Five Things Pregnancy Taught Me

Taken the day before my scheduled c-section 

I was one of those people who loved being pregnant. Even though I had a pretty rough first trimester, just knowing that I was growing a little human inside my body made up for all the time I spent hugging the toilet bowl. It's pretty incredible, the idea of creating and carrying a human in your body for nine months. If it doesn't make you believe that God is real, then I don't know what will.

Regardless of how much I loved pregnancy, there were plenty of...shall we say, surprises... that were nothing short of interesting to experience. All of you mamas out there know what I'm talking about. There's a whole slew of topics underneath the umbrella of pregnancy that no one tells you about. Some are not blog appropriate and those of you who have not experienced pregnancy will have to find out on your own, sorry! Here's a list of things I learned during pregnancy.

1. Morning sickness? I think you mean all day, every day sickness. At least this was true for me. I was nauseous all day, every day my first trimester. This was especially difficult working 8 hour shifts, constantly being on my feet. I remember standing at the front of the store, trying my hardest not to puke all over myself and watching random strangers walk past, wondering what it was like to be them, living a normal life without constant nausea. Dramatic much, Jenna? Also, I had a traumatic experience that will forever change the way I see spiral macaroni and cheese...

2. Just throw your modesty out the window. Pregnancy gives doctors, nurses, heck, maybe even the occasional medical student, the excuse the poke and prod in places you wish they just wouldn't. I went to an office that had several obstetricians on staff, and it seemed like no matter who I was seeing that day, they always had a medical student shadowing them. Fabulous! The more the merrier. And no, I will not scoot down the table a little more...

3. Feeling like a beached whale is a real thing. It's one of those pregnancy things that you hear, but I honestly wondered if it was true. Oh boy, is it true. It was that moment I was trying to stand up after taking a bath and realized I couldn't that I knew I had reached beached whale status. I've had better moments than when I had to call my husband into the bathroom to help me up. 

4. We need a king-sized bed. Imagine being eight months pregnant in June, sharing a queen sized bed with your six foot four inch husband, a huge body pillow, and your diva dog who thinks it is necessary to sleep on top of you. We might as well have been sleeping in the back of my Ford Fusion. There were plenty of times I tried to push my husband off of the bed.

5. Let's not forget that NO ONE tells you that you have to wear a diaper after you give birth. Yeah, thanks for that one everyone I know who has had a child. I had to find out from that website, The Bump, that you get to wear really cute mesh underwear and diaper sized pads after birth. Not to mention, you bleed for the next six weeks, so there's that. This is my good deed for the day, warning all of you yet to birth a child, you have this to look forward to. 

So, pregnancy isn't all sunshine and roses. Let's be honest, your body goes through some weird and downright disgusting changes, but there's a reason a lot of women go through it more than once. There is nothing like feeling your baby move around inside your belly and the emotions you feel when you hear your baby cry for the very first time is something that can't be put into words. Every nauseous second and awkward doctors appointment are worth it when you have that sweet baby in your arms.