Did you know what to expect, when you were pregnant?

United States
September 5, 2007 5:29pm CST
When you were pregnant, did you know what to expect? Had you been well prepared for the actual physical changes that occur during pregnancy by reading books? Or, was the experience so much different than described? For years, I dreamed of having a baby, and read every pregnancy book on the planet. And, I imagined that it would be such a beautiful event. And, in many ways it was. But, the actual pregnancy was different than anything I could have imagined. Even though you read that pregnant women often suffer tiredness or fatigue, there's no way to prepare for sleeping twenty hours a day during the first trimester. There were some days that I barely got out of bed to eat a bite of food before falling back to sleep. And, no one told me that pregnancy would feel so empowering. I strutted around town with my huge baby belly in tow feeling on top of the world. I felt such a surge of power, like I could fight off a full grown bear. Maybe it was just the hormones. And, towards the last of the pregnancy, I got another surprise, horrible crippling pain in my back in the morning time. Some mornings, during my eighth month, I could barely get out of bed and when I did, I had to walk bent over, because my back was in spasms. No one warned me that was going to happen. Really, I don't think that books prepared me at all to be pregnant. They didn't really cover the issues I was facing or help me feel better about any of the tests I had to take and for the most part, I simply stumbled through my own unique pregnancy the best I could. And, they certainly didn't do a good job of warning me about all the aches and pains. So, how did your pregnancy differ from the way you imagined it would be?
1 person likes this
8 responses
@Gemmygirl1 (2867)
• Australia
6 Sep 07
I refused to read books, they all contradict each other so i figured i'd just take things day by day & that was just how i did it. It seemed to work ok for me! I hated the calf cramps - i was getting them in the 3rd trimester almost every night, at LEAST once & it was the most awful pain i can remember. My back is stuffed anyway but it was so hard for me to get up & down (chairs, bed, toilet even) the extra weight just made my bad back feel so frail, like it could break at any moment (my little girl wasn't so little). I also have a bad hip (car accident) so my usual 'slight limp' walk went to more of an over-weight, broken duck waddle - that was really painful too! Just a week before my schedules C-Section, i ended up with hemarroids (spelling) no-one bothered to tell me about that one :) In the end - i think i coped pretty well - definitely NOT what i had expected but at least i'll know what could happen, if we fall pregnant again!
• United States
6 Sep 07
Yep! That sounds like my pregnancy, hemorrhoids and all. My back was so out of whack most of the last trimester, I was a total wreck. I was pretty much on bed rest for the last two months cause it was so painful to move and then I gained so much extra weight cause I couldn't move around so much. And, when I would sit in my chair, she would lodge a foot or knee up under my back ribs and pinch some internal organ and it felt like a knife sliding into my lungs. Very painful. That was the worst part I think. My little girl was a big one too. Over nine pounds. I'm not complaining though. Little girls need all the advantages they can get coming into this world, don't you think? Happy everything worked out for you though. Be well and thanks for dropping by.
@gr8life (6251)
• Malaysia
6 Sep 07
Hello beautyqueen26, I got pregnant the very first month after my marriage. I didn't prepare anything to face it. I felt my life was upside down. I still trying to juggle time with my new status as a wife and out of sudden, the doctor told me the terrific news. I do want to have a baby but it was so soon that I felt I wasn't ready for it. I didn't really care of myself during my pregnancy. I was lucky that my first pregnancy period wasn't as hard as others. I felt the diziness, fatigue and morning sickness but they weren't as bad as I have seen happened to my relatives or friends before. My baby was born exactly a month earlier. I don't have any 'big' problem while giving birth to him. Right now, when I look at him, I feel so happy that I didn't make a stupid decision last time.
1 person likes this
• United States
6 Sep 07
In hind-sight all of us moms can see that the effort was well worth it. Looking at mine now, I can see all her potential and none of that would have been if I hadn't given her a safe spot to grow for those many months. Pain or not, it was most worth it to me. And, hopefully she will feel the same way when she is old enough to understand.
@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
6 Sep 07
Not a clue on what to expect. I didn't even take any classes or anything and just let nature take its course. I got lots of advice from family and friends but did what I felt was right for me and baby. I had really bad leg cramps during the last month and ballooned out and people thought I was still pregnant after I had my son LOL too funny! I did what I felt was right most of the time and try to eat well too.
@williamjisir (22819)
• China
6 Sep 07
When my wife was pregnant, her mother taught her a lot what to get prepared before and after the birth of the baby. It is a pleasant gift from God to women who have the ability to get pregnant for giving birth to babies to make the new generations of humans to go on without being stopped. Women have certainly made great contributions to the world although it is a very hard time for them during the nine-month pregnancy to suffer so much.
1 person likes this
• United States
6 Sep 07
And, I had to wait ten years to finally have my blessing! Certainly she was well worth waiting for and I did not mind any symptoms at all. Just the uncertainty about worrying whether or not she would come out and be well was very troublesome. I guess I never thought of myself as giver of life. Perhaps I will add that to my list of titles: Loving wife, Mom, Housewife, Aspiring writer, Internet entrepreneur and giver of life. Very nice!
• United States
6 Sep 07
Nope I didn't know what to expect. As soon as I found out I was pregnant the first time I went out and bought all the books on it I could find and yet with all that professional advice it still wasn't on exactly. Although all of the books did have one common message, all pregnancys are different and the normal in pregnancy is that there is NO NORMAL. Which I found to be true with my second. Both of my pregnancys were totally different like night and day. So its hard to "warn" someone of something that is"supposed" to happend when anything should be expected. And nothing is out of the ordinary,( for the most part) I just think its different for everyone and every pregnancy hun. But all in all it's totally worth it to me!
• United States
6 Sep 07
Oh, what a sweet thing to say.
@baw2006 (34)
• United States
6 Sep 07
When I first knew that I was pregnant, I went to Barnes and Noble and bought an Everything Pregnancy book. The book was very helpful in preparing me for not only the physical changes, but for the emotional changes as well. The thing I liked very much about the book was that at the end of every chapter was a section for dad-to-be to read. But, there were definitely some things that I wasn't expecting. I wasn't expecting the overwhelming joy when we found out it was a girl. My boyfriend doesn't usually cry, it takes a lot for him to get teary eyed. But he admitted to me that the day we found out he got teary eyed. Another thing I wasn't expecting was the immense back pain. I don't have lower back pain at all. It's all in the middle part of my back on the right side only. I cannot sit in one position for too long or else it will start hurting. If I sleep on one side for too many nights in a row it will start hurting. And even standing for too long it will start hurting. And taking tylonel doesn't help. One of the worst things that I've experienced so far during this pregnancy, which I half expected and half didn't was the morning sickness. I knew I would have it. It was no surprise to me when I first started having it during my first trimester, but here I am in my third trimester and it is the worst EVER!! I'm not even joking. I think I have it worst than a lot of women do in their third trimester. I can't drink milk or any kind of juice. I can't eat eggs or any flavored chips. I've tried eating the small meals during the day, but it really doesn't work. So even though this pregnancy at times has been a pain in the butt, I know in the end when I get to hold my little angel, it will have been all worth it!
@itkasp (266)
• Australia
6 Sep 07
Yes when I found out that I was pregnant, I sort of prepared to face the "joy" of pregnancy. I prepared on how to handle the morning sickness, cramps, unable to sleep, tiredness, back pain, etc. However, at the end, after all those preparation, I had an easy pregnancy. I didn't have morning sickness and neither cramps. I had a little uncomfort on the back, but that just was it. So, I enjoyed my pregnancy time very much, but I enjoy the time after the baby was born, more.
@cynddvs (2948)
• United States
6 Sep 07
I didn't really know what to expect. I was the first one out of my friends to get pregnant. I just did lots of research by reading books and surfing the net. And I asked my midwife lots and lots of questions. There were lots of things that I was never told and never read about that I discovered on my own. These are the things I always joke about and tell my pregnant girl friends about so they have a heads up of the dirty truth about pregnancy.