10 Things No One Tells You About Pregnancy
1. Sleeping through the night without needing to pee is a thing of the past, and yes this lasts the whole nine months!
2. Everyone will have an opinion on your bump, it's huge, it's small, are you sure you're not having twins! Ignore them all and only listen to your midwife or GP. If they say you're fine, you're fine.
3. Is it a boy or is it a girl? If you choose not to find out the sex of your baby as we have. Everyone will ask you what you think it is. After a while, I just replied, 'alien' to keep them quiet.
4. All things baby, there came a point in my pregnancy when people stopped asking me questions to do with anything other than the baby, the pregnancy, my bump, the nursery, mat leave. Suddenly the world only sees you as a vessel for carrying this child and not as a person. Probably good preparation for becoming a new Mum?
5. Fashion, forget it. I have just had to accept that for me, 2017 is a year I couldn't tell you what the trends were, who wore what or what colour nail polish was a must for Ibiza jet-setters. It passed me by in a whirl of tank tops, maternity jeans, flip-flops and stretchy dresses.
6.When should I buy Maternity Clothes? Perhaps an add-on to the earlier point. The answer, throughout your pregnancy. There wasn't one point, even now at eight and half months, that everything I wear is purely maternity clothing. You'll be mixing and matching maternity wear with your existing wardrobe right up until you give birth.
7.You will feel alone. Even with the most supportive, loving partner, family, and friends. Pregnancy is a journey you really go through on your own. The vast majority of appointments, you will be by yourself, lying awake at night moving around to try and get your baby to kick, the aches and pains, the worries, your reflection resembling someone you no longer know, the looks, the comments, the list of foods you can no longer have. Your body and its function take on a whole new purpose. Don't get me wrong it is amazing and there are moments when your existence, the universe, everything takes on this whole new wonderful sun-drenched meaning. But it is a journey you will mostly do alone. Having said that, it is incredibly empowering, you will have a new found respect for your body, anatomy, nature and how incredible women are. And you will notice things you had never seen before.
8. The Transition - if you do work and you are taking mat leave or a break to have your baby you will work up until an agreed last day at work. Nothing can prepare you for suddenly having days upon days of empty time. Whether you like structure to your day or not my advice would be for the first couple of weeks to plan a little something to do for every day. To go from having years of timetables, structure etc. to nothing might sound like heaven, but you can quickly feel a wash and disconnected from the outside world. Now is a time to treat yourself - check out my blog 10 Things To Do - Before Baby Arrives. Read that book you've always wanted to read, see that movie, catch up with friends etc.
9.Your Hopes and Fears - throughout your pregnancy you will go through a plethora of emotions, genuine fears, about pain, the birth, coping afterward. What kind of parent you will be, how will you and your partner cope? Or if you are doing it alone (hats off to you), how will you manage. Money, work, your relationship with your partner. The list is endless. But I promise you will have plenty of time to work through these fears and you can take some responsibility to do this by ensuring you educate yourself with books, professional online resources, NCT or equivalent support groups which can all help you to work through any worries. Sometimes just understanding something a bit more helps put you at ease or talking to someone who will offer you positive support. So be sure to give yourself the opportunity to feel better about your concerns.
10. The Waiting Game - You will have good days and bad days leading up to your birth. Weeks 36-40+ from my experience are the worst. Most days will come and go and you will enjoy the time for yourself, the long lunches and nail appointments, (assuming this is your first child and you aren't already rushed off your feet with other children or commitments). But there will be days when you will feel fed up when you convince yourself you can't manage another day of bad sleep, aches and feeling like you want your body back, thank you very much. Let these days roll by, arrange something nice for the following day, do get out the house - you will be spending plenty of time at home in the coming weeks. Write about it, a journal, talking to friends, documenting how you feel can help.
