I always get the question" how has your pregnancy been?" or " how are you feeling?," and when I say pretty well, without fail, whomever has asked me the question gives me The Look. Let me explain The Look: it's something like "are you sure you feel ok?" or "you really can't feel that well." The truth is that for being this far along in my pregnancy and comparing myself to the symptoms that other women feel, I feel really good. The first trimester, I was plagued with terrible morning, noon, and night sickness. I lived on bagels, bread, cereal, and water. At the Coliseum the closest bathroom is in the concourse outside our office, so I would have to anticipate my next bout of vomiting so that I could make it to the bathroom in time. Additionally, I carried a plastic bag in my purse for emergency situations, such as driving in the car, or anywhere I might be too removed from the luxury of indoor plumbing. Everything made me feel nauseated, from the smell of peanut butter-filled pretzels to Jeff's hair goop. The first trimester was not a fun time. It was hard to be excited when I had to be ready to run to the bathroom at all times. Luckily, around my 12th week the stickness suddenly stopped and I was able to eat again. I had very few weird cravings and mostly developed food aversions. Unforutnately, my aversions were to the healthy green vegetables that I needed to be eating for Lily. I have tried really hard throughout my pregnancy to be healthy and eat the best things for her. I love fruit and have been really diligent about getting plenty into my diet. Vegetables, however, which I loved pre-pregnancy, have been a struggle and have mostly consisted of french fries and chips (both in the potato family), carrots (sometimes), salad (sometimes), and asparagus when Jeff makes me eat it. At this point, I have been craving La Bamba's, Bennigan's Chicken Tenders, and Steak 'n' Shake steakburgers--really healthy! In the past week I have been able to eat more than I ever have in my life, and my hunger is almost insatiable. I could eat all day, no problem.
From what I understand, I need to be thankful for more than my steel trap of a tummy, too. I feel very fortunate that the wieght I have put on has mostly been in my belly. I am all baby, which makes balancing a little more difficult, and the girls in my office are afraid I am going to plunge forward at any moment, but I hear about horror stories from other women and the weight they added to their pre-pregnancy frames. Fortunately, I still feel okay, and I can attribute that to the fact that I have been able to continue with pilates. I have really enjoyed keeping up with it, and I believe it is the reason why I have felt so good throughout. My back pains have been very minor, and without pilates I think I would be a mess in that area. I just started to get a little swelling in my ankles, but nothing extremely noticeableto others (I don't think). There are definitely days that I feel frustrated and tired of pregnancy, but those have been few and far between. It is so weird and funny how one moment you can be so happy and excited and then you find yourself stressed and tired and hopeless when you are having trouble with something as minor as getting up off the couch. Thankfully, for Jeff's sake if not my own, my emotions throughout pregnancy have been pretty steady. Like I have said before, I have had my moments, but no major ups or downs. That probably means he has it in store for him when I go into labor or shortly following. Speaking of Jeff, my husband, strength, rock, coach, chearleader, and best friend. I couldn't do any of this without him. He has made my life as stress-free as possible. He walks and feeds the dogs, does the laundry, cleans the house, takes out the trash, and pretty much does anything and everything for me. He has been so wonderful this entire time, and seeing how excited he is about Lily makes anything I have endured all worthwhile. I couldn't ask for a better husband and soon-to-be father of my child. I don't even have to ask for back rubs anymore, he just seems to know when I need them. I am sure my sitting forward or touching my back is not much of an indicator to him or anything.... I love him so much and can't wait to see him hold Lily for the first time. We have both been waiting for this for so long, and now it is so close! She could come any day now, and we are really looking forward to this new and exciting chapter in our lives to start.
No comments:
Post a Comment