My Pregnancy, All 39 Weeks.

It’s crazy how much growth and change occurred right before my eyes and now I’m holding the baby that I grew in my tummy.

On February 23, 2022, was when two positive lines on my pregnancy test popped up, and I had no clue. I think before my pregnancy, I’ve always wanted to be pregnant, it was kind of a dream for me, so I would curiously research the signs of early pregnancy thinking I would be prepared. And still, I never connected the dots for myself.

So, me and my entire family all work at the same place. And I remember my mom and one of her co-workers came up to me as I was working, kinda just minding my business, and they were just saying “Looks like your butt got big”, “You’re not pregnant are you?” kinda laughing but serious. And of course, I told them both no, absolutely not. But keep in mind, my boyfriend and I had moved in together that same month… yeah we didn’t waste any time.

Out of curiosity, I took a test shortly after they said something to me, and sure enough, positive. My boyfriend was in the bedroom while I took the test in our bathroom and I just remember being locked up. Like, I was holding any emotion inside waiting to see what his reaction was. And we both cried. But we looked at each other and we knew that this journey we were about to take together was going to be a crazy but amazing one. As time progressed in my pregnancy, I was getting more hungry and tired. Sometimes emotional. But as we kept going to the appointments and I saw our baby grow, I don’t know, something in me just wanted to be happy all the time for our baby. I was afraid to be sad and every time I would get sad, I just knew my baby didn’t deserve that feeling and he wanted to make himself known. That mama. I’m here. We’re okay. I love you. You’ll be the best mama. Because I was beyond scared. I had just turned 21 after I conceived, and I and my boyfriend were just navigating this new life living together. It was insane. But the closer we got to the due date, the more love I had for this baby I had never met before. I already wanted to give him the world. And I just wanted to keep him safe. Always.

Around 32 weeks, I was over it. I was heavy and felt like a rolly polly Olly. I was done being pregnant. I would get sick when I’d eat, but I felt like I was starving. I was exhausted. I just wanted this life growing inside of me to be here already. As the due date came closer, I started taking my repercussions at 38 weeks. I was bouncing on the yoga ball, eating pineapples and dates because Reddit told me to. I was staying on my feet, working hard at my job, nesting, and cooking at the house. Doing anything I could to go into labor.

At exactly 39 weeks, one week before my actual due date, I went to the outlet mall with my parents and my sister. Going into labor was on my mind but I had no idea what was about to come this day. We’re just walking around, doing some shopping. It was a nice day. I remember we went into the bath and body works store, probably an hour being there. I started to feel weird, and I was thinking the scents were probably just bothering me and I needed a break. The next store we visit was the Nike Outlet. As soon as I walked inside, I felt drizzling going down my legs. I thought I had peed myself. I looked at my mom and told her, “We need to go to the bathroom”. At this point I’m thinking, my water broke it had to be. I called my doctor and went to the emergency room of the hospital I wanted to have my son and sure enough, they were preparing me for the labor and delivery room. My boyfriend is at work at this time, it’s about noon and he doesn’t get off for another two hours. It’s chaos. I’m about to have a baby, my boyfriend needs to be here. The contractions aren’t happening right now so we’re just waiting. And as soon as those contractions came, I honestly wanted to turn back. Those were killers.

But at 2:40 in the morning on the 28th of October, my baby was born. After an hour of pushing and frustration, not knowing if I could go another push, I did it. And let me tell you. Just the amount of love and admiration I had for my baby as soon as I locked eyes with him. I didn’t want to let him go. He’s my joy, and this experience was truly the most amazing thing I’ve done in my life. It’s truly a blessing.