“I wish someone had told me” – The pregnancy edition – Mummascribbles
I wrote the parenting edition of this post a few weeks ago now and it went down an absolute treat – even my Mum text to tell me how much she’d enjoyed reading it!
And so here I am, back with the next instalment, which probably should have been the first topic wise – but at the time I didn’t know I was going to make it into a series!
So, pregnancy. That age old thing that we are all supposed to love and adore. And for the most part – I did. In fact, I had two very easy pregnancies and I really did love being pregnant. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat, although with me approaching the tender age of 37 later this year, I’m not sure any subsequent pregnancies would be easier if they did happen!
Even though I did love being pregnant and didn’t have too rough a deal, there were things that I wish I had been told. Like how a breech pregnancy basically means the constant feeling like there isn’t enough space for your ribs to live inside your body (I often felt like they were in my throat), and that it would actually be more comfortable to stand on a train rather than sit, because the chairs have no leeway and you spend the whole time feeling your belly being squashed between your chest and your legs!
The biggest one for me though, was about how it would feel getting out of a swimming pool!
I won’t lie – I probably felt my most sexy when I was pregnant. I didn’t really put on weight anywhere other than my bump (it was a boy so it was all out front as gender guessing myths will tell you), and I just felt pretty glam. So when we were on holiday in Turkey when I was almost six months pregnant, I felt pretty scrumptious wandering around in my tankini and proudly glowing over my bump (and from the sweat of 37 degree heat). I remember getting into the pool that first time, having a swim, cooling off and chilling out. And then I tried to get out. And I immediately felt like a hippopotamus! The weight of me trying to get out of the water was huge and I had to hoist myself up with force in order to fully get out of the pool. It was a proper mission.
Of course the next time it was easier, but I had not been prepared for feeling so utterly inelegant!
I do also wish someone had told me that in water you are extra buoyant. I put off swimming in the gorgeous sea for ages and it turned out I would literally just float around like starfish!
Just like the previous edition of this post, I took to my blogging community to find out what they wished they’d have been told about pregnancy!
That it’s hard work. I honestly didn’t realise how tough it could be. I was worried about the labour and the looking after a new baby, but I found the pregnancy the hardest bit.
Meme and Harri
Where I could buy smart maternity clothes. I really struggled to find affordable clothes for work. Why are maternity clothes sooo expensive?!
Life, Love and Dirty Dishes
How exhausting the first trimester is. Everyone associates the big bump and sore back in the final trimester with complete exhaustion, but nobody mentions the early days. They were by far the hardest for me, especially with the sickness. And worst of all you can’t even complain because most people won’t know about the pregnancy at that point!
Mama Mighty Bear
That every time you sneeze you will probably pee yourself a little too!
Imperfect Mummy
That my lady parts feel like they don’t belong to me!! The pressure and discomfort towards the end is so odd!
Run Jump Scrap
That when everyone tells you to “sleep while you can”, you can’t, because every position is so uncomfortable near the end. I got more sleep with newborn twins than I did in the last month of my pregnancy.
Becca Blogs It Out
That maternity leggings would be the comfiest clothing I’d ever own. Even post pregnancy! Wish I’d worn them sooner!
Married Meeples
That if you are sick to the point of not holding anything down then you need to see the doctors as it isn’t just normal morning sickness.
Just Average Jen
That the term ‘morning sickness’ is inaccurate (translation: the biggest lie ever). In my case, 4 straight months of living hell, with every waking minute (well, the nights too as I spent most of them being woken up by fits of nausea and rushing to the bathroom) dominated by vomiting. Nobody tells you it can literally drive you out of your mind. Every. Single. Pregnancy. (I had 3!)
Absolutely Prabulous
To keep doing your pelvic floor exercises and continue doing them after birth or you will be having to cross your legs to laugh, cough, sneeze forever!
New Mum Fun
That heartburn sucks and nothing you seem to do can get rid of it. I used to have it for hours. Plus baby hiccups are strange when they’re still inside you.
Cups of Charlotte
That your hormones will go into overdrive and you will want to murder someone just for asking a simple question!!
Big Family, Organised Chaos
That an abnormal itch isn’t normal! And problems can occur during pregnancy. I had obstetric cholestasis in all three of my pregnancies, which is a liver disorder in pregnancy.
Life As Mum
That your feet can swell so much that only flip flops are comfy even in winter and it’s snowing.
Also that your feet size can change after pregnancy and all your lovely heels won’t fit ever again. (I went from a 5 to a size 6).
This Mummy Always Write
That you will end up craving foods you don’t even like! I never drank coke or pop before as I didn’t like it, but that’s all I could drink during my second pregnancy!
Mummy’s Diary
That simple things like getting out of bed and up off the sofa can be ridiculously challenging when you’re the size of an elephant!
Mama in Progress
Not to listen when midwife said you were bound to be early! James was 8 days late!
Victoria Hockley
That no pregnancy is the same and just because one goes smoothly, another could be completely different!
Emma Reed
I wish someone had told me I’d wake up hungry in the middle of the night due to blood sugar dropping more than when you’re not pregnant. Once I’d figured this out I used to have a small bowl of cereal or banana before bed and that helped.
This Is Me Now
That there are all kinds of exciting symptoms you can get if you’re really lucky, such as ‘Lightning Crotch’ commonly known as ‘Fanny Daggers’! And that it’s possible to waddle around for three weeks with a head fully engaged and cervix 2cm dilated!
Dirt, Diggers and Dinosaurs
That the minute you see that pregnancy test you change completely as a person!
Anklebiters Adventures
That morning sickness can last for more than the first trimester!
Wandermust Family
That I would need to do a 3 point turn in bed just to roll over and that I shouldn’t buy any shoes requiring you to tie laces. In fact I should have just lived in flip flops. Get rid of socks all together because you’ll never be able to put them on!
The Family Ticket
How boring a glucose test is!
My Family of Roses
How horrific piles are and that they don’t always go away!
Rock and Roll Pussycat
That when the midwife says take it easy when you’re 40 weeks pregnant and your blood pressure is increasing, that it is serious and not just a pat on the head! Pre-eclampsia and a crash section later, I know now that gutting the garage on my due date was not a good idea!
Mummy From The Heart
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