A few years back, I found myself working with two pregnant women about my age.
They had totally opposite experiences.
One breezed right through pregnancy from start to finish. Her belly grew, but apparently literally nothing else changed for her. Zero physical symptoms. She didn't think 'baby brain' was real. Basically, she had the dream experience.
The other encountered pretty much every ailment possible. You name it, she suffered from it. She was the worst case scenario.
"I would just like to know, really. I want to know," I wrote in the first draft of this blog post a couple of years ago. " How bad will it be for me? And how will I feel once I've had it? Is my entire world view going to change?"
So far it has been quite manageable. I mean, I can't speak to the latter part, but pregnancy so far is tolerable.
The first trimester
I got a bad cold/flu early on that knocked me for six, and then the first trimester exhaustion kicked in. I did nothing but go to work, come home and collapse.
Month three brought about indigestion and appetite changes, aches and pains, a dash of dizziness. No throwing up, thank god. (Though there was one occasion where I was about to dash to the bathroom to be sick, only then for a dizzy spell to set in that left me wondering; am I going to faint or vomit first? I made it to an armchair for a rest while the moment passed, without either passing out or puking. #winning)
The second trimester
The second trimester is meant to be easier for most but I'm not sure if that was true for me. Once I got noticeably bigger bang on at 12 weeks, indigestion became a near-constant in life and those post-dinner witching hours in particular (about 8-10pm) became a hurdle to be endured. The bump also started to make me feel like a lumbering elephant most of the time, particularly since I seemed to be showing quite a lot given how far along (not that far...) I actually was.
The food aversions seemed to recede toward the end of month 4 and my appetite grew; I could once again eat a full sized meal! I had a few more dizzy/nauseous spells too - the worst happened on a crowded morning train - but they also stopped around this time and with any luck that's the end of those for good.
Pretty much bang on 20 weeks when I was starting to worry about not feeling any movement, I felt the first kicks. And now they're constant! It's bizarre, but I love it, and I think I'm going to miss it. Although the stronger they get, the more I suspect it's going to get painful at some point. I think I had my first taste of lightning crotch recently, and while it was faint and short lived, I could do without any more twinges like that.
Month six has been tough because we're in the midst of winter. I've struggled with cold/flu twice pretty badly - but it beats having the flu AND having to look after a baby too. And they don't kid about having a built-in heater, aside from the extra crappy immune system, winter pregnancy is brilliant!
The third trimester
Right now I'm just about to hit the third trimester and it's really starting to hit me that this baby is gonna have to come out! Eeek. But most of all, I'm suddenly feeling supremely unprepared for life with a little human. Semi-last-minute jitters? I did have a dream that Spud arrived, and slept through the night, and barely made a peep - was basically just a doll in a diaper. Here's hoping...
In the meantime, I did my one-hour glucose test yesterday (fingers crossed...) and am going for a growth scan tomorrow (because my fundal height was at the low end of the range). I also have my first antenatal class this weekend. It looks like my baby shower will be just 2-3 weeks before I'm due, so potentially we may need to get a few things at the last minute to fill any gaps. We'll see!
Weirdly enough, two others in my team at work are in the same boat. We're all due in the same month, though they're each slightly ahead of me by a week and two weeks. We're all in this crazy up-the-duff journey together, and given none of my friends are currently pregnant it's nice to be sharing it with others!
