Sunday Summary - 4.23.23 - We’re Expecting!
A few weeks ago I hinted at an exciting Sunday Summary edition, and the day is finally here…Bryan and I are expecting! We’re excited to add a little girl to our family this fall, and we’re certain Nash is going to be a wonderful big brother.
In celebration of finally being able to share this good news with YOU, this edition of the Sunday Summary will share a lot of what I’ve been reading, learning, experiencing, and purchasing for our little tot on the way.
Here for the regular content? No worries. Our regularly scheduled programming will resume in two weeks. There will not be a summary next week, as I’ll be on a beach somewhere in Hawaii for our “babymoon.”
Reading
Expecting Better by Emily Oster
Pregnancy is a lot of things, but the thing that shocks me every time is that it’s [apparently] an open invitation for people to bestow unsolicited advice upon you. Congratulations! What’s strange is that it isn’t usually coming from friends who are currently or recently pregnant — it’s usually strangers or those who haven’t been pregnant in over a decade!
I know they’re coming from a good place, but if you’d like to be able to take all of those little “gifts” with a grain of salt, I highly recommend this book by Emily Oster. She provides a data driven perspective of widely accepted pregnancy rules to empower you to make the most informed decisions for you and your growing baby when it comes to things like drinking coffee, eating a turkey sandwich, and getting an epidural.
What your grandmother did for her child in the 1960s clearly worked — your parents had you, so they clearly made it to adulthood. BUT, the 1960s way of being pregnant and parenting isn’t the only way. You know? Science is constantly improving and expanding, so it’s probably prudent to seek out more up-to-date information before you blindly emulate Grandma Jane for the next 9-10 months.
In general, I’ve kept my reading about pregnancy pretty limited. Everyone’s pregnancies and deliveries are so different and cannot be predicted, so I found it better for my mental health to get a baseline understanding with a book like Expecting Better and then just ride this thing out and consult my doctor where necessary. Since pregnancy is just a blip in this motherhood journey, I’ve decided to focus my 2nd and 3rd trimester reading around what happens after the tiny human is sent home with us from the hospital. Next up on my list is Crib Sheet!
Pregnancy Tracking App
I’ve been tracking my pregnancy through Ovia, an app recommended by several good friends. Every week I get excited to see the baby’s size compared to fun measurements like “weird but cute animals,” “fun and games,” and “fruits and vegetables.” It also provides daily insights into how your baby is growing and changing during that particular week, and it sends you helpful articles about some of the symptoms you’re likely experiencing. I also use it to track doctor appointments and what we did at each so that I can remember what to expect if we decide to do this all over again!
First Trimester
We found out the exciting news right after Christmas! The first few weeks were totally fine — I had really sore breasts, but beyond that I wasn’t experiencing much change. Week 3 was my turning point. I couldn’t stomach coffee (absolutely bizarre for me), and I was pretty consistently nauseated, tired, and just felt “ick.” Little snacks throughout the day and taking several small doses of Vitamin B-6 helped tremendously, and I gained a completely new appreciation for my ability to work from home during this stretch of time. The most strenuous exercise I could muster was pedaling on the Peloton while watching a TV show, and even that made me gag occasionally. My STRANGEST symptom? I couldn’t wear turtlenecks, necklaces, or my hair down for a little while, because if any of them touched my neck for more than a few seconds I’d start gagging. It was super bizarre and lasted until weeks 13 or 14 even after my other symptoms faded.
Around week 10 most of symptoms started to subside, and I started feeling much more like myself! I was able to do regular exercise again, I didn’t require the B-6 or super frequent snacks, and I’m still in that sweet spot now!
Mental Health Note: This was by far the hardest time for me mentally, and I’d never heard anyone mention this aspect of the first trimester. The reality set in that our lives were changing forever, my hormones were all over the place, you have very little insight into how your baby is doing and if your pregnancy is on track, and you feel awful while you battle all of that internally. I found being really open with Bryan, friends, and family about it to be extremely helpful, and journaling was a great outlet. It kind of forced me to get the thoughts out of my head and leave them on the paper. Relief came after our first ultrasound, which was at 9.5 weeks thanks to the lovely Dallas snowstorms that delayed our appointment!
Second Trimester
This is absolutely the sweet spot of pregnancy, in my limited experience. You no longer feel like crap everyday, and you’re starting to show but you aren’t uncomfortably big. For perspective, I’m 20 weeks right now and all of my clothes beyond pants with buttons still fit, I’m able to exercise with few modifications, and I’m not up consistently going to the bathroom throughout the night…yet!
Mentally, I also feel great! We feel a lot of reassurance after a clear 20-week anatomy scan and are excited to look ahead to the fun things like baby showers, decorating the nursery, and preparing for her arrival! It’s also comforting to feel her move around as additional reassurance that things are going well.
Pregnancy Favorites
This brand of prenatal is advertised everywhere, so it’s unlikely this is the first time you’re hearing about it. I was drawn in by the subscription model and the claim that these are easy to digest, and I stayed a loyal customer thanks to the high quality ingredient list. You can legitimately take these any time of day, with or without food, and they don’t upset your stomach! They also include this little tab that keeps the vitamins smelling like mint or lemon, depending on your selection, to mask the inherent fishy smell which makes the experience so pleasant.
I bundled the prenatal protein with my most recent monthly vitamin shipment, and it is DELICIOUS! It smells and tastes like vanilla cake without a lot of gunk and artificial sweeteners and is a plant based protein. If you’re thinking about starting a family and want to start taking a prenatal — the link above will get you $15 off your first month’s subscription!
Pregnancy cravings haven’t permeated my pregnancy. I had one night where I couldn’t get Popeye’s mashed potatoes out of my head, but beyond that the only noticeable cravings are fruit and cereal. I know the cereal craving is 100% pregnancy related, because I haven’t eaten a bowl full of cereal in probably a decade!
When I started craving Cinnamon Toast Crunch, I scoured the aisles for something relatively healthy to satisfy the craving and came across the brand Three Wishes. Their cereals have 8g of protein, 3g of sugar, and are all grain free. Bryan even loves this stuff, and we both agree the Cinnamon flavor is the best! I think we’ve gone through like 5 boxes of this stuff and more pints of berries than I can even tabulate at this stage. Now my tastebuds are set on mangoes now that they’re back in season.
I am on a mission not to purchase any maternity specific clothing for this short chapter, and these have done a GREAT job of stretching as my body grows! I’m still wearing my normal size XS Short, but I’m considering buying these one size up to get me through the last stretch of this pregnancy. I had several friends recommend getting the Lululemon Align leggings in your normal size or one size up for the same function, so I’ve been going back and forth between the two since they’re so similar. These are less than half the price which is why I’m drawn to them!
Nursery Sneak Peek
I’ll probably share a lot more about this over the next several months as the room starts to take shape, but I wanted to give you a sneak peek into my vision! The only things we’ve purchased so far are the crib mattress, the rug, and a sconce (not pictured), but here’s an idea of what I’m going for!
Videos and Resources I’ve Loved
If you’re also pregnant and looking for other videos and resources to help you navigate this crazy world of baby things, I loved revisiting some of my favorite YouTuber’s recommendations and discovering new resources for big ticket baby items.
Anything from Jessica Braun (duh) - Her Pregnancy & Baby Video playlist has been viewed several times as I go through similar stages and start to build out our registry.
Magic Beans Videos - A great resource for your stroller and carseat research! We ended up with the Nuna Mixx Next and the Nuna Pipa Lite RX Infant car seat. The stars aligned for us, somehow, and we ended up getting both brand new at a liquidation sale for a total of $340. For perspective, the set should have cost us around $1,300! Crazy town! I also recommend looking at Facebook marketplace for baby gear with traditionally high price tags. Some of my friends have been able to score some seriously good deals on items that were barely used!
Close Friends who were recently pregnant - I’m lucky to be having a baby alongside several friends AND after many others who have given us a ton of recommendations on what we truly need and what we can skip. Kesler put together a comprehensive spreadsheet for me with products they used a ton, products we could skip entirely, and even earmarked items that we can borrow from them. SO helpful!