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Debra Hunt is a pregnant nzgirl, who will write a regular column, filling us in on her journey from pregnancy to parenthood! Read her first entry here...
There are so many things women these days hope to achieve in their 20s and early 30s: going to uni, starting a career, heading off an OE, finding a partner, having children and buying a house.
Such a short time span in which to squish so many major life events! It seems to be the trend to leave the children part until a bit later, when we’re stable and well set up.
 It’s always seemed sensible to have got myself a fantastic job (or a huge Lotto win) and a house before I started having kids. But my doctor stirred things up one day when he told me that because of the cancer treatment I had as a child, I would be fertile for a much shorter period than most other women.
My hubby and I have always wanted kids, so we thought we’d better not leave it too late! Little did we know that we would get pregnant within a few weeks of deciding to start trying! My name’s Debra, I’m currently studying at uni and working. I’m now nine weeks pregnant, having found out I was pregnant four weeks ago. The nurse told me it was positive as if she’d just told me I only had nine months to live, but I was just so happy. The hardest thing so far is not being allowed to tell people! I’ve told my husband of course, and my mum and sisters but that’s about it.  The crazy thing is it’s recommended you don’t tell many people until after the first trimester (13 weeks) but the first trimester is when you experience the most morning sickness and you also get extremely tired. So it’s pretty tough because you’ve got to keep battling through your job/exams/assignments etc, with people wondering why you’ve gone a bit distant, can’t keep your eyes open, have to make 20 trips a day to the bathroom and generally look a bit seasick!
The reason for keeping it secret is because the risk of having a miscarriage is high in the first trimester. As many as one in five pregnancies end in miscarriage, which is a really scary thought. But when I get worried, I just look around at all the people around me and think, well they were all born so it can’t be that hazardous can it? I’m not entirely sure if that’s good logic. But then, my brain has been a bit twisted around lately. Apparently that’s due to something called the ‘fog of pregnancy’. Hmmmm.
 The most important thing at this early stage of pregnancy seems to be diet. What you eat in the first 13 weeks is crucial to the baby’s development. First of all, doctors recommend taking folate supplements before conception and throughout the first trimester. I didn’t know about the before conception part, so I didn’t start until I found out I was pregnant and I got a stern telling off from the nurse! But you’ve read it now so you’ve got no excuse. Folate helps reduce neural tube defects in your baby.Then there’s also the obvious stuff like giving up alcohol, drugs and smoking. One of the hardest things for me has been eating healthy! The lists of foods to avoid on the NZ Food Safety Authority websites turns out to be quite long. Some sources even say you should avoid all artificial colours, preservatives and flavourings! I’m finding that pretty close to impossible.  I guess if I could just stay at home or had a personal chef, it would be easy to prepare safe and healthy meals out of primary food sources, but when you have uni and work commitments, your options become very limited! For instance, in a food court at a mall the salads, sushi, Subway, filled rolls, meat that isn’t piping hot, burgers with salad in them, and even fruit and vege juices are all ‘unsafe’ for pregnant women due to bacteria that grow on pre-prepared foods. This pretty much eliminates all your healthy options. You’re left with ‘safe’ foods like deep fried fish, fries, pies, and pizza (but not seafood pizza or ones with brie or camembert on them).  It’s been hard to hide the fact that I’m pregnant because I’ve started turning down alcohol and I’ve had to stop eating my favourite ever food - sushi! Also, it gets a bit awkward when you go to someone’s house for dinner and they’ve made a delicious looking smoked chicken pasta salad that you can’t eat and you have to make some excuse about not being hungry while you watch everyone else eat it!
Still, I guess I can tell everyone in a month anyway. That should make it a bit easier.
I’m going to see my GP next week to find out what to do next. I’m so excited about the ultrasound at 11 weeks! I’ll write about that one in next month’s column.
Bye for now!
Debra
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