Hello, Second Trimester!!

Last week I got to celebrate finally making it to the second trimester! Because of the PKU and restrictive diet I have to follow, this pregnancy seems like it is taking FOREVER. For those of you who have been pregnant, just imagine not being able to eat ANYTHING you want, having to drink a disgusting supplement 5 times a day, and having to be conscious and document every morsel of food you put in your mouth. Pregnancy alone is difficult even without what I'm going through, this is truly the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. I know it will be far worth it in the end, but the end seems so far away at this point. 

I was lucky enough to be released from bed rest in time to attend my sister's wedding on September 9th. I will do another post about that in a couple days, just wanted to do my pregnancy update for this post, since I've missed the last 2 weeks!

How far along - 15 weeks.

Baby size - Size of an avocado.

Weight gain - None this week; Down 2 lbs.

Maternity clothes - Not yet.

Stretch marks - None.

Sleep - A little better now.

Gender - Gender reveal party on October 7th.

Movement - None felt yet.

Best moment the past week - Getting to eat one more gram of protein a day.

Looking forward to - My protein tolerance increasing, finding out gender.

Food cravings - Everything I can't eat.

Labor signs - None.

What I miss - Being able to eat whatever I want.

Symptoms - Round ligament pain.

Nursery - No plans until gender is known.

Belly button in or out - In.

Wedding rings on or off - On.

Mood - Good this week.

Workouts - My 12 hour shifts are my workout for now.

Happy Labor Day!

We're celebrating today - Labor Day and also our 7th wedding anniversary by announcing that we are expecting our first child in March! 

I am very excited. I've wanted to be a mom for so long, but I've had to overcome a lot of different struggles before attempting to get pregnant. I have a genetic disorder called PKU that can negatively affect the growth and development of a baby if it is not strictly under control. The hardest thing about the pregnancy so far has been that I can only eat 3 grams of protein a day from food. Everyone always says, "Well I don't know how much that is." Essentially it means that I cannot eat anything besides fruits, some vegetables, and foods with sugar, and oil/butter. I have special low protein bread and pasta I can eat, but it's nowhere near as good as regular bread and pasta. I also have to drink a supplement four times a day that doesn't taste good at all. It's honestly the hardest thing I've ever done in my entire life. Imagine being pregnant and not being able to eat basically ANYTHING that you really want. That's my life. No pizza, no pasta, no chocolate, no dairy at all, and of course no meat, eggs, legumes, nuts/seeds -which I never eat anyway even when not pregnant. In addition, I have to take blood twice a week and send it to a lab where they monitor my blood levels. 

Another issue is that I have been on bedrest for the past 3 weeks. I started having some bleeding a few weeks ago and I had an ultrasound and thank goodness the baby was fine, but I have a subchorionic hemorrhage, which was causing the bleeding. It can continue so my doctor took me off work and instructed me to take it easy and not leave the house. The first week was kind of nice but after that I became really bored. I have an appointment with a high risk doctor on Wednesday and my OB said that if all goes well he may clear me to return to work. My sister's wedding is coming up this Saturday so I really hope to be able to fully participate, as I am the Matron of Honor.

Even with all of these bumps in the road so far, my husband and I couldn't be happier and we are just hoping and praying for a smooth pregnancy from here on out. I work in labor and delivery as a nurse and so I definitely wish I didn't know so much about potential complications, but I'm trying my hardest to just put my faith and trust in God that everything will work out! 

I will be posting a weekly update every Monday from now until delivery! 

How far along - 12 weeks.

Baby size - Size of an apricot.

Weight gain - None this week; 2lbs total so far.

Maternity clothes - Not yet.

Stretch marks - None.

Sleep - Better than in previous weeks, but still not great.

Gender - Still too early, but we will be finding out.

Movement - None felt yet.

Best moment the past week - Announcing the pregnancy today. Hard secret to keep!

Looking forward to - My protein tolerance increasing, being off bed rest.

Food cravings - Everything I can't eat.

Labor signs - None.

What I miss - Being able to eat whatever I want.

Symptoms - Cramping sometimes, tender breasts.

Nursery - No plans until gender is known.

Belly button in or out - In.

Wedding rings on or off - On.

Mood - Good this week.

Workouts - None; bed rest.

Update on the Past Year

My last blog post was 10/07/2016. Obviously, much has happened since then. 

On December 23, 2016, I lost my Papa. Papa was my mom's dad, and I was always close with him and my Nana - from living with them for awhile when I was 3 years old, to attending church together every Sunday when I was in grade school, to Sunday family dinners and holidays at their house throughout my entire life. In 2012, he was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis and had to be on oxygen continuously. He started getting worse throughout 2016, my mom was essentially his primary caretaker along with working her full-time job. On December 21, my Papa really felt like his time on Earth was coming to an end and asked for family to come and see him. He was so deteriorated at that point and it was killing me to see him suffer. The night of December 22nd, I decided to stay overnight with my mom - I slept on my Nana and Papa's bedroom floor. In the early morning hours of December 23rd he passed away. I've never lost someone that close to me so it was very difficult. My dad's parents had both died awhile ago but they lived out of town and I rarely saw them, so it wasn't the same. My Papa was honestly the most incredible person. He taught me everything I know about how important faith and family is. He was a Veteran of the Korean War and very patriotic. He worked for MetLife until his retirement in 1985, and then took another job at a funeral home, where he worked until age 85 (a year before his death). He was loved and admired by so many; we counted over 500 people between the visitation and the funeral. I miss him so much, and I'll love him forever. I am so thankful to have had him in my life for 33 wonderful years.

In January, I became certified in my nursing specialty of Inpatient Obstetrics. I had to take another exam that was similar to the NCLEX. I had much more confidence than when I took the NCLEX and I was thrilled to pass on the first attempt. Becoming certified is essentially proving that you're an expert in your specialty, it is a pretty big deal and was always a goal of mine. 

I was blessed to go on two amazing vacations this year. In April, I went to New York City (my absolute favorite travel destination) for the ninth time. I can never get enough of NYC. I went with a friend from work and we did so much. We went to four Broadway shows: Hello Dolly (Bette Midler was fantastic), Miss Saigon (with my favorite girl Katie Rose Clarke), Phantom of the Opera (my first time!), and of course Wicked (my ninth time seeing my favorite show)! We also did Central Park, Top of the Rock, the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, the Ground Zero Museum Workshop, a harbor cruise, and tons of other things including eating tons and tons of delicious NYC food! I absolutely couldn't love NYC more and I can't wait to return.

In April, I went to Arizona with my family and extended family to visit my brother and for my graduation! I graduated with my Bachelors of Science in Nursing with University Honors and a 4.0 GPA! I completed the program in just under a year and while working full time nights at my job. It was wonderful to have my whole family together (my parents are divorced and we rarely do things together with all of us)!

In June, I got a new car and we celebrated my sister's bridal shower! Her wedding is coming up next week! I'm the Matron of Honor and very excited for her and her fiancé. 

I have another update on the way about the rest of the summer that I will post in a few days!

So excited to be back to blogging!