My pregnancy tale. The beginning and first trimester.

Pregnancy tale.

Today I am officially 39 weeks and 5 days pregnant. Pretty advanced, huh? It makes me happy to know that I'll see my baby very soon. I just ate a breakfast and she is moving around, going very close to my ribs. It's a nice feeling. Or maybe I am in love... ;)

First time I noticed that something was different with me was when Enrique and I went to Puerto Rico. He had a conference there, and I happily joined in because it is the Caribbean, warm weather and lovely sea, instead of the freezing cold here in the Chicago area. (It was February of 2014). I was so excited to go to the Caribbean for the first time and I wanted to be in the best shape possible. A month before the trip I started doing regular exercise in the morning and drinking green smoothies right after. My hard work paid off.

Enjoying green smoothies with kale, spinach and other goodies.

Enjoying smoothies on February 1 2014.

 In Puerto Rico February 28 2014.

Here I am having lots of fun and enjoying the beauty of the sea.

One strange thing that happened to me when I was in Puerto Rico was that  I was repeatedly getting more and more nauseated in the restaurants. I couldn't understand why. Maybe after those green smoothies the food was too greasy for me? Hmmm... My only solution was - look for the bathroom, just in case you'll need to retreat from the table very fast :D. 

Well, anyways, I was one happy camper in Puerto Rico. An intimate detail - my period was supposed to come any day now, but it didn't. I was happy - I could swim and have fun and show off that beautiful body I worked hard to achieve. (Shameless, I know).

When we came home (to Chicagoland) my period still didn't arrive. I became slightly suspicious and my hand reached for the pregnancy test. Result - one line... Or... is there another line? No, it's too... I can barely see it. Three pregnancy test with barely visible second line didn't convince me of my pregnancy. Though I was getting more and more suspicious that maybe...  My husband had to run for the digital test that says loud and clear (actually, it doesn't speak, but it's as if ;) PREGNANT or NOT PREGNANT. Guess what it said? PREGNANT!

Oh my god! I didn't expect that! In the moment I was so overwhelmed with emotions, I didn't know what to do. I was stunned. My husband on the other hand did a happy dance right there in the bathroom, cried with me happy tears and was reaching for the phone to tell the whole world about the news. Oh no. I decided to wait a couple more days, did another pregnancy test and then when word PREGNANT flushed in my face one more time I gave in and we shared the news with our closest family. 

And my pregnancy journey has begun :).

I have to say, that the first trimester was the most challenging for me. I wanted to be perfect. I wanted to maintain my health in the best possible way for me and the baby, but I was clueless about what to  do. What is safe and what isn't when you are pregnant? Exercise - not any kind; food - not any food; medicine - only some of it. I started reading info online and became more and more confused and unsure and nervous. It didn't help that my OBGYN was willing to see me only 30 days after I realized I was pregnant. My head was like a beehive - buzzing with thousands of questions and doubts and there was nobody to ask "What do I do now???" It was hard for me. I even stopped exercising in fear that I'll do something wrong to my body or baby. Yeah, frustrating... 

On my first appointment with my OBGYN she told me all the things that I was supposed to do that first month. The first trimester is the most important time because baby is just forming and blah-blah... Why she didn't give me this info right when I got pregnant I'll never understand. 

Short summary:

• prenatal vitamins are extremely important. The sooner you'll start taking them the better it is. Folic acid is the main hero (it easily prevents very serious problems with the baby's skeleton which may occur if the mother is deficient in folic acid). DHA is another big guy. My doctor didn't recommend any specific brand, so I just went to CVS and bought prenatal vitamins that consist of two packages - multivitamins for Folic acid and capsules for DHA. If someone out there is planning on getting pregnant, it is recommended to take those prenatal vitamin in advance and keep going till the end of the breastfeeding season. 
• Exercise is beneficial and if you have been doing some kind of exercise, you can safely keep doing it. The problem may occur when a pregnant lady on receiving news of her pregnancy jumps into some challenging exercise routine and hurts herself because she started doing something she has never done before. So it is not a good time to experiment, but if you are already in the groove, you can safely keep going. Also, any aerobic exercise is beneficial. The only thing to pay attention to is your heart rate. If you are so out of breath, you can't speak - stop, slow down. It's not good for the baby!
• Diet - balanced. No raw fish, eggs, meat or soft cheeses. (This info is debatable, but to be safe...) Also no green tea - it might interfere with the absorption on Folic Acid. And who want's that?

That was what my doctor said to me. This advice might not work for other people, but I benefited from it, calmed my crazy head and was able to keep going with day to day life. 

Some "highlights" of the first trimester:

• Nausea. I had a mild case of nausea, that was annoying but manageable. Fresh fruits and vegetables helped me. Exercise helped me. Laying down and taking a nap also helped me. (I was surprised with the exercise part, nauseous feeling would go away after I started doing my exercise routine). Listening carefully to what my body wants helped me.
• Tiredness... and sleepiness. Even though the baby is very small, it'll take a lot of energy from her momma to transform herself from a couple of cells creature to human looking being. The speed with which the baby develops is absolutely incredible. That is why it is so important to eat well and rest, and be healthy and do exercise. 
• Back ache. (I was so sad when my back started aching so early. "What???? What will happen to me later? What about when I'll be 8 month pregnant?". Well, exercise solved it for me. After I started doing very simple exercises for the back plus 10 minute prenatal Pilates workout DAILY, pain eased and never troubled me again. Here is the link to prenatal Pilates that I followed during all of my pregnancy.
• Food cravings. Nothing weird. I can't even say that I had cravings. The only thing that my husband noticed was that I started to cook more Ukrainian (home) meals.

Making dough.

In the process of making pirogies.

Frying time...

Yay! Ready to eat!

Nom-nom: close-up.

• Mood swings. Not really. I was very afraid to turn into a crazy hormonal lady, but it never happened to me. (Yes, I did cry w/o a reason a couple of times, but nothing crazy.)

The real highlight of my pregnancy happened during my first ultrasound when Enrique and I saw our beautiful little baby for the first time. I was so amazed looking at that little human being! I was big eyed with my mouth opened in "awe". My heart flooded with love and ... joy. Those feelings are very tender and personal. On the way back home I kept smiling to myself and crying a bit. Very happy. 

Our little precious treasure.