Feeling v daunted by pregnancy

[purpleaura]

Hi all,

I'm not actually pregnant yet, but am about to start trying. Everything I read about pregnancy makes the whole thing sound like 9 months of serious illness- nausea, vomiting, exhaustion, aches, crazy hormones, pain and just general hassle and difficulties!

I know that its totally worth it in the end- it's so exciting- but do you have any advice for someone who is beginning to dread the whole experience? Are there any good things about being pregnant? (please say yes!!) Is it really as bad as the books say?! (please say no!!)

Any advice v much appreciated :)

Thanks x

There are good things about it (no periods! yay!) and bad things about it (ouch, pelvic ligaments, ouch!) but every woman is different and every pregnancy is different.

I was on the phone to a friend the other day who has got to 12 weeks (after loads of miscarriages, fertility treatment etc) after wanting a baby for nearly 5 years - she said she felt as though she couldn't moan about the crappy bits of being pg, because it was what she wanted. To which I replied that a lot of people as teenagers go through braces, extractions etc to get a nice set of straight teeth but no-one in their right mind would expect them to enjoy the braces and extractions just because they wanted the straight teeth!

So, I hope you have a trouble-free pregnancy, don't dread it, because unless you're incredibly unlucky, you'll get days and weeks where you feel great - and also, you don't get all the symptoms all at once! I started off feeling constantly nauseous and knackered; now I have pgp and acid reflux, but I'm not nauseous any more, and it isn't all the time.

Good luck with ttc!