Pregnancy 101
Nothing can ever truly prepare you for the rollercoaster of pregnancy. We spend three quarters of a year with another human life growing inside of us and with this comes a surge of hormonal, physical and emotional changes… some which we are aware of, and others that we have no idea about until you start crying for no particular reason and can’t explain why or how you feel the way you do!
It really is a strange thing. Falling pregnant for the first time is one of the biggest life events and we were totally over the moon about it. Yet for three months we kept it a secret and had to pretend like nothing new or exciting was happening. That was the hardest thing for sure. Then there was the apprehension in telling people once we got the all clear… how would people react? What would they say and think?
I was really lucky and didn’t suffer with any morning sickness in the early stages. I kept busy with work (which was very physically demanding) and besides the increased fatigue, I think maintaining my normal, active lifestyle was the best thing. I maintained my diet as per normal as well as my exercise (just backed off the cardio). Everything was going smoothly. Everyday I would check my pregnancy apps on my mobile which would state different conditions and symptoms that you may be experiencing for your stage in pregnancy, yet I was perfectly content and proud of myself that none had applied to me! Nausea, water retention, swelling, lower back pain, cramps, constipation…. What were they going on about!?
Until around 20 weeks I had my first ‘breakdown’. It’s like everything happened all at once. Up until then I had been cruising (or so it seemed), then BOOM! I no longer had a proper belly button, the lineanigra had appeared, I had a stumpy waist and my body felt completely foreign to me. It suddenly hit me yet I still wasn’t ready to embrace ‘being pregnant’. The worst was when you think you still look kind of the same and then a friend says to you “wow, you’ve popped!” Definitely not what I wanted to hear. I had kind of liked the idea of hiding our little secret for so long and getting away with no one suspecting anything.
As someone who has always remained relatively the same size and weight for my adult life, it hasn’t been all peachy by any means. Not being able to wear your favourite dress anymore, or going out to a social event and having to almost pretend to be having a great time when really all you feel like doing is going home to put your PJ’s on and watch TV. Cos lets face it, you’re just never really in the party mood!
I’m currently 35 weeks pregnant and still trying to come to terms with my growing belly. Don’t get me wrong, I am already so in love with the little boy growing inside of me, yet it still spins me out… everyday! I refuse to let my big belly get the best of me and continue to push myself at pilates (within limits) and while my walking pace has definitely decreased, I am determined to keep the miles going and refusing to give into a ‘pregnancy waddle’.
How can I best describe the experience so far? I can’t really as it changes everyday. Obviously I’m super excited and can’t wait to meet our little boy. Some days it’s pure frustration and a low mood. At other times I almost forget that I’m pregnant!
It’s definitely been a massive learning experience and the main thing I’ve learnt is that you can read all you like about pregnancy, week by week how the body changes and what you may be experiencing but it is such an individual experience and what may happen for one person might be completely different for another. I’ve tried to keep an open mind throughout and not get too caught up in the dos and don’ts. I’ve listened to my body. I do what I feel I want and need to do and so far it’s worked.
Over the next few posts I’ll be sharing some of my pregnancy ‘must haves’. Again, I did a lot of reading on ‘pregnancy essentials’ etcetc and found a lot of it a waste to be honest, and unnecessary. I refuse to purchase maternity clothes…. I was shocked at the price of basic maternity wear and the fact that you’d only be wearing it short term.
I found the comfiest day wear outfits as well as the perfect LBD for those times when you reluctantly have to dress up to go out! It isn’t too hard to save money and buy a few basic essentials to keep you going through the next 40 weeks… so stay tuned!