Well, almost over. And not a moment too soon. I'm trying to stay optimistic that the second trimester will be better, the nausea and vomiting and general lousy feeling will go away and I'll finally get to enjoy that pregnancy euphoria everyone always talks about.
Not to be too much of a whiner, but pregnancy has really been a disappointment so far. I always imagined that pregnancy would be this great time; I'd sit around and serenely glow, basking in my new connection to the life-giving powers of the universe, and maybe crochet some cute little booties. Sure, there might be some nausea, heartburn, or other minor discomforts, but that would balance out: for starters, no menstration for 9 months would be pretty great, right? Well, suffice it to say that I seriously underestimated the impact of nausea on pretty much every aspect of my life. Eating? Sleeping? Watching movies? Hanging out with friends? Browsing for unusual fruits & berries at the garden center? Nothing is fun when you feel like you have the flu. After going out to eat a couple weeks ago, I wondered if I might have gotten food poisoning - but how would I even be able to tell? Oh, and then there's the gassiness. I'm a danger to myself and others.
Besides all that, the lack of energy/enhanced need for sleep has really been a show-stopper. It's amazing how little time there is left for chores and/or socializing after a full day at work and then a 3 hour nap. Dinner (ha! see above), bathing, and basic laundry is about all I have time for on a regular basis, with a little gardening thrown in on the weekends. Luckily I'm married to a great guy who is picking up the slack on grocery shopping, cooking, and all those other little things that I'm just too tired for.
While I'm ranting, I might as well also mention the acne. I'd always heard that when you were pregnant your skin would be radiantly clear, your hair would stop shedding, and your nails would grow super fast. Well, the first two are myths, as far as my experience goes. I must be having some kind of hormone surges, because every couple of weeks I suddenly break out like a 15-year-old fry cook. And it's not just my face, it's my chest, my back, even my thighs. Ugh. As for my hair, I still shed like crazy. In fact, I think I may be shedding more than usual - since I recently got my hair cut short (9 inches off!), losing the same number of strands would make a much smaller hairball, right? But no, my after-shower drain monster looks the same as it did before my haircut. The fingernail thing does seem to be true, my finger and toenails are growing like mad. Which just means I have to cut them more often, so at best that's a mixed blessing.
Don't get me wrong, I'm still really, really thankful to be pregnant. I'm super excited to meet our little baby in 6 more months, and to watch him or her grow into a whole new person. But so far at least, pregnancy is not living up to my expectations. Which probably reflects more on my unrealistic expectations than on pregnancy itself...
5 comments:
Well I'm in the same camp as you. There are some women who love being pregnant, but I'm not one of them!
It seems each pregnancy is different too- my friend Tenessa has had three. Her first was the pregnancy of dreams and the birth process we all dread. Her second was a painful pregnancy (full of acid reflux and irritability) and the birth she had always dreamed of. Her third??? Little bit of everything...and her forever curly locks went nearly dead straight! Go figure! Congrats on the first trimester- and very best wishes for the glowyness your looking for!
I guess I always thought I'd be one of those that loved being pregnant, that's where my disappointment is coming from.
Seriously, I think if we decide we want more kids, we'll adopt! Actually, we'd probably do that anyhow, even if I wasn't having a sucky time being preggo. Lots of perfectly good babies out there already, makes sense to help out by giving one a good home.
Every pregnancy is different, indeed. Just because this one sucks doesn't mean that subsequent ones will.
You will feel better, I promise. It just might take another six months.
I'm so sorry that pregnancy is not agreeing with you. Hopefully within the next couple of weeks you'll begin to experience the beauty that pregnancy can be!
Love you!
I'm just starting my 3rd trimester and I have to say the 2nd trimester was about 1000 times better than the first! The nausea ended (though I had 2 more short bouts around 22 weeks), my appetite came back, and I started to get a really cute baby bump. I'm still tired all the time, but when I'm awake I feel good.
For the most part I do all of my normal activities, but I did stop myself from digging a new flower bed with a big shovel. I left that to my husband and am now limiting myself to what I can do with a hand trowel. Luckily I can still kneel or sit and work in the garden.
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