Things about pregnancy that no one tells you

[CBear6]

I'm starting to remember the weird things I noticed when pregnant with DS, mainly because they're happening again with this one, and at the time I wondered why no one ever mentions these things, not even the books (or at least the ones I read).

Things like:

• rolling over in bed becomes a test of strength, patience, and momentum. It's all about timing the pivot and the flop and using Whatever is in reach (sorry DH) for leverage
  

• your nipples get huge and change colour
  

• morning sickness isn't just in the morning, sometimes it's all day and all night too
  

• the random hormone-fuelled dreams
  

• the hair. It'll either stop growing and go all lank or it'll grow like weeds. And it's not just the hair on your head that's affected
  

• skin tags. For whatever reason they're common in pregnancy. I didn't know this until the doctor told me so when I got one on the end of my nipple, it turned black (the tag not the nipple)

[adewonder]

9 weeks, not told anyone apart from oh and it's my first, so tired I fell asleep at work today. Swollen tummy is hard to cover up in workwear too. Also dreaming about wild sex with ex, but can't cope with my oh's smell so don't want him near me.
Quite glad to see this thread as now I feel like people are being honest at least. I'm scared of everything so far, which is sounding more and more of a sensible approach.:)

[annaabroad]

That everyone and their sister/mother/aunt knows EXACTLY how you are feeling, how you will feel, what you will like and dislike and what you MUST do - and have no qualms in sharing all of that with you, unasked...

[CBear6]

Isn't that the truth, Anna? My 10yo brother was givin out pregnancy/labour advice yesterday and when I was pregnant with DS (when he was 8yo) he was doing the same.

[crappymoodymoo]

loved reading this :) with my first wee one i had the itchy tummy omg im covered in stretch marks even my jina my legs my sides my boobies everywhere its gruesome!! my nails grew beautifully with her tho it was grwat i had glowing skin energy in abundance no sickness fabulous times had by all until this pg...

first 3 months of this one i had no energy i wandered off to bed to sleep leaving the oh with our 6 yr old randomly he'd think i was in the shower and id be dead alseep in bed lol

also craved chocolate like a m-fkr but every time i ate it i threw up (lovely!!)

felt totally unatractive so when oh came near me i'd growl at him lol

now im 18 weeks and i

cant walk as far as 2 yards in front of me without needing to stand for a minute to catch my breath and lose the dizziness

cant stop pooing!! getting iron tablets soon so im making the most of it whilst i can llf!!

the itchy tums here but not half as bad tho i think its cos theres no more room for stretch marks :D

the mad dreams i had them wi the first but more so this time round mad as a hatter they are lol

sore boobies omg they hurt but my right one gets the worst pains :(

and i can feel all the stretching going on in my tummy every wee pain im like ow!! not good :(

xx

[charlotteabigailharris]

Has no-one recognised the massive jugs that come with pregnancy? I'm24+1 with my first boy and I'm not joking I could imitate Jordon - would be nice if they didn't hurt so much. Have to buy a new bra every week!

Understand that I have the stretch marks and leg ache to come, thank you for the warning I won't be absolutely terrified now
:)

[Bumpsadaisie]

Yes, the boobs. God its like walking round with two bags of cement stuck on your chest. DH says its great but they don't even look that nice!

The utter grimness of the first trimester - maybe I'm just a wuss but both times have felt like death, been on anti-sickness drugs and felt really pretty depressed. Magically both times it vanishes by 15 weeks and then I feel great (at least until towards the end when everyone gets fed up). So if youre in your first trimester and feeling awful, chin up!

The worry before each scan followed by (for most of us who are lucky) the utter relief that everything looks OK. DH took me to a cafe after our 20 week scan this week and I was just sobbing with how relieved I was and how lucky we are that this baby too seems to be all OK.

I was expecting the newborn stage to be horrendous but actually I was on quite a high and although I was tired, I loved it. It was certainly much better than being pregnant! The lowest point of the whole pregnancy/small baby thing has definitely been the first trimester for me.

How fun maternity leave is. DD and I had a ball - meeting up with friends and babies most days, baby swimming, baby cinema etc. I felt guilty for poor DH having to go to work! This time round DD will be 2 yrs 5 mths when DC2 is born so I expect it will be much harder ....

[titferbrains]

yes to disgusting spots.

Cramp at night when you're already uncomfortable and trying to stretch - great, now I'm fully awake AND in pain!

Expecting DH to be a mind reader, why doesn't he know that I need to be spoiled and cuddled ALL THE TIME?

Loss of ability to shop like I normally do - 2 shops then I'm all "ooh, i'm so tired, I could do with a lie down, I think I need a cake and cup of tea and then a nice taxi home..." where are the 6 hour marathons staring at tat I neither want nor need? They were fun!

A desire to cook only the things that I want to eat. Usually my love of cooking stems from a desire to feed and please others, these days I slap down a random collection of foods and say "well it's what I felt like eating" or "leftovers, sorry, I couldn't be arsed"

The infernal grunting when putting on shoes. Just try to stop making those noises! Impossible!

[titferbrains]

oh yes, and it hurts to sneeze. Great when you have hayfever!

[roz1982]

oh my gosh it really does hurt to sneeze! I sneezed this morning and felt momentary agony in my lower abdomen! Actually felt a bit worried that I might harm the baby with a sneeze!!!

I'm 17 weeks and am really starting to suffer with total cotton wool head - can't remember anything and feel like I'm walking around in a daze ALL THE TIME.

[Flippingebay]

waking up at 3 am completely starving and having to go and eat 3 weetabix just to get back to sleep.

having my DH shave my 'bits' cause I don't wanna look like a wooly mamouth at the birth (although when it happened I couldn't have cared if I looked like chewbacca)

[domrocks]

Has anyone else woken themselves up burping?!

[mrsrvc]

That second/ third time round, morning sickness is worse with a weakend pelvic floor.. Another reason for pantyliners..

[redexpat]

Bodily stuff:
Sticky bogies and nosebleeds.
Having to sleep whilst wearing supportive vest tops because the duvet hurt my nipples.
The discharge streaming out.
Being restricted to having sex doggy style.
Not being able to cuddle DH vertically (he has a belly too).
Putting on socks becomes an olympic sport.
Getting out of bed is even more difficult than normal.

Social stuff:
People lose the ability to talk to you about anything other than pregnancy. It's like being a bride all over again.
Conflicting info and best practice (Mum was MW and HV in the UK, sister lives in Oz, I live in DK and they ALL have different dos and donts).
The obsession with my belly button.

[Loolah]

being sick from morning till night, and occasionally wetting myself whilst being sick. (having a sink or bowl next to toilet was always a must)
big boobs, being out of breath, being off balance as belly gets bigger (fell down the stairs with dd2)

[CBear6]

Oh yes, the weird centre of gravity shift.

Needing help getting out of the bath (I fell over in the bath when I was pregnant with DS).

Still got the crazy nesting urges, crocheting did not go well (had the urge to make blankets rather than buy them despite having never crocheted in my life). Spent twenty minutes crying that I'm a rubbish mother who can't even make a blanket.

And the socks! I have that too. DH puts my socks on for me before he leaves for work each morning, if I'm still asleep he just lifts the duvet and I wake up to find I'm wearing socks. He did it with DS too. Thankfully I could manage underwear.

[GemmaReeto]

Week 19 and so far symptoms have been....

[GemmaReeto]

wooops...pressed something and cant find where to delete and start again.....baby brain???

Tiredness
Sore boobs
Boob growth..woohoo! They've never been so big but also never been so god damn veiny!
Itchy nipples (having to try to inconspicuously put a finger down the bra to relieve the itch while at work)
Constipation
'Oh look i've got a bump today'...tomorrow 'oh no I was just bloated'
Trapped wind...ouch!
Aching down below making me walk like I have pooped my pants
Heartburn and it taking about 3 hours for my tea to go down
Needing a wee....all the time!
A line of dark hair leading down to my belly button
swollen looking never regions!
Discharge and lots of it :/

WORRY!

[OlivesIncubator]

The best thing about pregnancy would have to be finding this thread. I have been feeling like absolute dogs balls for the past two weeks. So tired, shaky and lightheaded that I haven't been able to drive my car, work, anything. I have been living on a diet of baby pasta shells with ketchup, peas and cheese as it comforts me and I have been convinced that I actually have ME or something. DH thinks I am mad and that two weeks of tiredness does not constitute ME...but I am EXHAUSTED I tell him. So to be sitting here giggling away at everyone's sock troubles, simultaneous peeing and puking and being woken by their own burps FEELS WONDERFUL! Sorry if that sounds insensitive but it is so nice to feel that I am not alone in what is supposed to be my carefree 2nd trimester. :)
Btw does anyone elses nipples look the teeniest bit like cauliflowers? Oh dear.

[CBear6]

Wind! What's that all about? 28+1 and I've been tooting away like an elderly dog all blinking day.

[GemmaReeto]

...i'd like to add one that I have been in agony with for the past 2 days...trapped wind! Bloody ouch!

[Jellyboobs]

That you feel absolutely knackered all the time, I need to have a 2 o clock nap, which is tricky when I work 9-5!
Definitely weird dreams, and lots of flailing about during them too :)
Really fancying something particular to eat, going to buy it, getting it home and suddenly the thought of it making me puke.
INDIGESTION!!!!!!
The hundreds of other people that will announce their pregnancies in the same building as I work while I'm still waiting to announce at work til 12 weeks.
How it's quite weird trying to act un-pregnant in front of people.

[MakesCakesWhenStressed]

I used to have ME and the pregnancy tiredness is worse.

I, too, am loving this thread. I'm 10 weeks and suffering horribly so I'm taking pleasure in the fact that others are having it worse. I know, I know, I'm a horrible person.

DH - whose smell I used to adore - now smells yukky to me unless freshly showered. Oh yeah - and despite me being fat, usually in need of a shower, unshaven (and with hairier legs and armpits than ever) and no makeup DH is finding me sexier than ever. wtf?

[Bumpsadaisie]

That the baby can kick you in the fanjo - or it feels like that anyway!

That the last two weeks or so you feel like you are walking around with a head squashed between your legs. Err ... in fact you ARE walking round with a head squashed between your legs! My pelvis felt like it was going to fall apart!

The grimness of the first trimester.

The loveliness of feeling baby kicking - I always smile when I get whacked, even at 4am. Its just lovely to feel.

[MakesCakesWhenStressed]

First trimester is grim - anyone else feel like they must be making a fuss about nothing or are somehow failing because being pregnant is about the only thing they have energy for? I can't cook, clean, work or do anything remotely useful atm. It doesn't help that DH is ill atm and still having to do everything. I feel terrible. I feel like I must be exagerrating.

I'm sorry. This was supposed to be a lighthearted thread, but I'm struggling.

[PotteringAlong]

1. constipation
   
2. massive boobs
   
3. that it's like going through puberty again but very very quickly
   
4. that I wouldn't be able to clean my teeth without gagging
   
5. that sometimes I love it and at other times the sheer enormity of it takes my breathe away and scares the bejeebuz out of me
   
   and very unmumsnetty hugs to makes cakes - hope you're ok.