My First Pregnancy

Practicing natural family planning can be very tricky if you have PCOS ( Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome). This is a hormonal condition affecting women, where according to WebMD , can also affect your ability to bear children. I was told by my gynaecologist, that I needed to loose weight ( being 43kg , I was shocked! ) and exercise more and that having children would be difficult for me. It was not part of my plan to have children at this stage as I had recently returned from celebrating my 30th birthday with my husband in South India. Our trip was epic to say the least !

God had other plans for us though :)

In June of 2018 I found out I was pregnant and then our journey began...

I actually didn't realize I was pregnant until the missed period which I thought I calculated correctly but obviously did not. I felt very emotional on receiving the news as I did not know if I was ready to be a mother. Now I understand that you can never really be ready !

I had no signs or symptoms associated with pregnancy until about 12 weeks, I had moderate nausea. For this, at the time ,I ate alot of toast which is not very nutritious but helped me keep something in my stomach. I also tried ' Gingerbons' and any other sweet that would make me feel better- I bought these from Dischem. I tried to eat every 2-3 hours to avoid feeling the nausea.

Since my 1st doctor's visit I have been doing well, trying to eat healthy and satisfy my food cravings within reason , off course ;). My daily vitamins were DS24 and folic acid which I stopped around 6 months.

I had been growing steadily and had to get used to seeing my tummy being so large. My husband and I spoke to our baby daily and whenever we could, assuring him/ her that they were loved and cared for. The great thing about being pregnant, is that you actually take notice of things around you that you would have normally missed. You see more pregnant women, for some reason and more strangers are curious about you and your baby. You even get to enter the elevators first and are considered priority by most people around you.

We did not want to know the gender of our baby, to me, what mattered most was that my baby was healthy and growing well.

As the weeks progressed the nausea faded completely and I felt normal again. I was on my feet as I was still working as a physiotherapist at a public hospital in KZN. My friends at work were amazing and really helped me on my journey.

I will never forget my mother's advice on rest where you can, you will need the energy. I did not listen too much at that time but now I wish I had!

I started to search for baby products and made many trips to Baby City and Babies r Us to check the products and latest trends. After baby showers at work and with my family , I realized that there are so many things you need for a newborn baby. As a first time parent you want every cool gadget you see but you really do not need it all, only what works for you.

I have another category on ' Baby Things ' that helped us prepare for our baby.

My older brother and his wife had a baby the year before so all the advice was really so so helpful .

I had borderline Gestational diabetes ( diabetes in pregnancy) and had to do 2 Glucose Tolerance Tests. I have a family history of diabetes from both maternal and paternal grandparents so not sure if that played a role or all the sweet stuff I was craving !

When I was in my last trimester my husband had to leave to Cape Town for work. I cannot even explain the mix of emotions going on inside of me at that time. As I watched his car leave our parking area, I was totally beside myself but had to keep it together for our baby. Thanks to both our wonderful mothers, amazing family members and friends I managed to cope in Durban. My husband came home every weekend or 2 to be with me and that had made a world of difference to me.

I continued to grow in size and the date was set for a caesarean section on 1st of February 2019. I was extremely upset as I had really wanted to do a natural delivery but as my baby was very large in size it would have been very risky. I accepted this and began to prepare for the surgery. I read many books and online articles but when you are actually in that theatre you feel as if you are in a movie and every experience is totally your own.

This was the last moments of having my baby with me all the time and inside of me and it will always be a feeling that you miss as a mother. Feeling those kicks and movements inside of you is unlike anything you can imagine and then you appreciate and believe in the wonders of God. In saying that, nothing compares to seeing your baby for the first time, a true love story that never ends ...