The REAL truth about pregnancy.

I really should change the name of this blog to Kati's Pregnancy blog. Lets just pretend until April that I have.

and be glad, cause I am sure once Henry gets here I will drop off the face of the earth for a month or so.

Lets talk about my current pregnancy frustration.

I am pregnant 24/7.

Sounds Duh right?

but really, I never thought about it before I got pregnant, and wasnt frustrated with it until recently, but seriously. I am ALWAYS pregnant. At first its fine, you've only been pregnant for 5-10 weeks, so you figure you will just power through it. sure. You get to 15 weeks and the REAL symptoms begin. Sure, people tell you about the nausea, peeing, and tiredness, but those aren't the real ones. Not to me anyway. I would much rather deal with those. Lets go through the real ones. and I will tell you the truth, the REAL truth.

Hormones- You wouldn't think this could affect you so much, or at least so harshly. Sure, you've had a period, you know what its like to be moody, but not on this scale. I find myself in the middle of the kitchen tonight bawling my eyes out, because my husband went to go help someone move. what?! Yes. Then after you finish crying, you sit there and wonder how crazy you much be that you were crying in the first place. It plays with your mind.

The waddle- There is no such thing as gracefully walking when you've got the waddle. I thought the waddle comes when your huge, but little did I know it just comes with your joints have loosened, which for me happened early. And to add to it, because you have this human weighing down on your legs, your strides aren't as long. So you take short, waddled steps. If you need to go faster, to keep up with hubby, you gotta waddle faster, looking like a penguin. Graceful.

Sciatic nerve- Not all women suffer from this, but I think a good percent do. If you don't know what a sciatic nerve is, or how it affects you during pregnancy, just google it. I have a friend who's SN(Sciatic Nerve) is really bad during pregnancy, and she used to tell me all about it. The only thing I could think while she was talking was I hope to heavens I don't have issues with it. Thanks to the car accident, I do. I can't do long grocery trips, or mall outings, because if I am on my feet walking for longer than 20 mins, my left leg goes numb, tingles, is freezing, and starts cramping. Then I waddle, and limp. :/

Nipples- Yep. Obviously they go through changes, and you can never imagine what it will be like, even if one describes it to you. So I won't try and describe the change, I will just warn you of the fall out. Whatever is happening to your nipples, the effect the frigid cold has on them is deadly. The first time it got really cold here, and I went outside, I really thought someone was stabbing them with a knife, or rubbing sandpaper on them. Stock up on Lanolin Oil, it has saved my life.

Leg Cramps- Sounds simple. Sounds easy to deal with, just rub it out! No. I wish it were so. I don't know if leg cramps are tied to my SN, but I don't think so since a lot of pregos get them. It would be a whole different story if I got said leg cramps during the day, but when it comes at 3:42 am, and is so shooting painful that it sends you straight out of bed thinking someone has just stabbed your leg, its awful. Its pure torture. The only thing going through your mind is looking at your sleeping husband wanting to smack him in the face with a pillow for peacefully laying there.

The husband- Yes, I said it, the husband. Obviously unless your husband is a jerk, he has done nothing wrong, but its just so frustrating that he has no idea what it is like. What it is like to be pregnant 24/7. You don't get a break, you can't just take off the belly for 15 mins, eat sushi and take a hot bath, and it certainly doesn't just end all symptoms once you go to bed at night. There is no way for him to know what its like, and its certainly not his fault and he is doing everything he can to make it better for you, but emotionally its very taxing that you can't convey or have him experience your pregnant frustrations.

The bathroom visits- Let me just tell you, I won't go into too much detail, but peeing is not the only pregnancy bathroom issue. Number 2 is just as bad, probably worse. If you would like the nitty details about the day I will always remember regarding this, let me know and I will send you a link to where its at, otherwise, just wait. You will see.

Sex- Yes, I am talking about making love, ladies. If you are a lucky one like me, your sex drive goes into total overdrive and you can't get enough of it. Whats wrong with that?! I WILL TELL YOU!!! It, for me at least, is painful after, at this point in my pregnancy. Along with that, your uterus contracts and is rock hard after, sending you into paranoia about how your little one is doing.

Braxton Hicks Contractions- These aren't as bad as everyone made them out to be, but they are very inconvenient. Whenever you, I, have one I have to stop what I am doing and bend over. Its hard to explain what these feel like, but for me I just get this crampy airy uncomfortableness that will only go away after a few minutes of bending over.

So if you are in the store longer that 20 mins and you get one, you are now a bent over, waddling, limping, graceful looking idiot.

:)

But they tell me it will all be worth it in the end.

(On a positive side note, I do love my little bugger. His kicks are becoming more and more enjoyable as I connect to the idea that he is my cute little baby in there. I certainly can not wait to meet him.)