Category: Pregnancy

Written by hopefulmidwesterner

More Than A Year | I’m Not Sorry

It has been more than a year since I have written. Please don’t be upset with me. It has been more than a year since I have addressed you, my faithful readers. But I promise, it really hasn’t. But it has. I have started posts since the last time I have written. I have started them, and stopped them. It has been more than a year – but the “more than a year” has been the strangest, hardest, most intense “more than a year” I think any of us, on earth, have ever experienced…

Written by hopefulmidwesterner

One Year In

One year ago today I ate a Sam’s Club hot dog and jalapeno cheddar pretzel, I waddled around the store drinking a gigantic ice-cold root beer and shortly after that the contractions began. 

One year ago tomorrow, […]

Written by hopefulmidwesterner

Cesarean

April is Cesarean Awareness Month but I wouldn’t necessarily wish someone a “Happy Cesarean Awareness Month”. From the vast majority of Cesarean Mamas I’ve met and […]

Written by hopefulmidwesterner

Mom Groups

Before I had August when people would mention “Mom Groups” I would shudder. Immediately the thoughts that came to mind were hoards of unsolicited advice, alternative remedies, keeping up with the Joneses and a whole lot of “Well I did it that way, and my kid is fine!” but what I came across, during my pregnancy couldn’t have been further from that image. […]

Written by hopefulmidwesterner

Birth: Act III

When: Wednesday, July 11, 12:30pm – 2 days postpartum
Where: Carle Hospital, Post Partum Unit

We were packing our things to leave, and all of a sudden I realized that for the last 36 hours, I had been in this room, and this room alone. I did not remember […]

Written by hopefulmidwesterner

Birth: Act II

When: Monday, July 9, 4:30pm – 40 Weeks, 3 Days
Where: Carle Hospital, 24 into my labor

Martin made his way back upstairs, sensing the urgency in my Mom’s text. My doctor laid it all out for us, in the simplest of terms. She said: […]

Written by hopefulmidwesterner

Birth: Act I

When: Friday, July 6, 6:00pm – 40 Weeks, Exactly
Where: The local Mexican restaurant, eating a spicy steak burrito the size of my head

In between bites, while discussing nothing in particular, my body began to tremor, […]

Written by hopefulmidwesterner

Happy Due Date!

Dear BB1,

Today is July 6th. The date I’ve been anticipating since there was a faint second line on a stick back on October 26, 2017. Today is the day that doctors and scientists say you’re due to arrive. (Even though I know that only 5% of babies are actually born on their “Estimated Due Date”, according to what I’ve read) I feel like we’ve reached some sort of milestone, you and I.

Your Dad and I talked openly about this last night. I told him the feeling of reaching this date feels like the largest culmination I’ve ever […]

Written by hopefulmidwesterner

Control

All throughout pregnancy, you become familiar with a certain set of questions. It usually begins like this: So, when’s the baby due?

From the moment you find out you’re pregnant: you live and breathe and hang your hat on that date. For me: July 6th. At first, it seemed so far away, like a distant dream. Now, it’s right around the corner, and hanging over me, rubbing its hands together in anticipation!

When I answer […]

Written by hopefulmidwesterner

That 3rd Trimester Life

Pregnancy is divided into three trimesters.

The first is Weeks 1 through 12. During this time is when you find out you’re pregnant, your boobs will be super sore and when you’ll find the most morning sickness and nausea. Usually no one would know you’re pregnant if you didn’t tell them. This is a tough time for a lot of women, because the chance of pregnancy loss or miscarriage is very high throughout this period of time, so it can be extremely anxiety provoking.

The second trimester is Weeks 13 through 27. This is when most women catch the […]