Pregnancy coming to an end
As I am well into my 3rd trimester now and having all the conversations about the next bit, the baby bit, it’s making me realise pregnancy is coming to an end. As excited as I am about meeting baby and I am so damn curious about the gender and what baby is like, I think I’m going to miss being pregnant. It’s the best I’ve ever felt. My hormones have been balanced, my skin the best it’s ever been, I’ve hardly gained any weight, everyone tells me I have the glow and I’ve not felt pregnant most of the time. Even now at nearly 38 weeks pregnant when I first wake in the morning I have tot touch my bump to remember.
Sure there are things I have missed in pregnancy and look forward to after, like:
* Being able to sleep on my front again. I didn’t realise how much I did this until I had a bump that prevented it! My pregnancy pillow has helped but it’s not the same and a bump can get in the way of a lot of things, there are definitely gaps I could squeeze through before that I can’t now!
* Alcohol – I dream of having a margarita. I’ve not missed wine or prosecco, just the hard stuff like vodka and tequila!
* Pate, Brie, Goats Cheese – I think like most women it’s more the principal of being told you can’t have them so you want them more.
* Tuna – I was very surprised in early pregnancy when doctor advised I could only have 1 can a week, turns out Tuna was a lunchtime staple for me and suddenly I had to get inventive with lunch options!
* Lack of heartburn – outside of pregnancy I generally only got heartburn when it was self-inflicted from fast food or too much alcohol but during pregnancy and particularly the last trimester I have had horrendous heartburn with a cough. Acupuncture has kept it at bay most of the time but the last 4 weeks or so I would not have survived without Rennie!
I think a lot of pregnancy is about how you approach the situation. Generally I am a very positive person and particularly as this pregnancy felt like a miracle I was determined to embrace it. If I looked for symptoms yes I could find things to complain about, but I chose to focus on the good things and not look for problems. Yes I had sickness in the beginning, yes I’ve had heartburn, yes now towards the end I get out of breath when I walk up the stairs at work - but I’m not going to stop doing it! No one warned me about the aching or burning feeling in your noo noo that you get in the last couple of weeks. When baby’s head started to engage at about 34 weeks this new sensation started of feeling like there was literally a dead weight in my noo and Sometimes the baby is so low it feels like it could fall out and suddenly bending forward becomes difficult because it stings! That was a bit of a shocking feeling to me and not sure it is one I will miss!
But I will not complain if I can help it because I just think of how lucky I am and how many women would kill to have the incredible journey I am on. I think its important to listen to my body and if I need to go to bed a little earlier I will or if I overdo it one day at the weekend I’ll rest the next day (sometimes you underestimate how being 9 months pregnant can affect you). I feel like my biggest fear is being a whingy pregnant woman and something I have tried to avoid throughout because I have loved being pregnant. After all this is what my body is supposed, it’s a marvel really I want tos embrace it and quite frankly I’m just fucking chuffed it’s worked!
It’s been interesting seeing peoples different reactions to my positive pregnancy journey and I do wonder why people are so shocked when women have been having babies for centuries, in much worse times. When even medical staff are surprised that you have nothing to complain about and
you are an ‘easy’ patient, it makes me question what everyone else is like. For example this year we have had a proper summer for once and I probably didn’t get through a single hot day without someone asking how I am coping with the heat. My answer is always said through the same pained smile I feel fine, I just keep hydrated and I think that’s the key. Yes I drink a lot of water probably 3-4 litres a day but I was the one finishing work going home to sunbathe whilst others around me were whinging it was too hot!
I know I have been lucky with my pregnancy and some people really do suffer, I am not knocking them each individual is different. They say you follow your mums history and my mum loved being pregnant so perhaps that has an element of truth. Maybe the acupuncture has helped more than I realise as it definitely calms me, eases my symptoms and lowers my heart rate. But I really think your mentality is a big factor. I love waking early in the morning and lying in bed half asleep feeling the baby wake up to and give my organs a few kicks and pushes, that’s like our bonding time and brings me so much comfort. Even now when there is a pair of baby feet sat in my ribcage and I get a stitch, isn’t that incredible to know I can differentiate what part of the baby it is and know that we made that, that miracle growing in there. I just find the whole thing fascinating, from the gory details of labour I have yet to endure, to my leaky boobs, aching vagina and heartburn.
I’m so excited for the next chapter, we are so ready to meet baby now but I’ll always look back at my pregnancy with such fond memories!
I’m so excited for the next chapter, we are so ready to meet baby now but I’ll