Pregnancy - The Truth, the Whole Truth and Nothing But The Truth

When I first fell pregnant I was keen to read up on what I could expect and how my body would be changing in the months to come. I trawled through books, the internet, asked all my chums who had 'been there done that, got the t-shirt' – some more than once! And the end result was pretty much total confusion. What became apparent is that everyone's experience of pregnancy (likewise labour which I will tackle separately) differs. And so this is just my experience. Yours may be nothing like this. There may, however, be a few things that ring a bell, a common thread here and there. I would invite members to share their experiences too. By doing so prospective mums to be can hear how each women went on their pregnancy journey. It might just help them along theirs.

Being A Worry Wart 

My pregnancy didn't start well and there was a fear that we had lost the baby. Although that proved not to be the case I am sure that having this misdiagnosis early in the pregnancy resulted in a greater sense of worry for me, my husband and our families and friends (especially as we had had a miscarriage previously). I had so hoped that when I fell pregnant I could be excited; the opposite was true though. I was worried, anxious, fearful and quite frankly feared the worst. Having spoken to many of my mummy friends - some had experienced miscarriage, others hadn't – being pregnant and worrying that all will be okay pretty much go hand in hand. Few of my friends sailed through their pregnancies without worrying. When something so fantastic is happening, and inside your very own body, I guess it's no surprise. You're growing a person for goodness sake. That is both amazing and seriously scary!! So perhaps that should be point number one; worrying in pregnancy is normal. And that anxiety isn't helped much by raging hormones!!

Having Scans

I'm sure I am not alone in saying that I approached scan days with a mixture of excitement and dreaded fear. At the end of the day you can't get away from the fact that these scans are carried out to check all is progressing well. There is always the chance that things aren't. On the flip and more positive side, of course, you get to see your bubba and that is one of the most amazing feelings in the world. If I close my eyes, I can go back to every scan I had when Lily was inside me and I can remember the wonder in mine and my husband's eyes as we watched this little person kicking around on the screen. It's such an emotional experience and so very special. In addition to the standard scans, we opted to pay for a private nuchal scan. This scan looks to see if there is any indication of downs syndrome in the baby. It's a non-invasive scan, carried out just like all the others and for us was well worth the expense. 

In a weird way as much as you worry about pregnancy scans you wish that you could have more! There seems such a gap between the 12 and 20 week scan and while you have midwife appointments and hear the heartbeat, nothing compares to seeing your future son/daughter on the screen. That said, we were not tempted to get a 3D or 4D scan done. They are obviously pretty expensive and I personally feel a step too far. Some mums get to see what bubba will kind of look like before he/she arrives and to me that is spoiling the surprise. And without being too negative I can imagine it must be even more heartbreaking (if that's possible) should you lose the baby in the latter stages when you have attached yourself to this clear image of your future child. 

Feeling Hot Hot Hot 

My husband and I decided to try and squeeze in a holiday before bubba came along and while it was still feasible to travel and so last July we jetted off for a two week cruise around the Greek islands. I am normally a sun worshipper and will happily sit out in the sun, albeit with a good factor of sun cream, from the moment the sun rises to the moment it sets. Imagine my disappointment, then, when I realised that for me sunbathing while preggers was a no no. Primarily because I just couldn't handle the heat. At just over four months pregnant the heat made me feel unbearably hot and bothered. I hadn't factored into our holiday idea that I was already feeling flushed in normal temperatures back in the UK. Greece was a bad idea!! That said I actually did more walking around and sightseeing than I think I have ever done on any previous holiday and all that pounding the streets must have been good for bubba!

Bump Anxiety

It was while on holiday that I developed a bit of a fixation with my lack of bump. I can remember many a time turning to my husband and lamenting that I still didn't 'look pregnant'. I had expected at that stage to have a cute little round bump – you know like you seem to see all the celebs sporting. Instead I looked a little like I had been eating too many pies!! Fast forward to the end of the holiday though and things had started to develop – and I would like to think that was down to the growing baby as much as the amount of delicious food I had partaken over the two weeks. When I got home everyone was commenting on how big my 'bump' had gotten. I wanted to jump for joy. Finally I looked pregnant! And then the bump grew and grew and grew. In a very short space of time there was no denying my pregnant state and I couldn't believe I had ever worried about when I would start to show. 

Feeling Bubba Move For the First Time

I have just remembered one pretty significant thing that happened on holiday – I felt the first flutterings of movement and yep that was another thing I had stressed about not feeling up to that stage! Weirdly it happened on one of my doomed attempts to sunbathe. I thought I'd see if it was comfy enough to lie on my front. When I did so, I felt it. A little popping sensation. Almost as if bubba was saying 'please don't squash my home mummy'. I have to admit I did it a few times again, albeit briefly and this time on my bed, as everytime I did I was rewarded with a little popping feeling!

Feeling Bubba 'kick'

You know the scene from Alien where the alien breaks through the guy's stomach? That's how it looked when Lily decided to do her 'belly gymnastics' (as we nicknamed them) inside me. I was expecting gentile little kicks, a foot there, a hand pushing out over here. Not my little lady. I got a head rolling from side to side, both feet stretching out together, arms doing their best impression of a windmill. My husband and I would watch in amazement (sometimes it would actually make me feel a little queasy as it didn't always feel particularly pleasant) as Lily would put on her show. My bump would literally change shape as she moved too and fro. During the day she was less active - she would decide to wake up just as I was going to bed - and so there were few opportunities for friends or family to feel Lily moving inside of me. Apart from when she got the hiccups which she seemed to with some frequency. Then I would get a rhythmic pulsation in my belly. The poor little thing is as afflicted with hiccups in the outside world as she was when inside me. I reckon she must have guzzled too much amniotic fluid too quickly to cause them, a bit like the speed at which she now takes her milk!!

There were times when I worried if Lily should be moving around more. I visited the midwife on one occasion as I was convinced all was not well. I didn't recall feeling anything all day. She checked the heartbeat and bump and all was well. I had admittedly had a busy day that day and I guess bubba had done the odd movement without me knowing. I can recall another day when my husband came home from work to find me in tears as again I was worried that baby had been very quiet. Hearing daddy's voice did the trick and I was treated to a lovely belly wiggle. 

It's easy to over stress about movements but you soon get to know your little un and his/her own ways. Lily certainly made up for being quiet and a little inactive at night-time!! 

Dream Dream Dream

One piece of advice I was told time and time again by my mummy friends was to make sure I got plenty of rest during my pregnancy – they would often continue with something along the lines of 'because you'll never sleep properly again once baby comes along!!' I can honestly say that I took this piece of advice and ran with it (or should that be rested with it?!). While I stayed working and therefore active up until my sixth month of pregnancy, when my job (running my own sandwich bar) became too much for me and my growing bump I hung the apron up. And then I did succumb to the pregnancy. I was getting bigger and bigger seemingly on a daily basis and so moving around much wasn't all that feasible anyway. Resting was all I could do for the majority of the time even if I had any inclination to do anything else.

For me sleep was far more achievable during the day than at night. I suffered with spd and so would spend hours trying to get comfy in bed with the aid of one of those huge maternity pillows. It became a bit of a mission impossible. And God forbid I attempted to reposition myself during the night. First I would have to heave the pillow to the other side, then me and my big bump. It was often agony to do so. Ironically though, sat in front of the tele during the day I could fall into sleep at the drop of a hat. Rather annoyingly it would always happen halfway through a programme I was actually trying to watch. I'd wake up as the credits were rolling!! But I had slept and that was the important thing because sadly my friends were right – sleep is never quite the same once you have a little person in your home!

Heartburn

I was very lucky to not experience any morning sickness. I had a few weeks of feeling a little nauseous and light headed but it was really very mild. What I did suffer with was heartburn, especially towards the end of my pregnancy. Having never had it before I had no idea just how painful it was. Eating anything meant enduring pain shortly afterwards, regardless of whether it was a food group likely to cause heartburn or not. And at night-time, I am not kidding you, the heartburn made me cry it was that unbearable. At the risk of tmi all I could feel was a terrible burning sensation travelling up to my throat accompanied by a particularly unpleasant taste of sick. Yuk. I tried propping myself more upright, drinking milk before bed, sucking on a mint - nothing helped. In the end I had to accept that natural remedies were going to do diddly squat. My midwife prescribed Gaviscon and oh my lord what a revelation. I was far from cured but it helped massively. 

Did Someone Mention Food?

Despite experiencing bad heartburn it didn't put me off food. Far from it. I was, quite frankly, ravenous throughout my pregnancy. All I could do was think about food. I remember many a time having lunch with my husband and asking him what we could have for our evening meal. He would look at me flabbergasted! While I did resist eating 24-7, it was tempting to do so. My afternoon naps at least stopped me going through the cupboards. Mind you, I bet I dreamt about food. 

There were a few meals I couldn't stomach which I normally loved – chilli con carne was a no no, as was indian food – but everything else was good to go. Cravings wise I became somewhat obsessed with fish fingers (as long as I had a  generous dollop of salad cream to dip them into).And Licorice Allsorts! I would send my husband out on late night hunts for them and woe betide if he came back with a substitute. Only Bertie Bassetts would suffice!

Raspberry Leaf Tea

I read on a few pregnancy websites that raspberry leaf tea can help women achieve shorter labours if taken a few times a day in the latter stages of the pregnancy. As a lover of herbal tea anyway I decided to give it a go. Admittedly it isn't the nicest tasting tea in the world – I'm more of a mint tea girl – but I persevered with two to three cups a day. Now I can't say  with any certainty whether it was just the tea that helped – I was initially induced before going into natural labour so that may have helped things speed along a bit – but my labour was less than five hours. The tea does you no harm so to my mind why not give it a go? 

Evil Stretchmarks

I was determined that my belly would remain stretchmark free and so from the early stages of pregnancy, even when there was no real bump to see, I was covering my tummy in bio-oil. At eight months pregnant I remember looking in the mirror and being pretty pleased with myself. Not a stretchmark in sight. Imagine my horror when one week later I saw something by the side of my belly button that looked distinctly like a stretchmark. And a few days later another. I showed my Mum to get her opinion. More horror. She said 'oh do you mean the ones (yes plural) under your belly?' You mean I had some there too? I turned to the side. More stretchmarks there. Expletives were shouted I can assure you. I continued, now seemingly in vain, with the oil but after Lily had popped out the full horror was plain to see. Purple ripples right along my belly. I switched to cocoa butter then, hoping that would help. I think I now have to resign myself to the fact that they are a permanent reminder of being pregnant. They have faded a little and friends say they will do so more as time passes. Some lucky buggers get away stretchmark free. No fair. 

Fat fingers, feet and face!

Like many prospective mums, my poor little feet, fingers and face puffed up big time in the latter stages of my pregnancy.  My feet especially so, so much so that my midwife told me I had to put them up as much as possible. Seeing as at this stage getting dressed was a bit like doing krypton factor – I had to have assistance when it came to putting boots/shoes on as I simply couldn't bend over my bump to do it myself – I was pretty much housebound anyway. On the odd occasion I did venture out, looking like I was about to burst and with a less than attractive pregnancy waddle, I would pay the price. An example of how much my feet swelled - I normally wear a size three or four; I ended up in a size six boot. Oh and just to add a point to that, my feet seem to have now permanently grown as I am now a size five. Yes your feet can grow during pregnancy. You read it here folks!