We are PREGNANT!

Dyl and I have just announced our pregnancy!! With this new announcement comes a whole wave of new emotions. I am super nervous, and I don’t know if I’m ready for this new chapter. However, at the same time, I feel so excited and like I was born to do this.

How it happened

Dyl is 30 years old and I’m 33 this year. We got married in September last year and decided to go off the pill shortly after. We thought it would take a while to fall pregnant and while we were ready, we weren’t in a rush. We thought cool, whatever happens’ and that’s it. I am over 30 and I’ve been on the pill since I was like 14 years old, so I thought it would take a while to get it out of my system. It’s also taken all of my friends my age about 7 – 12 months to fall pregnant, so I was expecting it to take the same amount of time for us.

Things work out the way they’re supposed to

We fell pregnant two months after we came off the pill! Eeeek! The same month we fell pregnant, my hubby moved to Klerksdorp. For those of you who don’t know, Dr. Bae is busy specialising as an orthopedic surgeon. Unfortunately, he could not get a job/ an MO post in Gauteng (wild right), but he was offered a job in the North West, and so that’s where he’s moved to. He comes home roughly every second weekend though. But I won’t lie, being newly-weds and doing long distance is no easy feat.

It’s lonely and it’s hard. We are both very career orientated and driven, so we understand the work pressures that we both have, but it’s still not easy. At times I feel like I’m doing life alone. I work long hours, I come home to an empty house, cook for one, and I go to most family and friends’ events alone. When my hubby is home, he’s studying, so it’s not easy.

Finding out I was pregnant so soon (after the wedding and after he moved) was super scary, because 1) I realised I was alone and was going to be doing a lot of this alone. 2) I was sad that Dyl wasn’t going to be as present or as involved as I would want him to be or as he would want to be for our first pregnancy.

Our journey

Regardless of how we got here, we are here now and I feel so blessed. I am well aware that so many people suffer from fertility issues, so us becoming pregnant is honestly the biggest blessing. I am so excited for this new chapter, even though I’m scared of the unknown.

My pregnancy journey

I had suspicions that I was pregnant at 3 weeks, but we only confirmed the pregnancy at 5 weeks. I thought I was pregnant when I experienced 3 different symptoms;

• My left breast started feeling extremely tender, it felt engorged and sensitive and sore and I knew that was due to a hormonal change.
• My belly just looked bloated for like 3 days and wasn’t going down, it just looked puffy.
• My urine smelled different, this was a weird one. It wasn’t a strong smell, just a different smell that I’d never smelled before. It was almost sweet, but not like u UTI, just a weird smell.

Symptoms;

• Morning sickness: I’ve been lucky enough not to have experienced any morning sickness/nausea. Yay!! I only threw up once, but I realised that was because I had taken my multivitamin on an empty stomach and apparently the zinc in the pills can make you feel nauseous. I started off taking Stella Mama and now I’m taking Chella Preg. What did you take?
• Cravings: I’m not sure if this was a pregnancy craving or just a Tam craving, but I woke up craving a big bowl of fresh wilted spinach and three eggs, covered in garlic and salt one morning?? Kinda weird, but that was for like 3 days and then I was over that. I’ve wanted crunchy, salty snacks, so like salt & vinegar chips, rice cakes, and salty crackers. I also went through a week where I wanted gherkins, pickled onions, and dates? But then I got over that too. One thing I’ve been a bit off is meat, I haven’t wanted to eat chicken/beef. I’ve also been off pastries like pies / extremely rich dishes or desserts. I’ve wanted more veggies/cheese/ fish which is weird for me. But other than that I’ve just been living my life.
• Fatigue: I was SUPER tired in December and January. But I thought that was because I was working 14-16h days at the office, I didn’t take leave and worked through December, and I had just launched a digital magazine and I was blogging up a storm. I thought I was just a little burnt out, but I’m sure the pregnancy added to it – however it didn’t stop me from doing all the things I needed to.

My gynae:

• I changed gynae’s when I found out I was pregnant as my regular gynae, is not an obstetrician.
• My gynae is Dr. Matthew Gooding at Sandton Mediclinic, he’s super awesome, so kind, unbelievably professional, and he’s conservative.
• His advice on what to eat / not eat was – You’re pregnant, you’re not disabled. Carry on living your life. If you want sushi, have sushi, just eat at a reputable place so you don’t get food poisoning as severe food poisoning can lead to a potential miscarriage and he said to limit your caffeine intake to one cup a day.
• Other than that, take your multi-vitamins and live your life.
• I love that he has done a course in fetal medicine and that he has the equipment needed to do different weekly checks to check for deformities etc. This means I don’t necessarily need to see a fetal specialist (yay for saving cash). Only if he wanted a second opinion or had some suspicions would he then send me off to see a fetal specialist.

Where we are at:

• We are currently 18 weeks pregnant (4,5 months).
• We are expecting a little baby girl.
• I am not experiencing any negative symptoms/ cravings.
  • Maybe the only negative is that I wake up 1-3x at night to pee which breaks my sleep but it’s not too bad.
• It hurts to sleep on my belly, so I sleep on my side, with a pillow between my legs.
• I don’t have that line on my belly yet.
• I can’t feel baby yet, well I think I felt her twice but I’m not sure actually? So I’m going to say no for now.
• I look more bloated than pregnant.
• I get out of breath sometimes just walking to the printer at work / walking to the kitchen at home LOL.
• All my clothes still fit, but my pants are starting to get tight.

What I’m looking to purchase in the next week or two:

Please also give a new mama some advice/guidance here.

1. A bra with no underwire as my breasts feel tender. Not swollen, just tender. Where do you advise getting these from? Woolies? I don’t know
2. A maternity pillow – is this necessary or should I keep using my regular pillow between my legs?
3. Nipple cream and body oil. I’m currently using Environ’s vitamin A oil on my whole body, however, my nipples have started getting extremely dry lately, like they’re almost starting to peel? Should I be using bepanthem, Vaseline, keep using body oil or use a nipple cream?
4. preggy pants – should I just upsize my jeans / work pants or change styles to paper bag pants or should I get a few pairs of preggy pants? Regular pants/jeans with that stretchy waist part

Is there anything else you recommend for a new mama?