Today, I am 21 weeks and 4 days pregnant! Around the time I had my last routine OB appointment back in early October, I was having a really hard time distinguishing between baby movements and gas bubbles/muscle spasms. I wasn’t sure if I had been feeling baby boy move or if those “feelings” were just my body doing bodily things. It’s pretty normal around that time (17 weeks) to still not be feeling baby move, but it always makes me a little bummed and anxious when the nurse asks if I’m feeling baby and I have to respond with “no.” Well fortunately, I am now feeling baby boy’s kicks and there are no doubts about it. It is definitely him! Dan has even been able to feel his kicks and we now can sometimes even see my belly move! His kicks, jabs, and rolls have definitely gotten stronger just in the last three weeks! It’s been a wonderful reassurance that he is still growing and right on track!
Yesterday morning I had my monthly routine appointment with my OB office. The visit was such a breath of fresh air! I have become accustom to showing up to these appointments feeling anxious and riddled with anxiety. Today’s visit I was calm and collective… a polar opposite person compared to what I usually am at these appointments. I had felt baby boy moving minutes before hauling away in the car to make it to my appointment. While waiting for the Doctor to see me, I felt him moving again. So, I had zero worries that come time for using the doppler, that my Doctor would be able to find a heartbeat. Baby boy’s heartbeat was a steady 140 bpm!
In other news… Kansas City just dropped their mask mandate for the entire city. COVID cases here in the metro hit an all time high in August, after city officials dropped the original mandate back in May. Due to the surge in cases, KC issued another mask mandate and allowed it to expire this morning at 12 am. I am really sad, disappointed, and frustrated with this decision. Clay County, Missouri hasn’t even reached a vaccination rate of 50%. I feel like there is so much room still left for this virus to run it’s course. I have two young children who are both not yet vaccinated. Adelaide, within a matter of days will receive her first dose of the Pfizer Pediatric vaccine!! 🙌 I am so, So, SOO incredibly excited (and relieved) that Adelaide will finally have some protection against COVID! But I am also really bummed for Roselyn. Roselyn’s age did not make the cut off, so we will have to wait a while longer yet till she is eligible. I look at how much our family has personally sacrificed these last 18 months. We have greatly appreciated the little bits of freedom the last three months has afforded us because there was a mask mandate in place. We were finally able to let our kids venture out into public again. We didn’t have to worry about the possibility of whether the shopper right next to us would unintentionally pass COVID onto one of our kids. Now, with the mask mandate not in place, we are hunkering our kids down again, until they have all received their vaccinations.
I am also frustrated because I think of this baby. Pregnant women are at a greater risk of having serious complications from COVID. I worry about these last three-four months. We are so close to the end and I will be so angry if I catch COVID right before we deliver our baby boy. I am frustrated, because even after Adelaide finishes her 2nd dose, after Roselyn is eligible for her vaccine, and after this baby is born… life for our family will not return back to normal because such a large portion of our population refuses to be vaccinated while also refusing and actively fighting against having to wear masks. Once our baby is born, we’ll have to wait another six months till he is hopefully eligible for his vaccine. The next 9 months of my life will be a continuation of the last 18 months. Hunkering down and having my freedoms stomped on because others are too lazy and too proud to wear a damn mask!
I am so proud and excited to share that last weekend I received my booster shot of the Pfizer BioNTECH Vaccine! I’ll be honest… I am nervous at the idea of catching COVID. I am fully vaccinated, but with word of vaccine immunity weakening over time and signs of breakthrough cases happening, it makes me realize that the risk is there. Before my booster, I was relieved knowing that if I did test positive for COVID that my symptoms would more than likely be minor. That went out the door the moment I find out I was pregnant. What would a positive COVID test look like for me now? Would the chances of me having only minor symptoms still be the case, or could I suffer serious complications now that that my natural immune system is weaker because I am pregnant?
I know so many people are hesitant to get their vaccines because they are afraid. They are afraid because they have spent the last 18 months listening to friends and family who have helped circulate misinformation about the pandemic and about the COVID vaccines. If this is you, all I really have to say is: please, please go speak with your doctor. Or even better, make your rounds and visit with a few doctors to compare the differences in opinions of several medical professionals. To date, I have spoken with my General Practitioner, five Pediatricians, and four Obstetricians. All 10 medical professionals agree that this pandemic is not taken serious enough and that the vaccines we have available are SAFE and that they do their job well at keeping us all safe. I’ve only had one symptom from all three of my Pfizer doses, a killer sore arm. Not to say everyone will only have a sore arm, but overwhelmingly the science and evidence widely shows that symptoms are not severe. I’d gladly take a sore arm, fatigue, or a fever over the symptoms that I may possibly experience if I were to actually contract the virus.
I received my COVID booster exactly one week ago and my baby is still kicking away, unaffected. I am healthy and so is he! In fact, science has shown that most likely, my baby will be born in late winter/early spring with antibodies that were passed on to him because I was pregnant when I received this last dose. If a pregnant woman can vaccinate herself and her unborn child against a deadly disease, then so can any other healthy adult. There are no excuses for not doing your part. If you cannot bring yourself to get vaccinated than the least you can do is own that decision and mask up instead. You do not get to have it both ways. Other individuals who are trying to be safe should not have to face consequences because you’d prefer to put yourself above others and above the overall health of our communities.
If you have chosen not to receive your COVID vaccine due to religious exemptions, I would implore you to read the letter written by Conway Regional Medical Center that is attached at the bottom of this page. I am also attaching links to articles that separate fact from fiction regarding the pandemic and it’s vaccines. Do your part to spread FACTS, not fear.
https://www.bu.edu/articles/2021/myths-vs-facts-covid-19-vaccine/
https://www.politifact.com/article/2021/jul/26/10-types-covid-19-vaccine-misinformation-swirling-/
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/recommendations/pregnancy.html
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/faq.html
