Big Green(ish) News! Preggers in the House!

Full disclosure: This post will be considered way TMI (too much information) for some, especially if you’re of the male variety. There will be talk of boobs, but not in a sexy way. Consider yourself warned.

Well, since my Homegrown interview, the cat is really out of the bag – I’m pregnant! I did my best to let family and close friends know personally ahead of time, since I’ve really appreciated it when others have done the same for me. As of press time I’ll be about 11 weeks along, which I felt was a “safe” time to blab on the blog. This means I’ll be due in October, which was my plan, partially because my job is EXTREMELY busy between the months of April/May and August, and partially because I love Halloween (the chance to throw a childhood’s worth of H’ween themed bday parties was more than I could resist).

First trimester has been interesting. While I count my lucky stars that I haven’t had any severe morning sickness, the constant vague nausea, overwhelming fatigue, intense dreams, food aversions (no cravings, yet) and general aches, pains and moodiness have made life a little more challenging than usual. I’ve never really been overly concerned about my body-image, but I’m currently at that stage where I look more flabby than preggers, which has made daily dressing annoying, but hasn’t warranted the need yet for any fun clothes shopping (besides new bras). And while the boobs are increasing in size (much to Butch’s delight), they REALLY hurt (much to Butch’s dismay) – not to mention, one seems to be growing much faster than the other, which is resulting in a fashionably lopsided look. Good times!

This constant discomfort, combined with increased responsibility at work, has been making it difficult to focus on, and get excited about what is happening to me. Which was reminding me of how, while doing about 99% of the work/planning/creating for my wedding, I started to become so overwhelmed that I began to begrudge and lose interest in  the whole thing. It wasn’t until the wedding practically arrived that I was able to enjoy one of the best days of my life. I really don’t want that to happen with my pregnancy, where I view the entire process as just another thing on my plate, an inconvenience that I must overcome for the big reward at the end. So, besides talking to good friends who have gone through this before and checking out the blogs of other soon-to-be and current moms, I’ve been taking recommendations and gathered some materials together to help center me more in the moment. First, some books:

The Mother of All Pregnancy Books by Ann Douglas

Birthing from Within by Pam England and Rob Horowitz

The Birth Partner: A Complete Guide to Childbirth for Dads, Doulas, and All Other Labor Companions by Penny Simkin (This one’s for Butch!)

The Natural Pregnancy Book: Herbs, Nutrition, and Other Holistic Choices by Aviva Jill Romm M.D. and Ina May Gaskin

(Big thanks to Nina for the first three book recommendations and Renee for the gift of the last one)

I’ve also picked up a couple new exercise DVDs, since I was concerned that the pilates one I’d been doing was a little too intense: The Perfect Pregnancy Workout vol. 1: Sculpting and The Perfect Pregnancy Workout vol. 3: The Ancient Art of Belly Dance for Labor (I already own a yoga DVD, so I skipped vol. 2). The sculpting one is a really good workout that you can tell is safe, but the belly dancing one leaves you feeling like you just moved around a little, with no really purpose. I also watched The Business of Being Born, which was a very well-made documentary, but mostly only served add to stress to what, so far, has been a fairly low-stress situation.

And most importantly, I’ve switched doctors. The first one I went to, Wilder’s Women, just didn’t click for me – and I trust my gut in situations like this. Based on suggestions, I’ve had an initial appointment at A Woman’s Perspective and will meet the first of the three practitioners this week (full report coming soon). I also plan on hiring a doula to act as my birth advocate (since I’ll be having a hospital birth), and have been given the phone numbers of some local ones to call.

So that’s all the news that’s fit to print at the moment! While I acknowledge that this pregnancy (and birth and subsequent child) will become a huge part of who I am, I don’t envision myself becoming one of those women who talks about nothing but being pregnant. My blog, and life, will still be multi-faceted and reflect the many interests and happenings of my green(ish) life!

Photo is of my 31st Birthday Shrine that I created in February

Related articles

• Celebrating Pregnancy! (birthboobsbabes.wordpress.com)
• Today, the reality sets in… (mommasgonemad.wordpress.com)
• The miracle and indescribable first trimester during pregnancy (tirisulayoga.wordpress.com)
• Betty the Glow Hunter! (bettywacka.wordpress.com)