Well nobody mentioned THAT!! Things I never thought about pregnancy until I actually got pregnant

[heylottie]

I consider myself fairly well read on all things fertility and baby, having been ttc for some time. But now I am pregnant there are things that I am still surprised about.

1. Drool - I am sure I never used to wake up in The Pool of Drool that now greets me every morning
2. Baby gender - was always adament that I would never want to find out the sex, but MY GOD the temptation to ask at the 20 week scan was nearly overwhelming! I didn't but golly...
3. That I would need panty liners some days (TMI? yes but still)
4. That listening to Matchstick Men and Matchstick Cats and Dogs on the radio had me wailing (I don't expect this one to be universal)
5. The amount of people who, when you tell them of back ache, gripes and pain, say 'well it will only get worse' triumphantly.
6. That when the baby kicks my first response is still (sometimes) 'Oh I need to fart.'

Any more???

Have been thinking more about this one...

The hair on my legs and arms growing at a ridiculous rate, yet the hair on my head has suddenly gone all lanky and strange

Sneezing about a million times a day - but thats not the worst of it - having to cross my legs beforehand and saying ouch! afterwards because I always forget how much it hurts my tummy muscles!

Oh, and the tinitus seems to have disapeared, only to be replaced by the ear splitting, painful noise of my mother in law visiting.....

lol holytoast I get that noise when my MIL comes too! It seems to have been missed out in all the pregnancy info the hospital has given me. I'm wondering if it will ever end!

I get the popping ears too.. in fact have it right now.. puts me in a shocking mood and keep sniffing and gurning trying to get rid of it.. look like some kind of pregnant junkie!
Also did NOT know would start producing a little milk at 23 weeks... what's all that about!!!

I thought I had it bad with morning sickness which has lasted all the way through, backache, dizzyness, shooting pains down my legs, cramp, constant acid indigestion, massivly swollen ankles which people would openly stare at, shooting pains up the lady bits, and shooting pains up the tummy which scared the crap out of me. After reading this link though I'm really thankful I didn't get the rest of it! You poor things!!

And the rib pain, oh the rib pain!

So with you becksworth - mine started last week - ouch!

Now at 26 wks with dc2.

Total shock that bump seems twice as big twice as quickly the second time round!

Difficulty sleeping because lying on my left causes uncontrollable burping while lying on my right the trapped air wants out at the other end... Feeling so sorry for DP sharing the bed!

Shocking heartburn plus constant headache from trying to sleep on three pillows and crinking my neck in the process.

Wondering why the baby feels the need to dance flamenco at four in the morning when I have just got comfortable surrounded by pillows.

Post birth of dd1, everything down below being so numb and traumatised that I could not tell when I needed a wee until I really needed a wee. Then not quite making it to the loo in time a few times... Only lasted a few days but hugely embarrassing.

Ahhhh, happy times. Already thinking about having a third, but maybe that's hormones speaking.

It might be because I am tiny, but in the night I was unable to lie down or even sit. I could feel the bones around the pevic area moving, expanding almost like they were tearing. Add to this my burning, desert-dry, aching fanjo and the nipples of ice. I slept upright, leaning against the bedroom door, from precisely 3am to 5.15am for three months. Sadly the foetus died so I'm not sure what might have happened next in that story.

Sorry if TMI but why does no one tell you what the miscarriage/termination by pill procedure is like? Why does no one tell you it is literally a mini birth? Sweet Jesus I've never known pain (physical) like it, and then later (emotional) pain through being sent home while the MC aided by termination pill was still happening.

That it just wouldn't be as horrific as everyone else told me it would be.

I had "morning" sickness until 20 weeks (ha ha) and significant back pain and rib flare in the second trimester but it just didn't seem that unmanageable or out of the ordinary.. I was expecting all sorts of new physical horrors (particularly growing massively huge/swelling/varicose veins/piles/leg cramops) but unless they all come this week, I'm very glad to say I've escaped..

Just adding this in for any prospective mums to be who may be terrified.. it turns out that it's very individual, actually. You could have all the horrors.. or some.. or none.. and somehow, those I had just didn't seem as horrifying as I had thought they would before falling pregnant. Now if only childbirth could follow this pattern

That despite being a fit, energetic, healthy 29year old I would actually start to find it challenging/exhausting to go up and down stairs.

That at about 20 weeks, newborn baby clothes stop looking tiny and cute and start to look huge and terrifying.

That every single person I know would make a comment about my bump EVERY TIME THEY SAW me. That these comments would all be completely random and totally contradictory. That despite this I would still fret about and analyse every one of them.

That I would have gorgeous hair. I am loving my pregnancy hair

That a lot of the pregnancy irritations are not as awful when you experience them as they sound when you hear about them. Not great mind, but not as dreadful as i thought.

vivia I'm so sorry....did not want your story to go unacknowledged...

• That I would get a hairy tummy - I was prepared for a brown stripe, not a man-line!

• That I wouldn't be able to brush my teeth for about 2 weeks because it made me be sick every time.

• That I would have sudden cravings for every food item in the 'do not eat' booklet.

• That I would make list after list of every baby thing that I could ever possibly need.

• That 40 weeks is a LONG TIME when it seems as though every second woman you see already has a cute and gooey baby.

• That my DH & I would exchange knowing glances when walking/driving past a pram or pushchair, because the one we had chosen was far superior in every way

• That it is possible to be so violently sick that you get a rash around your eyes from your blood vessels popping.

• That I would take on the sleeping habits of a newborn for the first 3 months.

• That you would spend ages looking in the mirror stroking your bump!

• That it's actually quite freaky to see the individual vertebrae of your growing baby at the 20 week ultrasound scan.

• That I would actually turn into one of those people who milks their 'condition' for all it's worth!

Nonstop sneezing.

I cry after sex.

I now make pig snorting sounds when I laugh, I never used to.

Craving smells more thn food - specifically satsuma peel, tinsel and new electrical items.

My fingernails have changed - they are lovely and strong, maybe due to milkshakes and yogurt being the only things that didn't make me wanna puke.

I'm 17 weeks with 1st pregnancy, can't wait to see what the rest of my pregnancy has to offer!!!

30 wks with DS1

Horrible enormous, swollen fanny that feels like it's popping out.

Thick black wiry hairs in unexpected places (it took two mirrors and an awful lot of manoeuvring to remove the 2-inch-long one from my buttock).

Strange territorial nesting instinct - don't want anyone to come in the house again, ever.

I'm 27 weeks pregnant and by and large, going well so far. Except for approx last 2-3 weeks I've had a really sore vagina - mainly when moving/walking but it does ache! Anyone else?? My previously pregnant friends don't seem able to relate.

That you get varicous veins on your lady lips(trying to be polite) what is that all about?
And some days they swell and itch. Its nothingelse ithing just the vein!!

31 wks with first

• That I would not get any traditional "pregnancy" woes like morning sickness

• That I would feel so exhausted in the first 2 months that I really felt like sleeping on the pavement

• That foods I previously loved would be revoltingly offputting

• That I would develop such a gag reflex

• That the waitrose christmas ad with the soldier coming home would make me cry every time I see it

• That my boobs would start to grow so rapidly it felt like someone was blowing them up

• Just how much VD there would be

Oh yes, and that my usually mild short fuse would turn into a temper the equivalent of a nuclear bomb causing me to try and pull DH's hair out on one occassion

28 (29?) weeks

Nails growing at an amazing rate, I'm just not used to having to cut them this often. But at least they're v strong.

In the 3rd trimester, having to poo at least twice a day as bub is putting pressure on my colon (luckily haven't had as much problems with peeing as yet - can you believe it!) Have even woken up a couple of mornings and had to run to the bathroom to poo as the pressure was too much

Hair looks fab - v pleased with that.

Swollen fanny - DH noticed that one day and mentioned it to me. I'd just thought it was a bit sore but didn't realise it was actually swollen.

...and wanting to have sex rather often though DH refuses to oblige due to complexes with having sex with a PG woman

lol - re; the smells - I thought I was the only one!!! Chemical smells get me, in particular gloss paint, petrol, creosote, nail polish, mr muscle bleach with lemon, and elnett hairspray - i physically crave them!!

That my two year old would start reminding me to go for a wee before we go out because she knows otherwise her outings are cut short by mummy needed the loo...

the drooling by day - need a spitoon at home and work and a towel to gob into when driving (bear a scary resemblance to the monsters on recent Doctor Who episode Waters of Mars)

waking in morning with dry mouth and tongue stuck to roof like I used to when I was not pregnant and hungover

the constant sick feeling

the vomiting so violently I wet myself

realising that this violent vomiting will be a big help with the dreadful constipation

but that sometimes an enema is necessary

the grumpiness

the nipple agony

the crying

the gagging with brushing teeth

the wretching with bad smells including my farts and sweat and CM

the nightmares

the irrational anxiety

the hunger

14 weeks with no 3 - why am I doing this again?

Just started having this SPD...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphysis_pubis_dysfunction

Definitely did not know about this before pregnancy!

Hives. No one told me about the hives although admittedly I haven't met anyone else who ever had them. Kicked in at about 30 weeks and stopped immediately when DS was born. I'm pretty sure my first words after childbirth were 'thank f&@k the itching has stopped. Someone chuck out the calomine lotion.'