The Favorites And Not-So’s Of Pregnancy

With this, my final pregnancy winding down I thought I’d better get down my thoughts on being pregnant – what I love and don’t like so much about the process.First up, what I love!

Things I LOVE about being pregnant:

• Feeling the kicks – there is nothing I love more about being pregnant than feeling the little tiddler kicking away in there.  Once in a while you get a good jab that hurts, but more often it’s just a neat feeling to feel that poke. 
• Seeing the way Baby makes my belly move: it’s so crazy to be sitting here, minding my own business, when all of a sudden my whole belly shifts and changes shape.  Sometimes you can see Baby ‘knocking’ on my belly, kind of like “Hi Mommy!”.  Other times you can tell Baby is all on one side and I’m completely pushed over to one side.  Or when the baby rolls over and your whole belly does the wave.  So neat to watch.
• Getting knowing smiles from strangers in the store:  I just love the connection you feel with other people when they notice your belly then look up to catch your eye and give you a nice smile.  It makes the world feel nice again.
• Hearing the baby’s heartbeat:  Something about that little ticker in the chugging away, puts a smile on my face every time.
• Getting extra hugs and kisses from the boys: They think they are hugging the baby but really I’m getting a bonus hug, too, and I love it!  They are so sweet giving the baby kisses and talking to it. 
• Listening to Andy coo and baby talk to the baby:  OMG, seriously, this man rocks my world, and my pregnancies.  I should do a whole post on just how amazing he is.  But, for this, one of my favorite things about being pregnant is when Andy ‘plays’ with the baby by poking at it and talking to it.  And it never fails, as soon as Andy puts his hand on my belly Baby starts kicking and moving.  It’s in love with Daddy already.
• Being pampered: Ok, I couldn’t leave this one out, it wouldn’t be honest. I don’t get a lot of back rubs or massages, but I get pampered in so many other ways.  Like Andy makes us supper.  Or he grabs my arm and helps me walk across a slick parking lot.  Or Brennan jumps at the chance to make me a glass of ice water.  Aiden will sort of rub my feet.  The boys both try to beat me to the door to open it first for me.  I could go on and on.  My three guys spoil me rotten!
• Going to my prenatal appointments:  I don’t know why  I love these so much but I do!  Maybe it’s because they make me feel special and a little pampered, all that attention on me.  It’s fun to hear the heartbeat, have my belly measured, talk to my Dr. who I really love.  I just love the appointments!
• Always being happy knowing what is brewing: It starts from the first second you have an inkling that you are pregnant and carries on through the whole pregnancy, past birth and onto their entire lives.  It’s a joy that is indescribable.

Now for the not so pleasantries:

• RLS:Restless Leg Syndrome is no joke, it stinks!  It’s not fun to be sitting here and having my legs twitch and bounce and want to go.  Luckily I finally talked to my Dr. about it (took me getting all the way through 2 pregnancies, slow learner), she recommended Magnesium.  That has totally done the trick!  I can always tell on the nights we eat out and I forget to take it.  Thank goodness for med’s (even though I hate taking them)!
• Heartburn: with this pregnancy I have had it since week 11.  By week 28 I had had enough, it was pretty awful.  So another med (Zantac) and I’m doing much better.  This is another one that I can totally tell if I forget to take it. 
• Having a splitting pelvic bone: Okay, this was super painful, and not nearly as bad as it could have been had the darn thing actually split, but still, it hurt!  Ever since Dad’s accident and doing all of that walking it has felt so much better, but for some reason over the last week or 2 it has started burning (the bone).  It’s a weird feeling.  If I ride in a car for more than 30 minutes I am in major pain and it takes me a good 5 minutes or more of walking before it starts to feel better.
• My legs and ankles swelling: This has been on the painful side this last week.  It hurts to stretch and bend my ankle too far. It feels like my entire calf, knee and thigh are one big bruise so just touching them hurts.  And now my hands are starting to swell up. You can’t tell from looking at them but I can feel how tight they are in the joints. 
• The lack of sleep: I get insomnia when pregnant, this isn’t new to me. But what is new is the number of times a night I wake up to use the bathroom.  Most times I can fall right back to sleep, but about every 4th or 5th night I lay awake, tossing and turning, for 2 hours.  Never fails that I’ll fall asleep about 45 minutes before Andy has to get up for work so I feel super groggy and out of it because I get woken up by him moving around.  These last couple of weeks I have finally said the heck with it and gotten up to come to the living room and lay on the couch.  I read a book or watch TV until I feel drowsy enough to know I’ll fall back to sleep, then either sleep on the couch or go back to bed.  It totally sucks, makes me mad and I usually end up crying because of it. 
• Feeling like a beached whale: It is so awkward for me to get up off the couch, roll out of bed, get in and out of the car, etc, etc, etc.  Part of that is from the pelvic pain, but mostly it’s because I am so big. 
• Using ever single bathroom I pass:  If I don’t stop to use the bathroom when I see it I’m going to regret it when I’m in the back 40 at Target and don’t think I’ll make it back to the front of the store before I wet myself.  I go every time I leave the house because that 20 minute ride to town could be 19 minutes too many.  One day last week I was up every hour for 4 hours straight after I went to bed because I had to use the bathroom.  It’s getting out of control, wouldn’t you say? LOL!
• Gestational Diabetes:  Overall GD has not been that big of a pain, but even after dealing with it for 8 weeks I still crave Mt Dew daily.  And since Dad’s accident I have not been the best at taking and recording my glucose levels.  I am already dreaming of having my first big swig of Mt Dew in 2 weeks!
• The constant fear:  There is never a moment that I am not worried about this baby and my pregnancy.  The fear of something bad happening never goes away.

The good far outweighs the bad and I’d do it all over again because the outcome is so worth all of it.  But I want to be able to remember everything since it is the last time I’ll ever be pregnant again, and that means recording some of the not so fun things about pregnancy. 

I can’t wait to have and hold this baby but I have truly loved being pregnant with this little bundle.  Every pain and ache and uncomfortable-ness has been so worth it.  I’m ready for the baby to be here and not ready for this journey to end.  Only a couple more weeks…

Erin