6 Things I Didn’t Know About Being Pregnant….Until Now!

Over the last few months, I’ve been doing so much research and reading about pregnancy and babies. While I always knew the basics of all this stuff, it’s amazing just how much you don’t know until you have a good reason to learn! Here’s 6 things I didn’t know about being pregnant…. until now!

Just how tired you get

I mean I knew I’d get tired, but I never realised how soon into the pregnancy it would happen. Within a couple of weeks I was struggling to make it to 2 or 3pm in the afternoon without feeling like I needed a nap. I’ve really tried to limit my naps however, as I don’t want to get into a habit, but by the time mid-afternoon rolls around, I’m feeling pretty pooped. I have caved occasionally, and will go have a little lie down, but I always feel so guilty and feel like I should be doing other things! I tend to forget that I’m currently growing a little human and that actually takes an awful lot of energy, and I really do need to be kinder to myself!

The discharge.

Need I say more? Probably not, but in all seriousness I thought I’d get a bit of a break for 9 months down there, but nope. Jokes on me!

No question is a silly question

Seriously, the number of times I’ve Googled something along the lines of “is …… normal during pregnancy?” is unbelievable. And what’s great is that there are usually so many people on forums asking the exact same thing. Even if my question seems so incredibly silly to me, it always makes me feel so much better knowing that other people are asking the same or similar things. Pregnancy is such a big change and it’s also slightly scary, so it’s nice to know that others are in the same boat and I’m not the only one who’s feeling a little anxious!

The body changes so quickly… and it takes a while to get used to!

Ever since I was about 13 or 14 I’ve been the same weight, dress size and shape. I’ve never gone up or down significantly in weight, and I’ve always been a size 6. I started to notice a change in my body around 12 weeks, my pants just started to feel a little bit tighter, and my stomach definitely didn’t look as flat. For me, this was such a weird thing to experience, as I’ve just always looked the same. It’s taking me a while to get used to the changes that my body is making, and to come to terms with the fact that many of my clothes no longer fit me. It’s amazing how quickly the body starts to change, and I swear when week 20 rolled around my bump literally appeared overnight. Now at 29 weeks I feel massive and I actually don’t know how my belly can get any bigger! I’m not sure I’ll ever quite get used to it before the nine months are up!

Too hungry…. or too full!

Seriously one moment I will be absolutely starving. I’ll load up up plate with what seems like a reasonable portion of food, only to have about a third of it and feel ridiculously full. I’ll then complain for the next hour or so about how full I am and how I’m about to explode, before magically I’m starving again. It’s seriously so weird how quickly the hunger comes and goes, and I’ve found the best thing to do is eat lots of small meals regularly. I actually feel like I’m eating all of the time now though!

All the things you can’t eat!

Okay so I knew there were a few things you couldn’t eat when pregnant, like shellfish is a bit dodgy, you obviously can’t drink alcohol, and you should always cook meat well etc…. but I never realised all the other things that are off the menu! Seemingly innocent foods like hummus, shaved ham, pasta salads are now a no-go. Fish has to be limited (bye bye to my tuna obsession), and even things like packaged salad greens are meant to be avoided. I almost couldn’t believe it when the midwife gave me a book (yes a whole book) on food safety and all the different things you can’t eat. It includes one of those fold out lists, that drops down and just gets bigger and bigger!

I’ve found it’s become really hard to choose a healthy option when eating out. You can’t really eat anything that’s premade (like pasta salads, salads, sandwiches, etc) as you don’t know how they have been prepared. Sushi is also a no-no (due to the cold rice), and you have to be careful about things like eggs, and meats. It’s meant I’ve found myself opting for foods like hot chips, as since they are deep fried I know it’s very unlikely they contain bacteria. But of course this totally isn’t the healthiest option! I’m sort of trying to avoid eating out at the moment, as it’s just so hard to manage healthily.

While I know many people struggle giving up those cheeky glasses of vino,  I think the hardest thing for me was how I now have to cook my eggs. I’ve always loved a good sunny side up egg that I can dip my bacon into the yolk. When you’re pregnant that sucker has to be cooked so well, that it starts to resemble rubber more than egg. Kinda takes the fun out of bacon and eggs for breakfast! Of course, I say all of this in jest, as 9 months is just the tiniest time to give up some of these foods, and for the health of my baby, I’ll do whatever it takes. Although I’ve made the boyfriend promise me he’ll cook me a bacon and egg brekkie once bubs arrives!

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