Can you believe I'm due in less than 5 weeks? I certainly can’t. After a gruelling, slow first trimester, the second and third have been pretty pleasant overall and flown by. I think it’s a good thing we have 9 months to prepare for this because I do feel like I’ve needed every minute!
As you read this, I will be 35 weeks. The number one question I get asked is “How do you feel?” Well, I feel 35 weeks pregnant, haha! I feel large and like I'm getting ready for this part of the journey to end. Overall, I feel pretty good. My complaints would be my serious lack of sleep (hello baby’s head on my bladder and needing to pee every hour!) and a sore back (hello extra pounds!). I think it’s a bit cruel that your sleep is disrupted before the baby even arrives, because it’s not like you get to catch up afterwards! ;)
This is what you care about the most, right? Around 14 weeks, I got my appetite back and the nausea went away. The only real food aversion that stayed was that I don’t love cooking fish at home. If someone makes it for me or it’s at a restaurant, I will eat it, but it’s a bit too strong smelling at the moment. Otherwise, I would say I’m back to eating my regular ways. I certainly have more sweet cravings, but I’m also a lot more tired right now, and for me, the two tend to go hand in hand. I am also eating a lot more red meat because my iron levels have gone down since being pregnant.
Feeling the baby kick has been by far one of the best parts! Around 18 weeks I felt the first flutters, which really just felt like I had gas haha! I think it was around week 22 or 23 that Adam could feel a little kick on the outside. Since then, she has been very active - we’re pretty sure we have a future soccer player in there. Sometimes if Adam taps my stomach in a certain place, we get a kick back in the same place, which I just think is so amazing.
Some friends hosted a lovely baby shower where I (we) was spoiled rotten! If I didn't have enough cute pink things before, I certainly do now! :) The gluten free treats were from The Polly Fox and were deeeeelish.
Around 6-7 months, my lower back was really sore. Someone, and now I can’t even remember who, suggested I go to a chiropractor. I’ve never used one before, and had visions of being roughly “adjusted” so was a little skeptical. After some research I learned that some chiros are trained in the Webster technique, which is essentially chiropractic services for pre/postnatal. I found an excellent chiro who I can’t say enough good things about who completely got rid of my lower back pain, in two sessions. It was incredible! It was so gentle that I can hardly believe it even did anything. I guess my left hip was one inch higher than my right, causing some misalignment, and therefore discomfort. Now, my mid back gets sore by about 5am in the morning and nothing really seems to help it except not lying down. I know this will go away shortly, so am not too fussed about it.
We kicked off the third trimester with a one week babymoon to Hawaii. If you can do something before your baby comes, I highly recommend it!! It was one week of pure relaxation and nice to spend quality time together. We went to Waikiki, which was a very touristy spot that we hadn’t been to, but it fit the requirements of a direct flight from Vancouver and a hotel with a pool to hang out at. From a food perspective, it was one of the harder places for me to eat because there is a significant Japanese influence on the food, and tons of things are pre-marinated in soy sauce (which typically has wheat as the number two ingredient). I did accidentally get “glutened” a couple of times which was the pits, so had to be extra careful the rest of the trip. Otherwise, the sunshine, naps and quality time was perfect!!
Since getting back from the babymoon, it has been all hands on deck to get HEAL ready for my maternity leave. We’ve expanded the HEAL team, which I’m really proud of, so that you won’t even notice when I’m gone for a little while. We now have both Holistic Nutritionists and Naturopathic Doctors in Vancouver & Toronto doing corporate lunch & learns and taking on 1:1 coaching clients. I am taking a full six months off, but likely will continue to be very part time for the first year.
This is another question I’ve been asked a lot. We have chosen to work with a midwife team and I couldn’t be happier with them so far. For anyone in the North Vancouver area, they are from Canopy Health. I love the extra time and attention we get at visits and really resonated with their approach to pregnancy, labour and delivery. We will also have a doula which has come highly recommended from friends that had one.
I *think* we are as ready as we can be! Though, you’re never really ready right? We have everything we need for the beginning. Here is a picture of our nursery, which yes, I went a little overboard on, but I LOOOOOVE it. Mentally, I yo-yo back and forth between feeling ready and excited to being nervous. I’d say it’s 75-80% excitement, 20-25% nervous.
Make sure to follow along on Instagram as I’ll probably share some pictures there of our little Baby K when she arrives.
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