now I'm gonna go YouTube how to clean a shower properly/efficiently, cause I need pointers!

Thanks for stopping by! :)

(Tiny Stoltzfus - 8 months inside)