Hi!
So….how are you!? I know it’s been a while since we’ve
talked but trust me when I say I have a very good reason why…and this time I
truly do.
For the past 16 weeks my body has been adjusting to some
major changes thanks to this little bundle called a baby. The journey has been
both a blessing and a curse, but I am very happy to say that things have
finally calmed down and I am now in the blissful stages of pregnancy. I am once
again energetic, happy and best of all, able to eat.
With time permitting, my goal is to blog about my journey
through pregnancy and motherhood as the health and environmentally conscience
individual that I am. Building and raising a baby requires a lot of health and
diet related decisions, which I hope you can help me with! It’s been 8 years
since I was last pregnant and my ideals about food, health, etc. has completely
changed making this feel like a whole new experience for me and my family. I
also want to document this experience in hopes that it helps other like minded
moms out there relate. After all, there’s nothing more comforting than knowing
you’re not alone.
So to begin, I think it’s only best to back track on the
last 15 weeks of my life as a newly pregnant momma. It’s an interesting story
that should NOT go untold.
Discovery
Before my missed cycle, before I even took a stick test, I
knew something was “wrong” with my body. I could tell my hormones were off by
the random changes my body was going through. I guess learning to tune in and
listen to my body finally paid off. The first thing I noticed was a sudden
flare up of back acne. Random, large zits would pop up daily on my back and
wouldn’t go away. At first I thought it was a reaction to the new shampoo I was
using, but even after not using it for a week, the acne continued. (Keep in
mind, my first pregnancy was symptom free from beginning to end.) That was sign
number one.
The second thing I noticed was a swing in my emotions. Don’t
get me wrong, as a woman and human being having emotional swings isn’t all that
rare. It happens, but usually when I haven’t eaten right or during that time of
the month; never mid-month when I’m usually my happiest self. In addition, I
also noticed I became very annoyed with people being in my personal space. I
couldn’t even take my daughter or husband being near my face, or in my bubble
for a long period of time. It was sort of sad honestly because I felt like I
was being mean and hateful. What happened to the happy, loving person I used to
be?
After waiting a week after my missed period I finally took a
test. My husband was convinced that my cycle was just off, but I knew that was
not the case. Ever since I started my raw food journey, my cycle was on point
every single month. It was so well scheduled I could plan trips around it
without an issue. No way was it all of a sudden late. Of course, I was right.
The test came out faintly positive. To be sure I took one more the following day
and sure enough, we were having a baby!
It was a shock to us as this was totally unplanned, but we
were no doubt happy and thrilled. Having lost two in 2013, and swearing we
would never try again, we knew that this baby was a miracle from God.
Misery
The first few weeks of my pregnancy were quite a breeze. I
had some sharp pains here and there, some cramping, along with tiny bouts of
nausea, but nothing serious. I thought to myself, maybe this pregnancy will be
just like my first: easy, breezy, and stress free. Haha, did I jinx that one.
All of a sudden, I was suffering from migraines that
wouldn’t ease with water or sleep; severe nausea; strong food aversions; and
eventually, severe vomiting. I could barely keep food or water down. My dreams
of having a completely raw food pregnancy were toast. Instead, I was living off
organic saltines, ice cubes, seltzer water and rice when I could manage it. My
multi-vitamins weren’t staying down either, leading me to panic about the
health of my baby. No vitamins, no healthy foods and little water….what kind of
damage is this going to cause? As much as I wanted to take care of this little
human inside of me, all I focused on was taking care of me. Eat, drink, throw
up, sleep, repeat – that was my routine for 7 weeks straight.
Scared
It the midst of all the pregnancy horror, one day I noticed
the early signs of an oncoming cycle or for those who are pregnant, a
miscarriage. It frightened me to tears and I immediately called my doctor for
an early appointment. Having miscarried before, the situation was nerve
wrecking and left me anxious to eventually see my baby. Thankfully, all was
well; really well actually. However, to be safe, the doctor prescribed me prometrium
and scheduled me an ultrasound for that same day.
Now, many of you who know me very, very well, know
medications are off the books for me unless there is a desperate need for
them. If you don’t know what prometrium is, it’s basically a boost of
progesterone hormones in order to help keep the uterus functioning properly. I
researched, read and debated about whether or not I should pick up my
prescription for almost two weeks. Finally I decided my answer would be no.
Even though it could potentially help, at the end of the day, I learned it wouldn't
prevent a miscarriage and the side effects made it seem like life could possibly
be even more miserable and stressful, which was NOT what I needed. I determined
I would leave it the hands of fate, or in my case, God. If this baby was meant
to stay, then it will.
The ultrasound that day went perfect. Even though I was a
complete mess, I finally got to see the reason why I was going through so much
fuss. My little cocoon was doing just fine, measuring at 7 weeks, 1 day
(weirdly almost 2 weeks prior to what I predicted), with a heartbeat of 136. Seeing
him/her put my mind at ease, at least for the time being, and thankfully, all
was well.
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| 7 Weeks, 1 Day |
Becoming High Risk
At my next appointment, aka my regularly scheduled “first”
appointment, my doctor expressed her concerns about the shape of my uterus
which she examined from the ultrasound scans. Instead of being the typical oval
shaped that it should be, mine showed to be somewhat heart shaped or medically
speaking, bicornuate. If this is your first time hearing about such an
anomaly you’re reaction is probably similar to what mine was – “Cool. Okay.
And?”. Apparently, having such a unique
shaped baby cave can actually put you at high risk. How?
A bicornuate uterus means that I have, what they like to
call, two horns or two cavities as opposed to one: a right and a left. The baby
settles into one side and happily grows. However, depending on the length of
the “septum” in between the two cavities, the baby’s growth could be stunted. I
could miscarry, go into preterm labor, or worse.
Now, let me reiterate just one more time how beautiful my
first pregnancy went. No symptoms; easy labor; and THIS never came up. Never.
And I was born with it! I never had an issue with it during my pregnancy so why
should I now, right? I guess for once I’d like to curse the advancement of
technology and its ability to now see a more accurate viewing of my screwed up
baby cave. If it wasn’t for it, I wouldn’t be in this high risk situation. Of
course, I’m sure miscarrying twice has something to do with it too and well, all complaining aside, it’s been a blessing. An expensive blessing, but a blessing. I do get
to see my baby every 2 weeks!
My doctor sent me to the Maternal Fetal Associates of the
Mid-Atlantic, a place that services high-risk patients, and where almost all
pregnant women go for their First Trimester Screening, for a more thorough
screening of my uterus to determine if the bicornuate diagnosis was accurate.
Although difficult to see, the doctor stated that the diagnosis seemed accurate
and asked me to come back every 2 weeks to keep an eye on everything and for my
First Trimester Screening. My reaction, of course, was yippee, I get to see my
baby every two weeks! What a way to keep my mind at ease! Being high-risk
wasn’t so bad after all.
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| 10 Weeks, 2 Days |
The Benefits of Eating Raw Vegan
Even though I wasn’t doing so well with my diet, my body was
still in amazing shape. The proof? The results of my blood work showed
everything was doing fine. I was healthy, and, wait for it, NOT ANEMIC! Now
anemia, especially among pregnant women, seems to be a major issue. Prior to
becoming vegan and during my first pregnancy, I was anemic and prescribed those
gosh awful iron pills to supplement. Ever since then I haven’t had my blood
analyzed and therefore, never knew how my iron levels were...until now!
Apparently I’m doing great! THANK YOU HEALTHY DIET and thank you greens!
Sorry, I had to boast a bit J
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| 14 Weeks Baby Bump: 10% Baby, 90% fat and water retention! |
First Trimester Screening
Nothing is more nerve wrecking than waiting for the results
of these pregnancy tests and screenings. As a mother, all I wish is for a
healthy baby, but when there’s a test that can determine otherwise, well, I
worry.
The First Trimester Test is composed of two different tests:
a blood test and a screening of the baby’s neural tubes. The blood test was
easy, yet painful. Having lacked in fluids that day, drawing blood from my
middle finger became a serious task for the nurse. All she needed was 5 drops
and my finger was giving her nothing. Eventually she got what she needed, but in
turn I got a seriously bruised middle finger that lasted a week. As for the
screening, that I enjoyed because I was able to see my baby move in the
process. At that time, s/he was measuring at 12 weeks, 3 days, exactly on point,
with a heartbeat of around 160.
After about a week or so the result of my screening came in
and everything looked great. I could
finally relax for a bit and finally go back to living my pregnant life
semi-normally.
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| 12 Weeks, 3 Days |
The Present
Since my First Trimester Screening, I have had one other
ultrasound, which again, showed that everything was doing great. The baby is
growing exactly on point and so far, everything with me is also looking good.
The only small concern they had was that my placenta was lying low towards my
cervix, but apparently that’s normal early in the pregnancy. Whew.
To date I am 16 weeks along. The vomiting has significantly
subsided and I am once again enjoying foods of all varieties. I am not 100%
raw, but I do eat a lot of raw foods. I have gone from worrying about eating in
general to now worrying about the safety of what I am consuming. From herbal
teas, to protein powders, to even chocolate, everything seems to have a safety
concern when it comes to being pregnant. In my future posts I’ll be addressing
these concerns along with updates on my pregnancy.
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| 14 Weeks, 1 Day |
So I want to know, what’s your go to snack!? I need ideas!
Beth
