Bump Diaries :: Month 2 & Contributor Reveal

Welcome to Bump Diaries – a pregnancy series on Houston Moms Blog! Becky Kiser is expecting, and here she will share her journey – the good AND the ugly – with all of you.  It is sort of like an homage to the original mommy blog where we provide a little peek into the life of a {pregnant} mom.

Well, did you try to guess which contributor it was last month on the first installment of Bump Diaries :: Month 1?

It’s me — Becky Kiser, and I’m pregnant with my third baby, due June 4th!

This month has been interesting with this baby already joining the drama of my very crazy spirited family.

Last we talked, I had just found out I was pregnant. Come week 5, there was no denying it. Morning sickness was all day long. And this has become my constant companion…

Morning sickness is such an odd thing. A few insights on morning sickness…

#1 :: It’s not constrained to just the morning. A man must have created that name.

#2 :: There is nothing you can do about it. All those sweet mamas who have had slight nausea in pregnancy or others who have had a stomach virus like to tell you their secrets to ward off actually getting sick. The most hilarious is when people tell me, “Oh, I could never puke, so I just play a mental game to not.” It take so much effort, when I have little filter already when pregnant, not to laugh right in their face. It’s just not the same. Pregnancy Morning Sickness is nothing like having a stomach bug or feeling nauseous while pregnant. There’s no amount of mind games that can be played to prevent getting sick. And there is no relief after getting sick, because that sweet one is still growing inside of you.

#3 :: It is oddly comforting and I {sort of} like how sick I get. That’s so weird, I know. But the first trimester is terrifying because we all know miscarriage can happen. We all know someone who has miscarried or have personally dealt with that loss. We know it’s a reality. So, for me, hanging my head over a toilet is a relief. {<– TMI? This series might get TMI real fast. Sorry.}

#4 :: There are some things you can do that might help. {Notice I said might help, because they often won’t since you are still growing a human being.} Some things that help me not feel as horrible – Eating something first thing… this can also be a trigger, so be warned. Wink. Lemon and/or water or ginger ale. Ginger ale really helped with my first pregnancy, and now it makes me sick. I try to keep ice cold water with fresh lemon juice or peppermint leaves in it on hand. Being well hydrated seems to help. Saltines are amazing. Ginger snacks/candies are also fantastic. {If you have any other tricks, please put those in the comments!}

#5 :: Keep a distance from others…because brushing your teeth is nearly impossible. I have about a 5 second window before I start gagging. I tell Dr. Ramsey, my dentist and one of our sponsors, that I’m so sorry for taking such poor care of my teeth while pregnant. Even with the free cleanings he does for his pregnant clients, they still are severely neglected those 9 months. Invest in Listerine — the mouth wash, the spray, the dissolvable sheets. Life safers.

So I told you that this little one has joined right in with the flare for the dramatic kiddos I already have. At week 5 I decided to take the left over pregnancy test just for fun. One little problem – only one line showed up! That means negative.

I freaked out. I was in disbelief because the above picture with the trash bag was taken that morning. I called my doctor immediately, and they said they’d be happy to order me a blood test. I was so nervous. But my love for that sweet little life grew mountains that day. I prayed hard for that sweet life to be sustained. I had been so nervous about having a third, and in that moment the nerves left and all I wanted was this baby!

By the end of the day, the doc called back and said, “You are definitely pregnant! Your numbers were 22,000+!” At 5 weeks they were looking for my numbers to be around 4,000 {you can see averages here}. Such a relief. And now I couldn’t wait for that ultrasound the next week to make sure there was just one baby in there! My husband is a twin, and we both have twins all over both sides of our family — so there is always a very real chance.

I was so relieved. I went back and pulled the test out of the trash just to see…and guess what? I had a false negative! The line that is supposed to show up didn’t and the line that would show up if you are pregnant is the one that showed up! So turns out false negatives do happen.

The day to see the doctor came. I was 6 weeks and 4 days, and we saw the sweetest of images…

Just one sweet little one. And we even were able to see and hear the heartbeat!! Big relief for this mama!

We took our two girls with us to the appointment and thought that would be a fun time to tell them. So once my doc turned the heartbeat on, we told our girls…

“Do you know what that is?”

“What?”

“It’s a baby!!!!!!”

“Are you teasing me?”

“Nope, we are having a baby!!!”

Followed by all kinds of girly squeals {the 4 year old genuinely meaning it, and the 2 year old just mimicking her big sister}.

My doctor is so wonderful, and I love how matter of fact he is. As soon as we told the girls, he said, “Well, this is all good, but I want to see you get to 10 weeks before I take a deep breath. At your age…” Umm, what did he just say? Yep, at 32 years I’m officially at higher risk for everything because of my age.

Weeks 7 and 8 were about the same as far as symptoms go ::

• Lots of nausea
• Total exhaustion – naps and early to bed almost required daily
• Already have to wear maternity pants {joys of it being a 3rd kid and having a short torso}
• Cry at anything and everything
• Slightly sensitive {emotional}
• Chest area is so sore
• Sleeping is not going so good {pregnancy insomnia + potty breaks}

 First trimester is definitely my least favorite of all the trimesters. Four more weeks!