First trimester
We recently came back from a trip from Dominican Republic when I found out I was pregnant. It was not a surprise as I stopped taking birth control pills 4 month prior. My naturopath suggested that I should stop taking the pills as they might have been the cause of my long running migraines. And so I was pregnant :0
Being a control freak that I am, I felt the need to educate myself on every aspect of pregnancy. I signed up for several online forums and newsletters. Here are the ones I enjoyed the most:
*whattoexpect.com
this website is basically a copy of the famous book 'What to expect when you are expecting'. The website sends out a weekly newsletter with the latest updates like 'congrats! your baby is now the size of a blueberry' and all the details and side effects that come during this time of pregnancy. The newsletter also included a video to show you how the baby is developing this week, so you know what is happening inside you while you are reaching for that next pickle. I and my hubby made it a tradition to watch the videos on the weekends while rubbing my belly.
*babycenter.ca
this website has a great online community that I joined to interact with other Canadian ladies expecting in July 2017. I loved this safe place where women can share their experiences, help each other with pregnancy related questions, and sometimes just rant in hormonal rage
*pregnantchicken.com
invaluable resource for pregnant women with a sense of humor
As soon as my due date was confirmed (July 19 2017), I marked each Wednesday on my calendar to show the weeks and months of pregnancy and of course the big date.
Given that I got pregnant a week after a vacation in Dominican Republic ( I had a few days to sober up before conception took place :) ) I was worried about the infamous Zika virus and convinced my doctor to test me. Unfortunately, she said that due to high demand men could not be tested, and so this kept me worrying till the very birth, but everything turned out to be fine.
The first ultrasound was done at 8 weeks that showed a little peanut shaped cluster happily floating around, followed by the second one at 12 weeks. This time around you could see a little alien creature with arms and legs and a heart beating. It was getting real!
Throughout the firth trimester I continued with my regular exercise routine, and salsa classes, as well as found a great place for pre-natal yoga. I adjusted my diet as per suggestions from multiple internet sources, started to take pre-natal vitamins, and drank more water. Luckily, I only had a few weeks of nausea when it seemed like a good idea to have a meal consisting of pickles, tangerines, and chocolate milk. Once that subsided on week 8, I was back to my normal appetite. Phew!
Even though all blood tests came back with good results, I wanted to triple check that baby will not have any common genetic deceases. And so, I opted for an extra testing that looks at chromosomal content to determine major risks. The test was also good, and re-confirmed that we had an XY baby with no abnormalities.
To alleviate my worries even further, I purchased a doppler. This is a device that allows you to listen to your baby's heart beat through ultrasound waves. First time we used it took us 20 minutes to locate the heartbeat, but as soon as we found it, it was such a relief. I think this is the best device to allow fathers to bond with their babies, especially during the first trimester when baby is not kicking yet.
From financial side, I looked into child benefits, employment insurance, and compensation I would get from my work place. Some companies continue to pay you salary on top of EI to ensure you still get your 100% pay. My work did that for 3 paychecks and then cut me off, so I would only be receiving the EI amount for the majority of my mat leave. Coincidentally, the government of Ontario approved its new budget for 2018 and announced that starting this year, women will be allowed to take 18 months off work for maternity leave. However the extra 6 month would be unpaid. I am still deciding whether it a good decision to take this extra time off and enjoy being a stay at home mom for longer.
As soon as I found out that I was pregnant, I wanted to create a time lapse video of my growing belly. And so from week 8 we started taking weekly pictures and created a youtube channel, hoping that it will become popular and pay for baby's university tuition :) Check out my belly pics and videos here -> https://www.youtube.com/c/PregVideo