Simple Southern Girl: Prego

Since I'm officially on maternity leave and baby could come any day now, I thought I would start my longer catch-up posts with this topic. Honestly, I thought I would be able to do weekly up dates like lots of the other blogs I read, but with Jonathan's surgery and continuing to work nights, there was just no time. I was far more tired and sick than I ever imagined I would be, but on top of that being a NICU nurse caused my level of anxiety to be through the roof up until about 30-32 weeks, which was also something I did not anticipate! So, here is a quick overview of my whole experience.

How far along: Well today I am officially 40 wks and 1 day. The plan is not to go over 41 wks, so little man better get moving or he is going to get evicted soon!

Total weight gain/loss: This is a very interesting story. At the most I was up about 23 pounds. At about 28 weeks, I got diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I have been able to be exclusively diet controlled, which I am so, so thankful for, but since I started my high protein, low carb diet I have not gained 1 lb. Most recently, I lost a bit. I think currently I am up about 19-20 lbs. Much of the weight seems to be baby because I can tell I've lost some of my fat stores from different parts of my body. This whole thing was a big learning experience. It was something I feared from the beginning. I guess I just had a 6th sense that I was going to have it, but I will be thankful as long as my baby is healthy in the end- it will make it all worth it!

Maternity Clothes: I think that between 16-18 weeks I had to have new pants!!! I tried to wear one of those "be bands" for as long as possible because I didn't really want to spend tons of money on maternity clothes, but eventually I couldn't take it anymore. I had to have maternity jeans and new pants with elastic for work. My favorite piece of maternity clothing is my black maxi dress we took maternity pics in!

Gender: We had our anatomy scan at exactly 20 weeks. Before we went back, I asked Jonathan if he had any guesses. I don't remember what he said, but I remember saying that I thought it was a boy. We had a name picked out either way, so we immediately knew once she said boy that his name was Nathan Matthew. We had a little gender reveal party with our families. We used silly string to do the reveal, and we got a cookie cake with his name on it. It was lots of fun, but really difficult to keep secret even though it was just a few days!

Movement: I did not feel this little child move until about 22 weeks. It was so frustrating to wait and try to feel. It made me feel better when we found out at the anatomy scan that his placenta was anterior which makes it more difficult to feel the baby move. Jonathan felt him shortly after I finally could feel him, but I do remember calling him to come over and feel a few times and then he would just stop. So frustrating! Now of course he moves my whole belly all around.

Sleep: Early on I struggled with sciatic nerve pain, but once I finally went and bought a body pillow from Target it got so much better. I worried sleeping during the day would be difficult, but it really wasn't. I think in the early weeks I woke up hungry a few time, but other than that I continued sleeping really well. I slept a lot for a long time, but I'm not really sure it was all baby. Some of it, I think, was due to just night shift working. These last few weeks, sleep at night has been really difficult. Nathan is really active sometimes between 2-4 am, but I take really good naps during the day. I guess you take what you can get!

What I Miss: Before gestation diabetes this list was not too long, but after my diagnosis the list got a whole lot longer. Here's my completely honest list: Before diabetes the list included margaritas with my Mexican, the occasional Jack and coke, spicy italian subs from subway, and feta and bleu cheese. After my diagnosis the list includes cereal, all the milk I want, ice cream, reese's cups, sodas, sweet tea, pasta, pancakes and french toast, and lots of different dessert items. I already have my order in for post delivery meal. If I deliver in the morning, I would like sweet potato pancakes and hashbrowns from the Pancake Pantry. If I deliver during lunch or dinner, I would like a big plate of spaghetti from Spaghetti Factory! I am so looking forward to meeting my baby and being his mama, but I'm not going to lie, I am so excited about being able to eat and not worry about carbs! Although, I will say I have gotten use to pricking my palm (yes they have me prick on my palm) 4 times a day, and as long as he is health it will all be worth it!

Cravings: In the beginning all I wanted was cheeseburgers and chips with ranch dip. I also had quite a few cumber and tomato salads with ranch dressing. Now see the list of carbs above!

Best Moment of Pregnancy: I will say that finding out he was completely normal was a big deal. My job makes me so aware of all the terrible things that can be wrong with babies. Then when I finally made it to 30 weeks, I felt really good. I was so afraid of having a very tiny premie. Even though I am sitting here overdue, I am so thankful to be term! From the beginning Jonathan and I hoped he would be 40 weeks, and now he has made it.

We did good with belly pictures for a while, and then we sort of fell off the bandwagon! Oooopppss!