The Worst Parts of Pregnancy for me
- Weight gain - this goes without saying. Some girls actually don't mind it, saying it was a good excuse to be fat. One of my family members even said, "wow, what I wouldn't give not to have to suck in my stomach!" I can understand both sentiments, but for me, I'll be glad to feel like myself again, but am not looking forward to having to lose a significant amount of weight for the first time in my life. I've always wanted to be in better shape so I'm trying to this of this impending weight loss as an opportunity. Still, I'm sick of maternity clothes, and am not looking forward to my regular clothes still not fitting after I've given birth.
- Loss of Appetite in the first trimester - I thought either you had morning sickness or you didn't. I didn't realize there was in an in-between. I was reading a book that referred to this as "puke purgatory." Couldn't have described it better myself. It's that sensation that you have to puke but just can't. Nothing sounds good but Cherios and Sprite. Things that you normally LOVE make you want to vomit. It's the strangest thing...you'd think mother nature would make you crave nutrients during this time, but that wasn't the case for me. Luckily, my appetite was back to normal around 16 weeks.
- Discomfort of the third trimester - this last trimester has been the most taxing on my body. I don't even think I'm exceptionally big, but I definitely feel like a beached whale half the time...literally...sometimes I'll be watching TV in bed at 8:00 pm some nights and just don't get up again because it's too much effort! It's sad I know. The biggest issue has been night time back aches and joint pain. The body releases hormones that relax the joints in preparation for birth. For me, all my joints have relaxed to the max giving me all kinds of weird aches and and pains. This may be too much information, but here it goes - Lately I've felt like I've been riding a horse or a bike all day long for a week! They say this is the joint relaxing and the increasing pressure of the baby's weight. Not fun. My hips have been sore too. The backaches seems to be caused by gravity...even when I lie on my side with a body pillow, my tummy and the baby still pulls at me giving me terrible period-like cramps.
- Unsolicited Advice for anyone and everyone - this one's a doozie. It's great to have such a wonderful support system, but that doesn't stop loved ones from dolling out the not so welcome advice. Sometimes it's not always even advice, but opinions. Women, especially have opinions on everything and this certainly doesn't exclude parenting, motherhood and pregnancy. For example - last week at work, several women commented that they just couldn't believe I was still working at this point in the pregnancy. When I decided to go out on leave at week 39, some of the same people said, "Really, why?" For some reason women are worse about this than men. I should write a separate poting on all the crazy advice I've been given. Another annoying thing is the need for people to comment on my size. It hasn't been as bad for me as some of my other girl friends, but it's still annoying. The worst is when someone decides your baby is going to be "huge." I've gotten this comment from week 22 on. Not too often, but I've definitley gotten that one. And I want to say, "Based on what, Dr. so and so???" I've gained 25 pounds throughout the pregnancy (right on target, thank you very much!), and I want to know you think I'm having such a large baby!
- Experiencing first hand, the miracle of life - I know it sounds cheesy, but it's truly amazing. Pregnancy and birth is so common, but it's such an amazing miracle. It's hard to experience this without validation that there's something/someone out there so much bigger than me. It's hard to believe I'm making a little human, and that the once bean-sized thing inside me, will be a living, breathing little girl. Everytime I bemoan pregnancy, I try to remind myself of all this. Part of being a woman for me is being a mother...unfortunately other women feel this too and aren't able to have children. I've been blessed, and for all it's aches and pains, I really am grateful to have been able to be pregnant and experience a miracle.
- Bonding with my husband on a whole new level - Knowing that Tim and I have made a little girl that's part me and part him is the craziest, best thing in the world. It's the coolest thing to literally be creating our family. We're joined at the hip anyway, but having this child together has so wonderfully brought our relationship to a new level. The first time Tim could feel her move was something I'll never forget. Seeing him anticipate the arrival of our little girl, had made me fall in love with him all over again.
- Nesting - I have to say, all the showers and shopping for all things pink and purple has been really fun. I've had more fun decorating her room than any other room in my house. It's so freakin scary, but part of why I've loved all the nesting is knowing that I'm responsible for this little person. I'm the parent now. Crazy.
- Anticipation - I actually considered putting this in the negative category, however the anticipation of her arrival really has been neat. The bad part is all the false labor. I haven't talked to anyone who's experience false labor to the extent that I have, which proved every pregnancy truly is unique. My braxton-hicks contractions became more painful and rhythmic around week 37 making me realize all this is about to become reality. The anticipation has been fun to share with my family too....I'm a little worried about being too overwhelmed in the delivery room :-)
I'm a wife, Mom, photographer, daughter, sister, friend. I love good food, weightlifting, Crossfit, and exploring. I love talking about things as serious as faith and purpose and as silly as good TV. This blog is about my attempt to thrive in our world.
1 comment
Heather, you will be a fabulous Mommy! I'm praying for you and Tim. Let me know if there is ANYTHING I can do.
Post a Comment