Being Pregnant Sucks

Tonight is Halloween night, and while all my friends are making plans to go out and party or something, I'm not. I got work from 1pm to 8pm and after work I'm going home to give out candy. I really wanted to go out trick or treating with my friends, we even went out looking for costumes. I tried on a referee one and I looked so funny. My big belly was all popping out, I didn't feel comfortable in it. It really sucks being pregnant, a lot of things I want to do I cant. For example I use to love playing soccer and now that I'm pregnant I cant even run. My friends are always talking about going out dancing and when they invite me I just laugh, I cant imagine myself with a belly out in the dance floor dancing. Or even when I go out shopping and I see something I really like, I cant fit into it. I mean there's no point on getting a bigger size I'm not going to be pregnant for much longer. I got 2 more months left, and now time is going by supper slow. I want my baby out of me already, I want to see him, hold him and not only that but I want to fit into my clothes again. I mean at least I don't have to wear that maternity clothes, I could still fit my jeans but I have to put a rubber band so I can button it, I know ghetto huh?

Breastfeeding

One of the hardest decisions I had to make was to either breastfeed or use formula. A lot of my friends who are now mothers told me that it was hard for them to breastfeed because it hurts so much. My mom said she breastfed all of her children and that there are so many advantages about breastfeeding. In the book I'm reading there is a big section about breastfeeding. One of the biggest advantages about breastfeeding to formula is that you save a lot of money. And as a single mother that is what I need to save as much money as I can. I also had to look at advantages that my baby had as a breastfed baby, there are so many advantages that I didn't know about. Like a breastfed babies are healthier, there are fewer ear infections, less risk of diabetes, allergy's and asthma, SIDS, and obesity in childhood. And not only are breastfed babies healthier, but they have a better brain development, they get to know you right away and feel safe being with you. And the advantages for me other then saving money is that I will have less chances of breast cancer, and loss the baby's weight sooner. The good thing about breast milk is that it is always ready when you need it and its never too hot or too cold. In other words it just makes life simpler and easier. The big thing about breastfeeding is that I would feel uncomfortable breastfeeding, it going to feel awkward. But I made the decision to breastfeed so I'm going to have to get use to it.

Emergency

On Monday October 26, 2009 I was sent to the Hospital, I was so scared. It all started when my stomach started hurting so bad I couldn't take it no more. I went to the bathroom and when I looked down there was blood on my pant. I panicked, and called my mom to the bathroom, she ran to the kitchen to call my doctor. The doctor wanted me to go to the hospital as soon as I could. There was so many things going through my head, the main thing was if my baby was okay. I was in tears and so was my mom, she didn't know if she should call my grandma or not. Once we got to the hospital the nurse had me strip down and put a hospital gown on. As I laid down waiting for my doctor to come in I cried some more. Once she came in the first thing I asked was if my baby was okay. She looked at me and said that everything was going to be okay to calm down. I was hooked on to a monitor that was keeping track of my baby's heartbeat. After about 15 minutes my doctor came back in and she checked my pelvic area for bleeding, it was not comfortable at all. She said everything was fine, but maybe my cervix was causing bleeding. The only way to check that was by doing an ultrasound, I was kind of glad because I was going to see my baby. First she checked my cervix, the water around the baby and any danger areas. After my doctor saw that everything was okay she showed me my baby. More tears started coming down my cheek, but this time they were happy tears. He was moving around kicking, and had his legs wide open making sure we knew it was a boy. Doctor said everything was fine that she couldn't find anything wrong. And a couple minutes later I was on my way back home, and feeling happy.

Baby Names

Once I found out I was having a boy, the hardest part was finding a baby name. I always had said that if I had a boy I was going to name him after my grandpa and dad, Carmelo. But everyone from my mom's side of the family hated that idea. I spent hours, days, and weeks searching the Internet for baby boy names, but there was none that caught my attention. After a couple days I came up with the names Jayden or Devon. And once again no one from my family agreed. Jayden because it was kind of hard for my family to say and Devon because it was my nephew's middle name which I had forgotten. My family then gave me a tip, to think of a name that you can say in both English and Spanish. Couple days later me and my mom were talking, I then mentioned my great grandpa's name. Then my mom told me how every time that someone in the family tried to name their son that, the kid would pass away. Then she told me about one of her brothers that was named Raymond and that he had died when he was 4 years old. I really liked that name, and that's my son got his name after one of my uncles. When I told my grandma what I was going to name my son she got really happy, which made me really happy.

Health Care During Pregnancy

One of the topics that is mentioned in the second chapter of the book I'm reading is, parental care. It is really important for a pregnant women to stay healthy while they are pregnant, that is why they need to have regular visits not only to check their health but the baby as well. I have a visit with my doctor, the WIC clinic, and my own house nurse at least once a month. And I also have a number were I can get a hold of my doctor in case I have any questions. With my doctor the visits are pretty simple she checks my weight, blood pressure, urine test, and listens to my baby's heartbeat. I also had a pelvic exam done around the 4th month it was not fun. My next test is going to be a blood test, they gave me a little bottle of orange juice known as glucose. I have to drink it in 5 minutes about an hour before the test is going to be done. As far as i know my pregnancy is going well other then the baby being a little smaller then it should and having low blood sugar. After the blood test visit my appointments are going to change from being once a month to every 2 weeks. At the WIC clinic is different, every time I go in I see a different person. Such as the nutritionist, social worker, or a nurse. Afterwards they give me my WIC coupons and I'm on my way home. My house nurse comes almost once a week on Fridays, with her i get to open up more. I get to ask any questions I have, and she brings me lots of stuff, like baby books, breast pumps, and lots of information on not only being pregnant but after the baby is born. I'm very lucky having them support me as well as my family.

Family

I went a month from hiding this big news from my family. It was really hard keeping a secret this big. The only people that knew was my close
friends, my uncle Francisco, and my cousin Lily. I couldn't hold it in much longer, had to tell my parents before I started showing. Luckily I was 4 months and not showing what so ever, till this day I'm not even that big. For the 4th of July my family decided to go camping down to Sand Lake, Oregon. My family is really close, we go camping often with our whole family and our quads. This was a good time to let them know what was going on, but I was really scared. I thought they were going to go off on me specially my parents. With my uncles help we gathered my parents at the bonfire. I got behind my uncle and started crying, words wouldn't even come out my mouth. I remember my dad saying "que ya saliste con tu regalo?" meaning "what your already pregnant?" I looked at my mom and she was in tears, I went over to hug her and we hugged for a very long time. My parents weren't as mad as I thought they would be, they were mostly disappointed in me. After all the crying and the yelling, the long speech came. They started off saying how they didn't expect this from me, that I had so much going for me, and how my life was going to change drastically. Then the questions came, about what I was planning on doing, how I was going to do it, about the baby's dad and so many more. Thing went better then i expected, they were in shock for a couple days and now they are really happy and cant wait for the baby to come.

The Simple Guide to Having a Baby

I been reading a book called "The Simple Guide to Having a Baby." I enjoy reading this book not only because its easy to follow, but because it uses a lot of pictures and contains pregnant women stories as well. In the first chapter "Now that your pregnant" it talks about things like what happens during pregnancy, changes your body is going through, and questions people ask during pregnancy. The question that popped out to me the most was "What's it like being a single mother?" You see I'm no longer with my baby's father, the only people helping me out is my family, which I'm very blessed to have. I'm not even planning on putting the father on child support because I really don't want nothing to do with him. Just like he wants nothing to do with my son. In the book it mentions how being a parent is hard work and that it's a job for 2. You see I don't agree with that. It is hard work but I believe that as long as you try your best and give your kid what he needs and have people support you like your family and friends, you don't need the other parent around. But I do agree with the book when it mentioned that sometimes you feel lonely and wish you had a dependable parent. I do feel lonely at times I'm not going to lie, but then I think that god put me in this position for a reason. God believes in me and knows I can get through it, and that's what I'm going to do. I'm at New Start finishing up my credits so I can graduate, I'm working and I plan on attending College after I give birth. I'm doing all this just for my son Raymond, and to prove people that a single mother can do it on her own. In the first chapter it also talks about a support system. I have so many people that support me, even people I wouldn't think that they would be there for me. But at the same time I lost a lot of friends, and that's when I realized whose really there for me and whose not.

Last Day Of School

It was the last day of school, June 16 2009 around 12 pm. I remember it like it was just yesterday. Right after school my 2 friends and I rushed down to the Public Health Clinic, only to learn that they didn't do pregnancy test at the time. We started digging through our backpacks to find bus fair, and rode the 128 down to White Center. I was shaking, nervous, scared, never thought I would be stuck in this position. We got off the bus and walked to the DSHS Clinic, went to the 2nd floor where there was a long line. I remember telling my friend Fatima that we'll just come back another day. But they didn't give up on me, Karla walked up to the front desk and was told that we didn't have to wait in line. They sent us back to a little office to find a nice lady who started asking a bunch of questions. I was given a little cup and was sent off to a bathroom. Back in the little office my friends were asking the Nurse a bunch of questions related to sex, condoms and random things, I was able to get my mind off the test for a while. Couple minutes later the test results came in, I think my friends were more nervous then me. I remember hearing the nurse say "Your due for January 23" I was in shock! It took seconds for me to react by asking if I was pregnant. Next thing you know I was hugging my friends crying, thinking what are my parents going to say or do. I needed help, needed to talk to my school counselor Brenda Espinoza. She helped me out a lot, gave me tips on how to break it down to my parents and choices I could consider. That day I went to my cousins house and didn't go home till after my brother called telling me my parent's were already sleeping. I didn't want to confront them yet, and knowing my mom she can tell there is something wrong just by looking at me. I did my best to avoid her for a couple of weeks. Wanted to get my mind set, and decide what my decisions where going to be, before confronting my parents.