Pregnancy..

I wrote about being pregnant early on, it was my first entry for this blog. It was brief and sums up the three stages in three paragraphs. I am not sure why I thought about being pregnant again. Think it was a discussion with a friend and I realised how much I miss being pregnant! Yes call me mad but I enjoyed some aspects of being pregnant, not all but some!

Everyone goes through pregnancy differently. Some experience bad morning sickness, others don’t at all which is lucky and some just feel sick or nauseous all day like me. Some will have weird cravings and others will go without craving a single thing! The list just goes on but here are some ‘common’ things that we go through.

1)      Mood Swings – I blame this on hormones! My mood swings weren’t too bad, I was just very emotional. Any upsetting comments will start the water works! Even watching TV or a movie, if it’s even remotely sad the water will start streaming down my eyes. I had to carry a box of tissues everywhere I went.

2)      Fatigue – my goodness was I tired all the time! Especially the first trimester. I was thankful and grateful that I wasn’t working during the first trimester as I slept all day! My daily routine would be: get up at 8.30am to say goodbye to Hubs, and after breakfast about 10am I would nap till 12noon. Have some lunch and be in bed again by 3pm till 6pm just before Hubs gets home and in bed again by 9pm! Crazy right? The second trimester was definitely better and probably the best out of the three and the last was bad but not as bad as the first!

3)      Nesting – a lot of my girlfriends went through this stage during maternity leave. Cleaning the spare room, getting the cot ready etc, but I have to admit I didn’t have the nesting period! Hubs nested more than I did!

4)      Increase in bra size – my goodness do they increase! I’m sure our husbands appreciated this more than us but they were too swollen and sore for them to touch. Usually soreness and increase in breast is the first sign of being pregnant.

5)      Skin – my skin is usually quite good, no major pimples unless it is that time of the month. But the first six weeks they were horrendously bad! Thankfully they got better after about two months.

6)      Swollen – I held a lot of water retention whilst pregnant. My feet especially were incredibly swollen. I had to buy new shoes as they all didn’t fit! Some mothers I know had to buy new shoes after pregnancy as their shoe size did not go back to norm.

7)      Varicose Veins – yes varicose veins appear around the legs mainly but often disappear after pregnancy.

8)      Constipation – yes it does happen and can be uncomfortable. I won’t go into details!

9)      Constantly going to the toilet at night – even if I didn’t drink litres of water, I would still be going which was a pain at night!

The first three months, my cravings were just carbs! Bread, noodles, rice, you name it – I wanted it all! Then after that, I didn’t want any carbs and just craved vinegar and anything sour. After that I just ate whatever I felt like or craved, but there were no major cravings. Nausea was a pain but like a friend suggested, I always had dry biscuits next to my bed, so before I got up I would have a biscuit or two – I know its gross to eat in bed but I had to do what I had to do! I also tried not go get out of bed too quickly, which sometimes made me feel ill.

The smell of coffee made me gag, so I stopped drinking coffee at six weeks. The smell of raw meat also made me feel ill, so cooking was out of the option for a while. I couldn’t stand the smell or sight of raw meat. Thankfully that stopped after the first trimester. Other than that, there were no other major issues.

I did pick up a peanut allergy whilst pregnant with Dragon and till now I still have it! I had a small bowl of pistachio nuts before my trip to Melbourne and that evening I broke out in hives! I kid you not, around my stomach and back. At first I thought it was the hotel we stayed at, bed bugs, but Hubs seemed to be fine. The second time was when I had a handful of cashews and again the same thing happened. I didn’t have any nuts until Dragon was born, probably about the six weeks mark. I had my favourite all time Indonesian dessert – martabak manis with peanuts – I had two mouthfuls and BOOM! This time was a lot worse, the hives started on my forehead and spread all the way to my body and antihistamine didn’t work. I had to get a shot of steroids! I have yet to have nuts ever since and believe me, I miss my handful of almonds, cashews and the like!

Now, you are probably wondering why I miss being pregnant? Here are five good reasons

1)      Knowing the fact that ‘something’ is growing inside of you and this ‘something’ is a little person – watching him / her grow from a little pea to a baby is just utterly amazing

2)      Feeling him / her move for the first time, whether it is a kick, a punch or just switching position! Seeing his / her elbow move – it looks like an alien is in your stomach but it is the most amazing feeling in the world

3)      Feeling his / her hiccup – tiny little hiccups – it is adorably cute

4)      Naps – sleeping like there is no tomorrow – how I miss those days

5)      Being pampered and smiles from strangers congratulating you

Now five good reasons why I don’t like being pregnant

1)      Getting fat! I know that part of being pregnant is putting on weight, but boy – that realization when your jeans don’t fit and you have to buy pregnancy pants – oh boy!

2)      Swollen feet were the worst – my feet were just sore all the time and I couldn’t go shopping or walk for long periods of time

3)      Not being able to sleep on my stomach! That was a real issue for me also as I LOVE sleeping on my stomach – so does Dragon!

4)      The waiting – waiting for the baby to come out – I was definitely ‘over’ it by the last week

5)      Food restrictions, especially sashimi and cold meats! How I missed eating sashimi and banh mi

I think for me the good reasons outweigh the bad. I have to admit though, I had a pretty ‘easy’ pregnancy, no morning sickness and no stress. I slept a lot during the first trimester and watched a lot of tv shows. Those days on the couch, it was bliss! However, not all pregnancies are bliss and I have friends who have sworn they don’t ever want to be pregnant again. I had friends who had gestational diabetes, and although it can be controlled by diet, it can be a real pain!

I certainly would do it again, not now though, but in time. Now my focus is on Dragon and I want to spend as much time as I can with her before she has any siblings.

After being pregnant once, would I do anything differently? I would probably exercise a little bit more, I got a little bit lazy towards the end of my pregnancy. Stopped doing weights after the first trimester as I got bored of doing light weights. Other than that, be happy and enjoy the wonderful human being that’s growing inside of you!

Believe it or not, one thing that got me through – coconut water! Yes, I drank it religiously whilst pregnant! It gave me that extra energy that I needed when feeling a little run down. I probably drank a bottle every day or every second day. It’s not quite the same as the real coconut juice but it is good.

How have your pregnancy been? Any weird cravings? Was it a good or bad experience?

xx