When we found out that we were pregnant, we were ecstatic! We were so excited to embark on our new adventure, and like many other first-time parents, we had about a billion other emotions coursing through us at any given moment – anxious, nervous, giddy, elated…the list goes on and on.
I’m a big fan of documenting special moments, and creating memories, for our family to look back upon as we continue forward in our lives. I’ve always loved looking back at old family photos that my parents kept, or hearing my grandparents re-tell funny family stories. You know what they say, “Memories last a lifetime.”
After I found out that we were pregnant, I knew that I wanted to create a few memories of my pregnancy journey, that I could share with my daughter some day. I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do, until I found myself staring at the blank chalkboard we had used to create our pregnancy announcement (http://capturingparenthood.com/pregnant-sharing-big-news/). I decided that I would track my pregnancy journey, by documenting all of the important details (every four weeks) on the chalkboard, and then I would take a photo of each board, to place in our family scrapbook.
I described the approximate size of our baby at that point in time, anything new that had happened at our recent doctor’s visit, foods and beverages I was craving, how I was feeling, etc.
So, while I’m saving these memories to share with my little nugget, I figured I would share them with you too. You get a small glimpse into my pregnancy journey, and maybe a few fun ideas for different ways to track your own pregnancy memories!
Aww…the memories! Boy, that first trimester (and even into the start of my second) I felt nauseous all the time. I never experienced any of the vomiting symptoms of morning sickness (thankfully), but that constant nauseous feeling was a real drag. Oh, and that 9 pm (or earlier) bedtime…that still hasn’t changed…now that I spend my days chasing a two-year-old around, I am absolutely exhausted by 9 pm.
After the initial part of my second trimester, I started feeling so much better. In fact, this stage of my pregnancy was pretty awesome! I was also reading up on parenting books, and enjoyed learning about all of the different stages that my baby was going through, right there, inside my belly!
Yep, we did it. We found out the sex of our baby at our official 20-week ultrasound. I think my husband would have been just fine with waiting, and letting it be a surprise, but this first-time mama just had to know. It was non-negotiable. I wanted to have names ready, a nursery ready (not that our little nugget’s room is super girly – it’s yellow and gray, with other pops of color added in), but there was just no way that I was going to be able to wait until the birth to find out! I was absolutely elated that we were having a little girl, and my mom was super excited at the prospect of karma coming back to bite me in the rear, down the road. π
Feeling your baby move inside of your stomach is the most surreal experience. It is impossible to describe, but utterly out-of-this-world amazing. Toward the end of my second trimester, I started to have the world’s worst heartburn…all of the time. Having never really had heartburn all that often before, it was not a pleasant experience. I carried Tums around with me, everywhere I went.
As I mentioned before, feeling your baby move inside of your belly is amazing, being able to actually see them move is a whole other ball game. It took me by total surprise when I looked down to see the bump of a foot slide across my stomach, for the first time. At this point, I had some vivid memories of some of the Alien movies, that my brother made me watch when I was little. And the glucose testing…ugh…it was the absolute worst. My glucose testing experience was so bad, I even wrote a post about it awhile back – click the following link to read further details about the absolute worst part of my pregnancy:Β http://capturingparenthood.com/absolute-worst-part-pregnancy/. After re-living that embarrassing tale, I could really go for one of those Nestle Classic Vanilla Drumsticks, right about now!
Stewart’s Root Beer was my beverage of choice toward the end of my pregnancy, and I had never really been a fan of Root Beer before. I was so tired of drinking water and herbal tea all of the time, and I wanted something with zero caffeine…it fit the bill perfectly. The 32-week mark was also around the time that we became CPR/First Aid/AED certified, and I would highly recommend these important and life-saving classes to any new parent.
At 36 weeks they say you are full-term. At this point, I was extremely nervous, but very anxious to meet our little girl. The discomfort of the third trimester certainly didn’t make things easier. My belly was getting big, it was becoming incredibly difficult to sleep at night (I’m normally a tummy sleeper, which is not recommended, or even possible while pregnant). And my third trimester lined up perfectly with the peak of summer. It was so hot. I was over being pregnant, and I was ready to give birth.
But, even though I was more than ready…our little nugget was still waiting…and waiting…and waiting. Her estimated due date came and went, and over a week later, when I felt like it might never happen (I’m fully aware that this is not possible, but I was over 9 months pregnant, at this point in time), she finally graced us with her presence, and gave my husband and I the greatest gift we could have ever asked for.
She was the prefect ending to my pregnancy journey!
