Academic advisor Michelle Warkentin is just starting her third trimester of pregnancy with her soon-to-be baby girl, McKenna Paige Warkentin. Warkentin is currently 31 weeks along, with approximately nine weeks to go (40 weeks is considered full term). This time she is expecting a girl, which is quite exciting for her, being that her first pregnancy was with a boy.

Warkentin has always had a heart for young girls. She used to work at the Pregnancy Care Center and counseled a lot of young girls who were pregnant, often alone, and didn’t know what to do. Having a baby is a huge decision, which is why Warkentin believes girls need to be mindful of the choices they make in their relationships, especially knowing that their decisions affect more than just themselves.

“Obviously abortion is never an option in my mind, and I encourage young girls to think something as serious as that through, when making such permanent decisions,” Warkentin said. “Obviously people make mistakes and if you’re in that position, getting support from your family is important as well.”

There are a lot of wives tales that circulate with pregnancy, such as the rumors that a baby takes away beauty through pregnancy with a girl, or skin breaks out, or carrying the baby higher, but Warkentin has not experienced these rumors to be true.

There are other sayings such as seeing something ugly can make your baby ugly, or that you cannot take a bath while being pregnant due to harm of dirty water getting to the baby, or if you have heartburn, your baby will be very hairy. Many of these are of course, not true, but it is interesting who would believe some of them.

Warkentin personally feels like it has been the same as her last pregnancy, for the most part. She did experience some morning sickness with this pregnancy, whereas her first pregnancy, she experienced almost none.

A few of her friends have had to be on medication and some even hospitalized for morning sickness during pregnancy, she has not had it that extreme.

“With morning sickness, a lot of things just sounded gross to me,” Warkentin said. “So I had to stick to a bland diet in order to keep me from feeling too sick.”

There are certain things that she cannot eat, such as certain kinds of fish that contain high levels of mercury, which can be harmful to the baby. Pregnant moms should also avoid highly processed foods and deli meats that contain nitrites. In addition, Warkentin cannot have too much caffeine, which is difficult for her because she is fan of coffee.

“Due to the pregnancy I have to be more careful and self aware,” Warkentin said. “When in a relationship or married, your attention usually goes to your significant other, but when pregnant, you are no longer to be selfish, you have another life to think about.”

The stress level of her job has been difficult at times but she is so thankful for the supportive staff and students who are such a joy to work with. She has noticed that simple tasks, like climbing the stairs to her office, are becoming a bit more of a challenge with the extra weight.

“Without my parents watching Matthew, my two year old, I don’t think I could be working here {Fresno Christian},” Warkentin said. “They say it takes a village to raise a child, and it’s true. I cant imagine being in high school and having to do all the things that come with school, and having a baby on top of that would just make life very difficult.”

Warkentin also has her two year old, Matthew, running around and when she gets home there is no time to nap or relax. With such a young child, the new baby situation can be difficult for them to grasp.

“We waited a while to tell Matthew until it was the right time,” Warkentin said. “He was old enough to grasp the concept. We told him that he would have a baby sister, and {started} calling her by her name.”

Luckily, Matthew understands the situation and is also eager for her sister to arrive.

“He’ll come up to me and put his hand on her tummy and ask to feel the baby move, Warkentin said. “He’ll get a stuffed animal and pretend to hold her like a baby, and he’ll rock her. It’s fun because he kind of understands what’s going on. He’s at the age where he kind of is able to grasp it. She has a lot of friends with babies, so he’s able to experience what babies are all about.”

Michelle is very thankful to have such a strong support system, especially with her husband standing by her side at all times.

“Having a loving and supportive husband has been so helpful during my pregnancy,” Warkentin said. “You need a lot of moral support, especially with all the physical and emotional changes that you experience. My husband is my other half and a huge help to me with our son, I?m so thankful for him.”

This writer can be reached via Twitter: @kathrynnnnnD. Follow The Feather via Twitter: @thefeather.

For more features, read the Feb. 19 article, NOTS excites student atmosphere, impresses attendees.