Thursday, November 13, 2014

Pregnancy Update!!! (Yes, FINALLY! ;) )

Whew, it's been a while since I visited this little blog of mine. So sorry for my absence! Let me get you caught up to date! :) Remember the post from way-back-when (i.e. May!) when I announced that we were expecting? Well, I am now 31 weeks along, believe it or not!! I, for one, cannot for the life of me believe that we are 9 or so weeks away from meeting our precious little Baby Hargraves! :)

So, here's a little of what we've been up to as of late. :)



Pregnancy Symptoms

Oy vey, have I ever had every pregnancy symptom in the book, it seems!! 

During the first trimester, these consisted of:

  • terrible, terrible all-day "morning" sickness (I lost 4 pounds from all the nausea, vomiting, and food aversions during this time!)
  • constipation
  • heartburn (this came as a real surprise to me-I thought I would be spared this issue until late pregnancy when my digestive organs were all overly crowded. But, nope, thanks to the little hormone progesterone, heartburn raged for weeks during my first trimester (usually at night when I was trying to sleep)
  • nasal sensitivity (This was crazy! Even my poor husband stank to me. It was weird!)

During my second trimester, I experienced:

  • Continued digestive issues and vomiting at times (though much reduced, thanks to phenergan and a comprehensive digestive enzyme)
  • Lower back aches (These have since largely gone away even though I am now larger, thanks to my sweet husband and his awesome back rubs! I now only have back pain when I do a lot of leaning over, such as to clean the tub)
  • Restless legs/leg cramps (I had one night where I literally got no sleep, due to an incredibly annoying dull ache in my legs. Now that I'm taking this great magnesium powder regularly, these issues have gone away)
  • Headaches (my amazingly awesome midwife suggested I apply a drop of lavender essential oil to both temples, and it worked! No more pregnancy headaches! :) )


At 31 weeks, I am now about 3 weeks into my third trimester, and am currently experiencing:


  • Exhaustion! I get so, so tired during the day, and just have to crash sometimes. There are literally times when it's all I can do to keep my eyes open! But, thankfully, I'm still sleeping pretty well at night, too, and not dealing with the pregnancy insomnia I've heard so much about. I feel guilty for taking naps so often, but as my mom pointed out, if I'm sleeping well at night and still this tired sometimes during the day, my body obviously needs the extra rest. After all, it takes a lot of energy to grow a human! ;) 
  • Stretch marks and itchy belly (I know that scratching those itches makes the stretch marks worse, supposedly, but, boy, there are just times when you need some relief!! ;) I am applying an all-natural anti-stretch mark, moisturizing belly lotion as often as I think to, but I have several stretch marks already. The funny thing is, they are all in front down low, beneath my belly button. I expected them along my sides, but so far-none there.)
  • Nose bleeds (I'm sorry if this is getting too personal, but hey-these symptoms are real, ladies! lol And if you're expecting and going through this, I at least want you to not feel alone! ;) ) 
  • Lots and lots of movement! :) Our little one is an active little bugger! And I love it. :) 

Now, how about some picture updates? :) We've been chronicling the growth of my baby bump every few weeks or so. Here is what we have so far:

You've seen this one before:

5 1/2 weeks along



Ultrasound at 6 weeks, 6 days. :) Our little one already had a heart rate of 139 beats per minute. :)


Baby Bump at 15 weeks



18 weeks


22 weeks

 We took this picture the day before my ultrasound at 21 weeks, when we would find out whether we had been blessed with a boy or girl. :)

Our precious, sweet, adorable, perfect little baby GIRL!!!!! :D :D :D We had been wanting a girl so badly! :) And, ever since finding out it was for sure a girl (Ok, I'll be honest-even before we knew!), Owen regularly sings Dean Martin's "Daddy's Little Girl" to Anna. It's always such a precious moment. :) And Anna has lately been moving to whichever side her Daddy is on when he begins to sing. :)

How we made the announcement on Facebook :)

Baby Hargraves is Anna Katherine! :)

24 weeks (and I swear the camera added 10 pounds!)

27 weeks

And, at last-31 weeks. :) This picture was taken Sunday. I have gained a total of 23 pounds so far, and they like you to aim for 25-35, so I would say, so far so good in that area!




What we've been up to lately:

  • Attending Bradley Method birthing classes each Monday night. These are awesome classes which focus on educating mom and dad as to what is going on during pregnancy, labor, and delivery, what to expect, exercises for Mom to do to prepare for labor and delivery, and all-natural methods to deal with the pain of childbirth, such as different relaxation techniques, etc. The Bradley Method focuses on equipping the husband and father to be the birthing coach and a great help to Mama as she goes through labor, and finally, delivery. We're really enjoying these classes, and I have to say-I have been blessed with one awesome coach! Owen is totally on board with everything, reminds me to do my exercises (and has been known to do them with me! ;) ), gives me awesome practice massages each night to help us nail down the relaxation technique we're working on in that week, etc. He's an awesome husband, and will be a terrific father. 



En route to our first Bradley class! Can't believe we're already on week 6 of 12! It's going by so quickly! The "big day" will be here before we know it!!



  • Registering!
One of Owen's favorite parts of wedding planning was doing the wedding registries. We had so much fun together, and he would get so excited every time we would go register. Well, it's much the same this time around with baby registering! :) He makes everything fun, and this was no different. :) Crazy fact: this time last year was when we were registering for our wedding! Little did we know what the Lord had in store for us at the time! ;)




And, that's that! Check back soon for more updates, and in 9 or so weeks, you can join us in welcoming our little Anna Katherine Hargraves into the world. :)


Blessings,
Mrs. Hargraves

2 comments:

  1. Wonderful post, my sweet daughter! Can't wait to welcome your daughter into the world!! Love you bunches!

    ReplyDelete