What I Thought I Knew About Pregnancy: Part 2

A while back, you fine folks were treated to a sampling of my humble pregnancy pie. That is, the things I thought I knew about pregnancy. Well, it's time for round two.

As always, if you're someone who does not want to know the TMI of pregnancy (mine in particular), maybe skip this one. I've included a handy page break for easy skipping if this isn't your bag. I'm writing about it on the internet because I like normalizing something that should be normalized. Let's not be ashamed to speak candidly about the wacky and awesome things that our bodies do.

Welcome to "What I thought I knew about pregnancy: part 2" - aka "Jesus Christ, there's more?!"


Pregnancy Symptom: Walking is hard.
What I Thought: I did not think that walking would be hard.
How it Actually Went Down: Um, walking is hard. I'm supposed to be getting in 30 minutes of walking a day, but as I mentioned, walking is hard. Between the waddling and the ligament pain and the out of breath-ness, I find it tough to walk for more than 15 minutes at a time...though I occasionally try to get in 30-45 in succession, just to feel like I did something. Which brings me to...

Pregnancy Symptom: Being out of breath
What I Thought: Hadn't thought about this one either.
How it Actually Went Down: Apparently there's this super common thing where your baby gets bigger and your uterus gets bigger and your organs get all pushed around and that means your lungs have less room to expand. Shocking, I know. But while it's definitely logically sound, experiencing it is a whole different thing. It's kind of scary at first, to be out of breath all the time (seriously, like from pulling my pants on), but then you get used to it and it's just annoying. I don't like feeling weak and tired, and breathing definitely would help with that. 

Pregnancy Symptom: Swollen feet and ankles
What I Thought: I had some vague idea that this would happen eventually.
How it Actually Went Down: By midday, my ankles and feet are mega-swoll. Swole? I am mostly living in Birkenstocks now because they are adjustable, I don't have to bend down to take them on and off, and they have arch support. But they do make my feet and calves a little sore, since I'm not used to wearing such supportive sandals (I think). Anyway, my feet are tired a lot, and my ankles and up looking like puffy skin bags.

Pregnancy Symptom: Leg cramps
What I Thought: I had some vague idea that this would happen eventually.
How it Actually Went Down: This really started around 30 weeks or so (I'm now 31 weeks) and it's a pain in the...legs. Achy, sore legs that no amount of stretching will relieve. Almost to the point of charley horsing but not quite there. Sometimes with charley horses. Combine those with with hip cramps from only sleeping on my side and it's a good ole time in the leg department!

Pregnancy Symptom: "Pinkboob" aka "My boobs are literally bright pink."
What I Thought: No idea this would happen. Literally emailed my doctor in a panic.
How it Actually Went Down: Apparently, as your boobs grow, and as your body changes, the new amount of blood rushing to the boobular area can cause them to be flush...like when you blush when you're hot or embarrassed. Makes perfect sense, but I had no idea that would happen. And it totally freaked me out.

Pregnancy Symptom: Fibroids
What I Thought: Never heard of 'em.
How it Actually Went Down: These little clusters of fibers on/around your ovaries/uterus area, apparently, that all women have, apparently, that can become painful when pregnant, apparently, that my little girl likes to sit on, apparently. Fun! Mine happen to be in the lower abdominal ligament area, right on my right hip. Real cool.

Pregnancy Symptom: Hot flashes
What I Thought: Isn't that just during menopause?
How it Actually Went Down: Nope! I get hot flashes periodically throughout the day, on many days. They're fun! I didn't know what they were at first, and thought I had a fever. Then I read about hot flashes during pregnancy. 

Pregnancy Symptom: Wanting this to just be over
What I Thought: I didn't think that would happen until really late, like 38 weeks.
How it Actually Went Down: There are definitely times when I can't wait for this to all be over. Pregnancy is exhausting and just uncomfortable a lot of the time. But then "over" means that I'm pushing a baby out of my vagina, which is still a little terrifying. It's hard to believe that in 8 weeks, I will not be pregnant any more, and a baby will live in our house. That's cool. And scary.

There are so many things that your body goes through during pregnancy that feel crazy, but that are apparently just normal. And all you can do is wait until pregnancy is over, and occasionally take some Tylenol. And get some rest. And try not to freak out. And try to enjoy the weird and wild ride of growing a human inside your body!