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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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

374 replies

heylottie · 26/06/2009 15:38

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???

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
sifuentes · 07/07/2009 09:43

Sorry this is gross but I did not know that it would take me so long to poo and that this would be partly because it would be made up od a dozen rabbit poos instead of one normal one.

Sorry. So gross but I have the rabbit poo blues.

Oh for a normal one. ONly 6 months to go...

Poledra · 07/07/2009 09:47

Sifuentes, get some more fibre into your diet! Fruit, porridge, etc. I also found liquorice allsorts were good at helping the poos along......

sifuentes · 07/07/2009 09:58

yes - terrible morning sickness has put me off anything that has a mere suggestion of fibre - but once it passes i will get right back on it. THanks for answering though and not just pulling face at me!

Ruthie22 · 07/07/2009 12:07

Ha Ha what a great thread this is!

makes me want to do it all over again... despite the itching, stretching, insomnia, emotional outbursts, heartburn, constipation...

What is wrong with me?!?!

Fraochsmum · 07/07/2009 12:35

That I would need a dictionary of acronyms to be able to decipher a forum!
That I would just need to get pregnant to make my boobs big - though they are too sore for the other half (or is that DP??) to appreciate.
That I wouldn't necessarily get any sickness or nausea.
That so many people are shocked when you say how well you are feeling and that you haven't been ill at all - sorry, but think other first time mums-to-be that it isn't all doom and gloom
That it does depend on who asks if 'it was planned' as to how offensive it is.

Fraochsmum · 07/07/2009 12:39

Sorry, there was meant to be "need to know" in the second last sentence - guess I'm suffering from the brain fog as well

MomDePlume · 07/07/2009 13:13

That people start treating you as if you're made of bone china and won't let you do anything for yourself. It's very nice for about five minutes, and then unbelievably irritating and patronising for the next nine (sorry, ten) months.

SecretNinjaChipmunk · 07/07/2009 14:35

i can't believe no-one has mentioned pooing during labour. i can't be the only person that has happened to surely?
also no-one told me that you'd lose all sensation down there afterwards so wouldn't know when you wanted to pee. midwife just said to me'go sit on the loo every hour or so otherwise you'll stand up and wet yourself without realising or being able to do anything to stop it.'
that said i'd do it all over again i a hearbeat and this thread has for some reason got me feeling massively broody.

becaroo · 07/07/2009 14:45

Gastric reflux so bad that the stomach acid has burnt away part of the valve at the top of my gullet....

Despite 2 dc and my GP telling me they would be sooo much better after having kids, periods so bad that I might have to have an op....

Not sleeping for more than 4 hours at a stretch for the last 6.5 years....

And you know what?....I'd do it again tomorrow if I could convince dh!

mellifluouscauliflower · 07/07/2009 15:04

No one told me that pregnancy is miserable enough without choosing walk about in clothes clearly no longer fit for 5 months in a deluded attempt to save money. I was so much happier when I succumbed to maternitywear..especially the jeans!

MoonchildNo6 · 07/07/2009 15:38

Sense of smell becomes like some kind of sniffer dog and the smell of leather makes you throw up (particularly bad when you have a leather sofa and leather seats in your car).

Sciatic pain so bad that couldn't sleep at all from 7 months on.

Ankles and feet swelling to three times normal size.

Carpal Tunnel so bad have to wear wrist supports at night with metal plates in to stop hands bending.

Any sexual urges would completely disappear.

That being induced is the most hideous thing in the world (especially when it doesn't work the first two times).

That you can't take antihistamines when the pllen count is ten zillion.

Hair changed colour at about 8 months from blonde to brown(don't see anyone else saying this one)

And finally - Never believe the radiographer who tells you the baby is perfectly normal sized at 37 weeks when the MW and OB are saying otherwise - it will be over 10lbs, take you two days to squeeze out and leave you with a third degree tear

I am sure there were some nice surprises but I can't remember them.

pippa251 · 07/07/2009 15:50

I have just done this and it made me chuckle- Nobody told me that when you have a bath you only have to fill it 1/2 way or when you get in (due to your 39 +3 week size) the water will over flow

woodstock3 · 07/07/2009 15:56

that migraines stop in pregnancy (hurrah! hurrah!) but that you get nosebleeds instead. (harrumph)
that something odd involving melatonin happens, and if you have had a mole on your stomach for 20 years, it will triple in size and you will have to have it removed as everyone thinks it is skin cancer. (it is not, btw, but it will be very worrying).
that all those examinations by midwives/GPs are a very inexact science. everybody missed the fact that ds was breech and i was also told he was too small. (9lb 11, as it turned out). apart from scans, everything else is hogwash.
that strange thing with the counting - you're classed as pregnant from your last period, so you are at least two weeks pregnant before you even actually conceive, and then it's 40 weeks of pregnancy rather than the 36 (which is what nine months should surely be?) you thought it was, so you become confused and when people say "how many months?" you dont really know. i claimed to be seven months pregnant for at least two months.
that it will be VERY annoying when total strangers say "twins! how lovely!" at the sight of you, when it is NOT twins, you are just huge. on the other hand listen to them - they will have at least noticed, unlike your GP, that the baby is likely to be big....

MoonchildNo6 · 07/07/2009 16:37

Woodstock I had the twins thing all the bloody time! i also had a total stranger come up to me at a kids farm and ask me if I was overdue - I was 35 weeks. Bloody cow, why would you ask someone that if you didn't know them???

RachieW · 07/07/2009 17:39

Agree with so many of the above including the pain of indigestion and morning sickness lasting all day and for so far into the pregnancy.

Was also shocked that I didn't enjoy being pg, always had this rose tinted image that I would feel earthy and motherish but in reality I felt fat, hot, sweaty, grumpy and like my body had been taken over by an alien!

Oh and that I'd sweat lots and it wouldn't smell nice despite wearing a tonne of Dove everyday!

That walking and talking at the same time would become so hard.

Finally the biggest shock was that pushing could go on for so long. I really thought it would be like on tv, a couple of pushes and out pops the baby!

mummytowillow · 07/07/2009 17:58

That after a C section I would bleed!!! Wasn't expecting a section so expected to bleed for natural bith, but not a section, so when I stood up I was so shocked when it rang down my legs TMI!!

How bad the baby blues were, I cried for a whole day non stop!

sifuentes · 08/07/2009 13:26

Oh my god so agree with the leather thing. I can't stand it. I haev a leather sofa and DP has leather biking jackets so our under the stairs cupboard has to remain closed at all times and i have t breathe threw my t shirt!

w

rupertsabear · 08/07/2009 22:14

That milks gets everywhere and you keep finding stuff around your house like towels that stink of old gorgonzola. That morning sickness lasts for the whole day and goes on until the baby comes out. That your pelvis hurts so much you can't walk.

mamamila · 09/07/2009 21:34

that no-one will be interested in your 2nd, 3rd pregnancies etc.. even your own dp/ dh is less attentive

hyper-pigmentation- aka dodgy brown patches may appear on your face, favourite is the handle bar moustache and the 'bruises' on temples

that my belly button, which never went back in after 1st pregnancy would be completely out stretched out and move an inch to the right and boast a wee skin tag

skin tags would sprout up in breast crease and armpits

ermm sure there's loads more but i need to wee...

mogend77 · 10/07/2009 10:18

Ah but it's all worth it just for the Gas and Air. Which noone can adequately praise.

MoonchildNo6 · 10/07/2009 16:31

sifuentes, I had to drive to Dorset with tissue stuffed up each nostril. It was a delightful sight.

Mon13 · 13/07/2009 11:09

I just love this thread and keep coming back for more. Happy (and not so happy) memories!
I never expected...
The smell of newspapers would make me throw up
I would crave odd things like gravy (what's that about?)
Being told by people I did not know that I was either 'very neat' or 'huge' - on the same day
Feeling so tired I could sleep standing up
The relentless heartburn
Very interesting dreams
Asking the midwife if I could take the gas and air home with me to keep...
That I would throw up several times during labour (as if giving birth isn't difficult enough)
The curious sprinkler effect of breastmilk
....
Can't all have been bad because I am doing it all again

Luxmum · 13/07/2009 12:06

We don't get given gas and air, only epidurals.. which I am very fond of. For me it was the FARTING. Dear LORD it was embarressing. Cravings for specific foods. Thirst, all the time. Groin cramps. How BFing ISNT easy, and what is 'natural' actually takes alot of work.. How hormonal I was, both ultra sensitive to any stories of children being hurt, and also HORNEY for the first few months. Unfort for DH, this phase has now passed. Now it's the opposite.

bellatrixiata · 13/07/2009 14:21

I can't stop laughing at this thread (or I may well cry!)

So many where I went YES IT'S NOT JUST ME! and others where I am desperately hoping it won't be me

Not sure if I can add anything new and exciting as I think everything has been said, except I am enjoying being the most zen blissed-out person I have ever been (normally compulsive worrier and control freak) Have already warned DH it won't last

Oh how about a vice like stabbing pain across the back of your ribs that makes you wake up screaming and goes away 7 hours later.....which is 5 minutes before you stagger into the doctor's convinced you are dying

bevlin · 13/07/2009 18:56

So im the only one who's drool caused a rash on the side of my mouth similar to that of a third degree burn.
Who suddenly grew soft white fluffy hair all over face.
Got some impressive long black under chin hairs.
Who after giving birth still weighed exactly the same for weeks as the water retention got worse.
Who was woken by the junkie in the next bed screaming in my face "FFS your snoring like a bear.
and I thought id stop the man snoring immedietly after birth, silly me!
Then after all the excess hair had gone, so did half my head hair.
Im wondering why the hell im pregnant again