Exactly a month ago, I officially announced my pregnancy on YouTube through a music video. It is probably the most monumental thing to happen to me in my life so far, and I am documenting my journey on this blog.
This has been on the draft list for so long and now it’s time to publish it. 😊
Mid September 2020 - Mid December 2020
Week 1 - week 12
My blog, Heart Rays has been with me for the best part of my twenties, and over the years I’ve shared personal anecdotes (choosing a career path, finding love, getting heartbroken, getting a job, battling with lust, quitting a job, getting married, etc) and I enjoy looking back on those from time to time.
My blog, Heart Rays has been with me for the best part of my twenties, and over the years I’ve shared personal anecdotes (choosing a career path, finding love, getting heartbroken, getting a job, battling with lust, quitting a job, getting married, etc) and I enjoy looking back on those from time to time.
For those who have followed me from the early days, it feels like a natural progression for my blog as I now transcend into my early thirties with my first pregnancy.
I wouldn’t say finding out I was pregnant wasn’t overwhelming, scary, exciting, surprising etc etc etc. It took me a while to get my head around it. I didn’t know what and how to share the journey. I also didn’t FEEL that it was the right thing to do. However, I spilled my emotions into my private diary most of the time. And now I KNOW this is the right time for me to share publicly.
Dear Diary,
This is our first child, so everything about my pregnancy has been new. And with that comes a mix of emotions. There’s not a day that goes by that I haven’t thought about my pregnancy and I find myself questioning far more than I would otherwise do — Is this twinge or ache or pain normal? Should I be feeling this exhausted? Why am I getting headaches more often? Why am I not being sick? Is anything even happening in there?
That last sentence might sound funny, but I didn’t have the first scan until around 8 weeks. Because I wasn’t experiencing the normal symptoms (mainly sickness, although I was feeling tired constantly) and of course couldn’t feel anything in my stomach at this point, I started to constantly question whether everything was okay.I asked Google, “when is the baby supposed to kick my stomach?”. Yeah, something like that.
My first trimester was a scary and overwhelming time. I find myself racked with anxiety and nerves sometimes, because I’m overthinking every situation. But that’s not to say that it’s not also the most exciting and exhilarating time of my life! Once we’d had our 8 week scan, we finally felt like we could truly celebrate, and it was beautiful.We found out we were expecting at 6 weeks. At which point we were reluctant to tell anyone. At 10 weeks, we told our parents, but we were reluctant to tell many others. At 11-12 weeks, we told our closest friends and relatives, and allowed others to see the bump by themselves.
My first trimester was a scary and overwhelming time. I find myself racked with anxiety and nerves sometimes, because I’m overthinking every situation. But that’s not to say that it’s not also the most exciting and exhilarating time of my life! Once we’d had our 8 week scan, we finally felt like we could truly celebrate, and it was beautiful.We found out we were expecting at 6 weeks. At which point we were reluctant to tell anyone. At 10 weeks, we told our parents, but we were reluctant to tell many others. At 11-12 weeks, we told our closest friends and relatives, and allowed others to see the bump by themselves.
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| Tired, sleepy and hungry face. Lol. |
I’ve always known that I will write through this experience. I knew that I had to document my pregnancy journey. Not only for my own memories, but I also want to share the many highs and lows of my experience (that’s what I was born to do anyway), in the hope that it might help you move through your own journey (and especially navigating your first).
Before I got pregnant (I highlighted that I was on a waiting journey, yeah?), I really didn’t have a grasp on the weekly duration of pregnancy. All I knew was it takes 9 months to birth a child. But as soon as we left the doctor’s office who confirmed we were expecting, I downloaded a pregnancy app. No time. Lol. That was when I realized it takes approximately 40weeks to birth a baby. And I started counting down immediately.
Each day, I look at the Counter, Today’s tip and Baby Info on the apps. Then I will tell Kachi “Babe, I’m 10weeks 2days pregnant today. I’ll be 11 weeks by Friday!” He’d smile, look at my belly and smile even more. By this time, my boobs have grown by 2 cup size. While he was super excited and adoring his wife’s growing breasts, I was complaining about my bras not doing what they should be doing—covering them up and keeping them in place!
Although Google might not be your best friend during the early stages, pregnancy apps can be. They have been really helpful with weekly updates on what is likely happening to our baby and me during pregnancy. Prayer and Devotions during pregnancy on Bible Version app have also been really helpful in helping me overcome anxiety.
I was reluctant to feel overly excited or celebrate until we’d had that scan.
And to be honest, even now, every doctors appointment feels monumental.
So far, my doctor have only recommended that I personally take Vitamin D and Folic Acid. Apparently folic acid is useful to take whilst you’re trying to get pregnant too, and is very important during the first trimester. Thankfully, I have been taking it long before because back then, our marriage counselor who happened to be both a pastor and a pharmacist (God bless you, Mummy Olowu!) advised me to.
Questions?
If you have any questions about anything I’ve mentioned above, or would like to discuss your pregnancy, I’d love to hear from you! Obviously I’m in no way a trained professional, but sometimes it’s nice to talk to others going through a similar situation. I’ve bombarded a couple of my friends who have had children with questions!
So far, my doctor have only recommended that I personally take Vitamin D and Folic Acid. Apparently folic acid is useful to take whilst you’re trying to get pregnant too, and is very important during the first trimester. Thankfully, I have been taking it long before because back then, our marriage counselor who happened to be both a pastor and a pharmacist (God bless you, Mummy Olowu!) advised me to.
Fortunately, I hadn’t suffered with sickness during my first trimester, which meant I was able to keep it under wraps a lot easier in public. (Read November 2020 Diary). Although, my skin broke out in quite a bad way (apparently pregnancy acne is common – so whoever says your skin will be ‘glowing’, it isn’t always the case). I also started to feel bloated much more often, where my stomach would feel rock hard and uncomfortable after meals. Although this was probably unnoticeable to others, I was conscious of it for some weeks.
I tried as much as I could to take attention away from my waistline.
At this point, I can’t wear my high waisted pencil skirts anymore!
If you have any questions about anything I’ve mentioned above, or would like to discuss your pregnancy, I’d love to hear from you! Obviously I’m in no way a trained professional, but sometimes it’s nice to talk to others going through a similar situation. I’ve bombarded a couple of my friends who have had children with questions!
Written by Nwamaka Onyekachi
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