Thoughts on Pregnancy

So I was online today, innocently looking at Pinterest finds. One of the themes that I was looking at {so innocently} was pregnancy humor. Now, I'm not currently pregnant {the 9 month old is teething and wants to be mobile}, but a lot of people I know are pregnant, and this time last year I was quite happily 6-7 months pregnant. Anyway, one of the things I've noticed about all these pregnancy posts and such that are so fun to look at is that they're not all necessarily true. And they're very complainy with a negative undertone.

Let me break it down for you. The first trimester usually does suck; but from what the things I've read say, you'd think these people were gonna die or kill someone at the slightest whim. When I was pregnant, the first two-ish months were wonderful {even with the mild cramping and very painful hip pain}, then I got food poisoning and spent about three months throwing up and feeling awful. I hated chicken when just a week ago it was all I was craving, and I kept having period dreams because my body couldn't figure out why it was taking my period so long to show up. It gave up around the fifth month but that's not the point. I was happy to be pregnant, even when I was throwing up. Granted, I did temporarily wonder if I should rethink my plan to have six babies, and had a mild panic attack at the thought of having a boy first {what do I do with a boy?}, but I pulled through. My husband was awesome; he fixed me whatever food we had/could afford/would satisfy me and promised to make it up to me later on when I was craving something we didn't have. He did make it up to me. He cleaned up after me when I was sick, took over the majority of the housework and various chores {which worn him down but he did it anyway}, and he'd cuddle with me, feeling bad that I felt bad. He was a real comfort and a huge help to me. My Dad and sister really pitched in too after I got food poisoning; they fixed the stove for us and my sister cooked my meals for me for a couple weeks while my husband worked. While she kept me company and became my official nutrition expert, my husband could work without worrying about me.

By the time the second trimester rolls around, things get a little more fun. You're generally not throwing up, the baby is moving around a lot and you can shop for baby stuff! Most of the stuff I read skimmed over this part because it's generally the fun part of being pregnant. Unless you're someone like me. I had the nesting instinct in the second trimester and cleaned everything like crazy {which was fun till the work caught up to me and left me pretty tired}. We also had a lot of stress trying to find a doctor/midwife/anyone who would accept our state insurance and help us out. We did finally find a really great place and settled {with mixed emotions} on a hospital birth in the neighboring county. But none of these were really that big of a deal to me. The biggest thing was that I didn't look pregnant. When I was seven months, I looked barely five and when I was overdue, I looked seven months. Yay for me, I know. I was the envy of all pregnant women. But the thing is, I've never dieted, never really worn makeup and never cared how I looked. But when I got pregnant, I really wanted to look pregnant. I was excited about it {first time and all}, and I was a little bummed that I wasn't looking as big as I thought I should. I fit into most of my pre-pregnancy clothes up till the eighth month, so I saved money and closet space on that. And then, when we found prenatal care, everyone kept telling me to eat more, put on more weight, eat more, etc. And asked me if I was anemic more than once. I started the pregnancy not liking to eat; I loved food but hated eating it. So by the time the second trimester was halfway done, I had finally reached a point where I was comfortably eating and felt good, only to be told that I should be stuffing my face constantly and really packing on the pounds. I only gained a total of 20-25 pounds throughout the pregnancy and am eight pounds heavier than I was pre-pregnancy. I'm totally cool with it. I don't know why other women spend so much time and energy complaining and worrying about dieting and getting back into shape after pregnancy.

And then, after the second trimester comes the third one. Some of the complaints at this point are legit and some are terribly exaggerated. You do develop a waddle {I didn't have one till nine months along so I exaggerated my walk sometimes - to my husband's amusement, hmm.....}, everything does start hurting a lot {I couldn't lift my left foot off the ground an inch without extreme sharp pain shooting through my thigh and groin area}, it's hard to breathe/sleep comfortably/get dressed/get in and out of the car/ and just about everything else. You do pee a lot, and eating is tricky because you're always hungry but fill up too fast. So sad. But even with all the nesting, eating and pain going on, I had so much fun! I had a baby bump finally, I was spending the holidays pregnant, people were starting to send us baby stuff {most of it clothes which came in so handy}, and I was still pretty mobile. Except at night when I was so tired that everything hurt. Cuddling became tricky because Baby would kick Daddy's arm away if he put it on my belly. My mom had finally decided that this was a good thing and bought us tons of baby stuff. It's usually at this point that women start complaining about stretch marks {mine all came in faintly at really weird places and now I just look at them and go, "Ooooh, stretch marks!" while my husband laughs at me}, ninja babies {I get that one, I really do}, and nesting instinct verses wanting to sleep all the time. A lot is exaggerated though. I just wish somebody had told me that there would be a mild return of morning sickness in the last two months. *frown*

And then comes the fourth trimester after birth. The birth varies from person to person; mine was text book nice {other people said that, not me} but I hated the idiot doctor who attended me and I wanted to kick the nurse at one point, but my doula was in the way and I couldn't figure out how to move my legs in the right direction. There is a lot of aches and pains after the birth, though I like to think I had a handle on it since it was so much nicer than the unbearable ache and sharp shooting pains I'd had in my thighs and groin for months. I could lift my feet again! It was messy and I missed the nice hospital bed once we went home, but the real challenge was learning to breastfeed, convincing myself that it was okay to hold the baby {she was so tiny!} and figuring out how to sleep again. I wanted to sleep on my left side a lot since I had an episiotomy but baby liked the right side better. Once again, my biggest hero was my husband. He patiently waited on me, helped me and Baby figure out how to nurse {it's over 9 months and we're still going strong!}, made me food, stayed home from work for two weeks, managed visitors and did housework. He even carried me to the front door when we got home from Baby's first appointment four days after giving birth and I had overdone it, having been out and about so soon. My sister was another huge help; she raced down to visit us and meet her new niece the day we got home from the hospital. It made me feel so happy I almost cried. Our doula helped a lot too with the breastfeeding and trying to get Baby to sleep. They got me through the first few weeks and if they hadn't been there, I don't know what I'd have done.

The point I'm trying to make in this long-winded random post is that a lot of stuff related to pregnancies is pure exaggeration. Not every pregnancy is alike, but most are better than what you read about. Husbands may get all the flack for getting the wife pregnant, but when you have a real treasure like mine {and actually wanted the baby}, you should never take them for granted. Sisters are the best! Diets are stupid, weight gain/loss should be based on your own natural body type, metabolism, and genetics. Some gain a lot, some hardly any and then you have me who loses weight over Thanksgiving {because we were moving and didn't have any money for food}. Just relax and enjoy your pregnancy. I did and I can't wait to do it again {though not for at least another year}.