Pregnancy Q&A: Personal Insights, the Struggles, Gender Reveal, Baby Moon and More! (Part 3)
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Welcome to the final episode of my three-part pregnancy Q&A series! In this special episode of Embrace Your Real, I’m diving into some of the most personal and intriguing questions you’ve asked about my pregnancy journey. From the challenges I've faced and my least favorite symptoms to how Joshua will hear the baby at night and whether we plan to teach our baby sign language, I'm sharing it all. Join me as I answer these juicy questions and provide insights that are both heartfelt and helpful for anyone navigating their own pregnancy journey.
What I discuss:
What have you found to be the most challenging during pregnancy?
What has been your least favorite symptom?
Are you excited or nervous?
Did you find out the gender?
Are you sleeping okay?
What are some brands of clothes have you been wearing? Nothing fits anymore!
Where did you go on your Babymoon? It looked amazing!
I don't know if this is too sensitive, but how will Josh hear the baby at night if they're crying? Also, do you plan to teach the baby sign language?
If you loved this episode, be sure to tune in to…
Episode 455: Pregnancy Q&A: Working Out During Pregnancy (Part 1)
Episode 457: Pregnancy Q&A: Avoiding Weight Gain, Nutrition, and Body Image Advice (Part 2)
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Transcript:
[00:00:00] Hey there, beautiful human you're listening to Embrace Your Real with me, Julie Ledbetter, a podcast where I empower you to just be you. With each episode, I get you a dose of real talk and actionable advice for building your confidence, honoring your body, and unconditionally loving your authentic self. Stay tuned. If you're ready to embrace your real. Let's get it. Let's go. [00:00:28][21.0]
[00:00:27] Hello and welcome back to part three of this three part pregnancy series. It has been such a joy going through all of these questions and answering some of the most frequently asked questions when it comes to my pregnancy. So thank you so much for taking the time to ask them on Instagram, and honestly, never hesitate to ask me a question, especially as I'm entering into this new season. I feel like I'm going to be learning so much, and I'm going to be asking you guys so many questions over the next coming months and years. To be honest, it has in a totally different and new season of life, and I have just already found the community of moms on my platforms and in my community are incredible, and they're a wealth of knowledge and support and encouragement. And so I just want to thank you guys all so much already for your encouragement and support. We are so excited to be entering into this new season. And I am recording this before baby, but probably by the time you have heard this episode or this episode comes out, baby led better. Well, hopefully I'm thinking through should be may be born. Yeah. So stay tuned. Be sure to follow my personal Instagram Julie Ledbetter as well as moment with Julie. I will of course be updating you guys over there, but in this Q&A series I have been answering into, you know, questions about workouts and just general questions. [00:01:49][82.7]
[00:01:50] And in today's episode, I thought I would just kind of dive into more personal questions that I have, you know, things like I found what's been most challenging, my least favorite symptom, how Joshua is going to be able to hear baby at night if we plan to teach sign language to our baby, and so many other juicy questions. So stay tuned. That is what today's episode is going to be all about. I just want to thank you guys so much for taking the time to leave a rating and review if you haven't already done that. If you could scooch over to Apple Podcasts and leave a rating interview, that would really help us out. It just helps us understand what is helping you, and that just allows us to serve our community better and more effectively. And so thank you in advance for all of you guys who do that. And while you're already on the app, the podcast app, on any Apple device, it's completely free to subscribe. But that way, every single time a new episode goes live on Monday or Thursday, you just automatically get it downloaded to your phone. So be sure to subscribe so that you never miss an episode. And if you could scooch all the way down and leave writing interview, that would mean the world. All right, let's dive into part three of the pregnancy Q&A. All right. Question number one. What have you found to be the most challenging during pregnancy? I talked about this a little bit in part two last week, but I would say surrender has been hands down the biggest challenge for me. Just because I am such a control freak. I love to control things and I've just found that man. [00:03:16][86.1]
[00:03:17] There are some things in life you just cannot control and pregnancy is one of them and I'm sure motherhood is one of them. And there's so many other things that, you know, we go throughout life that we just cannot control. We can't control a lot of things. And so I would say that has been the biggest challenge, but it has allowed me to focus on two things. Number one, relying on God to be my source of strength and also just relying on him and saying, God, you know, you know me. And this is I am. I am a human, I am flesh, and I fall short all the time. And I'm sorry for that. And just bringing my, you know, frustrations or my emotions to him and disallowing his peace that surpasses all understanding to guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus, to be honest like that has been. And the biggest thing and also, number two, I would say recognizing the things that I can't control and then also recognizing the things that I can't control because there are still things that you can control and not in a bad, controlling, manipulative way, but in a way that's saying, you know, I can't control this, but I am going to choose to focus on what I can. And that is, you know, how am I going to show up today? And if that is extending myself grace because I need a nap, or that is pushing through a workout because I know I feel better, like honoring that and that knowing that that's going to change from day to day, I would say that's been definitely the most challenging. And then also, I'm trying to not think about this too much, but also just like, how is my life going to change? Because it will inevitably, once baby is born and trying to not have like fear or anxiety over that. [00:04:54][97.8]
[00:04:55] And again, just giving those emotions to God I think has been so good, but also so hard. And it kind of just goes back to surrender. So yeah, I would say that's definitely the most challenging things in terms of pregnancy. I kind of talked about it in part one, in part two, but I feel so grateful to have, had such a wonderful pregnancy experience, to be honest. Like some mild, you know, food, all meat sounded disgusting. And trimester one like low energy nausea. Never throughout, thankfully. But overall, like, I just feel like I've had a very grateful experience being pregnant and I'm thankful for that. And I'm excited with so much anticipation going into this next chapter. I'm eager and also scared, to be honest. So yeah, that's that's kind of what I would say to that question. All right. The next question is what has been your least favorite symptom? I would definitely say the food aversions. Like for sure there is. At one point I talked about this before I was pregnant. I was loving these beef tips and they were from target and they were so good. And they were cilantro lime beef tips. And I would have them like 1 or 2 times a week and like a Mexican dish. And they were so, so good. And I remember I think I was like week eight, week nine, and pregnancy. I asked Josh to make them because in the moment they sounded so good. And that was like such a surprise because all meat sounded disgusting. And then the moment he opened the package, I literally started dry heaving. I was like, you need to get this out of my house immediately. And so that was really unfortunate. Like any sort of smell of meat just made me want to throw up. [00:06:38][103.4]
[00:06:39] Also, I talked about this in the last week's episode, but Texas Roadhouse, which is our go to every single week, that sounded disgusting, which made me really sad because I didn't know if I was going to eat Texas Roadhouse again, which I'm happy to report as of second trimester, we are back to our weekly Texas Roadhouse indulgences, and I couldn't be more thankful for it. So I would definitely say the food aversions and the nausea, just because the nausea was like, I don't want to say that I wish I threw up, but it was so frustrating to feel the nausea and then not have like the, the climax of like throwing up, like just this constant like state of nausea was honestly like not great. And so that was I would say that's my been my least favorite symptom. And that was in the first trimester. And also happy to report around 14, 15 weeks I was able to turn that corner in second trimester. Number three. Are you excited or nervous? So I kind of just answered this. I'm so excited. I, I feel like I have so much anticipation going to this next chapter. I know I'm going to have so much to learn. I know that it's going to change our lives in so many ways, which excites me, but also terrifies me at the same time. So I feel like I am definitely feeling all the emotions and just overall really eager and just filled with excitement and eagerness to see what our next chapter is going to look like. And I know that it's going to be so hard, but it's also going to be so rewarding because this is exactly what God intended for us. Like he says, be fruitful and multiply. [00:08:10][91.4]
[00:08:11] And so I have to trust that this is a part of God's plan. And God's plan is not always easy, right? It's not always going to be like, oh, it's the easiest thing to do. Having a child and raising a child is one of the most selfless things that you can do. And so that equally excites me and terrifies me at the same time. But yeah, overall, I would say just eagerness and excitement. Okay. The next question is did you find out the gender? Yes we did, I announced it, I believe I announced it last month in June. Yes. So we are having a baby boy, which is so crazy, also so wild because I prayed that we would have a baby boy. And God is just so faithful. I mean, whether we would have had a boy or girl like he is good, but man, it was just so crazy. Like I had just a feeling and journaled about it before I got pregnant. And when I found out that we were having a boy, I just I hit the ground with my knees, just started sobbing, and I was like, oh my gosh, God, you are so good. So we are so excited to have a baby boy. Let better. I cannot wait to see Josh become a dad. He is going to literally be the best dad. I cannot wait to just unlock a new part of him and see him in a new light and unlock up a new love for him. Like I know that I I've heard this before, you know, from friends, family. Obviously you see it all over social media, but like when you get to see the love in real life, become a dad and like, you actually start to build a family. [00:09:37][86.5]
[00:09:38] Oh, I'm just so excited to see it. What would this going to look like? And so excited to cheer him on and just love him on such a deeper level. So that's the answer to that question. Okay. The next question is, are you sleeping okay? Oh, sleep has been honestly, it has been a struggle. I'm not going to lie, I would say I really started struggling with sleep like 37 weeks. So just a few weeks ago, which again, grateful for that. It kind of held off till that long. But I love my sleep. And again, I just think that this is just a part of surrendering and also like God preparing you for this next chapter, because I already feel like I have adapted to less sleep. And, I'm grateful for that. And I know that it's it's going to definitely look different, like when I have a baby, even more so than what it is now. But I will say that having a pregnancy pillow has been a total game changer. Now, there was like two weeks there that I could not think about. So when I say pregnancy pillow, I'm talking about the rafter. It is like literally looks like a raft. It's not equal on both sides, but it is. It definitely one of those like circular pregnancy pillows. I'll put I need to create an Amazon store front of just like pregnancy items, because I think I found some stuff clothing as well as, you know, pillows and things like that that have just been total game changer. So I will go ahead and create an Amazon storefront and be sure to link that in the show notes for you guys. And the pregnancy pillow has been a total, total game changer. [00:11:05][86.9]
[00:11:06] I'm not going to lie. Like it has been incredible. Both the one that I have for home and then the one that I got for travel for my babymoon was amazing. There is about two weeks there where I could not use the pregnancy pillow like the big one. It made me claustrophobic and there were times where I, like, literally got up in the middle of the night and felt so claustrophobic in my own body. And so there was a couple weeks where I didn't know that I was going to still use the pregnancy pillow, but I'm happy to report I'm 39 weeks and back to using the pregnancy pillow and it is amazing. And also, I've heard that you can use it for breastfeeding once you have your baby, so that's amazing. Or tummy time and all the things. So it's not just a pregnancy pillow. I feel like it's going to get a lot more use out of it. But I would say, yeah, overall sleep is hit or miss and I am just thankful for all of the hours that I do get. That's what I'll say about that. All right. The next question is what are some brands of clothes you have been wearing? Nothing fits anymore. Oh my goodness girl, I totally get you. So I try to not get too many pregnancy clothes just because I, you know, I know that obviously if I have another baby or a couple other babies in the future, I will use it. But I didn't want to get so many things that I know are just going to be used for a season. And so I will say, hands down, the best purchases in terms of maternity are two different brands and they're totally different price points, which is great. [00:12:33][86.7]
[00:12:33] So the first one is vitality. I got their maternity leggings as well as their maternity shorts. And I will say in terms of shorts, those are hands down the most worn maternity shorts. I got them in every color. They just came out with black at first, and then they released the forest green and the blue, and I got both of those, and I wear those all the time, especially now that it's summer. So I would say vitality is worth it. They're pricey, but it's definitely worth it. And their high quality and then their maternity leggings are amazing as well. Also their jumpsuit. So I got their jumpsuit pre-pregnancy and I still am fitting in my pre-pregnancy size it which was a size small. I will say that my boobs definitely are you know, they're bulging out there. They're film, they're full of milk right now. And they're definitely not fitting like they used to, but it still fits overall and it's still pretty comfortable. So vitality is great. Again, pricier, but high quality. Definitely worth it. The other brand that I have used so, so much is Crazy Yoga and that's from Amazon, which I will link the ones. I got these maternity joggers and I got them in one color, and then I got them in every other color. I think they have like 3 or 4 colors, which all these people who create maternity clothes, I love that they create the darker colors. I don't know, I just feel more comfortable and confident and darker. So I have maroon, I have dark blue, I have black and I have green. And the crazy yoga maternity joggers have been a total game changer. I wear them all the time. I still wear them even though it's summertime. [00:14:08][95.1]
[00:14:09] They're lightweight. They fit amazing. I just sized up to a medium I normally. I'm normally a small in pre-pregnancy for crazy yoga, but I am a medium in their sports bras and their sports has been amazing. I am still wearing all of my normal pre-pregnancy crazy yoga sports bras. Again, I sized up already pre-pregnancy to a medium and I'm still in the medium. And so that has been another great brand in terms of pregnancy clothes. I'm trying to think of what else? Okay, so for my baby shower, I got a lot of questions on my green dress that I wear from my baby shower that I got at, oh goodness, I'm not going to remember the name. I want to say it's, Pink Blush Maternity. That was a baby shower dress that was just like under the baby shower section. And that was great. I did size up to a large in that, and it came as like a two piece. So it was that kind of this tube top dress, long dress with the long, long sleeve kind of overcoat. And it was awesome. And my baby shower was June and it was still super lightweight, and I felt super comfortable. And I loved the color and it was great. So definitely recommend that. And then the other brand I would say that is very forgiving in terms of just like loose and I know is going to be. Amazing for post partum is free people. Obviously there's so many dupes on Amazon as well, so if you just type in Free People dupe, you'll find a ton. I love, I would say about 90% of my stuff I still love from free people, simply because it's just such high quality. It is higher price point, but it's also higher quality. [00:15:45][96.3]
[00:15:45] I find that sometimes with the free people dupes or any sort of dupes on Amazon are just not high quality and they just don't last as long. And so for me, I try to, you know, pick like all of the A jumpsuits and stuff I still get from free people, even though I know that they have like the jumpsuits, the dupes on Amazon just because they lasts forever. And so the Free People jumpsuits have been amazing. They also have great like flowy tanks, the two pieces and things like that. So I would say those are like my biggest and like kind of the most worn brands in terms of what I've been wearing while pregnant. Number seven what are where did you go on your babymoon? It looked amazing. Okay, so our babymoon was amazing. I was at the edge of my 29 weeks, so I turned 30 weeks when we were there and I was kind of nervous to be honest. I was like, oh my God, am I going to be uncomfortable? Am I going to be like, am I going to be too pregnant for this? And I will say it was a perfect time. Like I felt like I was showing because that was one thing. Like when you're on your babymoon, like you kind of want to be showing, you know? And so I was definitely showing, but I was not like did not have this huge belly to wear. It was like super uncomfortable if, you know, I'm talking about. And so we went to Anguilla. I heard about Anguilla from oh gosh, I think it was Instagram and we had Kendra. I will link her in the show notes. She planned our entire babymoon and it was incredible. [00:17:10][84.7]
[00:17:11] So we stayed at the Four Seasons. So okay, so Anguilla is about 2.5 hours from Miami. And it's it's a British islands. And it's literally I think I think they said 15,000 people population on the island. There's I would say maybe 3 or 4 like major resorts. And then other than that it's just all locals. And so it's just a boat ride away from Saint Martin, and it's a lot less touristy than that. And so we kind of wanted to have like the authentic experience. Also, I followed a few people that went on their babymoon at Four Seasons Anguilla, and I was like, that looks amazing. So we decided to do it and I, I'm so grateful we did. It was such an incredible experience. The people I just cannot say enough good things about the people, like the people made the trip. We met so many incredible people from the moment we stepped off the plane to the moment that we were back at the airport, like and everywhere in between, the people at the restaurants, the people at the resorts, the people I would just when you're out and about, like at, around town, we rented smokes for one day, which are these little cars that you can drive in the island. And it was amazing. The day that we rented the Moke. It we were, we got caught in a torrential downpour. So that was really unfortunate for a little bit. But later in the day, you know, this is what I hear is island life is just like it goes from 0 to 100 super fast, in both ways. So it went literally from beautiful and sunny to completely, torrential downpour. And we got stuck like down this, you know, authentic Island Road. [00:18:46][95.0]
[00:18:46] And we were like stuck in this torrential downpour and our smoke got stuck and Josh had to push us out of this mud pit. But then, like, we got back to the resort and then, you know, 35 minutes later it was beautiful and sunny again. So it was amazing. If you ever get the chance to go to Anguilla, I would highly suggest you do. The Four Seasons property was it was stunning in every single way, shape and form. It was the service was beyond. It was like literally beyond. It met every expectation and more so Anguilla, Anguilla, Anguilla cannot say enough good things about it. It was peaceful. It was beautiful. It was everything that Colorado isn't in all of the best ways, if that makes sense. So that's the answer to that question. And then the last question is that juicy question that so many people have asked. And that is I don't know if this is too sensitive, but how will Josh hear the baby at night if they're crying? Also, do you plan to teach the baby sign language? Okay, so this is a two part question. So the first question is we're still trying to figure that out. There are devices that will wake him up. I plan to do the majority of nighttime. I am like a night owl. Like I don't really have issues. I mean, I love my sleep, but also like, I can I go to bed pretty late anyways. And so, I plan on doing a lot of the night stuff, and then he, Josh wakes up super early, so Josh will be kind of on on duty and on call, in the mornings to allow me to sleep in a little bit. But again, this is something totally new, something that we've never done before. [00:20:20][93.5]
[00:20:20] And so you could come back to us in a month and it could be a totally different answer. So if that. Changes. I will definitely update you guys again. There are devices, obviously there are, you know, Kota, which is a child of deaf adult and some that sometimes it's both adults are deaf and they're raising a hearing child, which is I literally can't even imagine that. But I've so much respect for that. And so there's so many devices out there. I will say that, man, the esthetic of the devices, which I know I shouldn't be thinking about the esthetic of the device, but these devices look like they're from the 1980s, which is kind of crazy. I'm like, someone needs to come up with something a little bit more esthetically pleasing devices that will help. But I mean, if they do the job, that's all that matters. So that's the question to that. And then the second part of that question is, do you plan to teach the baby something which absolutely, 100%, whether they're hearing your deaf, born hearing or deaf, we plan to teach the baby sign language from a very early, you know, early, early on. And, I know so many people, at the very least, teach their baby baby signs. But we plan to fully and, you know, immerse and engage our child with sign language. We plan to do kind of a mixture of C, which is sign exact English, and ASL, which is American Sign Language. If you guys know Josh or if you've been following us for any length of time. Josh has a really amazing story. But he did speech therapy for 17 years, 14, 17 years, and he was raised in mainstream school, and he was raised to use his voice and to lip read. [00:21:51][90.2]
[00:21:51] And so he lip reads amazing. He speaks amazing, which not all deaf people speak or choose to use their voice. Josh does not have a cochlear implant. He does not have a hearing aid. And so he is profoundly deaf. He's 100% deaf. He has slight hearing in one of his ears, but at this time he doesn't have a hearing aid or a cochlear implant. And he talks amazing. And he reads lips incredibly like it is mind blowing to me. I've been with Josh for over 12 years now, which is so crazy and it still blows my mind how good of a lip reader he is. It just like that is that is a skill that I will never understand. But I am so deep I just appreciate it so much. Anyways, he learned American Sign Language and sign exactly English at a very young age and he is an avid reader, which it's crazy. There's actually a statistic out there that average deaf and hard of hearing or deaf community does not read past a third grade reading level. And Josh, because he was in mainstream school, he, you know, his mom really pushed him to learn all the things become, you know, as adaptable as possible. And he just really took on a love of reading. And so Josh is honestly reads more books than any person I've ever met. He reads like 2 or 3 books a week. It is an insane and nuts and crazy, but his reading level is insane. And so he talks just normal, right? He doesn't talk in terms of ASL, which is conceptual. And so that's why we plan to do kind of a hybrid of sign. Exactly English as well as American Sign Language. So that's the answer to that. [00:23:28][97.1]
[00:23:28] I know that you guys will probably have other questions as we kind of dive into this new territory of parenthood and also raising our child with a deaf parent. And I don't know if our child will be deaf, but if they will, kind of what that will look like. And so I will definitely be posting more about that, and I will for sure be doing another Q&A on that once baby is here. And we kind of settle in and go through all the postpartum things. So that is all that I have for today's episode. I hope that this was helpful. I hope that this gave you some good insight. I would love to hear your thoughts. I would love to hear any other questions that you have. Thank you so, so much for tuning in. Thank you so much for following along this three part series. If you haven't tuned in to part two or part one, I will link those in the show notes as well. But I love you so dang much. I mean it and I'll talk to you in the next one. [00:24:25][56.3]
[00:19:29] All right, sister, that's all I got for you today. But I have two things that I need you to do. First thing, if you're not already following me on the gram, be sure to do so. Julie A Ledbetter. Yes, it's with an A in the middle for that daily post workout real talk, healthy tips and tricks, and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check. The second thing, be sure to subscribe to Apple Podcasts to never miss an episode. Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world, and I'm going to leave you with one last thought. The most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface. So go out there and embrace it real because you're worth it. [00:20:36]