Preggo Days

((40 weeks))

((29 weeks))

((26 weeks))

((21 weeks))
Well, today is the day I have FINALLY entered the world of blogging, and I am so excited. I wish I would have started at the beginning of my pregnancy, so I could remember all the lovely and not so lovely things I went through, but hey, better late than never. So here goes nothing...

We found out that we were pregnant at the beginning of June, I only remember this because it was around the time of Riley's birthday, and Sarah was one of the first people I told. I called her to tell her that Josh and I had gotten Riley a birthday gift, but she was going to have to wait 9 months until she could get it. I loved her delayed reaction, it was priceless.

We were definitely not trying to conceive, but it was definitely one of the best things to have ever happened to us. I mean, I always wanted to be super traditional in the whole process of baby making, but hey, Josh and I are not your most traditional and conventional couple out there, so it works for us.

First trimester: I was super nauseous the entire time, from sun up until sun down. I had to constantly snack throughout the day. I lived off of Rita's cotton candy gelatis and hard ginger candy. The worst thing was working at Red Robin and smelling all sorts of foods being cooked and the smells mixing. I was especially nauseous when I would smell malt vinegar being used. I swear I could smell it from ANYWHERE in the restaurant. Gross! I could fall asleep mid sentence, and did almost every night. I felt so bad for Josh, too, because I would always have this elaborate meal that I would crave for dinner and he would ALWAYS cook it, no matter what. Unfortunately, I would typically take two or three bites and get nauseous or grossed out by something. Poor Josh!

Second trimester: I was still really sick up until about 15-16 weeks, but after that came and went, I felt like a new woman. If I could have felt like this the entire pregnancy, I would have had it made. I ate ice cream like it was going out of style, especially Red Velvet Cake by Blue Bunny. Delicious! I had most of my energy back and was loving life. However, this is when we decided to move back to NC, which took a toll on me. It was exhausting, but I am so thankful that we had the opportunity to do so.

Third trimester: This one was the tricky one! I was feeling great up until about week 30-31ish. That's when I started to gain weight pretty consistently and I became so uncomfortable. I was so thankful that I did not have to deal with swollen feet or hands, though. The biggest challenge for me throughout this trimester was probably the amount we had to travel. We traveled up to PA for Christmas, stayed there for 5-6 days, drove back to NC for 1 night ONLY, and then to Atlanta for New Years, and then back to NC. This happened all while I was 36 weeks pregnant! I mean, really, my VERY LARGE body was NOT having all this traveling. At one point I kicked Zoe out of the backseat and made her sit up front with Josh because I was in so much pain.

Looking back, however, I would not change all the traveling we did to save my life because at my first pregnancy exam at 37 weeks, we got great news. I was already 4 cm dilated and about 70% effaced. I swore we were going to go in there and I would be MAYBE 2 cm and 50% effaced, but I was wrong. Dr. Hawes swore that I would not make it to the due date, but of course, I proved him wrong. 38 weeks rolled around and I was 5 cm dilated and still 70% effaced. Again, Dr. Hawes swore I would not make it, and actually almost sent us to the hospital for an induction because I was having pretty regular contractions, but since I wanted to go natural, he just sent us home. 39 weeks came and I was 6 cm dilated and 75% effaced. This time I got to see Dr. Hunt (my primary) and she was in shock that I was still walking around like this. At this point, I was so ready for Baby K to come. I was eating spicy food, jogging around, walking up and down the stairs, doing squats, and many other private things (use your imagination) to get her to come on. Of course, nothing worked, and 40 weeks came and I was 6 cm and 80% effaced. At this point, we had to schedule a time for induction because Dr. Hunt will not leave the baby in much longer past 41 weeks. We decided on Wednesday, January 25th at 9 am for our induction time because that was the only time she would be working that we could keep Baby K inside.