Pregnancy - a Recap

So here we are MAT leave. Today is sunday March 31, I am "due" with my first babe April 8th. On the eve of 39 weeks pregnant and my last day of work was yesterday

Weird.

I know, I've been pregnant since July. It's not like this is a new development. I have a healthy and active baby (still growing) and I've been feeling really good. However, it still doesn't seem real that I'm going to have a physical baby very soon

Let's Recap:

If you've followId along at all through my previous posts I'm someone who is "busy" I glorify being busy for sure. There are people who do less than me and there are people who do more. I work three jobs (works out to 6 days a week most weeks) I play softball, do triathlon, attempt a social life and go to the gym frequently.
Prior to becoming pregnant I did a half iron man triathlon. I was in the gym between 5 & 7 days a week. I ate a pretty restricted diet. (No one told me to, I just did) I was fasting 16/8 and working lots.
Also in previous posts I talked about my lack of a menstrual cycle. This was thought to be caused due to my excessive exercise and just general stress about my life. The fact that I was on hormonal birth control for over half of my life and working so much. I had all the signs of being in menopause in a blood panel but little symptoms in my day to day life.. I was stimulated, not tired etc

So... pregnancy. DR figured I got pregnant right around Canada day. I found out in August after my softball provincials. I was approx 6 wks and started to not feel good. It had come on slowly. We weren't trying not to get pregnant at this point but I really didn't think it was going to happen so quickly. Especially after no regular cycle for almost two yrs. I would get up in the morning before work and go for a run. Suddenly, I felt so slow. How does someone actually get slower while run training? What was I doing wrong? My scrubs started to feel more tight in the thighs and butt.. seriously? How could I get a fatter ass if I'm eating so restricted? it didn't make sense

I started to feel very tired, I would get chills at night, hives on my legs, headaches easily and could no longer fasts like I did previously. I started to crave things like bagels when I wouldn't touch carbs normally let alone first thing in the morning

My husband asked me if I had peed on a stick recently. No, I hadn't for about a month. I figured he was probably correct in his assumption but I had my work review coming and I wanted to get through that and hopefully a raise before I knew what was brewing and didn't want to feel like I had to lie about it.

I took the test that thurs, I told my husband on friday. I figured I caught this soo early I couldn't be more than a few wks pregnant. After all, I know my body.
False. I was about 6 weeks pregnant already and the previous tests I had taken that were negative just weren't speaking the truth haha. I was having other symptoms as well: cramping, my breasts grew, tired etc but I ignored it because a lot of those symptoms prelude a period and I was half excited that maybe my cycle was going to start working properly

I mentioned I have three jobs. I had an ultrasound at 10 wks confirming I was in fact pregnant and further along than I had anticipated. I told my Part time job around 12 wks, I told my second dental office at 16 wks and my main office at 18 wks.

I was nervous to tell my main office, I suppose it's a long story but I didn't want my boss to treat me differently. I hadn't missed a single day of work. I didn't miss one. single. day. my. entire. pregnancy.
I never once asked for help or to be traded out of surgery or my duties. I am the 'main assistant' at my main office. Which just means I have a lot of responsibility. I'm officially on mat leave, and they still haven't replaced my position. I personally find that a poor choice. I did tell them later in the game that I was expecting but, that's still 4 months to figure out someone and give me a chance to train them. Goes to show how they feel about my position. Hopefully when I come back it'll be noted just how much I do (and those in my profession do in general) but that's a rant for another time

After week 10, I started feeling a lot better. I never got true morning sickness (team no vomit) and we started telling our families around 13 wks.

1st Trimester:
Was pretty kind to me overall, I was def weaker and tired easily. I was able to continue working all my shifts and go to the gym. I was notably weaker in my training but could still do everything
I would hit the gym between 2-4 x a week at this point. I found that I would get headaches easily when working out and needed lots of break, but was still fully mobile

2nd Trimester:
I found in this trimester I needed to prioritize eating and drinking. Notorious for under eating and fasting (aka starving) if I did not eat or drink enough I would get headaches and feel sick. I did throw up one time in this trimester due to not eating enough and ended up pd aying for it with a night on the couch and I had to skip the gym
My energy really came on in this trimester, as most people say it does. I was back to being in the gym 4 days a week. I did get some hip pain in this trimester as well but thankfully my husband had extended medical so trips to the chiro and RMT were a thing at this point


3rd Trimester:
I still feel really good. I get restless legs at times, but it's usually when I haven't done enough activity I'm a busy body, I'm on my feet a lot at work and go for lots of walks at this point. Most weeks I'm weight training 2-3 x a week. I still do barbell squats but I haven't done a barbell deadlift in about a month at this point. I get a lot of looks at the gym and still wind pretty easily. At this stage the baby has dropped a bit so I feel like I can eat all the things! In my 2nd trimester even the smallest meal would make me feel full for HOURS but now I can eat lots again. It makes sitting and other things more uncomfortable with the pressure in my groin but overall I've been pretty lucky.

So here we are ... baby could literally be here any day so now we just wait. Most of the time I'd say that people have their babies due date or later with a few friends who had them early. I personally would be fine with this week feeling like I "nailed" when to go off work but reality I could be pregnant for a few wks still

People have asked me if I"m done being pregnant and I guess not? I'm not super over it or anything. This baby is pretty simple at this point. I take it with me wherever I go, it eats when I eat and self cleans. It doesn't wake me up crying in the middle of the night... we've got a pretty good thing going here haha

But, we have to meet this babe sometime so whenever he or she is ready we'll have to send another update on my 'birth story'

Hoping for something straight fwd since my entire pregnancy has been pretty straight fwd. There have def been some harder times, emotionally, physically etc I don't think any pregnancy is a walk in the park but overall I've had a really great experience




My belly really popped around week 28 (beginning of 3rd trimester) and made it harder to hide at work. The pics above are from a maternity try on shoot that I did for a friend of a friend. She has her own photography business and needed some examples of what she has to offer and I was lucky enough to be a subject. I was 36 wks in those (unedited) pictures
Find her on instagram: @coastal_winds_photography

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