Well it may have been a while since I’ve written, and a lot has been happening. The most exciting of which is that we are expecting!
In May we are welcoming baby Rose to the family! My due date is officially May 7th, but I’m rooting for May 5th. That is my dad’s birthday and Cinco de Mayo – double win! I can foresee this holiday lending itself well to some great themed birthday parties (with lots of margaritas for the grown ups!)
We’re not finding out the gender. I’ve always thought it would be a fun surprise to not know until baby arrives and my sweet hubby is laid back enough to join me in the adventure. No one really seems to care except the mother in laws, both of which REALLY want to know. Sorry, not sorry 🙂
If I only had one word to describe pregnancy it would be bizarre.
It’s like puberty, meets bouts of the flu, meets a teenage boy’s appetite.
One second you’re completely fine, and the next you’re projectile puking apple chunks all over the side of your relative’s car, who were kind enough pick you up from the air port in Arizona. An apple, y’all! What baby doesn’t like an apple?!
But this post is not about morning sickness, because, ugh.
This post is about the things I discovered that have made pregnancy SO much better.
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Prayer
I’m ashamed to say that I didn’t start praying through my pregnancy issues until about two months in, when I read the book Supernatural Childbirth which was given to me by a friend. I had prayed for the baby and its health all along, but I forgot God could help me here and now, with things both big and little. Since then, prayer has improved my ability to fall back asleep after many middle-of-the-night bathroom trips, helped give me peace of mind through many mom-to-be anxieties as well as some big family issues and overall helped remind me that this baby is in God’s hands over my own. The author of supernatural childbirth does a great job reminding us not to underestimate the huge powers of prayer.
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Prenatal Yoga
I had NEVER been into yoga pre-pregnancy. In fact, I always thought it was kinda a waste of time. I still do my “old” workouts like walk a lot and I am able to do some light jogging (this seems to cause some strange pulling on one side of my tummy so I haven’t been jogging a lot) and we still take ballroom dance classes once a week. However, since being pregnant, I’ve found yoga to be the BEST exercise. The stretch and strengthening is good, but there is something about the body, spirit, mind connection of yoga that has been invaluable as my body changes. I feel like with each class I am able to get back in touch with my body. I was lucky enough to find a yoga studio near me that offers prenatal yoga classes, but there are lots of resources for this on pinterest and youtube. You can also access one of my friends 10 minute prenatal yoga routine here. As with everything listen your body and your doctor, of course.
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Prenatal massage
Pretty much every website, blog and friend who has been pregnant will recommend these. That’s because they are right. There’s nothing better than being a little pampered when you’re tired, hungry and outgrowing all your pants 🙂
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Speaking of outgrowing all your pants…Maternity Clothes
I know this one may seem like a given, but I was dreading buying maternity clothes. One of my friend’s (who I am still jealous of ) told me when she was pregnant she didn’t need to buy maternity clothes and even wore her skinny jeans to the hospital. It sounded like a good plan to me….until about the 10-12th week of my pregnancy. This is when I realized my skinny jeans were no longer allowing blood flow from the top half of my body to the bottom half. At this point, I became totally dependent on my tights. I thought they would be my pants solution until May. But then, at week 20, even my tights were too tight! I didn’t know that was possible. So, in total defeat, at 21 weeks, my sweet mom took me maternity shopping for Christmas. Best present ever. Wow. I feel so much better.
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Don’t take yourself too serious
Probably always a good life rule to live by, but so easy to forget :). There are so many weird symptoms of pregnancy, and I know each woman’s experience is different. For me, one of the things I used to get super annoyed with were these extremely loud middle-of-the-night rounds of hiccups. They would wake me up and I couldn’t stop them. (Side note: I never knew hiccups were a symptom of pregnancy, but turns out they can be). Now when these hiccups come on, I try to laugh, because, why not. I can’t stop them. I can’t predict them. All I can do is just let them come and go and remember this stage of life is a great blessing and it is temporary. I often have to remind myself the goal of pregnancy is to grow the healthiest baby I can. After all, there will be plenty of time to fit back into skinny jeans after the baby comes, and the hiccups might just go away too.
Shanae Barlow says
Sweet blog! I enjoyed the read! My favorite was massages. I only got one prenatal massage from a professional during my pregnancy at my 8th month but it was wonderful! The best part of pregnancy for me was the love and support I received from my hubby which was a surprise to me. My hubby is far from romantic but he rubbed my back to fall asleep nightly and massaged my swollen feet after work. This was so special to me especially since I was working 2 jobs till I went into labor.
thegingerlifeblog@gmail.com says
Aww love that your hubby provided you lots of back rubs and support! I’ve also felt a little spoiled lately and can’t complain! And I also work two jobs, so I feel ya on that one.