Pregnancy. Let me tell you I have gotten a lot of flack for expressing my distaste with carrying children into this world. If you know me then you know I can be a chronic bitcher and complainer from time to time. And pregnancy was no different for me. Sorry but I hated it. Almost every minute of it. I really had high expectations for it and I had planned in my head exactly how my pregnancies were going to go. All of that planning was done in vain. I wanted to be that fit pregnant woman who was doing yoga hand stands at nine months- you know those videos that go viral like the one of the pregnant chick bench pressing?
Yeah, I expected my pregnancy to be a less extreme version of something like that. I expected I would be active; I would have a doula and I would avoid a c-section at all costs. None of these things happened for me. My fit pregnancy plans expired when I ran into some spotting early on in my first pregnancy. It had taken me awhile to get pregnant in the first place and I was terrified of losing this pregnancy. When my doctor told me to stop exercising and just stick to walking to take it easy I listened. I ate lots of fruits and salads and craved lots of veggies during my first pregnancy and I wore my fitbit and walked as much as possible since it was all I could do. And so at 8 weeks pregnant I was already not the fit kind of pregnant I imagined I would be.
I honestly really don't enjoy anything at all about being pregnant except for the feeling of the baby moving inside me. Even the uncomfortable jabs in the ribs were fine with me because I knew the movement meant I had a healthy active baby inside me and I loved it. It was the only thing I missed. But everything else I absolutely despised. The raging hormones would make me nauseous and I had unexplainable reasons for avoiding certain foods I once enjoyed. Until this day I still can't stomach the sight of chicken. (It was my go-to protein prior to being pregnant). The exhaustion was another symptom I had a hard time adjusting to as well. I am used to being quite active and goal oriented- I am very rarely NOT doing something whether it was chores around the house, personal projects or working on exercise and meal prepping. Pregnancy turned me into a sleeping machine. I was always tired and always felt the need to doze off no matter where I was. I remember being in a work meeting and feeling my eyes closing right in front of my boss! And I had no control over it. I would come home from work and crash for the night. Things didn't get done around the house and I had no motivation to care. I exercised daily before my first pregnancy and was used to the amazing energy serge I had afterwards and this was a complete 360.
Next, I thought that I would absolutely enjoy eating as a pregnant woman. I thought I would be hungry all the time and need to eat foods I normally wouldn't to satisfy bizarre cravings but that wasn't the case either. I hated eating. I couldn't wait to eat after I gave birth. I was especially displeased at the long list of foods that were off limits including medium rare beef and feta cheese! Why feta cheese??!! I craved it so badly during my pregnancy that I would have to seek out pasteurized non imported versions to toss on all my salads. And I brought that feta with me everywhere.
Non physical reasons for hating pregnancy have to be people's comments. It is like being in an uncensored alternate universe when you get pregnant. I mean people I never even spoke to before felt the need to comment on everything from my growing butt and the size of my baby bump. I had to hear everything from whether I was too small for my size or if my bump was too big. People would estimate that my baby was going to be HUGE based on the size of my bump and that pissed me off entirely. (My daughter was born at 7lbs exactly so goes to show you how accurate people are with their annoying comments). When you really start to get big in your last trimester, you can be prepared to hear shit like "You are going to pop any day now!" Like who the fuck asked you?? Sorry not sorry but expect some pregnant women to be super cranky at the end. The bigger you get the harder it is to sleep comfortable. I don't care what wrap around body bamboo pillow you buy. You can't fucking sleep. Trying to turn from side to side is so increasingly difficult as the months drag on. And I used to wake up repeatedly with these cramps in my pelvic area. They would hurt if I stood still so I would have to jump out of bed and try to walk them off. Well jump is a far cry from the truth. It is more like I would have to teeter out of bed.
Next has to be the amount of times I had to pee during pregnancy. It started for me almost immediately-fun fact: early on pregnancy hormones increase urine production- yippy! It's like a foreshadowing of what the next 9 months will be like. I could barely leave the house worrying if there would be easy access to a bathroom. I honestly never had to pee so much in my life.
Well this about sums up the major reasons I hated being pregnant. I know some women love it and my experience by no means reflects anyone else's but my own. Let me know what you thought about being pregnant. Share it below.
