Pregnancy in a Nutshell
Disclaimer: I am not a professional, just a mom sharing her experiences. Please do your own research and talk to a professional to figure out what is best for you. To see my full disclaimer go to my Disclaimer & Disclosure Page.
As this whole venture with kids begins with pregnancy, I figured it would be fitting for my first post to be about just that. As I’m sure you’ve read everywhere no 2 pregnancies are the same as well as being different for every woman. There are sometimes overlying things that are the same or at least similar for each individual’s pregnancies, though.
First and foremost, KNOW YOUR BODY. This will obviously take time, and the first pregnancy is definitely a learning experience. If you’re trying to get pregnant or considering it in the future, now is a good time to really start paying attention to your body and understanding it. For me, I had morning sickness from about 6 weeks, which was also about the time I realized I was pregnant, to about the 12 week mark, or end of the first trimester. Actually morning sickness with subsequent pregnancies was how I knew I was pregnant. This included food aversion or not wanting to eat, nausea, loss of energy, and no matter where I was or what I was doing, needing a nap at 2pm. The first time I got pregnant, I was still in college and had a class during the 2 o’clock hour. I had to tell my teacher that if I was falling asleep during class it wasn’t because I was bored. It was a really interesting class so I felt bad nodding off.
After the first pregnancy I realized that food aversion and nausea were closely related. With my second pregnancy I was working full-time and realized quickly that as much as food was not appetizing, I had to force myself to eat. As long as I ate something, even just a couple crackers, my nausea stayed minimal. If I didn’t eat, it only got worse, to the point where I could barely function. Eating obviously helps with loss of energy as well. Although, I still only had the energy I needed to get through the day in that first trimester. Any projects I had going on at home went on hold because I just couldn’t do them due to low energy and no motivation. Thankfully, the jobs I’ve had during pregnancy were fairly flexible so I was able to rest at 2pm when my body decided to shut down and just stay a little later to get my hours in.
Subsequently, not having morning sickness or having it abruptly end was a huge indicator that I was having or going to have a miscarriage. I have had a handful of documented miscarriages and some that I can only suspect were miscarriages. All within the first trimester. Most were before our first child was born, but also had one in between my children as well. One thing I found out is that miscarriages are more common than most of us realize. Especially in the first trimester. The main reason I knew about most of my miscarriages is because I really got to know my body and the changes it has when I become pregnant. I’ll admit the ones that happened toward the end of the first trimester were the ones I was probably most in denial of at first. Meaning that in my heart I knew I was going to have a miscarriage, but didn’t want to believe it. Miscarriages are hard. Especially the more you have, but if you find yourself in that situation, make sure you talk to your doctor and have them test you so it can be documented even if it’s as early as 6 weeks. The doctor I had with my first child said after three miscarriages they would start diving into what was causing them. Keep up hope.
“Morning” sickness is different for everyone. For some it’s not just in the morning. I have known women that have had morning sickness their entire pregnancy. So happy that wasn’t me. Really knowing your body helps you know when things are going good and when they’re not. Trust me, feeling like crap is usually a good sign.
Second trimester, my morning sickness was gone and I had energy back. Now this isn’t saying it was all fun and games at that point. I still had aches and pains that come with being pregnant, but my motivation to actually do things was back. Second trimester for most people seems to be the easiest. Your body seems to be used to the changes occurring due to pregnancy. It’s like your body says “I got this now.”
Third trimester, I’m big and counting down the days for this to be over. Mobility is limited because you can’t bend over easily, or sit down without plopping and then rocking to get momentum to stand back up. Let’s face it, in the last trimester once you’re down you’re not getting back up for a while. This is also when you really start to think about giving birth and wondering what it’s going to be like. How will you know when it’s time? How bad is it really going to be? Should I take the drugs? Go all natural? Traditional hospital? At home? I didn’t show I was getting increasingly nervous as giving birth got closer and closer, but I was. Really I got nervous and even scared with every one of my births. The signs of knowing when it was time was different for each one. Giving birth to five children I’ve had a different type of birth pretty much every time. I’ve mostly done traditional hospital births. However, even those differed. My first one I had the on call doctor instead of my regular doctor, and he had a resident assist him with the birth. My second a midwife and no drugs. Third was a water birth and no drugs. Fourth I decided to do drugs again and the fifth was born right in front of our front door. There are more stories to go with those births, but I’ll leave it there for now.
So that’s my brief pregnancy-in-a-nutshell. Hope this helps first time (or second or third time) mothers out there! Feel free to share your crazy pregnancy story in the comments. Also, please ask if there’s any particular part about pregnancy that you’re curious to hear more about. You never know, you may spark another post!
