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My Pregnancy Journey

By: Kristen Kurihara | Published: January, 2023

I am 32 weeks pregnant and it only started to sink in after our 20 week 3D- ultrasound where we got to see the little guy stretching his arms and kicking his legs, and then it sunk in a little more once I started to feel more defined kicks at week 25. 

For so much of the early stage of pregnancy, there isn’t so much physical “proof” of life inside, when you get to see or feel the baby. So for me, I used to be more in my head worrying “is the baby growing at the right rate?” and “how the heck am I going to eat 90 grams of protein today?” 

About a year and a half ago I had a miscarriage, which is still hard to say out loud but easier in some ways to say now that I’m carrying this baby. For anyone who has gone through that sort of loss, there never is a week in your following pregnancy when you feel really “in the clear.” However, it does feel like as you hit major milestones like the 20 week ultrasound, and the first kicks, and the third-trimester mark that you can start looking forward with hope and let yourself get excited about the small wins. 

Now in my journey, my faith has kicked in, and I’ve turned a corner where I don’t find my mind wandering anymore to the worst-case scenario but instead I daydream and pray about the best case. I let myself imagine everything going smoothly with a beautiful, healthy baby looking up at me with pure love.  

I’ve worked my way through the highs and lows of pregnancy and now in my final weeks. 

My high was finding out the gender and doing a small intimate gender reveal with our immediate family members and extended family on face-time. Once we found out the sex, something about it became very real. We could start to image this little boy! Buying blue baby Vans sneakers,, and painting the baby room blue were big steps for me in letting this feel real. 

Luckily I haven’t had too many lows. Luckily I haven’t had had any nausea and I continue to be a good sleeper.  The only thing has been sciatic pain, which is no joke! It gets really uncomfortable when I stand or walk on flat surfaces for short periods of time. The key to this has been learning what triggers the pain and avoiding flat walks for too long. Staying active in general has really helped me feel good each day and have energy to work and do things. 

My top 5 things/tips that are helping me throughout my pregnancy journey

The Bump is a great online resource, and I love reading it every week with my husband on the day that I turn another a week in my pregnancy. It tells you the fruit or vegetable size the fetus is along with what to expect that week in your pregnancy journey and how the development of the baby is going that week.  

  1. Don’t worry if you feel like you don’t have anything or even know what to get. That is basically how I felt up until 2 weeks ago.  After asking a few close friends, I found lists upon lists of things to get for newborns, breast feeding, etc- everything from travel black out curtains, to the best swaddles to help the baby sleep well, and all the postpartum things for mama like lactation tea etc. Even just asking to see friends’ baby registries will really inform you on things to think about like diaper creams, rash ointment, what to bathe a baby in, etc. 
  2. Becoming pregnant has brought me even closer to friends who have kids. You will find there is a great community, where anyone who has been through it would love to help out in any way and share knowledge on what you need, what you don’t have to worry about, who to ask for help etc. It feels good and I feel so supported.
  3. I just finished my second out of three birthing classes and it has been 100% worthwhile and super informative. The online class is given by a doula and she covers everything from “when do you go to the hospital” to providing sample birth plans, to recommendations like “bring lip balm to the hospital to keep your mouth moist while you’re breathing hard and bring electrolytes and snacks in a cooler bag,” to “this is what the head looks like when the baby is crowning.”
  4. I learned today that most health insurance plans cover breast pumps and a lactation consultant if you need one. Figuring out these small things along the way, save you a lot of worry and energy. 

 

I am open to any advice from the Bizzimumzi community for the final spring to child-labor. AND if there is anything I can do to support you on your pregnancy journey feel free to reach out to me @kkholidayy !

My name is Kristen Kurihara, founder of the MoveForward Community. I started teaching yoga 15 years ago, about the same time I entered the retail world in marketing and sales for companies such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Lululemon, Kreation Organic, Pressed Juicery, and Carbon38. It has taken 15 years to step into my vision and power of starting my own company. Throughout my career, I’ve been cultivating this company by identifying my happiest work moments and recognising what I am uniquely qualified to offer professionally.

While spearheading an ambassador program with over 5,900 ambassadors, I have traveled across the US (several times!), partnered with over 500 studios for fun and inspirational fitness events, and facilitated over 600 super rad brand partnerships with unique fitness professionals all over the world.

MoveForward was built with the intention to create a space where leaders in the fitness & wellness industry can seek the support they need to MoveForward with entrepreneurial endeavors. MoveForward is a resource to share knowledge, business tools, inspiration and energy to collectively and powerfully lift each other up.

Follow me and MoveForward here: https://www.moveforwardcommunity.com/

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