Pregnancy {Lessons Learned}

12 weeks vs. 29 weeks!

There are so many unknowns with pregnancy, and when it’s the first time you’ve experienced it all, the only reference you have is others’ experiences. I didn’t have any expectations going into it, but some things along the way have been either really surprising, or, on the alternative, completely expected (based on things I’ve read).

Keeping a secret is hard. We didn’t tell our parents until we were 10 weeks pregnant, and then announced it to everyone else at 13 weeks. The only people who knew really early on were my manager at work and our photographer – because I was coordinating our pregnancy reveal photos with her! I felt like it was so obvious, especially since I wasn’t feeling well the first 3 months…we spent a lot of time at home and made a lot of excuses to cover it up!

Emotions. I haven’t had too crazy emotions, but there have been days where I can cry over nothing or something kind of sad or something kind of happy and everything in between. For the first two months, my husband could make me cry by mentioning Marley & Me…that movie makes me cry ANYtime, but just a mention of it could bring me to tears for a while there. LOL.

Strange symptoms. There are so many ‘symptoms’ but some of them are just plain weird. Other than being nauseated for pretty much 3 solid months in the beginning, I’ve had it pretty good. However, I have had things like: a really weird taste in my mouth after eating ANYTHING, which lasted for the first 5-6 months; sore, swollen gums…ouch; dizziness from time to time; feeling sick from taking vitamins and brushing my teeth; achiness; and a few other pretty mild symptoms. Overall, I certainly can’t complain!

Cravings/Aversions. I didn’t really go off the deep end with cravings like you hear about all the time. I think Michael made 2-3 trips to the grocery store for my ‘cravings’ but most of those were early on in pregnancy. I will say that the cravings I did have were often short-lived – I wanted Lucky Charms, and I ate one bowl and never touched them again. I wanted Chex Mix, and that one lasted about 2-3 weeks before I couldn’t even look at Chex Mix again. A few things I’ve craved all along: club sandwiches, pizza, lemonade, anything salty and no sweets. And the biggest disappointment of all – my MAJOR aversion to coffee. I’ve been a coffee addict since I can remember, and I haven’t been able to touch the stuff since being pregnant! I tried an Iced Mocha from Starbucks to see if I could handle it, and that was no good. Maybe one day I’ll like coffee again?

Crazy dreams. I don’t even know what to say about some of the dreams I’ve had, except that people would probably think I’m on some kind of drugs if I tried explaining dreams I’ve had over the past 7 months. #insane

How your body changes. Namely, how little and how much it changes. In some ways, even now, I’m surprised at how little weight I’ve gained and how I can still wear most of my clothes (within reason…I can only fit in my jeans with a belly band). But in other ways, I watch my belly grow daily and it’s crazy to think of how tiny my waist was before…let’s just say, my waist was super tiny and I never realized it at the time.

How you feel ready (or not…). Honestly, for someone who’s so Type A, I’ve surprised myself at how relaxed I am being pregnant. I think it’s a conscious effort to not let myself stress out…because I know it’s not good for baby. But other than wanting to be organized ahead of time in terms of the nursery, preparing for birth, and all of those logistics, I’ve been laid back and just tried to enjoy these 9 months. Even after taking childbirth classes and things getting ‘real’, I don’t feel that nervous. I’m sure that might change when we find ourselves at the hospital in a few months!

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