Hi there readers, well it has been a few weeks since my last post and I am totally blaming pregnancy. By the way if you are new here, this is my third and final pregnancy, so today I am going to share with you some of my “Pregnancy Truths”.
As a 36 year old mother of an almost 3 year old boy and a 13 year girl, my days can be pretty exhausting. My son wakes with the sunrise and immediately begins the never-ending list of demands. “I want breakfast, I want Blaze, I want… orange juice, I want, I want,” seriously, it NEVER STOPS! I love him and he really is the sweetest, but there is no such thing as a mellow morning. Oh and if you have a teenage daughter then you already know… they can be mentally and emotionally draining. Wow, I am really talking more about my kids rather than my pregnancy… which brings me to my first “Pregnancy Truth”.
10 of My Pregnancy Truths
1. Pregnancy Brain: I have yet to meet a mama who didn’t not have Pregnancy Brain. If you don’t know what that is basically like a giant brain fart. It can happen frequently and definitely effects your daily productivity. I have probably spent, on average, about an hour a day staring blankly trying to remember what the hell I was doing or where I was going. Forgetting that you were in the process of restocking the bathroom with toilet paper, then while staring into the toilet trying to remember, you realize that you need to clean that toilet and of course “go”… again. Which, by the way, brings me to the next truth…
2. Frequent Urination: Yes, this is a pretty well known truth and it only gets worse the farther along you are in your pregnancy. But this to me, is more than just a quirky little side effect to pregnancy. I feel like my bladder is holding me hostage, just when I think that I have fully emptied my bladder and wipe I “tinkle” more. UGH, this can go on for awhile. Sometimes I don’t even want to leave the house because of the inconvenience of public restrooms. Oh and getting up every 1-2 hours each night to pee is doing wonders for my quality of sleep. Ooh another segue to the next of my truths…
3. Exhaustion: I am not a napper and never have been, I just can’t seem to sleep midday. But with pregnancy and lack of uninterrupted REM sleep, I tend to be exhausted ALL DAY LONG! With my last pregnancy, this wasn’t a huge problem. I had my days to myself while my daughter was at school. Now, however like I said earlier, I have a three year old that starts each day with a list of demands. Naps are a major part of my life now and have to take advantage of every opportunity. Or drink coffee… don’t judge… we do what we gotta to get through each day.
4. Gas/Nausea: Yup, that’s right gas and lots of it! Coming from both ends… I feel like half of my baby “bump is just gas. My husband leaving early in the morning has helped save some of my self-esteem. If he was home every morning to witness my “Mighty Wind” I would be mortified. Oh and EVERYTHING makes me “vurpy”… salads, fruit, bagels even water! Which leads me to number five…
5. Heartburn: Zantac is my friend, I am typically not a person that relies on medicine. I rarely take even take aspirin or anything similar for a headache. But, I wouldn’t be able to make it through the day without my antacid. The OB recommended it earlier on and laughed and said “you don’t want to miss a dose, you’ll regret it.” Oh yeah, she was right I woke up mid night SPITTING FIRE, it was the worst, and I haven’t skipped a dose since.
6. Back pain: I already have a bad back, and back pain has been part of my life always due to a spinal defect. But with pregnancy lower back pain is just another one of those expected side effects. I would love to spend an hour in a nice hot bath, but unfortunately that is a pregnancy no-no. My recommendation… get your significant other to give you a nice lower back rub, it’s the least they could do right?!
7. Hemorrhoids: Hemorrhoids are my personal enemy and are literally a pain in my ass. I was “blessed” with my first hemorrhoid at the end of my first pregnancy and have been plagued by them since. These little “f*@ckers” can make sitting unbearable and even standing unpleasant too. They can and most likely will, make recovery from childbirth worse than childbirth itself. Fortunately there are things that you can do to help ease the pain. Frozen menstrual pads, Tucks wipes, and Earth Mama Organics Bottom Spray to the rescue!
8. Breast and nipple pain: Have you ever hit your elbow ever so slightly and it sent a lightening bolt of pain through your arm? Well, the breast pain associated with pregnancy can feel almost exactly the same. I have had, what was meant to be a loving hug from my son, turn into me scaring the sh*t out of him with a painful banshee sounding yelp. Fear not, extra padding in the bra and nipple butter can help.
9. Exaggerated emotions: Well maybe exaggerated is the wrong word, they are completely normal, but will likely make you look INSANE. Laughing can quickly turn into crying which turns into sobbing, then back to laugh/crying. I have had emotional outbursts that I have immediately apologize for. It is probably the hardest pregnancy “side effect” for me and haven’t found a great solution for this. Rest is supposed to help, but for me, avoiding people on my more emotional days has been my go to. As for the people that I can’t avoid (kids and husband), apologizing and explaining what is going on inside my body is about all that I can do.
10. Indescribable love: So, pregnancy typically results in a baby… or more than one baby. In a traditional pregnancy (not surrogacy or adopting out, that is something I personally have not experienced so I can pretend to know that feeling) no one can really describe to you the love you feel for this tiny human that you have been growing. I am sure it is very much the same feeling for adopting parents, but as I have not experienced it first hand I cannot describe it. It was absolute love at first sight with both of my children and I would do anything and everything to protect them.
So ladies…
If you are feeling any, if not all, of these truths just know that you are not alone. If you are one of those lucky pregnant women who only gets the positive side effects, you my friend are a unicorn in pregnancy. I’m not jealous one bit (she says sarcastically).
What is something that you didn’t expect to experience during pregnancy? I would love to hear about it in the comments section below…
As always, thanks for reading!
April aka ZonaMom
