My Pregnancy Journey

When I became pregnant, I thought I had already prepared myself in all the possible changes the process of pregnancy will introduce to my body, to my lifestyle and to my outlook in life. I had quite a few years to condition my mind and my body for this journey. I figured, I am still young and healthy and that carrying a baby would be no big deal – I mean, pregnancy makes you glow or makes you look wasted and too exhausted, you get to feel a baby kicking inside you, you might be a little tired or a little nauseous for a few weeks, you will gain a few pounds, you won’t be able to move much for some weeks, you’ll crave something weird and unusual, you’ll vomit but these are all normal so nothing to worry about these changes. When it came right down to it, I didn’t know how hard yet fulfilling pregnancy would be. 

It’s been three years already since we got married and it wasn't that too long when we tried to get pregnant, we decided to try only last year and we're lucky enough and blessed to be able to conceive easily. It was in our plan that once our home is built, that is the time that we’ll start planning to have a baby. Were on track on our life plans and when we said were ready to be parents and plan for a family since our house has been turned over to us already, GOD blessed us with a baby not too long since we started trying. HE graciously blessed us with a miracle.

It was January 18^th when we found out that we were pregnant (I think were already on our 4th week of pregnancy that time). Interestingly, they date the beginning of "pregnancy" from about two weeks before the sperm penetrates the egg, the pregnancy calendar starts first day of the woman's last menstrual period (LMP). Therefore, by the time we found out we're pregnant, our baby doesn't really exist just yet, it doesn't have a heart beat just yet, its just a zygote (a developing baby). Nonetheless, we are super excited about the blessing we received and took extra care so that the development of our little bundle of joy will continue safely.

It was Teng who insisted that we take pregnancy test when he found out that I am already one day delayed for my monthly period. I wanted to delay it more as I dont know what I would feel if the test would be negative. I said I dont want to do the test yet but he insisted so I said, "Go ahead and do the test. I'll just give you urine sample". He has no choice but to figure out how to use the PT kit. 

He’s really excited about it, he claimed that he knew that I am already pregnant. Then came in the result, two lines. POSITIVE! We cried tears of happiness. Teng was jumping, literally. He said he’s already seeing the baby in his dreams days before we took the test. Indeed, GOD perfectly planned this for our family. 

The first trimester was almost a good one. This was when our emotions and excitement is at its peak, I must say. This is when we first heard the heartbeat of our baby, and when we had a first glimpse of how tiny he started. 

During the first trimester I had minimal discomfort, no unusual preggo-cravings, morning sickness is manageable and just a bit of nausea here and there. The only thing that worried us was during the time I had shingles. We were very careful with the choice of medicine I had to take, my OB and I made sure that the medicine would not harm the baby. I didn't opt for a strong antibiotic even if it would take longer for the painful skin rash to go away. I am willing to sacrifice for the safety of my baby - anything for our little one.

The second trimester was a different story. This was when we took the CAS (congenital anomaly scan) and glucose tolerance test. Everything went all and results are OK. Most of the pregnancy book says that 2nd trimester would be the best period of pregnancy when aside from the bump, this period will be the most comfortable. Its a bit different on my end. I am feeling exhausted all the time. I grew and started putting up weight. I started gaining a pound every week, or so it seemed. I had worn regular clothes during the first trimester, but as soon as that second trimester hit, it was a battle to pick what clothes to wear, nothing fits. My belly popped as early as 19 weeks and the aches and pains slowly started to rear their head. I was also advised to stay at home for two weeks and do minimal activity as it looked like I am having a low pregnancy belly (carrying the baby low). 

Then come third trimester. Teng and I became even more excited to meet our precious little one. We had our surprise baby gender reveal with family around this time. We also received several surprise baby showers from friends at work, and outside work.

The baby shower parties add more excitement and it felt like my pregnancy was going by really slow, days became longer but the weight-gain wasn’t slow at all. The weight gain and swelling began to double every week after that. The baby is also pushing down already as early as 32 weeks. The feeling of discomfort started early too as the pain on my pelvic increases as day passes. OB once again advised me to take rest and no prolong movement (no walking more than 10 minutes, no prolong standing). 

We also decided to have a 4D ultrasound around this time as it excites us to see how our little boy will look like. It took us several tries just to get a clear view of the baby's face as he always try to hide it from us. 

As early as 34 weeks, the baby is already positioning to come out and I was once again advised to have a bed rest until my term (37^th week). The skin on my abdomen broke out in itchy bumps (rashes) when I was on my 35th week. It  was too uncomfortable, it was the kind of itch you cannot resist, the kind of itch that will wake you up in the wee hour unconsciously scratching your belly and the more you scratch the more it will irritate your skin and all the more you want to scratch it so the itch will go away (but it wont!). As per my researches, its called PEP (polymorphic eruption of pregnancy) and a sigh of relief that it wasn't harmful to the baby. I didn't put any medicine on it even though it was extremely itchy! 

It was also on my 35th week when we did the GBS test and met-up with anesthesiologist. I tested GBS positive and OB gave us a heads-up that there’ll be some additional tests to be done to the baby and to me once I give birth. This is to ensure that there’ll be no complication to the baby’s health regarding me being GBS positive. At 36th week, we still have quite a few items to prepare but I am not allowed to do more shopping so it was my mom who completed everything on our checklist just to make sure baby will not be pre-term. 

Happily, I was able to reach my term and gave birth at exactly on my 37^th week! Here are the pictures of my weekly progress as a pregnant woman :)

Looking back, that 9 months I have been carrying our precious little boy, I think the only concern on my whole pregnancy journey was that I gained quite a weight (a total of 38.5 lbs) and those naughty skin rashes. My OB would always scold me about my weight gain every single appointment but aside from that everything are well. 

I am always feeling positive and happy. To those who know me, they can tell the difference on my outlook before pregnancy compared to when I am carrying our baby. I always look at the brighter side, I do not get irritated that easily (which is something unusual as I have a short temper), I am always smiling and still cheerful even though the extra weight of my belly is already taking its toll. I never had high blood pressure either. I was “healthy” and baby is always in good term. So yeah, I think its safe to say, “That wasn’t a bad pregnancy journey after all”.