Despite being a prepper and a planner of the HIGHEST order, I never bothered to read, “What to Expect When You’re Expecting.” I kind of had this feeling that the book would set me up for total misery…like reading the fine print on an aspirin label. (This product can cause WHAT?!?) So with all of my pregnancies, I have just kind of skated along, asking my doctor and HCP friends questions when I need to, and keeping myself deliberately in the dark when I don’t. Basically, I don’t read past the fruit on the week-by-week pregnancy guides. Ignorance really is bliss, sometimes.
As a result, I have really loved being pregnant. I know this is weird to many, but it just feels good on me for some reason. All three of my full-term pregnancies have been relatively easy and peaceful, save a few bumps and bruises along the way. I love and respect and appreciate my growing and changing body, and have been grateful every single day of the miracle. Even in pregnancy loss, I marveled at my body’s strength and capability and the fact that it knew what to do through the process.
But let’s be honest…it’s certainly not PURE bliss. This time, the first trimester was a little rougher than the others. While I never got physically sick, I was full-time mild-to-moderately nauseated (I always forget the grammar…is it nauseous or nauseated?) for about 11 weeks. It just never went away. I was nauseated in the morning. I was nauseated in the evening. I would wake up in the middle of the night and feel nauseated. Eating would forget the feeling for a brief moment, and then nausea would return. It didn’t stop me from doing anything, but was just vaguely annoying and ALWAYS THERE. After a while, it really did became a comforting reminder that a baby was still growing in there after a season of loss, because when the nausea suddenly and magically disappeared around 12 weeks, I was totally convinced that something was terribly wrong. (It wasn’t.)
I also had the usual first pregnancy fatigue. My fitbit says I slept between 8-9 hours a night during the first tri (a full hour more than normal), and it doesn’t even record naps…of which there were many. Working from home allowed me to sneak away for 30 minutes most days, and I needed it badly. There were naps in the evening, too…I fell asleep putting the girls to bed almost every night. Then I came down and got ready for bed myself around 9…and didn’t wake up until 7:30am.
Outside of these, I’ve tiptoed through some leg cramps and a spotting scare that sent me to Labor and Delivery on a Saturday morning 26 weeks…but otherwise it’s been smooth sailing. I’m loving my humongous pregnancy hair and the gift of amazing skin while it lasts, and there’s something about carrying around a massive baby bump that makes me feel pretty svelte everywhere else. Knowing for certain this is my last time through the merry-go-round, I’m really trying to appreciate the ups AND the downs of the process. Geriatric pregnancy lends itself well to perspective…something I am really, really thankful for.
I want that picture!
Love Dad
Looking good mama! For a second I thought those were the cloud pjs. ??