I haven't taken a belly shot in a while. This was taken about 2 months ago!There are many great things about being pregnant. It is a condition that not everyone experiences, in other words it is a priviledge, and it's exciting to know that a human being is being formed inside you. People treat you extra kindly and the anticipation and excitement is almost more than you can handle sometimes. But, pregnancy, at least for me, is definitely not fun. And while this pregnancy has probably been my easiest thus far, there are still little things that I look forward to being done with in a couple of months. Such as:
*Snagging your belly-button on stuff. When your bb pops out like a turkey timer, you sometimes forget your proportions, so you'll be walking past a doorjam or chair and...YIKES! The shirt offers little protection to the poor tortured belly button!
*Leg cramps in the night. I have gotten these with every single pregnancy and they are awful. All of a sudden you are jolted out of a rock-hard sleep by a cramp that will not go away no matter how much you jog around the living room in the dark, or flex and stretch and rub and squeeze your muscles. I have had them last for up to a half hour and they are excruciating! Yes, I recently bought lots of calcium to take, and this is supposed to help prevent them. Mine can be so bad at times that desperate prayer is the only balm to make them go away. I have been known to take a hot bath in the middle of the night for relief too!
*Bending over a watermelon! I stole this phrase from my friend Lesley. One day I was trying to bend over in the car and pick up coupons off the floor and it was an impossible task! Sweeping and mopping are very challenging at the end of the pregnancy too. I'm glad Jer can follow directions and stand up when you tell him to because bending down to get him out of the baby bathtub is a killer!
*Bone-Numbing Fatigue also known as Moving-in-Slow-Motion. When I'm pregnant, life still goes on and I still have to carry out my daily chores and take care of my kids, but your body just always feels like it's about to drop dead and no matter how many hours you sleep at night you still wake up feeling like a truck ran over you. I guess building a human being is the toughest work there is!
*Having to go potty often and having no bladder control when you sneeze, cough, or laugh hard. I'm thankful I'm not getting up to go potty in the night yet, but I remember what it's like to have to get up about every hour when you're about 9 months pregnant! It's good prep for having a newborn! There is nothing like trying to explain to your 3 year old why Mommy wet her pants when she sneezed! Ali later told her Grammy that the baby pushed down and wet my pants for me!
*Functioning with half a brain. I am about the spaciest person alive when I'm pregnant. I'm really getting sick of living with half a brain! I'll forget to return movies or library books, thus incurring late fees, when I've reminded myself a hundred times that day to do it. I've double and triple-scheduled myself for things more times than I can count..."Oh, sure I can do a playdate on Friday...I have nothing planned!" Oops! My hubby is normally the ultra-forgetful one in our family but he looks at me with deep pity and says, "Wow, I don't look forgetful at all next to you when you're pregnant!"
*Feeling like your body is going to fall apart. I'm at the stage where all my pelvic bones are loosening up and popping so I waddle when I walk and have a sore tailbone and it's uncomfortable to roll over in bed and hard to find a comfy sitting position anywhere. At least I don't have pubic bone dysplacia YET this pregnancy (and hope I don't get it, as it's not fun! It feels like someone kicked you very hard in the crotch and lasts for several weeks leading up to the birth.)
*Ill-fitting maternity clothing. Just ask my friends and they'll tell you I wear my denim maternity skirt every day with one of about 3 different tops. There's a reason for this. Whoever decided that low-rise maternity capris were a good idea? All it means is that you constantly are jerking your pants up and feeling like they are falling off and if you bend over you end up showing a plumber's crack the size of Texas! Most of the shirts ride too high at the hem-line, exposing the pouch on your skirt or pants, and have plunging necklines that you are constantly jerking up. Since your body is constantly changing, the clothes that looked adorable last month look goofy this month! It's just not easy to find cute and comfy clothing when you are pregnant!
In spite of these temporary discomforts, I am so glad to be blessed with an opportunity to have another little child, who is a gift from God. He will be worth any and all the unpleasant aspects of bringing him into the world!
What are your least-favorite parts of pregnancy?
Oh my, I could go on and on but basically the least favorite parts of pregnancy are all the ones you mentioned except that unfortunately I am already dealing with the pubic bone dysplacia and have been for awhile. It's not every day and maybe not as bad yet as it was with Kayley but I get serious pain when walking and rolling over in bed is torture.
ReplyDeleteWhen I rolled over the other night, my pelvis popped so loud and painfully, I almost yelled out loud. I don't know if I'm just huger than ever this time or if I just forgot how uncomfy I was last time but I've been slightly miserable since about 5 months!
Bending over the watermelon is definitely one of the worst things for me since I'm still having to give the girls baths and have to bend to wash hair and it's also really difficult to work in my garden and bend down and weed.
Lately, little Christian feels like he's in all sorts of strange positions and I feel him slamming into my hip bones.
Anyway, sorry to ramble on but I feel your pain and thanks for not being afraid to admit that pregnancy isn't always as easy as some people have it! I can't wait until I'm done, although I'm scared of that too because then the sleep deprivation will set in. Ahhhhh!
ugh - the all day morning sickness
ReplyDeletethat lasts 1/2 way through the pregancy.
that's my answer today ~ in 3 months - I expect I'd have a different answer for ya :-)
what do you mean you aren't waking up at night to pee?? I wake up the entire 9 months!! often more than once a night. I do have a very small bladder, though...
won't be long till you're holding your sweetie ~ yummm!
I'd have to agree with the maternity clothes that don't fit. I would be walking to my car with my hands full, either with grocery bags, or Madison, diaper bag, etc. and all of a sudden my pants were nearly down to my ankles. How embarrassing, and frustrating! Finally, I had to buy suspenders!
ReplyDeleteI have only had one pregnancy so far, but I'm hoping for another soon! For me, the worst part was pre-term labor requiring magnesium sulfate! I'm glad they stopped the labor, but it nearly did me in in the process. I *do not* want to go through that again. I'm praying that will not happen next time. I am very grateful, though, to have had a full-term healthy baby.
ReplyDeleteI had morning-noon-and-night sickness, but it mercifully ended at 12 weeks.
I,too, woke up at night the whole 9 months. But I also have a bladder the size of a white-acre pea. I can always go!
I'm kind of scared of the challenges that a pregnancy while having a little one already will bring!
I had horrible pelvic pain from about my fourth month on. I saw a chiropracter regularly during my pregnancy, which helped tremendously, but I have suffered from an unstable low back for most of this past year postpartum. I also had this burning pain along the border of my ribs near the center of my chest.
ReplyDeleteDuring my seventh month, I had a hard time with eating because there was no room for much food at all. I would eat to0 much and then get a stomachache! Thankfully, my daughter started dropping around 33-34 weeks, and I started getting some relief.
Other than that, I really had a great pregnancy. No sickness or any other major issues. I wouldn't go so far to say that I LOVE being pregnant, but I really don't mind. I'm hoping to get pregnant again sometime soon.
I also wanted to mention- while calcium is important, a shortage in potassium is usually what causes leg cramps (both during pregnancy and not). Try to eat at least one banana a day. I usually had two and sometimes three a day while I was pregnant. Especially early on, bananas were one food that helped stem any nausea I might be feeling, and I always had an appetite for one!
Let's not forget heartburn. It's flaring up for me right now and I am dreading the minty chalky tums in the med cabinet.
ReplyDeleteThe all day sickness lasting until 16 weeks.
But what takes the cake for me right now is the prego brain. My dh acknowledges that I am missing something, but apparently, I am supposed to just "get my act together," as he doesn't accept it as a reason this or that doesn't get done.Sigh.
I, too, had leg cramps during my first pregnancy. A friend suggested standing on a cold, tile floor (specific, I know). I told her that was a great idea if I had been able to walk during the cramps:)
ReplyDeleteSomeone else told me to eat one banana before going to bed and guess what, IT WORKED! I really regretted the nights when I forgot to eat one:) It has something to do with lack of Potassium.
Oh my goodness, the leg cramps!! I am 37 weeks today, and the leg cramps have been plaguing me for months. I laughed so hard reading your description of them. I tend to wake in the middle of the night with them and throw my cramping leg onto my husband who (now) immediately wakes up and rubs my leg. It doesn't make the cramp go away, but makes it a little more bearable somehow. Lately though, I constantly feel like my right leg is on the verge of cramping up... all day long sometimes, but especially during the night. Sometimes it's even painful to put weight on that leg. Definitely something I won't miss here in a few weeks! It's almost time for my little one to arrive!!
ReplyDeletecute shirt! :)
ReplyDelete