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Tuesday, June 18, 2013

pregnancy has taught me...

Oh, the joys of pregnancy. Some of them are exciting and fun, others are painful or irritating, but they all lead to one thing and that is the joy of bringing a baby into this world. Sure, I've got about 15-16 weeks to go until that happens, but I've already learned so much about the preggo life.

What have I learned exactly? Well let's see...

1. It's ok to say no - It took me a while to realize this. Our week nights are typically packed with going to dinner with other couples or volunteering with church events. I love all of those things, but some most nights I am just too tired. After a full work day, nothing sounds better than just relaxing at home and getting some rest. My body gets tired much easier now than before and I've finally become ok with saying no and staying home!

2. I never knew I could have such a high heart rate while standing still! Whew! A pounding heart and shortness of breath, what's not to love?! I can't tell you how many times a day I tell Will that I can't breathe. For a while I'm pretty sure he thought I was crazy because I would just be standing in the kitchen when I said it or lying in bed. It's definitely been something to get used to!

3. Leg cramps are not your friend. I remember at the beginning of the pregnancy I heard/read several things about leg cramps during pregnancy. I didn't really think anything of it until the last few weeks. Ouch! A majority of my night in bed is spent either trying not to move at all or moving at a snail's pace when changing positions in order to not make my calf tighten up.

4. If you really want to make your husband (and anyone around you) think you're cray cray, cry about anything and everything. It works, I promise. Pregnancy hormones are just one of the things I seem to not have any control over. Really, I've cried about accidentally scratching my husband, Taco Bell, and Subaru commercials. Wow.

5. Want to play a game? Try mixing a full bladder with an active/kicking baby and see how long you can hold it. Really, try it. I remember the first time I felt Baby K actually kick my bladder. I thought I was going to lose it. Literally.

6. On the topic of bladders, I've grown very accustomed to frequenting any and every bathroom. Before becoming pregnant, my husband used to say I have an "iron bladder" because, well, you get the picture. But now, I'm considering moving my desk at work into the bathroom permanently with as much as I'm in there.

7. The baby bump is a hand magnet. So far, I haven't had any strangers come up and touch my belly, but I've still got 16 weeks to go and a lot more growing to do. With that being said, I haven't minded people touching my belly at all (because they haven't been strangers). I love my baby and my bump so I'm happy to let people rub the buddha belly. We'll see if I still feel the same way once 40 weeks gets closer.

8. Maternity clothes are the best and worst thing that has ever happened to me. I drug my feet for so long to buy maternity pants which was the worst decision I've made. Maternity pants are awesome. End of story. On the other hand, why are maternity clothes so expensive?! It's frustrating to basically have to buy a whole new wardrobe once the bump starts growing. I've already told my husband that the next time we have a baby we need to try to make it so that I'm pregnant for at least part of the Summer since I already have Summer maternity clothes. I wouldn't want to buy a Winter wardrobe too!

9. People are opinionated. Everyone has their own idea of what they think is best for your baby. Sure, I may be begging for advice/help later, but this is my opinion for now. The major thing we've heard many opinions on is the fact that we've chosen to cloth diaper our baby. I've heard everything from "that's disgusting," "you'll never last," "why on earth would you want to do that?," and "cloth diapers are too expensive." I'm not going state my arguments now, but our decision is our decision. If we give up on cloth diapering later, then I give you permission to say a big ol' "I told ya so!"

10. You're hungry when you're hungry and you're hungry when you're not. Huh? Maybe it's just me, but even when I don't feel hungry and nothing sounds good, I could eat for two. This really just applies to second trimester because during the first I didn't feel like eating much of anything. I ate so much food the other day and felt SO FULL, but by about 30 minutes later I was searching for more food (cookies) in our pantry.

11. I've got the nose of a bloodhound. Will has mentioned that he doesn't much care for my pregnancy nose because I can smell everything.

12. Pregnancy brain is real. I find myself forgetting what I was doing and talking about all the time now. I forget words and lose my train of thought. Sometimes I feel like I have short term memory loss. It's weird and annoying and I just hope it goes away after Baby K is here.

13. Veins like to make an appearance during pregnancy. This is one of the less attractive things about being pregnant I think. I've got veins visibly covering my chest and some on my belly. I've managed to stay away from spider veins for now.

14. Nesting is weird. I had never heard of nesting pre-pregnancy. That doesn't mean it hasn't happened to me though. I find myself wanting to clean and organize everything. It's kind of nice being so productive though and I'm embracing it with my second trimester energy!

15. Having a helpful husband can make all the difference. Will has been so helpful during the entire pregnancy...especially during the first trimester when all I wanted to do was sleep. I didn't do laundry for weeks at a time, but there was never a time our laundry got behind because Will was there picking up my slack!

16. You will get a vertical line on your stomach, aka "linea negra." I had no idea I had the preggo line until a few weeks ago when a friend pointed it out to me. I didn't know because I couldn't see the bottom half of my belly!

17. You'll never want to sleep on your back more than when you're pregnant. Once you reach your second trimester it's recommended that you don't sleep on your back because of blood flow issues from your legs to the baby. I have never been a back sleeper, but I find myself wanting nothing more than to sleep lying flat now. I'm tired of sleeping on my side!...so are my hips and shoulders!

18. Good sleep becomes a thing of the past. I've always been able to go to sleep fast and to sleep long and hard...until about week 15 of pregnancy. Between the leg cramps, restless legs and my mind thinking about a million "baby" things at once, I don't get much quality sleep these days. By the way, telling your brain to stop thinking about things and go to sleep absolutely does not help.

19. I've got a peach fuzz belly. I don't think anyone would notice this "symptom" unless I pointed it out. My husband didn't even notice. But my belly has developed a coating of "peach fuzz" hair since becoming pregnant. Luckily my hair is blonde so you can't really tell.

20. Feeling your baby kick and flip around makes 1-19 all worth it. Sure there are symptoms that I would choose to do without if I could, but it's all apart of the gift of life and I will take anything that's handed to me for my sweet baby. Sometimes I lose sleep because of his nighttime activities, but it is all worth it. It just makes me that more excited to meet our baby boy.

Was this the longest post ever, or what? I'm sure I could go on and on but I'll spare you.
Up next: what pregnancy has taught my husband (this should be interesting!)

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11 comments:

Heather Leigh_A beautiful ministry said...

Haha love this girl! & can totally relate. I remember my pregnant experience like it was yesterday. I used to cry all the time to my husband about how much I miss my doggie who lived with my parents. My hubby just didn't know what to do. Poor guy ha! It's so hard to believe the little girl I was carrying will be 7 months a week from now. It goes by fast! EEK!! If you have the time, stop by my blog to be apart of our Mommy 5 Link up :) Much love!

Victoria said...

I feel prepared to have a baby after this awesome post! I'm loving your updates! I think my favorite story was the Taco Bell cry story. I even told it to my husband haha! You are going to be a great mother! Keep these posts coming!!

Ali said...

Totally feel you on expensive price tags from maternity stores! RIDIC!!! Are you on any swap groups on facebook for the Memphis area? I am sure there are a TON. I absolutely love the swap groups I'm a part of here and there are always great (used) maternity clothes on there.

Lisa C said...

1. Taco Bell makes people cry, but for different reasons.
2. I love that y'all are already talking about baby #2.
3. People used only cloth diapers until the 80s. Why is it so weird to people these days?

Lindsay said...

I hear you, friend!

Cloth diapering is awesome, and my biggest regret is getting rid of the cloth diapers we never got to use for Ethan. My plan was to use 7th Generation diapers at first, and then do cloth diapers. Well, he had SUCH sensitive skin that any detergents for cloth diapers that would clean them would break him out in a full body rash! (We still use plant based cleansers on his clothing.) I was so upset, that I just donated our entire stash of cloth diapers -- and I'm kicking myself, because I would really love to cloth diaper any future kids we have. Again with those pregnancy hormones, making you do drastic things! People are so obnoxiously opinionated. Ethan still uses the 7th Gen diapers, and we get the "what, is he above Huggies?" comments all of the time instead of the "cloth is gross" comments we used to get. Or when I said I wanted to swaddle my newborn and everyone was all "that'll never work!" Well, it was the only way he slept for 7 months! Haha!

Mommy knows best!

J and A said...

Love this entire post!! So very true!!

PMerr said...

Everything about this post is awesome! :)

Sarah said...

haha this is spot on! I'm pretty sure I cried during a Subaru commercial before being pregnant, though. :) I've also noticed a peach fuzz and it's kind of weird.

Lynzy said...

Ha! I love this post and I 100% agree with you about EVERYTHING on it! Pregnancy is such a crazy and wild thing, but I just love it!

xx Lynzy

Tiffany @ Austin Family Diary said...

Having a helpful husband does make a world of difference! I feel so bad for those women that have deployed husbands or husbands that have to travel a lot. Augh sorry you've dealt with those mean opinions on cloth diapering. After being pregnant and having a baby...I am really going to try to not be the overly opinionated person. Not that I was before, but I just don't ever want to make anyone feel like they are dumb for wanting to do something one way or the other just because it was different from what I did. People don't realize how hurtful they are sometimes, especially to an already oversensitive preggo.

Jen said...

Oh my goodness! I'm 29 weeks and 2 days with my first and this all rings true for me! We have also chosen to cloth diaper and boy does everyone (especially older family) have a negative opinion on this. Yet, they have no clue what it involves, or doesn't involve for that matter. Best quote from my Grandma: "you know poop is icky". Whaaat?? It is? I would have never known! Lol. Anyways, my hair is dark brown, so I got oh so lucky with the dark peach fuzz in my belly... Waah. I also, noticed the little dark line starting to appear when I caught a glipse in the mirror. I had to have my husband confirm since I can't see down there.
Another thing, breast stretch marks! I've heard of stretch marks, but I never imagined my breasts would get them!! And lets not talk about trying to shave your bikini line! Ha!
I'm so excited for my baby girl to arrive though, I couldn't be more thrilled!
Best of luck to you and rock on cloth diapering mommas!

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