Pregnancy and Its Baggage

I've been informed by some of my mommy friends that as soon as your little bundle of joy is placed in your arms, much of the baggage that pregnancy brings is soon forgotten. Baggage meaning difficulties, discomfort and mishaps. I've been fortunate enough to have had a fairly uneventful pregnancy but I thought I would journal a few of the things I've experienced in case I'd like to reflect later. Moms, feel free to share too. :)

- My pants didn't fit early on thanks to bloating.

- Food. Certain foods didn't sound great in the first trimester. For me it was chicken and roasted vegetables. I did however pick up an affinity for Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. To keep things under control I choose to purchase the little cups you can make for yourself in three minutes.

- Emotions. I'm not the typical gal. My motto is "Put your big girl panties on and deal with it." But soon after my belly starting growing, so did my heart. My sister was first to notice and was absolutely tickled to see my softer side. Austin on the other hand had no idea what to do with me at first. I was a bit more whiny and weepy. This seemed to even out over time.

- Frequent bathroom breaks throughout pregnancy. I knew this was standard but had no idea how early it happened!

- Limits. I often failed to remember that physical activity while pregnant can become challenging. Like the time I was around 12 weeks and decided I would wash our outside windows. It was late June and near 100 degrees and right before an afternoon on the lake. Not a good choice!

- The "are you gaining weight or are you pregnant" looks I got from those who knew me but didn't know we were expecting.

- Travel. I travel often for work, (two to three times a month), and did so until almost 30 weeks. While travel already kicked my butt, it was even more of a challenge while growing another human within. In my experience I found:

- Reaching for the space under the seat in front of you is so uncomfortable and sometimes impossible.

- Men who are fathers are usually the ones who offer to help with your luggage.

- Gas, (yes, the lovely air in your digestive track), becomes exponentially worse thanks to cabin pressure.

- You can't get enough water when you fly pregnant and packing snacks is necessary.

- While on the road I finally had a good reason for turning in early.

- My personal favorite, the swelling feet. I have fat feet to begin with but I've always been big on wearing heels, especially for work. Everything changed when I was about 16 weeks in. I was in Chicago for the week and after two full days of being on my feet in heels I found on day three I couldn't even get my heels ON. I felt like a stepsister in Cinderella. I laughed and then caved, wearing my reef flip flops until the swelling went down. It was flats for me from that point forward.

- Heartburn. This one sucks. It typically comes out to play in the middle of the night. One night it was so bad I woke up thinking I was going to be sick. I'm not a medicine taker so I didn't have anything for it in the house. I decided it was bad enough that we had to make a run to the store at 2am. Lovely. Tums have now become my after dinner mint and snack before bed.

- Peeing in a cup every doctor visit. I get it, it's necessary and a standard practice but hasn't someone come up with a better method of collecting this than a DIXIE CUP? After a certain point in the pregnancy it's like a game - I'm aiming blindly to get a "small sample" in this miniature plastic cup that I can't see and then I have to deliver it safely to it's destination, praying the whole time that I won't have to shower when it's all over. I laugh and sweat every time.

- A visit to the cardiologist. Around 26 weeks I started to experience a light-headed and nauseous feeling in the mornings and wasn't sure exactly what was causing it. Not enough protein? Was my blood pressure bottoming out? Was my little munchkin sitting on a nerve? Driving to a branch one morning it got so bad I almost passed out. I quickly pulled over, laid myself in the backseat and tried to keep myself calm. In the end it earned me a trip to cardiologist, 48 hours of wearing a heart monitor (to which they found nothing significant) and instructions to stop running. I still get the sensation almost every morning but it's manageable now and I think it comes from not eating all night then my blood sugar spiking thanks to breakfast.

- Frequently rolling over in the middle of the night. Moving from one side to the other after being stationary for a couple of hours takes time and muscle. I feel like a plump chicken roasting on an open fire every time I attempt this.

- Snoring. This one's for Austin. I don't typically snore but apparently this is something I've picked up in the last trimester and I can saw some serious logs. Some nights are worse than others and Austin and I are both hoping that this is only temporary.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed my rant. I'm sure I've missed something but it was fun to reflect.