The Story of Us- Part 3 – Being Pregnant

I took a little pause in my short story series on how we became a family of three.  This post  continues the story detailing how my pregnancy went. To catch up check out my conception story part 1 and part 2.

If I recall, I left off with me, experiencing terrible all-day sickness on my gorgeous, all-inclusive honeymoon where I got to enjoy some yummy virgin daiquiris! Grand! So, here I was fresh off my honeymoon a month and a half pregnant. Literally the honeymoon was over and now I had to integrate back into real life. This is when reality really set in. I was still processing everything, having been told I was pregnant a week and a half earlier. So I dealt with it the best way I knew how; to come up with a plan (that is usually thwarted almost immediately after I spend hours crafting it). I decided to wait to tell my mom about the pregnancy until a month later for several reasons: 1. I was still in that uncertain early stage when things could go wrong and with my past medical history I wanted to make sure everything was on track. 2. My mom is a fairly religious person so… um… well I was nervous to be smited by the hand of God (or her) for conceiving before marriage (ok technically five weeks and three days before marriage but really who’s counting.)

I figured if I waited a month and told her then maybe, just maybe she wouldn’t be able to do the math and would think it happened on the honeymoon. I wasn’t sure of how to go about telling anyone I was pregnant really seeing as how I had never had to do it before. I mean do you just come out with it? “Hey nice weather we’ve been having. Oh yeah, I’m pregnant.” Do you warm people up to it, like “oh Mr. McGregor’s rabbit just had babies…well speaking of babies…” Yeah, No.  So my sister and I came up with a plan (she got the just throw it at ‘em approach when I told her “oh btw I’m pregnant, don’t let any alcohol come near me” right before my wedding). We went over to my mom’s house, made her dinner, engaged in pleasant conversation and then I pulled out an envelope and told her I had something for her. I just handed over the sonogram pictures and I have never seen someone’s jaw hit the floor so fast. I was shocked the velocity did not cause her jaw to detach from her face. Not only did I have to tell her I was pregnant, but I had to explain to her everything that had happened to me since 2008. Needless to say it was a long evening. My sister should thank me really for breaking the baby ice because next time someone has to announce they are creating a human being, they can put some real flair behind it and have fun with it rather than hold their breath waiting to get smited.

My pregnancy was difficult in the beginning and even more difficult at the end. I was glad for the lull during the second trimester when I went nesting crazy and decorated the baby’s room. I scrubbed down Every. Single. Wall. in my house at least three times top to bottom during that period of time. Our house has never been cleaner before or after. I actually enjoyed it. I really enjoyed the thought and attention to detail that went into everything; picking out the baby gear and getting giddy when I saw other babies around me. It was great. Then around my third trimester I was so swollen I could barely walk. It hurt to sit, it hurt to stand, it was an all-around miserable time. My job graciously let me work from home for the last few weeks of my pregnancy and I did the research every mom does before giving birth: watched A Baby Story. We did actually attend baby classes which prepared us but also set some unrealistic expectations. I will go more into that with the final installation: Part 4 of the Story of Us. Until then stay sane friends!

(me probably 8 or so months pregnant getting ready to go into my baby shower)

How was your pregnancy? Did you experience the “pregnancy glow?” I have been wanting to hear from someone who has because I sure didn't! The end result was all worth it though :)