My Pregnancy Blog
Here you will find my journey through Pregnancy #1 and now #2!
My Holistic Pre-Natal Fitness Program is now available!
This complete Holistic Fitness Guide will provide:
- Creating a healthy mindset during pregnancy
- Common myths to break
- Holistic recommendations to common issues
- Fitness guidelines & structuring your workouts
- Complete workout routines,both home & gym, per trimester & by fitness level
- Videos for all exercises & modifications
- What to focus on, what to avoid
- Core 101: breathing, activation, exercises…PLUS MORE!
Yes, our family is growing! Baby Occkial #2 is coming early December ’24! We are so excited and so blessed for this opportunity.
You can read updates for Pregnancy #2 here:
20 Week Update and Gender Reveal
Below you will find Natalie’s story from 2022.
We waited, prayed and worked for YEARS. God has answered our prayers and given us the gift of a child!
Baby Occkial will be arriving earth-side late July/early August 2022!
You can view the new Pregnancy Posts below:
24-27 Weeks/ 2nd Trimester Wrap Up!
34 Week Update: 3rd Trimester Update
Excitement and happiness aren’t big enough words to describe how Brian and I feel.
First and foremost, we are extremely grateful and BLESSED that God has provided us with this MIRACLE. We have “put in the work” but ultimately this is the Lord’s blessing and we were READY for it!
You might already know that this has not been an easy road for us. I have had different health issues over the last few years. I always had a history of irregular menstrual cycles; went on birth control, then in 2014 after stopping it, my cycle didn’t return. I spent almost 5 years with amenorrhea (no period) and almost non-existent sex hormones. I worked for years to uncover root causes, which lead me to find out I had hypothyroidism, adrenal dysfunction, along with high stress lifestyle factors (too low of bodyfat from bodybuilding competitions, Type A personality etc) that exacerbated the imbalances.
After uncovering the WHYS, I was able to balance my thyroid, improve my hormones AND get my period back naturally in December 2018. How? I prioritized changing my lifestyle with a functional medicine approach AND staying consistent with it!
You can read more of that story here.
From 2018 to 2021, my periods were still arriving, but in no consistent manner whatsoever. I’d get frustrated and discouraged…what am I doing wrong? What SHOULD I be doing? I’d celebrate the months when I would get my cycle since it was “health vital sign” I had been missing for so long.
For the past 8 years, I have felt frustration, anger, sadness, doubt, guilt, shame…I’d think sometimes “Why me? Why can’t I just be normal? What is wrong with me, that I can’t provide this for me and my husband? Will we ever get pregnant”? So many thoughts.
We decided a few years ago that we would not pursue medical intervention or treatment. There was nothing structurally wrong or major red flags, and our future option would be adoption.
After spending so much time with doubt and worry, I decided a few years ago that STRESS would not help anything! So I CHOSE to reframe the situation and choose a different perspective. The question become not if but WHEN. And we were open to HOW that would look and manifest. And I will tell you that was one of the BIGGEST game changers to our journey and success.
When people asked if we had kids, we said “No not YET”.
When I would have a doubt come in my mind, I’d say a prayer, mantra or affirmation such as “God is always for us and will always provide. I have the power and ability to get pregnant.”
I’d also focus on the time that my husband and I had just the two of us…not to mention the freedom and flexibility to do whatever I wanted on my own time “(haha!)
And with that…we kept persevering. We kept our healthy lifestyle, our positive mindset, focusing on optimizing our physical health and of course, timing as best as we could 🙂
December 14, 2021 I had a feeling even before I took the pregnancy test. I just FELT different! Yes my breasts were sore and I was unusually hungry all the time, but in my heart I felt this sense of peace and calm. That this was THE time!
I saw that positive reading and it felt surreal. I ran in to let Brian know. It was a blissful few moments to realize together “This is happening….our dream is coming true!”
We told our immediate families within the next week and it was REAL hard to not scream it to everyone I ran into! We started researching and planning the very next day!
Fun Facts of my Pregnancy so far:
We actually conceived a full MONTH earlier than when we thought! On the day of our first midwife appointment (1/25), I believed I was 9 weeks along, due to having a period in November. Well apparently God loves to really give us surprises, because I was actually 13 weeks at that appointment! It seems as though little baby fertilized right around my period, but I didn’t think it was possible since I actually did have my cycle. It was CRAZY to think there was a whole month that we had NO clue!
We had our first official ultrasound on Tues. February 1st and I am measuring 14 weeks. Everything looked great (heartbeat, all limbs etc)! Our estimated due date is now August 1st!
Overall, I feel AMAZING! I have had NO morning sickness, no nausea, no aversions whatsoever! I also have had no major bouts of fatigue or extreme exhaustion!
The first few weeks the biggest things I noticed: hyper-sensitivity to smells, high cravings for salty and savory foods (when I am normally a sweets/sugar gal) I was noticeably more hungry throughout the day. Honestly the very first thing I noticed (early December, so about 3-4 weeks along) my breasts started growing immediately (almost daily) and feeling sore and heavy.
Month 2 was pretty much the same…no huge changes! I did notice a little more tiredness, mood swings and being more emotional…but it wasn’t anything that was horrendous or not tolerable. I opted for the couch versus my standing desk some afternoons (something I would never do before!)
Now that I am officially in Month 3 (practically 4!) I have definitely noticed my mini baby bump getting bigger! It grows as the day progresses LOL. The rest of my body is staying the same but you can see the changes 🙂 I am embracing this as I truly am amazed of what the human body can do!
Exercise: I have been keeping up with my normal routine and cliche but “listening to my body”. I really haven’t felt the need to modify much yet since my energy and stamina still feels great. Now at 14 weeks I have noticed more pressure when doing barbell hip thrusts, so that is really the only thing I’ve had to “modify” so far. But as the changes continue and my pregnancy progresses, so will my exercise and that’s ok! I will keep moving no matter what unless I can’t, since there are so many benefits for both mom and baby that come from physical exercise! Ultimately, the most important thing is that me and my baby are safe and healthy 🙂
Favorite foods: Anything right now! Popcorn, sweet and salty mixtures like trail mix, big egg and veggie scrambles, spicy flavors (like buffalo) Mexican food…there’s not much that doesn’t sound appetizing! But as before, I am very much prioritizing high quality optimal nutrition…not only for my energy but to use this fuel to BUILD A HUMAN!!!
There’s definitely more to share and I plan on posting about twice a month about my journey, experiences, tips and more!
THANK YOU you all for your continued prayers, support and encouragement. It truly makes a huge difference to have a community beside you to cheer you on! Here’s to believing in your body and NEVER GIVING UP!
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