I saw in movies that woman got morning sickness during pregnancy, but I never realized how bad it was until I had it. I could barely keep anything down the first three months of pregnancy. Every health fanatic tells you to eat healthy, but that didn't work. I even tried protein shakes, but then I would puke them up. My body wanted nothing to do with anything healthy during that time. The smell of meat made me want to vomit. The only thing I could keep down was Buffalo Chicken Strips from Burger King. I have lost count of how many times my husband made Burger King runs. I wouldn't just throw up in the mornings either. It could last until the evening. Once my bladder started getting squished it became a big problem. I started peeing at the same time as I was puking! I developed a strategy when I would run to the bathroom. I would puke in the toilet and put a towel down on the floor in case I peed. One time during my pregnancy I got a cold and started coughing, puking AND peeing at the same time! Let me tell you, being sick while pregnant is horrible. You can't take anything really if you try to be a naturalist like me. I disowned anyone who was sick because I couldn't get sick again.
Even though I lost a few pounds my first trimester, I gained my weight back times three! I couldn't stop gaining! I was a fat building machine and ate everything in sight. Food was euphoric. I tried walking often, but the weight just piled on. This was hard for me to accept because I have never weighed more than 135 lbs. I was 5'8, fit and thin, always had been. In my young child years I actually had problems gaining weight. No matter how much I ate, it seemed to go right through my feet. I would even get made fun of I was so skinny, being called Ethiopian chick. People would even ask if I had an eating disorder. Well, I leveled out when I got older, but I was still thin. It hit my self-esteem pretty hard because for once in my life, I couldn't control my weight. I continued to grow.
No one told me my hormones would start controlling my life. They literally have a mind of their own and I was their slave. I was a hormonal emotional mess my entire pregnancy. I was a very anxious over sensitive pregnant woman. I was annoyed and offended by everything and everyone, which made me very hard to live with. My poor husband. He deserves a medal for enduring with me. My pregnancy was also the least social I have ever been. I really couldn't deal with people. I became a mama bear and wanted no one in my territory.
I will brag about sex during pregnancy though. I would read articles about women who didn't have sex during pregnancy and they really missed out. You can't get pregnant anymore so it's like a free ride! Woo hoo! And the increased hormones make it amazing. I feel bad for our neighbors though because I'm sure they saw our RV rocking quite a bit. We had to take advantage of this window of time before the baby came.
My husband was amazing while I was pregnant. Every pregnant woman should have a man like him in their lives. He treated me like a queen. I basically ate what ever I wanted whenever I wanted. Because I couldn't do much or drink, I made up for it in delicious foods and sweets. I can't tell you how many times I had McDonalds. Yes, I'm sure you are saying gross in your mind, but it stayed down and tasted amazing. I needed my sausage McMuffin and iced coffee frequently. I would get so hungry I would actually have stomach pain. I felt so bad when we were living with my grandma because I pretty much ate her entire kitchen. The funnest part was that my husband would eat junk food with me.
No one ever told me how you basically can't do anything while pregnant. You become so heavy that walking to any destination is a chore. My husband has tons of energy, so I still needed to go with him on his adventures some how. He picked that summer to be the summer he learned how to surf. We had our RV in Oceanside all summer. The beach was less than a mile away. He would surf and I would get a coffee and watch him surf. I tried to go in the water but the waves nearing made my knees collapse under me.
We were always trying to think of things to do because we couldn't do the same things anymore. We used to party quite a lot. We loved going out. When I had first gotten pregnant we had just sold our first sailboat. A few weeks before I found out I was pregnant we sailed ourselves to Catalina. We had to come up with new activities to do now. My husband got this idea to buy an inflatable kayak and go kayaking in San Diego. Sure, it sounded fun. We get it all blown up and head out to sea. I didn't think I would get that wet so I wore regular clothing. We headed out but there were many waves. My husband tried pulling us out but I was getting soaked. We finally made it out and headed further out where we saw cliffs. Pretty soon I got the urge to pee, like I always did all the time. I was so uncomfortable the rest of the time that I couldn't even enjoy all the sea life we were around. We finally decided to head back. We noticed there were a lot of waves, so my husband wanted to wait until they calmed down. Well, I'm an idiot and impatient, so I told him we could ride a wave in. NEVER DO THIS, ESPECIALLY WHEN PREGNANT! We caught a wave alright. It grabbed us, lifted my husband up, flipped us and he landed on my head. He was stuck on me, so he couldn't get off until I moved. We were racing to get out of the water. I was cold, soaked and crying. We took the kayak back and returned it. There are some activities pregnant woman can do. We went on a paddle boat in a marina. When I would get tired my husband would continue on. We also went to the movies a lot where I gorged myself on soda and popcorn. Every time I would get out of the theater my feet swelled up to the size of elephant's feet.
With all that comes a long with pregnancy it's still wonderful. I feel that any one who doesn't want to have kids is truly missing out on a once in a lifetime experience. It's a transformation of body and mind. You learn to trust your body and see what it can really do. The whole pregnancy I was afraid to give birth. But when the time comes you overcome all fear and embrace it. If I can do it, any woman can. You might even miss being pregnant once the baby comes because life is never the same. You can't stay up all night because you have already lost weeks of sleep. You don't get drunk because you are in charge of another life. You don't come and go as you please because someone else comes first. You might not even get to shower much at all. The chores around the house are pushed out another week and your time is spent appeasing your little one.
Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThank you Auntie!
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