Confessions of Pregnant Woman

Confession #1: Mini Fridge. Once we were ready to start trying for baby #2, I had a discussion with Morgan. Once we found out we were expecting, we would get a mini fridge. That way I could keep all my snacks, sodas, protein shakes, etc. right next to my bed. Not to mention, I wish I had had this last time while pregnant with Carly - not only for the pregnancy, but also postpartum. I followed my sister-in-law's advice to make frozen pads (I made a pot of chamomile tea, dipped pads in the tea, then froze them). This may sound really strange, but they were super helpful. Chamomile tea has anti-inflammatory properties. Mix that with frozen pads and you've got a recipe for minimal pain and discomfort postpartum. Simply genius. Just after having a baby, standing is hard enough, I don't want to have to walk to the kitchen to get these. I look forward to having these in my mini fridge - right next to my bed - this time around :) 

 Confession #2: Gummy vitamins. When I was pregnant with Carly, I was losing weight and hardly able to keep anything down. I saw an OB early on to get some anti-emetics. I told her I was concerned that I hadn't been able to swallow my multi-vitamins. (We had actually even tried mashing the multivitamin, putting it in yogurt, and I plugged my nose while I tried to eat it = I was unsuccessful. It was still nasty because I could tell how gritty & gross it was. That might have even made me throw up.) Anyway my OB told me that folic acid is the most important before you even know you're pregnant. She recommended just getting some chewable or gummy vitamins and taking those until I was able to take multivitamins/prenatal vitamins again. 

 Confession #3: Couch Snack Stash. I was talking to a good friend a while back. We were talking about pregnancy and feeling awful. She mentioned that when all you want to do is lay down, it's hard to want to get up to go get something to eat. I laughed and told her about my couch snack stash (not in those words exactly). I started stashing snacks behind the pillows on my couch. As you can see I have tortilla chips, goldfish crackers, pretzels. I also kept animal cookies, wheat thins, and chex. All the major carbs I could snack on during the day when I wasn't feeling great. Morgan totally made fun of my stash, but secretly I think he liked it too :) Now that I have been feeling better and have more energy, the couch snack stash is gone, but it was super nice to have during my 1st trimester. 

Confession #4: Netflix. As soon as I started feeling crummy, I gave up and signed up for netflix. It's been really nice to have. When all you want to do is lay around and get through the day, this is helpful for more than one reason. (We don't have cable - if we did, I probably wouldn't have signed up for netflix.) This provided Carly with lots of Dora the Explorer episodes, and me with lots of movies/shows to watch. Many days, while she would watch Dora on the TV, I would either rest or watch something on my laptop. Way too much screen time for both of us during my 1st trimester....

Confession #5: Baby Food. Carly had not eaten baby food for a while before I got pregnant this time, but once I wasn't feeling well it was really hard to fix & feed her meals. I started buying baby food again. Those squeezy pouches can really be a lifesaver. 

Confession #6: Pregnancy Stash. Once we were ready to start trying for baby #2, I started buying things I remembered eating from my 1st trimester last pregnancy. I stocked up on sprite, tortilla chips, vitamin water & sports drinks, sugar-free hard candy (teeth are hard enough to brush without throwing up - I wish I had discovered this earlier last time around), gum, etc. I was really glad I had bought these things early on. We went on a weekend trip to visit Morgan's family and I started feeling crummy while we were there. It was nice to have those things waiting for me when I got home (no rushing to the store to get them). 

Confession #7: Sleep aid. With my first pregnancy, I would seriously sleep at least 15 hours every day, sometimes more. This time, if I took a nap, I wouldn't be able to fall asleep at night. If I didn't take a nap, I would still have trouble falling asleep/staying asleep at night. I have had to take either Benadryl or melatonin supplements to help sleep at night. I've stopped having to take a sleep aid just a few weeks ago. Finally.

Confession #8: Skinny jeans. I'm not really talking about skinny jeans, I'm talking about jeans you can wear when you're skinny lol. My first pregnancy, I lost 10 lb during my first trimester. I never actually had to wear maternity clothes - I did have some tops, but I never bought or wore maternity jeans. I felt like I could have used maternity pants after I had my baby though. I just couldn't seem to ever lose the weight. I'm pretty sure I haven't lost that much weight this time around, but I have definitely lost weight. I regret getting rid of some shorts/pants I thought I would never be able to wear again. I have been buying new jeans because I only have 1 that I've been wearing. I feel like I'm swimming in all the others. 

Well that's all for now. I'm sure I'll think of some more funny confessions later.