Oona

PregTASTIC Panelist | View all Bios

“I kind of imagined myself as the kind of pregnant woman that walked around feeling like I was floating on air – glowing with the beauty of pregnancy. And there are moments when I feel that. But mostly it’s a strange experience.”

Was this pregnancy planned? Yes, it was planned. We decided to start trying in November because we figured it would take a few months at least, but…first try is a charm!!  It was a fun week.

What are you most excited about? Honestly, seeing my husband with our baby in his arms. It makes me tear up just thinking about it. My two loves loving each other. Amazing!

What’s the best part about being pregnant? Feeling connected to the baby.

What type of food are you craving or have an aversion to? I’ve had a very strong aversion to fish. My cravings are mostly for sparkling juice drinks. Although yesterday I had to go out and buy some mint chocolate chip soy ice cream! It was necessary.

What is something silly, verging on ridiculous, that someone has said about your pregnancy? I don’t really know.  My mom asked if I was having triplets after seeing a picture of my belly. But I think that’s just because I’m carrying all out front.

How involved is your husband? My husband is very involved. Since we’re planning a homebirth, he’s been reading a lot and going to all of my midwife appointments and birthing classes with me. He’s very excited about the birth, and is proactive about practicing our relaxation exercises and learning as much as he can so that he’s prepared. I can’t say he was very involved in the registry or the planning of the baby shower (which we did together).  But we always discuss everything before we do it – so I did all of the work, and then we looked things over and made the final decisions together.

How is your energy level compared to “normal”? It’s been harder to keep up my energy level during the third trimester. I’m a pretty active person, and especially now that I’m passed 30 weeks I’m feeling more tired and simply unable to do as much as I was. So, instead of 4 mile walks, I take a 1.5 mile walk and do more stretching. The first trimester I was very tired a lot as well.

What clothes are you finding most comfy? Stretchy skirts, my maternity jeans and cotton tank tops. Love them!

What are your plans for the nursery? Our nursery is a nursery/office combo. Since my husband is a writer, he really needs his own space. And we only have a 2 bedroom apartment. It shouldn’t be too hard though since we plan on co-sleeping with the baby at the beginning in our bedroom.  So the nursery space will really be more for naps and changing. We’ll see how long that lasts. We are kind of doing a cute elephant and monkey theme – our favorite animals.  But we’re not really theme people, so I hope it just looks cute and is practical.

What aspect of pregnancy has surprised you (so far)? I really thought I would enjoy it more. It’s not that I dislike it – it’s an amazing experience to know that a little person is growing inside of you. But it takes over your body and takes a very long time!  Growing up I kind of imagined myself as the kind of pregnant woman that walked around feeling like I was floating on air – glowing with the beauty of pregnancy. And there are moments when I feel that.  But mostly it’s a strange experience, and I’m looking forward to being just me again (since right now I’m 2 people). I know it will never be just me again, but it will be nice to have my body back to myself.

What words of wisdom or piece of advice do you wish you knew about pregnancy, before getting pregnant? Be willing to let yourself eat what your body craves – but stay healthy. I was a vegan before I got pregnant. After a few months, however, I found myself really wanting chicken and cheese. So, I slowly added those things to my diet.  I feel like the protein has been really important to having a healthy pregnancy and enabling me to have enough energy throughout the pregnancy. Also, don’t be afraid of salt!! So many doctor’s recommend reducing salt – but it is actually really important to have during pregnancy. It will help a lot with swelling (I haven’t swelled at all).  Just make sure you’re also drinking a lot of water.

If your delivery day turned out perfectly, what would it look like? I would wake up feeling contractions and spend the early morning snuggling with my husband in bed. As things progressed, we would go for a walk around the neighborhood and then get home to shower off and have a nice meal.  My midwives would arrive once my contractions started getting close together, and we would get the birthing tub ready. As we moved into active labor, my family would arrive and we would all be together to welcome the baby. Ideally, I hope to deliver the baby in the water with my husband there to catch him.  Our cats would be curiously wandering around; my sister would be taking beautiful photographs; I would feel safe and confident with my husband by my side; and our baby would arrive to a happy, healthy family. After he’s born, I want to hold him to my skin for as long as possible and hopefully get into the bed to snuggle up with him and my husband and enjoy the first few hours of our baby’s life together.