My Pregnancy Experience

As many of you know I am pregnant, officially 7 months as of Wednesday.
Here is my little man below:
My entire life I have heard so many horror stories about being pregnant (mainly from my Mom) and I wanted to set the record straight, at least from my pregnancy point of view.
I have been lucky enough to have a pretty easy pregnancy. I went into the pregnancy being a very healthy person. I work out regularly, watch what I eat, do not have any known medical conditions (high BP, high cholesterol, diabetes, etc), and maintain a very healthy weight. My experience with pregnancy is probably very different from most women, but I really feel going into the pregnancy being as healthy as possible has helped it be an easy process for me. So in giving that background, I decided to hit on a couple complaints that are commonly heard throughout pregnancy and the truth about what I really experienced.

morning sickness
Never had it! That's right, I am one of the lucky women out there that had zero morning sickness. My mom had it horribly so I figured that when my turn came along I would be much the same, but to my surprise I wasn't! No foods in particularly have made me sick. I did have one night of sickness, but I am chalking that up the frozen meal we prepared. It just didn't smell right to me and the stomach pains were definitely associated with food poisoning. Other than that, the only nausea I felt is when I would let myself get hungry. When I wasn't pregnant and use to get hungry I would get that shaky, low sugar feeling. When I became pregnant it more turned into a "I might get sick" feeling and then I would eat something and it would go away.

sleepy-time girl
Oh yes, had this one. It mainly hit me in the first trimester, which I think is normal. I was so tired all the time. This started happening right at the beginning and I found out I was pregnant pretty early on. The exhaustion continued until about my 15th week and then all of sudden I felt like all of my missing energy had returned. However, as I have gotten further along, sleeping has become more difficult at night. I am woken up periodically with kicks and it can be a little distracting. Plus, sleeping has become somewhat uncomfortable. You are suppose to try to sleep on your side to maintain blood flow and it becomes a little uncomfortable to flip side to side at night. At times I feel like I have to pick my stomach up and move it over. My energy level is still pretty high though, despite some interrupted sleep. I have finished up the kitchen, painted the front door, almost finished painting the nursery and many more things around the house. Of course, all of this could be chalked up to nesting.

food cravings
I was just getting ready to type that I haven't experienced this, but after a little thought...maybe I have. One day after working on the kitchen remodel I had this idea that an M&M blizzard sounded really good! I piled in my car with Gizmo and sat in line for 20 minutes at Dairy Queen. Normally I would have been pretty mad to have to sit in line for 20 minutes for ice cream, but when I got up to the window they gave me a BOGO card for the next visit due to my long wait. Not to shabby! And I haven't even used the card yet!
I have been eating an obscene amount of cereal. I never use to eat cereal, I was always an oatmeal type of girl. Now I find that when my hubby works evenings and I am alone for dinner, cereal has been my default supper. This last week I brought a gallon of milk to work and two boxes of cereal and I have almost finished both of them. I guess I can say that I have been craving cereal, which it could be worse.
We also have been eating fast food WAY too much since I have become pregnant. I don't think it's because I have been craving fast food, but more that it's just been too hot to cook at home or I am too tired to cook. Not to mention that having the kitchen under construction hasn't helped out with the cooking at home.

pregnancy brain
This almost started instantly . For those of you out there that have haven't heard of this phenomenon, it's when you become pregnant you begin to forget EVERYTHING! I mean EVERYTHING! I walk into a room and I can't figure out why I wanted to be in that room. At work, I will start doing a task, forget about it and then remember hours later. It has caused some mess ups in my job but everyone there has been pretty good at watching what I am doing and keeping me on task. I have learned to relax a little and not get mad at myself when I forget something. I set the timer more on my phone and write lots of notes!

mood swings
I think no matter what, mood swings are bound to happen with pregnancy. There are so many hormones racing through your body and everything is changing so fast. Plus with the onset of pregnancy brain, irritation is at an all high level. I have tried to keep my mood swings under wraps, but I know I have had some bad days. It's hard to always keep a happy mood when you excessively tired, always hungry, not sleeping, growing out of your clothes, gaining weight, and then thinking about how your life will change forever! You just take your mood one step at a time and try to laugh off your occasional blow ups you might have.

clumsiness
Ouch! As I type this section I smack my knee on the desk drawer! Last night when getting up to use the bathroom I walked into the door, stubbed my toe, hit the toilet paper holder, and almost fell face first into the toilet! I found that toilet paper holder half way across the bathroom. How did it fly so far? With the changing size of my body I have found that I trip over things, walk into walls, and lose my balance all the time. It's very difficult to keep you center gravity when you have this huge belly protruding out. The most noticeable time I can feel my clumsiness is during yoga class. I use to be one of the best! My balance was superb and I could do the tree pose so much longer then most of the class. Alas though, my balance has suffered. I still attend yoga because I really believe that without it I would be ten times clumsier and it's great exercise while pregnant.

running to the restroom
Due to my history of bladder and kidney issues, I have conditioned myself to always be a frequent "goer" to prevent future infections. Ask my friends who hiked the Great Wall of China with me. I was the only girl and when I had to "go" all the time it really slowed them down! When I found out I was pregnant I was like "Great! How much more is going to happen?" To my surprise, I don't seem to go more then I did before. I mean I still have to head off frequently and get up in the middle of the night, but I did that before. I have a feeling though, as I get much larger in these next 12 weeks that my story might change.

getting curves
J.Lo watch out because you have some competition! Well, maybe not quite yet. I have gained about 27 pounds now and I can tell it has hit in all the right areas. Most of the weight gain, other then the my belly, has taken place on the top. I am sure it's nature's plan to prepare me for the fun time of breast feeding. Most women get excited about this part, but I am really not a fan. I liked not having anything up there. Now there is just more that gets in the way. I have gained some weight around my hips and in my face and I am hoping this will all fall off once the baby is born. For those of you who see me regularly, you can probably see all the weight gain from the picture below.

nesting
And the last phenomenon of pregnancy, nesting! Oh yes, this has kicked in full steam! I keep thinking of all the tasks we need to accomplish before our baby arrives. I have been working almost everyday on the walls of the nursery. Last night I applied the second coat of paint and now all I need to do is to hang the chair rail back up. I keep thinking of all the closets, desks, dressers, and cupboards I need to organize before the baby is here. It seems as I type this the list is getting longer and longer. I think phenomenon is very common in the last weeks of pregnancy because reality sets in that once the baby is here, doing this stuff will probably be quite impossible. Good thing that I feel great right now because if I didn't I don't know how all of this would get accomplished.

Well, that is the end of my pregnancy experience. I always tell people that I love being pregnant. I get to eat what I want and people love it when you get fatter! In all seriousness though, I do like being pregnant. I like the big belly, the baby movements, and the excitement you experience through this time. I just keep hoping that my next pregnancy will be as easy as this one!

~Beth