Weeks 1-8
January 10th - February 28th 2022
My husband and I had been trying to get pregnant since July 8th 2021, when all contraceptives were removed and we finally decided we were ready for less sleeping in, poopy diapers and world travel with a tiny human. Honestly, strapping a kid to our chest and running through a foreign airport sounded like the adrenaline rush we needed to continue to spice up our life.
When things weren’t as seamless as Coach M from freshman P.E class explained, I started to freak out and of course jumped to some far out conclusions. “Something is wrong with me” “My IUD ruined all our chances at getting pregnant” blah blah blah …
Sex became a chore, I was peeing on ovulation strips every week, my hair was turning gray (and still is) from the constant state of stress, worry and anxiety and I spent many days insisting “If I lay in bed with my legs in the air after intercourse we have a better chance of a positive test.” Clearly, I just needed to chill the hell out.
To settle all the racing thoughts I made an appointment with my Gynecologist January 24th 2022 and she insisted everything is going to be fine and set me up on a better way to track my ovulation. Her words exactly “You’ll be pregnant by July 2022 at your next visit.” And assured me that it is not as easy as Coach M from freshman P.E class made it out to be, but that it will happen if I track according to the plan we set. Little did I know I was sitting in her office with a poppy seed sized fetus in my uterus!
Needless to say, the test strips I was peeing on every other day were probably old. I did get a handful from my sister from her most recent pregnancy. LOL
February 8th 2022 (1 week after Christopher and I eloped) after a missed period of 10ish days I finally went and got a fancy digital test from CVS. This was almost as bad as choosing a box of cereal at the grocery store. There were 700 kinds of tests! Anxious to get home and pee on yet another piece of plastic, I just grabbed the best looking one. 2022 is a time to be alive, I scanned at self checkout to avoid any unnecessary conversations and walked out of that CVS so peaceful.
The anxious text to my husband while he was at work 3 minutes after peeing on the fancy digital test. I promise those were tears of joy!
About 3 weeks later we were scheduled for our first ultrasound. We got to hear baby’s heartbeat and see a tiny fetus that honestly looked like a category 4 hurricane. I remember the smile on my husbands face and the goosebumps all over my body, not only from the cold gel that was squirted on my belly to perform the ultrasound, but from the amount of joy rushing through my body. We were going to be some cool parents!
Weeks 9-12
March 1st - March 28th 2022
An eventful 3 weeks!
Once we got the good news we spent some time planning the perfect way to announce this to our families. These moments were so special. The overwhelming love we received was truly exciting and I continue to replay these moments in my head. Baby P had a fan base before he even had legs!
The news of getting pregnant called for a mental health check in. My physiatrist video chatted with me to see how I was feeling so far and suggested we try an unmedicated pregnancy. I was on an antidepressant at the time and I was doing great! I was a little nervous to wean off the medication, but my doctor assured me if at anytime I needed to get back on the medication that there were several safe options for me to use while pregnant. This made the transition much easier to digest.
The weaning process was about 10 days. Ten days of migraines and napping all afternoon. I had never experienced a migraine before this and let me just say, it was awful. Some days I couldn’t even sit up without an ice pack and two Tylenols to get the smallest bit of relief. Luckily the withdrawls ended and I was eventually able to function again!
In conjunction with the 10 day weaning process I was having food aversions and a little bit of nausea. Literally nothing sounded good. I would drink tea with lots of honey or eat a spoonful of olive oil just to get in some calories. I ended up losing 8 pounds in my first trimester. Thankfully I had random cravings for a toasted sesame bagel with onion chive cream cheese. You could find me in the Einstein Brothers drive thru 3 times a week. “Extra cream cheese please!” By the end of my first trimester they knew my face and my order.
I honored what my body did and didn’t want during these first 12 weeks. I rested. Ate the things that sounded appetizing. Skipped meals if I was feeling sick. Took a 4 hour nap in the middle of the day on a Tuesday. Worked out only 1 day a week most weeks. Put kimchi on every meal. Had dessert twice. Anything that felt right, I did it! Unapologetically.