The Truth About Pregnancy - Volume 1

Honestly, pregnancy was pretty easy for me. I never suffered from morning sickness and felt really good the majority of the time. My skin never looked better which I absolutely loved since I had been suffering from adult acne for years and it cleared up while I was pregnant- go figure.
I only gained 27 pounds and lost all of that a few weeks after giving birth (don't worry, once I started drinking wine again I promptly gained a lot of it back.) I only had to buy a handful of maternity pieces and that was mostly because I felt obligated too. I completely expected to gain a TON of weight during pregnancy so I wanted to be prepared with some larger pants and shirts. I exercised the whole 8 months (I had Stella 4 weeks early without complications, thankfully) so I think exercising really helped me physically and mentally.
A post shared by Nancy Boughton (@nancyboughton) on
I'm not saying any of this to brag! Just wanted to share my experience because everything that I read made me believe I was going to gain 100 pounds and look like an acne filled emotional hog beast. Now that isn't to say that everything was all rainbows and butterflies.. below are a few things that I found surprising/annoying about pregnancy.
1) Bloating. 
This was one of the FIRST symptoms I had that made me wonder if I was pregnant. My stomach was so bloated in the first few weeks of pregnancy that I thought I looked more pregnant at 6 weeks than I did at 6 months. I don't have photos to show you because I was so incredibly miserable I didn't want to document it. It was painful. I could not button my pants and even my loose fitting knit pajamas were tight. It didn't feel like the normal "I ate too many tacos" stomach bloating that we've all experienced - it was 10x worse. Apparently its because of the hormones, and progesterone, and yadda yadda. Regardless - it sucks. It did subside after a few weeks.
2) Swelling.
I could probably categorize this under bloating but I want to touch on this separately. My boobs started to swell up to a monstrous state around the same time as the bloating started but whereas the bloating stopped - the swelling did not. This may be welcome to some women who want larger boobs but for me - it was hell. I had to stop wearing my under wire bras pretty early on in the pregnancy. I outgrew every bra I owned and I spent a fortune on bras from department stores trying to find something that was "comfortable enough"to wear. If I added up the cost of each of those I'd probably puke because I bet its more than a designer purse. The only bras that were comfortable on my body were Genie Bras (the ones you see on the early morning infomercials.)  Later on I found these at Motherhood, a maternity store, and loved them even more.

3) Loneliness. 
Ironic, huh? How can you feel lonely while you're growing another human inside your own body who is with you ALL the time? I don't know but it was truly one of those loneliest times of my life. I felt very isolated. It was very strange and I think it put a huge damper on the pregnancy.
4) Weight Gain.
I never thought I was a superficial person but gaining weight really affected me. I couldn't wrap my head around it and even though I reminded myself that I was growing and nourishing a baby inside my body I hated the weight gain and how I looked. Looking back, I realize I didn't gain much weight but at the time I felt massive. On the flip side people would always comment on how "good" I looked pregnant or would harp on the fact that I was barely showing (my baby bump didn't pop until month 6.) Which would upset me more because it made me feel like something must be wrong if I wasn't showing yet. Side note: why do people think its appropriate or acceptable to comment on a pregnant woman's body? It was a daily occurrence which is probably why I was so self conscious. 
5) Doctor Appointments are bullshit boring.
In the movies they glorify pregnancy doctor appointments - ultrasounds, beautiful exam rooms and happiness galore. This is complete bullshit. Or maybe it was just at my doctors office. I spent the majority of the time in the waiting room and 10-15 minutes max at the actual appointment. 
6) Negative thoughts.
I don't want to scare anyone or make a newly pregnant person scared but I was constantly worried about the state of the baby. Constantly. I worry alllll the time about everything and pregnancy just heightened it. I spent hours on the What to Expect forums reading the worst case scenarios. I am not proud of this and wish I never did it but I couldn't stop myself. I think this also contributed to the lonely factor. I had all these thoughts but felt like I had no one to share them with because pregnancy is supposed to be glorious and magical - not ridden with worry and negative thoughts.

7) You may not feel the baby kick.
I had an anterior placenta - meaning the placenta was located in the front of my uterus which acted like a barrier so I didn't feel much baby movement until the last few months. I didn't know this until my 20 week appointment either so I was afraid that something was wrong that I wasn't feeling kicks. BUT then the last 2 months the baby kicked the crap out of me. She had her little feet up near my rib cage and she made up for all of those months of me not being able to feel her by constantly kicking my ribs.

8) The bathroom.
I peed ALL the time, which is expected. However, I didn't expect to pee so much in the first trimester. During that time your kidneys are processing the extra blood your body is producing and causes you to pee more - or something like that. Sometimes I would pee and as I was walking out of the bathroom I would have the urge to pee again. This lasted through most of the first and all of the last trimester. On the other hand - constipation is a real bitch. A real, painful, relentless bitch. No amount of prunes, fiber, water, or witchcraft will help you.

What were some annoying/surprising things you experienced during pregnancy?

Sincerely and Sarcastically,

Nancy

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