Pregnancy Chronicles: A Story of Perseverence

Katie Dickens is pre/postnatal training certified, a Postpartum Coach, and Founder of FORTHEMOMS. She shares her pregnancy story with her first child, baby girl Denym.

My pregnancy was very difficult. It was a very unique experience... but aren't they all? I was researching my entire pregnancy seeing if anyone else could relate to me, so I am so honored to share my journey in case anyone else is looking for answers and wanting to feel less alone.

I am an active person and just assumed that I would continue to have an active lifestyle while being pregnant.

Boy was I wrong!

The week I found out I was pregnant, I had extreme abdominal pain. I reached out to my OB and she had me come in to see what was going on. They found the baby but didn't know if she would continue to grow due to my pain so I had to get monitored once a week and test my levels and make sure they were going up. So, unfortunately from the first week I was pregnant, instead of there being joy, I was left with fear not knowing if she would continue to grow in my belly.

The week that they confirmed the baby is growing and is healthy, I fell into extreme morning sickness. I couldn't leave my bed for 5 weeks, having such bad nausea that I couldn't do anything else.

The week that I could finally get out of bed and started to feel better (week 12), we went out for the day and the night I came home I bled so much in the toilet that I thought I was having a miscarriage. We went to the ER and they saw the baby but didn't know if I was in the middle of a miscarriage. I went to see my OB the next day and after extensively looking at the ultrasound, they found a massive blood clot INSIDE of my placentia (so my body wasn't recognizing it). I was told that there is a possibility that it can rupture and I can have a miscarriage so that to go on modified bed rest. I was so paralyzed with fear that I didn't want to do anything to put pressure on my body. I had to go in weekly to make sure the blood clot was getting smaller and not bigger. Thank God it got smaller.

Then, due to loosing so much blood I started to get infections and had to get on medication (and I hate taking medication especially pregnant).

Then, I got covid in the midst of it being so new and they didn't know if I was going to be OK while pregnant and if they baby was going to OK. Thankfully, the fever went down and I finally got better and baby was ok.

Then, I had such a severe asthma flare up with massive asthma attacks that I had to go in and be on consistent steroids (which they didn't know how the medication would affect the baby but I couldn't breathe and needed it). That was really hard for me to take in medication that I needed so bad but didn't know if it was OK for her. :-(.

I had one thing after the next while pregnant that left me feeling so paralyzed with fear. It was almost comical that when something would end, another thing would start. I even chewed off a piece of a plastic fork while eating a salad once and thought that it was going to puncture the placenta. My OB at that point was done with me! Ha!

Thankfully I had God who not only protected my baby but tried to give me peace time and time again during a season of true fear.

I went into my pregnancy so excited to stay active and healthy and ended up having a pregnancy that turned my anxious mind into a paralyzed fear that made me not want to leave the home and just protect this baby.

It was hard. Long. And although Denym was born healthy, in the moment you have NO idea and feel the weight of an entire LIFE on you. I was thrown into motherhood and protecting my baby the first day I got pregnant.

Image <a href="https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/pregnant-woman-touching-her-belly_937079.htm#fromView=search&page=1&position=1&uuid=c56da209-e382-4794-ad7e-e5063cb54c0c">Image by yanalya on Freepik</a>