Things I Didn’t Know Before Becoming Pregnant

Those of you that have seen me or know me well, know that I’m pregnant. I am now at the point where I can’t really hide it anymore and so we go public to the blog world.

This is our first child and the first grandchild on both sides of the family. Excitement, panic, elation, joy, and fear have been experienced thus far. But this blog post is not about those things, this blog post is about what I have learned thus far, here we go:

• My body is no longer my own. I now share my body with another being that has its own needs and wants, a lot of days it wants jelly beans and gummy bears.
• Once people found out that I am pregnant they have a concern for my health, which I do appreciate. “How are you feeling?” Me: “Pregnant.”
• No amount of will-power can overcome really bad morning sickness, but breathing does help.
• Telling others I have morning sickness brings relief in the form of advice—I love the free and time-tested advice. At some point I’ll write another blog on morning sickness and what I’ve learned.
• Telling my doctor, Dr. H, about the good and the bad is essential. My doctor often has advice or remedies and she just needs to know so she can provide me with the best care possible.
• Eating… oh eating… I never knew:

Cannot eat cold cuts without first heating it to steaming to kill bacteria.            

Forget sashimi, but vegetable sushi and California rolls are fine.

Beware of foods that lead to heartburn.

Eating on a schedule is important to preventing all-day-morning-sickness.

Finally eating very important, I need to remember my body is no longer my own. (Jelly beans and gummy bears do not count as eating either.)

• Bending over has become harder… I understood this in principle, but didn’t really understand it until my growing mid-section started getting in the way.
• Maternity pants have “secret panels” and fake zipper appearances.
• Maternity clothing stores have draconian return polices.
• Everyone asks “Do you know what you’re having?” and they don’t mean “do you know what you’re having for dinner.”
• I have round ligaments and they stretch…  I knew that that I have ligaments, but I didn’t really know how much they can ache when forced to stretch.
• The embryo/fetus is constantly compared to fruit and other foods. My embryo/fetus has been the size of a: blueberry, grape, walnut, peanut, banana, etc. I still have not gotten used to thinking that a banana is floating in me.
• Invading the babe’s privacy with an ultrasound is very cool. Seeing the baby move before I was even showing was amazing. It made me feel much better about the morning sickness and realizing that I wasn’t in crazy preggy land.
• Baby’s first picture is no longer at birth; it is now an ultrasound pic. (No I will not be posting it here.)
• Licensed infant care in Downtown Seattle is incredibly hard to find. Our baby doesn’t have a name, birthday, or social security number yet, but it is on several wait lists! According to one child care director there are less than 100 infant care slots in the Downtown region. This is becoming a workforce problem beyond Downtown Seattle as well.

Finally, I have learned that there is a lot more to learn. The library, friends and family, early learning professionals, and other parents have all become a valued source of information. Keep the info coming my way, I really need all the help I can get. If you have any advice to offer leave a comment or email me at erin@earlylearning.org.