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Pregnancy

Well nobody mentioned THAT!! Things I never thought about pregnancy until I actually got pregnant

374 replies

heylottie · 26/06/2009 15:38

I consider myself fairly well read on all things fertility and baby, having been ttc for some time. But now I am pregnant there are things that I am still surprised about.

  1. Drool - I am sure I never used to wake up in The Pool of Drool that now greets me every morning
  2. Baby gender - was always adament that I would never want to find out the sex, but MY GOD the temptation to ask at the 20 week scan was nearly overwhelming! I didn't but golly...
  3. That I would need panty liners some days (TMI? yes but still)
  4. That listening to Matchstick Men and Matchstick Cats and Dogs on the radio had me wailing (I don't expect this one to be universal)
  5. The amount of people who, when you tell them of back ache, gripes and pain, say 'well it will only get worse' triumphantly.
  6. That when the baby kicks my first response is still (sometimes) 'Oh I need to fart.'


Any more???
OP posts:
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Joy27 · 26/06/2009 15:45

I was always convinced I would never succumb to the "eating for two" myth, and that those who eat more than the reccomended 200 or so extra calories a day were just being piggy.

Nobody ever told me that if I didn't shovel food into my gob constantly, I would feel sick. And that the moment hunger sets in, the retching would commence.

Am going to be the size of a house, and I'm trying to stick to healthy snacks. But seriously I eat all.the.time.

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NellyNoKnicks · 26/06/2009 15:46

I found I spent a lot of my pregnancy craving all the things I wasn't supposed to eat... peanut butter, even though I wouldn't normally eat it, it was the fact I couldn't have it.

Memory loss and sometimes not even being able to finish a sentence because I couldn't remember what I was going to say.

Was so surprised at the amount of people who had so many stories to tell about the way they raised their kids, and telling me I didn't know what I'd let myself in for (turns out they were right), but it did get very patronising after the 50th time.

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SatHereSitting · 26/06/2009 15:46

That you feel like you need an epidural for the pain from piles in later pregnancy, people tell you that you may get piles yes, but not that you have to sleep with ice cubes between your bum cheeks and use labour breathing methods just to go to sleep for weeks on end!! Sorry for the TMI but by god, why did nobody tell me about that! I actually asked the doctor if I could be induced because of them, and was met with and told no

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McSnail · 26/06/2009 15:46

Yeah - and NO-ONE tells you about swollen, painful, engorged genitals and vaginal varicose veins either.

I've made it my duty to tell all my friends of child-bearing age about this.

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NellyNoKnicks · 26/06/2009 15:48

Oooo also, people at work who used to comment about how much I ate.... yet if I bought cakes they would never refuse them!

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YanknCock · 26/06/2009 15:49

I didn't know my boobs would start leaking before I gave birth, nor that it would be so early on (about 18 weeks).

I didn't know about the drool.

I didn't know I'd become a full time Tena Lady due to weeing myself during barfing sessions, sneezing fits, laughing heartily, etc.

I didn't know the Tena Ladys would also come in handy for the stupid amount of discharge.

With all this leaking going on, is it any wonder I woke up one morning, noticed some wetness in my belly button and thought 'FFS, how many more places can I leak from?' (It was leftover gel from the 3D scan I'd had the night before)

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PeppermintPatty · 26/06/2009 15:49
  1. That I'd need to go for a wee before I could leave the house. And then go for another one JUST before leaving just to be sure. And then get 5 mins up the road only to need another wee.


  1. Snoring. Waking myself up by snoring.


  1. Crazy dreams. Scary dreams. Sad dreams.


  1. Leg cramps in the night, which made me leap out of bed screaming and DH thought I'd gone into labour every time.


  1. I got hiccups (just one or two at a time) regularly and for no apparent reason - they came out the blue and susprised me. Often in the middle of a meeting.
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NellyNoKnicks · 26/06/2009 15:52

Sorry I know that I'm getting very carried away, but really you should be warned about the post childbirth poo. Especially with the piles! I wish I'd had warning about it. Sorry if tmi.

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Steaknife · 26/06/2009 15:57

That your breasts balloon from before you even pee on a stick. I just assumed that that would happen towards the end, closer to when they become useful.

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SatHereSitting · 26/06/2009 15:58

Oh and that you seem to lose 50% of your brain power during pregnancy, this decreases to around a 90% loss following labour and sadly you never seem to get it all back. I still forget what I'm talking about mid sentence, regularly forget my address, ds birth date and more worringly how to drive and DS is 8 weeks old now.

My favourite saying during pregnancy and now is "well I did use to be clever!"

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PlumpRumpSoggyBaps · 26/06/2009 16:01

That you could get so fed up with being pregnant (towards the end), that you would wake up in the morning and for that brief moment before you're properly awake would think 'Oh thank God I'm not pregnant anymore' before putting your hand on the elephant-sized bump and feeling your heart sink just a little bit......

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spiralqueen · 26/06/2009 16:10
  1. That you could be sick throughout (well from before I knew I was pg until 39+4 anyway)
  2. That needing to go to the loo all the time doesn't necessarily stop once you've had DC
  3. That the GP was wrong when she said the pain from my dislocated spine (during pg) was much less than I would face during labour
  4. That the second trimester went past so quickly that I didn't get time to enjoy what's supposed to be the best bit
  5. That your boobs could go up 2 cup sizes in a week


Oh the joys
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Northernlurker · 26/06/2009 16:18

I din't know about the leaking either or the restless legs or the cramp in the night.

I also didn't know that morning sickness comes (for me) hand in hand with motion sickness - in cars, buses and trains!

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Trikken · 26/06/2009 16:30

That you burp every five minutes, but that it isnt as bad as the gas you get from t'other end...

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Wigglesworth · 26/06/2009 16:34

That I would
1)Need a piss every 5 seconds in my last trimester
2)Have 34GG cup tits when the whole thing was done and dusted, they are still an impressive F cup, I was a D cup before I got pregnant.
3)Need 2 doubled up super sized maternity pads after having DS to have any chance of my knickers staying the colour they were intended to be.
4)Sob at "let loose, crazy for you" on MTV when about 38 weeks gone because it reminded me of being young and carefree.

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SpookyMadMummy · 26/06/2009 16:36

That as pregnancy progresses, when you lay on one side, baby kicks the hell out of the stomach wall, when you lay on the other, it uses your bladder as a football.

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GentlyDidIt · 26/06/2009 17:04

My complete inability to deal with current affairs in case there is any mention of bad things happening to mothers & babies (or bad things happening in places where mothers & babies might be, i.e. the ENTIRE WORLD)
Odd libido
Orgasms making my bump throw weird shapes
A rather lovely "don't give a sh*t" attitude to most things non-pregnancy related
Not being able to eat due to morning sickness (at the start) and heartburn (at the end)
That morning sickness lasts all day and feels like a whisky & red wine hangover

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pippa251 · 26/06/2009 17:16

1)The colour of the thing that leaks from my boobs is bright custard yellow!!!!
2)how painful indigestion actually is
3)The location of toilets becomes ones first priotity
4)Needing to drink all the time- even through the night
5)the day to day - I think I'm going to sit on the babies head down below pain

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Squiffy · 26/06/2009 17:24

I am sure the Miriam Stoppard books never mentioned that I would have to start shaving my nipples.

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Poledra · 26/06/2009 17:33

That you will fart, and they will smell so bad that even you will be repulsed by them

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Longtalljosie · 26/06/2009 18:07

How small the gap is between getting your positive pregnancy test and starting to feel like shit.

That you will be wide awake at 4am, regularly, and for no obvious reason. And you will have scarily vivid dreams when you do sleep.

How that tiredness people talk about in the third trimester doesn't come on gradually - you walk smack into it in week 30.

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PortBlacksandResident · 26/06/2009 18:15

Lochia.

I honestly didn't know that you bled afterwards. How innocent was i?

When i read it in the Boots book i though "Oooh i wonder what else there is i don't know"

Silly Me!

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bluebump · 26/06/2009 18:19

Oh yes, the tiredness is unbelievable. 1st time round I remember sitting on the sofa after work and waking up at dinner time wondering what the hell had happened.

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WinkyWinkola · 26/06/2009 21:27

Mahoosive leg cramps in the night.

Heartburn. It's really unpleasant.

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lupa · 26/06/2009 21:31

Nosebleeds. Godawful headaches in the first trimester. Random stabbing pains in various parts of the body. Skin tags. Shocking leg cramps.

Very glad to hear I'm not alone with the drooling either.

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