to think most people don't feel like this during pregnancy?

[Hangeron]

I feel as though I am basically just unwell for the entire 9 months.

I get nauseas, headaches that last for days, very achey neck, back and shoulders, and just generally feel lethargic, weak and very down in the dumps the whole time. I also suffer from insomnia when pregnant which exacerbates the other problems.

I also put on lots of weight but I think it's mainly water retention as I lose it quite quickly after the birth.

I am 38 and halfway through my 4th pregnancy. My other children are 6, 4 and 2. They are a lively bunch but generally well behaved! I am their full time carer so I know this means I am not getting much rest, but even when I do get a rest I still feel slightly depressed.

Is it normal to feel like this? All my pregnancies have been similar to this but this one seems even harder. My mood and attitude are less positive, and I really just want to hide away in my bedroom for the next 5 months!

How do the rest of you feel during pregnancy? Has anyone had an experience where they feel pretty much the same as when not pregnant?

I would love to just feel better than this - the days are so difficult to get through at the moment and I am only halfway.

"Occassionally would look down, spot the bump and just for a second think "what the hell is that!" as I'd forgotten."

Off topic, and odd considering how horrific I felt, but I'd do this too, lean into the understairs cupboard to get something, lean back whilst closing the door and shut my humongous belly in the door.

Or, trying to slide past colleagues in a narrow office, automatically turn sideways: truly wedged.

Those bits were actually pretty funny.

I have felt awful (mostly sickness related) all through my pregnancy (due on Monday)! & it has really made me reconsider the size of family I always wanted. This is my first and I'd have to seriously think about if I could pretty much write off 9 months again to have any more. It's a comfort to know you did it more than once despite suffering - but you're definitely not alone.

Yes I felt grim during both pregnancies. I was sick throughout them- couldn't even hold down water. Hospitalised and put on drip. You name the place - I've been sick during pregnancy - in the car whilst driving, at a nice restaurant/hotel, on holiday with in-laws - even during a lesson observation of a trainee teacher. The sickness finally stopped after I had given birth - I threw up all over my second baby. Literally covered his little body in puke. Delightful!

I felt cr*p during my pregnancies. I miscarried my 1st at 4 months & worried myself stupid with my next two, who were both healthy, live births. I was sick for 9 months with my 2nd & put on 5 stone: my friends didn't recognise me! I had a lump of fluid under my bump & it was spotty & itchy, (nice!)
I was fretful & got depressed/weepy. Apparently, pre-natal depression is as common as post-natal depression, but not as widely published or recognised.

I didn't, "bloom, " with either pregnancy, getting blotchy skin & split lank hair with each one. This hormonal change is just as common as the hormonal change that makes some women bloom, but again, has less publicity.
After a miscarriage, I felt so guilty that I wasn't one of these glamorous, blooming Mums to be, that skip through pregnancy with the sun shining. I felt crp & TBH I looked crp & I knew it.

On the positive side, I had 2 great births, had 2 most beautiful sons, breastfed successfully & went into a post-natal high.
Good luck

Pregnancies 1&2 were pretty textbook. With no3 I was back and forth from hospital for tests investigating my chest pain, breathlessness, lethargy and general feeling crappedness. By pregnancy 4, I thought I was dying every single day. Every bone and muscle hurt, constant migraines and nausea, no energy at all. I could barely move. About a year later, having felt little improvement in my health, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. The doctor said it was most likely triggered by my third and fourth pregnancies.

I had ds in my mid twenties, fit, cycled everywhere, walked up mountains etc.

From week 5 until after he was born I felt awful. Couldn't keep a thing down, permanently weak and dizzy. Walking two hundred meters had me shaking and retching over the gutter.

I wanted more but never again.

Sounds like a very un lucky pregnancy.
I think I had an easy pregnancy up until 34 ish weeks when I was tiring and swelling up and was induced at near on 36eks
Other than that just typical peeing 1000's times a day and thirsty,occasional heart burn and only once had very bad leg cramp.
I quickly knew what foods To avoid in order not to have sickness which was deep fried food of the chip shop variety and Parmesan cheese which I later found I shouldn't have been eating anyway :-/..
Still put off having another at that haha

You must be shattered. It's bloody hard. Worst year of my life frankly. Stopped at one, partly because of it.

This is the reason why people who say stuff like 'you're pregnant, you're not ill' give me the rage! Pregnancy can be bloody awful.

OP you have my sympathy too. I felt absolutely dreadful all the way through my last pregnancy. With the constant vomiting, low level depression, heartburn, spd, water retention, my face SPREADING and did I mention the constant vomiting?

Homesickness is a very good way to describe the lost feeling I have when pregnant.

If someone had ever dared tell me that pregnancy was not an illness I may have hit them.

Im the same and I have 5 ds, im always surprised at how great I feel when the baby is born as living with being so ill and drained of energy becomes the norm after a while

My first pregnancy veered from extended first tri with permanent exhaustion and starving from being unable to eat with constant nausea. Oh how I wanted to vomit! When that finally wore off in the 4th month, it was replaced by undiagnosed SOD which rendered me housebound in the end. I also had carpal tunnel so all 4 limbs were pretty useless.

Fortunately pregnancy 2 was better with normal sickness. I managed the SPD better and got crutches and a hip support which kept me functional. I can just about cope with the idea of writing off another year of my life for making a baby. My main complaint this time is that the SPD claimed squatters rights, and affected my normal function for a bonus 5-6 months. Bastard.

My first pregnancy was blisfully easy, I breezed through with only a couple of moments of mild nausea and mild spd towards the end. Both my subsequent pregnancies I have felt like absolute shite for the entire 9 months, tired, achy, 24 hour nausea with sporadic vomiting, repeated kidney infections, the works. So yes, for some poor buggers it is normal to feel completely shit the whole way through.

I thought I had been unlucky with my first pregnancy, as I never felt good. My second was so god damned awful that there will never be DC3, constant nausea until week 36, I did feel like I was dying. I would wake up hopeful that I would feel better and I never did except when DS was born. I felt a whole lot better. To do it four times you are mad and probably much younger than me!

13stitches That's hilarious!

This resonates with me. I had thyroid issues, I subsequently discoveted .
Very impressed that you are heading for four!

Did anyone else find they couldn't eat certain foods any more even after the birth? Some meals which made me threw up during the pregnancy were still no go areas 2 years later (and now during 2nd pregnancy Im not even attempting them!)

I've felt like absolute shit through both my pregnancies, one at 22 and one at 34 so age didn't make a difference.

Am currently 2 weeks post section with my dd and while I've felt crap from post section pain etc, I felt amazing from day 2 or so just for the mere fact that I wasn't pregnant anymore. It really is like a 9 month illness for me, I begin to feel shit about ten seconds after conception.

sizzle ds is 12 this year and I've not been able to eat eggs or cornflakes since. They were the first things I puked when HG set in. I can't even be in the room if dh cooks eggs.

I hate being pregnant as well.

Nausea 24/7 for the most part of the pregnancy (for some weird reason it gets better 5m to 7m), extreme tiredness but at the same time endless nightmares and insomnia, I feel very uncomfortable in my body (itchiness, lack of balance, etc) - I hate the whole thing.

The last time when the baby arrived even after the CS I felt energetic, young and very happy!

I hate being pregnant. I still can't believe I did it 3 times. Never again though. I felt horrid for the first 4 months then perked up for a couple of months and then wished the last few months would hurry up because I was sure I was dying!
Make sure to tell your midwife about all your symptoms though op in case all is not well, pre eclampsia springs to mind.
Other than that look after yourself and try and get lots of rest.

I also felt just rubbish during pregnancy. I think the upside though for me was I felt brilliant as soon as the baby was born, not just the new baby euphoria.

Oh yes sizzles! My DS is 23 and I have never eaten Weetabix after being very sick after eating it. It was still cold!! Sick, sick, sick. Woke up sick, went to bed sick. Luckily not hospitalized like my BF. I also had PUPP(very itchy rash) with no1, Hemiplegic migraine in labour (thought I'd had a strike) with no2 and an induction lasting 5 days with No3! Don't get me started on the woman who had a waterbirth at home with massage, candles etc and an easy time who told me that I didn't prepare enough!!!

Stroke, sorry!!

I also hated being pregnant. Said never again after the first one and 6 years later got caught out on a rare drunken love night with DH.

Both were awful. Constant nausea. And even if you vomit you still don't feel better. See I don't think people realise that about morning sickness, it's not like a stomach bug where you vomit the bad stuff out and have relief.

And the emotional toll for me was debilitating. That half depression, and like your body doesn't belong to you and I felt so vulnerable and absolutely hated the feeling.

I also got the Rage over nothing. For 9 whole months. DH says we won't survive another pregnancy together and I actually agree. So I've gone and got myself sterilized. It is a huge weight off my shoulders.