The Joys of Pregnancy

As much as I love my daughter, my pregnancy with her was anything but glorious. I know so many people who are pregnant right now, and I feel obligated to write a post on this very topic. Not to scare them, but to reveal the REAL deal so to speak, during pregnancy! It’s not all smiles during pregnancy, it’s hard on your body and it’s hard on your emotions. I’ll give a short list of the wonderful side effects of pregnancy (according to me of course), and in no particular order, here they are…

Weight Gain:

Yes, it’s true, you will gain weight, and lots of it! As the months go by, you will barely recognize yourself. Your cute little belly button will become flush with the rest of your tummy before you know it and you will forget what it’s like to actually have a waistline!

Tears:

You will cry, well at least I did. It seemed as if the tiniest little thing could set me off. I was like a human ticking time bomb, ready to explode! I could literally look in the mirror and break down in a fit of tears.

Heartburn:

I had some serious heartburn, and chewed Tums like they were candy for the first half of my pregnancy. I eventually found the magic cure of Raw Organic Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar to stop the burning and it worked like a charm!

Cravings:

Be prepared to eat yourself silly. What didn’t I crave? Hmmm….I was totally obsessed with fruit during my pregnancy, I would knock out a whole watermelon like nothing flat, slice an entire pineapple or eat a pile of mangos. I also had this obsession with Wheat Thins and chocolate shakes, and I don’t even like chocolate ice cream! Crazy, huh?

Nesting:

I don’t know if the word nesting, quite does this particular activity justice. I was borderline obsessive compulsive with organizing cabinets, rearranging furniture and cleaning every crack and crevice I could find (30 times over)! Needless to say, I nested alright, but it was just flat out scary!

Envy:

You will realize, that you now seem to hate all women who are not pregnant, when you feel like a stuffed turkey on Thanksgiving! I remember breaking down in tears after seeing a gorgeous skinny woman walk past me all decked out in a stylish outfit, I just felt so…well…jealous!

Bladder Issues:

We all know that pregnant women pee a lot. I must have made 50 daily trips to the bathroom. Once I reached the 8th month of my pregnancy, I was absolutely miserable. It’s an awful feeling having to pee every 5 minutes, especially in the middle of the night, when you feel like you are just starting to get comfortable. I don’t miss that feeling at all!

Backaches:

My back was 100% fine until I reached the last month or so of my pregnancy. It was so bad, that I had to make weekly chiropractor trips to get everything realigned. I could barely walk or get up to go the bathroom, and we all know how awful that particular feeling is!

…..and last but not least,

Be prepared for…

…… complete and utter….

Humility:

Once you actually go into labor, you will say and do things that you never thought possible. I swore up and down that I would birth my baby with clothes on (yeah right) and hoped and prayed that nothing gross would happen in front of my husband or midwife. Twenty hours or so into my labor, all that flew out the window and I was butt naked cursing and screaming at everyone. I have since apologized profusely to my dear husband and midwife for acting so out of line, but they thankfully cut me a little slack…well deserved of course!

Pregnancy is not easy, labor is not easy, but the end result is definitely worth it. I am not one of those people that LOVED every second of my pregnancy. I can admit that most of the time I was miserable, bitchy or just plain hungry. All three of which are not fun to go through.

The end result however, was worth every tear, backache or heartburn attack. I have my baby now, and I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat!