What’s it like being pregnant?

[Bogasphodel]

Essentially the title! Planning on it in the next year or so with OH. I’m in my 30s now and had an abortion in my 20s, when I found out I was pregnant then I was horrified and felt completely self-destructive. I really want children now with OH (different than terrible BF I had in 20s) but I’m really worried that it might feel the same?

This pretty much summed it up for me 😊

Despite the drawbacks I loved being pregnant.

Absolutely exhausting. There is nothing quite like pregnancy tired. I'm another who really didn't enjoy pregnancy. I got pgp and a trapped nerve which was excruciating. I also hated baby kicking me from the inside, freaked me out.
But it's all worth it in the end. If I didn't have to be pregnant again I'd consider another

I LOVE being pregnant. Had three babies and so sad I'm done. Envious of every pregnant woman I see!

Some bits are tough, but it's temporary and such an exciting journey...... maybe I could have one just more 🤔🫣😂

I had two easy pregnancies with very few symptoms. I didn't love being pregnant as I had summer babies so was very hot and bothered by the end. Labour was no walk in the park though x

This sums it up perfectly I think!

I can say that it’s worth it in the end. Your children are your joy. Pregnancy varies. For me it was not pleasant. I had twins and was sick almost hourly from 4 weeks to week 30 when they were delivered, by planned c section, as I had been hospitalised with preeclampsia from week 20. Who knows what your experience will be. I was told not to get pregnant again. I had two tiny prem healthy babies. I had no intention of getting pregnant ever again.

I have a dreadful fear of doctors/ hospitals so that made pregnancy very stressful. I'd come off antidepressants to ttc, got pregnant very quickly (which was a big shock, I was utterly convinced it would take ages or wouldn't happen at all, I don't really know why) and the depression/ anxiety crept up til I was totally overwhelmed by it but I hid it because I didn't want to go back on meds or for anyone to think I couldn't be a good mother. A lot of stuff from my past came back for me. But despite all that, being pregnant was an absolutely amazing experience and I'm so glad I got to do it. I still can't believe my body made another person. She's five now and she really is the light of my life, best thing that ever happened to me. I loved knowing I was carrying a little person around inside me, feeling the kicks and her tiny fingers jabbing my insides 😄 it was the weirdest, most wonderful time in my entire life.

I've been pregnant twice both planned and wanted. Suffered badly with antenatal depression with my second. Risk increases for unplanned pregnancy so don't assume it'll be the same as your last one.

My pregnancies were very different physically and emotionally, just the way it is. Every pregnancy is different.

Initially I felt sick all the time, eating was the only thing that kept it at bay. Then I got steadily more and more uncomfortable until I was at a point where everything I ate gave me heartburn and trying to move around was like maneuvering an oil tanker.

I spent the entire 9 months convinced something was going to go wrong and it was all just generally a bit rubbish. If dh could have done it instead that would have been far preferable.

I vomited every day for weeks and felt absolutely exhausted. One particular low point was when i was vomiting so violently that i wet myself.

I was also much more risk averse and stopped reading sad news stories! i hated the responsibility of knowing that if i injured my body my child would be at risk too.

third trimester is pretty uncomfortable and you wake up a lot to go to the loo. I personally struggled with lower back pain to the extent i felt almost disabled at times but i am someone who experienced back pain pre-pregnancy too.

There is also something incredibly exciting about knowing you have a whole new human you are about to meet and love and who will change your life forever. so it's not all bad :) but it's mainly bad.

Long

For me, i loved it! Hence, i have 5 kids (all adult now)

First and 2nd pgs i was VERY tired at the end. Not a normal tiredness; it felt literally like i'd been injected with sedative!

With my 2nd, i'd get up in the morning, take my first to playgroup which started at 9.30 am so i must only have been up for an hour and a half at most.
Then i used to come home, set an alarm and sleep the entire time she was in playgroup, pick her up, make lunch.

Then (mid 90s) Sesame st came on about 12.30 - i'd be fast asleep in that. I think i used to manage the afternoon but knocked off again after tea for the night!

I wasn't anaemic, but i dont think that can have been normal!

That never happened with pgs 3,4 or 5.

Pg 2 as well i had backache and my sacro illeac joint was very sore.

And i had really really bad heartburn in trimester 3. I was glugging Gaviscon all night. I also used to wake up panicking as i felt i couldnt breathe - baby was squashing my lungs!

My body must have got better at pregnancy as 3,4 and 5 were very easy.

I was 40 the 5th time. Felt great, worked til 39 weeks. Had dd and we were all on holiday in Florida when she was 9 weeks old (i am in the uk)

All three of mine were planned and very much wanted. I had the three of them in just under four years, we wanted to get it over with.

Pregnancy, apart from 20 weeks of 'morning' (actually constant and debilitating) sickness in each of them, was very straightforward and perfect in obstetric terms as in nothing went wrong.

But... I hated it. I didn't enjoy being pregnant at all. I don't actually like admitting that, but now my DC are late 20s and early 30s I feel I can.

It was all worth it though, my grown up DC are awesome and enrich my life in every way. No regrets, pregnancy was just something I had to get through to have my wonderful family.

This has been my experience for both my pregnancies too.
Second time with an energetic 1.5 year old was very tough, have childcare provision is my suggestion!

As someone else said, I find motherhood tough too (with 2 y o and newborn). It doesn't come easy to me....so expect to potentially have lots of wtf have I done to my life moments!

Tough to share this in real life, mostly because you don't want to be super insensitive to those having a hard time getting/staying pregnant. I've found a lot od consolation on mumsnet.

Hi everyone, thank you for the replies. I didn’t expect as many so really grateful!

I’ve not had many positive pregnancy tales from family (my mother had 9 miscarriages and my sister hated being pregnant). So it’s not something I’ve wanted to discuss with them as I find their expectations “difficult”. My mother was aware of my abortion and made it about her and my sister to quote “you’ve devastated your sister as she’d decided you were having a boy and it was the boy she never had”. I don’t discuss anything to do with these things with them now. I also have endo and fibroids, so well aware of potential fertility issues.

I really appreciate the replies. It’s not something you hear being talked about (except from hearing all my childhood about my mothers miscarriages) and you really want to ask in person incase you feel too “broody”. It feels like you can’t mention it until you are pregnant!

You'll get so many varied answers that I'm not sure it will be helpful.
For me, I felt very nauseous during pregnancies but never actually vomited.
Despite desperately wanting a baby more than anything, I felt rather depressed when pregnant with my first (not my second). It was definitely hormonal. I just had a low mood. This continued for the first few months after she was born. I struggled and had low mood but was never seriously depressed.
Motherhood has been the best experience of my life.

I remember it as being nice, I liked feeling fruitful and flowering and the absurdity of a big belly and the baby kicking.

Plenty of downsides though, insomnia, constipation, carpal tunnel, pelvic pain. By the end both times I was so ready for it to be over.