Diary of a Preggo: Why I'm always late to work

Why This Preggo is Always Late to Work

So, if any of you out there are thinking about becoming pregnant or have recently found out you are pregnant, I would highly suggest adding an extra hour or two to your morning schedule so you can get to work on time.

I am lucky to have a really flexible schedule and don't punch a time clock, but I still find myself getting in later than planned in the mornings now that I am further along in my pregnancy. I realized there are actually a lot of extra tasks, or slower tasks, that are taking up my time as I get bigger. Here are a few:

Five extra minutes: Just add that to your normal shower time. Twisting, turning, bending, etc., while washing is just more difficult. You will have no idea how often you do these moves showering until you are pregnant. Oh, and getting in and out of the tub is a lot more treacherous, so you have to do it carefully.

2 extra minutes: Add that to the normal shave time because attempting to shave your legs is a major, and probably eventually impossible, task.

30 seconds: Rubbing cocoa butter all over your belly.

1 minute: Recovering from running into something in the hustle of getting ready. As you get bigger, your center of gravity changes and you become more clumsy on your feet. I run into things a lot, and drop things a lot. The other day I bent over and flipped my hair over to dry it, and then went to stand up except I ran my head right into the doorknob of the open bathroom door. Ouch. Unfortunately these are common occurrences.

40 extra seconds: Tripping on your pant legs and almost falling over as you try to get dressed.

Ten extra minutes: Trying on a million outfits every day only to find you are bigger and the majority of them don't fit. When you find a pants/skirt, etc. that halfway fits, making it look presentable with either a rubber band, pants extender, or a fabric belly band to cover your open zipper, layered with the right amount of tank tops (sometimes employing all of these rigs together), is a task in itself.

3 extra minutes: The application of makeup and drying your hair while at the same time sweating all over and having to stop and wipe the sweat off (yeah, gross --- you will be hot all the time. I am about to just stop blow drying my hair at this point)

One extra minute: Putting on your shoes and tying them, which will require sitting down and some awkward yoga bent-knee positions.

Five to ten minutes: Preparing a nutritious breakfast, because a pop tart out the door or "no breakfast" will not cut it when you are preggo.

20 extra seconds: Climbing awkwardly in and out of your car.

Depending on your work location, one extra minute: Walking through the parking lot and up the stairs to my building (I used to be a major speed walker)

And let's add one more extra minute before I start my actual work: Chugging water and recovering from being completely out of breath from walking to my office.

If you try to do all of this at the gym locker room, it's even worse (navigating others, dealing with hairdryers that short out so you have to bend down and crawl under counters to re-plug them, not having adequate places to sit down, sweating, hearing gross noises or smells that make you want to puke, etc.) I am actually becoming fond of going to the gym after work, which I hated before, just so I don't have to get ready there.

Regardless, pregnancy is a good sacrifice, and you find what works for you. Pretty soon though, my hubby is going to be shaving my legs. Either that or he better get comfy with a hairy woman :)

Diary of a Preggo: Pregnancy Myths

So I know I haven't written in a while. I am now 26 weeks - towards the end of my second trimester, and frankly, things have been pretty uneventful. I've also been pretty crazy busy at work so I guess I took my mind off of pregnancy things for a bit.

The second trimester has honestly been fantastic. I really feel like myself - and most of the time I have tons of energy. I'll have off days where I can't stop yawning and am still pretty worthless past 9 p.m., but for the most part I'm good to go. I'm even still able to get to the gym, using a maternity support belt. And I haven't been sick at all. I really hope this lasts!

I also went to physical therapy to work on my back/hip pain issues and it helped quite a bit. The therapist gave me stretches that I do every day at home, so I don't even have to go in there anymore. The other great part is feeling her kicking inside me constantly. It's just a reminder that there is this amazing being inside of me that I get to meet and shower my love upon very soon! She's very active, even the doctor has commented on how much she always kicks and pushes away from the doppler when he is trying to listen to her heart. I'm guessing that's a good thing ;)

Here is one thing I have noticed lately: The  things everyone told me I'd get to enjoy this trimester are really not happening. I guess in my case they are pregnancy "myths."

Here are a couple:

You will have AMAZING hair!

Okay, so my hair is the same. It is not thicker or shinier. In fact, it is probably more dry and straw-like. This is in no way amazing. It is, on the other hand, the complete opposite of the greasy hair I had in the first trimester, so I guess I should count myself lucky.

You will have AMAZING nails! 

My nails are not amazing. Maybe, they might grow a teeny tiny slightly bit faster. But other than that they are not stronger or thicker or super-growing. They are just normal nails. With dry cuticles.

You will GLOW!

Nope, I am not glowing. I'm not sure if that is just something people tell pregnant women so they feel better when they are all hot and puffy (Glow=sweat?), but it doesn't seem to be happening here. The funny part is I've actually had a couple of people tell me I'm glowing, when I know that in fact, I am not. My skin is the same, except it breaks out a little more. Unless I'm working out, I'm not flushed or red. Believe me, I own a mirror, and there is no natural bronzer on this face!

On the positive side, I've also (so far) not had even an inkling of some the other horrible things people said I might get (Can you say hemmorhoids?) Thank God for that. The worst thing I've dealt with in this trimester is a little swelled ankles when I stand or sit too long. That I can handle.

I guess that's all for now. I'm sure I'll be posting more in the third trimester - when things (i.e., me) start to get obnoxious and big!

Diary of a Preggo: Becoming Helpless

Diary of a Preggo: On what it feels like to become helpless

Lately I've had a hard time putting my shoes on, painting my toenails, or even stepping into pant legs. My uterus will be the size of a basketball in about a week, and that makes my back less flexible and bending over uncomfortable. I find this particularly annoying, and again, a symptom that no one ever seemed to mention pre-preggo. Being that I'm 5 and a half weeks, that means this is going to get much worse as my baby grows. So I can totally picture having to ask my hubby to help me put my shoes on later on in pregnancy.

Which brings me to the current topic at hand. I really don't enjoy feeling helpless and not being able to do some of the things I did before. Sure, I always found it nice and manly when a guy would hold open a door for me or lift something heavy. But it was just that - nice. It excused me from having to exert myself. But in most cases, except when something is really heavy, I probably could have done it myself. I mean, a door? Sure. I haven't found one I can't open yet. But as I get further and further in my pregnancy my body just seems weaker, and I'm definitely more off balance. The other day I was carrying something and tried to open the door at the same time and I pulled something in my already-painful back. Yea, I know, that's pathetic, but it is reality now. Sometimes people jump to try and help me with things, and I feel bad or embarrassed. I'm finally coming to terms that I do need their help, though.

Let me give you one example. For work I had to visit and oversee the videotaped interview of a 95-year old priest. He is nearly blind and walks with a cane and asked for some help getting back to his office. Surely he couldn't tell I was pregnant, but that didn't matter as my head sometimes forgets that my body is not in the best shape to be helping people around. So of course I agreed. He placed his hand on top of my shoulder and put a suprisingly heavy amount of weight on me and my knees locked in disagreement. As I shuffled around a couple of corners toward his office I felt increasingly off-kilter and even ran into the corner of a table (ouch).  I had pictures running through my head of me collapsing, along with that table and the poor blind priest. Lucky the man above was on his side and that didn't happen. But, that's what I get for trying to help out. Something like that would have been no problem pre-preggo!

Then yesterday, it was the first nice spring day and I was off work for Good Friday so I decided to take the dog around the lakes on campus. That was going to be my workout for the day so I thought I'd run around the lake once (1 mile) and then walk around it the second time. I didn't think much about the fact that pretty much my whole pregnancy, the little running I've been doing has been on a treadmill, which is very different than road running. I was just so happy to be able to run outside again, and I had one of those belly support belts so I thought it would be no problem. I started out fine, but towards the end my quads felt numb and my knees hurt bad. It's just a different type of impact and uses different muscles. Then when I got home and got in the shower, I looked down at my feet and they were all purple and veiny (sorry, gross). I was totally shocked and it freaked me out. That went away after a while but my ankles hurt and then when I went to the mall after, my feet hurt like crazy as if I'd been standing for ten hours. I decided I should either stick to the treadmill or at least work my way up again to road running slowly. I know eventually I will have to stick to power walking, but at least for now I'd like to continue running for as long as I can.

I guess the moral of the story here is that pregnancy is a total out-of-body experience. And it does make a woman completely helpless in some cases. I guess coming to terms with that is hard for me. I wanted to believe I'd be able to do everything I could do before, maybe just a bit slower. But I was wrong.

It's amazing how fast it's gone by. I am officially more than half of the way through, and before I know it, I will be holding my baby, rendering me even MORE helpless. So to those guys that hold doors and carry things, I say thank you. I need you now more than I ever thought I would. :)

Diary of a Preggo: Baby Kicks

Diary of a Preggo: Baby Kicks

Well it's been a wonderful week. My ultrasound has confirmed that my baby and everything else is healthy, I found out I'm having a little girl, and she has been kicking around a lot lately. It's a magnificent reminder of all that is in store in this new phase of my life. And it makes everything I've been through so far so very much worth it.

When I first felt her moving around, that is the first moment that I actually believed 100% there is a living, thriving life inside me. It's beautiful and scary and relieving and mind-blowing all at the same time.

It's so incredibly weird to be walking around for 4+ months knowing you are pregnant but not feeling it, and sometimes not even looking it. I mean sure, I was having all kinds of crazy symptoms, and I haven't had a period for a while, but a human life form growing inside of my body?

 Really?

 I am capable of that somehow?

I spent so much time wondering why I wasn't showing much, thinking maybe the baby had died inside me or wasn't growing on schedule. Worrying that there must be something flawed about the process and my body couldn't possibly be capable of such a complex undertaking.

I even bought a fetal heart doppler so I could check to see if the heart was still beating now and then. Then when I heard it, I would freak out thinking it was too fast, or too faint, or too slow.

When you can't see, feel, or hear something, it's just so hard to believe it exists, even though all of medical science and a blood test and my doctor confirms it does, in fact, exist.

I guess it's the same thing as faith. You trust God is there for a variety of reasons, even if you can't see him or always feel his presence. And what I've found is eventually that faith is in fact confirmed.

When I first felt her kicks, I felt foolish for all that worrying I had done. The baby was there all along. Just like my faith, although at dark times in my life I've felt that was missing as well.

If anything, feeling this baby move inside me has confirmed my faith, confirmed everything wonderful I thought I knew about this world and this life. It's like rediscovering some sort of magical naive wonder, believing in things I haven't believed in for so long.

Yes, it is possible. Yes, I am capable of this.

Look around, every person on this planet - billions of them - was birthed by a woman. That's the only way they could have gotten here. As I type, the baby is moving all around and poking me as if she knows I write for her.

A reminder to keep the wonder. Remember the magic. Trust in your faith.

Never stop being amazed by the beauty all around us, and inside of us.

Diary of a Preggo: Being sick while preggo

The Joy of Being Sick While Preggo

So, Eve ate the forbidden fruit and Adam went along like the fool he was. According to the story of creation, that is why we women now bear the excruciating pain of child bearing.

Well, thanks a lot, Eve. This post is dedicated to you.

But first: Although you may not be able to tell from these posts, I am incredibly grateful to be carrying a child and happy that I am healthy and physically able to do so. It took us a little longer than planned to get pregnant, and it’s been a life-long dream of mine to be a mom. I know this will be fulfilling in every possible way, and I am so grateful and blessed that it worked out for us.

However, as you’ve read in my previous posts, this pregnancy has been no walk in the park. Or run in the park….in the rain, for that matter. So this blog happens to be a perfect place to air my complaints. I'm sure once the baby comes the posts will be sprinkles with happy baby and mom stories. I'm just not there yet.

I’ve realized that being sick while you are pregnant must be some sort of torture, a pain so incredible that can only be designed to punish Eve. I’m sure it’s nothing compared to the actual act of childbirth, but at least that only lasts a day or so, while I’ve lost about a month total to different sicknesses while pregnant (And I’m only halfway through!)

My first trimester, on top of being incredibly nauseous and tired, I also got a nasty sinus infection. I missed my husband’s work Christmas dinner and my head was in so much pain one night I was literally holding a heating pack on it and crying. Of course I could not take anything else but Tylenol and we all know Tylenol is a joke – it did nothing. It’s the first time in my life I’ve been in so much pain I was scared. I felt like I was having a panic attack and I was afraid my baby could feel how stressed and scared I was. I’ve always struggled with sinus issues in the past but I’ve been able to take decongestants, mucinex, and Advil sinus, which took away the pain and cleared it up quick. Nope, can’t have any of those while you are pregnant. And instead of knocking myself out to sleep with Nyquil, I struggled to sleep trying to mouth-breath since I couldn’t breathe out of my nose.

Fast forward to the second trimester. I’m feeling much better and my energy is up. But right when I get back on a workout schedule and start getting some sense of normalcy back, I get hit with a nasty cold virus, which then turns into bronchitis, which then morphs into another sinus infection. Wowza. I coughed so much my entire throat, esophagus, and lungs deep in my chest felt like they were on fire and swollen. A couple of Advil would have taken care of that swelling easily, but no. When I did get on a pregnancy-safe antibiotic, my throat got better but lo and behold, my nose closed up. I seriously went through an entire box of Kleenex in four days. I’m still dealing with it now, and although I’m a bit better, two weeks later and I’m still coughing sometimes and dealing with bouts of teeth pain and sinus headaches. Last night, my husband pushed me out of a blissful sleep to tell me I was snoring. 

If you are pregnant, you know it’s hard to fall asleep in the first place. And the minute you get woken up you have to get up to pee, which means by then you are going to have a hard time falling back asleep. Hello, I was snoring because I can’t breathe out of my nose. I don’t really have a choice in that. Sometimes I wish he could be pregnant…just for like a week or two…seriously.

Let me also add that I’ve been this sick even though I am a healthy person with healthy habits. I wash my hands often, have hand sanitizers in my car, purse, and office and use them frequently, take several vitamins daily, eat fresh fruits and vegetables, exercise, drink lots of water, etc. etc. So there is no fathomable reason for me to be getting this sick unless it has to do with immune system changes due to pregnancy.  Just Googling “pregnant and have a cold” gave me solace as there are thousands of women out there struggling in a panic with the same problems. Yet another crazy symptom!

I know once the weather clears I will start to feel better, but this sick stuff is starting to get ridiculous. Can I pretty please just spend the second half of my pregnancy healthy? 

I swear, I will not make my husband eat the fruit!