Oh the joys of pregnancy..

My husband will disagree with me but there’s a lot about pregnancy that no on ever told me and a lot of things I didn’t/wouldn’t expect. Here’s my list so far:

-Morning sickness is horrible and lasts FOREVER. Literally, it feels like forever and that you will never feel normal again.

• It starts with food aversions-you won’t want to eat anything at all even though you know you can’t live on nothing.
• Then it moves to full fledged vomiting. This doesn’t happen for everyone and you will hate everyone you know that didn’t get sick during their pregnancy. It’s normal-you’re miserable and it’s not fair. You may get sick in the morning, afternoon, evening or all of the above. For me, it was mostly at night but did occasionally happen first thing in the morning.
• Morning sickness for me started at about 6 weeks and continued through to 15 weeks. During this time I tried every trick you could think of. I also tried taking Zofran which didn’t help, B6 which made me even sicker, Tums that didn’t help and Zantac which also didn’t help. One thing I did learn at the end was my body can’t handle the prescription prenatals and they contributed to my morning sickness at least at the end. I now take OTC ones that my stomach can handle.

-Gaining weight while you’re pregnant is EXTREMELY easy! And heaven forbid you should crave sweets-while you’re pregnant your body metabolizes sugar differently than it normally would so that donut/cookie/cupcake/etc that you want? Straight to your hips. You can try to stay away from those sweets but let me just say, easier said than done. As much as I hate to admit it, I’ll be incredibly lucky if I stay in between the recommended weight gain.

-While you know you’re going to gain weight and think you’ll embrace it, you may not. A lot of women are really self conscious about their weight gain. I think it’s pretty normal. Think about your pre-pregnant self and imagine gaining 25-35 lbs. Yeah, I’d rather not too. The last time I was at the doctor’s office the nurse said “well anything you gain now you’ll have to work to lose later.” Girl, you got that right. I CAN’T WAIT to start working out and getting back into shape after this baby comes.

I’m already planning how I’ll lose the weight and get back into shape. I plan on trying out Curves with my sister. In theory I really like their system-they help meal plan and it’s a circuit work out so every time you go in you workout your whole body and it’s supposed to burn about 500 calories each time. Do this 3 or 4 times a week and it should help I hope. I also have the Turbo Fire DVDs that I really do like for a good workout and I’m also going to be exploring other BeachBody workout options to supplement Curves. I’m serious about getting my body back plus maybe losing the “Kansas 15” I put on after I moved out here.

-Round Ligament Pain. Before I got pregnant and joined an online forum I had never heard of such a thing. No one that I know who has been pregnant has ever mentioned this. Luckily I’m not plagued frequently by this but when it hits it sucks! Usually it hits when I’m grocery shopping or haven’t drank enough water. But almost every time it makes this first time mama to be worry.

-No one ever told me how easily exercising, every day activities, household chores, etc will effect your body. If I do too much around the house I’m sitting for the rest of the night because my back can’t take it. Ryan and I went on a 2 mile walk Sunday with Harley (yay for exercising!) and when I was making dinner when we got back I just wanted to cry from the back pain. I don’t even have back problems normally but doing anything will make those muscles tighten right up. Your hips will also hurt when you do any of these things. A prenatal massage before this is over would be AMAZING.

And let’s not forget you’ll be out of breath so fast it’s embarrassing. Your body is pumping lots of extra blood, you’re carrying more weight than normal. Nothing is the same as it used to be.

-This one may just be me but it is normal for first time moms (to be) to have anxiety. Is the amount I’m feeling normal? Who knows. I’m anxious about everything.

• The unknown of labor and delivery scares the bejesus out of me. I know and I have read that the female body is made for exactly this but..I’m still not looking forward to it at all. I think the best thing I can do is keep reading, taking in information and continue telling myself that it is a natural process and I need to trust my instincts, body and baby to do the right thing when the time comes.
• I’m so anxious because we don’t have anything for the baby yet. Okay, I was reminded last night that’s not true. My sister just had her son last year so she’s giving us the bouncy seat and swing that my nephew doesn’t like plus the high chair when we need it and we’re buying her single jogging stroller since they had to get a sit and stand after having their second child. Things we’ve purchased for the baby: a box of wipes, a diaper bag and a 2 hat/2 mittens set. We’ve been given an adorable wipes case from my friend and a giraffe soothing sounds (secret sender from the forum I’m a member of). We only have the stuff we’ve purchased, the wipes case and giraffe soothing sounds at our house, that’s it. We need more for the baby for sure. And then Ryan will start saying things like “babe, we have 3 months left.” 3 Months??!! Do you know how fast time is flying? 3 months is nothing! But luckily we’re going to start buying stuff this month and have a baby shower in early May.
• Speaking of not being ready…I feel like me and Ryan are not ready to bring home a newborn. How is it they allow you to take home a human being so small? Over Christmas my mother in law jokingly asked if we knew how we would discipline. What are the different parenting styles? How do we chose? Do we sleep train? My list for the unknown could seriously go on and on and on. Lots of reading in my future!

-Nesting is a real thing and it hits earlier than expected. There are a million things on my to-do list and I’m motivated-I really want to do these things…I just need to get the energy first. I do one thing and all I want to do is nap, it’s hard to just keep moving. It’s something I’m working on this week. But really, you should see my growing to do list.

-Things I’ve heard about but haven’t experienced yet:

• Your nipples may leak. Apparently it’s common enough that people who it doesn’t happen to worry they won’t be able to successfully breastfeed. From what I’ve read and heard leaking while you’re pregnant is no indication of whether or not you’ll be able to successfully breastfeed so no worries. I’m hoping I can get through this pregnancy without any leaking happening or at least till my last month especially because I’ll have to deal with it enough postpartum.
• You may have problems controlling your bladder. For instance-you could pee when you sneeze, laugh too much or cough. Why do we need to worry about leaking all sorts of bodily fluids while we’re pregnant? Oh and this may continue even after you have the baby. I really need to start doing my kegels, carrying a change of clothes in case I pee is not glamorous.

-And the good stuff:

• No one ever told me how amazing it is to feel him kicking and moving in there. It is the most reassuring thing ever. I can’t even put it into words.
• Hearing the heartbeat is pretty amazing too.
• So is seeing the baby. And seeing your husband’s reaction to finding out the gender? Adorable/amazing. And since that ultrasound (anatomy scan), Ryan has been more participatory in the pregnancy and he’s also talked about the baby a lot more than before. ❤
• You created and are nurturing a life. That’s right, you. And there’s a life inside you, growing by the day.
• And when that baby comes, you’ll forget all the bad/less glamorous parts (so I hear, we’ll see 🙂 )