Many of you reading this may already know that my husband and I are expecting a new addition to our family in early August 2014. This will be our first two-legged child! So now I'm going to go in to how pregnancy has been treating me...
I found this shirt, which is very similar to to the Insanity shirt I earned upon completing that program, to announce our new addition. This was a perfect way considering how invested I have become with Beachbody and my job as a coach!
Unfortunately, I have to give myself twice daily heparin injections. This is a blood thinner that I have been placed on due to my stroke history. I bruise very easily the way it is, but putting me on a blood thinner makes it worse! Luckily, the bruising is minimal, but still… this ain't pretty! Along with this, I am unable to drink my Shakeology, as the vitamin K content is too high for my doctor's liking. As much as I would like to go against doctor's orders (I miss my Shakeo!!!), I realized I can't put my wants first anymore. Along with this, you'll notice my fabulous blanket. We have become best friends, as I nap SO much! Partially blaming pregnancy, the other is due to the heparin.
Nausea hit me VERY hard around 7-8 weeks along. I had to take generic Zofran every 4 hours just to be able to function. I was fortunate in that I never physically got sick, but sometimes I wish I would have! I am very lucky in that one of my coworkers makes phenomenal ginger snap cookies, of which I purchased a package to use for medicinal purposes :)
I have been having some pretty strange cravings since day 1. Unfortunately, my tiny human isn't a huge fan of the food I typically ate pre-pregnancy. By that, I mean it hates vegetables and chicken… which is what I LIVED off of! Since eating vegetables wasn't an option, I drank a lot of V8 Fusion fruit/vegetable juice to get my daily intake. I have slowly been able to start adding vegetables in my diet (baby carrots are a great snack right now), however unless it is covered in bbq or hot sauces, I still can't do chicken! Some of the things I have been craving include: chips and queso, Fruity Pebbles (or any cereal really), Skittles, milk, root beer, oranges and orange juice, and pizza. Now I am to the point where nothing sounds good until I start eating it. The husband really hates that… makes prepping for dinner VERY difficult!
My skin has become super sensitive, more specifically the tops of my hands. I wash my hands too many times a day to count, and the soap at work did this to me. It turns very red and raw, followed by dry and cracking/bleeding. I had to purchase a calming soap to take to work, which has helped a little. Before bed, I coat the tops of my hands and fingers with triple antibiotic ointment, which has been a miracle! Luckily, the rest of my skin (minus a few facial outbreaks) has tolerated pregnancy pretty well!
A friend of mine allowed me to borrow a bunch of her maternity clothes. She is much smaller than me naturally, however she was nearing the end of her pregnancy in the summer/fall last year, making the clothes perfect for me right now. Mike and I are going south Florida in a few weeks for a friend's wedding, so I need warm weather clothes! These are some maternity capris that are BEYOND comfortable! However, as I was trying on the clothes, I had a moment of panic. I have always carried my extra weight around my midsection - this is what I worked so hard to lose (most of anyway) prior to the tiny human. Upon trying on these pants, it was a mental tug-of-war between knowing that my tummy is suppose to be getting bigger vs. my normal mentality of keeping that area hidden. Mike came in the room, saw me like this, and stated with a smile on his face, "Look at the belly!" I instantly started crying so hard that I hyperventilated. Luckily, he was sweet and talked me off the ledge, but it's a mental hurdle that will take me a while to overcome. My hopes are that when I start to look pregnant to people who don't already know I'm pregnant, I'll be ok. It is so hard being at that point where it could go either way between extra fluff and pregnancy. One friend told me if I felt self conscious, keep my hand on my belly, as that's a sure sign that you're making a tiny human. Note taken!!