So here is my story of what it was like to be pregnant...
Nausea. I had mentioned in one of my previous post about being scared in the beginning that I was going to have a miscarriage. So the first few days I knew I was pregnant I felt like I made myself nauseous. But then it really kicked in at about 7 weeks pregnant. I got nauseous mostly around 5:30 pm. My best times were in the mornings. Odd. I know. So I would come home everyday from work and just lay on the couch until bed time which was about 9pm in my first trimester. I was soooo exhausted and nauseous that all I could do was lay down. Our house was a mess. I dont remember cooking even one night during that. I didnt have much of an appetite. I would feel hungry and when I started eating it would make me sick, so I would quit eating. I was lucky and only threw up twice. I will share these stories, so skip down if you dont want to read.
The first time was one night I was craving eggs and I was starving. So I asked GT to make me some egg sandwiches. So he made me two of them. Well compared to what I was eating, this was alot. So I scarfed them down and yepp an hour later they both came back up.
The second throw up story was when I think I was in my second trimester. I was on my way to work. I ate a granola bar and took my prenatal pill (which I didnt do too often). I stopped by a foster home for about 30 minutes, then when I got to the office I started feeling funny. Anyway, I went to the bathroom and threw up about 30 times. I dont know why. But I never took a prenatal pill again until they put me in the hospital.
I did get a stomach virus when I was preggo...it was HORRIBLE! I threw up alot then too, but those dont count because they werent because of the pregnancy.
Stretch Marks. Up until about my 7th or 8th month of pregnancy I only had two stretch marks. I named them stretchy and marky. Then one day I woke up looked in the mirror and stretchy and marky had alot of friends! I think this was about the time I had developed gestational diabetes and Audrie grew really fast. I really looked like a red zebra. And I didnt know this happens, but I got stretch marks on my thighs and my upper legs. I started developing these from like week 10. I am not sure why. You might ask if I used any kind of lotion? Yes. In the beginning I used Palmer's. Then I switched to Mama Bee's belly butter. I used it all the time my 2nd and 3rd trimester. I am not sure if it helped or not. I cant imagine my stretch marks being worst because they are pretty bad.
Weight. I will share my weight, because I really dont care. It is what it is. When I was 6 weeks I weighed 222. (I was about 20 pounds over what I should be) During my first trimester, I lost and got down to about 209. The last time they weighed me in the hospital (the day before Audrie was born) I was 262. So I tell people I gained 40 pounds which I really gained a little more since I lost that weight in the beginning. Currently, I am at 224. After having Audrie, I immediately lost alot and then plateaued around 230. My friend Lynzie and I walk 2 miles 4 times a week. So it has been a long journey to lose those 6 pounds. I am not really on a food diet, but I should be.
Moods. I did become quite moody especially the first trimester. One thing I remember being very moody about was sleeping with GT. When your pregnant (well some women) you get this crazy enhanced smelling ability. So I could smell his breath no matter what. It was more comfortable for me to lay on my left side and he would always want to lay on his right side, so he would be facing me. Almost every night, I would be like, "roll over, your breath stinks" and then we would get in an argument and one of us would end up going into the guest bedroom. We slept apart many a nights during my pregnancy.
Anxiety. I had mentioned a little about this in a previous post. When GT lost his job, it seems like my job got more stressful. I had one of the highest case loads, and we had just gotten a crazy case with a crazy amount of kids. I was traveling alot and was behind on alot of my documentation. I even flew to Amarillo at one point which made me very sick to do, so I vowed I wouldnt fly again until the pregnancy was over. Anyway, I was having anxiety attacks all the time. I had never really had them prior to being pregnant so I was scared. I mean, I couldnt control them. I didnt know when they would happen. So when I went for my monthly check-up my doctor gave me a prescription for it. I really didnt want to be on medication. I remember the first day I took a pill on my way to work. It was like magic. I got so much done that day and I felt great. About a month after being on it, I forgot to take them one weekend and I didnt need it. It was very strange because nothing about my situation in life changed.
Heartburn. I had terrible heartburn from like 10 weeks pregnant. I constantly took tums. It was worst during the night. Ugh. I dont miss that.
Swelling. Oh my goodness. My feet got so huge. I cant even explain it they got so big. I had to stop wearing my wedding ring at like 5 months preggo. I got a silver band from walmart. Mens size 11. Yeah, thats how bad it was. When I look back at pictures from my last 2 months...WOW. I was huge. And I dont mean fat. I was SO swollen. It was bad. I didnt even realize how bad it was. Which now, I know it was from the pre-eclampsia. And my swelling in my feet didnt completely go away until about 3 weeks AFTER Audrie was born.
Sleep. Or lack thereof. I slept on my stomach the first 12 weeks. I know some books say your not supposed to but oh well. I couldnt help it. I would just roll that way. Then I got to where I couldnt, so some nights I would sleep on my back, which your not supposed to do that either. I ended up sleeping with a big body pillow in between my legs and hugging it. I miss that thing. I tried sleeping with it after being preggo and it just wasnt the same. But in the last trimester, I didnt sleep well. It was very uncomfortable and I woke up often. One night the electricity was out until 5 am and it was like June. UGH! That was bad!
SO I guess most of these things were pretty bad. There were good things, like feeling Audrie move around. Which sometimes I was tired of it and wish she would have stopped especially when I was on bed rest in the hospital. I enjoyed the attention of being pregnant. I enjoyed eating whatever I wanted and not feeling bad (except for when they put me on that diet :( ). It seems like there was more bad then good of being pregnant. But nothing is like the experience of growing a child inside of you. It is such a special thing. And while you are pregnant it makes the bad things bearable.
I hope this was a real enough account of what it is REALLY like to be preggo. Atleast what it was like for me. I am sure I left out some things so I might have a what it was like being pregnant part 2 in the future!
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