nothing except love in the end

Some things about being pregnant.

For such a big thing, first of all, I have to say that I’ve mostly been surprised at how little it affected me for the first few months.  You sort of assume that your whole body is going to immediately go into a completely different mode that you’ve never felt before, that you’ll be walking around with some sort of primal knowledge that now YOU’RE PREGNANT and there’s a BABY inside of you. *mystical music*

Instead, weeks 0-6 felt like absolutely nothing. I went to yoga and Pilates with no trouble at all, had zero food aversions or energy dips, and felt 100% normal. I even took 3-4 more pregnancy tests throughout the course of those first weeks just to make sure I hadn’t misread the first…5. Yeah, I know. The immediate and dark test lines were incredibly reassuring, though.

Right on the spot during week 6, though, (day 2 of our ski trip in Alta with my parents) the symptoms started to kick in. Still, if I hadn’t KNOWN that they were pregnancy symptoms I would have just been convinced that I had contracted mono or something. I was tired ALL THE TIME, every other food I thought of made me want to puke until I died, and there was a constant low-level nausea that lasted throughout the day. A few days later the boobs started to feel like they spent all night getting rammed by angry goats and my skin decided to explode back into its teenage glory. Then came The Hunger. Oh how I must capitalize The Hunger. I have never, NEVER experienced anything like it. I am the type of person who, under normal circumstances, tends to forget that I’m hungry if I’m really wrapped up in something.  No longer! I get hungry every 2-3 hours without fail and it is a sense of urgency and impending doom that I am still getting blown away by. All I can think about is that I need to EAT or I am probably going to DIE ON THE SPOT. Blargh! Food monster need peanut butter toast! It’s ridiculous and crazy.

The number one life changer so far was the lack of energy. I didn’t go to the gym for weeks because when I got home, it was generally all I could do to take my shoes off and change out of my jeans before I needed to take a nap on the couch until Anu got home. It is hard to explain the cognitive dissonance you feel when you don’t LOOK pregnant at all, but completing everyday tasks leaves you feeling like you’ve run an all-day marathon. It’s incredibly pathetic. The cats loved it, though. They haven’t gotten this much snuggle on the couch time since I got the flu last April. Max is particularly crazy about it, although I would really appreciate it if he would tone down his affinity for stomping on my boobs. As previously mentioned, they already feel like they’re nothing but swollen lumps of pain and misery, having Fattycakes McTinypaws riverdance on them is some sort of nightmare. 

Luckily for me I’m now officially in my second trimester. 2^nd Tri is notorious for being the most comfortable and highest energy stage of pregnancy, so I’m really looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. Working out, taking care of errands, cooking regularly again…yee haw! I'm also wearing skirts and dresses with a frequency not seen since I was 5. What can I say, pants just don't work anymore.

I’m also sleeping with this really embarrassingly enormous body pillow thing. It takes up half the bed and I am AMAZED that Anu doesn’t hate it, but it’s the only thing that keeps me from waking up with back problems. Baby likes to settle at night, and that can cause some crazy ligament strain. The giant beast pillow keeps me all nice and tucked up so that my parts can relax without separating from one another. Hooray! And double hooray for Anu being a good sport about the whole thing.

I suppose that’s all for now. I’m feeling some kicks and barrel rolls here and there. I’m excited for more consistent movement, but I know that just comes with time. Patience might be a virtue but it isn’t easy to find.

More later!