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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Original poster

Crazy sh*t they didn't tell me,,,

141 replies

lowra · 20/03/2011 19:13

about being pregnant.

Just how absolutely knackered I would feel during the first trimester.

That the contents of my nose (snot) would be all bloody. Blush

That some of my freckles and moles would grow and become darker Confused

How anxiety inducing and worrying this whole business is.

What were your suprises?

OP posts:
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TheEffinOasis · 21/03/2011 18:43

With you there on both counts pinkclouds. All rather gruesome.

JenniL1977 · 21/03/2011 18:58

I also forgot to mention the bloody headaches.

And how much I miss nurofen.

And how much I miss alcohol. The headaches are worse than the worst hangover I've ever had, and I can't even have alcohol... I was in the supermarket the other day stroking the vodka bottles...

BalloonSlayer · 21/03/2011 19:11

How LONG a pregnancy feels.

When other people are pregnant, you generally don't find out till they are 12 weeks. So in your mental calendar, pregnancies seem to last for about 28 weeks.

When it's you, there's the 2WW, then, if you're lucky and don't go overdue, another 38 weeks.

People saying "Oh I can't believe you're six months already! That's gone so FAST!" have always provoked violent feelings in me.

BalloonSlayer · 21/03/2011 19:11

I meant 36 weeks. D'oh.

ilovemydogandMrObama · 21/03/2011 19:22

that your private parts become public property and get used to random doctors/midwives examining you with fingers/instruments without much embarrassment.

Froggy81 · 21/03/2011 19:39

That I've become so hairy I look like a monkey.

That I'm constipated all the time no matter how much fruit and veg I eat.

Agreed with missmyoldname, that buying a pushchair really is a complex business.

That people can feel free to touch my belly.

That I suffer from terrible road rage or just rage sometimes.

theborrower · 21/03/2011 20:48

PMSL at this thread - DH keeps saying "Whaaaaat?".

That even after you've just had your own and still remember being annoyed at people touching your tummy, making comments like "You're so neat/huge etc" you find yourself doing exactly the same thing to your pregnant friend - sorry about that!

JimmyChoo17 · 21/03/2011 22:05

clearwere they serious about checking stitches for that reason....????Shock

And balloonslayervery very true!

JimmyChoo17 · 21/03/2011 22:07

Sorry stupid predictive text....should have been aimed at cbear

notenoughlicorice · 22/03/2011 09:15

That it hurts!
From the second month!

And that all of the abdominal pains are "normal" unlike what they say on webites...

That it is impossible to sleep more than 1-3 hours in a continuous strech...
... and you lie awake watching hubby beign jealous of how easily he goes to sleep AND SATYS ASLEEP! ...bastard...

That you can be completely wracked with hunger but not able to think about food let alone look at it or smell it... cause then you have to throw up again : (

WalterFlipsticks · 22/03/2011 09:17

JimmyChoo17 Yes my back passage was checked for that very reason! Blush charming!

PoledrathePissedOffFairy · 22/03/2011 09:35

Just to reassure people, I was let out of hospital without having done a poo (and had been in for 5 days).

Mind you, the MW arrived at my home the next day and said 'Well, have you done a poo yet then??' When I admitted yes, that within an hour of returning home, my bowels had condescended to work, she said triumphantly 'I knew it! It's amazing what a difference your own toilet makes!'

humanfraggle · 22/03/2011 10:45

that the 2nd time round, your boobs hurt twice as much - the whole time... I wouldn't have thought it was possible!

BlingLoving · 22/03/2011 11:13

Humanfraggle.... NO PLEASE TELL ME IT'S NOT TRUE.

I can't take additional pain. I already told DH if it hurts this much while bf we'll be ff!

G1nger · 22/03/2011 11:24

That you should avoid orgasms for the first week (ie the week you're due on your period) as they really, really hurt afterwards. Thankfully, this has gone away.

I'm also glad to read above a mention of moles getting darker. I have several of these which I noticed yesterday, although I plan to get them checked out when I'm next at the GP anyway.

I think I've had a fairly easy run of it so far, throughout my first trimester - the fatigue is easing off, the nausea has gone (and wasn't too much to begin with), and the belly hurts less but still provides a fair bit of discomfort (I can't wear jeans as they cut in at the wrong place and hurt). and I'm not sure if my boobs are less sore or if I've just got used to them being this way.

For me, the week I found out I was pregnant (one day before my period was due) was the most miserable by far. I hadn't realised that getting pregnant and gearing up for a period (the bloating, the soreness...) are essentially the same thing. Since then, I think I've had it a bit easy. It helps that I've been able to get a lot of rest as I've been working part time.

I also had my first scan last week so I'm still on a high from that :)

JBrd · 22/03/2011 13:09

That everything can make you cry. I can't watch TV at the moment without being reduced to floods of tears.

Chrononaut · 22/03/2011 13:10

that friends/people who have never had children, been around children or been through pregnancy or are not midwives/doctors, will tell you how to do things, raise your child or tell you your wrong for needing some time to yourself

and that the 10 weeks before your due date are the longest ever

dam those people.

CBear6 · 22/03/2011 13:53

Jimmychoo17, yup - they check to make sure it's not been seen shut, easily done apparently.

That everyone who has had a baby will take great joy in initiating first timers by telling them every labour horror story imaginable - my SIL told me that it was right around the hospital that she went 10hrs with no drugs and no one could believe it because in all their years of midwifery they'd never seen anyone withstand THE PAIN that long. When telling these stories THE PAIN must always be said in an ominous tone of voice that implies capital letters.

That you will get irrational ideas at 3am such as "let's open all of the windows" or "please wake up DH and help me turn the mattress" or "OH MY GOD I HEARD A NOISE! IT'S MONSTERS!!!" - if DP gets annoyed, hes the one being irrational.

That you really don't give a sh*t when you're in labour no matter how reserved you normally are.

That you will forget where the boundaries of privacy lie and will happily (and in detail) tell people about your mucous plug (including colour, quantity, and consistency), your bowel movements or lack of them, how often you pee, the size/shape/colour of your nipples (round, huge, brown), and that time a midwife put her fingers in your back passage to check it wasn't stitched shut .......

BakingBunty · 22/03/2011 16:15

JBrd, I cried during the Les Miserables montage whilst watching the Royal Variety Performance (the shame...)

In fact, it was my first pregnancy symptom.

That and the debilitating hunger, which was also a surprise.

Along with just how miserable and paranoid piles can make you feel... will they ever go away? Will I have to sit on one of those rubber rings? What will happen during labour? And... can anyone tell that I've got them?!

CBear6 · 22/03/2011 17:13

I was also let out of hospital without doing a poo and after a week of no pooping I was assured that it was quite normal not to have done one yet as everything is in shock down there. Finally pooped on day 12 post delivery by which point I hated everyone and I just felt like a human-shaped sack of food sloshing about the place.

No one told me that post-delivery my lady-bits would feel like I had been repeatedly kicked in them by a donkey wearing steel toe-cap boots. And the hospital has a policy of walking from delivery to the post-natal ward if you didn't have an epidural. It took me 10 minutes to walk 20 feet from the shower to the chair, you want me to walk where now!?

That hot flushes are sometimes replaced by feeling freezing cold, especially my feet and that I could actually be cold enough to have blue toes.

That early kicks sometimes feel like baby is tap-dancing on your cervix and the sensation can cause a flinch or two that will get you funny looks from other people.

That in the first couple of weeks, every time baby cries your boobs leak (even if you're formula feeding like I was).

No one told DH that to a newborn a nipple is a nipple. First night home with DS and DH decided he wanted to get in on "that skin-to-skin thing" so took his top off for a cuddle. Two seconds later and DS is trying to latch onto some Daddy nipple.

roo1983 · 22/03/2011 17:14

That the period type cramps in the first few days were implantation pains and completely normal.

That my stomach and groin would ache for the first few weeks as my ligaments stretched.

That I would transform back into an adolesent teenage for the first few weeks of pregnancy as my mood was like a rollercoaster, I had really bad spots and very greasy hair - lovely.

That the top of my thighs would kill during the 3rd trimester.

Baby brain really exists and i got it bad!

The hairs oh the hairs! On my nipples, stomach - every bloody where.

EldritchCleavage · 22/03/2011 17:29

You will smell different. Not necessarily in a good way.

That pregnancy expansion plus degenerating fibroids equals ow ow ow!

That one of the things you might completely go off and will make you feel utterly sick is the smell of your DH (didn't last long, thank goodness).

That the engorgement phase will make your boobs look like Lolo Ferrari's.

That milk might on occasion spurt out of your nipples like Coke out of a shaken bottle with Mentos in it.

BigBabyBoots · 23/03/2011 14:10

That after reading about pregnancy symptoms I would suddenly get all of them, and that when they stopped a few days later due to not being real I would panic and worry like I've never known.

To not wear mascara to the scan. I did cry, and it did burn.

That I would be so incredibly cruel to my DP Blush and send him out at 3am to fetch me a very specific fruit medley and meatballs.

That a uti - during pregnancy - would make me a worrying person to be around as my brain dissolved and left me grinning at Shreddies in the supermarket with a glazed expression. Not sure how I ended up there in the first place, I'd been aiming for the pharmacy...

That I wouldn't get any warning with morning sickness and it would end up in my hand or on the floor. At work. With patients.

That everything will rub. My boobs, my thighs, my bum cheeks. Cue sweaty rash.

That the scan would show more than baby. I would see exactly what's stuck in my bowels while my DP laughed and said "Look baby! Mummy's full of s**t!"

I'm loving every minute Grin

greenzebra · 23/03/2011 19:15

Crying at everything to true!

I ended up crying to 'Mr Blue sky' by ELO today when it was palyed on the radio.

acaseofyou · 23/03/2011 19:37

Oh, this thread made me laugh so much.

That morning sickness just means feeling sick all the time, not actually throwing up (for me, anyway).

That I would end up with a snail trail from belly button downwards to rival my DH's.

That I would spend so much time and energy worrying about my one hemorrhoid. It's going to get larger, isn't it? I know it's going to get larger. What if it bursts?

That I would end up with trapped wind or serious gas after eating anything at all.

Good times!