A Healthy Pregnancy, Weekly Bumps and the Best Pregnancy Tips I Learned

30 DAYS OF GRATITUDE | DAY 2

My pregnancy with Zeya was healthy, normal and straightforward all throughout, and for that I am extremely grateful. I got pregnant at 33 and I feared I would experience a lot of health issues because you know, I was 33, not exactly the ideal age to be pregnant for the first time. But the Lord kept me and Zeya safe and sound. All my check ups were normal from day one to my last term.

Don't get me wrong though; I didn't mean to say that my pregnancy was a walk-in-the-park experience. Not at all. I, too, was victimised by the infamous morning sickness (more like all-day sickness in my case) and the feeling of overwhelming tiredness on my first trimester. Even so, my case of nausea only remained a feeling of wanting to vomit; I didn't actually vomit. I also had a few nasty episodes of leg cramps on my third trimester but that was it. I was well all throughout with no instance of bleeding or any other health issues. Thank God.

Pregnancy isn't an easy journey, not even for the healthiest of women. I can list down all the discomforts and inconveniences of getting bigger week by week for 40 weeks, or I can just tell you something I read years back which will make your pregnancy experience so much better.

BEST PREGNANCY TIPS I LEARNED

An amazing blogger I've been following for years says it all in this post.  Please note that there's no judgment intended on anyone here. When I read this years ago, I wanted to share it but I wasn't brave enough to do so. Now that I've experienced pregnancy and motherhood, the Lord planted a strong desire in my heart to encourage ladies in this area. Once you have a child, you would understand too. You would want for your child to follow God's timeline---courtship, engagement, wedding, marriage, pregnancy and motherhood. If you follow that timeline my friend, that is going to be your legacy to your future children. If you think you messed up on God's will and timeline, take heart. We have a God who offers His redemptive grace to those who seek Him and repent. I encourage you to make it right with Him from today onwards.

I'll share to you now the best pregnancy tips I learned (which is essentially the majority of her post). :)

"What I’ve been meaning to share is something that is both biblical and practical, and something that’s truly worked for me: First, that you wait until you’re married to get pregnant, and second, that you marry someone who will take care of you in the course of pregnancy (and beyond!) and will take responsibility for your future babies as much as you do. 

You see, pregnancy brings about a gazillion of changes in your body, emotions, personality, schedule, and in everything that you are. To start with, pregnancy makes you cranky, and crave for all sorts of food, and pretty much tired all the time. There are days when you feel ugly, and your body will undergo physical changes that are not exactly.. pretty. 

Sex and pregnancy are designed by God to be within the bounds of marriage, pregnancy is team effort. It’s hard and challenging, but it becomes so much easier when done as a team.  

I salute single mothers out there who’s done pregnancy on their own.. but for you who still have a choice, I’m saying, don’t screw up the timeline, friend. Engagement, wedding, marriage, pregnancy, motherhood—each one is a beautiful phase to savor and enjoy, one phase at a time."

WEEKLY BABY BUMP PHOTOS

R and I  took time in documenting our pregnancy journey by capturing my weekly bump. In doing so, we were able to hit three birds in one stone:

1. We have photos of my once pregnant self, preserved forever;
2. We were able to exercise (I aimed for 10k steps a day); and
3. We were able to sight-see and relish the change of seasons in Ireland.

In retrospect, I'm glad we did this. I believe pregnancy is such a special time in a woman's life which should be celebrated and documented.  I enjoyed dressing up for it and R, I assumed (haha!), enjoyed being behind the camera.

People often told me that I had that "pregnancy glow." When you waited and prayed long enough for a baby to be conceived, you would glow too when the "baby dream" finally happened. I think that's the reason for the glow which radiated all throughout my pregnancy. My  heart was just swelling with so much gratitude to God for His faithfulness to me and for answering our most cherished prayer. It also helped of course that R provided all my needs, spoiled me even that I never felt so much loved and cared for.

Here I present the baby bump to you. We only shared a few of these in my social media because I intended these photos for my blog to memory-keep this special season of our lives; I didn't want to spam FB and IG with my bump. :)

2015 Baby Bumps (First Trimester to Second Trimester)

Week 12 (End of Summer)

Week 13

Week 14 (Almost Autumn)

Week 15

Week 16 (Autumn)

Week 17

Week 18

Week 19

Week 20 (Hurray for the halfway!)

From this point forward, it wasn't a weekly photoshoot anymore :)

Week 22 (When we had our gender reveal party, with the preggy R)

Week 26 (Christmas)

2016 Baby Bumps (Third Trimester)

Week 28 (New Year)

Week 29

Week 30

Week 31 (with the 4D Scan)

Week 32

Week 34 (with the Valentine flower from R)

Week 35 (My 34th Birthday week)

Week 37 ("Manas" week)

Week 38 (Hello Spring!)

Week 39 (Almost There)

Week 40 *no more photoshoot, we focused on trying to make Zeya to come down and out :)