March Snapshot: Major Lifestyle Changes

So, I have some pretty big news….Jonathan and I are thrilled to announce that in late October we are expecting a wee bairn to join our Scottish household. 

Six weeks ago we were hit with the knowledge that our lifestyle, future, and hearts were going to be forever changed.

We are still in awe that God has chosen us to be parents, and are working hard to adjust our daily lives to accommodate for this new soul taking over my body. Here’s a glimpse of what my life looks like now that I’m eating, sleeping, and puking for two:   

Reading: What to Expect When You’re Expecting. 

Except I tend to be a bit of hypochondriac, so I try to skip over reading about the various ailments that plague pregnancy. Tell you what- if I feel a weird sensation that I’ve never felt before in my life, I’ll chalk it up to the baby in my belly. No need to anticipate with horror what’s coming my way. 

Watching: Friends reruns. 

I’ve been bedridden for a lot of my first trimester, and Friends is always my go-to comfort TV when I’m feeling bad. Next up: All 7 seasons of Gilmore Girls. 

Listening:  To various songs that’s remind me of my wee bairn. One of my favorites is Blessed by Elton John. I chose this song for my Father/Daughter dance at my wedding, because I felt like my Dad did everything in his power to ensure that I was the most blessed child on the planet. I’m beginning to pray now that God will bless our baby through guiding us to be patient and compassionate parents. 

Listening to this song has always made me emotional, but now it really brings on the waterworks. 

Loathing: Morning Sickness. I am a big ole baby when it comes to being sick to my stomach. I’ve had enough stomach viruses, parasites, and gall bladder issues in the past 5 years to last me the rest of my life, so I’m quite traumatized by nausea. Luckily, the worst of it seemed to come in my 8^th week, and now that I’m entering week 10, I seem to be faring much better, and I’m slowly able to add more foods back into my diet. 

Loving: Being a housewife. I seriously don’t know how pregnant ladies with jobs or small children handle the nausea and exhaustion. I relish in the luxury of my daily nap and super early bed time. 

Missing: Exercise. Before ‘falling pregnant’, I was certain that I would be one of those super healthy and in shape pregnant girls who don’t gain an ounce other than their baby weight. I truly under estimated Morning Sickness, and I’m lucky if I get in a 10 minute cardio routine a few times a week. 

And as for the healthy diet- Puh-lease. I eat whatever looks good, which is generally something coated in cheese. 

So I guess I miss my healthy lifestyle. At first it was fun to laze around the house in my pjs and eat macaroni and cheese for 3 meals a day, but now I just feel gross about it. 

Luckily today I managed 40 minutes of cardio, and a healthy breakfast and lunch. Nevermind the Doritos I had for my afternoon snack… 

Craving: 

Macaroni and Cheese, Queso Dip, Poptarts, Oreos, French Fries, Ruffles, Chocolate Ice Cream, Sugary Cereals, and anything else unhealthy that you can think of. 

Praying: Praising the Lord for blessing us with this pregnancy, and praying for our little jelly bean to continue to develop into a healthy baby. 

Studying:  Our journey to conception was long and painful, which I will undoubtedly share TMI details of in the future. It was fraught with considerable amounts of prayer and the biggest test of faith I have ever endured. During this phase, I spent a lot of time studying the Old Testament and the women who struggled with infertility, each of whom God eventually opened their wombs. I used to meditate over these scriptures and pray them aloud. As soon as I took a positive pregnancy test, I opened my bible back up to those worn, highlighted, and underlined pages and did the same thing, now reading them aloud in praise rather than grief. 

In particular, the story of Hannah always wrenched my heart: “I prayed for this child and the Lord has given me what I asked of him.” 1 Samuel 1:27 

Learning: Grace, both towards myself and others. I feel like as soon as you become pregnant, the uncensored judgments and self righteousness begin. I’ve already stopped frequenting pregnancy forums because of the conflicting information and the inflammatory opinions from opposing view points. It’s worse than political debate, I’m telling you. 

People are strong believers in their own parenting philosophies, and if you don’t agree then you are flat out doing it wrong. It starts in pregnancy: 

Are you seriously considering downhill skiing? Did you just drink a caffeinated soda? I know the risks of eating sushi are miniscule, but why risk it? You’re taking medicine for your nausea? No medicine is 100% safe for the baby. You should just embrace the 24/7 sickness as a healthy sign of pregnancy. 

The truth is, every parent and soon-to-be-parent is just trying to stay afloat, navigating a whole new universe of options, and just praying that the decisions they make will lead to healthy babies who will eventually become well-adjusted adults. I doubt many people make intentionally bad decisions in their pregnancy or while parenting. 

To me, it’s all about what I’m comfortable with. To me, stressing too much about deli meat isn’t healthy for the baby. So I’m trying not to over analyze every decision I make and just go with my instincts. And I’m trying to trust that other pregnant ladies and mothers are going with their instincts as well, even if it goes against my own intuition. So judge me if you want, but just so you know, I’m not sweating it. 

Snacking: On Clementines. The sour citrus fruit helps to settle my stomach while giving me a healthy dose of vitamins. It’s one of the only healthy foods I can manage so I try to eat one for my morning and evening snacks, you know, as a substitute for sour patch kids. 

Planning: A Gender Reveal party in June while visiting the States for my brother in laws wedding. They don’t do gender scanning in the UK (whole lots of other posts coming your way about the NHS prenatal care…), so I’ll have my bestie (who conveniently happens to be an OBGYN) do my scan in New Orleans, and secretly write the gender down in a sealed envelope, which we will then reveal at a party for our friends and family to celebrate with us. 

Dreaming: Of a beautiful nursery space. Jonathan’s company provides us with a ‘new baby’ shipment from the USA.  We’ll likely have to pick out our nursery décor before we know the gender, so I’ve been scoping out some lovely gender neutral options. I’m trying to narrow down a theme  and color scheme for now. I really love the concept of a travel theme, but I seriously love woodland creatures, and of course, puppy dogs.  

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The cuteness is almost too much. Any other gender neutral ideas?