For those of you who would like to follow along with me through my pregnancy, I am going to do my best to provide you with weekly updates.
Right now I am currently 8 weeks along. While I would be lying if I told you that I were doing great, I can honestly say that I feel better with this pregnancy in general then I did my last one. As far as physically, the biggest thing that I am up against right now is just fatigue...but I am pretty sure if you talked to my husband he would list irritability right up there. I am dealing with the normal pregnancy woes too: nausea; heartburn; pulling or cramping; sore breast; etc. But really the lack of energy and motivation are what is truly hurting right now. If I had to guess that would be due to two reasons, chasing after my one year old and the fact that I wasn't mentally prepared for this pregnancy. Since it wasn't planned, I just wasn't ready to feel like this again and in a way it has made it much harder.
I am also going to try to periodically provide you with links to some great websites that I run across. This one is for a really in depth pregnancy timeline with great illustrations. I hope you find it useful in understanding with is going on in your pregnancy too!
Showing posts with label pregnancy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pregnancy. Show all posts
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
Beating Morning Sickness
This topic is near and dear to my heart today. For me, and most women that I have talked to, the combination of morning sickness and fatigue seems to make the first trimester of pregnancy almost unbearable. While I have yet to find a sure fire way to combat the extreme sleepiness, I have found a few tricks that should help you control your stomach.
The first thing is probably the most important, especially since all of us are different. Take the time to listen to what your body is telling you! Our bodies are excellent at letting us know what we need, but we often fail to take the time to listen. Pay attention to see if your nausea is triggered by a certain thing. Maybe a time of day, odor, or certain smell can trigger your gag reflex. Then do your best to work around that trigger.
The second thing is to do your best to keep your blood sugar level. Easily explained, don't let yourself get too hungry. Hunger pains are a big trigger for me personally. Also, make sure that you don't eat too much. As you are probably aware, your digestive system slows down during pregnancy, causing many pregnancy aches. Filling up too much can leave all of the food heavy on your stomach, and can be a really bad combination if you have a bought of nausea. Eating five or six small meals a day works best whenever possible.
The third thing that I have found might just be a personal trigger for me, but I feel that it is worth mentioning anyway, even if all it does is demonstrate the importance of my first tip. I have found that whenever I become stressed or otherwise emotionally upset, particularly if I am worry about the pregnancy or life afterward, I become very nauseated. For me being calm and relaxed is a big part of daily nausea control.
While I can't guarantee that following these tips with provide you with a puke free pregnancy, I can vouch for them. If you are currently struggling, just know that I am truly in this with right now and that this too shall pass!
The first thing is probably the most important, especially since all of us are different. Take the time to listen to what your body is telling you! Our bodies are excellent at letting us know what we need, but we often fail to take the time to listen. Pay attention to see if your nausea is triggered by a certain thing. Maybe a time of day, odor, or certain smell can trigger your gag reflex. Then do your best to work around that trigger.
The second thing is to do your best to keep your blood sugar level. Easily explained, don't let yourself get too hungry. Hunger pains are a big trigger for me personally. Also, make sure that you don't eat too much. As you are probably aware, your digestive system slows down during pregnancy, causing many pregnancy aches. Filling up too much can leave all of the food heavy on your stomach, and can be a really bad combination if you have a bought of nausea. Eating five or six small meals a day works best whenever possible.
The third thing that I have found might just be a personal trigger for me, but I feel that it is worth mentioning anyway, even if all it does is demonstrate the importance of my first tip. I have found that whenever I become stressed or otherwise emotionally upset, particularly if I am worry about the pregnancy or life afterward, I become very nauseated. For me being calm and relaxed is a big part of daily nausea control.
While I can't guarantee that following these tips with provide you with a puke free pregnancy, I can vouch for them. If you are currently struggling, just know that I am truly in this with right now and that this too shall pass!
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Christmas Surprise
Conceiving our first child proved to be a long road, but after four pregnancies and a year and a half he joined our family. While my husband seemed to think that our next attempts at parenthood would be easier because my body now "knew what to do," I was still preparing myself for the worst. I knew that I would like to have a sibling for my son, but I was also perfectly satisfied knowing that I had already been blessed with a child. I never dreamed that I would be faced with an unexpected pregnancy.
My husband and I have spent a lot of time over the past six months trying to decided when was the right time to have another child. We went back and forth over the pros and cons of having children close together or farther apart in age. Our determining factor finally came down to where I wanted to head in my career and how a pregnancy would effect those plans. A decision was reached, we would start trying to have another child in about 18 months. Then I started to feel a bit...off.
We went out of town for the holidays this year to visit with my family, and it was a big bowl of potato soup that made me start to think. The heavy soup was making my stomach turn, but the only time I ever really get sick...It struck me I was five days late. I kept the information to myself for the next couple of days and focused on my family. Even if I was pregnant, there was no sense getting my hopes up, I had already suffered miscarriages the prior two Christmas's this was nothing new. Besides conception usually involves sex, something we have had very little time for lately.
It was easy to ignore the signs while with family, but on the drive home my mind wouldn't stop racing. I calmly asked my husband to stop at the drug store before we got home. Saying simply that I was a few days late but not to worry, I wasn't pregnant. I just wanted to see the negative so I could clear my mind and get a good night's sleep before returning to work the next day. What I didn't realize was that I still had one more gift coming to me that Christmas night.
I have never been so shocked in my life. Two lines...dark pink. I didn't have squint my eyes or hold it just right in the light, they were there for anyone to see. Emotions flooded over me. I wasn't ready for this. Was I a good enough mom to handle two babies under the age of two? What about my precious baby boy? It just wasn't fair to ask him to give up being my baby and assume the role of big brother by the age of 19 months. All the while there was the shock that I was even able to conceive so easily, and the excitement of creating another new life. I wanted to cry and giggle all at the same time.
Before I finally conceived my first son, I realized a very hard truth. Even though I was a woman and even though I thought I was a good person, I didn't have a "right" to get pregnant. It was never anything that God promised me, in fact it wasn't really about me at all. It was simply my job to be open to having a child in my life and to love any baby that may come my way. It is after all, a life that is created, and what right do I have to decided whether or not I am meant to have such a gift or stipulate when I should receive it. With the fear of this new pregnancy I needed to remember this again. Every child is a blessing and instead of focusing on how difficult it will be, I needed to remember how wonderful it truly is.
My husband and I have spent a lot of time over the past six months trying to decided when was the right time to have another child. We went back and forth over the pros and cons of having children close together or farther apart in age. Our determining factor finally came down to where I wanted to head in my career and how a pregnancy would effect those plans. A decision was reached, we would start trying to have another child in about 18 months. Then I started to feel a bit...off.
We went out of town for the holidays this year to visit with my family, and it was a big bowl of potato soup that made me start to think. The heavy soup was making my stomach turn, but the only time I ever really get sick...It struck me I was five days late. I kept the information to myself for the next couple of days and focused on my family. Even if I was pregnant, there was no sense getting my hopes up, I had already suffered miscarriages the prior two Christmas's this was nothing new. Besides conception usually involves sex, something we have had very little time for lately.
It was easy to ignore the signs while with family, but on the drive home my mind wouldn't stop racing. I calmly asked my husband to stop at the drug store before we got home. Saying simply that I was a few days late but not to worry, I wasn't pregnant. I just wanted to see the negative so I could clear my mind and get a good night's sleep before returning to work the next day. What I didn't realize was that I still had one more gift coming to me that Christmas night.
I have never been so shocked in my life. Two lines...dark pink. I didn't have squint my eyes or hold it just right in the light, they were there for anyone to see. Emotions flooded over me. I wasn't ready for this. Was I a good enough mom to handle two babies under the age of two? What about my precious baby boy? It just wasn't fair to ask him to give up being my baby and assume the role of big brother by the age of 19 months. All the while there was the shock that I was even able to conceive so easily, and the excitement of creating another new life. I wanted to cry and giggle all at the same time.
Before I finally conceived my first son, I realized a very hard truth. Even though I was a woman and even though I thought I was a good person, I didn't have a "right" to get pregnant. It was never anything that God promised me, in fact it wasn't really about me at all. It was simply my job to be open to having a child in my life and to love any baby that may come my way. It is after all, a life that is created, and what right do I have to decided whether or not I am meant to have such a gift or stipulate when I should receive it. With the fear of this new pregnancy I needed to remember this again. Every child is a blessing and instead of focusing on how difficult it will be, I needed to remember how wonderful it truly is.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
A bit about me
First of all, welcome! I look forward to getting to know everyone of you and sharing a bit of myself with you all. I am a 26 year old mom from Cincinnati, who just found out that I am expecting my second child. I decided that I want to share my experiences as a mom and wife with other women. I hope that you can see yourself in me and know that you are aren't alone. My goal is to be a voice for women everywhere, speaking the truth about the joys and challeneges that we each face everyday. I am not a professional or expert in childcare, I am simply a loving mother who is trying to do her best. The promise that I make to you is that I will be honest, real, and will work hard to gather the best information I can for our families.
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