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Thursday, June 2, 2016

THURSDAY RAMBLINGS: Pregnancy Q&A

I know that many of you are still young and not really thinking about kids yet, but there are quite a few readers and bloggers who have been following me on this journey from the big fat positive to birth of my beautiful baby boy and I’m grateful for all the positive vibrations and nice wishes I got along the way. Since it’s my rambling day, I thought I’d do a Q&A tag about my pregnancy (I borrowed the questions from Beautifymeeh blog). Spoiler: my pregnancy was great so don’t freak out before you read through :)

1. When were you due?
I was due March 25th (Mother’s day over here) but the baby decided to hang tight for a week longer and arrived on 1st of April, making a fool out of both of us (we were hoping for April 2nd since it’s also my hubby’s b-day and it would be a special bond for them to share).

2. Can different emotions from a mother affect the baby inside in any way? 
I firmly believe they do. I could feel him moving around a lot more when I was stressing out at work, even if I was just sitting behind my desk. Happiness and overall well-being are key to a nice pregnancy.

3. Exercise for pregnant women?
I did regular pilates until about 6 months. Then, I switched to pregnancy pilates. I also did a lot of Kegel  exercises and breathing techniques. Otherwise, I just went for walks as much as I could. Regardless of pregnancy, I continued with my daily life until about 36 weeks (out of 40 or better said, 41 for me).

4. Did you do a natural birth or a C-section?
I gave birth naturally – but that’s a whole other story. It was great, by the way.

5. Did your baby move a lot?
He had a nice pattern where he would be awake for most of the night and up until 8 or 9 a.m., then sleep while I was at work and have another afternoon session of exercise. I learned when to expect the movements so I didn’t panic in between. In the end I could also tickle him awake :) (naughty mummy!)

6. What did you eat the most?
I ate pretty much my standard diet, but I had more meat then usual when I only have it about twice a week.

7. Did your feet get swollen?
Yes, but only in the last couple of weeks when I was already on maternity leave. I could only wear two pairs of my shoes, all others didn’t fit anymore. I also got swelling in my hands which caused inflammation of Carpal nerve – that annoyed me more than anything.

8. What cravings did you have?
I didn’t have any particular cravings but I didn’t mind some combinations that seem disgusting right now. Once I accidentally put white chocolate spread on my bread and combined it with radishes, only realizing that when I already bit in it. No harm, I ate it anyway.

9. Have you been limited to do some stuff you regularly did because of your pregnancy?
Besides exercise, not being able to lift everything was my number one pet peeve since I’m usually very independent. My hubby took his own sweet time building the nursery furniture – if I wasn’t pregnant, I would have done it myself weeks before! Also, tying my shoes was not fun so I would advise everyone to time their pregnancy so you can spend the last months in flip-flops :)

10. Did you have morning sickness?
I only had evening sickness twice in the second month. Nothing to it.

11. Were you insecure because you were getting “bigger”?
Not at all! I didn’t show much until about 28 weeks and I couldn’t wait for my belly to grow so I could parade it around!

12. How much weight did you gain?
I gained about 13 kg and lost 8 of these in the days after giving birth and 2 more in a few weeks. A couple of kg are still sticking around but I’m not worried since I’m sure they will be gone soon.

13. Any products you used on your belly?
I used natural argan oil and L’Occitanne Piere Herme body lotion. I didn’t get a single stretchmark so I count myself lucky.

14. Have you dreamed about the baby?
Yes, a lot – and none of the dreams were particularly pleasant. I think that all of my underlying fears that I didn’t allow myself to think during the day came out during the night. That’s one part of pregnancy I definitely don’t miss.

15. Were there certain foods you were told not to eat or drink?
Sure, you can’t eat cold cuts (or any raw meet), shellfish, fizzy drinks etc. I followed some rules very strictly since I didn’t want to get food poisoning or sepsis, but I bent some a bit. It all ended well so no worries there. For my entire pregnancy, I was craving beef tartare and joking with hubby he’ll have to bring it to the hospital for me and I’ll just eat it with a spoon. It’s now two months after and I haven’t even thought about it. Forbidden fruit and all that.

16. Did the relationship between you and your hubby change?
If anything, we bonded even more in anticipation of our first baby. He was very considerate, especially in the last month when my hormones were raging so I count myself lucky to share a life with a person like that.

17. Did you think the baby will look like you our your significant other?
I didn’t really think about it, I just wanted him to be healthy. But if you want to know, he is a direct copy-paste of my darling.

18. What position did you like to sleep in?
I longed to sleep on my belly since that’s how I usually sleep but couldn’t for the last 4 months of the pregnancy when I could really feel the baby kicking hard. Sleeping on the back is not recommended so I rotated between sides. You would never believe how hard it is to roll from one side to the other when you have no stomach muscles. According to hubby, I sounded like a wounded moose every time I turned around in my sleep.

19. Did you take any vitamins or supplements?
I took prenatal vitamins and folic acid along with some homeopathic remedies and calcium.

20. How did you know you were about to give birth?
Throughout my pregnancy I was wondering if I would know when the real labor would start, since I’ve had some false alarms from week 38. Well, you really can’t miss it – the feeling was totally different from all fake contractions I’ve had leading up to the 1st of April.

That’s it! If you would like me to continue this with a Birth Q&A or a birth story, let me know in the comments below! 

Until next time, stay beautiful.

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