What parts of this pregnancy lark have come as a shock to you?

[TheScenicRoute]

Hello,

Well I can definitely be accused of romanticising the idea of being pregnant before I got here, but one or two things have come as a shock (and I'm only 8+4 so I'm sure there's more to come!!!)

Here's my three....

The exhaustion! The EXTREME exhaustion, the fact that I'll go to the lengths of secretly locking myself in the grubby work shower room at lunch time with a blanket on the floor and a pillow to shoe horn an extra 1/2 hours sleep into the middle of my day! I wouldn't cope working full time if I didn't do this!

The soles of my feet are on fire! I'm one of life's 'cold' people, my feet are NEVER hot, this is so weird and a little uncomfortable.

Finally, the romanticised idea that when I got pregnant the baby would be mine and my partners. But oh no! What I didn't anticipate was that EVERYBODY would have a stake in these (twins) babies, and everyone has an opinion. It's made me dread the announcement at 12 weeks because then there'll be even more opinions.

So what were your shock factors?

Second the blocked nose - drives me potty

The over reacting to things!

The speed at which body hair is growing - bearded lady here I come!

Second the lack of maternity clothes (Size 20 ladies only wear leggings!)

Tick boxes for medical people which mean I have 12 extra appointments throughout pregnancy with no issues occuring currently but they might!!!!

Sweating, peeing when laughing or sneezing and my enormous feet would make it easy for me to pass as shrek! Nobody warned me.......I had sickness up until week 20 too. Just hoping the weather cools so that my feet can shrink.

Having wee envy of the ladies in the cubicles next to me in public toilets, oh how I wish I could have a big long wee again rather than being desperate for... Literally a few drips!

The snot! The boogies. The nose bleeds. The dry nostrils, mouth and tongue EVERY night!

Still feeling nauseous at 6 months!

The fact that I still can't quite comprehend that I have babies inside me even though I'm huge...when do you realise?

The awful rib pain which leaves me in tears at the end of a car journey.

Completely fed up with everyone asking me stuff about the pregnancy all the time. I'd just like to have normal conversation (I know this is horribly ungrateful, I know they care.)

Lack of sleep due to leg cramp, needing a wee, rib pain, hip pain, knee pain, struggling to roll over and snoring which wakes me up.

My husbands lack of interest in sex which he swears is nothing to do with my enormous belly but I'm pretty sure is

The incredible urge to chew and suck on sponges, flannels and sheets

Sponges? Now that one's a bit odd! Lol. Could it be a type of Pico? Have you had your iron levels checked? Oh well at least it's harmless, who knows what weird things I've got waiting around the corner for me. How many weeks preggers were you when it started? Oooo I have so many questions... Is it a comfort thing? Did you have a 'blankie' when you were little for self soothing?

Sponges was my thing too!
loved the noise they made being ripped apart and holding them in my mouth when dry!
Novelty has since worn off at 39 weeks though
And funny but iv had iron issues.. is there a link?

TheScenicRoute My iron levels were on the low side, mainly due to me eating too many antacid tablets (tropical fruit flavour tums are just too moreish!) It started mid-second trimester I think. It could be a comfort thing I remember doing similar things when I was very young at bath-time.

excitedforbaba When are you due? I'm due Thursday, no warning signs yet

I hate choosing due on Saturday
have had a few "signs" but nothing comes off them! I was the same always eating sponge when I was younger too!

"Morning" sickness. Such a benign phrase for something I've found so debilitating.

Heartburn. Holy fuck.

The sheer exhaustion like energy is being leeched from your bones.

That nothing transformative has happened. The way pregnancy is discussed it's like you magically become a whole different person, a mother from conception, totally connected. I still don't feel that way, 25 weeks in.

How it would (positively) change me and my husband's relationship. We have found a depth of love and friendship that we hadn't before. It's nice.

How unbelievably stressful it is and how angry dictating to women makes me. How disempowered I often feel.

The baby that comes out at the end!

Feeling like crap virtually all the time. Unless you do feel ok then you start to worry that you're only feeling ok because something has gone wrong.

Heartburn. Just when you finally manage to get to sleep- boom! Your body decides it wants to have a go at vomiting fire.

Yy to the drooling in bed-never have I in my life woken myself up by dribbling down my face . Occasional morning sickness still at 26 weeks in now, heartburn which makes me feel sick.
Struggling in hot weather (currently in Malaysia and off to Australia on Sunday so no sympathy expected!)

Ooh I like this thread...My biggest killer is that I was always promised I would sleep like the dead when I was pregnant, but I've actually never slept worse in my whole life then I have done for the past 28 weeks. I constantly need to wee or have insomnia despite being completely exhausted!

My others are: the constant heat and wet feeling 'down there', being completely knackered walking up a hill or upstairs despite being a pretty fit person normally and generally just feeling not remotely like myself!
BUT, seeing and feeling my little man kicking the crap out of my belly makes it all worth it!

I'm 26wks with bubby no.5!!

The terrible lower back pain, hip pain that's now making me walk like I've messed myself!

Fidgeting non stop in bed, even though I'm shattered I'm still unable to just nod off.
Terrible skin, I never get spots usually.
Huffing n puffing when only walking a short distance, I have to walk over a huge steep hill/bridge to get onto my road, it's a bloody killer!!
Itchy belly, drives me insane I wanna rip my skin to pieces!!
Stuffy nose in the morning, horrible huge boogers!! Eurhhhh!
My triple chins. Cellulite! Bloody hell I could go on n on here. . But I'm loving my usual pregnancy craving, Ice!!

Mrshjb, I could have written that post!
Seeing how exhausted I am all the time, I thought I'd sleep amazingly well...No, no! My body & mind have much more interesting things to be doing at 3am than sleep!
Also, the constant need to wear panty liners despite being 25 weeks pregnant..I thought I'd get a nine month break from these!
How I have to wake myself up to turn over these days...
How I envy people that tie their shoe laces without any effort/grunting!!

Currently feel like I could do with a hoist for turning over in bed.

Can no longer cross my legs when sitting in a chair, that's new this week.

That DH would vacate our marital bed quite so early on, the fidgeting is constant! And the pillow nest takes up all the space I was determined that this would never happen!

The inability to sleep. Whether it's thrush, hip pain, weird dreams, waking on my back, needing a wee, baby kicking or just lying awake starting into space, I'm not sure I've had a full nights sleep since we conceived.

How frustrating it would be to not be able to do anything. DH is super protective and won't let me lift anything, I can't do anything at work without someone rushing in with a 'you shouldn't be doing that!' Even the neighbours are getting in on the act and openly questioning whether I should be gardening. I'm used to just cracking on with stuff and it's pissing me off so much! I just want to move my chest of drawers without waiting a week for DH, or stand on a chair to reach something without anyone commenting!

The feeling that it's not going as I planned. The exhaustion and nausea are so hard to cope with every day that I'm eating bland carbs and soup like an invalid - totally averse to anything fresh and to protein. I've stopped exercise altogether because I can't cope. Can't be good for baby. I had hoped to keep weight gain to a minimum but I have ended up buying maternity jeans at 9+6.

I feel just completely unable to cope. House is in a tip, I look a mess and it's as much as I can do to drag myself to work. I'm no company for my lovely husband either, too tired to really engage properly - or stay awake. Thankfully, he's been amazing and hasn't had a single thing to say.

I'm a second timer but you just forget how bad it is!

Morning sickness - why is it called that when it's 24hr?

Exhaustion - cannot do anything other than lie in bed all day, oh except vomiting

How slowly time goes, especially before the magical 12wk scan date.

The fact that anything I'm annoyed about (especially genuine issues at work) are put down to hormones. My boss is particularly bad for this -even when I'm raising the issues on behalf of my whole team. She even (jokingly?) said that other people being off ill was due to my hormones.

The dreams!! Totally forgot about these as last time was 7 years ago! Not interested in sex at all when I'm awake, too sick, but when I'm asleep.. At least last time most of the dreams were about DH, now 8+2 again and having some interesting dreams about a whole range of colleagues (whom I don't find attractive at all IRL... boak)

im 16 weeks with my 5th. im getting back/hip pain as well time i have got home from work i want to cry :( . constipation!!

And yes dreams. I had a dream my eye ball fell out do i put it in my back pocket till i could get to the docs :/

That I want to stay in watching tv and miss super-cool haloween costume party we usually look forwards to for months. Somehow I thought I'd carry on as normal at 7 months pregnant!

Leg cramp and restless legs at night.

That I feel clumsy, also end up with toothpaste down my bump every time I brush my teeth! Clearly havnt adjusted to new shape.

How sad I'd feel growing out on my old clothes ( and ones I brought in early pregnancy thinking they would be big enough).

That I don't like pink for girls till I found out I'm having a girl and brought loads of pink, frilly and bow covered baby stuff......

The exhaustion. I truly believed that it would pass at the end of the first trimester and that I'd be full of my usual energy during the second. But no. I'm so tired I could cry ALL DAY.

And not knowing if that's normal or if it's actually something serious, antenatal depression comes to mind...