{"id":416,"date":"2017-04-21T23:33:50","date_gmt":"2017-04-21T23:33:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jeffreyandanna.us\/blog\/?p=416"},"modified":"2017-04-21T23:33:50","modified_gmt":"2017-04-21T23:33:50","slug":"my-pregnancy-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/jeffreyandanna.us\/blog\/my-pregnancy-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"My Pregnancy Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The day before the scheduled induction (although the baby wouldn’t officially arrive until days later). Jeffrey and I had a “last day out” of sorts, where we went into San Francisco to do some walking\/eating\/exploring. This photo is from the living roof at the Academy of Sciences. It was an awesome and special day!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As I type this, we are at home with our new baby! We had an unexpected turn of events at the end of this pregnancy that lead to an (unsuccessful) induction that eventually led to a c-section. Everything\u2019s okay (it wasn\u2019t an emergency; it was one of those \u201cthis is best for mom and baby\u201d decisions made between the Kaiser staff and us) – it just was not what we expected, obviously, but really, what is?
\nThe last 1.5 weeks have been really tough, and I\u2019ve been going back and forth as to whether I regret making the decision to induce based on Kaiser\u2019s suggestion, since it caused such an abrupt and stressful end to my pregnancy. Rather than focus on negativity, however, I thought I\u2019d reflect back on these nine months of pregnancy, and what my overall experience was like. It\u2019s actually not too terribly exciting; I had a \u201cnormal\u201d and healthy pregnancy, at least up until the very end. But that\u2019s what\u2019s interesting, and positive, when I look back – while the very end of this pregnancy wasn\u2019t ideal, at least the months leading up to it were straightforward and, at times, were even pretty fun.<\/p>\n

Look Ma, I\u2019m Pregnant<\/h2>\n
Our Facebook announcement photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As I mentioned in my previous post<\/a>, we tried for about 8 months before we successful. It was just starting to get frustrated; not because I was overwhelmed with a desire to start a family ASAP (although that was obviously the goal), but because you get yourself into this mindset that you\u2019re ready, and then when it doesn\u2019t just \u201chappen,\u201d it becomes a bit of thing that sticks itself in the front of your mind more often than not.
\nThen, one week in July 2016, a week before my period was scheduled to arrive, I started feeling PMS-y symptoms, but they weren\u2019t necessarily the symptoms that I had been typically getting. I had certainly experienced them before in my life, but not all that closely to this point. Specifically, I had some nausea, and I was pretty tired, despite sleeping well and the like. But I didn\u2019t want to think much of it, because it could have just as easily been PMS. There were also a few little things, like getting out of breath a little easier than I normally would. For example, I worked out one evening, and then Jeffrey and I went for a walk, and I got pretty out of breath after going up a hill, which normally wouldn\u2019t have affected me as much.
\nMy period app predicted I\u2019d get my period on a Monday, and the Friday before, I went ahead and took a pregnancy test (one of the tests that supposedly can do \u201cearly detection\u201d), and it was negative. And I was pretty crushed. I had a good crying fit while working from home, and then when Jeffrey got home, I cried on his shoulder some more. I felt emotionally drained for the rest of the evening, but we went out to dinner and got drinks with friends, and I felt better.
\nThen Monday rolled around, and there was no period. No big deal; I\u2019ve been a day late before. Then Tuesday, then Wednesday – still nothing. Not even spotting. I have never missed a period in my life, nor have I even deviated much from my standard monthly schedule. So I took another pregnancy test, and lo and behold, it was positive.
\nLooking back, the fit of crying the Friday before was likely due to a surge in hormones, because as mentioned, while the experience of trying to get pregnant had been a little frustrating, a somewhat-extreme reaction like the one I had didn\u2019t seem quite right.
\nIt would be a few weeks before we could get the results confirmed by my OB, but all signs pointed to yes. In the meantime, we tried to wrap our heads around this major life development, while also keeping the news under wraps, at least for the time being.
\nThe results were then confirmed (my OB used a \u201cvaginal probe\u201d to check, which was something I did not know existed before that point). We opted to tell our immediate family over Labor Day weekend, even though it was a bit before the official 12-week mark (when people normally wait to share the news, due to the risk of miscarriage). Then we announced via Facebook, of course, and the rest is history.<\/p>\n

The First Trimester, a.k.a. Nausea Can Bite Me<\/h2>\n
A photo from the wedding we attended in Boston early in the first trimester, before we were telling anyone. It was weird to not be able to drink alcohol at a wedding.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The first trimester was tough. I had a lot of fatigue, and a lot of nausea. No throwing up, thankfully, but the whole \u201cmorning sickness\u201d thing is a misnomer. I felt sick most of the day. I really had to get the timing right when it came to eating, as the emptier my stomach became, the sicker I would feel, and then I would be less likely to want to eat, and then the cycle would continue.
\nJeffrey and I went to Boston in August for a wedding, and we visited a famous spot in the North End to get their famous (and expensive) lobster rolls. We were willing to cough up the dough, since it seemed like one of those \u201cwhen in Rome\u201d experiences. And the lobster rolls were pretty epic; but of course, I felt sick the whole time.
\nAnd the fatigue – ugh, what a drag. The urge to just plop my head down on my desk every day at work and sleep was overwhelming. Usually, if I\u2019m fatigued, I can blame it on something – not enough sleep and\/or exercise, not eating very well, etc. But in this case, I was sleeping well and eating as best I could with the nausea, but I was still so tired. And when I tried to exercise, I would often feel sicker.
\nThe extra-annoying part of all of this is that I couldn\u2019t talk to anyone about it except for Jeffrey, since we weren\u2019t at a stage where we were telling people yet.<\/p>\n

The Second Trimester, a.k.a. Wow, I Feel Great!<\/h2>\n
The halfway mark.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When I hit the second trimester, it was like someone flipped a switch. Almost instantly, my first trimester symptoms were gone, and I had all sorts of energy again. This was definitely a unique time. I got to be active again! No more nausea! The only negative symptom was the heartburn, which was pretty much daily, but often a few Tums would fix the issue.
\nI started focusing on activity in particular, and it felt really good. I was able to keep running (albeit slowly) for a good amount of time – but I eventually stopped once I started feeling too much of my belly bouncing around. I found that sustained, low-impact activity felt great, so I started walking everywhere. I was walking a fair amount before the pregnancy as well, but I started focusing on it as a particular priority. I also kept going to spin classes for a spell, and did prenatal yoga at home when I could.
\nThe time when I started to \u201cshow\u201d was kinda cool too. Pants stopped fitting properly – I managed to use a hair-tie to keep my jeans closed for a period before I had to switch to official maternity clothes (and thankfully, my sister had a bunch of her old maternity clothes left over, so I ended up only having to buy a few additional pieces). It was neat to just look down and see the belly change shape.
\nI also started feeling a lot of movement, right around when all the books\/apps said I would. Definite little flutters and kicks – it was pretty cool. In the meantime, we started making more changes and plans – we inherited some baby stuff from friends and very slowly started putting together the nursery, we talked about how much time I\u2019d take off work, what sort of child care we\u2019d set up once I returned to work, etc.
\nThe only other negative part of the second trimester was a couple of occasional hormonal days, where I would just be really emotional for no particular reason. But overall, compared to what I would hear from other women, this wasn\u2019t too bad.<\/p>\n

The Third Trimester, a.k.a., Wow I Look Pregnant Now<\/h2>\n
Beginning of the third trimester.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There was a neat transitional period into the third trimester where I tried to just bask in the idea of \u201cbeing pregnant.\u201d I was showing enough that it was actually evident that I was pregnant, but it was still early enough that the aches and pains hadn\u2019t quite set in yet. I was able to fit some pretty active days (e.g., walk 3 miles and go to Zumba class, walk 3 miles and do yoga and fit in more walking on top of that) and just feel really healthy overall.
\nI started getting smiles from strangers when I\u2019d walk down the street. Jeffrey and I could walk together and just talk about our future. We planned the baby shower with my mom. All fun things.<\/p>\n

Our amazing baby shower.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Not too far into the third trimester, however, and I started to feel the shift. My body would ache quite a bit more, and I\u2019d generally just feel more wiped at the end of the day (even it it wasn\u2019t a particularly active or long day). I\u2019d get sharp hip pain sometimes when sitting down for too long; Jeffrey and I went to a comedy show at one point, and I couldn\u2019t sit in the chair for more than half of each comedian\u2019s set before I had to go stand in the back.<\/p>\n

A hike in Tilden Park the day after our baby shower.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But these aches and pains generally subsided as I got closer and closer to my due date – likely because most of my growth had slowed at that point, so my body had been able to adjust. I slowed down overall, walking a bit slower and taking it a bit easier, but in general I was able to keep walking on a daily basis. I also started swimming more, which felt awesome. I was so weightless, and I would feel my hips open up as I did my laps.
\nIt was also neat to just experience how people interact with and look at the very pregnant lady. I was fortunate in that I didn\u2019t experience any negative encounters – I\u2019ve heard a lot of women share stories about inappropriate remarks and\/or belly touching from strangers\/colleagues\/friends, but I never experienced this. Instead, I got lots of that look of recognition in people\u2019s eyes, lots of people opening doors for me, that sort of thing. I got to sit in the special seats on BART.<\/p>\n

A very round belly. We went to dinner the night this photo was taken, and the waiter guessed we were having a boy based on the shape of my belly.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Really, the only thing that started making me long to get my body back (i.e., to no longer have to share my body) was the whole sleep thing. At that size, I could really only sleep on one hip or the other, and that got pretty old pretty fast. I still managed to sleep pretty well (aside from occasional insomnia and the frequent trips to the restroom), but I often looked forward to being able to sleep on my stomach again (which I\u2019m still unable to due for awhile due to the c-section, but hey, at least my bladder is back to its normal capacity!).
\nIn general, I enjoyed just holding my belly; looking at its size and shape, feeling the baby\u2019s consistent movements, looking ahead to the future.<\/p>\n

Looking Back<\/h2>\n
8 months pregnant.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the time, my pregnancy felt like it took the appropriate amount of time, but now, looking back, it feels like it went by too quickly. But I think that\u2019s most things in life, honestly.
\nWhile the end of my pregnancy was tough, it feels really nice to reflect back on the overall process with fondness. I think\/hope that this is what I\u2019ll remember the most when time moves on and I think back to this period of my life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The day before the scheduled induction (although the baby wouldn’t officially arrive until days later). Jeffrey and I had a “last day out” of sorts, where we went into San Francisco to do some walking\/eating\/exploring. This photo is from the living roof at the Academy of Sciences. It was an awesome and special day! As […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":422,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/jeffreyandanna.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/jeffreyandanna.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/jeffreyandanna.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jeffreyandanna.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jeffreyandanna.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/jeffreyandanna.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jeffreyandanna.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/jeffreyandanna.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jeffreyandanna.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jeffreyandanna.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}