Erin W: My Pregnancy Story

Posted Friday, March 20, 2009 5:18 PM

"When the tech placed the wand on my belly, the whole baby popped up on the screen and I just blurted out, 'That's my BABY??? Really?!'"

First time's a charm

First off, let me say that I started out assuming that pregnancy was pretty much impossible. It's just that I write for The Bump, interviewing fertility specialists for stories and working on Q&A's like "What is Clomid?" and "What factors can affect sperm count or mobility?" There's a copy of The Tao of Fertility sitting on my desk, for goodness sake. Not exactly stuff that makes you think baby-making is easy. (Add in the fact that I don't remember my cycles being anywhere close to regular before I started birth control ten years ago, and...well, you get the idea.)

So last September, Hendrik (my husband) and I decided to lay off of the pill and see what happened. The idea was to get my body regular, see if my body would act semi-normal, and hope for maybe a positive test in early 2009. When the first cycle lasted 36 days, I figured we might be in it for the long haul. That was fine, though. We weren't in a rush.

Hendrik and I had recently gotten married and moved down to Charlotte, NC from a tiny apartment in NYC. In mid-October, we moved into a new house. The next week, we bought our first car. And the next week...baby on the way. Talk about diving head first into adulthood! Sheesh!

Getting used to this pregnancy thing...

So far, pregnancy has been great. And extremely weird. For me, early pregnancy felt like a UTI. I know it's not that way for everyone, but I swear I could feel it. Something felt all weird and achey in my lower abdomen, I had to pee a lot, I felt carsick, and I distinctly remember asking Hendrik, “What is this? Could I be pregnant. Do you think pregnancy hurts?” I dismissed the thought, decided on UTI and stocked up on cranberry juice. Three days later, I was in line at Walgreens with a bag of chocolates and a pregnancy test.

I've been super lucky, with no real morning sickness and everything going smoothly thus far. Sure, I've been dead tired, my nipples occasionally feel like someone is pinching them with sharp tweezers (I had no idea that would happen), and I had cankles for a couple of days after a long car ride, but otherwise we're golden.

The most incredible thing so far: The 18 week ultrasound. I had no idea it would last so long or that we'd be able to see so much! When the tech placed the wand on my belly, the whole baby popped up on the screen and I just blurted out, “That's my BABY??? Really?!” I guess I didn't expect it to be so clear, or to be able to see things like the chambers of the heart and details in the brain. The technology is  really amazing.

Now I'm at 22 weeks and finally getting to the point where I definitely look pregnant and am feeling the little munchkin kick around. (I have an anterior placenta, so it took me a bit longer to feel the pokes and jabs.) The kicks come mostly in bed at night and first thing in the morning, and they blow me away every time. I mean, there's a whole PERSON in there. It's crazy.

I guess this is the point where we're supposed to start decorating a nursery and buying bunches of stuff. We're totally slacking on that so far. It took us quite a while to adjust to the idea of pregnancy itself...and now we've got to face the fact that end result will be a baby. A real live baby -- outside of me and in our house and in our lives forever! Don't get me wrong. We're incredibly excited and can't wait to be parents. (Hendrik is going to be the best dad EVER.) It's just a bit surreal!

Ready to be surprised

We decided not to find out the sex, so the suspense is really building. I'm hoping the curiosity will help get me through labor (only slightly kidding). I'm also prepping myself for a med-free delivery...while reserving the right to yell for an epi if things don't go as planned. Wish me luck!

This whole thing is such an adventure: the knowledge of a child growing inside of me, my body changing, the idea of getting this baby out into the world to become a whole person with his/her own personality and ideas and opinions. Here goes!

> Read more about Erin W!

> Want to share your pregnancy story? Email it to kstanford@theknot.com.