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Before you raise that perfectly shaped brow or pout your mouth in shock, let me be clear – pregnancy is not like a cute and dainty advertisement you watch on television. It’s more like the nitty-gritty complexities that take place behind the scenes. Got you worked up already, huh?
Nausea
The most common woes of being pregnant are nausea and vomiting. And some women just suffer from these beyond the first trimester. Imagine you’ve had French crêpes, a bowl of cornflakes, fresh fruit juice and your favorite chocolate chip muffin for breakfast. Within seconds of releasing a burp of satisfaction, you feel that sudden rush in your throat and you head straight to the washroom to throw up! All that wholesome food down the drain and you are left feeling sick and dehydrated (and you feel getting stranded in the Sahara is a better idea). You think you need to stop indulging yourself and in future stick to bits of toast and fruit.
Lethargy
We all enjoy a good sleep. But too much of a good thing can be bad for you. Being pregnant can cause some of us to feel so lethargic, and we literally feel we need to drag our bodies from one place to the next (think sloth). Lethargy can also lead to binging, and no matter how much you are advised some fresh air, your butt just won’t come off the couch! Well, this condition may last only temporarily, of course!
Nature Calls
You will find yourself spending more time in the washroom than any other place. From making a quick exit to the loo in between conversations to wetting your pants when you laugh or sneeze or cough a bit much; the need to pee is constant in pregnancy. Making that trip at nighttime also ruins your chances of enjoying that good night’s rest the doctor had advised. Blame it on the growing uterus that is nudging your floppy bladder!
The Fat Clause
Eat for two. No, actually just eat to stay healthy. This ‘eating for two’ concept is a double-edged sword that well-wishers often hang over your head. Don’t let yourself get tricked into this (unless you idolize Bridget Jones). As a mum once said to me “I put on 20 kilos during my pregnancy and assumed that this weight would come off with the baby. Little did I realize after my baby was born, he weighed only three kilos while I was stuck with 17!” So unless you have a backup plan for losing all those extra pounds, try to stick only to healthy food and treats.
Raging Hormones
As your body is preparing to accommodate another living being, your hormones are going through a roller coaster ride! Yeah, something like the Kraken at SeaWorld! From swollen feet, varicose veins, excess discharge to darkening of the skin, facial hair and breakouts – you begin to wonder if this is what you signed up for when you made that life-changing decision. Aren’t you already wishing for a pause or fast forward button???
Pregnancy does bring with it a host of conditions- some leaving you feeling not so good. So while you have so much to deal with, let’s be clear about one thing – pregnancy is not an illness, it is something your body is fully equipped to deal with. So, there may be a few hiccups along the way (oops…) but hey, there is light at the end of the tunnel. An open mind and some awareness (and yeah, this very article) would go a long way in keeping things simple during pregnancy.
In few cases, women have to deal with much worse conditions like bleeding, pre-eclampsia, persistent headaches and backaches, abdominal pains, gestational diabetes (facing the Big 5 in the African jungle seems less daunting). So, follow your doctor’s word and put your feet up every now and then. Don’t stress over what’s yet to come! There’s no light bulb fixed in your face that’s going to make it glow! And if you hear someone go – Oh! I just had a perfect pregnancy, feel free to look the other way and chortle!
