I shared this news with friends and family a while back, but for those who don’t know, I’m pregnant with my first baby! I am almost 7 months pregnant. I am having a baby girl, she is due a week before my 28th birthday.
When I first found out I was pregnant, I cried. I was in shock. I texted my best friend immediately, but didn’t tell anyone else for about two or three weeks, not even my boyfriend. I was so stressed out that the first two weeks or so, I cried myself to sleep. Having a baby was not something that I had pictured myself doing. Finding out that I was pregnant was definitely scary. I heard about all the symptoms and the pain of giving birth. I didn’t think I could handle it. I also started thinking of everything that I was going to give up. Not just the things that I would give up during the 9 months of pregnancy, but also things I would have to give up in the long run and maybe even forever.
Then I started thinking of the new experiences that I will have with my baby and being a mom. These new experiences are so exciting that it makes me forget about the things I will miss out on. It makes those things seem less important. Once I have my baby, I will still be able to run, I can still travel, and I can even start a business if I want to. Having a baby won’t ruin my life or make me miss out on things. She will change my life for the better. I know it won’t always be easy, especially the first few months of her life.
It took me 3 pregnancy tests, an ultrasound, and hearing the heartbeat to finally accept that I was actually pregnant. As time went on and I started telling more people. My family and friends were happy about it. Funny thing is that I was so nervous and scared to tell my mom that I was pregnant because I had no idea how she would react. Lucky for me, she was happy about the idea of having her first grandbaby. I started feeling better about it. My mom and sisters are anxious to meet the baby. My mom and little brother wanted me to have a boy, but everyone else was hoping for a girl. Of course, I wanted a girl too. My sister Destiny went with me to the gender reveal. That same day, we had a little gender reveal party just for the family. Destiny decorated the dining room with streamers and balloons and I made cupcakes with pink and blue frosting. We had my mom cut into the cupcake which revealed pink filling on the inside.
Sometimes pregnancy sucks. Don’t get me wrong, I can’t wait to meet my little one, but I definitely won’t be missing the annoying pregnancy symptoms like heartburn, leg cramps, back pain, and insomnia. I don’t feel cute or like I have that pregnancy glow. Sometimes I feel gross, esp. when I’m working out and see this little basketball popping out from under my shirt. But feeling the baby kicking and hearing her heartbeat is just an incredible feeling. I never really ever pictured myself as a mom to be honest, but throughout these last few months of my pregnancy, it’s become something that I can’t wait to do. I’m so anxious to meet her. I dreamt about her and can’t wait to hold her in my arms. I can tell she will be so loved and spoiled, not just by me, but by the rest of my family. I just hope my sister Ayanna, who is 4 years old and the baby of the family, doesn’t get too jealous.
There are many symptoms that I have yet to experience and I’m worried that I will eventually experience them in the upcoming weeks, such as my hands and feet swelling, getting stretch marks, and having even less energy to continue with my workouts. One thing that has surprised me is the fact that I haven’t gained much weight. It’s suggested that pregnant women gain 25-35 pounds, but at 28 weeks, I have only gained 12 pounds. I’m a little bit worried that I’m not gaining enough, but my doctor says the baby and I are both healthy. Maybe once I stop running and doing so much cardio, I can finally gain weight.
Cravings and pregnancy go hand in hand. I’ve had a few cravings, but nothing too crazy. Some things I’ve craved in my pregnancy are red meat-pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, pancakes, and ice cream. Of course, I can’t actually eat hot dogs, but that hasn’t stopped me from craving them. There are so many things I can’t eat during my pregnancy that I will definitely indulge in once I have the baby.
I always thought that once you get pregnant, women would be forced to stay in bed and take it easy during their entire pregnancy. That’s not the case. It’s amazing what women can do when pregnant. In the last month or so, I’ve climbed up 75 flights of stairs in 24 mins and ran a half marathon in 3 hours. I’ve heard of women who continue working out until days before they give birth. There are even women who run marathons weeks before giving birth. I give them props because running a half marathon at 6 months pregnant was hard enough for me. I have made the decision to stop running at 28 weeks. While there might be women who run throughout their whole pregnancy, I feel this is the best decision for me and my baby. I will continue walking and doing light exercise, but as the due date gets closer, I do plan to cut back.
I am now in my third trimester and it feels like time is going by so fast. I still have so much to do before the baby gets here. One of those major decisions is coming up with a name for her. We have a few options, but most likely we will wait until she’s born to pick a name for her. We are 2.5 months away from meeting our little princess and that will be the happiest moments of my life. I haven’t met her yet, but I already love her so much.
90s California Runner Mom 