“I loved being pregnant.” Those are four words that you will NEVER hear coming out of my mouth. It seems like a majority of women say they had wonderful pregnancies and felt amazing the entire 40 weeks. And if they had a not-so-great experience the first time, it was better for bundle of joy #2. I am going to say that I feel the complete opposite. I loathed being pregnant. Both times.
From the time I took a pregnancy test with DJ, I was nauseous. I threw up every day for the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. With a cup in hand, puking on the way home from work was something that I mastered. When I didn’t eat it was bad, and when I did eat it made me feel worse. The only foods that made me feel somewhat functional were McDonalds fries, fountain Coke, and Water Ice. My first doctor appointment was terrifying, as the Nurse Practitioner scolded me so bad because my blood pressure was raised. This made me even more nervous, so I dreaded all appointments for fear that my BP would spike, and that it did. My docs made me do the 24 hour urine collection a few times to make sure my kidneys were working properly. I basically had to pee in a jug for a day, which meant being on house arrest because the jug of pee needed to be refrigerated. Yes, I know. Gross.
Next hurdle: Gestational Diabetes. My French fries and coke diet was over. My coworkers would pity me as they watched me make turkey/cheese roll-ups in the microwave for lunch. Remember ladies, you aren’t supposed to eat cold lunch meat when you’re pregnant. Ugh. The only positive part of having GD was the fact that I only gained 25 lbs and it made me eat healthier.
A few weeks before my water officially broke (10 days early- THANKFULLY!) I started noticing that I was “leaking”. Pretty much every time I stood up I would feel like I was peeing myself. My gut told me it was unusual, so I called the doc and headed to Labor and Delivery only to be told that nothing was wrong. “Just wear a pad,” they said. Oh sure, that sounds like an awesome idea! It was such a nasty feeling. The night my water broke, it felt similar to what had been happening weeks prior…just MORE of it.
Because my water broke so far in advance of delivery, I developed some sort of infection which caused a fever, prompting the delivering doc to put me on an IV antibiotic during labor. DJ was coming out, so they doctor had to “hold him in” with her hand until the meds kicked in. Looking back, I cringe at that moment.
When he finally made his debut, the cord was wrapped around his neck and he wasn’t breathing. Thankfully the nurses and docs were outstanding and he was good to go after a speedy stay in the NICU. Add on front to back stiches from tearing so badly and not being able to walk for about 8 weeks. Don’t even get me started about post-delivery bathroom rituals. Also, a few post-partum trips to the hospital because my BP could not be controlled caused panic for me and my hubs .
Sounds like a blast, huh?
I pretty much had the same pregnancy with Baby # 2, Scarlett. Nausea and high BP. I did NOT have GD with WB but the docs made me take the 3 hour glucose test THREE TIMES just to make sure. My fluid levels were high for this baby, so I had to go for bi-weekly stress tests in addition to my weekly appointments. The delivery went smoother than I expected, but I ended up staying in the hospital for 4 days, AGAIN because of my blood pressure. Flash forward a year later- I am on meds and knock on wood it is controlled.
SO, when I hear stories about women “feeling beautiful” during pregnancy and I see FB pictures of my half naked friends happily holding their baby bumps in their 3rd trimester, do you blame me for secretly wishing they would just throw up a few times?
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